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Paul Turner

I've been working with teenagers for over 30 years and coaching youth workers for over 20 yrs. Sign up for my weekly newsletter the Youth Ministry Round Up for encouragement, articles and videos to help you build a successful youth ministry.

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Youth Ministry Round Up #232

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, The world is unsafe. It always has been. Before there laws, people did what they wanted. Before there were medicines, there were plagues. We've been on the edge of blowing everything up since Hiroshima. I am part of generation that did nuclear bomb drills in school, and you know what they had us do? Get under the table. A lot of good that would have done. To me, the ocean is unsafe. I was once caught in a rip tide and almost taken...
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We don't like talking about this, but ...

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Hey Awesome Person, ...we need to talk to our students about what's happening in our world. To this, I have attached a free discussion guide and prayer resource to help you and your leaders walk with students and parents during these uncertain times. With so much talk about war and global conflict, teens are feeling the weight—and often don’t have the words or space to process it biblically. This short guide includes: Open-ended discussion questions for...
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Youth Ministry Round Up #231

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, A few months ago, I did an interview with Raymond Chang, author of Future Focused Church and I asked him about the tipping points (he calls them check points) for churches in order for change to occur and this was his answer, Yeah, so these are not comprehensive, but to your point, we do, based on scripture and research and assessing the reality of a church's context, that there are three checkpoints that churches should consider...
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Youth Ministry Round Up #230

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, Like one who grabs a stray dog by the earsis someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own. Proverbs 26:17 This is just a friendly reminder. Stay in your lane when it comes to ministry. Stay out of everyone else's business if it does not concern you. Stay focused on your mission not every else's drama on or off line. Save your energy and put it into your family and your students. Hope your summer is off to a great start! Paul P.S....
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Youth Ministry Round Up #229

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, "To improve, compare little things. To be miserable, compare big things." - James Clear Have you ever been caught in the comparison trap? I have, and it smarts. This quote from James Clear frames, perfectly, what we should and should not be comparing. What's the difference between little things and big things for youth pastors? Little things youth group check in strategies social media tactics preaching technique Big things size of...
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This NBA Player Puts The Bible First

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Hey Awesome Person, Overrate This! Tyrese Haliburton. If you're not familiar with this name, your basketball loving students will be and he puts the Bible first. In April, I saw a story where, as NBC news reports, about Tyrese Haliburton, point guard of the Indiana Pacers, "Of the 90 players who voted for most overrated in The Athletic's poll, 14.4 percent chose Tyrese Haliburton, or about 13 players overall in a league of 450." Tyrese has led the Pacers to...
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Youth Ministry Round Up #228

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17,18 Do not let your heart envy sinners The head coach of the LA Chargers, Jim Harbaugh is famous for quoting his dad when we asks his team, "Who's go it better than us?" and the team responds, "Noooo Body!" Solomon is telling his son, don't envy sinners, no matter...
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Youth Ministry Round Up #227

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, I watched a video from Matthew Kelly and he offers some compelling questions worth asking before the year is over. Who and what are you most grateful for so far this this? What have you accomplished so far this year? What have been your biggest distractions? What personal quality is most preventing you from accomplishing what you yearn to accomplish and becoming the person you yearn to be? Whom have you helped more than anybody else...
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Youth Ministry Round Up #226

WEBSITE SHOP PODCAST YOUTUBE BLOG Greetings Awesome Person, If you do camp, let me offer you a few quick best practices about discipline The first best practice is to make sure that the right kids are on this trip. As much as you want every kid to come, every kid might not be ready for sleep away camp. I broke this rule but this was my process to help both the kid, the parent and myself. This was all in a 24-48 hour period. First offense: A warning call to the parent (just me) "Hey Mrs. X,...
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