Multiply Youth Ministry Podcast

Sometimes you just need to hear how someone else is doing ministry to spur on your own creativity. Joining Brian on the podcast is Marques Pauley. Marques is the Student Pastor at Mill Creek Baptist is Bardstown, KY.  He shares a few things they are doing to reach out to their community with the Gospel.

We go back and listen in on an episode of the Word of Life podcast from last year where Jonathan and Tommy Sewall talk about Gen-Z and how to reach them. Tommy is the director of Word of Life Island and Word of Life Snowcamp and is a student of today's culture.

Everyone of us would say that we want our students to be sharing their faith. Let's be real though; not very many are. How can we get them excited and equipped to do so? Jason Lamb from Dare2Share joins Brian on the podcast today to talk about this issue and an event coming up that will help your students (and you) in this area.

All leaders experience people who are difficult to lead. On this episode of the podcast, Brian talks about the hardest person you will ever lead. Here's the problem, you have to look at this person in the mirror every day. If you don't lead yourself well, you will have a hard time leading others. Brian looks at six characteristics of self-leadership.

We have a new class of Youth Ministry Interns who are getting ready to start their ministry in a local church. Brian grabbed three of them to be on the podcast this week to talk about what they are learning and what they are most excited or nervous about going into their internship. 

You want to help your students share their faith, but how? Chris Selby joins Brian again on this episode to talk about how to equip your students to have conversations with their friends about Jesus!  

It is easy to become so eager to do ministry that we don't prioritize the most important things. Prayer is one of these things. If you want to reach every student in your community, it has to start with prayer. Chris Selby joins Brian on the podcast for this episode. Chris is a missionary to Youth Pastors and tells his story of how his youth ministry saw 140 reached for Christ in one year.

Whether you are a youth pastor or a small group leader, it is important to understand the significance of relationships when you are working with young people. On this episode, Brian has a conversation with Dwight Peterson. Dwight is a veteran youth leader. He was a youth pastor in a local church for almost twenty years and now is a professor at Clark Summit University in the areas of discipleship and youth ministry. He and his wife are also middle school small group leaders in their local church.   

New York Bible Institute’s Dean of Women, Karen Smith, shares with us on how to have an effective Quiet Time that’s meaningful even on the days you don’t feel up to it. Also, Karen dives into what accountability looks like through both being held accountable and keeping someone else accountable.

Planning is not the most exciting thing to talk about but is certainly necessary for a thriving youth ministry. Brian talks about some practical steps to planning with your leadership team for the new ministry year.

Joining Brian for this episode of Multiply! is Alan Smith. Alan is a Campus Pastor at Greystone Church in Athens, GA. He is the author of Let's Go! Creating and Sustaining a Thriving Student Ministry. He has some real practical thoughts on volunteer leaders, communicating with parents and taking risk in ministry.

We all want to make disciples, but it is not easy. Today on the podcast, Brian talks about identifying where your students are in the process, how we can help them get to the next step and 5 key words in disciple-making.  

It is never too early to begin to prepare your students for college. In this episode, Brian talks with Brian Mills about what you can do to prepare them. Brian is the College Pastor at Cross Church in Fayetteville, AK where he ministers to over 1,000 students. Prior to that, he was  a Student Pastor. He is also the co-author of A Different College Experience.

What does it mean to win in ministry? What kind of things should be measure and how should we keep track of these things? Joining Brian to talk about this is Scott Talley. Scott is the student pastor at Church at the Cross in Orlando, FL and the author of the new book, Ministry Win.

In John 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples knowing that He did not have a lot of time left on earth with them. What we find is a great model as to how we can pray for our students. Brian shares three ways, according to John 17, that we should be praying for our students.

Where students go to college is a big deal. Today on the podcast, Brian is joined by Tom Phillips, Campus Pastor at the Word of Life Bible Institute to talk about the role a Christian College can play in the lives of our students.

The message of the gospel never changes, but our culture continues to change. On this episode, Brian talks with Daniel Rice, the author of #Gospel about how we are going to reach this generation of students.

Summer is just around the corner. What do you have planned for your students? Brian is joined by Kyle Gray and Doug Hively to talk about summer ministry and what part camp can play in that. Also, they talk about opportunities for a student(s) in your ministry to spend the summer working and growing spiritually at camp.

