After having co-planted and co-pastored a church for ten years in the Denver area and having preached in churches across the nation, quietly evaluating what makes them work (or not), here is my list of non-scientific reasons why some churches don't g..
So how can Starbucks saturate the physical cravings of decaffeinated Americans and the church cannot satisfy the spiritual thirst of Americans with the living water? After all, there are only 12,000 Starbucks coffee shops in the United States and the..
1. Make it about you, not Jesus.
1. "Just what exactly is a youth ministry budget again?"
You don't know, I mean really know, many non-Christians. Possible Solutions: Get to know your neighbors. Or you couldn't explain the Gospel clearly if you tried.
Tis the season for, well, resolutions. And when it comes to resolutions we tend to think of a limited amount of categories. These categories can range from exercising off our newly acquired egg-nog induced fat layers to doing a complete financial mak..
We know that you are in the movie/money making business. So, in light of some of the box office stumbles you've made recently (Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings) I thought I'd pass on a little advice from a Christian who appreciates good film making an..
It depicted God as an angry 5th grade-ish looking boy who kept appearing throughout the movie to awkwardly confront Moses. The previews made the movie look like it aligned with the Biblical account. It wasn't even close.
Think "outreach" in youth ministry and we automatically think "event." The words go together like "dodge" and "ball". The challenge is that our teenagers themselves are our biggest outreach "event". Because the average teenager has around 400 online ..
As a "traveling evangelist" I've had the privilege of preaching in churches from coast to coast. And, until I have the microphone on over my ear, most people have no clue that I'll be the preacher that day, so most treat me like a first time visitor...
I believe youth ministry is facing mission-drift when it comes to missions work. Far too many of our younger youth leaders view the "missionary" as an ancient relic of a bygone era whose place is as a dimly lit picture in the foyer of a steepled chur..
I remembered the strange spelling of my biological father's name from the birth certificate. You see I had never met Toney. He and my mom had a very short term relationship. As a result she got pregnant. When he found out, he got transferred (he was ..
When I talk to many youth leaders about their outreach efforts they immediately start sharing with me about their latest monthly or quarterly outreach meeting. And therein lies the problem. Our outreach efforts should not just center around meetings ..
It's the secret youth leader battle that's not so secret. All of us know down deep inside that the pot of hormones simmering underneath can turn into a boil in a micro-second. Given the right conditions any of us could fall, not just into lust, but i..
After I prepare a sermon there are 5 pre-sermon rituals I go through before it's "go time." Here are the five rituals I do before I preach:
The youth leaders with longevity and impact are not always the flashiest but most have at least 3 common disciplines they consistently exemplify:
Paul's bold claim gives us three challenges as youth leaders to take both in our lives and ministries. Let's take a look at each and how they apply to us.
If you're dead set on shrinking your group then refuse to intercede for the teenagers in your youth group and community. After all it's God who produces the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6.) Stop talking to him and it will shrink for sure (in all the wrong..
This breed of church flies into town and announces their arrival with a flashy marketing campaign and an entrancing stare (Lights! Camera! Action!) Then they steadily, and probably unintentionally, sink their fangs into the necks of the smaller churc..
But, when it comes to evangelism, a mission statement can turn from big black letters on a church marquee to a little, white lie that the church is telling the community. Strike that … it's a big lie. If a church claims to be making evangelism a cent..