Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Live Curriculum Video

We’re about to kickoff the Life Group year – training is tonight and tomorrow night!

This year we’re continuing to use the fantastic LIVE curriculum for our high school small group lessons each week. LIVE comes with a powerful web tool to help us communicate with our volunteer team and scales easily to add new groups and leaders. It is what we use every week of the small group year and we love it. Check it out in the video above and read more over on Simply Youth Ministry, too.

JG

1 View Comments September 27, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Small Groups with a Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities

I’m reading Steve Gladen’s new book, Small Groups with Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities. He’s one of the pastors on staff here at Saddleback and has been heading up the adult small group ministry pretty much forever. If you’re interested in learning how we do small groups, you’ve come to the right place – Steve does a great job of walking you through the model we use and gives some clear reasons why we’ve chosen it and it works for us. Keep in mind this is primarily for our adult programs (you can read more about our student ministry take on small groups in Doug Fields & Matt McGill’s Small Groups from Start to Finish). If you’re looking for a tool to help challenge you in the area of small groups, look no further than right here. Leader training, infrastructure, host homes, health assessment, evaluation, successes and failures – all in the book.

If you’re looking for a quick look at how small groups work at Saddleback (while you’re waiting for your book to arrive from Amazon), check out Saddleback Small Group FAQs or 8 Reasons to Join a Small Group.

JG

Add Comment September 26, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts SLANT33: How do you decide what to teach?

I recently contributed to the SLANT33 blog when they asked the question – How do you decide what to teach? I gave a wide variety of answers from where I find my inspiration, here is a selection of them, head there for the complete article on the subject:

Create a focus group and run your ideas by them. Every Tuesday during the school year at 4pm, you’ll find me in my office surrounded by a select group of high school student leaders who are my focus group. I run everything by them: rough drafts of sermons, object lessons, ideas, icebreakers, series ideas. They give invaluable insight into what they and their fellow students need to hear and how the message can best be shaped to meet them where they are living. And yes, they have veto power. It kills me when they use it, but I know it is for the greater good.

Be inspired by others. I love nothing more than devouring sermon and series ideas from other people! Youth pastors are creative, so if your idea well is running dry, find some people out there who are killing it. Stolen ideas I’ve had recently: a series on Facebook and a question/answer message where students text in questions to be answered live in the service.

Hit the majors. There are certain topics we are going to cover every year in our youth group. The majors for us would be things like friendship and purity. We make sure that specific perennial topics are being covered, though we might change the number of weeks or the voice speaking so it always feels fresh.

Excited to unpack these and much more at my NYWC seminars this weekend, too!

JG

1 View Comments September 26, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts SYM 1-Day Deal: Prepare. Go. Live

Last week was so much fun Simply Youth Ministry is bringing it back!

Today from now until 7pmEastern time you can get the 3-part mission trip kit Prepare Go Live for 80% off! Here’s a clip from the product description:

Few things will bring the gospel to life for your students like heading out onto the mission field. Spending a day, weekend, or longer in service to God, for his love, and with people in need brings the calling of Christ vividly into focus. With this easy to implement 3-part missions trip curriculum, you’ll get everything you need to get your students ready (Prepare), devotions for the trip (Go), and follow-up materials (Live) to make their experience part of an ongoing, godly lifestyle. And what good would we be if we didn’t include helpful stuff for leaders to make the whole trip more fun for everyone? No good at all, so we’ve given you plenty.

JG

Add Comment September 26, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: Mature [M] Rated Videogames at a Youth Group Event

The topic of video games is in the news with last week’s release of the Xbox360-exclusive Gears of War 3 (aside: Walt Mueller had a fantastic article on the subject last week here). This week’s poll question is one about the appropriateness of an M-rated game at a youth function. Full disclosure: for several years we did a HALO-ween event that was a total blast and very well received, but I think it might be an exception to the norm. Thoughts? Would love your vote and a discussion on the subject!

JG

11 View Comments September 26, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Love God With All Your Mind: Apologetics For The Youth Pastor

I want to make a case for why you need to make Christian apologetics a priority in your ministry. It will cost you something but I believe the pay off is worth it. You might have to give up that self-depreciating story that takes up twenty minutes but makes everyone like you afterwards. You might have to cut your games time in half to beef up your teaching time. You might have to pick up a book instead of a slurpee.

But your kids will hopefully thank you later. They will know what they believe and they will know how to defend it.

