Josh GriffinMore PostsTwitters and Gamertags of the Youth Ministry Team

Many fell in love with Twitter this week at the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry (PDYM) Conference, and I got a few requests for Xbox 360 Gamertags, too. Here’s a who’s who of the youth ministry team on both platforms here at Saddleback Church:

Twitters:

Gamertags:

JG

TagsComments 6 View Comments March 29, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsBack After 5 Months of No Xbox 360

Thankfully, the Xbox 360 is back. After 5 months of swearing off of it for a year, we’re back in the game. I’m super excited to play the games I missed. We’ve made a committment to using the Family Timer and limit the kids to 2 hours every Sunday, but hey, it’s a start. Yeah!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment March 21, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsGames I Would be Playing If I Had My 360 Back

Some of you were there when our family decided to give up our Xbox 360 in the home for a year. We’re painfully 6 months in, and surviving OK I guess? I got a chance this week to play through a few levels of Gears of War 2 with Jake after hours at the conference, but that wasn’t nearly enough to keep me from really missing it. Here’s what I would be playing if I had my Xbox 360 back tomorrow:

  • Street Fighter 4
  • Halo Wars
  • Call of Duty: World at War
  • Tom Clancy’s HAWX
  • R-Type Dimensions
  • Rock Band 2
  • Gears of War 2
  • Fallout 3
  • Mirror’s Edge

My Xbox 360 blog even quit 132 days ago …

JG

TagsComments 4 View Comments March 4, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsYouth Ministry Facts

A new article I wrote called Youth Ministry Facts landed over on Simply Youth Ministry today. Here’s a clip of the article, hit the link to read it all:

Fact: This article is made up of short sentences.
Fact: Volunteers are the key to this whole thing.
Fact: Time management isn’t your strong suit.
Fact: Success in youth ministry is way, way more than increased attendance.
Fact: It will never all be “done” when you go to sleep at night.
Fact: Email is dead. Consider texting . . . for now.
Fact: Your capacity increases when you delegate the important things to your volunteer team.
Fact: Your video game console misses you.
Fact: So does your spouse.
Fact: You have very little to do with your youth ministry’s success.
Fact: Relying on the power of God is the most important.
Fact: You will always want a larger youth ministry budget.
Fact: The church you envy down the road is full of challenges, too.
Fact: You are a minister to adult volunteers as much as you are a minister to students.
Fact: You always pad your numbers when talking about your group to other youth pastors.

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 17, 2008

Josh GriffinMore PostsBest of 2008 Awards

In the next week or so, I’ll be compiling MTDB’s Best of 2008 youth ministry awards (see 2007 here). Here’s what I’ve got for categories so far, add a few more ideas in the comments to join in on the fun:

  • Best of 2008: Best Viral Video
  • Best of 2008: Church That Inspired
  • Best of 2008: Book That Challenged
  • Best of 2008: Movie of the Year
  • Best of 2008: Video Game That Rocked
  • Best of 2008: Youth Ministry Blog of the Year
  • Best of 2008: Person of the Year
  • Best of 2008: Favorite HSM Weekend
  • Best of 2008: The TV Show That Shouldn’t Be Missed
  • Best of 2008: The Free Software You Must Download Now

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 15, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts10 Random Pop Culture Thoughts: Volume 4

JG

TagsComments Add Comment November 26, 2008

Josh GriffinMore PostsWhy No TV and Video Games?

The number one question I’ve been asked over the past month is “why?” Why would you get rid of cable? What was the thought process behind getting rid of the Xbox 360? Basically, “what were you thinking?” which is a totally fair question. Here’s a little bit of why we chose this path until October 1st, 2009:

FAMILY – We wanted to create more family time
The biggest reason was the simple fact that the television and Xbox 360 was taking too much time away from our family. The recently-invented family weekly bucket list has been a really fantastic addition to our lives, pushing us to be creative and have fun as a family. We still watch the occasional DVD but also build volcanoes, make paper airplanes and have great conversation at tea parties.

OUTDOORS – We were concerned our kids never went outdoors
OK, so it isn’t quite that bad … but even living in California with a little paved backyard we want our kids outside and playing. We actually use the bikes now, and go swimming a ton. The trails behind our house actually are getting some use and we visit the park way more often. For a kid who grew up in the freedom of the Midwest, I’ve certainly become an inside guy.

COST – We could get TV for free from the internet
To be honest, I don’t miss TV as we formerly knew it. We can save some money by watching whatever shows we do want to follow on network websites and Hulu. Now that the computer is hooked up (HDMI) to the TV, we can even still watch it on the main screen and it looks solid. Paying for cable will soon be a thing of the past, I would imagine. Shows are free, and typically have little/no commercials.

PROJECTS – This is the year of the book
I’m excited to be working on some writing projects right now – some with friends and some on my own. Not sure where that will all lead, but I certainly have more time now at nights instead of vegging in front of the TV.

STANDARDS – Often times we watched stuff we either a) shouldn’t have or b) didn’t remotely care about
This isn’t the biggest reason on the list – but it did matter to us when we made the decision. Basically, we either wasted too much time watching nothing, or we watched stuff with little redeeming value. With on-demand TV, we can be much more selective and intentional about what we watch.

Are there some downsides? Yup, look for 3 of them … and they are big ones, in an upcoming post.

JG

TagsComments Add Comment November 21, 2008

Josh GriffinMore Posts10 Random Pop Culture Thoughts: Volume 3

JG

TagsComments Add Comment November 18, 2008
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