Two weeks ago I wrote that I was temporarily slowing down my blog postings to prepare for our first baby that’s due very soon and to give some extra attention to this season of transition in my own youth ministry.

I also mentioned that some major changes are coming to Life In Student Ministry. Much of the time I normally spend on generating content I’m using to work on that project instead.

Future vision for this site

Basically, this site will be relaunched on a new domain with a new design that will allow it to reach far more people than it currently does. More new youth workers will be able to connect to the Youth Ministry Mentorships, blessed by resources, content, videos and LIVE YM Talks. MinistryQuestions.com will receive a boost among other things, but perhaps best of all, it will no longer be branded around my name. I will remain the primary voice, but the community of youth workers who have surrounded this site over the past several years will become a bigger emphasis. I’m really excited about the possibilities of growing, learning and being challenged together!

As with most things, there’s a price tag for all of this. Life In Student Ministry has never charged for anything and it rarely asks for donations, but the vision I have in mind will cost about $8,500 (yikes!), which is why I anticipate doing it in stages as funds are available. The first stage costs $2,500 and would work best if it was reached within a week from today.

I have about $900 of personal funds to contribute (instead of buying a TV) and am more than happy to do so in order to bless you and your ministries, but I can’t do it by myself. I know your ministries can’t always get away with just giving away funds — that’s why several organizations have partnered with me to offer their products as thanks-yous for your donation to Life In Student Ministry.

$10 donation – Interlinc “Welcome to youth group” videos

Interlinc creates “drop in” videos of Christian music artists doing little promos like, “Go to camp,” or “Join the worship team.” They’re easy to drop in to PowerPoint announcements, iMovie, or burn to DVD.

For a donation of $10, Interlinc will send you

• 5 “Welcome To Youth Group” drop in videos by Christian music artists
• An article from their Youth Leader Only book titled, “An Old Guy’s Advice for Strategic Ministry”
• A great download Bible Study for a Kutless song

$25 donation – 36 Parables video from Youth Specialties

For a $25 donation, you receive both Interlinc’s gift above, plus a free download of a 36 Parables video, “The Car Lot,” from Youth Specialties.

If you like that video, check out the entire 36 Parables series!

And as an additional bonus for every Life In Student Ministry reader, regardless of if you donate or not, register for the 2009 National Youth Workers Convention, with coupon code LSMN09 to get a free convention t-shirt! The early-bird rate is good until August 14, 2009.

$50 donation – “One Month To Live” from Simply Youth Ministry

For a donation of $50, you receive Interlinc’s gift, Youth Specialties’ gift, and a free download of the 3-week sermon series, “One Month To Live,” from Simply Youth Ministry.

This series helps students identify the values that define them — while also shedding light on parts of their lives that may be holding them back from living for God. It covers topics like determining what matters most, deepening relationships, leaving a legacy.

$100 donation – 3 random ministry books

For a donation of $100 or more, you receive the 3 gifts above, plus I will mail you 3 random books from my ministry library.

(Limited to first 10 doners. 8 left.)

How to donate

Visit my ChipIn page to “chip in” and give securely online via PayPal. I will be in touch via email with links to download your gifts.

Contact me privately if you prefer to donate with a check instead of online.

Other donations

Any size gift is appreciated, whether it’s $10 or $1,000. Thank you!

Other ways to contribute

If you’re unable to donate or would like to contribute in a different way, consider building a website for your ministry through MinistryWebsites.biz or completing a referral for a free iPod Touch, iPhone, Xbox 360, Macbook, and more.

It’s hard to feature free youth ministry resources every Friday without mentioning Simply Youth Ministry’s freebie page. Simply has tons of free resources available, spanning over the past several years, in categories like small groups, sermons, discipleship, training, games, drama, videos, forms, and a lot more.

If you haven’t recently checked out Simply’s freebie page, it’s be worth your time to do so.

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Join us at 2:00 PM EST this afternoon in our LIVE YM Talk. See the LIVE YM Talk page for details on how to join the call and/or the live chat.

Wow, #100 is here! When I started Freebie Friday 100 weeks ago, I had no idea it would go this far or bless this number of people. Amazing.

This week we have two freebies: a download for everyone from Simply Youth Ministry, and a DVD curriculum set from YouthBytes.

“Hooked” from Simply Youth Ministry

Hooked is a 4-week lesson series from Doug Fields and Simply Youth Ministry that deals with temptation, accountability, and breaking from the cycle of habitual sin. It includes:

• MP3s of each of the four messages
• Transcripts and outlines of each message
• Outlines in PowerPoint with additional backgrounds
• Promotional ecard, postcard, poster, and desktop background
• 4 all-new PowerPoint trivia games
• Hooked-themed countdown
• Hooked-themed motion background
• Hooked-themed motion intro movie
• 4 drama scripts that enhance each message
• Audio commentary on the series by Doug Fields
• BONUS: HTML site to promote the series online

This is a $35 value that Simply Youth Ministry is giving away exclusively to Life In Student Ministry readers for 4 DAYS ONLY! This download link expires Monday, November 24, 2008, at 11:59 PM so get it now.

See more about Hooked, including a video review by Joshua Griffin, on it’s official page at Simply Youth Ministry.

Download no longer available.

I’d appreciate it if you guys would post a link to this youth ministry resource giveaway on your blogs, message it to your friends in Facebook, spread it on Twitter, email to your ministry contacts, etc., so as many people as possible can be blessed by the curriculum giveaway from Simply YM for this short period of time.

20 DVD set from YouthBytes

We use YouthBytes in my ministry on Sunday mornings with both jr. high and sr. high classes. Each video is very well done, has a lot of flexibility, communicates Biblical truth very clearly, and sparks great discussions among our teenagers. I highly recommend them!

YouthBytes is giving away a 20 DVD set of video curriculum (40 episodes, $400 value) to one Life In Student Ministry reader.

To win, comment two things below:

1. What do you like best about Life In Student Ministry? How has it blessed your ministry?
2. A suggestion for how this site can improve in some way. How can it bless you even further? A new feature to add? Maybe a current feature that you don’t find particularly beneficial?

Next Friday, November 28, 2008, I will randomly generate a number at random.org and count that many comments down from the top. That person will be the winner! (Must comment with a valid email address.) I’ll also post a comment below announcing the winner 7 days from today.

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Join our LIVE YM Talk today at 2:00 PM EST! We’re talking about if youth events are still working. Join us using either your telephone or your computer microphone!