Dennis Beckner
Dennis Beckner is a volunteer youth worker who trains volunteer youth workers. From 1999 to 2020 he was a leader at Saddleback Church’s Student Ministry. He is the author of Volunteer Youth Ministry, A Roadmap For Effective Leadership, and owns VolunteerYouthMinistry.com. Graduated from Point Loma Nazarene College in 1994, BA Religion
I remember the day I got a postcard in the mail about a youth ministry conference. It was from Youth Specialties. I didn’t know such a thing existed for youth workers. I was skeptical, but intrigued. This was before the...
This week is Spring Break for my student. Last week our Life Group boys asked us to plan a fun day for them. Something super cool and rare happened. Only 1 kid showed up. In a youth pastor Facebook group...
Dear Youth Pastors, I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Isn’t that an awesome and encouraging way to start a blog post? But seriously, there something I see a lot in relation to summer camps and retreats. It’s the...
I had never heard of Mark Batterson until my sister sent two of his books to me. The book came out in 2006 originally, but he updated it last year for the 10th anniversary. He’s added an additional chapter to...
This is a picture of me with my boys at our Christmas party a couple of months ago. Seems like it was over a year ago. Although I had been a leader for many of them at camps, being their...
I asked Jordan Bressler to share about his experience as a missionary to New Zealand. I also asked him to share a link at the bottom for how readers can support him. Jordan was an all star student and I’m...
I teach Life Group in my home. I want the group to become like family and feel welcome in my living room. One way I accomplish this goal is giving them wall space among my family pictures. Where ever you meet...
(Sir Richard Branson, Billionaire owner of Virgin Airlines, among other things, poses with a sleeping airline employee) When I see a funny picture like this online, I don’t stop at just thinking, “that’s a funny picture.” I think, I need...
Note: The illustration in this post is written tongue in cheek. However, the application of it is quite serious. So I was in Starbucks today, but left without buying anything. The cashier was in front of the register restocking the...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKyV8CTHeJ0&feature=youtu.be This is a video I’ll show to my students because I want to prepare them for success not only in having a thriving relationship with God, but also to have a long view of life; this includes how they...