Every fall several video games come out that have huge implications in youth ministry; this fall is no exception! The question is: are you aware of the power of video games? Here are a few stats you might not be aware of…

• 65% of all US households play video games
• 2 out of 5 gamers are female
• 18 hours is the average time spent per week by gamers playing video games

So, if the majority of households in the US have video games, and 2 out of 5 gamers are female, and the kids who are playing games are on average spending 18 hours a week playing them, shouldn’t the church be a little more vested in them and tap their redemptive potential? Can video games teach us anything? Everyone does sermon series on movies, what if you did a series on video games?

Here are 4 titles that your kids will be playing and what you need to know about them:

Modern Warfare 3

·     Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language)

·     Premise: This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of military operatives tasked with thwarting the plans of a terrorist leader. Players complete mission objectives and engage in battles that take place in modern-day locations across the globe (e.g., United States, Great Britain, Germany).

·     Teaching potential: Brotherhood (Proverbs 17:17), Honor (Ps. 1:1-6, 1 Sam. 2:30), Teamwork (Ecc. 4:9-12, Pr. 27:17), Combat (James 4:17, 1 John 4:1), what it means to fight behind enemy lines (2 Cor. 4).

Gears of War 3

·     Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language)

·     Premise: This is a third-person shooter in which players assume the role of Marcus Fenix, a soldier on a mission to save his father and battle an alien threat. Players use machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, and grenades to kill aliens and human soldiers in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, screams of pain, explosions, and large splashes of blood; some attacks result in dismemberment or decapitations that leave body parts and bloodstains on the ground.

·     Teaching Potential: What would you do for family (John 15:12-17, Joshua 24:15), Spiritual Warfare (Eph. 6:12, 2 Cor. 10:3-5). 

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

·     Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Violence)

·     Premise: This is an enhanced remake of the 2001 first-person shooter Halo: Combat Evolved. Players assume the role of Master Chief, a super-soldier who engages in futuristic battles against a powerful alien alliance. Players use plasma pistols, sniper rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers to kill enemy creatures in frenetic combat.

·     Teaching Potential: Brotherhood (Proverbs 17:17), Honor (Ps. 1:1-6, 1 Sam. 2:30), Teamwork (Ecc. 4:9-12, Pr. 27:17), Combat (James 4:17, 1 John 4:1), what it means to fight behind enemy lines (2 Cor. 4) 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

·     Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes)

·     Premise: This is a fantasy role-playing game in which players assume the role of Dovakin, a prophesied figure with the power to combat dragons in the fictional world of Skyrim. As players traverse through mountainous ‘open-world’ environments, they complete missions and quests that impact the eventual fate of their character. Players use swords, bows and arrows, axes, and magic attacks (e.g., fireballs, ice shards) to kill various enemies (e.g., wolves, dragons, human bandits and soldiers).

·     Teaching Potential: Choices (Romans 8:7, Duet. 30:15, Luke 14:28) Mission (Matthew 28:16-20), Fate (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 1:4-5)

Kyle Reynolds is an avid gamer and the student ministries pastor of The Rift at Harvest Church in Billings, MT. Hit up his Twitter here for his Gamertag or thank him for the article.

After a couple month hiatus of Gamerscore movement (sometimes real life gets in the way of my gaming addiction) our Xbox 360 crossed a huge milestone this weekend. 50,000 points! The boys and I rustled up some achievements playing Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (B+), Plants vs. Zombies (A+), Kinect Fun Labs (B) and Spare Parts (B).

JG

Enjoyed some video gaming this month in a diversion from the extremes of youth ministry – our Xbox 360 Gamerscore crossed 49,000 last night, in part to Hard Corps Uprising (sequel to Contra, A-), Limbo (cinematic arcade game, A+), Portal 2 (hilarious puzzle game, A+) and Crysis 2 (awesome shooter, A+). Incredible games, some of the best I’ve ever played!

JG

This week off from work spending time with the kids paid off in a nice little boost in Gamerscore on the Xbox 360. We tackled the cheesy Eat Led: The Return of Matt Hazard (B-), got to 100% on Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (A+), beat the party game Rio (B-) and saved America from United Korea in Homefront (A-).

JG

Rented a few games this week (and got to enjoy a little time off watching the kids with my wife away at our annual Minister’s Wives Retreat). Spent some time with the kids playing videogames on the Xbox 360 – beat Tron: Evolution (C-) and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (A+). Good times!

