There's a surging hunger among teenagers for Jesus. New research shows that they want a clearer understanding of what Jesus really said and did, and how faith in matters in their lives. In fact, that desire is so deep, it's #1 on their "wish list" for what they'd like to talk about at church.

But are we doing that? Even though we assume that everything we do in youth ministry is about Jesus, the evidence is clear: That's not what our students say they're experiencing. So what would a youth ministry look like if it shifted toward a passionate, persistent, and permeating focus on drawing students into a closer orbit around Jesus?

Inside the pages of Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry, you'll discover the foundation for a ministry that is Jesus-centered, along with the bricks for building it. You'll discover that not only is it possible to create this kind of ministry, it's also essential that you pursue this path.

Eight years after his book was first published, introducing the language and structure of a new way of doing youth ministry, author and longtime Group Magazine editor Rick Lawrence has completely rewritten and revised Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry. It's packed with new insight, new research, and dozens of field-tested ideas for planting and nurturing a ministry environment that is Jesus-magnetic.

Help satisfy teenagers' hunger for Jesus in richly nourishing and sustaining ways by shifting the orbit of your ministry.

How do you define leadership? What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader can you be? Can you be both a leader and a follower? You can get a handle on these and other crucial questions by wrapping your brain around Leadership 101. It focuses on the nuts and bolts of solid Christian leadership (prayer, service, communication, conflict management, mentoring, etc.) but also goes deep into the soul of leadership. In these pages you'll find out why leading isn't always what we expect--and how leaders aren't always who we expect them to be. You'll learn to integrate your heart with the skills of leadership. And you'll discover how Jesus, David, and others journeyed on the leadership path--so you can join them, too. This interactive guide also includes checklists, surveys, fill-in-the-blank questions, and journal exercises so you can take your own leadership pulse, identify the traits you want to live out, and record your thoughts and prayers right on the pages--which helps you put leadership into practice more quickly and effectively. Just remember: Leadership isn't a job...it's a journey.

Being part of a small group can be a bit like climbing a mountain--it has risks but the payoff is immense. That is why Trent, Cox, and Tooker have styled this second book in the Leading From Your Strengths series like a mountain climbing expedition.Just like climbing Mount Everest, climbing the mountain to intimacy in your small group involves five stages, or camps. You begin at your "base camp" commitment, and then move through the various stages of honesty, acceptance, closeness, and finally the mountain's peak of intimacy. Once again, the Ministry Insights team will be your expedition guide on your climb as you learn to leverage your strengths for effective and successful small group experiences.

How teachers teach is not necessarily how learners learn. Educators focus on content delivery, but much of the learning process involves affective and behavioral factors. Veteran educators Muriel and Duane Elmer provide a holistic model for how learning takes place. Their learning cycle moves beyond mere recall of information to helping learners value and apply learning in ways that are integrated into behavior and practice. With insights from neuroscience, educational psychology, and learning theory, they address how the brain can become more receptive, how emotional environments affect learning, and how learning tasks and experiential exercises can help foster the development of skills and habit formation. They do so in the context of a thoroughly Christian framework that emphasizes not just knowledge, but character, integrity, and wisdom. Learning can be accomplished in and beyond the classroom to move from content mastery to life experience. Here are sound avenues for helping your students become the lifelong learners God intends.