flashback friday (april 29): this week's links from the youth ministry blogosphere

One of the things we are committed to at ym360 is Networking. Our vision for networking is connecting you to people and organizations doing awesome youth ministry. Flashback Friday is a feature where we give you the run down of all the awesome posts from the past week in the youth ministry blogosphere. Consider it our way of keeping you connected with what is going on.

This week's posts from the ym360 Blog

• Best Youth Ministry Advice? Be Yourself!
• Youth Worker BOOST: A Shining Light
• 7 Characteristics of Effective Small Groups
• Youth Ministry Essentials: To Stick Around? Or To Jump Ship?

Posts From Other Awesome People

We search the Internet to bring you relevant information to help you be a better youth worker. Here are some links from posts we thought were pretty great.

• The Disciple Project--I am putting up Paul Turner's blog post this week not simply because it is a good post (it is), but because I want to spotlight Paul. Paul is one of the many people who was deeply affected by the tornados in North Alabama on Wednesday. The community in which he serves is a small, close knit, semi-rural area. They are great people. And they were devastated by the storms. Paul's church was damaged pretty badly. But much of the community was simply wiped off the map. PLEASE pray for Paul and the community of Pleasant Grove (along with all the other affected areas). If you want to shoot him a message through his blog, that would be an awesome idea!
• Youth Ministry Geek--Oh man, this looks super cool. Its a site that allows you to make your own countdowns. Huge tip of the hat to Chris. Great find.
• Youth Ministry Conversations--Our buddy Bill Nance posted a great list of "Top Youth Ministry Resources." Bill so kindly mentioned us :). But, I also completely agree with the rest of his list. There are some great resource providers on here. Check them out.
• Doug Franklin--Good buddy Doug Franklin writes another awesome post about the way in which good teaching establishes good leadership. There is not a better student leadership voice out there.
• Brian Aaby--I don't know Bryan really well, but the times I have had the chance to talk with him, I left impressed. His blog is a great one to add to your reader. This week he writes a straightforward post on Parent-Youth Pastor relationships. There are some real gems in here. Check it out.
• Lars Rood--Lars is a great youth minister. I love his take here in a post entitled "Youth Pastor Job Description: Be An Advocate For Teenagers."
• Jay Higham--Jay, a contributor to the ym360 Blog, writes maybe my favorite post of the week. Jay talks about his idea of what family ministry really means. I like it.
• The Mayward Blog--I don't know Joel, but I love his perspective. He writes an awesome post on what he will miss about junior high ministry. Worth a read.
• Forward Progress--Michael Kelly is simply one of the best thinkers I have the privilege to know. This post isn't specifically focused on youth ministry, but it is so very valuable that I wanted to share it.

That's all the links for this week. As always, have an awesome weekend . . . And THANK YOU for the chance to serve you as part of the ym360 community. 

Share your thoughts with the youthministry360 community:

• As usual, we want to hear your thoughts. Any particular post catch your eyes? Make you think? Did you disagree with anything? Let us know! Your voice makes the ym360 community stronger.