If you are like me you try to read as many articles, blogs and books as possible but just cannot catch all of them.  “In Case You Missed It” is my way of pointing out a few “reads” that I think are too good to miss.

The Hunger Games and What It Means for Your Students – Chris Trent

The Hunger Games book series by Suzanne Collins has sold millions of copies including 26 foreign editions.  There is no question that a large percentage of the books sold were sold to teenagers and preteens.  And now, this week, the book comes to life in its major motion picture debut.

The book synopsis found on Amazon says: “Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, ‘The Hunger Games’. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat’s sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.”

It’s probably obvious to you (since you’re working in youth ministry) that this book is incredibly popular with students.  But why?  Is it simply due to the fact that it is a great story with a teenager lead character?  Having read all three books now, I started to think that it might be possible the book taps into something more with the average teen.

So, I asked myself and some other folk I know who work with teenagers this question:

What do teenagers hunger for that can be found in The Hunger Games?

Read entire article here.

Are you kidding? April Fools’ Day on the Internet – Suzanne Choney

Google again took the lead Sunday for impressive April Fools Day pranks, with its introduction of a self-driving car to compete in stock car racing, and announcing a change to Gmail that gets rid of the pesky keyboard by “taking 26 keys to just two.”

Saturday, the Web giant got a jump on the hoax-y holiday by bringing out 8-bit Google Maps for the 1980s Nintendo crowd.
Sunday, the company rolled out Google Racing, “a groundbreaking partnership with NASCAR to help self-driving vehicles compete in the world of stock car racing,” wrote Google co-founder Sergey Brin on the company’s blog. (Google does indeed have a real self-driving car.)

“We think the most important thing computers can do in the next decade is to drive cars — and that the most important thing Google Racing can do in the next decade is drive them, if possible, more quickly than anyone else. Or anything else.”

And there’s more.

What’s the Dirty Little Secret of Youth and College Ministry? – Jordanne Bonfield

For some time there has been a secret brewing underneath the surface of most churches we see around us.

It’s that senior leaders virtually never invest in youth and college pastors. On average, youth ministers stay at a church only 2 years. Could this be part of the reason?

Unfortunately, I have seen this play out up close and personally.

Coming from a small Christian college, many of my friends entered youth ministry. I saw some of them using youth ministry as a holding pattern until they had enough experience to become senior leaders.

But while too many use youth ministry as a steppingstone, I also know many youth and college ministers who are really passionate about the next generation. They eat, sleep, drink, and pray it. Far too often they find themselves severely under-supported and under-developed by the senior leaders in their churches. So they leave.

Read entire article here.