Shore Youth Ministry

Pens

A mandatory staple in any youth room, pens are essential to youth ministry.  The pens most often found in youth rooms are cheesy church pens, random construction company pens, or the generic Staples brand pen.  My favorite church pen had a clear body with blue liquid and a miniature Noah’s Ark floating inside.  I loved to shake that sucker around, pretending that Noah and his animal crew was being tossed about like the S.S. Minnow.

Regardless of what style the pen you pick up in a youth room, the chances that it works is about 60%.  Those are decent odds, but think of all the uses that pens hold in a youth ministry:

• Lesson Tool. Whether you have students fill out a survey, take notes on the lesson, or write in their Bibles, pens are very useful during lesson time.  It becomes distracting when students must share pens to take notes.

• Games. My favorite upfront games (Power Point trivia) always involve writing something down.

• Spoons. No, not as utensils, but you could use pens in the game of Spoons.

I have been looking to get some of these Staples Gel pens for students.  They write smoother than ballpoints, and have a higher operating rate.

MacBook Pro: One Month Later

I have had my Macbook Pro for over one month, so I figured I should give a progress report on my adaptation to the Mac cult world. After an initial bumpy start, I finally have a MBP that works.  Here is my report:

The Good

• Feels Great. I enjoy typing and working on this computer, something I could not say about previous computers.
• Versatility. I am using the computer for more things than I could ever imagine.  It is my alarm clock, waking me with any song I chose.  Then I can read the front page of any newspaper in the US. I can even keep track of my finances.  Every day I continue to find more things I can do with this computer.
• Use as Work Computer. At work I have a desktop computer I was using for everything.  However, I am now using my MBP for email, writing, video & photo editing.  I do not have our shared calendar on it, so I must still use the PC about once a day.  Boo.

The Bad

• Sync with cell phone. To my knowledge, the Mac does not have a built in sync for my Windows Mobile cell phone.  Since switching to an iPhone is not an option (Verizon has control over my soul for one more year), the next best thing is Sync Mate.  Although in beta, Sync Mate is a free program that syncs your phone to your computer.  It works great, but still does not have all the features I want, like syncing tasks or notes.  Hopefully these changes will improve over time.
• Rewires Your Brain. As I said, I use a Windows computer occasionally at work.  When I use the PC, it takes some time for me to get used to working with it.  When I go to open a new tab in Firefox, I will hit Alt-T instead of Control-T, just because the position has shifted on the Mac.  When installing programs on the PC, I long for the ease of just dragging a program into the Applications folder.  And the Dock feature is 10x better than going to Start->Program Files->program.

The Ugly

• Logos Bible Software. As I have posted before, I have Logos Scholar’s Gold.  My main hesitation in the past to purchasing a Mac is the lack of Logos. But since they came out with Logos for Mac, I am now able to use Logos on my MBP.  After some time installing and setting up the program, I got it working.  Since it is in alpha release, a ton of functionality is still missing.  I miss the powerful searches, all the right click options, and the note files (my favorite tool).  Here is hoping they come out with a full release soon.
• Still Learning. Having used Windows almost exclusively my whole life, it has been an adjustment to learn all the little tips and tricks that OSX has to offer.  Some I have picked up quickly (like command-Q to quit), while others have taken some time.  I was just about to write how the lack of a delete function (not backspace) was a negative, but then I learned how to do it (fn-delete).  Tricks like that will just take experience.

Overall

I am loving my MacBook Pro.  I no longer view working on the computer a chore or a job, but rather something I enjoy.  Although I never see myself becoming a Mac elitist, I can safely say that this laptop is my favorite comupter. Ever.

Water Balloons

Living down at the beach, I have always had a special place in my heart for summertime, and all that goes with it.  BBQs, pool parties, surfing, fishing, and water balloon fights.  Water balloon fights are a great asset to any youth ministry; like dodgeball, it allows leaders to show their dominance and superior athleticism over the students in a harmless manner.  Unless you are a car windshield.

Two summers ago, I was the youth ministry intern at my home church.  During Vacation Bible School, the high school helpers were playing water balloons with the children in the parking lot, when one lightly lobbed a balloon in the direction of my car.  When it hit, it cracked my windshield in half.  Talk about funny!

It is Better…

…to live at the beach than not

…to meet with students than meet with adults

…to ask permission than ask forgiveness

…to give than to receive

… to serve God than not.

Dodgeball

Dodgeball.  What is more stereotypical of youth groups than dodgeball?  I can’t think of anything.  But dodgeball is the quintessential youth group game for good reasons.

