Wednesday, March 31, 2010

You Have Potential for Student Leadership If ...

  • You have a relationship with God.
  • You have a heart and mind open to learning and growing.
  • You want to help others.
  • You can handle being challenged.
  • You want your life to count for something.
  • Does that describe you?
- Doug Fields, Help I'm a Student Leader (A great resource for training your student leaders! Using it with my students right now. If you want to order, use the 10% off coupon on the right side of my blog for this and all of your SimplyYouthMinistry.com orders!)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Laugh Today

Planet Impact Reminders 3.30.10

Monday, March 29, 2010

The Disappearing Car Door!

Sign me up! See the video here.

Debt-Free City Run by 88-Year-Old Mayor

You'll love this! What a cool lady! See the video here.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

John Piper's Upcoming Leave

John Piper is taking an 8-month leave of absence to examine his ministry, marriage and family. Read his letter below, and keep him and his family in prayer during this upcoming season.

John Piper's Upcoming Leave :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

"Ten Ways" by PK Dizzle

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Passion Play Catch Phrase

This morning in our staff meeting, one of our pastors was praying for our Passion Play and I thought of this catch phrase to encapsulate what he was saying:

Our Passion Play will have ... Good Acting ... Good Singing ... and most of all ... GOOD NEWS!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Holy Bible AD - Planet Impact Announcements 3.3.10

Let's Ride Road Trip Video Recap

Another Guest Post on MoreThanDodgeball.com

Here's another article I wrote called "The Leader's Pace" that has been published on MoreThanDodgeball.com. Enjoy!

“Let’s roll.” “C’mon you guys!” “Hurry up!” “You guys are lagging behind.” “Keep up.” “Stay together.” “We’re going to miss our train!” These are phrases that I often find myself saying and repeating when leading a group – whether it be on a missions trip in another country, in New York City, or even right here in Smithtown.

As a leader ... Read the full article here.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

Guest Post on MoreThanDodgeball.com

Check out my poem "A Prayer for Small Groups" published today on Josh Griffin's Website MoreThanDodgeball.com. Enjoy!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A 10-Question Survey for High School & College Dudes!

This is a message I received from my friend Marc Santom who has a great ministry to students in the area of sexuality. Please read it and help him out by taking the confidential survey yourself (if you're age 15-22) or passing it on to your students to take.

In order to keep some of my seminar & book research fresh, I composed a short, confidential 10-question survey for male high school and college students (ages 15 - 22) on the subject of porn use, temptation & recovery.

Of course, the more students I can get to take this survey, the better the findings and accuracy will be. And I would be more than happy to share with you the overall results, if you'd like to see them.

Over the next month or so, this Survey Monkey link: (www.surveymonkey.com/s/TJXTLKB) will be made available for any high school and college guys you have connections to. I know y'all are crazy busy and may not have time to help me out--and that's OK. No worries. But if you can, that would be flippin' sweet!

Some of the early findings have already been very interesting. And, again, I'd love to share the results with any of you who are interested.

Take the confidential survey here.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Mark Your Calendars: What's on Sale When

Mark Your Calendars: What's on Sale When

By ConsumerReports.org

Sales used to be relatively predictable. A popular 1975 book could say with assurance that luggage went on sale in March and the best month to buy a baby carriage was January or August. But these days, with stores pumping out weekly sales circulars and manufacturers introducing new models as fast as they can get them off the assembly line and onto a containership, all bets would seem to be off.

Or are they? We found that it's still possible to use the calendar to save money on major purchases. Our researchers combed industry surveys and publications, and consulted our in-house experts to compile the calendar. Consider it a general guide, and keep your eye on those sales circulars anyway because there will always be exceptions. Bear in mind, too, that the best time to save money isn't always the best for selection. In some cases, your bargain might be a discontinued model without all the latest features.

Some other tips that don't fit neatly into the calendar:

Airline tickets tend to be least expensive to buy on Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. Worst days to fare shop are Saturday and Sunday.
CDs and DVDs generally come out on Tuesdays and might be on sale for the first one to three weeks.
Jewelry sales are common, except around Valentine's Day and the December holidays. So plan to buy early or hope that your beloved will settle for an IOU.

January
Bedding, CDs and DVDs, computers, cookware, houses and condos, linens, swimwear, toys, treadmills and ellipticals, TVs, winter clothing.

February
Humidifiers, indoor furniture, treadmills and ellipticals, houses and condos.

March
Digital cameras, humidifiers, small consumer electronics (MP3 players, DVD and Blu-ray players, etc.), TVs, winter coats, winter sports gear.

April
Computers, digital cameras, lawn mowers, spring clothing

May
Athletic apparel and shoes, camping and outdoor gear, cordless phones, lawn mowers, small consumer electronics.

June
Camcorders, computers, indoor furniture, small consumer electronics, summer sports gear, swimwear.

July
Camcorders, indoor furniture, outdoor furniture, swimwear.

August
Air conditioners, backpacks, dehumidifiers, lawn mowers, outdoor furniture, snow throwers.

September
Bikes, digital cameras, gas grills, lawn mowers, shrubs, trees and perennials, small consumer electronics, snow throwers.

October
Bikes, computers, digital cameras, gas grills, lawn mowers, winter coats

November
Baby products, bikes, camcorders, gas grills, GPS navigators, toys, TVs.

December
Bikes, gas grills, GPS navigators, home appliances (large and small), small consumer electronics, toys, TVs.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Doing Handstands on Glass 1,353 feet (412 meters) Above Chicago!













Last week while in Chicago for the Simply Youth Ministry Conference we had the chance to visit the Skydeck on the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower - glass enclosures that protrude from the side of the building 1,352 feet above the ground. I was so proud of my family - especially my daughters and my dad for demonstrating great bravery, overcoming their fears and getting out there. lol!

A Letter to Satan

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Praise for The Complete New Testament Resource for Youth Workers

We recently received this feedback from a youth pastor who is using our book:

"I am a youth pastor in New Brunswick, Canada and you just need to know that this first volume that you edited (of The Complete New Testament Resource for Youth Workers) is by far the most useful, well organized, and clear resource that I have ever used. The ideas/questions/games are all easily transferable into my ministry setting and the teens really do learn from them. Thanks to you and your team for helping me help students dig into the Scriptures."

Volume 2 is done and in the editing phase. It should be out by summer.

Monday, March 1, 2010