This article was written by Greg Stier and Randy Davis, a partner from the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM).

Legend has it that when the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, a warrior named Philippides ran the extremely long distance back to Athens, burst into the assembly and proclaimed “We have won!” just before collapsing and dying. This story has inspired countless runners to run and keep on running (and hopefully not die) in marathons around the world. 

As I type these words I'm at a mountain retreat with 10 other youth ministry leaders from around the nation. We are collaborating around a vision that we pray will result in every teenager in America engaged in a Gospel conversation with a Christian peer. To accomplish this we need

Jason and Laura Loewen both attended Lead THE Cause University and are phenomenal "Alpha X leaders" on every level. In this guest post Laura does a phenomenal job of articulating the importance of youth leaders networking from the perspective of a youth leader's spouse.

By the way you can

Whenver I hear the word "ecumenical" I think of a circle of pale-looking pastors, covered in honey and singing "Kum-ba-yah." Whether true or untrue that is the mental picture I get.

Some terms that could describe this weak brand of squishy unity in my mind are:

"It doesn't matter what you

This last weekend I had a great and eye-opening experience in Kenosha, Wisconsin. My buddy, Andy McGowan, youth pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church and D2S/Lead THE Cause University alumni, invited me to come to Kenosha to experience what God has been doing in and through the local youth

You've seen the commercials. The guy with the clunky glasses shows up out of nowhere with the network of people standing behind him. He gently reminds the naysayer (who is trying to scare the Verizon user with threats of "the dead zone") that he has a network to support him.

The

Every year around this time a group of between thirty to forty national youth ministry leaders get together for a time of fellowship, facilitation, and strategic interaction. This year the gathering is in Norfolk, Virginia at a place called The Founder's Inn. Pray that it is a profitable

Preached to 1,800 youth leaders last night in Cincinnati. Although I was dog tired the Lord, with a little help from Starbucks (thanks Jason for making the run for me dude), gave me the strength to preach. I felt pretty pumped up that I was able to deliver the message

Of all the coffee joints in all the world...I end up in another Starbucks. But not just any Starbucks, the one at my wife's favorite mall in the world, Tyson's Corner Mall in the DC area. The first or second time we were here in DC together