I love TED talks. A collection of the world’s greatest minds brought together for an inspiring show and tell of the most innovative ideas out there. I found this video quite interesting: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Whenever people ask me about our youth group, I often start rattling off the list of our programs and events. Whenever I do that, I feel like I am struggling to capture the true essence of who we are as a group. This video helped me think more clearly about why I communicate that way, and how I can work to improve. Yes, we are a youth...

Stumbled upon this infographic about the Millennial Generation. It is primarily concerned with how media and technology play a major role in shaping who millennials are, and how they interact with one another. It also addresses who millenials are, what’s important to them, how they value marriage and education, and other interesting facts and figures. (Click for larger...

I am always amazed when my students don’t know about a particular upcoming event. Between the e-mail, the video announcements, the postcards, the bulletin inserts, and the website, I figure it should be the only thing that is ever on their mind. But alas, fighting for a precious spot in the conscious memory of a teenager is a difficult battle. Fortunately, you have a very powerful ally in Facebook Events. Today we’ll take a look at how to create them. What Are Facebook Events? Simply put, Facebook Events are the easiest way to promote an upcoming event to the students in your minister, the most...

Often, I think I make the faulty assumption that every teenager I encounter has a negative image of themselves. I’m not denying that the perception of low self-worth is a very real and common issue among young adults, but it is wrong to assume that this is the default state for most students. I have no data to back this up, but my gut is that most students with an undervalued opinion of themselves have come to that conclusion with the help of other people. Maybe it’s the mom that treats them like an idiot, the dad who didn’t stick around for them, or the sibling that torture them....

I had the opportunity to give the message last week at my church. It was 3 days after I broke my ankle, which was the first in a long line of frustrations and difficulties leading up to the message that day. If you want to mess up your week, pick a topic that exposes satan, he doesn’t like that. Anyway, here below is the audio from that message for you to check out if you like. Also, one of my students gave her FaithStory as a part of the message and she did an amazing job. I believe it is the first time I’ve ever cried during a FaithStory, and of course I was up front for everyone to...

Texting is the number one communication method for teenagers. Joshua Griffin recently posted about the fact that they have fully embraced SMS as the primary communication method for the group. That makes sense, students always have their phones and are almost guaranteed to check them the moment you ping them. There are many services out there that aim to streamline the process of sending mass texts. Simply Youth Ministry has SimplyTXT. It’s really just a repackaged version of TXTsignal. There’s also Tatango. All fine services, and fairly reasonably prices. SimplyTXT starts at just $10 a...