Everyone has a story and every story is significant. Can your students tell their story? Do you tell your story? Brian is joined by Kevin Durham from This is my Story. They have a great conversation on how telling our story can help others find a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today we listen in on the Word of Life Podcast where Brian was a guest with host Jonathan Phillips to discuss how Satan is attacking and deceiving our youth today. What are our students doing to make it easier for Satan to deceive? Why do so many young people doubt their salvation? How can we best equip our students to stand up against Satan’s attacks and stand out for Jesus in our world?

Brian and Jonathan Phillips (Host of the Word of Life Podcast) team up to have a conversation with Kevin Ross about how our students can impact the world even if they can't go on a missions trip. Kevin is the President of Helping Hands Foreign Missions a ministry that is focused on developing thriving and sustainable Christ-based communities among the most needy and suffering, producing disciples who follow Christ.

What happens when students have the opportunity to put their devices away for a while? You may be surprised. How should we as youth leaders and parents help students navigate their use of technology? On this episode, Jon Nazigian, the director of the Word of Life Wild middle school camp and an educator for 25 years joins Brian to talk about this and more.

As a youth pastor or key leader, the ministry you have to your leadership team is crucial. When you are at your best, they will be at their best. On this episode Brian talks with Dr. Shean Phillips from Piedmont International University about some practical steps to live this out in your ministry.

Do you have an intentional plan to folllow-up with students who have made the decision to trust Christ? We cannot just assume they are going to grow without an intentional plan and guidance. Today on the podcast, Brian shares some thoughts on how to follow-up with students who are new believers.

If you have worked with students for more than a minute, you have dealt with the results of anxiety and depression. Students everywhere are struggling with it and many times with no help. Brian sits down with Karen Smith (a repeat guest from Episode 17), the Dean of women at the Word of Life Bible Institute and she gives us some practical steps as to how we can help students in these areas of struggle.

In this episode we feature the Learn the Word Podcast with host, Dr. Paul Weaver. Paul is joined by John Stonestreet as they talk about many culture issues including gender issues and so much more.

Most youth ministries have been doing small groups for a long time. The question is, are they working? Brian talks through some practical thoughts for how to be a great small group leader and really make a difference in a students life.

Many of your students are just looking for someone to believe in them. You can be that person. Our guest today is Jay Sanders. Jay is the College Pastor at Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, FL. Jay shares the difference people made in his life simply because they believed in him and gave him opportunities to thrive.

The middle years of students lives are crucial. Therefore, we must be aware of what students are going through during this time and have a plan of how to disciple them. Brian is joined in the conversation today by Dan Istvanik. Dan is a middle years pastor in Lancaster, PA and a specialist in this particular age group.

As a leader, other people depend on you. Therefore, it is important that you take care of yourself so you can serve and lead others with excellence. Today on the podcast, Brian sits down with Kris Stout and John Collins to talk about the things leaders need to make sure they are not ministering from an empty cup.

Brian sits down with three Youth Ministry Interns (Anthony, James & David) to talk about what they are learning and what they are most excited about as they get their first taste of youth ministry from a leadership standpoint.

How do you keep your students engaged and thriving in student ministry all the way through high school? Not only that, how do you develop them into leaders? Brian talks about this with Jeff Beckley, the Youth Pastor at Memorial Baptist Church in Columbus, OH.

Culture is a huge part of student ministry. This week on the podcast, Brian is joined by John Stonestreet, the president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and they talk about why culture is so important and how we as youth leaders respond to this culture.

Reverb is not just your normal, run of the mill all nighter. We are talking thousands of students, professional sports, pizza and of course, evangelism.  Brian sets down with Brent Finchum and Dwight Willard to talk about Reverb is a great opportunity to get students under the hearing of the gospel who may never step foot in your church.

The easiest thing to do is to deal with the things we can see. We can see behavior. We cannot see the heart. However, if we just deal with behavior (surface level) then we will create egotistic believers. Today on the podcast, Brian talks with Dr. Tedd Tripp with Shepherding the Heart Ministries about this and other heart issues related to students.

Teaching, discipleship, planning and so much more going into youth ministry. Don't you wish you had an app that held it all together? Well, now you can! Today on the podcast, Brian is joined by John Collins and Dwight Willard, both with WOL Local Church Ministries and we are going to talk about a great new resource that you need to know about!

