More Than Dodgeball | Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin

Josh GriffinMore Posts Google Searches That Lead Here: Volume 45

Here’s a few of the more than 700 different words and phrases that people used to find the blog this week. Crazy all of the Jason Castro ones, more than 100 variants with his name alone. Anyhow, here’s a few of the notable ones:

jason castro christian
a big star wars fan
gay robot pancakes
more than dodgeball t-shirts
american idol shout to the lord
greg stier venti jesus please
moses stuttered, david committed adultery
will this season mark end of ‘idol’?
funny bulletin
greedo shot first t-shirt
miley cyrus idol gives back
willow arts conference this is the truth
andi no arms no legs
bizar text messages
buy missile base
chipotles in viva pinata
christian youth group jesus apprentice
church using basecamp
crocs palm springs
dane cook tucking kid in bed
dodgeball and fire
ensenada travel advisory
fundamental independent baptist american idol
gaming dads
ikea hate
is a person accelerating when he sits on a couch?
is ai rigged?
life for an american moving to dubai
one month to live study guide

JG

Add Comment April 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts Stuck in the Shirt

Sean from Stuck in the Middle Ministries just dropped by our offices and was kind enough to give me a sweet new T-shirt (XXL if you’re interested in doing the same). He knows that blog posts can be bought for an article of clothing – and apparently so they can.

JG

Add Comment April 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Ways to Derail a Perfectly Good Meeting

I’ve been putting some thought into team dynamics recently and the idea of a group meeting time. While I’ve written on it some before, I think there’s some new thoughts here to discuss:

Talk Talk Talk - Have an opinion about everything – cut people off if necessary. Be the first to jump in after the moderator presents a question or there is a prompt for discussion. Right or wrong, informed or misguided – at least you showed up to the meeting with an opinion.

Listen Listen Listen – Don’t dare to say a word – just enjoy being in the background. Let the dominant personalities own the meeting, keep opinions to yourself and play safe.

Chase rabbits down every trail - Play the role of tangent captain. Find opportunities to distract or derail by focusing on mineutia that no one cares about. Eventually, everyone will become bored and drop off one by one. Even the leader of the meeting will get frustrated and eventually everyone will sit there in silence wondering what they were doing there in the first place. Mission accomplished, meeting adjourned.

Relish in being the devil’s advocate - There’s a time and place for looking at the other side of the argument, but some people think their spiritual gift is shooting things down. Bring nothing new to the table, turn the dial on your brain to “beat down” and make it your mission to poke holes and blow apart anything and everything that comes up. Blow up enough stuff and everything will get tabled. You win!

Don’t be that person in the next meeting you find yourself in.

JG

Add Comment April 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts Hourglass Object Lesson

This weekend I’m giving a 30-minute talk to student to end the One Month to Live series. I’m excited about it, because the timing really has to be perfect. I’m going to start the lesson flipping over a 30-minute hourglass, and ending the message when it runs out. The main passage is building a foundation on sand or on the Rock.

Week 1: Clock
Week 2: Rock
Week 3: Hourglass

JG

object lessons

Add Comment April 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts SYM Podcast Live in 30 Minutes!

The show must go on – the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast lights up the web at 12:11 PM (Pacific Time). Watch it right here!

JG

Add Comment April 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts Rick Warren Question on Jeopardy

Marc texted me last night to saw that there was a Rick Warren question on Jeopardy? last night. The question was:

What pastor wrote “The Purpose Driven Life”?
and the lady said… Who is Joel Osteen?

So awesome!

JG

13 View Comments April 16, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Ways to Deal with Criticism

Spent the better part of last night dealing with some criticism leveled my way. You know all to well that is no fun, all of those insecurities deep inside come right to the top and you question your call and your love for students and the church.

Don’t let it happen … I did some battling last night and I know you will too from time to time, so here’s a few ways to deal with criticism – some right and some wrong:

Mobilize – get fired up about the problem and take action. You have to be careful with this one because often we respond to quickly or decisively and overreact to the situation. Coming up with a conscious plan is probably a better idea than making sweeping changes the next morning.

Criticize - discredit the person who said something negative. Make the objective truth cloudy by looking subjectively at the person delivering the message. Forget looking for anything of value, just chop that person down at the knees.

Internalize – we hear the criticism, and bury it deep within. It causes us to stare up at the ceiling at night when we should be resting peacefully. Mulling it over in your head is acceptable, mulling it over isn’t probably a bad idea. But when it moves from processing to dwelling, you’ve got a problem. Internalized criticism will amplify rapidly over a short period of time.

Fantasize - think about what ministry would be like at another church – that big one down the road that certainly doesn’t have critical spirits in every pew. No church is perfect – you would ruin it when you joined if you managed to find one, anyhow.

Recognize – unpack what was said and recognize what is truth. What really needs to be changed, what is of value in the discussion. Throw away the rest after you truly pray and discern what is wise for any changes you need to make. Perspective, maturity and wisdom need to be in play with this one. Don’t dismiss what needs to be dealt with.

JG

Add Comment April 16, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts Your Life is Like a Vapor

This was a simple video from week 1 of One Month to Live – forgot to post it earlier – just teaching this verse like an object lesson. Life is short, like a vapor.

JG

object lessons

Add Comment April 15, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts CONTEST: Win a Copy of Sex, Sushi and Salvation

To win a copy of Sex, Sushi and Salvation (read my review here), leave a comment on this post with a story about a powerful moment on a mission trip with your students. Tell why this memory impacted your life or how it brought you closer to God. I’ll pick 3 on Friday and send you the book for free!

Thanks to Moody for the extra copies to give away …

JG

Add Comment April 15, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts Congratulations, You’re Flawed

One of the action steps from this past weekend was making a list of your flaws and being real and admitting the messiness of life as you journey your One Month to Live. There are no real normal people – just everyone living life hoping and trying to be considered in that group. As a surprise, my staff assembled some of my flaws and quirks that students roasted me with in the middle of the talk. Silly, fun: