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Joshua Griffin is the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. He is a father of four and been in full-time youth ministry for about 15 years. Griff speaks a little, writes a little, Twitters a bit and blogs a lot. MTDB gets multiple updates a day - subscribe and hang on!
99 Thoughts for Youth Workers - My first book is a simple collection of learnings in the past couple of years of youth ministry. Written for lead youth workers and volunteers who are totally committed to the cause. Insights from the trenches of youth ministry. $4.99, Group Publishing
[read the reviews]
Doug Fields and I wrote a book for students called Live Large. Be Different. Shine Bright. to challenge and encourage the students in our ministry to strive for 12 godly and inspiring character qualities. Raise the bar! $9.99, Group Publishing
[read the first chapter]
99 Thoughts for Small Group Leaders by Doug Fields and I just came out this Fall - written specifically to the volunteer small group leader. My prayer is that it will be a tool to encourage and equip your rookie and veteran leaders for the challenge of leading youth ministry small groups. $6.99, Group Publishing
Posted by Kurt Johnston
I don’t use the word “genius” very often. My 8th grade son, however, thinks the word is…well….genius, and used it quite liberally.
His most recent use was when we were listening to a song on the radio. After a line in the song that says, “I want to be on the cover of Forbes magazine, smiling next to Oprah and the queen…” he blurted out that the song was genius.
“On the cover of Forbes magazine, smiling next to Oprah AND the queen? That’s genius” were Cole’s exact words.
Genius? probably not. Catchy song? For sure. Of course if you can write a line that 8th graders all across America think is “genius” then maybe it is.
I’m having trouble uploading the video, but here is the link. CAUTION: Foul language in the comments section of video.
What do you think?
A couple days ago I posted about Simply Youth Ministry’s huge contest called [dougs] Dumb Idea. They are giving away a total 30 Free mission trips to our Week of Hope program, free registrations to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, and copies of LIVE Curriculum to 3 lucky youth pastors. Simply Youth Ministry just posted video of the day I found out…
This is video of Andy Brazelton and I discovering the contest.
Go here to sign up for the contest!
Good luck!
There is a new book out called, ?Church Planter.? It?s written by Darrin Patrick and Mark Driscoll. I haven?t read the book yet, but I will. I?m not going to read it because I am a church planter, although I?m sure this book will be beneficial for that. I?m getting it because of what this intro video says in regards to college age people.
Obviously I don?t know how the book will address this issue, but the claim of this intro video is that younger generations ultimately haven?t grown up because of a lack of discipleship. It?s filmed in a church that has died. And this author suggests it died because of a lack of godly men who then discipled younger men.
I think this is a much needed point to make. There are certainly faithful older men (and women) that have taken Jesus? command to disciple seriously, but I’d agree that discipleship hasn’t exactly been a strong point in the Church as a whole. But I’d also suggest there is much more to this problem of “prolonged adolescence.” This issue of godly men in the church is certainly at the core of this problem. But it’s not the entire core.
Recent articles like, ?What Is It About Twentysomethings?? and ?Boys With Beards? have looked at twentysomethings with bewilderment, confusion, and even frustration. For instance, Mark Driscoll sees the results and outcomes of the lives of these people and is simply dumfounded. InThe Slow Fade, we write to people of older generations to help them walk younger people toward adulthood. And, in my latest book, College MInistry From Scratch, I provide a practical guide to starting a ministry that cultivates this in and through a college age ministry. And I did that because I agree that this is a problem.
However, understanding WHY twentysomethings live and think the way they do is bigger than JUST a lack of discipleship received from older generations. Much bigger, actually.
My next book is focused on explaining this. I?m writing this book because I want to help bring understanding to the issue and provide practical solutions to helping it. There is much to this that I have been studying for years now, but have never written about – or even shared in seminars. But, it?s time. So, even though I’m already writing and my research is fairly extensive, if you have links to articles or resources that you feel could be useful for me in this project, please let me know!! More to come…
There are a lot of changes happening in our student ministries right now. In the midst of the crazy summer so many other components are moving in different directions. Many of the changes are great, and needed. And it will be exciting to see how God will unfold all that we have been praying for. But there are a few changes that I (as the wife) do not like so much and don’t understand. It is these changes that I don’t know what to say, and not say, and just what to do. My pride wants to shout at my husband, “Hey, did ya think it all through? Are ya real, REAL sure about that one?!” And my favorite, “Listen to me, listen to me, just listen to me!” BUT…..I know I shouldn’t.
I don’t know if I’m alone on this one, or what?? Anyone else fear change as much as me? I totally trust my husband and his call to this ministry. I do believe he is brilliant and gifted and a wonderful leader. Buuutttttt, what do you do when you don’t agree with it all?? Nothing? Pray? Vent, and visit this site?
I did take a big step (for me) this weekend. Our Pastor asked us to choose one area in which we would come to God daily for the summer and ask his guidance. I was certain that I was going to ask for wisdom concerning all these changes happening for us [...]
Ur YM has kicked off for the fall or is about to. How’s ur voluntold team looking?
Mark DeVries in his epic book, Sustainable Youth Ministry, says u should have 1 adult volunteer (engaged and relational I would add) for every 5 of ur youth. How’s that going for you?
Some of u are doing great. Skip the rest of this blog then and go back to chatting on FB.
For the rest of you: having trouble getting enough good volunteers?
Three reasons why: 1) Have you asked the right people?
2) Have you given them a specific job description with clear cut expectations, boundaries, plans and purpose?
3) Are you spending more time with ur teens than w ur volunteers?
Let any one of these three facts go awry and that’s a place to start figuring out why ur begging and pleading for help. Why ur pulling out hairs u can’t spare from ur head. Why uve even resorted to asking the SP if he would like to help “chaperon” the MS lock-in. Ur are one desperate YP if it comes to that!
Stephanie
PS-u can always tell when i’m posting from my phone. grammer, spelling and abbreviations don’t seem to matter to me.
Just got home from our first night of small groups. The overall evening was AWESOME. Lots of energry and lots of excitement to be back together. Small groups started out pretty good with cookies and fun introductions. I brought a load of different colors of nail polish- and let the girls pick a color that best describe them. It was fun plus everyone walked away with a little something. We launched into group goals/expectations- a little rougher but we made it through. Afterwards, we started diving into the “talk” for the night. It wasn’t the worse small group time ever but it was pretty rough. Lots of awkward pauses (which I am totally fine with) and lots of staring at the carpet. We’ve got a ways to go this year! We finished off with prayer requests which got their interests back into our time together. Weird? On a grading scale I would give the night a B-/C. I guess that means we are passing?
There’s a couple of new resources at Simply Youth Ministry today – they have a Unique Abilities Facilitator Guide that looks interesting. Check them out if you need good youth ministry resources!
JG
More Than DodgeBall – Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin – Saddleback Church's High School Youth Ministry (HSM) A blog about youth ministry and youth worker life from the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church.
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