The prophet Isaiah laments about his culture in a verse that speaks to us today, “Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey” (Is. 59:15). Christianity has always had its critics; Jesus promised it would be that way (John 20:21). As our culture increasingly secularizes, we as pastors must prepare our students for the imminent attack to the Christian faith. We believers must be able to give a rational defense for the validity of the truth of Christianity. This defense has commonly been given the word “apologetics,” as it is taken from the Greek word apologia, meaning “the act of making a defense.” This word is used several times in the New Testament, but its usage in two passages is particularly relevant. In Philippians 1:7 &16, apologia refers to a defense of the gospel, and in 1 Peter 3:15 it refers to a defense of the Christian hope.^[1]

Apologetics therefore can mean a student’s ability to defend a truth when confronted with an attack in scenarios such as a university classroom or while watching Discovery Channel or an antagonistic YouTube video like the popular documentary, Zeitgeist. Thankfully, the bold yet false assertions can be argued against rationally and such is the call of the Christian apologist. Apologetics need not only be about defending against attack but it can also be about giving a reason for Christian belief in a more proactive, persuasive explanation of the faith.^[2]

When I tell people that we work hard and prioritize both elements of Christian apologetics in youth ministry today, I will sometimes encounter critics who assert, wrongly, that apologetics has no place in the postmodern worldview. They argue that it is outdated, rooted in modernity and unnecessary “because apologetics never changed anyone.” (I think they mean anyone other than C.S. Lewis, Francis Collins, Anthony Flew, the author of this article and many more).

When students come with their doubts and questions (and they do) it would be a great leadership failure to tell them, “I’m sorry, you don’t really need to know the answer to that because you are postmodern. What you really need is a hug, a piece of pizza and some good community.” Instead we are to know the truth, teach the truth and help them, “give a defense for the hope that is within them” (1 Peter 3:15).

Contrary to what we might have read, the modern mindset is still valuable in our world today. I am thankful to the airplane pilot who still believes in the rigid, modernistic laws of aviation. I am thankful for the doctor who works hard to learn the proper brain and heart surgery to help those who are sick. I am also thankful for the Christian who labour to refute our culture’s bias towards relativism, pluralism and can refute Christianity’s many opponents with the truth.

Jesus told a lawyer that part of the greatest commandment was to love God with all your mind (Matt. 22:36). Let’s love God with our minds by valuing truth enough to pursue it and wrestle to find it.

^[1] Justin Holcomb. “Apologetics On Mission.” http://theresurgence.com/2011/06/02/apologetics-on-mission Accessed June 5, 2011.

^[2] Examples such as explaining the circumstantial evidence affirming the validity of the resurrection. Great research has been done by N.T. Wright and Gary Habermas.

For the past four years, Jon has served at Coquitlam Alliance Church just outside of beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. Jon is the young adults pastor in a ministry called Ethos. Check out his blog at http://jonmorrison.ca

2 View Comments September 25, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Youth Ministry in Today’s Church

Life is changing for many modern families and our churches need to adapt. Parents have always wanted success for their youth, but over the last several years, parents and schools expect youth to be involved in activities that might give them an edge in college applications — including events on Sunday mornings. Many families use weekends to travel or engage in recreational activities. Plus, an ongoing commitment to a faith community is declining so parents are less committed to attending church themselves and therefore are unwilling or unable to persuade their youth to attend. The result is that most of our youth (and their parents) hold to a “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism:” [1]

A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
The central goal in life is to be happy and feel good about oneself.
God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.

This is the faith of our youth. You might notice that almost none of this is Christianity. There is nothing about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. No belief in the concepts of sin and redemption. No call to bring God’s love to others or serve others in Jesus’ name. No sense of life having meaning or of people being created by God and called into a vocation. None of these core practices and beliefs of the Christian faith are present in the life or beliefs of most of our youth.

The problem is not that teenagers are opposed to religion — they simply don’t care about it very much. Their view of God is as a lifeguard (rescue), butler (provider), therapist (feel good) or guidance counselor (decision/direction).[2] But there is no encounter with a God that is transformative. And Jesus barely gets a mention — he is basically just a “good guy” who taught people about God.

Here are some of the challenges we face:

1) Teenagers are theologically inarticulate — unable to talk about their faith.
2) Parent make the biggest difference in their child’s faith — so youth ministry needs to involve parents.
3) We need to motivate parents because the culture does not encourage them to make church a priority.
4) We need to go back to the basics — most of our youth, and their parents, do not have a relationship with Jesus, may not even know much about Jesus, or they don’t believe much of what the church has traditionally said about Jesus.
5) We need to be authentic — young people can pick out a fake a mile away and will discard anything we offer if it isn’t authentic.
6) We need to think intergenerational — the church is one of the few places in our society where the generations meet.

