The Seven Checkpoints for Youth Leaders (Hardcover)

by Andy Stanley (Author), Stuart Hall (Author) "It's a great time in history to work with teenagers!..." (more)
Key Phrases: discipleship environment, counterfeit friends, seven checkpoints, God's Word, Key Passage, Considering Others (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

About the Author
Andy Stanley, like his father, Charles Stanley, carries on a tradition of excellence in ministry. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and the founding pastor of North Point Community Church, Andy serves as keynote speaker for the Big Stuf Student Camps in Panama City, Florida, each summer.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Howard Books (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582291772
• ISBN-13: 978-1582291772
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Helpful Resource - Content over Gimmicks!, July 29, 2004

By	AlexForrest (Louisville, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews

The Seven Checkpoints is written primarily for youth leaders and outlines a strategy for effectively teaching students over the course of their time in school. Stanley and Hall identify seven "checkpoints" that are the most important and critical issues facing teens:

Authentic Faith
Spiritual Disciplines
Moral Boundaries (this section deals primarily with issues of sexual purity and dating)
Healthy Friendships
Wise Choices
Ultimate Authority
Others First

These seven categories are obviously pretty broad, but they do cover a lot of ground, and are all certainly critical and relevant issues for teens. (The trick, of course, is that these are also critical and relevant issues for youth leaders, and everybody else for that matter...). The book is an easy/quick read and full of practical advice and anecdotes that will be useful for those working with students.

I don't know that I'm totally 100% on board with the Seven Checkpoints methodology though. Hall and Stanley recommend orienting basically all of one's teaching and content around one of these seven principles, and planning a calendar around them accordingly. My only hesitation here is that it does not leave as much room for studies through particular books of the Bible or character studies. I think these kinds of studies are important because they will provide a better foundation in terms of doctrine and will also hopefully model for the students how they can get into Scripture themselves. But the model presented is certainly better than not having a plan or direction; one could do much much worse.

That being said, the Seven Checkpoints is definitely worth reading and learning from. The seven areas they outline certainly need to be emphasized often. It's refreshing to see a book on youth ministry that is more concerned with content than events and gimmicks. I think it's a great book to hand youth workers.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing, November 23, 2001

By	Carrie Z. "scooterbug8515" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Seven Checkpoints: Student Journal (Paperback)

This is one of the best devotinal books I ever read. It helped me to see what God wanted for me in my life. It really turned my life around.
I was so glad I bought it at my youth camp. That's where I met Stuart Hall himself (awesome goddly man to meet). He mentioned this book at the camp for those who wanted to learn more about what he talked about. (I surly did!)
This book covers everthing from the Basics to Moral Boundries, Friends, and Choices.
God really worked on me through this Book and his very own word.
I hope any and all who read this book will be abel to see God more clearly as I did.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Volunteer Youth Sponsor looks at "The Seven Checkpoints", July 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seven Checkpoints: Student Journal (Paperback)

I am a volunteer youth sponsor for our small church and youth group. Recently, and coincidentally, our full-time youth pastor and our only other youth resource person resigned. Without full time leadership we sponsors were feeling mighty inadequate. I heard Andy Stanley on a radio talk show doing a promotion for his new book. I bought the book and found it to be not only an easy read but clearly delineated and organized for even those of us in part-time volunteer ministry. 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 is so easy to follow, we have decided to adapt our curriculum to their philosophy of these seven pivotal checkpoints. I recommend this book for any struggling youth volunteers like me and for any of those in full-time ministry.