Kurt Johnston | Simply Insider

Stephanie EisMore Posts Want to Know the Hottest Release from SYMC?!

THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS? THINK YOUR FRIENDS KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU? THINK AGAIN!

This Book Gets Around is a fun way to learn something new about your friends or family members, neighbors, co-workers, teammates, whoever! (You might even uncover one or two surprising things about yourself, too.)

Pass the book around, let people answer imaginative questions and do some creative activities, and then see what’s written on the pages.

— Buy This Book Get’s Around Now!—

Give the book to specific people or let it follow a random path back to you—whatever way you use it is fine. Get the fun started today, and discover something cool, unusual, surprising, or amazing about the people you already know!

Order This Book Get’s Around for YOUR Youth Group Today!

About the Author:

kurt_johnson_NEW_bw KURT JOHNSTON has been in youth ministry since 1988 and currently leads the student ministry team at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. His ministry of choice is the junior high department, where he tries to spend approximately 87.4% of his time. Kurt and his wife, Rachel, have been married for a long time and have two children: Kayla, a college student, and Cole, who’s in high school.

Enjoy!

Stephanie

Add Comment March 8, 2013

Stephanie EisMore Posts SIMPLE TRUTH BIBLE!!

Imagine empowering your students to spend just a few minutes each day discovering a life-shaping, thought-provoking, Jesus-centered truth that can transform them into the kind of people God crafted them to be.
Sounds like a worthwhile investment, doesn’t it?
The Simple Truth Bible features 366 daily devotionals—each one a tasty, bite-size morsel that powerfully reveals what it means to deeply love and trust God, to lead a Jesus-centered life, and to lean on Scripture for guidance and wisdom.
Teenagers will discover how to experience hope in the middle of tough times, how God deeply and passionately loves them, how to build an authentic friendship with Jesus, and how they were created to lead a life of impact in this world and for eternity.
Each devotion includes:

Thoughts on a specific passage of Scripture and how it relates to students’ lives
Insights to help teenagers turn their thoughts into prayers as they spend time with God
Ideas to follow if students want to spend more than a few minutes each day with God
Perspective on how that day’s passage fits into the big picture of the Bible

The Simple Truth Bible features contributions from some of the leading voices in youth ministry today, including Kurt Johnston, Mark Oestreicher, Tim Levert, and Greg Stier. The writers skillfully connect the dots between the ancient truths of Scripture and the issues teenagers face living in the 21st century.
Help students join a generation of teenagers committed to experiencing God’s constant, daily presence in their lives!

Get it! Read it! Share it!

~Stephanie

1 View Comments December 18, 2012

Justin BolingMore Posts A SPECIAL Invitation!

Our normal push for this event is almost secretive, but this year I was able to get you access to Group & Simply Youth Ministry’s Annual Youth Ministry ReGroup. If you are interested hurry as we are alomst SOLD-OUT! Below is more information about the YM ReGroup…

You’re invited to a life-changing event that is reserved for a small group of youth pastors!

**CLAIM YOUR INVITATION BEFORE IT EXPIRES**

This unique and intimate gathering is specifically crafted for youth pastors who crave the time, interactivity, and in-depth learning that happens in a retreat setting. Every year at this event, the 100-or-so attending youth pastors get an interactive ministry growth experience like no other (just ask past participants). Over the course of three days you’ll learn how to do something that’s rare in today’s youth ministry—push the accelerator down on “tipping point” ministry practices instead of fret about what’s not working. Our team will lead you through a pinpoint array of growth-producing ministry imperatives. In addition, we’ll stretch your thinking with some models of transformation and change that will get you thinking about “what could be” for both your youth ministry and your own life.

In addition, a highlight of this event every year is an evening at Thom and Joani Schultz’s (President and Chief Creative Officer of Group) home, enjoying a meal together. Also, we’ll gather in one of the most beautiful spots in the Colorado Rockies for a picnic and a special experience that will deepen your relationship with Jesus.

We’ve made the registration cost (which includes your meals) a low $125—our simple desire is to “love on” a community of youth pastors who have unique challenges and a unique perspective in the context of a three-day trajectory-changing retreat.

A Beautiful Mess

**FREE copy of A Beautiful Mess by Mark Oestreicher with EVERY Registration!**

REGISTER TODAY!
8 Youth Ministry Tipping Points
August 13-15, Loveland, CO

The cost for the summit is just $125 per person, which includes all registration materials and meals.

Justin BolingMore Posts 5 FREE Apps You Need!

By no means do I consider myself a “techy guy” like my friend Brandon Early over at YMtechstuff.com, but I do like my gadgets and love finding ways to maximize my time management…and well playing games is fun also! So here are a FIVE NEW apps that I use on a daily basis!