• Learning curve.  Basically, there is none.  In fact, the basic description of the game is found in the title: dodge ball. My only explanation of the game last night to some students: “Dodge the balls.”
• Unlimited possibilities. Even though dodgeball is an inherently simple game, there are more variations of the game than years in Methuselah’s life.  Wikipedia lists 49 different variations, including Bombardment, Medic, and Killball. My youth group plays a variation called Secret Service.  The whole group is in a circle, with two people in the middle (President and Secret Service).  The idea is to hit the President, with the Secret Service blocking the Prez.
• Age appropriate.  Dodgeball is a game for all ages.  Little kids and children’s ministries are frequently playing this game (sometimes with balls of yarn).  Jr. High and Sr. High ministries feature it regularly.  Heck, even adults enjoy the game (especially if they can peg little kids).  The highlight of any dodgeball night is the leaders vs. all round, where the volunteers can get revenge on any student they would like, and all the leaders can collectively show the students that they still rock.

If you do not have dodgeballs, or would like the best ones ever created by man, then check out the Rhino Skin dodgeballs.  Although a little pricey, these dodgeballs are extremely durable, very lightweight, and have an incredibly grippable service.  These balls allow everyone to throw their hardest (including leaders), yet do not sting or hurt when hitting people.  That may disappoint some leaders, but these Rhino Skin balls are great for fun without the injuries and property damages.

Generation Gaps

Megan and I had dinner with my grandparents tonight, followed by a roaring game of Catch Phrase.  Overall, it is a fun game; but the trouble comes when you are playing with a 50 year age gap between players.  At one point, my grandfather was trying to get Megan to say “Shoeless Joe Jackson,” while I was trying to get my grandfather to say “bumper cars” (he kept saying “bumping”).

It made me think about how much of a “generation gap” I have with students.  I am only a handful of years older than them, yet I don’t understand their clothing, music, and fasination with High School Musical, but that is not my job; it is to build relationships with the students and point them toward Christ.

Movies

It is a fact: I have not had an original thought since 2001.  In fact, if someone would transcribe all of my conversations throughout one day, they would find that over 50% of what I say is actually a quote from a movie or tv show.  Movies and tv shows are a vital part of today’s culture, and an everyday part of a student’s life.  They are also a great way to communicate to students.  Here are 3 ways to use movies effectively:

• Sermon Illustrations. Is this even optional?  Using movies as sermon illustrations is extremely useful, and has only gained acceptance as a result of computers and projectors.  It dates all the way back to tube tvs and VHS players.  The best source for sermon illustrations is WingClips.  They provide clips of most movies, including those out in theaters, for free.
• Sermon Ideas. An easy way to develop a creative message series is to relate it to a movie.  I went to a church last year that did a whole series on eschatology entitled “Back to the Future.”  Even if the sermon does not directly correlate to the movie, you still have an abundance of audio and visual aids.
• Quotes. As I said above, I have no original lines. In the same way, most high school students watch a great deal of movies, and enjoy quoting them.  Join them in their quoting, but be careful not to get into a quote battle; they have way more time than you for watching movies.  (If you do get into a quote battle with a student, make sure it is an older one; you have likely been watching Back to the Future longer than the student has been alive).

Beach Be-Attitudes

Both last week and this coming week have been VBS at the Tabernacle. This month’s theme is Beach Party: Surfin’ Through the Scriptures.  While the theme is appropriate for our locale, the songs that go with VBS quickly become repetitive and somewhat annoying. Take for example the Beach Be-Attitudes video. Here are the lyrics to the song, a mixture of the Beatitutes (Matthew 5) and Beach Boys-esque music:

Be kind, its so fine
Be bold, and never cold
Be forgivin’ and now you’re livin’
Be obedient, a key ingredient

Some things just make me laugh.

Post It Notes

I like the idea of being organized (although I am not organized at all).  One organizing tool that I really like is Post It notes.  I always have a stack of them on my desk.  Serving so many purposes, Post It notes are the Swiss Army knife of the desk (if a Swiss Army knife were a stack of sticky notes).  Three important attributes of Post Its for a youth pastor:

• Useful. Have students write questions on a note.  Take phone messages on a note.  Use Post Its to mark pages in your Bible.
• Versatility. You can literally do ANYTHING with Post It notes.  Enough said.
• Creativity. Tape pictures to the youth room walls, then let your students make captions with Post It notes.  Make flip books with a stack of Post It notes.  Play a game involving covering one student fully in Post It notes.

There are a ton of off brands, but the best is Post It brand.  The Super Sticky versions are best for all-around use, while the regular ones are best for use in Bibles (they don’t hurt the pages as much).