Thought Factory Podcast

#504 || Politicizing Schools | Students’ View

How is today’s climate of school tragedies affecting students? Do they want tighter gun laws and policies for their school? Do they think adults are doing all they can to protect them? Do students feel safe walking onto their school campus? Today, Jeff and Jayson are going to explore inside the minds of "Generation Lockdown" and hear straight from their mouths their thoughts about the climate of schools.  In many of their minds, it is not a matter of if something will happen, but when.  Something needs to happen to protect students, but the consensus is that we just don't know what that solution is.

#503 || #1 Question Students Have About Prayer

Prayer can be confusing and it can evoke many questions from people, especially students.  Am I just talking to myself?  Am I saying the right things when I talk to God?  Why doesn't it seem like my prayers get answered?  Does God care to even listen to me?  But, amongst all the questions we may have, there is one question that stands out as the top question students are asking about prayer.  

#502 || No Pizza, No Party, Just Prayer

How many would promote a youth event and not include free food like any pizza?  How many would have the event be centered around just prayer?  In today's episode, hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer discuss the time of day students primarily pray and wondering if students are being taught the fundamentals of prayer beyond the rote ones that are default for many people.  Is there a culture of prayer within the ministries we lead?

 

#501 || Ten Students that Shook the World

What can happen when 10 students have a burden to pray for their school and follow through with that conviction?  What can happen when others are invited to pray?  What if the number of those who are invited are in the 10's of thousands?  In this episode, hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer interview two men who were there from the very beginning of See You At The Pole, Billy Beacham and Doug Clark.  You will hear the story of how one of the world's largest prayer movement began and how it continues to make an impact around school campuses today.

#412 || National Day of Prayer President Speaks to the Next Generation

America is broken and no government is going to fix or law is going to heal it.  Prayer always precedes any great move of God.  Hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer discuss the topic of prayer and spiritual climate of America with the new President of the National Day of Prayer, Ronnie Floyd. 

#411 || Beyond Belief to Discipleship

At the core of each youth pastor or youth worker is to see students become disciples of Jesus Christ.  The tough part is, how do we go about seeing that happen?  How do we help students become disciples in our ministry or in our home? What are the basics of accomplishing that?  Hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer discuss this topic with the Director of Soul Exercises, Lindsey Gorveatte, who states making disciples become easier when students are engaging in the Bible.  Simple right?  Then why is it still so hard to make actual disciples?  Soul Exercises provides the system that can handle the varying spectrum of the faith maturity of students while engaging the Bible to accomplish a youth pastor or youth worker's core desire for students.

#410 || How to Approach a Donor for Money

How do we approach ministry when it comes to donors' money? How do we cultivate donors and make the ask?  What are the people with greater financial means thinking and expecting when they are approached to give money, especially when people ask them al the time to give to various causes?  Hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer talk to a stockbroker who made a lot of money over the course of 30+ years in the financial industry.  He gives us insight from his perspective of someone who is approached to give away his money all the time.  

 

 

#409 || Making More Money for Ministry

How do we approach ministry when it comes to money?  Money is a tool that allows us to do the ministry we desire with students.  But, do we have an abundance mentality or a scarcity mentality?  Whether the youth ministry we work with has a $500, $5000, $50,000 budget, it appears to never be enough. Since we cannot physically make money, can we try to figure out how to leverage what we have been given to gain more? 

 

#408 || Future View | Behind Closed Doors on the School Campus

***BIG ANNOUNCEMENT EPISODE***
What does the future of schools look like? How can we leverage the school campus to create radical change in the culture of this country?  In this episode, we discuss some very exciting future plans for the student-led prayer movement, Claim Your Campus, which we believe can usher in that change.  Hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer also interview a former high school teacher who has become the CYC Growth Strategist to assist in fulfilling God's dream that was given to Jeff for this generation.  Learn more at claimyourcampus.com/cyc2020

#407 || Insider's View | Behind Closed Doors on the School Campus

God has been kicked out of America's public school system.  We have seen the results of His absence. Unfortunately, no policy in place will eradicate the symptoms of hate, but only a change in a person's heart.  What would happen if students invited God back in through student-led prayer?  In today's episode, hosts Jeff Eckart and Jayson Brewer interview a national touring hip-hop artist and of Oxen Apparel, George Moss, who has gained access into schools through his performances and speaking opportunities, which has given him an inside view of what students face at school.  We also hear a story from a public high school principal who has seen radical change through student-led prayer at his school.