Get ready for a crash course in effective communication. More than just a book on how to do talks, Speaking to Teenagers combines the experience and wisdom of two veteran youth ministry speakers, along with insightful research and practical tools, to help you develop messages that engage students with the love of Christ and the power of his Word. Whether you re crafting a five-minute devotional or a 30-minute sermon, Speaking to Teenagers is essential to understanding and preparing great messages. Together, Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins show you how they craft their own messages and give you the tools to do it yourself. They ll guide you, step-by-step, through the process of preparing and delivering meaningful messages that effectively communicate to your students. Fields and Robbins walk you through three dimensions of a message the speaker, the listener, and the message itself and introduce you to the concept and principles of inductive communication. You ll also get helpful tips on finding illustrations for your talk and using them for maximum impact, as well as insights on reading your audience and effective body language. As Speaking to Teenagers guides you toward becoming a more effective communicator, you ll find that this book s practical principles will positively impact the way you view, treat, and communicate to teenagers."

While most youth pastors are being regularly evaluated (or even scrutinized) for what they're doing right now in the youth group, the reality is that the most important thing they are doing won't actually be evident until much later. That's because the biggest challenge for any youth ministry is helping teens embrace a whole-hearted devotion to God that lasts far beyond their years in the youth room. Unfortunately, much of youth ministry seems to be designed on the model of setting teenagers up for a "date" with God-a delightful evening that involves music, laughter, food, and light conversation. But what scripture calls us to is not a "one-night stand" with God, but a lifelong love of God that endures. Youth ministry educator and veteran, Duffy Robbins, offers youth workers a blueprint for building that kind of faith in teenagers. In this concise book, ideal for busy youth workers, they'll be equipped to build a youth ministry that instills that lasting faith in its students.

Let's face it-continuing to find a good source of daily devotions, let alone being focused enough for real spiritual refreshment, is almost impossible. But we all know time with God is important. The good news is, there is a way to work true connection with God into your daily life; you just need a Bible, twenty minutes a day, and a quiet place to practice lectio divina, which is rereading a passage of Scripture over and over so God can speak to you through it. And Enjoy the Silence is the perfect place to learn this amazing practice. Have you ever picked up the Bible and thought, "I'm reading this passage, but it really doesn't connect with me"? Or tried to start a prayer routine and gradually found yourself sleeping in or watching TV instead because talking to God felt too much like a one-way conversation every time? If so, it's not because God doesn't want to speak with you-it's exactly the opposite. And one way to not only find a personal connection to the Bible but also feel God's presence is through lectio divina. Enjoy the Silence contains simple exercises that guide you through this ancient process of reading Scripture, meditating on it, listening to what God is telling you, and then responding to the verses or passage you just read. It also contains tips for finding the best places to read and ways to continue your journey into the Bible and with God himself. Enjoy the Silence: contains a 30-day guided reading plan to jumpstart your deeper relationship with God explains the process of lectio divina and how to best integrate it into your busy life has the day's Scripture and helpful prompts in one place, so you can simply pick up your device and start is perfect for teens, young adults, and anyone looking for a new devotional experience

The lights are dim. The crowd is hushed. And a dozen teens start laughing hysterically, piling into a human 'boat' that helps set up the mind-blowing miracle of Jesus walking on the stormy Sea of Galilee. Maybe you re after a booster shot for midweek youth group meetings that feel 'same old, same old.' Or you ve just been asked (last minute, of course) to run the service at the shelter during your mission trip, and you need a jolt of energy that ll draw kids into your lesson. Whatever your creative need, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will fill the bill. Continuing where its predecessor--Spontaneous Melodramas--left off, this volume offers another two dozen tales from the Old and New Testaments that bring the biblical accounts to life . . . with distinctive, contemporary twists Although these no-rehearsal skits will leave your students in stitches, the humor never buries the message of Scripture. So you can be confident when bringing your kids--whether or not they re familiar with the Bible--into sketches like: The Sumptuous Spare Rib (Adam and Eve) Touched by an Angel (Jacob s wrestling match) Love on a Threshing Floor (Ruth and Boaz) The Wizard of Eyes (Jesus heals the blind man) The Great Pool Party (Healing at the pool) Dead Man Walking (Jesus raises Lazarus) Spontaneous Melodramas 2 is full of flexible skits that youth workers, Sunday school teachers, camp counselors, and retreat directors can use for discussion starters, icebreakers, or talk intros. And they re natural fits for Bible study programming, all-nighters, mission trips, camps, retreats, parent meetings, and many other events. More than a year s worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and fun, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will make the Bible--and its unforgettable characters and adventures--extra memorable for your students."

