Blog
Beyond Passion: Living a Crucified Life
It wasn’t that long ago that the evangelical world eagerly awaited the release of what was being lauded as “the greatest evangelistic tool of our time.” The anticipation built as a brilliant marketing campaign invited pastors and church leaders to pre-screen Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ movie, and its trailer spread virally online. An…
Read MoreDeveloping Quality Youth Workers
Every youth leader understands the value of quality youth workers. We are constantly on the hunt for them, trying to weed them out from the crowds of church attendees we interact with every day. But the truth of the matter is quality leaders aren’t just found, they are developed. And it is our job as…
Read MoreThings we don’t talk about (like incest)
“Mama, I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I’m cleanin’ out my closet.” – Eminem, in Cleanin’ out My Closet He trusted her. That’s what little brothers do, so when his eight year old sister and her friend called him into a field, four year old Malik…
Read MoreBeyond the Noise: Worship and Justice?
Those Old Testament prophets sure know how to jab us where we’re comfortable. Every time I read this passage, for example, I can’t help but wonder whether Jesus would sing a different tune if he physically showed up to a stylized evangelical worship experience—a tune that sounds more like what his Spirit inspired Amos to…
Read MoreThink Small
Many of you might look at the title of this article and say, “Think small? Don’t you mean think big?” In our culture today, even in the culture of the church, it is more common to think big than to think small. Many times when people hear the word small, they cast it in a…
Read MoreOpEd: The Constitution is for everyone. Education should be too.
Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Let’s redirect the city’s energies into partnerships that advance our children. By Fernando Cabrera and Jeremy Del Rio Our city has a crisis that goes far beyond where congregations gather on weekends. Forty percent of New York City high school students…
Read MoreDave Gibbons – Present/Future of the Church
Join Dave Gibbons in his talk about the Present/Future state of the Church, given at RELOAD Lab Bay Area on Feb. 2012 Listen to Audio Recording or download MP3: [audio:https://uywi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2012-02-20_PresentFuture_Dave_Gibbons.mp3|titles=2012-02-20_PresentFuture_Dave_Gibbons]
Read MoreEmbrace the Mess: Why Youth Must Lead Now (Part 2)
Opportunity Not “me.” I wasn’t going to make this happen. We. Raw, gritty, spiritually immature street kids included, and whoever else wanted to help. We were going to have to lead this effort. Together. Not everyone from that initial meeting rose to the challenge. But thirteen of them did, ages 14-22. Most were struggling high…
Read MoreWhat’s Next for Seniors?
“It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.” – Harvey S. Firestone Every youth pastor understands the challenge they face when students finally become seniors. They seem to unplug. They complain that the programming is “too young” for them. There are very few programs they want to connect to. Let’s face it,…
Read MoreEmbrace the Mess: Why Youth Must Lead Now (Part 1)
Many of the Generation Xcel co-founders with the Summer 1999 interns “And a child shall lead them.” – Isaiah 11:6 “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” George Bernard Shaw It felt like a mutiny. As an official youth group, we were still young, not…
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