Disclaimer: The title of this post may be a bit misleading as evolution and creationism aren’t always needing to be at odds and can, in certain contexts, occupy the same space. This is why I tend to use the word ‘macroevolution’ below. Disclaimer over. You may continue. A recent study published in Current Biology and reported on the BBC website claims that dinosaurs may have warmed the planet. How you ask? With their farts. Researchers have been studying the methane output of cows and the effect this may have on global warming. Using the known flatulent  output (what a great phrase) of cows, researchers have calculated...

Eric Geiger from Lifeway has an interesting piece on his blog about how some children and youth ministries risk putting Leo Tolstoy on a pedestal and hailing him as a great example of the Christian life. Instead of preaching grace, many in youth ministry preach moralism. Eric says: Sadly, many churches teach as if they desire to produce children and students like Leo Tolstoy. Children’s ministries can drift away from the grace of God and drift into morality training, burdening children and parents with virtues apart from the Vine. Similar to some moralistic messages common in children’s ministry is the tendency to continually address...

A question that many people in youth ministry, and particularly those who do teaching, often ask is what is the best translation of the Bible for teenagers? There can sometimes be a temptation to pick the translation that fits what you’re trying to say. Before I get too far into this article, let me say this. Whatever you do, resist this temptation! It’s imperative that we, as teachers and disciples of young people, never use the Bible to try to fit what we are saying. The Bible should never be used to support any idea, clever thought or wisdom we may think we have. Instead, as those under the authority of scripture, we in...

A recent post from Mark Driscoll called 8 Principles For Churches That Want To Grow got me thinking about the challenge of discerning between guilt and conviction for those in youth ministry. As one of his points, Driscoll writes: (Leaders must) discern between guilt and conviction in times of transition. Developing this discernment is key, as you cannot do what everyone wants you to do and also do exactly what God calls you to do. As the old adage goes, if you try to please everyone, you please no one. Proverbs 29:25 says that fear of man is a “trap” or a “snare,” depending upon your translation. Fear of man causes us to live for...

I recently heard Phil Moore, the author of the Straight to the Heart series, speak about how to cope with mess in the church. As a youth pastor, the main context for most messy situations I find myself in (sometimes by my own doing!) are in youth ministry. I don’t mean to imply we have a loads of problems as a church or as a youth ministry, but we do have loads of people. Where there are people, there are problems and challenges. There is also God’s grace. This is exactly the point that Phil, using the words of Paul in Corinthians, was reminding us of. Phil writes: Paul doesn’t begin his letter (1 Corinthians) with...

On April 5th we had the huge priveledge of hosting the first ever Newday in a Box in Brighton. Massive thanks to the hundreds of youth who came out, along with approximately 100 youth leaders! Also, we’re HUGELY grateful to the 65 people from Brighton who helped make the event happen through serving in the band, cafe, security and lots of other key areas. Here’s a video one of the talented young guys in the church put together from the night. Enjoy!

Tweet Many people in youth ministry enjoy blogging, which I feel is a very good thing. Unfortunately there is there’s a lot of negativity in the blogosphere (that’s a funny sounding word), although I doubt that’s surprising to anyone. Christian blogs, on the whole, aren’t much different. There’s a lot of complaining and little in the way of solutions. So to ensure that this very blog post doesn’t fail its own test, I wanted to offer 5 tips for those who blog about youth ministry: Make it about Christ’s glory, not your own – Youth ministries exist for the glory of God, so it doesn’t make...

Tony Morgan recently wrote a helpful article called 5 Keys to Building Healthy Volunteer Teams. It was a very helpful read and I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting it with a particular focus on those in youth ministry. My apologies to Tony if I’ve changed any of his original intentions, but hopefully the main points still come across. Think of youth leaders as volunteers before you think of them as staff.  As lead youth ministers, it’s our responsibility to not pastor young people but also the leaders who serve under our direction. Thinking of youth leaders as staff will mean you’ll be more likely to demand results...

I recently attended a teaching day on Leadership Discipleship taught by a man who leads a church known for modelling discipleship incredibly well. He referred to an interesting quote from Warren Bennis, an American scholar who is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of leadership studies. That might not sound terribly exciting, but if you’re involved in youth leadership then people like Warren Bennis matter. Here’s a quote from him: The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born – that’s nonsense. In fact the opposite is true. Leaders are made. There can be a temptation in youth leadership to wait...