Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts After the Message … Serving

After a message on service, ministry or servanthood … what if you had a few “stations” in the back of the room where students could stop by as they were leaving. Say there are 6 stations with …

12 Windex bottles. The label on the front was replaced with your church label, and the instructions on the back challenge someone to visit 12 neighbors and clean their windows inside and out.

4 boxes of detergent. Instructions say to visit the school’s laundry facility and wash the football team’s clothes for the week of preseason.

25 bottles of canned air. Instructions say to go to local business’s and spray out the dust inside the all employee keyboards and CPUs.

10 canisters of Lysol Wipes. Instructions say to disinfect all door handles at every elementary and middle school within 5 miles.

2 air pumps. Visit houses and offer to inflat what needs air. Balls, bike tires, beach stuff …

A pack of double-sided tape and a level. Visit neighborhoods and offer to level picture frames. When level, apply a small piece of tape to the backside.

If asked, they mention how their church is giving back to the community. That’s it. See what happens by next Sunday.

JG

Add Comment August 20, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Who Am I?

Just finished posting an article on PDYMCommunity.com from Ben McClary – he wrote a great article after having been let go from 2 youth ministry positions this year. It’s from his heart, and I think it’ll speak to many. Here’s a clip:

It is a difficult task, especially for those of us who happen to be male, to keep good tabs on our identity. We seem to have this natural inclination to find our identity, our place in the world, our sense of personal value, in what we accomplish with the work of our hands. It is often traced by theologians, Christian psychologists, and other spiritual leaders back to the curse on the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, where Adam is sentenced to hard work that will, from then on, consume his whole life. But what happens when the business folds? When we become unable to perform our work any more due to illness or injury? When we are fired?

I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time wrestling with this issue pretty hard for the past year or so. It is embarrassing, almost to a comical level, that I have the dubious record to share with you that I have been fired from not one, but two youth ministry jobs this past year–within less than seven months of each other! As you might imagine, this has come with a little bit more introspection than a simple “this is interesting.”

“What is wrong with me?” has been a constant theme in my thoughts. “What is God trying to teach me?” has been another recurring itch on my brain. “Have I gotten my whole life and calling wrong?” has been yet another. But what bubbles beneath all of these questions is the BIG one. “Who am I?”

JG

99 thoughts

Add Comment August 20, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts 40% Off Music at SYM

Simply Youth Ministry is having a 40% off sale of all of the music in the store. That means you can pick up David Crowder for $8 and the latest Jeremy Camp, Passion or Switchfoot CD for $7. Enjoy the tunes!

JG

Add Comment August 20, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Free Razors (and Printers?)

OK, this morning I shaved with a straight razor. But it wasn’t just any razor, it was a Gillette Fusion. The crazy thing is – they sent it to me for free. I don’t think I’m the only one who got this in their mailbox recently – so why would a company do that? Why would they send me their brand new signature razor for free?

They obviously want to get me hooked, and once I’m hooked then I have to start buying their blades. In fact, they are guaranteed a customer for life with plenty of expensive refill purchases – all by giving the original product for free. It’s quite a risk, and quite an investment – they are expecting a return.

What’s next – is HP going to send me a free printer?

How does this translate to the church? How can a student ministry use this strategy? Well, that’s your Monday morning assignment. Comment and idea/thought and let’s discuss … because right now I have no idea but thought it was interesting.

JG

Add Comment August 20, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Jim and Casper go to Church

Several friends of mine read this new book an insisted I get it – so I did and read it over the past two days. In a word? Aggrivating. Inspirational. Motivational.

The premise is that two guys – a former pastor and an atheist – visit a dozen churches across the country and record their feelings, conversations and impressions. The whole first chapter is dedicated to Saddleback – and in fact, you can read it for free as a PDF right here. Keep in mind this review takes into account the whole book, not just “our church” specific parts.