_____________________

[1] Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, Oxford Press, p. 14
[2] Almost Christian, p. 18

Linda L. Grenz is an Episcopal priest and publisher of LeaderResources which produces downloadable resources for youth ministry. She recently introduced their new Center for Youth Ministry which provides churches access to 40+ resources including the popular “Journey to Adulthood” – a six-year rites of passage program. Check it out at www.LeaderResources.org/CYM.

1 View Comments September 24, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts A Family First, Family-Friendly, Integrated Discipleship Process

There have been some great discussions on the future of youth ministry as it relates to the family and focusing on parents being the primary disciplers of their teenagers. And while the Deuteronomy 6 principles are clear I don’t think the answer is to throw out youth ministry as we know it as some have claimed.

I’ve been preparing for a discussion panel here at the D6 Conference in Dallas and had a few thoughts about a hybrid idea to bring families more central to the discipleship process while keeping the strengths of a healthy kids and student ministry. Here’s one way, would love to hear yours in the comments!

Kids Ministry
Dads and moms are the primary disciplers. They are actively engaged in their child’s spiritual growth. Children welcome their parents at this age and it feels natural and right. Parents are small group leaders; parents receive books, resources and training on raising their kids spiritually in the church and at home. Parents, pastors and young adults spiritually adopt and mentor kids in the church who don’t have the privilege to have parents of faith. There are worship services designed both together and separate from each other at this young age.

Junior High Ministry
At this point parents are beginning the earliest stage of helping their children grow spiritually without them being present all of the time. Plenty is still being caught and taught at home, but a transition is slowly starting to be made to help kids own their own faith, not just ride the coattails of their parents’ religion. Parents aren’t at everything, but are included in father/son and mother/daughter events. Other caring, trained, and screened adults come alongside the home to help raise Godly students. This is a natural time of resistance to the parent-child relationship, so while it is still integral to their faith development, we embrace the tension and give them outside voices and a little space to simply affirm what mom and dad are saying at home. These aren’t just any volunteers — they are partners in raising these young men and women in concert with parents.

High School Ministry
Parents are resourced, encouraged, engaged and communicated with extremely well. They are cautiously distant enough in the final formal stages of spiritual training of their child to let their faith become their own. Once a month family services are planned and designed with all ages in mind. There are tons of natural discussions in the home around standards, purity, boundaries, morality and integrity that offer many opportunities for discussion and practical application of Scriptures they’ve learned for years. The emphasis of the high school ministry is to help students grow in and on their own. They are also taught and resourced well, as well as given access to apologetics courses, discipleship events and seminars on topics to help prepare for adult life.

College Ministry , Adulthood
Parenting and pastoring is now done from a distance. They have a faith of their own, having been supported and nurtured from their earliest days. They own a personal faith that lasts a lifetime and is passed to the next generation as well.

What do you think? Just crazy enough it might work. Just an idea, won’t be offended if you don’t agree. I’m not even sure if I do, either!

JG

2 View Comments September 23, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry is a Calling of Extremes

Not long ago, we were chatting it up with a couple of students who had expressed interest in being youth pastors. Our conversation ran through various aspects of youth work when it hit us: youth ministry is a calling of extremes. If you’re new to the gig, you might not feel it just yet — but ask anyone who has been doing it for a while and they’ll tell you it is true.

Extreme schedule
In youth ministry there is no such thing as a typical week. Quite often every day is completely different from the last. This summer alone I (Kurt) ran from event to mission trip to vacation to camp to … I don’t even remember what came next because the schedule was so extreme. It was even busier for Josh…in addition to all the youth ministry stuff, he had to schedule time play video games, watch Star Wars and snack on pretzels.

Extreme emotion
Youth ministry lives on both ends of the emotional continuum. I’ve (Josh) been sitting with students laughing my head off about something one minute, and get a phone call about one of my students being in a terrible car accident the next. Youth workers are there when things are extremely good and when things are extremely bad.

Extreme salary
Youth ministry pays extreme. Extremely little.

Extremely critical age
Youth ministry is focused on what may be the most critical age group in our churches — when students are figuring themselves and their faith out and parents are at the most challenging point in relating to them. We ask these students to give over total control of their life to Jesus . We invite students to be baptized, to demonstrate their faith to their friends, family and the world at the time when peer-pressure and image are the most crucial in their life. That’s some extreme stuff!

Extreme expectations
There’s a lot of pressure on youth workers — from senior pastors, staff, parents and largely from the person who is the hardest on you: yourself.

Extreme hours, extreme emotions, extreme work. Youth ministry pushes everything to the limit. So why in the world would anyone want to do it? Seems like a nice, safe, well-paying nine-to-five job in an air conditioned office is more what most people look for in life, not this.

Why? Because of the extreme fulfillment. We wouldn’t want to do anything else. You?

This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.