From the category archives:

Uncategorized

Will Return, July 10

June 20, 2009

Hello, friends. Like most of you, we’re about to hit our busiest stretch of the year. Joel is at Jr. High Summer Camp, Sara’s going to be in Africa for three weeks and I leave a week from today for a 12-day stint in Bolivia. In light of our crazy schedules, we’re taking a two-week [...]

Read the full article →

Youth Hacks Podcast, Episode Null

June 13, 2009

Hello, friends. We’re all pretty busy this weekend, so we weren’t able to record at our regular time. We’re gonna try to record early next week, but there’s a chance you just may have to go a week without the YH podcast. Hey, give us a break, it’s free! Thanks for your patience!

Read the full article →

Youth Hacks Podcast, Episode 21

May 29, 2009

This week we talk about the end of ysmarko, killing your summer programming and books that shape your thinking on youth ministry. Picks of the Week: Josh – Tough Topics, Ministry Questions, Animoto (non-profit link) Joel – Ministry Threads, J. Staton Designs

Read the full article →

Youth Hacks on the Amazon Kindle

May 26, 2009

You can now subscribe to Youth Hacks on your Amazon Kindle.  It costs $0.99 a month and includes a 14-day trial period. We’ve sold more more Kindle ebooks than dead-tree books through our affiliate accounts, so we know we’ve got some Kindle-owning readers! Subscribe here.

Read the full article →

Tough Topics

May 23, 2009

I’m very excited about Tough Topics, the brand new iPhone app from Youth Specialties. It’s a great way to carry discussion starters with you wherever you go, and I really dig the ability favorite discussion starters that you find most useful. What really gets me excited is the trend that (I hope) this represents: great [...]

Read the full article →

Joel and I Fireproof our Friendship

March 13, 2009
Read the full article →

Links for March 9, 2009

March 9, 2009

Cultural Legacy and Mitigated Speech – Thought-provoking post on the implications of Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” in the church world. Define Your Goals and Don’t Suck – This is a great battle cry for our team at the moment. Thoughts on Mark Driscoll (While I’m Knitting) – Since Mark seems to be my second favorite topic [...]

Read the full article →

Homosexuality and Youth Ministry: Initial Thoughts and Questions

March 7, 2009

I’ve been thinking a lot about how youth workers (especially those of us in conservative, evangelical churches) approach gay, lesbian and bisexual teens in our communities.  I’m considering recording some interviews on the topic for upcoming podcast episodes, but I want to share some initial thoughts and questions here. I think that youth workers have [...]

Read the full article →

The Polaroid Approach for Curriculum Creation

February 26, 2009

A recent post on 37signals’ “Signal vs. Noise” blog cites an interview in which Quincy Jones talks about Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller album.  When making the record, they created “polaroids” or rough recordings of 600-700 potential songs.  They kept what worked and trashed what didn’t.  As Tom puts it, “That way, failure is cheap.” Our [...]

Read the full article →

Fireproof: Good and Bad

February 20, 2009

I recently watched Fireproof, the most recent Sherwood Pictures joint, so I could discuss it on the Youth Hacks Podcast. I don’t feel like I was very articulate on the show (although I was quite verbose.  Sorry, Sara), so I thought I’d make up for it by sharing some of thoughts here. So here’s a [...]

Read the full article →