This book is really a wake up call to the church. It has the courage to say some pretty bold things. Some things that aren’t pretty and some that even sting quite a bit. But they need to be said. What is your church’s call to action? What is your church doing? What is the impression your building/grounds/greeters give off? Are they performers or worship leaders? Why do we have to be told to welcome others? Is the language we use “insider”?

Let me also caution you that the book is somewhat unfair – they visited churches on a random Sunday morning and only went to the large group meeting. No small groups, no seeking rest of what the church has to offer as a whole. But I guess that’s the point, as hundreds of people like them visit church each week unannounced – and probably attend just the big church experience. Maybe it’s more fair than I care to admit.

This is essentially a “thin-slicing” of the big church experience. All in all this is a good book I hope we learn from as a church and in general as Christ-followers.

JG

Add Comment August 19, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Saddleback Sunday Morning

Took this picture today at church – we don’t go on Sunday mornings as a family too much to make room for other folks, but this week some unchurched friends came with and Sunday morning was the perfect time. We had a blast – Pastor Rick was back in action teaching an expositional message about discouragement from Nehemiah.

Unrelated to anything: has anyone else noticed that the very top row of the bleachers in the back of the worship center has 14 inches of legroom instead of 22? No joke, I measured it – tight fit!

JG

worship

Add Comment August 19, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Endless Summerfest II

It won’t be long before Endless Summerfest arrives again at Saddleback San Clemente. We’ll be there again this year for sure!

JG

Add Comment August 18, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Seminary Orientation Love

Learned a couple of great lessons today – the first being you never want to take a college library orientation that lasts nearly two hours. Man, those guys are excited about books. Enjoy the picture of me and a guy who is sleeping during the tour. We tried to set off the “book stealing alarm” a few times by throwing books through it, but apparentlyit was turned off. Bummer.The second less was that apparently blogging doesn’t help you with grammar, as I learned per my placement test scores.

Reading this over, I think they may be right.

One last genuine observation: everyone is on equal footing in seminary freshman orientation. The 21-year old fresh-faced kid, the 21-year youth ministry veteran (and all in between like me). This is going to be an interesting experience, I can already tell. Swallow my pride and jump in – it’s probably good for me. Right?

JG

Add Comment August 18, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Life’s Healing Choices

Just about done with the new book by Celebrate Recovery author John Baker. Managed to snag a copy of it up at the Summit this week. It is going to be a very popular book, especially for those in the most intense darkness – there’s some powerful testimonies of people in all sorts of situation that found healing and recovery, and included are all of the principles that John speaks about every week at the CR meetings.

My favorite part of the book, one that he keeps hitting on every few pages, is life-changing salvation from Jesus Christ. So often people question the “higher power” of AA and programs that offer recovery, but this book will leave no doubts in the minds of the readers: true recovery is incomplete without Christ.

And that’s a message we all need to remember.

JG

Add Comment August 17, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Do You Go or Do You Stay?

Been talking to quite a few youth workers in transition these days, and been posting some good articles on the subject recently, too. This analogy has been floating around in my head with these people in mind. Thoughts?

Let’s say you work for Microsoft.

But, you love what Apple is doing. In fact, what Apple is doing fits your giftedness and you see how you could fit on their team so well. You see incredible dedication, innovation and an environment where it is at least expected if not demanded. Microsoft is the giant, with a huge share of the industry’s market – but Apple, smaller but growing, has a huge share of the industry’s innovation.

But … you work for Microsoft. Microsoft needs you – they have plans for innovation and creativity, your charter is to help it head towards Apple-like status, in fact, to head down that road then blow right past the rebellion. But you see the barriers. You see trends in the past where product releases have been underwhelming and you’ve seen it up close for so long all you see are the flaws. You compare yourself endlessly to Apple, and you wonder if you would be ultimately be more fulfilled over there.

Do you go or do you stay?

I know the analogy breaks down on some levels and totally doesn’t account for God’s Spirit, but I’m still curious what you think.

JG