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Youth Ministry is Risky Business

February 13, 2013 Think

The parable of talents (or bags of Gold) has taught me many different leadership lessons over the years, but perhaps the most eye-opening and convicting of them all has been with regard to the concept of managing risk. Risk Management in Youth Ministry There is a lot to be said about the concept of managing [...]

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You can always get better

June 13, 2012 Think

Tonight I got a call from Brian Berry. Brian is the high school pastor at our church. (Actually, his title is way bigger than that but he’ll always be the high school guy to me.) He called to remind me to come to his 2011-2012 eval and 2012-2013 planning meeting Wednesday night. It’s a good [...]

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Ministry Implications of Early Onset Puberty

April 3, 2012 Think

Now most researchers seem to agree on one thing: Breast budding in girls is starting earlier. The debate has shifted to what this means. Puberty, in girls, involves three events: the growth of breasts, the growth of pubic hair and a first period. Typically the changes unfold in that order, and the process takes about [...]

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Failure to launch camp

November 15, 2011 Think

On the eve of next week’s Extended Adolescence Symposium, this story caught our attention: They are the modern-day lost boys, who suffer from “failure to launch,” a term made popular by a movie of the same name. While at least one critic deemed that film “completely unbelievable” at the time, five years later real life [...]

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“The” Future of Youth Ministry is less important than “My” future in Youth Ministry

November 9, 2011 Think

A lot has been said in recent years about the future of youth ministry. Some great books have been written and much has been mused about what the likely direction things will go. I have read most of the books and to a large extent I agree with what many of the writers are saying. If I [...]

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the three components of great youth ministry

November 5, 2011 Think

have you ever said something, off the cuff, then realized after you said it that there’s more truth to it than you even intended? that happened to me yesterday. i’m in orlando, speaking at the especialidades juveniles (spanish YS) convention. i love these things. after attending so many of them in argentina and guatemala over [...]

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Intense Friendships Common Among High School Guys

October 26, 2011 Think

Listening to boys, particularly those in early and middle adolescence, speak about their male friendships is like reading an old-fashioned romance novel in which the female protagonist is describing her passionate feelings for her man. At the edge of manhood, when pressures to conform to gender expectations intensify, boys speak about their male friends with abandon, referring to [...]

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New study on teenage sexuality

October 19, 2011 Think

There’s a general perception that cultures morality, especially as it relates to teenage sexuality, is on the rapid decline. But a recent study published by the Centers for Disease Control reveals showed that American teenagers are having less sex and getting pregnant less. Some highlights of the study, as covered by CNN. The teenage birth [...]

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Is Google Destroying our Memory?

September 27, 2011 Think

I’m using this to teach on Wednesday night. When I was a kid I memorized all of my classmates phone numbers. Today? I barely know my own! ht to Business Insider

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A childhood spent in Christian pop music

September 20, 2011 Think

Every band’s goal was to have teenagers stop their grooving mid-song and exclaim, like a soda commercial actress who’s just realized she’s been drinking diet, “Wait, this is Christian?” The logic was that the more these bands fit in with what was playing on the radio, the more someone like me would feel comfortable passing their [...]

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