Mike Haynes is a youth ministry veteran and the creator of G Shades. A vibrant contributor to the youth ministry landscape, Mike’s passion is to help students and youth pastors alike see life through the lens of the gospel. He and his wife Anna have five kids spanning elementary, middle, and high school, and he serves as the high school pastor at Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn, Virginia.
Teenagers are constantly bombarded with noise. 📱 Social media notifications.🎵 Playlists and podcasts.📺 Endless entertainment options.💬 Group chats blowing up 24/7. With all that noise, how can they hear God? Many students struggle with knowing how to listen to God’s voice. They have questions like:“Does God even speak to people today?”“What if I don’t hear […]
Change is one of the only guarantees in life. 🎓 Graduating middle school or high school.🏠 Moving to a new city or school.⚽ Joining a new team or friend group.❤️ Experiencing a breakup, family change, or unexpected loss. For teenagers, every transition feels massive. And without a solid foundation, big changes can lead to big […]
If you’ve been in youth ministry for longer than a year or two, you’ve probably experienced summer attendance drops in youth ministry. 🌴 Families take vacations.⛺ Students go to camps.⚽ Schedules get packed with sports and jobs. It’s easy to feel discouraged when your normally packed room turns into a small circle of faithful regulars. […]
Rejection and failure feel personal to teenagers. And when they experience rejection, many students internalize the lie that they’re not good enough. But the gospel tells a different story. As youth pastors, we have the opportunity to help students see rejection and failure through the lens of the gospel—not as final verdicts, but as moments […]
I’ve been in youth ministry for a long time. Over the course of that decade-plus tenure, I’ve had to come to grips with a difficult truth. It’s one that feels unpopular, and it’s one I’ve had to reconcile with my desire to create the best resources for the youth ministry community. Many youth pastors wonder […]
A new school year brings a fresh wave of opportunity—and pressure. You’re navigating new students, shifting schedules, and the challenge of helping teenagers stay grounded in their faith while everything around them is changing. At the center of it all is your teaching strategy. What you teach matters. But so does how you teach it—and […]
If there’s one thing teenagers understand deeply, it’s uncertainty. 🎓 Will I get into the right school?💔 Will my friendships last?📱 Why does life feel so unstable all the time? They live in a world where change is constant, pressure is high, and the future feels impossible to predict. That’s why trusting God in uncertainty […]
Let’s be real—students don’t check out because preaching is bad. They check out because bad preaching is bad. Somewhere along the way, youth pastors started believing that preaching doesn’t work for teenagers. That they don’t have the attention span. That they need object lessons, endless interaction, and games built into the message to stay engaged. […]
You know why it matters that we teach teenagers about serving? It’s because teenagers aren’t naturally generous. They live in a world that tells them:🚀 “Look out for yourself.”📱 “Spend on what makes you happy.”🎯 “Focus on your goals first—others can wait.” But Jesus teaches something radically different. So how do we help students see […]
Let’s be real: Not all youth ministry curriculums are created equal. Some youth ministry curriculums simply miss the mark. If you’ve ever tried a curriculum and thought: …then you know the struggle. Some curriculums sound good on paper but don’t actually help students grow. So what makes a curriculum fall short, and how do you […]
