Do you ever feel as if you are beating your head against a wall in youth ministry? Do you ever feel the desire to give up? If you are honest with yourself, does it seem as if you spend most of your time trying ...

It is not uncommon in church youth ministry circles to hear folks talking about YoungLife or other parachurch ministries stealing kids from the church or only targeting the in crowd. "They talk about integratin...

If I began to count the number of times students started a sentence with "My mom..." or "She..." (referring to the mom), it would take days! The relationship with the mom, good or bad, is often a conv...

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).Lesson purpose: To help servants of the Lord learn how to keep everything in balance in all aspects of life so they kn...

The Shack is a 100-page book, written by William Young. Young is the father of six children, and he wrote The Shack for his children at his wife's behest. Mrs. Young watched her husband wrestle with his inner d...

Running into Water: Women Immersed in the Pursuit of GodAngela BlyckerAuthentic Publishing, 2009, 226 pp., $12.99To be honest, I rarely choose to read books about being a Christian woman or mother because I oft...

The Volunteer's Back Pocket Guide to Youth Mission TripsBy Toby RoweGroup Publishing, 2010, 52 pp., $4.99This book could have been called The Volunteer's Back Pocket Guide to Youth Camp with the exception of a ...

The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define Who We AreBy Jenell Williams ParisInterVarsity Press, 2011, 180 pp., $15Have you received that call from the concerned parent regarding a son or da...

What is grit? It is a determination to follow through on our commitments. Youth workers need grit to finish summer camp assignments or disciple teens plagued by doubts. Sometimes adolescents' fervent faith...

The Complete New Testament Resource for Youth WorkersJack Crabtree, General EditorZondervan, 2011, 496pp., $29.99There are two common challenges to youth workers as they plan their weekly lessons: How do you br...