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Bucket Trivia

I like using random trivia games to introduce a topic. My goal is to have questions that people who have some trivia knowledge can answer and some questions that are really just going to be guesses for most people. I typically ...

One Voice

There are lots of reasons to talk about being “ONE” in churches. There are ideas of being the body of Christ and being unified in our mission to take the love of Christ to the world. If you are in youth ministry no ...

A Parent/Teen Disciple Now

The “Disciple Now” event is a staple of youth ministry. It may have a different name in different places, but the basic idea is this: You find a speaker, a worship leader, and a bunch of houses that the kids can cra...

Praying for Numbers

Before you read this post please understand that I know that more church happens outside of the walls than inside of it. I know that people coming to church is the result of a life change and very rarely the beginning of one. B...

It’s been too long

It has been too long to really come up with a good explanation of why it has been so long. I guess it has been a combination of things. I got an Android tablet a while back and that has sort of changed the way that I do computi...

About Me

I don’t have all of the answers and some weeks it feels like I don’t have any of the answers. I forget students names sometimes and say stupid things that hurt their feelings. I often find a good word picture or object lesson and build the lesson off of that instead of the other way around. I have put the finishing touches on a Wednesday night Bible study on Wednesday more times than I can count. I don’t always pray as much as I should and I never study as much as I should. I try every new youth ministry model that comes from the “experts” and I have had at least 3 mission statements over the past 5 years.

But I love students ministry. I love watching teenagers as they serve God. I love to see them worship and forget about themselves for a while. I love seeing someone wake up to the love of God if only for a little while. I love to see them out serving their community and sharing the love of Christ with others. I love to be a part of their lives and I love seeing the world through their eyes. Like I said, I’m an average youth pastor.

About Nailscars.com

For over 10 years now I have been trying to add creative ideas for use in the local church. In the early days Nailscars.com was just a place to publish some scripts, but it has become a collection of creative ministry resources for youth ministry and worship.

I began writing a blog more to process my own thoughts more than anything else. As I started writing the comments that I got back from people amazed me. As I was honest with my struggles most of them would write and say “Thank you.” “It is just nice to know someone else struggles with these same things,” was a common response.

So this has become a place where I share the struggles and successes of being in youth ministry. I hope that you find something that God can use in your life and ministry.