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The Afterglow

It’s 12:49AM and I can’t sleep. No, it’s not insomnia or Netflix keeping me awake tonight. It’s not the rabbit hole of random youtube videos or late night work projects keeping me from dreamland. No… It’s you that’s keeping me awake. It’s your students that have sleep escaping me tonight. I’m not an overly spiritualized […]

The Season of Silence

Do you ever feel like God is giving you the silent treatment? Yes, I know that we KNOW better. But let’s drop the front and be completely honest for a moment. Have you ever FELT like He was giving you the silent treatment? Have you ever felt like the more you prayed, the further away […]

Highlights & Blooper Reels

It has happened more often than I care to relive. It could be a spilled drink. A dropped slice of pizza. A text sent to the wrong person. Those tiny, minuscule mistakes. The “Oopsy-daises”. The accidents. The “Uh-ohs”. Regardless of what you call them, mistakes are a part of life. They will happen. It’s inevitable. I […]

6 Years

6 Years.
72 Months.
312 Weeks.
2,191 Days.

The Fear of Sucessfulness

I pride myself in it. It’s intentional. And quite honestly, it’s imperative. In every place I have ever been fortunate enough to lead a Student Ministry, I have taken the time to personally invest in my successor, or at the very least in who I thought could fulfill that role once I was gone. While […]

A Note In a Pocket

The stage was set for what would become one of the prime moments in WW2. The rehearsals had been a success. The deception had bought the time that was required. The troops were prepared for one of the most successful amphibious assaults in world history. Tuesday, June 6th, 1944 at around 6:30 AM local time, […]

No Anointing Necessary

“You cannot grow a ministry without the anointing of God” If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. It was the most common refrain of nearly every instructor in Bible College. With their gray hair and weathered skin showing the wisdom behind their statements, they would make that proclamation. But the older […]

4 Tips – Developing a Youth Staff

“How do I recruit and develop a Youth Staff?” It’s one of the most common questions I get when I spend time with Youth Leaders. Dealing with volunteers can be one the most nerve-wrecking, yet imperative things we do as leaders. Our effectiveness as Student Pastors can be significantly impacted if we try to do […]

7%

7%. No, it’s not the percentage of Student Pastors that are prepared for Youth Service tonight or the probability of that JR High boy using deodorant today. Statistics say that only about 7% of ministry happens behind the pulpit. That means 93% of your effectiveness as a Youth Leader will be predicated upon how you […]

Passion Vs. Position

God and I made a deal. And by that I mean He told me to do something and I fought it until I finally agreed. The first post on The Backstage Project site was in early 2010. But the idea for it was birthed long before then. All throughout my life, I have had a […]