I am part-way through a book that I got for Christmas from my brother-in-law, Matt. It is called Gilead. It is a must read…
I am enjoying is mostly because it is one of those books that is easy to pick up and jump right back into after having to set it down for [...]
This morning there was a very interesting article in one of the regional newspapers here in the greater Chicago area — The Daily Herald. I was intrigued mostly by the research from Barna found within as well as some of the comments from various staff at area mega-churches.
If this home church concept continues to [...]
For quite some time I have been following some research on Youth Ministry that is being gathered and delivered by a very sharp group of people at www.exemplarym.com. I assumed that many youth workers already knew about this Study of Exemplary Congregations in Youth Ministry but as I have discovered in some recent seminars, [...]
In order for a new kind of evangelism to emerge within youth ministry (or in the church for that matter) we must help our students have a fuller and more comprehensive idea of who Jesus is. In other words, rather than beginning with the gospels to understand who Jesus is, we need to provide [...]
I seldom take calls on Monday mornings from phone numbers that I do not recognize. Like many of you who are coming off a busy weekend, I typically take Monday morning to center myself and build a foundation for the rest of the week. Foolishly, knowing I was moving outside of my weekly [...]
The other day I came home from work to find my daughter pretending to read my new book. She is 7 years old and can read well — but I am quite sure she really wasn’t all that interested in what her dad has to say about youth ministry.
Check out this piece from CBS news on Youth Ministry — and the video interview of Mark Oestreicher, President of Youth Specialties.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/15/
eveningnews/main2273034.shtml
This morning I met with one of my mentors. As usual, he kicked my butt. I mean, he asked me the questions I feared he would ask me and he gave me the answers I feared he would give me… I feel like a chump during our conversation sometimes but in the end [...]
I have a friend in the Kansas City area named Alan Mercer. Alan is a middle school pastor who I have a deep amount of respect for. He is recommending Mark Oestreicher’s and Kurt Johnston’s new books for middle school students called My Faith and My Family. I have heard that these books [...]
I talked with a senior pastor from Kentucky today for about a 1/2 hour. I confess that I really feel for the guy. His church — a medium size, “but growing” church in a thriving suburb of Cincinnati, has been looking for a a youth pastor for nearly two years. He seemed [...]