Organizations and churches want to save money, so they try to hire people for one thing and put too many hats on them... that way they don’t have to spend more on staff. As a result, they complain about everything, because you are doing "little to nothing" well. That responsibility lies on those who hire without the faith to believe that God wants to do more. It’s your responsibility to say “No” to everything you are not called to do. If you say yes, it will not end. You will not be able to do anything with excellence for long. So... NICHE DOWN! If you are new in a ministry, focuse for th ..read more

Breaking Strong Holds… Maybe you have been praying for someone or for a certain person to have an encounter with God. An encounter life changing that it would have them seeking to ask Jesus Christ personally in their heart. Has it maybe seemed like it’s taking forever? Not even a sign of hope? Jim Halstead (Founder of Go and Tell Ministries) asked Jesus into his heart in 1976. He started praying for his family to ask Jesus in their heart in 1977.... this brings us now to 2024. This is how long it took for his sister to ask Jesus into her heart. We discuss in this episode how each and ever ..read more

During a recent interview between Erika from "Erika Taught Me" and Chris Voss (Author of "Never Spilt The Difference" and a former FBI Hostage Negotiator), she asks this question: Chris, how do you use these special communication methods that you've developed during your time as a hostage negotiator in your every day life? We dive deep into these every day methods and practices in this episode! John Chapter 4 - Jesus, talks to “the woman at the well.” A very well-known Jesus encounter and community transformation. He saw her and let her know that he knew who she was. He brought out her true fe ..read more

Caleb Turner is the Youth Director at Factory Church located in Concord, North Carolina, USA (a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina). Caleb has been in full time student ministry for a little over one year at the time of this recording and we cannot wait to share with you his life story here on the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast! Saved by his adoptive mother first and then saved eternally by Jesus, Caleb was mentored by his Sunday school teacher Andy Williamson, who is now his senior pastor at Factory Church. Andy had a vision that Caleb was to be the Youth Pastor at Factory Church. Listen as Ca ..read more

Lenita Abouchabake is from Sydney, Australia and the Founder of Teen Coach Academy. This is her second interview on the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast. Lenita's business is helping adults who already serve teenagers and their families become teen life coaches. That may seem odd to some of you, but life coaching has been around for quite a while... and this is even better! Youth workers need to make a living and they are seldom paid what they are worth. In fact, they are well undervalued in churches who should be pouring the bulk of their resources into their Youth & Family Pastors, students ..read more

Most people really do not know why they believe what they believe. Many of us who do, need to be refreshed, so that we can fight spiritual warfare more effectively. But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect. - 1 Peter 3:15 (Amplified Bible) "A Ready Defense" by Josh McDowell is a book I gave out to seniors at our church as we honored ..read more

COMFORT... IS IT A TRAP? Most of us "work forward" -> to being comfortable, but comfort can kill you or at the least make you lose the ability to achieve or live up to the purposes God has made you for in this life. Too much comfort slows creative juices down. To much comfort can set you up for moral failures as it did for King David. "Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” - Jeremiah 42:3 Stanley Tam - US Plastics Company: Gave God 100% control as Senior Partner over his company. Stanley took only a salary for himself. Why? Because Stanley ..read more

YOU MATTER… Everything You Do Counts… Everyone You Meet Is Important! You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:20 (Amplified Bible) For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and mad ..read more

In this episode, we interview Chase Allen (Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church Umatilla) about his month long sabbatical in 2023. Here are some of the questions we discuss: 1. How long have you been in student ministry and how long have you been at this Church? 2. Who decided you needed a sabbatical? 3. Did you think you had time to take a sabbatical?  4. What changes did you feel with the extended time off while on sabbatical? 5. What did you do or not do? 6. Was your time off refreshing?  7. How did this time off affect your wife and children? 8. Do you feel, see or have any ..read more

Better to have little, with fear for the LORD, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. (Proverbs 15:16) Ed Sheeran (Songwriter/Artist) - “Writing music is like turning on a faucet. At first you get muddy water. The more you run it, the clearer the water gets. The same thing happens when writing music. At first the ideas are unclear, but as you keep writing the thoughts and ideas become clearer and better.” Here are a few important topics we discuss in this podcast episode: Small goals that gives you wins. Scale down your big habits or goals to small wins. Every action should be about ..read more