InWord Resources

A Valentine’s Day Debrief

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For a small book, 1 John packs a big punch, especially on the subject of love. It’s one of the smallest books in the Bible but ranks second in number of references to “love,” second only to Song of Solomon.  By far, 1 John ranks number one per capita (number of references to love versus number of verses in the book). It’s … [Read more...]

Is the Bible Boring?

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Is the Bible boring?   It’s okay to admit it. We’ve all had moments when we’ve felt that our Bible time was more of a slog than a vibrant Bible experience. The Bible is a big ancient book of text. It clocks in a bit longer than the novel Les Misérables, a little shorter than the entire Harry Potter series. And if you … [Read more...]

Teaching the Loose Grip

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Nostalgia is a big thing.   In youth ministry we can leverage it, counting on students to recall positive emotions about an event as motivation to sign up when the event comes back around on the calendar.   But can nostalgia also be a hinderance? Can it cause us to hold tighter to things than God might … [Read more...]

Deeper Dive Devo

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You’ve probably not seen a devotional like this. Here’s why: Over the next few minutes you’ll spend more time engaging in Scripture and recording your own thoughts than you will reading our thoughts about the Scripture. There’s nothing wrong with reading other’s thoughts about Scripture, but we are committed to pure, raw … [Read more...]

Proper Support

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Over the past few years I’ve been conducting an informal survey among youth workers (staff and volunteer) on this question: In your humble opinion, what are the top three obstacles to the Bible’s effectiveness in youth ministry? Here are the responses participants can choose from: youth workers are unsettled on the … [Read more...]