Jonathan McKee, Author at Jonathan's Blog From The Source

MORE No Prep Games

Posted on: 01/15/15 9:12 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Earlier this week I shared a fun “no-prep” game, the kind that you can do on the fly to fill a void or liven up a party or event.

The nice thing about no-prep games is that you don’t have to run to the store really quick and buy 100 balloons, cut 100 pieces of string and pass them out to everyone (although Ankle Balloon Pop is a great game).

Here’s another one I saw this weekend. Youth worker Bekah Miller ran this with her youth group- an old classic game with a fun twist Continue reading “MORE No Prep Games”

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No-Prep Games

Posted on: 01/13/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

As a youth worker, I always like to have two games “in my pocket” at any given time. You never know when you need one. Even if you are NOT in youth ministry, you never know when you might need something fun to liven up a dying New Years Eve party (or Arbor Day party).

Last weekend I spoke at the Recharge event in the greater Twin Cities area of MN—a great event with 600 area youth leaders. My friend Tiger McLeun was at the helm and he ran a classic simple crowd game that was really fun. The game was called Continue reading “No-Prep Games”

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What Teens Want to Read

Posted on: 01/7/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I always find it intriguing to see what forms of entertainment today’s young people are digesting in our culture. For most of us, that brings to mind the newest Vine video, social media app, or Nicki Minaj song in the Top 10. But what about books?

Every since Harry Potter, we’ve seen a surge in YA fiction (often followed by movie releases), like the Twilight series, the Hunger Games trilogy, Divergent, or the more recent The Fault in Our Stars. In a world with so many entertainment options, what is it young people are actually reaching for on the shelf today? And with steamy adult books like 50 Shades of Grey surging mainstream… will this trickle down to the teen market?

I asked YA author Continue reading “What Teens Want to Read”

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Three states this week

Posted on: 01/5/15 6:27 AM | by Jonathan McKee

This week I hit three states, speaking to kids in WI, training youth leaders in TX and MN, speaking at a church in MN and teaching a parent workshop. Then later this month I’ll be in two more states… maybe even near you.

It would be fun to see you. Check out my calendar and see if I’m coming to a city near you! Continue reading “Three states this week”

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The Dark Undercurrents of Bullying

Posted on: 12/29/14 9:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I’ve been taking time off work for a few weeks during Christmas break to not only spend as much time as possible with my family, but also to finish writing my first fiction novel, a story about a school shooting on a high school campus—a sobering peek into the dark undercurrents of teen culture and bullying.

The book has been an interesting project, providing a porthole into the perspectives of various individuals: an athlete, a Christian girl, a bullied kid, a teacher, a cop… and countless other teens.

I admit, the book hits a little too close to home. As I dove into the internal psyche of the shy, teased, isolated kid who one day just explodes in a rampage Continue reading “The Dark Undercurrents of Bullying”

Posted in Books, Bullying/Cyberbullying, Personal, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Pausing for an Infant

Posted on: 12/24/14 7:32 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m running off to finish a project at my dad and mom’s house (we’ve dug up 165 feet of drainage- ditches up to 2 feet deep, and dropped in 150 feet of 6 inch pipe, 60 of it a French drain, with over 6 yards of rock) to fix a drainage problem long ignored and feared. So it’s been 3 days of hard labor for me and a crew of friends and teenagers… a fun mental break.

I just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a Merry Christmas from my family. It’s been fun having 5 kids around the house for the last few days. As many of you know, Lori and I are almost empty nesters now Continue reading “Pausing for an Infant”

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A Glance Back at 2014 Travel

Posted on: 12/18/14 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

flight As I peek ahead at my speaking calendar for early 2015… it’s getting pretty full. So I looked back at my travel in 2014 and this is what I discovered.