flashback friday (jan. 7): 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

• Youth Ministry Essentials: Engaging Disengaged Parents
• ym360 Trends & Culture Update (1/5)
• Thinking Organically: The Highs (and Lows) of Junior High Ministry
• Benchpress And The Bible: What The Gym Can Teach Us About Discipling Students

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.

• Adam Mclane.com--Adam is becoming one of my favorite bloggers, in part because of how often he invokes some sort of response in me. Sometimes it is deep thought, sometimes disagreement, many times laughter. I thought this post was a GREAT post for a little inspiration for the new year (and any time, really).
• Terrace Crawford.com--I'm with Terrace: first time I saw this video, it killed me.
• Youth Specialties.com--GREAT POST! Three productivity apps for youth workers. I use two of them and love them.
• More Than Dodgeball.com--LOVED this post by Josh Griffin on the future of youth ministry. Thanks to Marko and many others, this topic has been getting some really nice airplay on the blogosphere. Josh, who I think is as important a youth ministry practitioner as there is, has a really solid take here.
• Jay Higham.com--ym360 contributor Jay Higham writes a GREAT post about the 5 hats a youth worker wears. Jay has been nailing it lately on his blog. It's a great source of insight about youth ministry.
• Called To Youth Ministry.com--Friend and ym360 Contributor Paul Turner writes a great post about avoiding conflict with your Pastor.
• Todd Breiner.com--Todd writes a great two part series on why you need a middle school ministry. This is part 2.
• Think Next Now.com--ym360 contributor Mark Cox writes a great post on Priorities in Spiritual Leadership. Really short, but really challenging (the best kind!).
• Doug Franklin.com--Doug's opening line says it best: A small group leader's greatest tool is a partnership with a parent. Great read.
• Ron Edmonson.com--I link to Ron's blog periodically. Though not a youth ministry blog, I find his insights on leadership to always be right on and almost always in short, digestible posts. This one is on 7 ways to maintain respect as a leader. Worth a read.
• Pilgrimage of the Heart--AIM staffer and all around good guy, Jeff Goins writes a great, short post making the case for short term missions as an important strategy for youth ministry.
• REyouthpastor.com--Friend and ym360 contributor Jeremy Zach writes a really thought provoking post on the role of pragmatism and self-experiment in your youth ministry. Definitely worth a read.
• Forward Progress--Michael Kelley is a an incredible thinker. His blog is a great source of meaningful reflections about ministry. While this post is not youth ministry specific, I thought the video was well done and Michael's insights fascinating. I love his question: "What would it take for 7 Billion people to hear the Gospel?"
• Andy Disher.com--Loved this post by Andy. The main point? "Love where and who you serve."

SYMC 2011 LINKS!!!!

SYMC is just around the corner . . . and registration closes next week. Here's a few blogs that make great cases for why YOU need to attend.(Here's a secret: We'll be giving away another free registration next week on the ym360 Facebook page. Stay tuned . . .)

• Life In Student Ministry.com--Friend and youth ministry blogger extraordinaire Tim Schmoyer gives a great take on SYMC. Pretty sure Tim is leading some workshops. . . . AND, his first book is releasing there. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
• YPGuyBrit.com--Brit shares my thoughts that SYMC is simply the best youth ministry conference out there.
• The Overflow--Brian Berry, also teaching at a workshop, gives some great reasons for attending SYMC.
• Xposed2Jesus.com--Brian Ford will be leading a Connecting Group at SYMC and links to the promo video here.

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.