Youth Worker On Fire Podcast

Today's youth need youth pastors, mentors, teachers, volunteers, and most of all, they need YOU! Youth Worker On Fire is designed to give you the knowledge and inspiration you need to be the best youth worker possible. Youth Worker On Fire podcast is full of valuable information from people who work with youth on a daily basis. It is also packed with interviews with former students (years later) in their adult life and how student ministry, or the lack of it, effected their future. Many are are changing their world and the world at large because of the influence of youth workers in their adolescent years. Listen as they share their stories of mentoring and positively influencing adolescents in today's world.

237 The Truth About Jesus 01/08/2025

236 Family Matters with My Big Sis Deb 01/01/2025

236 Family Matters with My Big Sis Deb There are 4 of us. My oldest sister Deborah, then me (Doug), Deanna and Dawn in that order. Deborah and I being the oldest, pioneered the way as the first teenagers and we benefited big time from student ministries, family and music groups we sang and performed with. Our volunteer youth workers Ronnie and Maxine Kennedy were superheroes to us. They sacrificed themselves and countless hours for years. Deborah and I traveled from coast to coast with music groups during our high school years. Larry and Pat Freeman were pastors for our district in our greater church denomination and trained us as volunteer staff. We staffed in Hendersonville, NC at the Civitans Citizenship Center with chosen students from the best of their individual cities in the Southeastern United States during our college years. In this episode, we cover our teenage to adult years and the effects of many people, including our parents, mentors, and many others. We talk about the legacy of student ministry that we passed down to our children and what their future holds because of peoples investments in our lives. Longevity in peoples lives matter. We remind others of the miracles of God, so that we and they don’t forget what is held most important. “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” - Deuteronomy 11:18,19 (NLT) _______________________________ PRODUCER NOTE: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR HOST DOUG EDWARDS! (January 1st) _______________________________ Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book “” here: Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: _______________________________ EPISODE CREDITS Email us at: Hosted by: Doug Edwards Theme Song: "The One and Only" by : Listen to more at Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms : Edited by: /episode/index/show/youthworkeronfire/id/34677265

235 NEW YEAR'S EVE - The Eldridge's Gift 12/25/2024

234 Christmas Unexpected 12/18/2024

234 Christmas Unexpected When Jesus showed up the timing seemed off. It was a harsh and cruel time. No one was really looking for him. They were wishing, but not looking. They were hoping for someone to get them out of trouble, but not believing it could happen that day. The process had started, but not the release from another regime take over. Joseph was not expecting it. He just wanted to marry Mary, a normal Jewish girl. Mary was not expecting it, but then this Angel named Gabriel shows up unannounced and nearly scares her to death. Then there was Elisabeth pregnant with John the Baptist. She and her husband are too old for this. This whole story is impossible and it’s just going to take too long. The parents are not impressive. They are just plain folks. What’s wrong with this picture? It’s the kind of picture that God Loves to paint… Unpredictable, a great surprise. Impossible and yet it’s happening right before their eyes. Christmas miracles are happening everyday in someway all over the world, but we don’t even notice them until much later because they always come “UnExpectantly”, at the wrong time, in the wrong way and God always uses the "wrong people"…by our standards. Fortunately, God performs miracles by His standards. He loves to Love in Impossible ways. He is the Ultimate Mission Impossible Operative. He is our God and He only “gives good gifts”. He plans All Good things and Gifts in Advance for me as he does for you. In student ministry, God gave us Unexpected Christmas gifts all year long. Each home, each child, each friend and each salvation from our children to family members, friends and students. Never when we expected it. Usually in unforeseen moments, in unforseen circumstances. God Loves His Son’s story. His Unexpected, to humankind, predicted but not possible... Christmas Birthday Story. He is the God of Holy Surprises! Keep looking up! You never know when a host of angels are going to start singing like a choir in the sky. _______________________________ Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book “” here: Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: _______________________________ EPISODE CREDITS Email us at: Hosted by: Doug Edwards Theme Song: "The One and Only" by : Listen to more at Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms : Edited by: /episode/index/show/youthworkeronfire/id/34488825

