Barry Shafer

“Holy isn’t a state we achieve through an easy checklist of external behaviors. It’s a position we’re given—set apart for God’s use—and then we act out from there.”

What are you doing in your student ministry that will outlast you? I remember the first time that question occurred to me. I can’t recall where it came from or who asked it. Maybe it was a book, or perhaps a training seminar, but it made me take stock of my work. Looking around at the church youth ministry...

“God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Thankfully, authenticity isn’t a problem for most students, who tend to have a better radar for hypocrisy than most adults. Our struggle in youth ministry is the “in spirit” part—the challenge of minimizing distractions that become...

Guarding with Paul's Ancient Teachings: Take a quick mental inventory of your youth ministry.

Twenty-year youth ministry veteran Barry Shafer recently was struck by a lesser known phrase in the book of James: the No-Fault Clause.

Do the acts of the first-century believers leave you longing for the supernatural atmosphere of those amazing days? The mood of those days may be closer than you think. For starters, the early church looked a lot like youth ministry today: new believers, lots of passion and energy—and, well, food.

It’s no secret that in youth ministry God’s Word suffers from neglect. But now, more than ever, teens are asking for depth. As youth leaders we want to feed their hunger—and we, too, desire meaningful encounters with the Word.

A Plea for Unity in Youth Ministry

Jude is a one-chapter book we typically fly over on the way to Revelation — one that doesn’t get much attention. Yet Jude may be the primo how-to youth ministry book in the Bible. (And we all like primo how-to youth ministry books, don’t we?) The book even opens like a typical youth-ministry event. Jude...

Just when you think you’ve got this youth ministry thing down — students are worshiping, small groups are flourishing, missions trips are maxing — something comes along that makes you say, “Oh, yeah, I should be doing that, too.” The apostle Paul gave us one...