RECENT BLOG POSTS

10 Years of Free Resources

Posted on: 01/18/10 2:28 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I can hardly believe it, but 10 years ago today I sent out my first resource “EZINE” newsletter from my little website, back then, called JonathansResources.com

I used Alexa.com’s “Wayback” machine to look back at what our site looked like 10 years ago (pretty cool little tool). Here’s what it looked like:

Pretty cool huh?

You can actually get on that page and click around here. I love the little pics on the front page, the game page, etc. Wow… I hardly remember those.

Tomorrow I’m going to send out a “retro” EZINE to our subscribers… I’ll be sending them a copy of the first EZINE we ever sent. You can actually still see all those old EZINES on our ARTICLE ARCHIVES page from the ARTICLES & FREE TRAINING drop down menu of our current site at www.TheSource4YM.com … just get on that archives page and scroll to the bottom to our first article on January 18th 2000.

For those of you new to us, back in 2000 I worked for Youth for Christ and volunteered at my church. I started JonathansResources.com as a fun little hobby simply because I noticed that hardly anyone was providing truly free youth ministry resources on the internet for free. Some people had websites with a few freebies… but no sites dedicated to totally free youth minsitry resources. So I gave it a shot.

It grew to be such a hit, and at the same time my speaking and training was taking off, so in 2003 we started TheSource4YM.com and went full time speaking, training, and providing free resources on the net.

The rest is history!

Posted in Internet, Personal, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment

The Book of Eli

Posted on: 01/15/10 7:34 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I got a chance to see a screening of the new Denzel movie, THE BOOK OF ELI, last night. Wow… probably one of the best films I’ve seen in the last decade.

The story is about a man on a journey through a post-nuclear world. The man’s name is Eli (played by none other than Denzel), and he’s carrying one of the most prized possessions of the times– a Bible.

It was amazing to see a film that truly represented the power of the Bible, and didn’t mock the guy who put his faith in it. This is probably one of the few films where being a follower of God’s Holy word is actually cool!

Denzel’s character Eli, was actually a noble guy too. He read his Bible daily, prayed, quoted scripture, and seemed to want to obey God’s will. I was waiting for him to go and do something stupid (like Hollywood usually does when portraying Christians). But Eli was not only noble, he was basically true to the Word (pacifists won’t agree– because he did defend himself to complete his mission). There were some great “discussion” moments including one scene where Eli talks about the importance of not just carrying the Bible, but following what’s in it.

The interesting aspect of this film was the motives behind people’s search for the Bible. Eli wanted to use it for good, where Oldman’s character wanted to use it to control people. True to life– some people have used God’s words with bad motives.

I warn you… some people won’t like the film’s violence. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a post-apocalyptic world, but never gratuitous.

That being said… great action flick. The film had some great fight scenes as Eli defended himself against attackers.

I go into more detail, including if the film is appropriate for kids, etc. in my official review on our MOVIE REVIEW PAGE .

Posted in Entertainment Media, Faith, Movies | | Leave A Comment

The Words of a 12th Grade Christian

Posted on: 01/14/10 10:42 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Walt Mueller linked a great article today written by a senior in high school, speaking about her faith. The article is titled, “I’m a Christian, not a StereoType.”

WHAT FIRST COMES to mind when you think of Christians? They’re basically good people, but maybe a little confused, right?

That’s one of the kinder descriptions I’ve heard. The mental image is often unflattering, and public opinion rarely seems sympathetic. They’re killjoys, zealots, narrow-minded bigots. Whether presented as laughable stock characters or intolerant “fundies,” Christians today carry some unappealing stigmas.

But I am proud to say I am a Christian.

I have attended the same church since birth, and a Christian school since the age of 2. My grandfather was a pastor, my father is a Bible teacher and my mother is the principal of a Christian elementary school. But while this setting paints a predictable portrait, my circumstances do not make me a Christian. Rather, the cornerstone of my faith is my personal acceptance of Jesus Christ, which motivates me to live a life that pleases him. Not a single area of my life has been untouched by this decision…

Wow… great writing. Click here for the whole article. This would be a great peice to let your kids read and discuss.

Posted in Evangelism, Faith | | Leave A Comment

Getting my Butt Kicked in the Pool

Posted on: 01/12/10 6:25 PM | by Jonathan McKee

My wife is a stud!

Lori is a swimmer. She’s always been a swimmer. And the place where she regularly swims laps offered a free month to our whole family, so we signed up.

So last week, my whole family got in the pool with her to do laps. Guess how many I did before having to stop and rest?

Yeah… pathetic.

When I was in high school, I remember 10-lap warmups and then about 100 laps at any given practice. Fast forward 20-something years. I did just 10 laps that day.

