Resource Review: Moving On by Doug Franklin

Just snagged a copy of Doug Franklin’s newest book: Moving On.

What an awesome resource!  Geared toward kids transitioning to the next stage of life (graduation, etc.),  this book is just deep enough to communicate importance and just light enough that kids will actually read the entire thing.

At just a little over 100 pages (with 40 of those being leadership assessment tools), I was able to read it in just an hour or so.  But don’t let that communicate ‘light’ to you.  The concepts in this book are life-altering for most teenagers – and helps them answer the questions every Millennial is asking.  What am I supposed to do in life – and how do I do it?

Burden + Passion + Vision = Mission

With simple definitions for burden, passion, and vision (and an appendix chock full of ways to get you there!), coming to the ‘mission’ is almost a no-brainer.  The application questions in each chapter are designed to help a teenager think – assess – and act.

It’s a great graduation gift, to be sure.  BUT, as a youth pastor, I cannot wait for next spring.  Every other year, we take a junior/senior trip.  This is the perfect retreat material for an event geared toward those kids.  Seniors get one last chance to define it before they head off to life.  Juniors actually get a year to work it through, define it, and put it into practice in the laboratory of high school.

By the way – if you’re having trouble identifying your mission…it works for grown-ups, too!

Buy it.  You must – it could change the futures & missions of the teenagers in your sphere of influence!  (Plus it’s on sale right now!)

Real Stories from SYMC #34

Doug Franklin – Jim Burns – Dan Webster

The trifecta!  Plus about an extra 100 people!  These three guys represent one of the things I love most about SYMC!  No rock stars!

Get this.  These guys (and all the conference personnel), are eating lunch with folks, hanging out in the book store, spending time connecting with ‘regular’ youth pastors just like me.  I’m mentioning these three guys specifically because last year, each of them carved out about 30 minutes amid a VERY packed schedule to spend some time connecting with my wife and I and sharing some amazing wisdom with our podcast audience.  Seriously?  When was the last time you felt personally connected to anyone on your conference line-up, much less known by them.  Good grief!  Last year I saw people having dinner with Derwin Gray, sharing coffee with Gungor, and talking down the hall with youth ministry veterans like Duffy Robbins, Doug Fields, and Les Christie.

For youth workers.  By youth workers.  ALL youth workers.  Register here – you’re running out of time for your discount!

Learn more about the ministries of Doug Franklin, Jim Burns, and Dan Webster – and catch them, and other youth ministry gurus, along the hallways at SYMC!