233 Finding Your Rhythm with Brent Crowe - Vice President of Student Leadership University 12/11/2024

232 HOLY CRAZY 12/04/2024

231 Lead Leaders 11/27/2024

230 Always Go But Sometimes Stay 11/20/2024

230 Always Go But Sometimes Stay I took what I knew and I maximized it. I was relentless, because I knew it was the right thing to do. I never felt trained enough nor that I had enough knowledge. God calls us to trust Him and to go with what He has shown us until... He shows us more. It's like driving in the fog at night in the mountains. Traveling through Blowing Rock, North Carolina at 2:00AM, I would have to rely only on the road I could see with my headlights. I would many times stick my head out of the window to see more clearly, so that I would not fall off the mountain. I had to go with what I knew! In student ministry... I knew this. Students and families would not come to me unless I went to them first. I had to go to them and I was relentless. I went to high school and middle school campuses 3 to 4 times every week. Then I would go to recitals, ball games, birthday parties, and awards banguets. I was invited to supper by students parents sometimes and I would say yes just to be where they were. I would go and meet principals, teachers, superintendents of school districts, school board members, etc. There was no list of places that I could not or would not go. Sometimes they might come to one of our student ministry meetings... but I had to go to see hundreds and sometimes thousands to get 40 and 50 students together on a regular basis so that we could lead and disciple them. There were times when we would attract hundreds for big events. I did what I was taught… I had to GO so that some might hear the good news. ALWAYS GO... but when your family needs you… STAY. _______________________________ Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book “” here: Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: _______________________________ EPISODE CREDITS Email us at: Hosted by: Doug Edwards Theme Song: "The One and Only" by : Listen to more at Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms : Edited by: /episode/index/show/youthworkeronfire/id/34024702

229 Expectations 11/13/2024

228 Chosen For A Mission 11/06/2024

227 Introvert, Extrovert, or Ambivert? 10/30/2024

226 God Says Now 10/23/2024

225 Jim Curtis - Educator & Visionary 10/16/2024

224 Hurricane Helene - How Can I Help? 10/09/2024

223 Mistakes Guaranteed 10/02/2024

222 Rain or Snow Won't Stop Us 09/25/2024

222 Rain or Snow Won't Stop Us Dad and mom owned a construction business. Dad started at age 11, buying his first piece of property to build his mom her first home to own. When I grew up, at a very early age, I would go to the worksite with dad on the weekends and work all week during the summers for as long as I could remember. We had an unwritten rule… no matter the weather, we worked. I remember working in the blazing heat, the rain, and one time we had to break the ice off of the lumber in the snow to get a job done. Why? Because there was a timeline and a deadline. If we missed it... our family lost money. As a youth pastor in Florida, we were use to the sun, surf, sand, lakes, and hurricanes. Each year we would take students and staff outside of sunny Florida and chase bad weather. You know, stuff we were not use to. Mountain altitude, snow storms, frigid temperatures, hiking up and sliding down mountains. Things that would change it up and put us into another type of environment to talk about how God loves us in all of our seasons and environments in life... not just where we are comfortable. It was very successful, but very challenging at times. It took lots of preparation and lots of planning. But there was this one time that we had to make a choice because the weather had gotten really bad, but the plan was set… How many times did Jesus save his disciples when they were sailing on open waters in a storm? How many times have you based decisions on feelings rather than faith? If your like most Christians and Jesus followers, the answer is “A LOT!” _______________________________ Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book “” here: Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: _______________________________ EPISODE CREDITS Email us at: Hosted by: Doug Edwards Theme Song: "The One and Only" by : Listen to more at Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms : Edited by: /episode/index/show/youthworkeronfire/id/33101707