Tonight at a memorial service for Jessi Rees, I got some insight about why we die and have funerals. Jessie was only 12. Why would she die and why would we have a memorial service? Memorial services aren’t a new concept. They have graves dating back to ancient times. It’s something we’ve always done, but [...]

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Tonight I attended the memorial/celebration service for a 12-year-old cancer victim named Jessie Rees. The word “victim”, however, hardly describes her. She was a warrior. Jessie saw so many other cancer patients who could use some joy in their lives so she created Joy Jars. Her goal was to deliver 1 Joy Jar to each [...]

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I’m writing this post while sitting in a volunteer leadership event. Its a GREAT event. They’re doing a great job. Pastor Rick Warren came and spoke, videos and pictures of stuff we’ve done were put up on the big screen. Letters of changed lives as a result of our work have been shared. It’s been [...]

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“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now [...]

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I was this great post by Jonathan Tripp over at SimplyYouthMinistry.com. The article is about one of my favorite topics: Training Youth Ministry Volunteers. I put a clip below. Head over there to see the entire article. Training As a volunteer, I was excited to get to attend training sessions. Now, I get so many [...]

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I had dinner with a student tonight to talk about a Christian club he started at his school. I’m very proud of this student and gave him a lot of encouragement and ideas. I also made sure I expressed to others in front of him how proud I was. Tonight, however, we’ve exchanged a few [...]

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Here are a few tips for counseling your students with their parents: – Don’t be available at a moment’s notice. If you can delay the appointment for at least a few hours after the explosive argument, they’ll have a chance to cool down and the session will be more productive – Start the appointment with [...]

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Sometimes a student will reveal something monumental in their lives that we’ll need to help them through. Conversations I’ve had or other leaders have told me about include such topics as drug use, gender identity, sexual impurity, abuse, thoughts of suicide, among others. These can catch any youth worker off guard. However, it’s always an [...]

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I love our students. They’re incredibly helpful around the church, passionate about the causes of Christ, eager to sign up to go on mission trips, etc. With some of them, however, there’s a huge disconnect with the work of the church and their interactions at home. I’m not surprised anymore, but I am at a [...]

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Even though I’m a volunteer, I started a tradition of meeting with parents of students who attend my small group Bible study. It’s great! Parents typically don’t contact me because they don’t want to intrude on their kid’s world. I don’t contact parents because I think they’re busy. Since I started this last year, my [...]

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