Found some free hiphop/spoken word videos like the one above over at Humble Beast that you might find useful in your student ministry!  Check them out here.

- Tim B.

There are a lot of great youth ministry sites out there that every youth worker should have saved to her/his bookmarks!  One of those is Jonathan McKee's MASSIVE collection of everything YM related - games, messages, resources of every type - called TheSource4YM.

I can't tell you how many times I've been hard-pressed at the last minute for a game, message-idea or illustration, etc., and found my way to the source and a solution!  Every youth worker should know about The Source!  I can honestly say I haven't even scratched the surface of the content the site has to offer.

Check out JM's site by clicking right here, and be sure to drop him some feedback and let him know what you think!

- Tim B.

I'm speaking at a youth retreat in March, and today the church's student minister showed me this video for Tenth Avenue North's song "You Are More" that's going to tie in to the theme "Remade".  Beautiful!

- Tim B.

One of the most important things I do in Youth Ministry is continuously ask God to work on my attitude.  Of course what I'm really seeking and growing toward (I hope) is putting on the attitude and love of Christ.

Before I meet with students for worship, hanging out, special events, etc., I ask God to give me the right heart, the right mind, and - maybe most importantly - I ask Him to help me when I meet new students to love them before I meet them.

And I really do.  I make the decision that when I meet a teenager, no matter how stinky, rude, mean, troubled, distracting, whatever they are, I'm going to love them.  Am I perfect in this practice?  Of course not!  But man does it help to pray and set my mind and heart on choosing love and acceptance on the front end BEFORE the new junior high kid that shows up puts a hole in the wall or the high schooler falls asleep during my message time.

Do you do this?  Do you decide before you ever meet a new student that all you will do is love them?  Do you decide against judgement, criticism, resentment, or impatience?

What if our students did this as well?  What if they decided that every one of their peers that walked through our church/youth room doors was going to be loved, accepted, encouraged, and welcomed just as they were?  How awesome would that be!?

I'm going to challenge my students to do this - I encourage you to do the same!

- Tim B.

I'm often looking for great music to play in YM, use in videos, or just listen to on my own.  And I have much love for Toby Mac, Switchfoot, Skillet, and other big, LOUD bands, but my heart belongs to the acoustic guitar and music built around it.  For those reasons, I LOVE NoiseTrade.

NoiseTrade is a music discovery and download site that lets you name your price to download EP's or full albums by artists.  I have already discovered a handful of new indie artists that I'll be listening to and following for years to come.

You should definitely head over to their website and check out some of the top albums.  Chances are you'll be hooked!  Enjoy!

- Tim B.