Really enjoyed Stephanie’s post over on Small Church Youth Ministry comparing the Survivor finale to church politics. Couple of things: 1) it isn’t just at small churches, sister! and 2) read with caution, it might sting a bit. Here’s a clip of her observations, head there for the rest:

“Alliances” – As they do in the game, so can alliances quickly change in a church. And the smaller the tribe (church) is, the more impact an alliance can have, positive or negative. SOLUTION: Eliminate your “parking lot conversations”; if its a conversation you don’t want others to hear, than its probably one you shouldn’t be having.

“Tribal Council” – Every church has a leadership board of some kind. The healthy council is one that reserves judgement until they ask questions and hear out the individuals or issues involved. In a church, no one should get voted “off the island,” shunned, rejected.  SOLUTION: Scripture tells us to “bear one another’s burdens” and to “say only those things for lifting one another up.” Oh and there’s that “Love One Another” thing, too.

JG

Finished up reading Steering Through Chaos: Mapping a Clear direction for Your Church in the Midst of Transition and Change. It wins the award for the longest subtitle in book history – and it is a great read if you’re in transition. And let’s be honest, who isn’t? Even in a “change-friendly” church like Saddleback, there were great moments in the book where I nodded about resistance to change and the importance of early and strategic change to spur on more growth. Too often leaders are too eager to make change or miss the optimal window – both cause problems and division. One of the best keys in the book was recognizing the chaos that leadership creates when we make change, and how that is part of the process. It hits on a few familiar themes like authenticity and the leadership gap (with frequent nods to Good to Great, etc), and forges new learnings with chapters focusing on all too often overlooked prayer and celebration. The last couple of years in HSM has been nothing but change so lots to connect with for me, this book will help you navigate it in your church, too. Good stuff.

JG

Simple camp promo video. Looks sweet, but it was super easy to make. Details this week on the blog!

JG

Katie and I were out for a Student Ministries team day and missed last week’s podcast. But enjoy the latest Simply Youth Ministry Podcast either way – our first time with special guests, too!

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: The End: what happens when its over? (series premiere, week 1 of 2)

Sermon in a Sentence: Exploring what the Bible says happens after we die. 
Service Length: 65 minutes

Understandable Message: This week was a challenging talk to create – I wanted to follow-up the You Own the Weekend series with a plain message series about Heaven, Hell and what happens in the afterlife. Students seemed to show a genuine interest in the topic, I wanted to speak plainly about Hell this first week – focusing at the end on God’s love and the hope we have in Heaven. Lots of good comments afterward and excited to see students digging in to this challenging topic.

Volunteer/Student Involvement: The band doubled this week as greeters, and students controlled the cameras, lights, sound and control room. We were a little light on volunteers this week but those that were there jumped in to encourage and greet students who attended the service.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We opened up with a few www.polleverywhere.com  questions – 1) specifically asking students if they considered themselves a Christian, and 2) asking them to respond with what they believe happens after you die. Interesting results – somewhere between 60-80% of our audience considers themselves Christian, depending on the service. We had a simple The End series video and also played a round of Total Recall where we played the end of Monsters, Inc then asked a few trivia questions about the clip. Fun, well-themed, clear program.

Music Playlist: Gives You Hell (All-American Rejects cover), Yours Forever, You Never Let Go, Lead Me to the Cross, Hosanna

Favorite Moment: Without a doubt the coolest moment was the object lesson on stage. One of our volunteers created a couple of platforms with a gulf between that symbolized the end of life on earth and Heaven. At the bottom of the chasm was Hell, and at the end of the talk I spoke about God’s love through the cross, carried a cross on stage then used it as a bridge to Heaven. Cool way to illustrate victory over sin, Hell and Satan – ended with the song Lead Me to the Cross. Good stuff!

Up Next: The End (week 2 of 2)

Ty Mattson, a great graphic designer (who helped with some of the very early/original Simply Youth Ministry covers and resources) and friend in the area has a whole new line of LOST art that hit the official ABC store as soon as the LOST series finale was over tonight. Click the image above to check out his great stuff!

Also, the LOST finale party I attended tonight required you to write a poem inspired by the show. If you’re not a fan of the show I apologize for this, but here was my entry:

Hurley Loves Chicken to Death
An Ode to Fried Bird
by Joshua Griffin

Hurley Reyes loves him some grub,
Of this we are sure, because he’s built like a tub.

