We did our Christmas party early this year. It’s always a battle of schedules later in the month, so, this year, we had ours on Dec. 1! If you are a youth pastor or just someone looking for Christmas party ideas, here’s an example of the games, schedule, devo, and other ideas we used this year… Schedule 4:00 Snacks 4:15 Christmas Jeopardy 5:00 Pray/Dinner 5:25 Devotion 5:45 Gift Exchange 6:15 Family Feud 7:00 Close Food We provided chips, soda, and an Oreo bar with several different flavors of Oreos (all Double-Stuffed, of course). Some teens brought snacks to share, but
Read more →Change is a bittersweet thing.
For us, change is coming in our youth ministry as Bro. Christian and Mrs. Sarah Saldana move here in January to come on youth staff and eventually transition as our church’s new youth pastor. I’m so excited for the future of our youth ministry, but I told our church that a little (or not so little) part of my heart gets ripped out every time I think of
Read more →The following article first appeared in the baptisttimes.org. Playing Guitar in a Grocery Store I was doing what normal homeschool teens do—playing my guitar in a grocery store. It was a gig in exchange for an amplifier, but an event that impacted my life. A man asked, “Are you Christian?” and the conversation progressed to the topic of sign gifts. I cared about truth, and needed answers from God’s Word. I went home and devoured a book from my youth group, crafting a lengthy response email to the man. It probably did nothing to change his mind, but the research sure helped
Read more →I write two notes per week to our teens. This was one of them: …and you weren’t there with me. It was a bummer. I missed being home, and I missed being in this class, in particular. No, not just this class—but YOU. I missed being around you. I saw a bunch of churches I recognized. I went to college with some of their youth pastors, so I got to catch up with some of them, but what I really missed was having you along for the event. The Youth Rally itself was cool. They do theirs monthly—Bible quiz, games,
Read more →I write two notes per week to our teens. This was one of them: Do you ever get “gun-shy” when you get in trouble? You know what I mean? You messed something up, or you hurt someone, and from then on, you think that person hates your guts. You walk into a room where they are, and even if you have made it right, it still makes your stomach sink a little. Or, you know you’re falling behind in an area and you feel bad around them. Believe me… I KNOW the feeling! There are times I’m scared to open
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Some food for thought from tonight’s Teens of Faith announcement sheet: What is sin? Well, duh, Bro. Ryan. Breaking God’s rules. Hm… so was it always a sin to lie, even before God made it one of the 10 commandments? Yes. The point of writing it down as a law was to help people understand God’s good intentions. Even our society full of atheists has a sort of moral code: it’s generally better not to lie, cheat, steal, murder, etc. I’m talking about MORE than the law… I’m talking about common courtesy. We shouldn’t lie because it hurts people and yourself.
Read more →Merry Christmas! Dear friends and fam, Your cousin Peggy Dunglesniffer’s Christmas card is probably more interesting than this, but here’s the update on our family from 2017: With our kids, it really has been awesome! Age 5 (Abe) is super cool. Kindergarten is a breeze and Abe’s reading 10 verses of Proverbs each day. Champ! He got born again (see John 3 in the Bible) while we were in Indiana this year! Charlotte (3) has become our Michelangelo (the painter, not the ninja turtle, although she throws a mean round-house kick to the face). Her newest compulsion is drawing. And
Read more →In typical fashion, I’ve morphed a good story into a bad one. Several bad ones, actually. Several bad stories per day. *sigh I usually end my posts with “enjoy,” but that’s dreaming too big, I think. Perhaps “endure if you dare” might be the best sign off. . . -Ryan Once Upon a NON-Time “Choose-Your-Story” Edition: Dec. 1. Once Upon a Time? Or Non-Time? Choose between two alternate beginnings. One is the true story; the other will leave you sadly disappointed. I promise. READ HERE Dec. 2. The Bible. Nothing weird here. Just a slight twist with a
Read more →Join the Romania team for daily devotions that accompany the DailyWay Bible reading schedule! June 27, 2017 – TUESDAY 2 Ki 13-14; Luke 1 Heading home. This journal gives you a place to capture your thoughts about God. He has spoken to you all week; how have you responded? He wants to walk with you. He wants you to be close to Him. Continue this journaling habit. Writing helps you. Keep it up! Love God, love others, do right. JOURNAL What did you learn in your Bible today? What was your favorite part of this week? What are 3 things
Read more →Join the Romania team for daily devotions that accompany the DailyWay Bible reading schedule! June 26, 2017 – MONDAY 2 Ki 11-12; Ecc 12 Listen to old people. That’s good advice in itself. But the BEST advice is what the old people tell you. The wisest old people are the ones who have learned the lessons the hard way. They’ve been humbled by the school of hard knocks. That’s Solomon. He’s an old guy who’s tried everything–EVERYTHING–under the sun. He came back and said, “Well that was a waste.” Solomon’s life was full of regrets. He had such a promising future. He
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