1. Sprout Social (cost: FREE), is a social media management tool that Simply Youth Ministry uses every single day! It allows us to see everything going on with @youthministry, @simplyinisder, @symconference, and Facebook.com/SimplyYouthMinistry all within a single window! There is a monthly fee associated with this at $9/month but for what you get its amazing!

2. Simply Youth Ministry App (cost: FREE), is everything “Simply Youth Ministry” in your pocket. This app provides access to the latest training articles on YouthMinistry.com and the freshest episodes of the Simply Youth Ministry Show. PLUS you can shop the entirety of SimplyYouthMinistry.com on your iPhone or iPad.

Find dozens of our latest training articles all in one place, easy to read and easy to share.
Listen to or watch the latest Simply Youth Ministry Show episode with Kurt Johnston and Jake Rutenbar.
Shop for Simply Youth Ministry products, including Web Specials.
Fill and manage your shopping cart from your mobile device.
Shop by category or by product name.
Find customer ratings and read product reviews.
Share awesome stuff with your friends through Facebook and Twitter.

3. Action Method (cost: FREE), is a free application for managing and deleting tasks on the go. It is available on browser, phone, iPad, or even in paper form! All-in-all this tool keeps my life organized and allows me to manage every single project, task, and action that i need to take to complete a given project! This can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be!

4. YouthMinistry WIRE, is a one-stop shop for the most solid, reliable, practical youth ministry blogs. The Youth Ministry Wire iPad app aggregates content from the top blogs in youth ministry and places it in your hands. Read the best stuff from youth ministry experts like Josh Griffin, Kurt Johnston, and many others. Plus, SimplyInisder.com can be found in here…its like google reader for your iPad!

5. Bleacher Report, this is a sport fans best friend! I follow all my favorite sports teams, PLUS can choose to be notified about certain news from certain teams! The insights and articles and great, simple, and uber interesting as they cover everything from cycling to the NFL! Enjoy a little something for yourself…but be careful you’ll get sucked in to daily updates super fast!

Thanks for loving students
- Justin

Justin BolingMore Posts Thanks Oswald Chambers!

. . . please know i did not write this and take no credit for it. I simply felt it was a great message and wanted to share an Oswald Chambers thought with you all! In addition devotionals, or quiet times as many call them, are vital to our daily prioritization and to us drawing nearer to Jesus. My challenge read something daily, at the same time, and encourage those around you to do the same including your students!

Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow

. . . what shall I say? ’Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ’Father, glorify Your name’ —John 12:27-28

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

Find Devotionals for Your Students

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.Find Devotionals for YOU and Your LeadersSorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

*FYI this is a picture of Oswald Chambers

Thanks for loving students
- Justin

adminMore Posts Simply Insider Exclusive: SNEAK PEEK at Group Magazine

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek at the next issue of Group Magazine! Make sure you don’t miss out on everything Group Magazine is doing is 2012…including Digital issues, salary survey, Exclusive interviews, Youth Worker next door profiles and more!

Learn More at GroupMagazine.com

Want to Subscribe to Group Magazine?

Want to get Group Magazine for your Volunteers?

Add Comment December 27, 2011

Justin BolingMore Posts A Marriage Sale? #WHAT?

As you can read in the beautiful image above…Veronica our beloved art director is getting married! So we first would like to congratulate her on this amazingly exciting time in her young life! Secondly, we thought what better way to celebrate her getting hitched than to have a huge SALE!!!

Get the 4 PERFECTLY PAIRED BUNDLES with unheard of uber crazy savings!

Oh and we will have many and I many contest surrounding the details of Veronicas wedding in the coming hours, days and during the 2-weeks she is on honeymoon!

CONGRATS VERONICA!
Love your very special team

Tyler ShickMore Posts Two Brand New Bundles

We have 2 new bundles to help you same coin and get some great resources to help you get ready for Summer:

Simply Summer Bundle: Includes 1 year subscription to Group Magazine, New Sermon Series Refuel from Doug Fields, New small group curriculum Inked, and a Special pack of summer games.

Click for More Info.

Junior High Bundle: Includes the new Middle School Ministry Made Simple, Active Bible Studies, 10-minute Moments: God’s Story, My Faith, Bible Stuff 2, Race This Vol 1, Game On Vol 1, and Throw and Tell Storytellers Ball.

Click for More Info.

Add Comment May 5, 2010

Tyler ShickMore Posts Christian Post on High School Musical 3 Study

The Christian Post ran a piece on our very own Kurt Johnston‘s High School Musical 3 Bible study he wrote. For those of you who hadn’t see it in our newsletters, Disney asked Kurt to write a special curriculum to go along with the movie. It’s designed for you to create your very own WildCatsWeekend. I know the students I work with are supper excited about this movie, and the study Kurt wrote is great. Did I mention it’s FREE?

See the article here.

Visit our page to see Kurt talk about it.