Stranded on the Island forever and a day,
He still tops out the scale in how much he weighs.

You think he’d be skinny after all that time
especially with so little food, no rib that was prime.

With a stroke of good luck, he owned a franchise
He bought Mr Cluck’s Chicken Heaven and that’s quite a prize.

That’s where it started, and that’s where it’ll end
Grease running down his fingers from that delicious chicken.

Hurley will die in the most painful way,
A heart attack will claim him this day.

Hurley truly loved fried chicken to death,
It will still be in his mouth when he takes his last breath.

JG

Ahhh … it won’t be long now.

I think football is perhaps the most perfect game ever invented. The pace of the game, the fans, the glory, the stadiums, the history and tradition – it all adds up to one of the top-ranked sporting events … dare I say experiences ever devised by man. There’s nothing like it in the world. Baseball is fun, golf is mildly interesting - football smashes them all to pieces.

The elite players in the world soon gather together for the definitive battles that settles the score and establishe bragging rights for years to come. Pundits will spout commentary on both radio and television, fueling the endless debates surrounding the nuances of specific strengths of teams, players and clubs. Millions of magazines, webpages and programs are dedicated to devoted followers, encouraging them into a world-wide fandom fury. The eyes of the world focus on football very soon. Millions will watch what they consider to be the game of the year, if the right teams make it into the finals perhaps even the game of the decade or century if all the cards land right. For millions of kids, young and old, these are their friends, icons and heroes. None of the pregame talk will matter when the game is over. It will be left on the field by gladiators in epic combat.

I remember how significant it was to play football as a kid, and how challenging it was to play at the collegiate level. As the family football tradition comes full circle my own children played it last season in the city leagues. Truly football is a game unmatched and unparalled in the world. I for one, can’t wait to sit in front of a television with a group of friends and watch the games.

Oh wait, football … as in soccer? Like the World Cup? Shoot. That game is pretty cool, too.

JG

Sony provided me with a free Sony Ericsson X10 phone and a PSPgo and FIFA Soccer 10 game in connection with my participation in the Sony Ericsson/Sony Style X10 Blogger Contest, which requires me to blog about Sony and/or Sony Ericsson Products.

Series we did for HSM’s new series, The End. Adapted from this LG television commercial.

JG

An age-old question came up the other day among a few of my friends, and as I mulled it over I realized the need for some definitive rules about when it is OK to openly talk about movie and TV spoilers. With the series-ending episode of LOST coming tomorrow night, with 24 counting down the last few seconds this season, with The Office screaming real-life comparisons to the co-workers in your office – how can you not talk about these things? Never fear geek gurus and TV jockeys, I’m here to rescue you from the swirling vortex of friendship-ending faux pas when it comes to the moving pictures:

TV and MOVIE SPOILERS
BASIC GUIDELINES

In the age of Tivo, DVR, Hulu (2 years ago we cut the cable and use our Sony VAIO hooked up to the big screen) and mobile TV you almost have to cut people some slack. No one watches shows when they air on TV anymore: real-time has been brushed aside in favor of on-demand. At the very least people watch a show a few hours later, and I would venture that many/most aren’t seeing it until the next day. This delay can be frustrating, but there’s nothing more embarrassing than wearing your GLEEK shirt and talking about a Sue Sylvester line that no one has heard yet, only to be greeted by winces and people running away from you while covering their ears. Be proud that you are a better geek (and all-around friend) than they are but keep it to yourself for a day – then geek out.

FAQ

What about midnight showings?
When a movie debuts at midnight, only .01% of the population of your office went to see it. Iron Man 2 at 2am might sound like fun to you, but with the exception of your cubicle cronies, it sounds lame to the rest of the crew at your workplace. If you see a midnight showing of a blockbuster movie, talk excitedly about how great the movie was in somewhat hushed tones with the dudes. If the movie was lame, it is totally appropriate to steal some of the joy form your coworkers by practicing a frustrated face that will let them know your epic late night sacrifice came up more than a little short.

What about my close circles of geek friends?
When you’re with fellow geeks, feel free to talk openly about spoilers the minute the show is over. In fact, why wait for the credits to roll at all? They are your friends only because of your superior knowledge of six degrees of separation and connecting obscure plot points. Impress them and guide them along by openly discussing plot points and openly speculating about what is next.

