Some Resources

I have received several emails from friends of mine in Student Ministry asking for a few good resources to have on the shelf. I decided I would post them on here today, and hopefully you can utilize these resources as well.

Books:

1. The Deliberate Church: Mark Dever and Paul Alexander go into some pretty good detail about what healthy church should look like. An absolute MUST for any minister desiring to grow and be a part of a healthy church.
   
2. Raising the Bar: Dr. Reid, Professor of Evangelism at SEBTS, does an outstanding job of giving a biblical reasoning behind your student ministry. It's more than games, it's about real people attempting to walk with a real God. There's no greater need for our churches to begin to have Student Ministries that will raise the standards and watch students respond accordingly.
3. Unshakable Foundations: A must for every Student Pastor. Dr. Geisler breaks down questions such as; Absolute Truth, What is the Law, Intelligent Design, Science, the Origins of life, and much more. These questions are ones that students think about often but don't know how to address them. Put the ammo in your gun with this book and be ready for the tough questions you'll face in the ministry.
4. Good To Great: A great business book on how to take your company from a "Good" company to a "Great" company. Quit doing things "Decent" and decide to become Great in what you do. I WANT THAT! I want to do that for the Kingdom of God.
5. Anything by Flannery O'Connor: You may be thinking "WHO IN THE WORLD IS THAT!?!?!!" Well, she's got absolutely nothing to do with student Ministry, but her short stories are a great read, good for a few laughs and convictions.
   

More Books: Sacred Marriage (Gary Thomas), Confessions of a Pastor (Craig Groeschel), Spiritual Leadership (J.Oswald Sanders), Becoming a Contagious Christian (Bill Hybels, Old but good!), The Fuel and the Flame (Steve Shadrach), and currently reading The Man Who Fed the World (Leon Hesser).

Also, I encourage you to listen to some sermons by Dr. Akin (President of SEBTS), Dr. J.D. Greear (Pastor, Summit Church), Steven Furtick (Pastor, Elevation Church), Clayton King (Crossroads Worldwide), Louie Giglio, John MacArthur, and Andy Stanley.