• 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).

3. A blood feud with the triangle player.
Maybe, as I have referenced before, there is a blood feud between the drummer and the lady that plays the triangle. They are like Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, east coast vs. west coast, Cali vs. New York. The drummer believes, “the triangle is a percussion instrument and should be mine to play.” The triangle player believes, “the drummer has enough to worry about, let me really explore the stage with the triangle.” To keep the peace, pastors had to build a separator between them.

On Thursday I introduced our Children’s Min Director to the website (especially Junes section on VBS).  He spent an hour reading and laughing at all the posts.

• Time for socializing. Students want to talk to their friends.  When I was in youth group, this always took place during the lesson.  By providing a countdown, it gives your students a set amount of time to talk before the worship/lesson.
• Prompt start time. When I speak to students, I like to chat and joke with them beforehand.  This draws the students attention to myself, and relaxes me before I speak.  By using the countdown timer, I am able to limit the amount of banter.
• Creates Anticipation. I don’t know what it is about countdowns, but whenever I hear a countdown, I have to join it.  Whether it is New Year’s Eve, a basketball game, or even a standardized test (SATs anyone?), there is a sense of anticipation with a countdown.  It draws the participant to focus on what happens when the clock strikes zero.

There are some great resources out there for countdowns.  My favorite is the T-Minus series by Simply Youth Ministry.  They are creative, visually interesting, and easy to use (each video comes in Quicktime format).

Dennis over at YMIMexico.org created an online Egg Timer, which is a FREE way to have a simple countdown.  You can also purchase the Countdown Creator, which makes fully customizable countdowns (both in

Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a running series entitled “Youth Pastor Toolbox,” which will discuss different “tools of the trade” for youth ministry. A new “Youth Pastor Toolbox” will be posted every Tuesday.

1. I am still without a laptop. I finally arranged for a replacement, with an expected delivery date of last Friday.  Well, last Friday came and went, and it turns out I had to ship my old MBP to them before they ship me a new one.  Fun, especially when I did not have a box to ship it in, so I made my own box out of scrap cardboard and a whole roll of shipping tape.
2. I am engaged!!  I have been planning this for some time, but last night I proposed to Megan, and she said yes.  Details are still being made, but we are very excited.

So that is it.  I will resume regular posts once my new laptop comes in.

The Good: very sleek interface, awesome programs, and a simply glorious device to work with.

The Bad: This laptop has had it’s share of problems. The fans have constantly been running at 6k rpm, the screen and programs freeze at random times, and there are times it will not start.  I took it to the Apple store today, and the geek told me to replace the computer (via the Online Store).  But when I called them, Apple had me try another software thing (a complete reinstall).  The fans are still at max, but no freezing yet.  I will call them tomorrow and see about a replacement.

The Verdict: Jury is still out… but I am not holding the hardware problems against Mac.

Now I know that some people are complaining about the plot line and it’s absurdities (will not say anything else as a spoiler).  Sure, it may have been unrealistic, but weren’t the other movies?  Let’s see: the first film had the Ark melting everyone with their eyes open, the second film had hearts beating out of bodies, and the third film had the Holy Grail providing unending life.  Throw in some secret passages and a healthy dose of enemies, and you have the formula for an Indy movie.  This one lived up to the hype, used some great CGI scenes, and provided closure for the Indy story.