What about people in later timezones?
The Time Zone Effect, as I like to call it, penalizes people on the West Coast more than any other people group. We air the shows live for you to watch  during prime time – which means they were recorded just down the street from us in Hollywood while we were still at the office. Then the show gets tape delayed hours later for us to finally enjoy. Lame. But hey, you have winter, so I guess that makes up for us basking in the sunshine at 77 degrees in January.

How do I handle social media?
Simply put, you need to go dark to truly enjoy your favorite show. It might be best to not make eye contact with coworkers you think may have seen the episode or movie before you did. Even on lunch break, know the table right behind you could switch from a discussion of sushimi to Glee in milliseconds. Have a pair of Walkman ear buds at the ready, with soothing sounds of tranquil streams to quell your disturbed state.

Do reality shows have different rules?
Absolutely. First, American Idol can be talked about freely, this is America, dog gone it. Second, Survivor has been on since I was in middle school, so talk about that tired formula all you want. No one watches Celebrity Apprentice so no problem there. Someone told me the other day that Amazing Race is still on (had no idea) and that Biggest Loser would be great motivation for me (which I didn’t understand). Add all of this up and since no one cares about reality shows, you don’t have to either.

What about series or season finales?
Soon 24 will end forever. This weekend, we’ll continue to all be lost but LOST will be over for good. There are no rules to series finales. Throw everything out the door when you’re watching the last episode of a sitcom or evening drama. In fact, embrace social media and invite the geeks over for a finale costume party to celebrate the passing of this old digital friend. Say farewell in style to

It has been 3 years since the movie came out, is it fair game?
The  Statute of Limitations on any TV show is 48 hours – anyone who hasn’t seen it within a couple of days deserves to have it spoiled. You are a teacher, your office culture is your classroom. Teach them a difficult lesson – they’ll thank you later for it no doubt. The  Statute of Limitations on a movie extends through opening weekend – if you didn’t see it at midnight, we’ll show you some grace, but if you haven’t seen it by Monday brace yourself because I’m going to spoil it for you. The only exception to this statute would be sold-out shows, which wouldn’t allow everyone to see the film at the desired time. Each sold out showing extends the statute one whole day.

I hope this guide has been helpful, my geek friends. May the Force be with you and leave your FAQ in the comments and I’ll answer them there.

JG

Sony provided me with a free Sony Ericsson X10 phone and a PSPgo and FIFA Soccer 10 game in connection with my participation in the Sony Ericsson/Sony Style X10 Blogger Contest, which requires me to blog about Sony and/or Sony Ericsson Products.

I won a PSPgo in the Sony X10 Blogger Contest and have totally enjoyed playing it the past couple of days. The kids have been wanting a portable gaming system for a while now – fun to put one in their hands and see what happens. The system has honestly had a bit of a rough start as gaming websites and reviews have been pretty tough on it, but I’ve been super excited to try it for myself. Of course, you know how much I love the Xbox360 (read my Xbox360′s blog), but there are some great Playstation-exclusive games I’ve wanted to check out.

Here’s a quick rundown of my feelings about the PSPgo:

The Good
+great game selection
We have a bunch of Sony products in our house, but have never owned a Playstation. Having a different portable system vs home console let’s you chose a bunch of exclusive games you normally wouldn’t get to play. We picked up Little Big Planet, Mod Nation Racers and Star Wars Battlefront because they were games we were excited about but haven’t had access to on other consoles.

+no pesky game discs
The future of game delivery is purely digital downloads – and honestly, this is a little bit a head of its time. 16GB of room in the PSPgo which is plenty of space for a bunch of great games. Huge selection, average experience in the PlayStation Store trying to see what all you can buy. Brilliant.

+the PSPgo is the most beautiful hand-held video games system to date
I fell in love with it. The PSPgo feels great in your hand – aside from a slightly awkward analog stick, it feels (almost) like something Apple would create. It is pure style even now being a year old – the slide-out controls are great and the lack of a disc tray/cartridge slot makes it so solid.

