Rick Lawrence, Author at YouthMinistry.com https://youthministry.com/author/rlawrence/ Daily Wisdom for Youth Workers. Mon, 18 Sep 2023 21:34:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 Killing the Cockroach https://youthministry.com/killing-the-cockroach/ https://youthministry.com/killing-the-cockroach/#comments Mon, 24 Jul 2023 10:00:08 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=76003 We all know that a cockroach is hard to kill… After the atomic-bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, the military reported that the only living things to survive the blast zone were these disgusting little pests.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/killing-the-cockroach/feed/ 2 What are the cockroaches of youth ministry, beliefs and practices that need to go, but keep surviving year after year? How can we finally put them to rest?https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/21-1-270x196.jpg270196 Ministering to Teenagers With Special Needs https://youthministry.com/special-needs/ https://youthministry.com/special-needs/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2023 11:00:15 +0000 http://youthministry.staging.wpengine.com/?post_type=magazine-posts&p=45782 Ministry to “special needs” kids is a big, big topic in the world of children’s ministry. If your ministry focus is grade-school kids, you can find dozens of books, workshops, magazine articles, and digital resources to help you come alongside the developmentally disabled.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/special-needs/feed/ 1 https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/GettyImages-511712047-e1478902961325-270x196.jpg270196 [DEVOTIONAL] The Pearl in Your Mouth https://youthministry.com/devotional-the-pearl-in-your-mouth/ https://youthministry.com/devotional-the-pearl-in-your-mouth/#respond Mon, 17 Oct 2022 10:00:59 +0000 http://www.morethandodgeball.com/?p=36800 In Jesus’ parable of the “Costly Pearl” (Matthew 13:45-46), the “formula” is simple… If you understand the value and beauty of the pearl, you’ll give up everything to get it: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/devotional-the-pearl-in-your-mouth/feed/ 0 https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/600x300-px-4-270x196.png270196 Inexplicable Belief https://youthministry.com/inexplicable-belief/ https://youthministry.com/inexplicable-belief/#respond Mon, 04 Apr 2022 10:00:04 +0000 http://youthmindev.wpengine.com/?p=47401  
Ever had someone believe in you more than you believe in yourself?
Or, even deeper, ever had someone invest inexplicable belief in who you are and what you can do?
Several years ago I wrote a book called Sifted. I’ve written many books over the years, but this was my first attempt to write something for a wider readership than the youth ministry community.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/inexplicable-belief/feed/ 0 https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/I-believe-in-you-270x196.jpg270196 The Butterfly Life of Teenagers https://youthministry.com/the-butterfly-life-of-teenagers/ https://youthministry.com/the-butterfly-life-of-teenagers/#comments Mon, 06 Sep 2021 15:50:23 +0000 http://youthmindev.wpengine.com/?p=54578 It’s easy to see teenagers like caterpillars that are wrestling free from the numbing rhythms of their everyday life and into their butterfly life—where they figure out who they really are and what they really have to give to the world.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/the-butterfly-life-of-teenagers/feed/ 1 It’s easy to see teenagers like caterpillars that are wrestling free from the numbing rhythms of their everyday life and into their butterfly life—where they figure out who they really are and what they really have to give to the world.https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/butterfly-270x196.jpg270196 Goodbye and Hello https://youthministry.com/goodbye-and-hello/ https://youthministry.com/goodbye-and-hello/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2020 22:53:39 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=77009 More than three decades ago I showed up for my first day of work at Group Publishing, a 26-year-old amateur theologian and journalist trained in investigative reporting, about to mount the lowest rung on my career ladder.
Six months later Thom Schultz, founder and CEO of Group, asked to meet with me… I remember the nervous, intimidated feeling I had as I walked the hallway to his office.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/goodbye-and-hello/feed/ 4 More than three decades ago I showed up for my first day of work at Group Publishing...https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/shutterstock_1316986151-270x196.jpg270196 How to Facilitate Racial Reconciliation https://youthministry.com/leading-students-into-racial-reconciliation-interview/ https://youthministry.com/leading-students-into-racial-reconciliation-interview/#respond Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:00:58 +0000 http://youthministry.staging.wpengine.com/?post_type=magazine-posts&p=52097 (EDITOR’S NOTE: I led this conversation with Jeffrey Wallace and Brent Crowe  several years ago, but it’s more pertinent now than ever. Racial tensions, like embers in a forest, have been whipped into a flames by controversial (and deadly) confrontations between white police officers and young black men.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/leading-students-into-racial-reconciliation-interview/feed/ 0 https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/GettyImages-507370427-e1478632107384-270x196.jpg270196 From the Belly of the Apocalypse https://youthministry.com/from-the-belly-of-the-apocalypse/ https://youthministry.com/from-the-belly-of-the-apocalypse/#respond Tue, 05 May 2020 21:58:09 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=76850 My home-based youth group (called Pursuing the Heart, Not the Recipes) meets every Tuesday night—20-ish teenagers from six churches and five schools, and from freshmen to seniors.
When the college students are on break, it balloons up to 25 or so.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/from-the-belly-of-the-apocalypse/feed/ 0 In the two months since we've went virtual, here’s what I’ve learned and observed along the path of this adventure of leading a virtual group.https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/chris-montgomery-smgTvepind4-unsplash-270x196.jpg270196 What I Learned After Leading My First Virtual Youth Group https://youthministry.com/what-i-learned-after-leading-my-first-virtual-youth-group/ https://youthministry.com/what-i-learned-after-leading-my-first-virtual-youth-group/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2020 16:00:30 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=76745 I know we’re all trying to figure out the best way to stay connected to the teenagers in our ministries during these extraordinary pandemic restrictions.
But we want more than just “connection”—we’re looking for ways to shift our spiritual-growth environments from face-to-face to virtual.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/what-i-learned-after-leading-my-first-virtual-youth-group/feed/ 7 We’re all trying to figure out the best way to stay connected to the teenagers in our ministries during these pandemic restrictions. Here's what I learned.https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/christin-hume-Hcfwew744z4-unsplash-270x196.jpg270196 A Ministry Primer for Navigating the Virus Outbreak https://youthministry.com/a-ministry-primer-for-navigating-the-virus-outbreak/ https://youthministry.com/a-ministry-primer-for-navigating-the-virus-outbreak/#respond Mon, 16 Mar 2020 18:05:23 +0000 https://youthministry.com/?p=76687 Sometimes the movement of history feels glacial; sometimes it turns on a dime.
And sometimes, today for instance, history shoves us off the subway platform onto the tracks. Now we must learn how to “live and breathe and move” in a world where “pandemic” is no longer a plot device in a film but a present reality.…

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]]> https://youthministry.com/a-ministry-primer-for-navigating-the-virus-outbreak/feed/ 0 With the coronavirus outbreak, lets focus on church-specific strategies that can help every youth leader navigate a rapidly changing reality.https://youthministry.com/wp-content/upload/ymprod/markus-spiske-11bjTWQ9mV0-unsplash-270x196.jpg270196