the G sides

But now it’s about to kick up a notch.
First, wrapping up Camp Pinecrest. Hundreds of kids thinking I’m the greatest worship leader on the planet because we sing crazy songs and use squirt guns. Shaun Lane has been my “percussionist.” I like calling him that - percussionist. He prefers […]

I’m a little late in posting this. Last year was good, we’re doing it again.
A couple of changes this year. First, for some of the films we are going to combine both high school and middle school together.
Second, starting this week, after the film we’ll break up into our Life Groups and unpack […]

I need some help.
Campus Crusade for Christ is having a leadership conference in Croatia for all of their missionaries in Eastern Europe. It’s from July 1-15th.
These kids of these families will have their own tract to follow. That’s where I come in. I’ve been asked to lead the teenager tract. […]

This is part of our weekly journey through the book of Acts. Today is from Acts 11.
We need more ‘you’ve got some ’splaining to do’ moments in church. Moments when people hold up their hands, raise their voice and say - “Would you mind telling me what the heck is going on here and […]

I’ve had another article published by The Journal of Student Ministries.
You can take a look at it here.
Tags: Journal of Student Ministries, Tossing Aside The Tract, youth ministry

This week we do something I’ve never done in student ministry before. We’re going to try to read most of the Bible in one year using Doug Fields “1-Minute Bible.“
What I Like About It:
1. It’s easy to keep up with - 1 minute a day is doable. If you forget for an […]

One of our new students tonight was wearing the whole goth/dark uniform. Looked incredibly intimidating.
I walk right up to him and hug him.
“I’m Grant. What’s your name, dude?”
He tells me his name. I haven’t yet let go of his hand that I’m shaking.
“That’s a cool name. Are you […]

Len Evans‘ new article “Pushing Through” is up at YouthMinistry.com. It’s about sticking it out in ministry. Take a gander at it.
Len is one of my closest friends whom I’ve never seen face to face. I’m dead serious. We’ve been emailing and posting and calling for I don’t know how long […]

I met Mke Yaconelli at a Youthworkers Convention all the way back in 1999…or was it 2000? I can’t really remember. I remember I was wrestling with the frustrations of being a clueless youth pastor. I bumped into him in the Expo hall. Either I really looked depressed or the discernment […]

Dave Baumgartner is not only one of our elders, but he’s going back to school, finishing up a degree. One of the classes he is taking is a youth ministry class. One of his projects of the class was to observe and evaluate a youth ministry…so he picked ours. He observed, asked […]