JG

After five plus years of being in the youth worker game, I have come to the conclusion that the key to youth ministry is the desire to learn. When you break it down, learning is what it is all about:

• You have to be willing to learn about the teenage brain and how they think. To know who GaGa, Gandolf, Gryffindor, and Garret Gilbert are because they matter to your students.
• You have to learn how to listen and when to talk, how to not act shocked when you hear of the details of some kid’s lives, and how to convey emotion over Facebook chat.
• You have to learn how to be (or at least seem) interested in stories that really don’t make sense.
• You have to learn how to let kids beat you in basketball, teach you things you already know, and the Heimlich in case of a game of Chubby Bunny gone bad.
• You have to know all the “Q” words that don’t require a “u” in Scrabble, and who has texting on their phones and who doesn’t.
• You have to know what it means when Master Chief is in his cryo-tube and when the ACOG scope for the FAMAS gets unlocked in your third prestige.
• You have to be able to cheer for 6 different high school mascots and know where 6 different auditoriums are located within a school.
• You have to know who is gone every other weekend because they’re at their dad’s house, and who you haven’t seen in church for a couple of weeks.
• You have to learn the names of all your students, and never ever call them by their sister’s name, even though they are identical twins. You have to learn how to remember the joys amid the deep disappointments, remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes, and always expect the unexpected.
• You have to learn how to balance church life and “real life”. You have to learn how to leave your work at work. You have to know when the play performance is, the time of the choir concert, and who plays on JV and who made varsity. You also have to know who got cut, and be sure to let him know that it’ll be OK.
• You have to know who is struggling and who is excelling; who needs help, and who needs space to sort things out on their own. You have to learn to not compare one kid to another, but rather appreciate each for who they are. You have to learn to not get down about who is not there, but rejoice for those who are.
• You have to know how to Tweet, update, upload, post, poke, promote, and share, sometimes all at the same time. You have to know to avoid what’s so fifteen minutes ago and be aware of what’s cool today. You have to know that you are NOT 16 years old anymore and dress, speak, and style your hair accordingly.
• You have to know how to say no, and when you have to say yes even though you really don’t want to. You have to know how to clean up messes (both literally and figuratively), and how to say sorry. You have to learn how to appreciate those who may never appreciate you. You have to learn how to sound smart even though you have no idea what you’re saying. You have to learn how to keep your promises and not make one unless you can.
• You have to be willing to learn from other youth workers and realize you’re not on an island. You have to learn how to meet students where they’re at and not expect immediate change. You have to learn how to be the adult even if you feel like one of the kids. You have to learn that confusion doesn’t mean indifference and busyness doesn’t mean progress. You have to learn how to schedule the unscheduled time, and how to be flexible. You have to learn how to delegate, lest your passion fizzles and dies.
• You have to learn how to read between the lines and how to say the same thing five different ways. You have to learn how to fill your own cup. You have to know where the Bible says an ass talked to Baalam, and what anthropomorphism means. You have to know how to answer the phone at 3am and how to react to the sobbing brokenhearted. You have to learn that you don’t know everything and you learn twice as much from your students than they do from you. You have to know who your Savior is so that you might be able to share Him when a kid needs it.
• You have to know what grace is and be willing to show it even when it’s difficult.

But the thing about all these things, and I could go on for another couple of pages, but the thing about these things is we youth people love it! We get to rock out to pop music and listen to kids talk about their days. We get to play Call of Duty and get our butts kicked by kids 1/3 our age. We get to cheer for every sport we never played and paint our faces just to make our one student feel loved. We get to help kids figure stuff out and be with them when they tell their parents about the trouble they got into.

We get to answer the calls at 3am and spend way too much time on Facebook. We get to have inside jokes with teenagers and buy silly gag gifts just because it’ll make them smile. We get to learn from other people who do the same thing we do, and we get to share ideas. We get to grow deeper in our faith so that we might be able to help kids who struggle in theirs. We get to learn about Jesus and see Him work in the lives of the next generation. None of those things are a “have to”, they are all “get to”‘s and that is what makes youth ministry so great!
Learning is what it is all about- and the willingness to learn is what keeps us going day after day. Today I can learn something about someone that I never knew before.

And maybe, just maybe I can tell them something about their Lord and Savior they never knew before. That’s what this is all about.

I am blessed.

Kory Henkel is the Director of Youth Ministries at Bloomington Living Hope Lutheran Church in MN. Check out his blog for more right over here.

Thanks to some much-needed time off over Thanksgiving break, the family Xbox 360 crossed 41,000 in Gamerscore. Still loving the new Kinect, and got a bunch of points from Kinect Sports (A-), Dance Central (A+), Wet (B) and HAWX 2 (B). Good times!

JG

Just crossed the 40,000 mark on the Xbox 360 tonight – thanks in part to some fun gaming with friends on the kids’ new Kinect today (more on that soon). Our Gamerscore received a bump because of games like Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (A-), IL-2 Birds of Prey (C), and Bionic Commando (B). Good times!

JG

Not sure if I want to post about my Gamerscore anymore after the brilliant Old Spice Youth Pastor video came out [tell me you've seen it - it is a MUST WATCH] – hahahah, I wish it was 29 million! Jumped 1,000 points on the Xbox 360, due to some quality time with Lost: Via Domus (C-), Legendary (B-) and LEGO Indiana Jones 2 (A-).

JG

My Xbox 360 should be very happy – after just posting that we hit the 37,000 mark we jumped 7 days later to 38,054. Spent some quality time with HALO: Reach (A+), Terminator: Salvation (B-) and GI Joe: Rise of Cobra (B-). And if you think I’m addicted … how awesome is this goal?

JG