Today I did 8 laps for my warmup before resting. I just had to beat 4. Then I did 20 laps total. Only 20 laps! What the heck!

Now… some of you might be thinking, “Jonathan, you’re a cheesy slob. Get in shape!” But allow me to retort. Lori and I try to bike or run 3 to 4 days a week. My runs are usually 5 miles, and my bike rides are 15 to 20. So why am I sinking in the pool?!!

Lori is biking, running, and doing 90-lap workouts in the pool.

Add to the humility… my kids all put me to shame. (I do not like the pool of shame!) Alyssa (my 14 year old) is doing 70 lap workouts with Lori. The other two are beating me on any given lap.

Wow. Swimming’s hard!

Posted in Family, Personal | | Leave A Comment

Who Teenagers Call, Trust, Talk With…

Posted on: 01/11/10 1:02 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Who would your kids call first if they were in trouble? Mom? Dad? Friends? Boy/Girlfriend?

Good question. I’m sure Mom and Dad would be curious of that answer. What about these questions?

Who do they trust the most?

Who understands them best?

Who can they talk most openly with?

These are just some of the questions asked in a recent study by Harris Interactive. Check out the top two answers to each question, by age, recorded on this chart:

Mom and Dad scored pretty high on the first question, and stayed on the chart with most the questions to 8-12 year-ods. But Dad dropped off the radar with teenagers on question number two, “Who do you trust the most?” Sad. Actually, Dad drops off the list for every other question to teenagers, where Mom maintains her status as number two in many instances.

Interesting stuff. And a sobering glimpse for dads.

Harris Interactive has a little youth culture newsletter that goes out every few months titled “Trends & Tudes.” It’s usually got some pretty good studies about today’s teenaged attitudes and trends.

Posted in Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Nashville, TN

Posted on: 01/8/10 5:15 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I’m at the airport right now getting ready to board a plane to Denver, then onto Nashville. I’ll be spending two days there teaching my Connect Workshop to a group of youth workers and taking them through my “sticky-note” exercise. John, the youth pastor at this particular church, bought each of the members of his team of volunteers my brand new Connect book, and now he’s bringing me out to train them how to connect with kids.

I’m really excited about this weekend for several reasons:

FIRST… when I get to Nashville, John is taking me out to get some authentic Bar BQ. For those of you not familiar with “real Bar BQ,” I warn you, someone from TN might just set you straight. From my last few trips to TN I learned that Bar BQ means only one thing: pulled pork on a bun. There’s only one question they ask you. “Do you want slaw on it?” (Which I always answer, “No.”) The first time I was in TN and someone mentioned Bar BQ, I said, “Bar BQed what?” They replied, “See, out there in California y’all think that Bar BQ is a verb. Bar BQ is a noun and it means one thing: pulled pork on a bun.” So I asked them. “What is it that I do to my burgers then when I throw them on my Weber grill?” They told me, “You grill them.”

Funny, in Texas they informed me that the TN folk got it wrong. Yes, Bar BQ is a verb, but it means the slow cooking of any meat. So now I get a kick out of asking people what Bar BQ means in their state.

Just added: Joseph just linked this video in the comments below to help us clear up any confusion on Bar BQ… hilarious!

(click here for the video if you don’t see it embedded above)

SECOND… the second thing I’m excited about this weekend is that I just love training adults, and that’s all we’re doing this weekend– training adult youth workers. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy sharing the WORD with students. But I think of it this way. The last group of students I spoke too had about 300 of them in the room. The last time I trained adults there were a little less than 200. But when I trained those 200 adults, I could see the excitement as each of those adults left the room, excited about connecting with maybe 5 or 10 students. Do the math. If each of only 150 adults makes an impact in just 5 kids that year… that’s 750 kids impacted this year… not including any students that they’ll go on to impact in the future. I love equipping adults to love kids and share Christ’s love! This weekend will be dedicated to that!

THIRD… I’m training tonight (Friday), then Saturday, then hopping on a plane Saturday afternoon and getting back to my family by Saturday night, going to my own church on Sunday a.m. Love it when that happens!

Gotta go… about to board. Hmmmmm…. already thinkin’ about that Bar BQ! 🙂

Posted in Humor, Personal, Travel | | Leave A Comment

A Quick Interview With Tic… Because He’s Back

Posted on: 01/7/10 8:33 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The news is starting to buzz this Thursday morning. Yes, Tic is back. So I grabbed him and asked him a few questions that we’re all wondering.

I’m talking about Youth Specialties(YS). After some crazy transitions over the last few years (even months!), the new YS just made a very smart move… they brought back Tic Long.

