Don’t kill your congregation

Posted on: 04/2/20 7:38 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Dare I write, don’t be an idiot.

It’s scriptural.

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (I Peter 2: 12)

What does “honorable behavior” mean during these times? 

It means don’t be the fool who still insists churches keep meeting together during the Coronavirus when Continue reading “Don’t kill your congregation”

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On a middle school campus

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

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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”

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Is evangelism shrinking across the U.S.

Posted on: 09/13/18 12:01 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Which states in the U.S. are full of the most committed Christians… and which aren’t?

And how are those numbers changing?

Many of us have read articles about the decreasing amount of believers in the U.S.– like this fascinating Washington Post article a few years back displaying 22 different maps of various religious groups and their influence in the U.S., or this one about weekly church attendance.

I find it interesting to see how this translates to youth ministry. Continue reading “Is evangelism shrinking across the U.S.”

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Two Completely Different Theologies… both Reaching LGBTQ Kids

Posted on: 08/2/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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In the last few months, in preparation for our upcoming Anchored Leadership Conference, I’ve been conducting interviews with people who are effectively reaching out to young people identifying as LGBTQ. I’ve been engaging in these conversations for several reasons:

  1. I want to learn as much as I can about how to help this hurting group of young people.
  2. I want to know how loving ministries can answer tough questions, like Continue reading “Two Completely Different Theologies… both Reaching LGBTQ Kids”

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Imposing our ideas of Jesus

Posted on: 12/5/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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A Northeastern village in Spain was the home of a magnificent fresco painting of Jesus on the church’s wall.

Time took its toll on the painting…

moisture on the wall caused it to fade.

In 2012 an elderly parishioner named Cecilia Gimenez acted on her own to restore the project… tragically failing in her attempt.

The results? Continue reading “Imposing our ideas of Jesus”

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face to face and hashtag evangelism

Posted on: 03/21/17 3:34 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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A live evangelism training that will create Gospel conversations both in person and on social media?

Yeah… God can absolutely pull that off, and no better person to work through than Greg Stier.

If you’ve been in youth ministry more than a minute, than you probably have seen Greg’s training videos, or heard him teach either at venues like the National Youth Workers Convention or at one of his Dare 2 Share events to a stadium full of teenagers passionate about sharing their faith. Greg is all about sharing the good new of Jesus and equipping other to do it.

And so am I. That’s why I’m super excited about the potential of Continue reading “face to face and hashtag evangelism”

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A remarkable man

Posted on: 03/14/17 3:46 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Last weekend I encountered a man so remarkable, the experience was life changing.

I didn’t expect it. I was visiting Maui by myself for the quickest trip to the island I’ve ever had, there and back in just a weekend for a friend’s wedding (not the choice way to do Maui). The ceremony was ocean-side in the beautiful Kahanu Gardens in Hana, a truly precarious drive, but breathtaking scenery.

As we were waiting for the ceremony to begin… this man caught my eye.

He was Hawaiian with a chiseled jaw, a tribal tattoo on his left cheek, and his grey hair pulled back tightly into a bun. He was probably one of the eldest people at the wedding, but no doubt one of the most physically strong. He was perfectly composed Continue reading “A remarkable man”

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The rise of the non-believing Millennial

Posted on: 03/2/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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What do you think of when you hear the word “Christian”?

How do think most college kids would answer if you asked them that question on a University campus?

A couple weeks ago Chance the Rapper burst into Christian worship at the Grammys… and people didn’t know exactly how to respond. It honestly seemed out of place to see Christ glorified in a setting where He is typically ignored… even shunned.

If you watch any TV these days, it’s rare to see faith or religion thrown into the mix. Sadly, if it is, it’s often in gest, particularly portraying Christians as hypocritical or judgmental. If TV was the mirror of our society, then the majority of our population would probably be Continue reading “The rise of the non-believing Millennial”

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Walking Alongside a New Believer

Posted on: 09/26/16 4:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Montoring-Teen“What tools can I use to help new Christians understand the commitment they just made?”

It’s one of the most common questions I hear from youth ministries who are actually reaching young people for Christ. And I’m glad to hear the question, because it means these ministries realize the need to walk alongside new believers and disciple them.

My friend Scott Rubin, the Director of Student Ministries at Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago, just wrote a helpful little resource called The Essential Guide to My New Life With Jesus. I just read it and felt compelled to tell you about it… Continue reading “Walking Alongside a New Believer”

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SNL Mocks Christian Films

Posted on: 05/24/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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SNL-mocks-christian-moviesSaturday Night Live (SNL) has been poking fun at Christians for years. The question I want to ask is: is there any validity to their jesting? Or more importantly, can we learn anything from it?

A few weeks ago SNL did a sketch mocking the film God’s Not Dead (and the sequel), mixed with the recent controversy about Christians refusing to provide services for gay weddings.

Continue reading “SNL Mocks Christian Films”

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