Adventures – Page 2 – youthworkers

Taking a Break… and Looking Ahead?

November 20, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

What’s your youth ministry look like right now? Are you slowing down (even ever so slightly) and accessing how your summer and fall programs went? What are some of the things you’re looking to do in 2011 to build disciples? In our ministry, we’re about to kickoff fundraising activities for a small team of youth and adults that will be heading down to Haiti in July (you know, because it’s so nice in the Caribbean that time of year). And we just finished our fall retreat, so the team is focused on continuing to build the relationships with our younger/new...

Is it Worth It?

November 11, 2010
Adventures
Leadership

Anyone else out there a big Paulo Coelho fan? (He wrote The Alchemist, one of the best-selling novels of all time and a personal favorite of mine.) He’s also a pretty prolific blogger and wrote a post recently called, “Yes, It Is Worth It.” Here it is in its entirety: Life is like a big bike race where the goal is to fulfill you personal legend. At the start, we are riding together, sharing the camaraderie and enthusiasm. But as the race progresses, the initial joy gives way to the real challenges: tiredness, monotony and doubts about our own abilities. We...

Francis Chan on Risk and Security

November 8, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

For those of you who haven’t seen this video of Francis Chan talking about risk and security, it’s a must-see for parents and youth workers. (If you’re reading this via email or in a feed-reader, click here to watch the video.) Here are some interesting quotes from Francis on our lives and faith: “I’m just gonna have my nice little family. We’re just gonna keep to ourselves. We’re going to live in a gated community. I’m gonna home-school my kids, make ’em wear helmets everywhere….” “You just live your life in the safety...

Bringing a Baby to Youth Group?

November 3, 2010
Adventures
Leadership

Here’s something I never expected to give much thought to when I started out as a youth worker: child care during youth group. Last week, I had a parent of one of our teens ask if it was okay for her son to invite a friend to youth group the next week (of course!). She’d bring her 5-month-old (wha-huh?). Put on the spot like that, it took me a few moments of sputtering and stammering to form a well-thought out answer. As my mind raced and the parent waited for an answer, I weighed the pluses and minuses of bringing a baby to youth group. On the positive side, we don’t...

Saved by the Salvation Prayer?

October 26, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

Seth Barnes wrote an interesting post last week called: “Does the prayer of salvation save you?“ Those of of us who do ministry in more evangelical circles may identify more with this than some. However, I think the basic premise of the post is important for all of us involved in the shaping of people’s lives, especially young people. That is, follow-up is just as important as getting someone to make a one-time decision. And if the latter is valued, it needs to not be done at the cost of the former. Barnes writes: The first AIM projects featured a heavy evangelistic...

Talking About Sex

October 11, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

Maybe this topic is edgy. You could call it NSFW. Or just flat-out uncomfortable. But it’s something we’ve got to talk about, because our kids are talking about it (with each other — for many, there aren’t any authority figures talking about it with them). I’ll put it out there — not talking about sex in youth ministry means you’re completely missing one of the most important issues in a teens’ life. You’re avoiding something they’re confronted with on a daily basis, something they worry and obsess over, something that...

Author: Adventures