More Than Dodgeball | Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin

Josh GriffinMore Posts $drawkcab – HSM’s New Giving Series

We’re doing a giving series next (see our summer teaching calendar here) called $drawkcab. We’re super excited about it – if you didn’t see it off hand it is backwards spelled … wait for it … backward. The idea is we’re going to teach about money from the perspective of the Bible, which is the opposite of the world’s view.

The only problem is its clever, but not clear. So, we’re on the hunt for a solid subtitle. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far – if you’ve got a good one, leave it in the comments!

Rethinking our quest for stuff
A new approach to money
The opposite way to look at money
How to be rich God’s way
Hitting the lotto isn’t the only way to get rich

JG

12 View Comments May 12, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 103 Now Live!

You can watch it here or grab it in iTunes as well!

JG

podcast

6 View Comments May 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts 3 Common Mistakes When Planning a New Event

Recently we canceled an event I was really excited about – a senior trip called The Last Hurrah – and I think to one degree or another we hit all 3 of these common mistakes when planning it. Hope you can learn from this!

3 COMMON MISTAKES WHEN PLANNING A NEW EVENT

You put it in the wrong spot on the calendar. The strategy behind putting The Last Hurrah in May was to help keep seniors around toward the end of their senior year – but I think we might have pushed it too far back. As the school year winds down, everything comes to a head for them and something has to go. For our seniors it was this event, so 5 days before the event we still had a whopping registration of zero. Ouch. Our goal of secretly keeping students in youth group trumped what should have been our real goal: hanging out with our seniors for one last time. Ironically, we now have neither.

You charge too much for it. I don’t think this was our biggest failure, but this economy is starting to hit us pretty hard, too. We were charging $95 for essentially an overnighter. I think for what we had planned it was a steal! We were keeping some of the details quiet and it ended up at least factoring into the decision whether or not to register for it. Another pricing model has to be in mind for next year.

You plan something people won’t get behind. I’m still not ready to give this one up altogether, I think the idea is sound and want to try it again next year. However, we might ask our senior small group leaders more to gain some insight on what type of a seniors-only event might work best. We’ll do some research and figure out when. Then we’ll have a “can’t miss” event instead of a “totally missed” event.

The next time you’re tempted to drop a new event into your calendar, spend an extra minute to think about when it is planned, how much it costs and if people will get behind the event. What else do you need to think about?

JG

7 View Comments May 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Who Jesus Came For

by Rick Warren, from this week’s sermon:

In my study of Gospels, I made a list of the people Jesus came for:

Jesus came for the chewed up, crossed off, crying out

The dropped out, edged out, fizzled out, and freaked out

The have nots, the held back, hung over, and knocked around

He came for the left out, the loaded down, and looked over,

The locked up, led astray, laid off, and let down

The messed up and the mixed up

He came for the passed over, the picked on, put down, pinned down and pushed around

The ripped off, the run down and the run over

Jesus came for people who are screwed up and the shrugged off,

The shut in and shut out

The smashed up, the stacked against, and strung out

Our Savior came for the torn up, thrown away, and the turned off

Those who used up and walked over,

The washed out, the worn out, the wiped out, and the written off

He came for you. And me.

2 View Comments May 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Life Hurts Graduation Tonight

Just finished up hanging out with Megan Hutchinson and baptizing at the Life Hurts, God Heals graduation tonight. LHGH is a Christ-centered recovery program for students. Some of our very best leaders volunteer in this area of our ministry and the finishing ceremony is always so special. Such a great thing to be a part of – if you’ve never heard about the program get the details here. My heart is full!

JG

1 View Comments May 8, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Red Wings 6, Ducks 3

Haven’t been to many NHL Playoff games before, so it was fun seeing the Red Wings take the Ducks in a great game tonight. Fun break from ministry!

JG

2 View Comments May 7, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: Which Purpose Resonates Most With You?

Which purpose of the church resonates the most with you?

JG

polls

1 View Comments May 7, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Would Max Understand That?

A good thought running around our office this week is “Would Max Understand That?”

Max recently accepted Christ, and represents an entry-level student at our weekend program. You can read his story here and watch a video from the student film festival about him here. Too often we talk about the Bible like everyone knows every story in it. We gloss over details because we wrongly assume people know who David and Goliath were. We introduce songs as “one we all know” where Max hasn’t even heard it before. We become insider or ‘churchy’ without even really knowing it. When a new student enters our ministry, he or she realizes they don’t understand the lingo and intuitively know don’t fit in. You can say something to the contrary, but you’ve said enough already for form an opinion.

I’ve already written 5 Ways to Kill an Entry Level Service, but I like this way of personalizing some of those concepts. The next time you prepare a talk to entry-level students, ask yourself, “would Max understand that?”

JG

2 View Comments May 7, 2009