Youth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; but a lot of people get out of youth ministry because they didn t think about them. All youth workers---whether paid or volunteer, full-time or part-time---will find Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts to be a thoughtful, fun, practical guide to youth ministry administration."

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Youth Ministry (But Had No Way of Finding Out) Duffy Robbins, Len Kageler, and 10 of the most respected names in youth ministry, give you a hands-on, in-the-trenches look at the issues you'll face in youth ministry. Essays by Chap Clark, Helen Musick, and others provide case studies, guided discussions, and questions for reflection that bring to life the theory and theology of This Way to Youth Ministry. Here are some of the topics: * How will you balance your spiritual development with the needs of your group? * When is it a good idea to ignore the wishes of your boss? * Under what circumstances is it right to ask a student not to come to a group? * How can you know if you're called to youth ministry? * When is it right to "fire" a volunteer? * When is it right to "fire" yourself? Raw and relevant, this guide is full of first-hand experience from Dr. Chris Hall, Amy Jacober, and Allan Jackson, to name a few. Kageler and Robbins bring nearly 50 combined years in ministry to these essays and create a virtual ministry experience, allowing students to experiment with the issues and concepts found in This Way to Youth Ministry.

You know them as hilarious, boisterous skits that get kids involved, whether they're hamming up front, or in the audience cheering for the good guys, hissing the bad guys, and getting nearly as animated as the onstage actors. Better yet, these no-rehearsal skits are comic takes on 24 classic Bible stories, from Babel to Zacchaeus. Use these skits to take your students into or out of your Bible lesson -- for the humor never buries the central message of the Bible passage. Inside you'll find 12 Old Testament and 12 New Testament stories -- like these: - The First Tongue Twister (the Tower of Babel) - Josephine's Dream (Joseph and his brothers) - The Young and the Hairless (Samson and Delilah) - Dave, the Wave, and the Giant Kahuna (David and Goliath) - Dances with Lions (Daniel) - World Serious: The Empire Strikes Out (the temptation of Jesus) - Good Sam, the Levis, and Judas Priest (parable of the Good Samaritan) - Showdown at Tombstone (Jesus and the demon-possessed man) Unchurched teenagers who can't tell Samson from Solomon, or long-time youth group kids -- everyone will love not merely hearing or reading Bible stories, but doing them. Welcome to more than a year's worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and melodrama. These Bible-story skits are anything but solemn, but they'll make Bible stories memorable for your students.

Discipling teenagers means building a real-life faith into them. Which is exactly what youth ministry veteran Duffy Robbins explains how to do -- definitively -- in this sensitive, in-depth, and practical look at leading your kids into discipleship. No stranger to the challenge of discipling young people, Duffy draws from his decades of youth ministry experience as he describes a thorough, flexible discipleship program you can use with your students. In The Ministry of Nurture you'll find-- How to make faith practical in everyday life - How to help your kids develop their own faith - Seven keys to effective discipleship - How to help your kids build a faith that lasts - How you can help your kids apply their real-life faith in three key areas of the Christian life: outreach, nurture, and service - An important look at the two sides of peer pressure in the lives of young people -- Whether you're new to youth work or a veteran, The Ministry of Nurture is an indispensable addition to your youth ministry library.

You may not like it that students forgot your talk on temptation, but remembered your mouse-trap object lesson . . . . . . but the fact remains that nothing brings a lesson to life more vividly and concretely--or wakes up a drowsy Sunday school class faster--than a good object lesson. In Everyday Object Lessons for Youth Groups the authors (who are youth workers and teachers of youth workers) pool their most effective 45 object lessons into a collection that s perfect for both junior and senior high youth groups. Here are no-prep and low-prep object lessons for devotionals, Sunday school lessons, talks at camps and retreats--even for sermons. Inside you ll find object lessons about-- Beauty (using a kiwi fruit) Regret (a mirror) Divine protection (sun block) Anger (Alka-Seltzer and 7-Up) The power of words (Popsicle sticks) Priorities (manure) Confession (hydrogen peroxide) Temptation (a mousetrap) The person of Jesus (keys) Conformity (Play-Doh) Endurance (bricks) --and 34 more quirky and attention-getting object lessons. Use them to open your lessons . . . to dramatize your talks . . . to close your Bible studies with a demonstration. However you use them, you have Bible references and provocative discussion-starting questions with each object lesson to help you take it in any direction you want. And with both a topical and a scriptural index, you can find the perfect object lesson fast."

Rewired offers a summary of current research on computer-mediated-communication in reader-friendly terms; real-life insight from teens who us IM and MySpace on a regular basis; feedback and insight from youth pastors who use IM and MySpace in their ministry; specific tips on IM and MySpace use, including getting connected, using the language, and building a profile and value-added, interactive online components that will keep information fresh and current.