I had the privilege of being in the wedding of a former student. All of the guys in this picture graduated from my small group Bible study the same year. It’s so fun to see them grow up and stay connected. Kevin, the one on the far left, is even leading his own small group [...]

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My birthday is tomorrow some some of our students and youth ministry volunteers threw a surprise party last night. Super cool!

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I blog about youth ministry partly out of passion for the task, somewhat as an outlet for ideas, but mostly to somehow be a resource to other youth workers. It’s great to help others avoid some of my mistakes, alter a perspective now and then or pass along the occasional joy of something that went [...]

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So I’m one of “those”. I’m sitting in line for the iPad 2. Been sitting here since 10:30 this morning. Currently it’s 2:40. Just 2 hours and 20 minutes until they release the darn thing. The cool thing is I’m about #20 in a line of about 150 people. When I get it, I’ve got [...]

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Here’s a video of The Landing.This is our new program I lead for students at Saddleback Church on Friday nights. It’s for students who need help getting over their hurts, habits and hangups. The Landing, Week 6 – Dennis Beckner from Dennis Beckner on Vimeo. We used the video below as a fun opener (minus [...]

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I’m near the end of another hiatus from blogging. Lots has been happening and changing in my life and ministry since October. It’s all good stuff, but it’s wiped me out of the blogosphere for a while. Here’s what’s new: – While I’m still a volunteer youth worker at Saddleback Church, I’m also on staff [...]

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Today I quit my adult small group Bible study. This group was a huge answer to prayer. I actually prayed over the course of a few years that God would lead me into a small group Bible study of friends where I could be accountable and grow spiritually. Recently, however, my group of friends I [...]

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This morning I start my first day working for the Celebrate Recovery Ministry at Saddleback Church. Although I will have many duties, the one I’m most excited about is overseeing a new program for students staring in January called The Landing. I will still be volunteering with the High School Ministry of Saddleback Church so [...]

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I’ve had some schedule conflicts with my small group students and prospective students for the upcoming year of small groups. Some can only meet on Tuesdays and some can only meet on Wednesdays. Being the problem solver that I am, I signed up to teach both nights. I think I’m going to love it, but [...]

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1. I was on TV with some friends. You can watch the episode here. A few weeks ago we went to a taping of Let’s Make A Deal. A friend of mine (Jonathan Telles) won over $7,000 in prizes. Today the show aired. Here’s a picture I took of my TV while watching the show. [...]

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