The Bad
- it takes some time to setup
You open the system and get excited to play your first game … but you can’t. You have to charge it up. Then update the operating system. Then set the preferences. Then sign up for a PlayStation Network account. Then download a game. Then finally play. Once you get to the end of this process it is great, but playing something quickly out of the box would provide a much better experience.

- why can’t I download in the background?
When you download a game, that’s literally all you can do. Sit there and let the game download. Now it is relatively speedy, but background downloading while you play with an “active downloads” section that queues them up would be much preferred.
- forget the used game market
Because the system relies on all digital download games, you’re stuck paying whatever prices you get form the official store. Forget trading discs with your friend or renting a title for the weekend. I like that I can download demos, but $39.99 feels steep for a portable game with little incentive for publishers to push the prices down. Again, this is the future, too, I just like the social/secondary market of physical games in the current generation.

PSPgo: Final Verdict
The system is super for the Xbox360 owner that wants to get a shot at playing Sony-exclusive games like Little Big Planet and Mod Racer Nation. While it isn’t quite robust enough to play the full-experience PS3 titles, it is much more powerful and slicker than all of the other portables on the market. If you don’t mind paying a premium for games and not being able to resell them, the PSPgo is the way to go.

JG

Sony provided me with a free Sony Ericsson X10 phone and a PSPgo and FIFA Soccer 10 game in connection with my participation in the Sony Ericsson/Sony Style X10 Blogger Contest, which requires me to blog about Sony and/or Sony Ericsson Products.

Funny little video the students at Tesoro made to open the You Own the Weekend finale.

JG

Congratulations to Katie Jackson, the new proud owner of the yet-to-be-released Sony X10. I won it in the Sony Blogger Contest, and gave it away in a little post yesterday. Well done, Katie!

JG

Saw a great post from the new SYM Network blog called More Than Gossip – Neely McQueen tackles the importance of having females on your youth ministry team. I’m in total agreement that diversity in many areas, including gender, is critically important to round out your youth ministry team. Here’s a clip:

1. The What Can I Become factor. The girls in our ministries need living examples of what their lives can become both in professional and in personal areas of life. Being around an adult woman who shares similar passions for life and career can be a constant encouragement to students that they too can succeed. At the same time, girls need to see women in healthly dating and married relationships to give them the right kind of aspirations and goals for themselves, girls aren’t usually getting these positive messages anywhere else.

2. The Basics of Life factor. A healthly youth ministry addresses the topic of sex but for the most part that conversation is pretty neutral. During these years of junior high or high school, girls are undergoing major changes phyiscally and emotionally. And some girls need to have someone outside of the home to talk with about these issues. I am pretty sure no guys on your team want to handle (nor should they) some of the crazy, honest questions that girls can ask about sex and their bodies!!

JG

Was talking to one of our small group leaders this weekend  – he told me a story about how his small group got on the subject of sex the other night and how he handled it.

The boys had varied opinions on sex and were freely commenting about how far was too far, girls and using protection. One of the boys blurted out, “What’s the big deal with it all – that’s why you wear a condom.” The comment was met with silence … then the leader said how that among other reasons like abstinence and God’s plan for sex, 17% of the time condoms fail and you could be in serious trouble.

One of the other students in the small group said, “Yeah, it’s like playing Russian Roulette when you do that. Totally not worth it.” He grabbed out his iPhone and fired up the Russian Roulette app. They they took turns pulling the virtual trigger around the room, one kid at a time.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Bang. The “condom comment” kid got shot.

I suppose you just pray and close after that, right?

JG

If you missed the live Simply Youth Ministry Podcast last week – watch it here (embedded above). Enjoy!

JG

I recently won the first round of a killer contest sponsored by Sony – its called the X10 Blogger Contest. It was a huge deal to be selected as a finalist, and now the final 10 of us are competing for some cash, more Sony products and a trip to 2 to the World Cup in South Africa next month. I realize it is still a long shot, but I’m excited for it to even be a possibility. Just for being a finalist I already got a copy of FIFA: World Cup, a PSPgo and the killer new phone from Sony: the X10!

But here’s the deal – I’m giving the phone away! I have a phone already (the HTC Snap, but I like to call it the HTC Suck) that is paid for by the church, so I can’t use Sony’s great new device anyhow. Sure I could sell it on eBay, but why not create a little online buzz and give it away to one of my loyal readers? And I’ll do one better than that – you don’t even have to be a loyal reader – just leave any comment on this blog post to have a shot at taking it home. I’ll just pick one at random and then give you the phone as a free gift.

