flashback friday (oct. 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 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

• Ym360 Trends & Culture Update (10/25)
• Why You Should Be At The Simply Youth Ministry Conference
• Why "No" Is One Of The Most Important Words In Youth Ministry
• Why I Believe In Youth Ministers

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.

• More Than Dodgeball.com--I absolutely LOVE this idea from Josh and the guys at Saddleback. Read it and consider incorporating it. I bet students EAT THIS UP!
• Youthworker.com--Great article by Todd Hoover. Youthworker surveyed "newbie" youth pastors and identified "common problems that make the work more difficult than they expected."
• Brian C. Berry.com--I love this post. Brian talks about all the stuff his students have saved from over the years.
• Youth Ministry Geek.com--Chris gives a great suggestion for easy photo sharing for your youth group.
• My Student Ministry Brainpan--Love this short post on being a resource to other youth workers.
• YMJen.com--I encourage you to give this post a read. It's a GREAT glimpse into the interworking of Jen's group, the challenges and questions we all face when leading our students (especially in the service work she is talking about), and the glimmer of hope for those of us who also wonder if what we do is really making a difference.
• Welcome Backstage.com--Noah writes a VERY encouraging post that is a great read for anyone in youth ministry, entitled, "Don't Give Up." A great reminder for all of us youth workers.
• Radical Parenting.com--If you follow Flashback Friday, you know I link to Radical Parents occasionally. They are not a religious website, thus not a youth ministry site. But I have found it to be a great source of articles on parenting and teenagers. This article is a great one that looks at the impact of brain development on decision making skills in teenagers.
• Volunteer Youth Ministry.com--Dennis gives us great motivation to send letters to parents providing some "real life" responses.
• Youth Ministry.com--Grant Byrd writes about the power of friends in youth ministry. Good read.
• Junior High Ministry.com--Kurt Johnston brings up the topic of the rise of the "uber parent." I know you will completely relate to this post. I love Kurt's observations here.
• Learning My Lines.com--This is the personal blog of Walt Mueller, Founder of CPYU. If you don't know Walt and his ministry, you need to. Walt beat me to the punch on this one. I saw this study and was planning on blogging about it (and still might). Walt nails the takeaway from a study that examines the sexual behaviors of New York City teenagers.
• Everyone's Called To Youth Ministry.com--Darren Sutton, a great youth minister and a ym360 contributor, writes an open letter to a friend who has left youth ministry. A must 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.