© 2008 Strategic Junior High. 
There are times I don’t really like my small group. Don’t get me wrong, I really like my 8th grade guys, I just don’t always look forward to small group. My guys are on the over-active side, they usually forget their Bibles, they rarely share a prayer request of greater consequence than ‘pray that my [...]
As our ministries grow, it becomes natural that our special events and activities grow, too. More students equals bigger events, bigger budgets, more planning, more medical forms, more vans to rent, more volunteers to recruit, more…well just about more everything! While this is all a natural part of a growing junior high ministry, I think [...]
Recently on his blog, Kurt Johnston, junior high pastor at Saddleback Church, started up a dialogue on missions and some of his thoughts on how junior high ministries typically do them. For many churches it’s a summer trip to another city to put on a VBS for students or some other low-intensity, small time commitment [...]
Self-Discipline: Persistence
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and [...]
Well, I’m not one to actively promote a whole lot of products but from time to time some pretty sweet stuff comes around that I think people should definitely check out. Angel Wars is an animated series that started releasing episodes a couple of years ago targeting the ‘tween’ demographic and I think they’ve definitely [...]
Self-Discipline: Industry
Industry is working hard. In contrast to hard work, being industrious doesn’t necessarily mean doing work that’s challenging or difficult. It simply means putting in the time. You can be industrious doing easy work or hard work.
Imagine you have a baby. You’ll spend a lot of time changing diapers. But that isn’t really hard [...]
(In this series of posts, we are looking at some components of good time management.)
Organization
If you are disorganized, it will be very difficult to make good use of your time. When you can’t find important items, it is easy to spend 15, 30 or 60 minutes each day just looking for stuff. When you [...]
“Our character,” goes the quote often attributed to H. Jackson Browne, “is what we do when we think no one is looking.” That’s how I’ve typically defined character. But not anymore.
Last week, I heard Dr. Henry Cloud speak at Willow Creek’s Children’s Ministry Conference. The psychologist, author, and speaker said how we define character is [...]
Project Management Source has created a list of 27 tips to help you improve your public speaking. Here are 10 that can help you preach better:
1. Know your audience.“Prepare [a sermon] that is understood and appreciated by those listening.”
4. Personalize your sermon.“Most people will relate and respond better to your [sermon] when you combine the facts with [...]
Andy Rowell recently posted a series of principles on his blog relating to improving small group ministry, I’ve adapted the list a little bit to fit a junior high context. Andy Rowell writes this series of principles based on the assumption that small groups meet outside of regular church services. This can happen at the [...]