• How to Get Ministry and Vision Buy In

    Vision is of little value unless it is adhered to. I may have fantastic goals for the team I am leading, but if I fail to move them to a new stage—all I did was spout ideas. The challenge of translating vision to reality faces even the best leaders, leaving us with today’s question: HowContinue reading →

  • "Jesus on Every Page" Book Review

    “Jesus loves you.” “You are accepted by Jesus.” “All you have to do is be in relationship with Jesus.” These messages and similar entry level sermonettes make for great starters–but they must continue beyond an opener if we want our students to grow in the Word. I fear that at times, as a youth worker,Continue reading →

  • Facing Discouragement: Confessions of a Lead Pastor

    Looking over my twenty years of pastoring, I recognize that I have faced plenty of discouragement. As I reflect on it I can see three distinct avenues for it to creep into my life and my ministry: Emotionally Depending on Highs and Lows Direct Attacks Weariness

  • Developing Godly Confidence

    Confidence is an often-overlooked but important aspect of any ministry endeavor. It is paramount for someone who would lead others in any direction, and this holds true for those who desire to lead others toward Jesus. For better or worse, many of us do not naturally exude confidence. Such was apparently the case for Timothy,Continue reading →

  • Shying Away from Evangelism: Confessions of a Youth Worker

    President and Founder of Dare2Share Ministries, Greg Stier, spent time at the Momentum Youth Conference in Chicago last summer. Getting a few moments to hang out with Greg backstage, ON MISSION Insights asked, “Why do youth workers shy away from evangelism?” “Some of it is personal,” Greg began, “Many youth leaders don’t personally share theirContinue reading →

  • Leaders are Readers: Five Keys for Growth

    A popular axiom in leadership circles says, “Leaders are readers, and readers are leaders.” As is the case with all axioms, this is a bit of an overstatement. Nonetheless, there’s no question that if you dig into the personal habits of a leader, generally you’ll find books. There are many reasons why reading is endemicContinue reading →

  • Incident Report: FREE Download for Youth Ministry

    As much as we would like youth ministry to solely center on missions, ministry, and discipleship; organization and management are also vital to student ministry. When concerning incidents occur, a simple incident report can streamline information, track details, and keep your leadership team all on the same page.

  • Easter Reflections for a Busy Leader

    Holidays are rarely a vacation if you work in ministry. It is true that these times of the year make wonderful outreaches, bring in new guests, and offer fantastic connection points. But I would also be curious to find out how many times it is easy for those of us who are involved in eachContinue reading →

  • 3 Keys to Life-on-Life Evangelism

    Evangelism is often an abstract and misunderstood word. We think of the end result and not the journey towards a life reconciled to Christ. Today, we are going to look at that journey and how placing value on authentic relationship is the center of life on life evangelism. Here are three facets of that pathway:

  • Transferring Youth Leader Conference Insight into Your Ministry Culture

    I recently attended CELS –CE National’s leadership summit for youth pastors and leaders. I came away with encouragement, practical methodology from top  leaders including Keith Minier, Kurt Johnston, and Knute Larson. It was keen, it was fantastic, and it was somewhat like drinking from a fire hydrant. With so much great information and inspiration toContinue reading →

  • "Branding Faith" Book Review – Phil Cooke

    In a world full of digital clutter, mass-media marketing, and commercialism–where does the church fit into the noise of our culture? Phil Cooke tackles that very issue in Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact Culture and Others Don’t.While it might seem awkward ranging to a level of taboo to talk about “branding” whenContinue reading →

  • Confessions of a Lead Pastor – Busyness and Me

    Busyness destroys a person on so many levels. As a lead pastor, I have often given into this slave master. But it isn’t worth it. Here is what I have realized: Busyness eats emotional energy. It drains life out of you. It makes life so much harder because when you are busy, you are easilyContinue reading →

  • Integrating Volunteers into Planning Successful Youth Outings

    As the lead youth director, I admit that I often have a plan in place for how I envision an outreach, event or outing to occur. But the fact of the matter is that there is a possibility for me to overrun my volunteer team with the plan in my head if I don’t communicate.Continue reading →

  • The Delegation Myth

    As pastors and leaders, many of us have a desire to learn effective leadership. We care for the people we work with and we want to learn how to pull in team efforts. We have all read leadership books that talk about effective delegation and how we need to pull back from taking on tooContinue reading →

  • How Students Connect the Dots of Evangelism

    During  Momentum Youth Conference 2014, Greg Stier shared a story about his twelve year pursuit of sharing the gospel with his family member. The endurance and dedication he placed into that relationship is capsulized in his message, seen here. We caught up with Greg after the session and asked him what encouragement he had forContinue reading →

  • Youth Group in a Box – Greg Stier Speaking at Momentum Youth Conference

    What is Youth Group in a Box? We have designed everything you need to create an engaging, high-level youth group lesson direct from Momentum Youth Conference’s nationally recognized speakers. By taking well-known speakers such as Greg Stier, Francis Chan, Sean McDowell, and more and digging into the heart of the message, we have provided easy-to-followContinue reading →

  • Shifting from Solo to Team Leadership

    It is encouraging to see the number of leaders in the church who have made the shift from solo leadership to team leadership. Does team leadership mean that the pastor is no longer the leader? Not at all. Instead, a deeper leadership is at hand—oversight and vision.

  • Know. Be. Do.

    As we interact with students, a great insight to help them start to think their own development are three simple questions: “What do I need to know?” “Who do I need to be?” “What do I need to do?” Or to make it simple: Know. Be. Do.

  • Forming Servant Hearted Churches

    Pastor Ed Trenner shared in October’s Pastor’s Equipping Forum on how Grace Church of Orange developed an equipping culture within the church. His decades of pastoral wisdom show us a good foundation for healthy, equipped, servant-minded congregations. A few key insights included:

  • "Truth Matters" Book Review

    “What do you do when the Bible goes from being the answer to being the question? …How can you begin to develop faith in such a confusing world?” – page xvi “Truth Matters.” Students face skepticism and doubt from not only their peers, but their instructors, if not their own self. Open discussion about historicalContinue reading →