YS is a household name to those of us in the youth ministry world. In the 70’s, youth workers couldn’t get enough of their “IDEA” books. My dad was a youth minister in the 60’s and 70’s, so I was introduced to YS’s stuff as a kid. My brother and I used to do YS skits for my parents for fun. Mike Yak and Wayne Rice– the founders- were heroes to most youth ministers because they had the guts to talk about the elephants in the room, and then provide us with some resources to help us along the way.

After navigating the youth ministry world for a few years, my friend Ray Johnston introduced me to Tic Long, one of the head guys at YS at the time (in the 90’s). Tic was the guy who gave me a shot at training at the National Youth Workers Convention. I’ve been teaching there since, and they have published many of my books.

In the last few years YS has had some major drawbacks. My buddy Mike A. of Mikey’s Funnies was let go. Mike Yak tragically died. Tic was let go. Zondervan took over. Financial upset. Marko was let go and now this company that many of us don’t know, “YouthWorks,” bought Zondervan out. Many of us have been sitting around and saying, “Is YS even YS anymore?” Their publishing house wasn’t rocked that hard… but their events???

So I was pretty excited when I heard Tic was back. If you’re like me… you’ve got questions. That’s why I contacted Tic and asked him myself. Listen in:

JONATHAN: Hey Tic… so good to hear that you’ll be back with YS. That’s going to be great news for so many. A few quick questions about this transition: First, what are you most excited about now that you’ve rejoined the YS team?

TIC: That I still get to serve youth workers at a place I love.

JONATHAN: Very cool. Now, many of us don’t know these “YouthWorks” guys that just took over YS. They seem like nice enough guys, and they have an impressive history of putting on good events. Do you have any personal experiences with these guys that you can share with us? Throw us a bone here!

TIC: I didn’t know them well but when I got to know them I got really excited. They were one of the main reasons I came back. They walk the talk. Like the fact they give away about a million dollars a year back into the communities they serve. I love their humble spirit. I love how they love youth workers.

JONATHAN: It was already a transition doing YS without Yak. What will it be like without Marko?

TIC: Nothing is as hard as losing Yac. YS has had some hard transitions not only when Mike died but going from this small little independent ministry to be part of the corporate world in which Zondervan lives in, when I left, when the 11 people left when I did, Marko’s leaving, then another sale….Yikes that’s just a lot to work through. It will be hard without Marko but I think it will be way easier for YS with me coming back instead of somebody completely new because I carry the YS DNA and know so many of the YS family of friends.

JONATHAN: What is the first thing on your “To Do” list?

TIC: Hug everybody at YS. I have not even been back at the office yet. I decided to come back after Christmas and the first week of Jan. have been at YouthWorks HQ. I get into the office Friday.

JONATHAN: Cool. Give Adam McLane a big kiss for me. Uh… did I just say that outloud? Moving on! What’s the scariest part of this new job?

TIC: Making sure I keep balance in my life. It is really easy for me to think about YS 24/7 and that is not healthy. I love what we do so much that in the past I was not good at setting boundaries. I hope to be better at it this time around. To hold it a little more loosely. To actually live like I am trusting God that YS is his and not just say that.

JONATHAN: That’s it! Thanks for taking some time with me! Welcome back bro.

Posted in News, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment

The Sticky-note Exercise

Posted on: 01/6/10 10:43 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The sticky-note exercise- It’s a great little exercise laid out in my new book that I’ve been doing in my Connect training workshop to help youth ministries not only take a spiritual pulse of their students, but also keep accountable to spiritual growth. I’ll actually be flying out to Nashville this weekend to be leading a church through the exercise. Fun stuff!

It goes like this. I hand everyone sticky-notes and have them each write the names of students they encounter in their ministry, one name per sticky-note. Then I have them each come up and place the sticky-note on an easel or chart on the wall, divided by the six types of kids (something they are familiar with at this point in the training). At this point we spend some time analyzing the trends that we notice, not only noticing any patterns, but taking note of the individual needs of kids.

That’s just a snapshot… it’s really revealing stuff.

This exercise is finally in print in my new book Connect. I was curious how people were going to respond now that I’ve “spelled it out” for them in my book, helping them take all they’ve learned about the six types of students they’ll encounter and applying it in their ministry with some action steps. We tried to make it easy, even including a free ppt training to anyone who buys the book from us, that way youth workers can take their entire team through this exercise.

I’ve been doing the training for a few years now. I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be able to hand people the entire training, in essence, in book form.

So far I’ve been hearing good feedback about the book. Yesterday I received these two emails:

I just finished chapter 5 this morning! I love the great tips, humor, and how easy it is to read! I’m sharing a bunch of stuff (including F.A.R.T.) with my leadership team tonight in our meeting. Thanks for writing this book! I met you at a YS convention a few years ago, won 2 of your books, and at this point, I think I’ve bought every book you’ve written. They have been so helpful to me! Thanks for your ministry! – Chris

Excellent stuff. I am all about relational ministry & looking for your book to help train volunteers. You seem to say what I do better than I can. Been in youth ministry for 20 years and not sure why God still has me here except that I have a passion for kids & still am able to connect to them. I appreciate your work! Thanks -Mike

I got another influx of emails yesterday from people who just received the book and are starting it this week. Feel free to email me your feedback once you dive in! I love hearing responses.

