This life-changing book helps students learn how to influence their peers—both saved and unsaved—without being negatively influenced. Maximum Quotient: It is the point in time when a rocket's speed is the highest and air pressure is at its extreme. It is what young Christians feel during their teenage years. Pulling from many years of successful youth ministry, Stanley and Hall introduce youth leaders to a new realm of youth ministry through this dynamic new plan. Youth leaders will learn about: A Ministry of Influence, Jesus & Influence, Maximum Dynamic Pressure, Setting Standards, Establishing Priorities, Maintaining Accountability, Unconditional Acceptance, Sustaining Influence, Using Leverage, and Partnering with Parents.

Imagine meeting with the parents of your students and showing them the seven principles that serve as the foundation for all you will teach your kids. Imagine having a content calendar that can be used to guide the development of your activity calendar throughout the year. Imagine having a handful of carefully crafted principles to choose from in developing the theme of every camp of retreat. These are just a few of the advantages of adopting the seven-checkpoints strategy. But the greatest advantage is this: You will know that you are doing more than providing exciting activities -- you are changing lives for eternity. A New Strategy for Youth Ministry Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall, both respected and effective leaders in the Christian Community, have developed a ground-breaking, dynamic plan for youth ministry of the coming decades. The Seven Checkpoints for Youth Leaders and the companion The Seven Checkpoints Student Journal presents a plan for a student's entire career in a youth group. The challenges facing our youth grow every year. Quick fixes and short-term programs will not provide the life-strengthening results needed for the teens of today. This revolutionary approach promises and delivers what is needed in the world of youth ministries around the country today. So what are you waiting for? You have a life to build. Open up this book and get the seven.

These companion books provide relevant resources for students and youth ministers to deal with Max Q--the maximum pressure that is a part of the lives of today's students.

The Seven Checkpoints for Student Leaders is more than a book; it is a ministry plan. It goes far beyond the "how to" of youth ministry and provides youth ministers, youth works, and parents with the content that students need to equip them for 'life beyond youth group." The material in this book and the companion book The Seven Checkpoints Student Journal reveals what Stanley calls "the irreducible minimum"--the essential principles upon which an entire youth ministry can be built. Stanley and Hall offer some unorthodox but very sensible approaches to planning and maintaining a youth group over a long period of time with a specific goal in mind. The book outlines a strategy for effectively teaching students over the course of their time in school, and this new updated edition is what every leader needs to keep up with the ever-changing challenges students face. Stanley and Hall identify seven "checkpoints" that are the most important and critical issues facing teens: 1. Authentic Faith 2. Spiritual Disciplines 3. Moral Boundaries (this section deals primarily with issues of sexual purity and dating) 4. Healthy Friendships 5. Wise Choices 6. Ultimate Authority 7. Others First Practical application, biblical principles, and realistic approaches for facing modern challenges facilitate teaching for busy youth leaders that will make an impact for eternity.

What Others Say about This Book - Dr. Sandidge has written a very comprehensive book on leadership. Every pastor and church leader can find many tidbits of information that will improve their leadership skills. This book will provide help in building a ministry team approach. There are many helpful ideas for the church leader to develop other leaders for the church, and especially Bible teachers. A helpful and insightful book. Dr. Frank Schmitt Professor of Church Ministries Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School 1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502 - Dr. Oneal Sandidge is not only a perceptive author, but he has also lived and worked in the field of Christian Education at numerous institutions of higher education. I have observed Oneal professionally, as a teacher and lecturer, for many years. He has character, insight and experience that qualify him to share concepts of the Christian ministry in general, and Christian education in particular, that will be life-changing for his readers." Dr. James B. Keiller, Vice President & Dean for Academic Affairs Beulah Heights University Atlanta, Georgia - Dr. Oneal Sandidge has written a great book for training pastors, church leaders, and ministry leaders for improving church ministry. This powerful book deals specifically with church ministry. Dr. Sandidge has used his exceptional skills from serving as Director of Christian Education, college professor, and ministerial experiences to suggest ways for rethinking ministry. This book will help pastors, church officials, ministry leaders, and those who teach church leadership. Any reader would benefit from this book. Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr., Senior Pastor of Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church and Professor Howard University - School of Divinity Washington, DC

Until Expectations May You Part Giddy with excitement and burning with love’s fire, engaged couples are filled with desires and expectations! Wonder and eager anticipation propel them forward. Then comes the marriage and if they take the wrong approach, those unrealized expectations and unmet wants can turn a life-giving covenant relationship into a dead-end contractual agreement. Suddenly your marriage has no love, joy, or peace. In this marriage-makeover DVD and study guide from Northpoint Resources, Andy Stanley ’s three key teachings help you transform your expectations and examine the “I’s” of marriage: “Keeping My ‘I’ On You,” “Putting Your ‘I’ Out,” and “It Takes Three.” Broken into six DVD sessions with discussion questions, this is one lesson your marriage won’t survive without. Until Expectations Do Us Part Standing at the altar we all had a picture of what our marriage would look like. The problem is this picture of marriage ends up as expectations that we unload on our spouse. The weight of these expectations will rob your marriage of love and joy. As a spouse you never feel like you measure up and you never feel like you are good enough. So what are you to do with your expectations? You can’t deny them because most expectations started out as God-given desires. In this six-session companion study guide to the DVD, Andy Stanley explains that you must instead learn to transform your expectations and look to God if you are to experience marriage as it was designed. This study guide is complete with a leader’s guide and six lessons including conversation-starting exercises, discussion questions and application steps. Story Behind the Book Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of three North Point Ministries campuses, with a cumulative congregation of more than twenty thousand. As couples voiced their various marital struggles to him, the common root problem became undeniably clear. The “me” syndrome, or the “I” effect, was tearing apart husbands and wives who were once head-over-heels in love. To help couples step back from their immediate circumstances and realize the bigger picture, he preached a series called “iMarriage.” This DVD and study guide will empower couples everywhere to transform their marriages into the one God intends for them.

Founder of the phenomenon social media account PreachersNSneakers tackles how faith, capitalism, consumerism, and (wannabe) celebrity have collided and asks both believers and nonbelievers alike: how much is too much? What started as a joke account on Instagram has turned into a movement. Through this provocative project, the founder of PreachersNSneakers is helping thousands of Jesus followers wrestle with the inevitable dilemmas created by our Western culture obsessed with image and entertainment. In PreachersNSneakers: Authenticity in an Age of For-Profit Faith and (Wannabe) Celebrities, Ben Kirby approaches many of the difficult questions plaguing countless Christians’ minds, presenting experiences and input from both sides of difficult questions, such as: Should pastors grow wealthy off of religion, and can their churches ever be too large? Do we really believe that divine blessings are monetary, or is that just religious wallpaper to hide our own greed? Is there space in Christendom for celebrities like Kanye and Bieber to exist without distorting the good news? What about this: Is it wrong for someone—even wrong for author Ben Kirby—to call out faith leaders online and leverage “cancel culture” to affect change? PreachersNSneakers will navigate these challenging questions and many more with humor, wit, candor, and a few never-before-published hijinks. Each chapter will explore the various sides of the debate, holding space for us to make up our own minds. This book is not about finding the perfect, “right” way to do something, but instead learning how to articulate what we believe, why we believe it, and what to do when we want to stand up against cultural norms. This book will doubtlessly become a staple for church small groups, college ministries, and book clubs, emboldening struggling believers who want to live a more genuine faith. After all, the Lord works in mysterious colorways.