Mark DeVries, Author at YouthMinistry.com https://youthministry.com/author/mark-devries/ Daily Wisdom for Youth Workers. Fri, 30 Sep 2022 21:45:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 Surviving the Mess of Ministry https://youthministry.com/surviving-mess-ministry/ https://youthministry.com/surviving-mess-ministry/#respond Mon, 03 Oct 2022 10:00:24 +0000 http://youthmindev.wpengine.com/?p=59590 The launch of a new season in your youth ministry is almost always exciting and full of momentum. But fast-forward a few months, and your “best-laid plans” have not come together the way you’d hoped. The people who promised to help set things in motion are now distancing themselves.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/surviving-mess-ministry/feed/ 0 Youth ministry planning can be fluid, changing after feedback from teenagers and parents about schedule and interest. Embrace the mess of ministry.https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/Klaviyo-Warming-Email-Headers-45-270x196.png270196 Only Small Ones: The Subtle Secret to Big Wins https://youthministry.com/only-small-ones-the-subtle-secret-to-big-wins/ https://youthministry.com/only-small-ones-the-subtle-secret-to-big-wins/#respond Wed, 01 Jul 2020 14:27:25 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=77038 We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master
builder and the worker.
 We are workers, not master builders.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
(Cardinal Dearden, 1979)
We had pulled together a handful of youth workers from our city for a little mutual encouragement (and pizza). …

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]]> https://youthministry.com/only-small-ones-the-subtle-secret-to-big-wins/feed/ 0 The results are in. Our individualistic, isolated passion for youth ministry is just not going to be enough to move the needle. It will not be enough to give us the “big win.”https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/giorgio-trovato-_XTY6lD8jgM-unsplash-270x196.jpg270196 In Praise of Unfinished Discipleship https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship-2/ https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship-2/#respond Mon, 12 Nov 2018 17:30:10 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=61493 I’m just imagining the first followers of Jesus taking a “discipleship assessment” just after his death and resurrection. Would a single one of them make the grade as a “fully formed disciple” by today’s youth ministry standards?
If the model Jesus himself used produced the kind of results that would get most of us a poor performance review, maybe there’s a problem with the way we think about discipleship.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship-2/feed/ 0 In Praise of Unfinished Discipleship https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship/ https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship/#respond Thu, 20 Sep 2018 19:54:39 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=61350 I’m just imagining the first followers of Jesus taking a “discipleship assessment” just after his death and resurrection. Would a single one of them make the grade as a “fully formed disciple” by today’s youth ministry standards?
If the model Jesus himself used produced the kind of results that would get most of us a poor performance review, maybe there’s a problem with the way we think about discipleship.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/in-praise-of-unfinished-discipleship/feed/ 0 If the Alpha and the Omega had a mixed-results youth group, what makes us think that we can produce fully formed disciples by the time our kids graduate?https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/markus-spiske-763806-unsplash-270x196.jpg270196