For those who haven’t got this book yet, make sure and grab it from us on our website. We’re the only ones who are giving away the free ppt training.

Posted in Books, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment

I guess we’re “missing the mark”

Posted on: 01/4/10 11:13 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I get all kinds of emails and feedback from people about the free resources and articles we provide. Here’s an interesting one to ponder. I can’t say I like this person’s first sentence: “The youth culture window that you guys offer is missing the mark.”

He’s talking about our Youth Culture Window (YCW) articles, featured in the big magnifying glass on the front page of our web site each week.

Let me be the first to verbalize, “Don’t worry David (David writes over 80% of our YCW articles), I think you’re right on the mark! Critics are a dime a dozen. I appreciate your work!”

Here’s this guy’s entire email to us:

The youth culture window that you guys offer is missing the mark. Lets be honest, the majority of the posts deal with sex. This is what our culture as a church thinks is crucial to fight. Violence is also out there. Then comes what about the good stuff going on in culture? It is sad that all you can find in culture is things to complain about. Ultimately, what you are addressing is the symptoms of the larger issues within culture. Please, PLEASE, read Niebuhr’s “Christ & Culture” and see if you can incorporate something more than the “Christ against Culture” attitude.

It’s interesting that he observed that most of our posts have to do with sex. I agree. We simply report what’s going on in today’s youth culture and the media, and that’s pretty sex driven. I wish it wasn’t.

I also find it intriguing that he mentioned how much of this was “bad news.” David and I talk about this frequently as we research current attitudes and trends. We constantly are asking, “Isn’t there something mainstream that’s good that we can report about” And that’s the key– we want to try to focus on attitudes and trends that are predominant across the board, not the exception.

Considering his criticism, I looked at the list of our last few articles released and the subjects they covered.:

The New Form of Phone Sex (1/2/2010)
Beyoncé’s Newest Song “Video Phone”
This article is about Beyonce’s newest song and video which are filled with sexual imagery.

The #1 Hits of 2009 (12/11/2009)
A Review of 2009’s Top Songs and Their Message
This article reviews all the top songs of 2009, whatever their message.

Culture’s Confusion Over Sex (12/4/2009)
And The Impact It’s Making On Teens
Yes, this article is about sex, specifically new research about the confusing messages our students are being inundated with.

Fireflies from Owl City (11/28/2009)
Is That a Christian at the Top of the Charts?
This article is about a new song and artist that is not only popular… he’s clean!

Twilight Goes ‘Emo’ (11/12/2009)
Bella’s Self Destructive Dependence on Edward
This article is about on of the biggest media youth culture phenomenons of the year, the newest film from the Twilight series. The article focuses most of its attention on self destructive behavior.

Do Threesomes Come in Threes? (11/4/2009)
Youth Media Ups the Ante with Sexy Trios
This article focuses on the abundance of recent threesomes in the media, as well as the onslaught of “bi-curious” attitudes and activity portrayed.

“I’m Trying to Talk to You!” (10/30/2009)
Getting the Attention of Teenagers
This article discusses the different communication technologies used for contacting students and their effectiveness.

So… are our YCW articles a misrepresentation?

Thoughts?

Posted in Entertainment Media, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment

Top 10 Games of the Last DECADE!

Posted on: 12/31/09 10:22 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Wow… forget looking back just one year… how about looking back a whole decade!

My son is quite a “gamer,” so I found this particular list fun. It’s the Top 10 Games of the Decade from Yahoo Games.

One thing I liked about the list was how so many innocent games made the cut. Mario, Wii Fit, Wii Sports… good stuff. It also reveals that “game play” is still important.

This list also gives a pretty good glimpse of youth and gaming culture. With game giants like HALO (remember all the craze with each release?), and Guitar Hero (#1 for so long, fastest to reach the $1 billion mark, evening beating out the Grand Theft Auto releases… yeah!).

But unfortunately, the list also reflects the sad reality of our culture with its number 1 pick, Grand Theft Auto III, a game that gives into every fleshly urge imaginable. You’ve heard me blog about one of these games before, and may have even read David’s Youth Culture Window Article about 2008’s release of Grand Theft Auto 4.

But hey, I was happy to only see one game that truly disturbed me in a list of the decade’s top 10 games. Not bad!

Click here for the slideshow/list of the Top 10 Games of the Decade.

(ht to David R. Smith)

Posted in Entertainment Media, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment