On a middle school campus

Posted on: 12/11/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

This semester I’ve had the privilege of hanging out at a middle school just 14 minutes from my house and we’re getting ready to start a campus ministry reaching the campus… but it’s not easy.

I met the principle earlier this year when I was doing research for my bullying book. I love this guy. He’s an amazing educator who is more “encourager” than “disciplinarian”… the school is so lucky to have him. I got to know him a little better when he brought me out to teach my Parenting the Smartphone Generation workshop to the school’s parents, and I’ve been hanging out on campus about once a week with him during lunch since.

One day I mentioned that it would be cool to see a Campus Life or Young Life club on campus and he welcomed the idea. So I literally walked into the church across the street, met the youth pastor and said, “Do you want to help me reach this campus?” Continue reading “On a middle school campus”

A Christmas Message You Can Use

Posted on: 12/6/18 3:32 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Looking for a Christmas message you can use?

Here’s a talk I  wrote about the many “distractions” the world dangles in front of us during the Christmas season… so much that we lose sight of Christ!

I begin the talk showing the top gifts teens have put on their Amazon wish list this Christmas… every single one of them has to do with screens or tech.

Here’s the message, along with some small group questions! Enjoy! (Download Youth Ministry -DYM- did an AMAZING job making professional slides for this talk available HERE for just a few bucks.) Continue reading “A Christmas Message You Can Use”

Broke 1000

Posted on: 11/26/18 5:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Amazed once again at how good God is… last weekend Black Friday shoppers loaded up on my Guy’s Guide to God, Girls, and the Phone in Your Pocket. The book was ranked 924 of ALL BOOKS on Amazon through the weekend.

Not bad at all for a Christian book to teen guys!

It’s funny, this is the book that parents keep buying and when I read the reviews, the common consensus is, “I bought this for my son (grandson, nephew, little brother) and he actually liked it!”  (I always laugh when people are so surprised when a guy actually reads a book!)

Shout out to my editor to Kelly for setting the vision for this one!

 

on Canadian TV talking about bullying

Posted on: 11/21/18 1:56 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Last week Canadian TV show 100 Huntley Street aired a series of interviews with me about bullying, and how parents, teachers and youth workers can actually prevent it.

Here’s the two part interview…

PART I:

PART II: Continue reading “on Canadian TV talking about bullying”

please pray for us

Posted on: 11/2/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s been an interesting week, with my new bullying book releasing yesterday, and doing a two day show about bullying with Focus on the Family

But honestly, my mind is on tonight.

Tonight and tomorrow my friends Sean McDowell, Greg Stier and Caleb Kaltenbach are joining together with me to speak to church leaders about reaching LGBTQ youth at our Anchored Leadership Conference.

We are excited, yet nervous, about this event because we know Continue reading “please pray for us”

Focus Interviews Me about Bullying

Posted on: 10/29/18 1:50 PM | by Jonathan McKee

This Thursday and Friday Focus on the Family will be airing a two-day radio show where they interview me about how parents and teachings can prevent bullying.

Here’s just a quick snippet:

Here’s Continue reading “Focus Interviews Me about Bullying”

Sooooooooo excited

Posted on: 10/22/18 4:48 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I don’t know the last time I was this excited about teaching at a conference. Maybe it’s because it’s something we are sooooooooo passionate about, reaching young people who identify as LGBTQ+.

This isn’t your typical conference. It’s just something my friends Sean McDowell, Greg Stier and I were talking about… and we were like, “Let’s do it!”

And so we did.

I’m talking about the Anchored Leadership Conference in just a couple weeks on November 2 and 3… either in SoCal or live-streamed that week (if you can’t watch it live, you can actually replay it once that week for up to one week).

We put together the conference because it’s addressing hands down the biggest issue we’ve been getting questions about in the last two years Continue reading “Sooooooooo excited”

View from the Edge

Posted on: 10/16/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Some of you might have caught the exclusive excerpt of my new book I posted on our parents site last week. The following is ANOTHER excerpt from the first chapter of my brand new book, The Bullying Breakthrough, releasing this month…  the first book where I finally tell my story…

Chapter 1: View from the Edge

“Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

We’ve all heard it. We all had teachers who reiterated it. “…word will never hurt me.”

Complete foolishness.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I probably don’t even need to give you thirteen reasons why Continue reading “View from the Edge”

Would you like to screen my newest book to teen guys?

Posted on: 10/8/18 1:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

In the next few weeks I’m wrapping up my first draft of my next book, The Guy’s Guide to Four Battles Every Young Man Must Fight.

Would you like to read/screen it next week? Whoever does will get a free copy of the book on its release next year.

I only ask one thing– that you read it within a week. Interested? Keep reading.

I’m writing this book because of such a positive response to the first Guy’s Guide book I wrote: The Guy’s Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. This book has been an Amazon best seller for two years now and seems to resonate with young men. I love reading the reviews because most of them are written by Continue reading “Would you like to screen my newest book to teen guys?”

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Are games actually effective in youth ministry?

Posted on: 09/25/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s an interesting question, coming from a guy who has over 1000 free game ideas for youth workers on the brand new TheSource4YM.com

But honestly… that’s why I asked the question. Because our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page is our most hit page on the website, and I want to make sure that youth ministries aren’t “just playing games”… I’m hoping that games serve as a springboard to meaningful conversation.

That’s why on our newly revamped website (have you seen it… it’s literally only been up a few days now), I put our newest FREE TRAINING VIDEO, a YouTube video titled, “Are Games Effective in Youth Ministry” right there on the side bar in hopes that visitors to our page will click and be challenged by what I ask them: Continue reading “Are games actually effective in youth ministry?”