ym360blog

Celebrating 200

For today’s post, we wanted to take the chance to do something a little different.

We wanted to let you know that the ym360 Blog posted its 200th article yesterday.

As a ministry that has been officially launched for 220 days, these 200 articles demonstrate our daily commitment to you, the youth worker or youth minister who makes up the ym360 community. But, these 200 posts also represent a few other truths for us:

• God’s has been amazingly faithful in following through on the call He put on our lives to launch ym360.
• We have seen incredible generosity on the part of our awesome contributors (more on these guys and gals in a second).
• We are humbled daily by the awesome community of youth workers and youth pastors that has emerged around ym360.

ym360 is passionate about seeing teenagers grow closer to God through a knowledge and application of God’s Word. We address this passion primarily through our Bible Study Resources. But we are also extremely passionate about serving, equipping, and training youth pastors and youth workers in the local church. The ym360 Blog represents the main way we address this. So, in a sense, the blog is our most public expression of our heart for youth workers.

That’s why we’re so excited to celebrate this “small-but-meaningful” milestone.

As a way of celebrating, we thought we’d do a few things . . .

First, we wanted to share with you the Top 5 most-read posts in the last 7 months.

If you haven’t read them, or you want to read them again, now’s a good time to check them out:

1. 10 Steps To Reaching The (un-churched) Youth Of Your Community–ym360 Contributor Danny Ferguson struck a nerve with this ultra-practical post on how to reach out to those students in your community who are not being ministered to by a church.
2. 2 Simple Verses: The Role Of Scripture In Your Youth Ministry–A short post I wrote that looks at 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as the guideline for how we are using Scripture in our ministries.
3. FREE E-BOOK! Doug Franklin’s “Student Leaders are Church Leaders”–Doug Franklin, founder of LeaderTreks and a good friend of ym360, is the leading voice on student leadership. This Free e-book has two things going for it: 1) it’s short, meaning, there’s no excuse for you NOT to read it, and 2) it is PACKED with incredible insight on student leadership. If you haven’t already, download this book asap. You won’t regret it.
4. Youth Ministry Essentials: Attracting (And Keeping) Volunteers–Bucky Rogers is one of the best youth ministers I know. He is incredibly articulate and practical. This article gives 10 steps to attracting and keeping volunteers.
5. The Importance of Adult Involvement in Your Youth Ministry–This is an article I wrote that looks at several different studies that factually prove what many of us know: to keep students engaged and growing spiritually, meaningful adults are essential in your youth ministry.

Second, we thought we’d also link a few of our “staff favorite” posts.

These were posts that may not have shown up in the “most read” for whatever reason (some are relatively new), but that are still super awesome.

• If You’re Not Making Disciples, What Are You Making?
• Youth Ministry Essentials: The Interview
• Stress, Depression, and Anxiety In The Life Of The Youth Worker
• A Guideline For Improving Your Students’ Cultural Discernment
• Why The Pursuit of “Cool” Hurts Your Youth Ministry
• Why Not To Do What The “Other Guys” Are Doing

Third, we would not be where we are without the awesome collection of ym360 contributors.

These men and women are the ones in the trenches (like you). Most of them are in the local church, doing the daily work of leading students closer to Christ. Others are leading ministries that play a role in facilitating spiritual transformation in students’ lives. Whatever their specific role, ym360 is deeply indebted to their voice and their passion. We would not be who we are without them.

• Click here to check out our incredible team of contributors. (While you’re at it, read some of their posts.)

Finally, we want to let you know that there are some really cool things on the horizon for ym360.

We are just getting started. The future is bright, and with God’s guidance and the continued support from you and the ym360 community, we have some cool things on the horizon:

• We are planning some new features for the ym360 Blog. And you are going to love them.
• We have some incredible new resources coming over the next 18 months. I can’t express to you how exciting these are going to be.
• We are implementing some new tools on the blog that will make our awesome library of content more easy to access.
• We are adding a ton of new contributors who will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.

To wrap up, we just want to say thanks. Thanks for sharing in this with us. Thanks for your support and fellowship. And thanks for your daily commitment to investing yourselves in the lives of students.

If you’re new to ym360, or are simply looking for more ways to stay connected with the ym360 community, consider joining the ym360 Facebook page, following ym360 on Twitter, or signing up for the ym360 newsletter. If you’re not new, consider sharing ym360 with a friend, adult volunteer, or fellow youth minister.


Andy Blanks is the co-founder of youthministry360. Andy has worked in youth ministry for 12 years, almost exclusively writing, designing, and developing curriculum. Andy is a volunteer youth leader with his church’s youth group, leading a small group and speaking and teaching whenever he gets the chance. He is a teacher at heart and loves to challenge teenagers and youth workers alike through his writing and speaking.