flashback friday (dec. 10): 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 interesting 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

• 4 Types Of Parents In Your Youth Ministry
• Announcing "Live Different:" A New Bible Study Resource From ym360
• Why Christmas Is Perfect For Sharing The Gospel With Your Students
• Quick And Easy Christmas Games For Your Youth Group

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.

• Learning My Lines.com—OK, this is an important post. I respect Walt Mueller a lot and the work he has done at CPYU. We're not buds, but we know each other. He is as genuine a person as you will meet. I also care very deeply for Compassion International. Our family sponsors 3 children. I have see the work Compassion does firsthand in Kenya. They are quite literally the most legit organization I have ever encountered. Read this post to learn how you can make a big difference by purchasing some pretty sweet tshirts.
• Youth Specialties.com—You must, simply MUST, watch this video if you haven't seen it already. 7 churches in one small town, 7 different denominations, combining to do youth ministry together. So many lessons to take from this!
• Youth Ministry.com—Love this post from Doug and Matt: 12 Things We Hate About Youth Ministry. Great candor.
• Men Of The Cloth—Tweeted about this earlier in the week, but in case you missed it, here's a second look. Our buddy Jakob and the great guys at Men of the Cloth are doing good things with their blog. One of them is a new feature called "My Story." It's just a simple first person take on how youth ministers got into youth ministry. This first one is a good one, as I suspect they all will be.
• More Than Dodgeball.com—This is simply one of the most epic videos I have ever seen. I want to announce my free agency publicly for the next Kill Ball Tourny. I will play for any team that offers me a roster spot. I will also dress like a chicken, or any other ridiculous outfit. I want in! Josh, spread the word . . .
• Jesus and Teenagers.com—Benjer is becoming one of my favorite youth ministry voices. I love this post on the role of events in our youth ministries. Thought provoking stuff.
• Fuller Youth Institute—Great post from Dr. Powell on the stress level of today's pre-teens and teenagers. Worth a read (and maybe a pass-along to your parents).
• Everyone's Called To Youth Ministry.com—ym360 Contributor Darren Sutton writes a super-short (the best kind!) post on what to do (and what not to do) when the going gets tough!
• Doug Franklin.com—Doug nails it here in this very well written post. It makes the case for the importance of casting vision to your team. If you lead ANYONE, read this post.
• Marathon Youth Ministry.com—Tweeted this one earlier this week, as well. But worth a second look. Chris, one of our fine ym360 Contributors, writes a very good post on how bible apps are changing the way he looks at cell phones and such in his youth services.
• Curry Stew.com—DC Curry reposts an article about the 7 different DEADLY types of parenting. This is valuable stuff! A quick read.

That will do it, folks. As always, have a great 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.