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.
Youth pastors know the weight of choosing the right curriculum. Pick something biblically weak and your students miss out on depth. Choose something too heady and they check out entirely. Find something too generic and they never connect. With so many options and so much at stake, it can feel like walking a tightrope. I […]
or many students, Easter feels like a spring holiday—spring break, chocolate bunnies and an excuse to wear something nice to church. Your church may even ost a community event around Easter time. The cross, however, stands as the turning point of history, a reality that transforms everything. If we’re honest, the idea that Jesus died […]
The beautiful thing about youth ministry is that there are hundreds of topics you can choose to walk through with your students. You want to spend three years in Romans? Done. Feel like talking about friendship for 5 weeks? Great. Fancy a skip through the classic Old Testament stories? Love it. The world is your […]
Have you ever looked out during a sermon and seen blank stares, crossed arms or the “I’d rather be anywhere else” look? You’re not alone. Many teenagers aren’t turning away from faith because they’re angry at God; they simply feel disconnected, disinterested or stuck going through the motions. Sometimes they show up because their parents […]
If we’re honest, we’ve all been there. It’s Tuesday night and tomorrow’s youth message still hasn’t taken shape. Sometimes we’ve been too busy to plan ahead. Sometimes we enjoy the freedom of choosing topics week by week. And sometimes our students ask such good questions that we want to follow their lead. The truth is […]
Anxiety is no longer just a personal struggle—it’s a generational crisis. And they’re bringing those anxieties into your youth group. As youth pastors, we can’t just tell students to “pray more” or “stop worrying”—we need to give them biblical tools and real hope to navigate their anxiety. Here’s how to teach teenagers about anxiety in […]
I’m a huge basketball fan, so I love it when the shot clock is winding down. The pressure feels good. It’s dramatic and enrapturing. But feeling the shot clock winding down on Wednesday night youth group prep probably doesn’t feel as cool, does it? And, of course, when I say “Wednesday night”, I just mean […]
I’m an Enneagram 3. In case that means nothing to you, it means I function as someone who values high achievement and the appearance of perfection–looking well-put-together. That’s probably why I’ve always been a big believer in strong systems within a youth ministry. And one of the biggest debates in youth ministry is how structured […]
Remember your first crush? No? Me neither. Because we’re old. But still, I feel like most of us can relate to the youth group students we lead in part because we remember, if vaguely, what “young love” is like. I mean if there’s one topic that never stops dominating your students’ thoughts, conversations, and social […]
I’m a preacher at heart. I like monologuing. If I said anything different, I’d be lying to you and myself. And sometimes I feel a little bit embarrassed about that. Because while preaching is important, small groups should be one of the most powerful environments in any youth ministry environment. They’re where students go beyond […]
