In an excerpt from God Hides in Plain Sight, Dean Nelson shares a story about time when he gave away coupons for free cheeseburgers to children at their school lunch. "What did we do to deserve it?" they want to know.

Church and state relations is a provocative topic -- including religion in public schools.

For the six years I served as a church youth director, I was determined to communicate the gospel of Christ to any teenagers within my sphere of influence. I desperately wanted to see lives changed but was repeatedly discouraged that my influence and love were counteracted—often overtly—by an opposing...

Most schools truly want help from the church, but they don’t necessarily want Bible clubs. How can youth workers bless schools with real help, especially as the school experience is changing so greatly? Youth ministries always have had a focus on schools because they are full of teenagers, and we simply...

Youth spend far more time in school than church. Yet, most youth workers rarely set foot inside their local schools, leading some to argue that our schools are the church’s forgotten mission field.

One of my favorite stories is that of two brothers who race downstairs for breakfast one morning to see their mother has prepared their favorite pancakes that day. They are so excited they begin to tussle and argue over who will get to have first pick of the pancakes. Mother interrupts and asks them,...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Perhaps the most famous opening line Charles Dickens ever penned in A Tale of Two Cities speaks to a truth which could have come out of a book geared toward youth ministry. Any one moment, any one experience, can have us praising God for the work...

In the U.S., most people who accept Christ do so before the age of 18. Though the image of the modern teen can conjure words such as “withdrawn” and “resistant,” many are actually open to hearing the Word of God. With this in mind, what can your church or organization do to reach out to local teens?

Campus Access: Learn from My Mistakes!

“They (the public school system) don’t want us in the schools!” was the angry response that came from one of the seminar participants. It was an awkward moment to say the least, but I had to address the challenge before a debate between public, private and home-school parents erupted.