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Book Review: The Promise of Despair by Andrew Root

Last Updated July 28, 2010 by Matt Leave a Comment

Quite the title, isn’t it? Yes, The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church by Andrew Root has quite the suggestive title, but that is part of the point. This is a book about death, in both a literal and symbolic sense. Death is not limited to people […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Theology Tagged With: Andrew Root, death, despair, Luther, theology of the cross

Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein

Last Updated August 20, 2015 by Matt 7 Comments

A psychologist makes you question every assumption you have about adolescence.

Filed Under: Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Youth Ministry Tagged With: Epstein, psychology

Book Review: Relationships Unfiltered by Andrew Root

Last Updated September 21, 2009 by Matt 2 Comments

Relationships Unfiltered: Help for Youth Workers, Volunteers, and Parents on Creating Authentic Relationships by Andrew Root is a condensed and popularized version of his groundbreaking first book Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (read my review here). Just a look at the subtitles reveals the shift in […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Theology, Youth Ministry Tagged With: Andrew Root, incarnation

From Eternity to Here Blog Tour

Last Updated June 9, 2009 by Matt Leave a Comment

Frank Viola is promoting his latest book, From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God, on a multitude of blogs today. I have chosen to review the book, but others are featuring guest posts or posting an interview with Frank. To see a full list, scroll to the bottom of this post. Frank […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Ecclesiology Tagged With: frank viola

Book Review: Effective Youth Ministry by Roland Martinson

Last Updated June 4, 2009 by Matt Leave a Comment

Rollie Martinson’s book Effective Youth Ministry: A Congregational Approach offers a snapshot of leading youth ministry thought from the past. Published in 1988, the material contains both timeless foundations for youth ministry alongside some now anachronistic suggestions for implementation. Though he is currently Academic Dean at Luther Seminary, Martinson was Professor of Pastoral Care and […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Youth Ministry Tagged With: Rollie Martinson

Book Review: The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity

Last Updated May 27, 2009 by Matt Leave a Comment

I just finished another book I have to read for class, and this time it is Douglas John Hall’s The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity. I believe this class is more skewed towards ecclesiology, so I assume the instructor assigned this brief book (it’s only sixty-six pages, and has small pages at […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Douglas John Hall

Book Review: Strengths-Based Leadership

Last Updated May 19, 2009 by Matt 5 Comments

Quick Summary: Strengths-Based Leadership includes a code to take the StrengthsFinder inventory, the exact same one you take when you purchase StrengthsFinder 2.0. Strengths-Based Leadership teaches you how to lead with your strengths and how to lead others depending on their strengths. It also gives overviews of all the different strengths. Because of this, Strengths-Based […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: gallup, leadship, strengthsfinder

Book Review: Enough by Will Samson

Last Updated May 11, 2009 by Matt Leave a Comment

I’m quite conflicted about this latest book by Will Samson, Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess. It has all the makings of a great book, including a forward by Shane Claiborne and blurbs by Brian McLaren and Matthew Sleeth. The structure and premise of the book are quite promising: Samson attempts to use eucharistic […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: consumption, enough, will samson

Book Review: Tell it Slant by Eugene Peterson

Last Updated April 24, 2009 by Matt 2 Comments

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think just about everyone needs to read Eugene Peterson, especially if you are in professional ministry. He speaks with a wisdom and levelheadedness that few possess. Especially for those of us wide-eyed, idealistic, naive, young youth ministry types, his perspective is a necessary balance. Tell […]

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: eugene peterson

Best Youth Ministry Books: Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher

Last Updated August 20, 2015 by Matt 5 Comments

Yesterday I finally read Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher, and since I’m one of the latecomers to the conversation I won’t summarize the book too much. Marko has linked to tons of reviews on his blog if you are interested in more in-depth summaries. If you are fairly in-tune with a lot of the […]

Filed Under: Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Youth Ministry Tagged With: mark ostreicher, youth ministry 3.0

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Best Youth Ministry Books

These are the books that will completely change the way you think about youth ministry, for the better. Links are to my reviews of each book.

Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein

A psychologist makes you question every assumption you have about adolescence.

Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry by Andrew Root

Why build relationships? Root’s answer will surprise you.

Best Youth Ministry Books: Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher

Yesterday I finally read Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher, and since I’m one of the latecomers to the conversation I won’t summarize the book too much. Marko has linked to tons of reviews on his blog if you are interested in more in-depth summaries. If you are fairly in-tune with a lot of the […]

Best Youth Ministry Books: Postmodern Youth Ministry

Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones is the book I would recommend to youth ministers if they could just read one youth ministry book. I first read the book in my Foundations and Practices of Youth Ministry class at John Brown University. After the preface to the book there is a page titled, “The Day […]

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