The Youth Cartel

random order life and cartel update

April 5, 2012

back in the day, i did these ‘monday morning update’ posts every single week. they included a little update on the past week and what was ahead, what book i was reading, what music i was digging. stuff like that. it gave me a chance to update stuff that didn’t deserve a whole post. i [...]

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insecurity and confidence

April 4, 2012

i launched a new initiative via my blog some time ago, something i was extremely proud of and excited about. within a few minutes, i received my first comment. it was from and old college buddy, who i’ve loosely stayed in contact with thanks to our digital world. his comment was negative and dismissive, along [...]

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photo in need of a caption

April 3, 2012

later this week, my family is heading up to washington state for a nice vacation, mostly at a timeshare on lake chelan. but the reason we’re heading to WA is because some of our best family friends are there, a family we lived across the street from years ago in sierra madre, california. it’s one [...]

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do you razoo?

April 2, 2012

recently, at one of my youth ministry coaching program cohorts, we were having a general idea-sharing time. and in a brief section where we were sharing administrative ideas, i asked if any of them used online means for collecting fees or getting donations for missions trips. none who were there had that technology on their [...]

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registration for the middle school ministry campference is open!

March 29, 2012

i haven’t written much about the middle school ministry campference in a while, and i have some very exciting news taking shape (to be announced in a couple more weeks, hopefully). but in the mean time, adam and i decided to go ahead and open registration. we didn’t change the rate from last year — [...]

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2-sentence book reviews, part 2 (young adult fiction and youth ministry)

March 28, 2012

time for another wad of 2-sentence book reviews! my format: i allow myself one sentence for summary, and one sentence for opinion (easy for some, really hard for others!). Young Adult Fiction Cracked, by K.M. Walton 5 stars a bully and his prey both end up in a teen suicide psych ward at the same [...]

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2 sentence book reviews, part 1 (general nonfiction, general fiction, and leadership)

March 27, 2012

time for another wad of 2-sentence book reviews! my format: i allow myself one sentence for summary, and one sentence for opinion (easy for some, really hard for others!). General Nonfiction Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks, by Ken Jennings 5 stars jennings (that guy who won forever on the tv show [...]

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determination, the great wall of china, and youth ministry

March 26, 2012

Last year I visited Beijing, China, speaking at a youth event for a collection of teenagers from expat churches. While there, I had the chance to spend a day visiting The Great Wall of China. And, while standing on The Great Wall, I had a couple thoughts about youth ministry. Weird, huh? You’re likely familiar [...]

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overheard in my 6th grade guys small group

March 22, 2012

a special treat this week in the “overheard” series… in my 6th grade guys small group, we’re reading through luke and acts. after we read, benton (whom i call benetton to clearly differentiate him from the other ben) often asks if he can summarize or retell one of the stories. they’re always amazing, so i [...]

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A Different Spin on the Problem of Materialism (and teenagers), part 3

March 21, 2012

(part 1 of this series introduced the subject at length, and part 2 suggested that the real issue isn’t materialism, but consumerism, and that we treat teenagers like consumers in many youth ministries, so challenging them on materialism is a non-sequitur.) What’s a good youth worker to do? Go ahead: teach about materialism. Like I [...]

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