The Thursday Morning debrief with ben and ryan

In January 2015, my good friend and fellow youth worker, Benjamin Kerns, launched a podcast together with the expressed intent of:

Maintaining a soft heart toward our Jesus and our respective ministries. 

Throughout my years of serving as a Student Pastor, one of the great motivators to keep me going week in and week out  - aside from the sheer power of the Holy Spirit - has been the faithful collegiality and encouragement of a few close friends who also serve in the trenches. These guys keep me accountable in all areas of my life, push me to achieve my goals, and pray for me when I feel discouraged. 

Over the years, one of the most life-giving rhythms of life and ministry came about on Thursday mornings, when my friend, Ben, and I would debrief our Wednesday night high school youth group from the night before. We would share our highs and lows, wins and losses, celebrations and defeats. Over time, Thursday morning became a sacred time for me to walk with a trusted friend and seek the guidance of the Spirit in all things. 

In the Fall of 2014, during one of our debriefs, Ben said to me, "What if we opened our discussions for everyone to hear on a podcast?" I thought about it long and hard. Our discussions together touched on just about every topic that one could imagine - from games to parent flare ups - to homosexuality in the church - to the differences between faithful and heretical theology and more. I know so many others - friends and colleagues alike - who desired to participate in a similar kind of discussion, but within a safe, life-giving, and faithful environment. So I said, "Let's do it!"

Thus, I give you with all humility and gratitude, The Thursday Morning Debrief.

We will post our podcast every other Thursday on issues that every Student Pastor faces - but not about games - issues about parents, leading healthy ministries, responding to crises, and so forth. Each podcast episode will only be about 20 minutes in length so that you can listen to a whole episode while you drive, work out, or clean around the house.

Download our podcast on iTunes so that you can take it with you wherever you go and listen to it whenever you want!

And please leave a comment so others know what to expect! 

Listen to the archived footage below. I pray that our failures, losses, and soft heart toward Jesus and ministry may be a witness to you and your call to ministry. Please free to contribute to our larger conversation by leaving a question or comment on my Contact Page. We value your input and desire to serve the local church! Blessings on you! 

See my Archives Page for the show notes of each podcast, including our notes, sources, blessing, and links to the music selection.