The Sony Xperia x10 phone (see the latest reviews here) really looks super – huge screen, Google’s Android operating system, an 8.1MP phone (my favorite part), face recognition, and all the bells and whistles that tie into social networks. Super slick stuff, wish I could keep it but my loss is your gain. You’ve got 24 hours! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow around noon (PST). Thanks for reading MoreThanDodgeball.com!

JG

While I was at the Sony Style store I learned about the X10 Blogger Contest. As a finalist, Sony provided me with a free Sony Ericsson X10 phone and a PSPgo and FIFA Soccer 10 game in connection with my participation in the Sony Ericsson/Sony Style X10 Blogger Contest, which requires me to blog about Sony and/or Sony Ericsson Products.

A testimony video from Tesoro’s You Own the Weekend. Powerful story of a student not defined by a disability.

JG

The impending shift to 3D television really intrigues me.

I get the draw of 3D in theaters – a unique and somewhat novel experience on a few big budget films specifically made to fully utilize the format - but I’m not sure it is going to work at home. In the last couple of years people already hopped onto the flat panel TV craze – are they going to be so quick to make another $1,500+ purchase to make the jump to 3D? The droves of people dropping cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of Hulu and mobile TV surely can’t be relied upon to make the upgrade either.

I read a feature article in Wired a month ago (1 of 6 magazines I read religiously) that showed how Sony is betting essentially their whole organization that you and I will gleefully board the 3D bandwagon this summer. Right after reading it a buddy told me that the Sony Style store was demoing the new technology and that I had to at least check it out. Being the early adopter wannabe that I am (you have to be somewhat loaded to be one for real), I grabbed the kids and made a special trip just to see the 3D TV demo.

It was really, really impressive.

My Twitter from inside the store was full of respect and awe for the new TV, I’m a believer. I wish they had been playing some different genres of clips – but Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs looked incredible. Made me wish that George Lucas would get moving on Star Wars 3D. 3D at home looked better than 3D in the theater – brighter, richer and ultra clear.

So will we be hi-5ing each other after a 3D touchdown, all wearing our special 3D glasses in the living room? Will we dish out major dollars for a new TV and put the old flat-screen for the Xbox360 in the kids’ room? I’m not totally sure (I’m a pastor, not a prophet) but the future looks really, really good. And it’s in 3D.

JG

While I was at the Sony Style store I learned about the X10 Blogger Contest. As a finalist, Sony provided me with a free Sony Ericsson X10 phone and a PSPgo and FIFA Soccer 10 game in connection with my participation in the Sony Ericsson/Sony Style X10 Blogger Contest, which requires me to blog about Sony and/or Sony Ericsson Products.

A follow-up to last week’s reminder about auditions for the HSM band/choir.

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: You Own the Weekend: Tesoro HS (series finale, week 5 of 5)

Sermon in a Sentence: God gives us faith, faith that can move mountains.
Service Length: 67 minutes

Understandable Message: The message this week was taught by a couple of students and a couple more shared their stories. The message focused on having faith in God, and how powerful that faith is, in that it can move mountains. Students taught the story of Peter/Jesus walking on the water to teach this biblical truth. Fun twist – when I went to our adult services this weekend it was fun to hear Pastor Rick teaching on the same passage. Awesome!

Volunteer/Student Involvement: This ENTIRE weekend service (and the whole series, really) was put on by students from start to end. Students made the videos, did the speaking, greeted at the doors, decorated the room, played in the band, picked the songs and hosted the weekend. An adult was assigned to mentor and coach the student leaders in charge of each weekend.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: The students played a silly video they created at their school, as well as brought in several school-specific groups (jazz band, glee club, etc) – the drum-line was my favorite! We played the new camp promo video and pushed for students to sing up online for camp. We Are Tesoro still reigns as the best YOTW video of all time.

Music Playlist: Your Name High, One Pure and Holy Passion, The Stand, Solution

Favorite Moment: This week I just reflected on an amazing 5-weeks where out students have done everything. It was a powerful experience – and our highest attendance in HSM history. An epic series, so proud of our students. Wow.

Up Next: The End – What Happens When Its Over (series premiere, week 1 of 2)