More Than Dodgeball | Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 104

Weekend Teaching Series: 5 Ways to Be Awesome: A study through the book of James
Sermon in a Sentence: Faith and good works – that a life of service, ministry and good deeds flows from the heart of a follower of Jesus. James 2:14-20
Service Length: 66 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend the talk was built around the section of James 2 where he talks about good works flowing from a life of faith. How that faith is dead without evidence of a changed life in our actions and outlook. We looked at the roadblocks of why we choose not to serve (outright selfishness was my admission) and offered students several practical ways to get involved in serving in HSM and outside the church walls in the community.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We played a simple game where we hit inflatable balls into the audience and whoever caught them won a small prize. LeJon James (our intern Jon Varner) came out and signed and autographed poster of LeBron James for one of the winners. We also played a quick round of Total Recall, where we ask them tough questions about a movie clip we play on the screen, featuring a funny clip from Toy Story 3.

Music Playlist: Yours Forever, Savior of the World, Overcome, The Stand

Favorite Moment: This weekend my favorite moment was talking to a few students after the service. In the talk I said that I would dedicate and theme an entire wall in The Refinery to the students who took the biggest leap and succeeded in serving others. There were some great ideas – I’m excited to see what students come up with in the coming months to serve others!

Up Next: 5 Ways to be Awesome [week 3 of 5, Kurt Johnston speaking since I'm on vacation]

4 View Comments July 19, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts My First Microsoft Kinect Experience

The kids and I had a total blast playing the Kinect this weekend at the Microsoft store! There are only a few demo units in the country right now, so we made a special trip down to experience it right there in the middle of the mall. It was really great – totally different experience from the Wii, but it will draw a ton of comparisons for sure. Here’s what I thought:

It is a little disconcerting to not have a controller of any kind
We played bowling, track and field, and the rafting adventure game
Kinect tracks everything, it seemed to even recognize finger movement
It was so easy my 3-year old was instantly in the game
It seamlessly recognized a 2nd player joining/leaving the game
You need a fair amount of space to jump around and move
There was just a slight lag, totally playable and fun
So excited for my Xbox to literally recognize my face/profile when I walk into the room
We didn’t get to test voice commands, but loads of potential there for sure
Brilliant, simply brilliant!

Granted, the first generation of games look very Wii-like, but this could be SO much more if game developers get into it. Really, really exciting future. If this isn’t the future, it sure is on the road there for sure.

JG

video games

Add Comment July 18, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUESTS POSTS Wanted For Next Week

Interested in writing a youth ministry blog post to be featured on MoreThanDodgeball.com? You’ll get full credit and a link to your site as well! All next week (while our family is on vacation) I’ll be posting guests posts from people in the trenches of youth ministry. Want to be one? Just write it up and send it over to me and if it makes the cut, you’re in!

JG

1 View Comments July 17, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Benefits to Early Summer Camp

We’ve done high school summer camp at the end of summer for a long time – it has served us very well there and honestly, I wasn’t sure my reaction to moving it was going to be positive. This year we made the move (partially for reasons beyond our control, and partially in strategy) to early July. Here are some good reasons for summer camp near the beginning of summer:

Summer Camp launches the summer calendar
This year, camp marked the beginning of summer for us. Our summer calendar really is getting into full swing right now. Camp is now the kickoff of summer, instead of the endcap.

Summer Camp gives us momentum at a typically low time
This past weekend’s (right after camp) services were up almost 40% from last year at the same time. Typically this is a slow time as we ease into summer and get hit right away by the dip of summer freedom. Instead, we get great participation!

Summer Camp introduces speakers
This won’t work in every context, but one of our summer camp speakers, Matt McGill, is teaching an 8-week discipleship study for the rest of the summer. Camp gave us a chance for him to connect with our students and set up that event to win.

Summer Camp builds relationships
We were fortunate enough to bring along a ton of great leaders to camp – having camp early gives us a chance to begin relationships then and carry them through the summer.

Also be sure to check out these archived poll results – “when do you do summer camp?” from April 2010.

JG

2 View Comments July 16, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts First Reviews of Live Large. Be Different. Shine Bright.

Doug Fields and I co-authored a new book for students from Simply Youth Ministry/Group Publishing called Live Large. Be Different. Shine Bright. The guys over at YouthMinistry360 are one of the first to post a review! Here’s a clip of it and please check out the book (available at SYM) if you think it might be something interesting for your students!

At first I wasn’t 100% convinced. It felt a little too unconventional at first glance for my taste. But once I got into the book, I was hooked. And I believe your students will be as well.

Each of the easy to read and entertaining chapters is full of personal stories (some that showed a lot of openness and transparency) and creative examples. The chapters make the biblical case for the specific character trait, provide some practical help on how to actually begin modeling the traits, and end with really good questions to help students further apply the book’s instruction.

There is a million dollar question on the table, and it is this: will students read it? I think the answer is yes. (And speaking as a guy who has been writing and designing devotional/Bible study books for teenagers for almost a decade, most books for written for teenagers stand no chance of being read by them. It’s true.)

The design of “Live Large . . .” is awesome. The look and feel is great. It’s a great length (not intimidating). And the tone and style are laid back (what would you expect from two guys who live and minister in the OC?).

JG

Add Comment July 15, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts Weigh In: You Answer the Youth Ministry Question – Volume 1

Each week on the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast we’ll feature one question we’re calling the Weigh In question – where we don’t give answers – you do here on the blog! Here’s the first in the new series. Based on the information you’ve been given, what is the correct course of action for this youth worker:

I live in a smaller town in California, we are a rural farming community. The town consists of 75 percent Hispanic families and 25 percent white families. Because of this dynamic the majority of the students in the town are Catholic and and for the most part are not interested in church. We are the biggest Protestant Church in town and the majority of our members are upper middle class and white. Beyond that there is a private school 15 minutes away that many of our church kids attend. How do I do good ministry to my community, and effective outreach in particular, in a community that the majority of my students aren’t a part of but still live in?

JG

9 View Comments July 15, 2010

Josh GriffinMore Posts A Team of Linchpins

I’ll admit it, I’ve been a little hooked on the Linchpin concept ever since reading a little book by Seth Godin. We’ve tossed around the term a little carelessly the past few weeks – so this week, I’m going to reclaim it once again.

Each of my team members are getting a little note attached to an actual linchpin. I want them to know how indispensable they are to this ministry, and more than that, that what they bring to the table is unique and special that no one else can do. Hope this reminder helps them keep that in mind!

JG