Whether it is the death of a student through suicide or the death of a parent of one of your students, tragedy is something that will eventually find you in ministry.  Today on the podcast we talk with Matt Glancey and Jake Mouliert, both from Coastal Christian Ocean City in New Jersey. Matt shares some of the personal tragedies in his life and they both share about how the Lord allowed their church to minister to the community after the suicide of a student at their local school. They share some practical insights into how to deal with tragedy in your ministry.

What kind of leaders produce future leaders? Our guest on the podcast this week is Shawn Naylor. Shawn is a national speaker with Youth for Christ in Canada. He has a passion for young people and loves communicating to them. Brian and Shawn talk about what shepherding leadership looks like and how we can live it out in our life and ministry.

Greg Stier joins Brian this week for another conversation about having a gospel advancing ministry. This week they discuss the 7 Values of a Gospel Advancing Ministry and how you can start implementing them into your student ministry. Greg is the founder and CEO of Dare 2 Share Ministries.

Joining Brian this week on the podcast is Greg Stier. Greg is the founder and CEO of Dare 2 Share Ministries and is passionate about seeing every student, everywhere, hearing the gospel from a friend. In this episode, Brian and Greg talk about some reasons why students don't share their faith and some resources to help equip them to do so.

Today on the Multiply! Podcast, Brian is joined by Joel Kovacs, Lead Pastor of Five14 Church in New Albany, OH. They talk about a variety of things including the church and student ministry leadership culture at Five14 and how they are ministering to transgender and homosexual people who are coming to their church.

For those who minister to teen girls, it is vitally important that we create environments where they feel free to open up and talk. Today on the podcast, Brian is joined by Amy Speck to talk about this and also how to help them see the truth in their lives. Amy is the Dean of Women at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Canada and a Certified Counselor who ministers daily to teen girls.

Is your cup empty? You spend so much time tending to the spiritual needs of students that it is easy to neglect your own development. Today's podcast is for you. Brian talks with Chad Harwell about 3 areas we need to focus on when it comes to personal disciplines in our lives. Chad is a WOL Youth Ministry Coach in North Carolina and is passionate about ministering to and alongside youth pastors and leaders all over the state.

What is the difference between looking at your ministry as owning it and looking at it as stewarding it? Kris Stout joins Brian in the studio to talk about this and how we should look at the ministries and students that we lead. Kris is the Vice President of International and Local Church Ministries here at Word of Life.

Your student ministry ought to be a place where students come to be spiritually fed! However, it also ought to be a place where students are trained and resourced to be able to feed spiritually on their own as well. Most ministries unintentionally drift away from equipping students to spend time on their own with the Lord. On this episode of the Multiply! Podcast, Brian has a conversation with Brent Finchum about how we can help students learn to feed themselves spiritually. Brent is the Southeast Regional Coordinator with Word of Life Local Church Ministries and lives in Alabama with his wife and four kids.

Helping students navigate media at this time of their life is crucial, especially social media. Whether you are a youth leader, parent or both, you will want to listen in on the conversation Brian has this week with Scott Foreman. Scott is the father of four and the Executive Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Sewell, NJ. He is the author of the book Making Sense of Media.

A new ministry year is just around the corner. What are you doing as a leader to prepare for it? This week on the Multiply! Podcast, Brian sits down with the director of Word of Life Local Church Ministries, John Collins, to talk about types of leaders and how to best empower those you lead.

When you work in youth ministry, you know time is short! It's vital to seize every moment the Lord gives us to impact the lives of young people. On today's episode, Brian sits down with Martin Garcia, the director of Word of Life Australia. He shares stories of what God is doing through their ministry, the struggles they face, and how they are reaching students in Australia with the Gospel.

When you look at today's generation of young people, are you frustrated or do you see potential? Today on the Multiply! Podcast, Brian talks about Gen-Z. Tune in as we discuss the culture that is raising this generation and how to reach Gen-Z youth with the Gospel.

Have you ever come into a situation where you were left to pick up the pieces from someone else's sin or mistakes?  Our guest today on the Multiply! Podcast is Dan Adams. Dan currently serves as the Youth Pastor at Parma Heights Baptist Church in Ohio. He talks about his experience in "picking up the pieces" from the previous youth pastor's moral failure and how he handled it.

On today's episode of the Multiply! Podcast, Brian is joined by Matt Losee, the Youth and Worship Pastor at New Hope Community Church in Queensbury, NY. Listen in as Brian and Matt discuss practical ways to connect with the students in your ministry and the life-changing value of building lasting relationships.