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Wordle

Jon — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:59:39 +0000

Close to a week ago YS! Palooza was in my back yard and one of the sessions was led by Les Christie. Besides teaching us how to plan and execute game ideas in our ministries Les also introduced us to a web app called Wordle. Essentially it’s a tool that allows you to plug in words, choose your fonts, colors etc., and spits out an image like the one you see above. The more times you input a word, the larger it is displayed in the wordle. The Wordle you see here is made up from words found on this site. I’m just glad that Jesus name was larger than Doug Fields and David Crowder.

One of the suggestions that Les offered was using Wordles in Senior recognition services at your church. Collect the words from the students Facebook page and show the Wordles during the service! This was just one of the great ideas I picked up at Palooza. If you want more info about Palooza and when it is heading your direction check out their site here.

Word Fun with Wordle

Doug Fields at YSpalooza Live Blog

Jon — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:06:43 +0000

This is my first YS! Palooza, and I am stoked to be here. I live 1.5 miles from the venue so it was super convenient. The price is right and, who doesn’t need a day or two to refresh the youth ministry batteries? Here is a running blog of Doug Fields’ message to us all!

Doug just took the stage!

Bait and Switch- a tactic in which a seller advertises a product with the intention of persuading customers to purchase a more expensive product. (aka What happens when you do online dating)

“Maybe you have never thought of the bait and switch as it relates to your ministry”

We grab this bait of ministry and somehow it gets switched to something else.
Volunteering in YM turns into you being the youth director!

In ministry it is not the goal to “trick” people.

The BAIT:

To be good in youth ministry all I have to do is love teens.
All I have to do is eat pizza, tell gross stories and talk to teens about Jesus.

The SWITCH:

You gotta develop leaders

The BAIT:

To be good in YM you gotta grow the ministry.
Reduction is typically not the plan.
You have to manage ministry growth.
From ministry to meetings.
The ministry never ends.

Doug just admitted that he often fantasized about working at a McDonald’s to escape some ministry pressure.

The BAIT:

Growth requires strong leadership
“John Maxwell be came a stronger voice in my life than Jesus”

The SWITCH:

Ministry pressure requires “inner-world” management.
I wanted to spend less time with the “how-to” and focus more on the “how-come”
Doug just promoted “What Matters Most” over and above PDYM and First Two Years…

This Bait and Switch principle creates tornadoes in our lives as youth workers. It’s difficult to be honest when you spiritual life is spinning.

Are you “performing” more than “following” Jesus?

“When you preach at a church with 20,000 people and 10% don’t like you, that ends up being a mega-church of hate!”

The Disciples didn’t see the wild ride that they were walking into. But for the disciples the SWITCH came with a ministry depth where they could see the blind healed, and Jesus calm the seas. They got to watch thousands be fed by a snack pack.

In the same way—You thought you were just going to be a chaperone, but you didn’t see that a girl would be opening up to you about how she cuts herself.

A Few Things that Never Change: Healthy youth ministries need leaders who…

can authentically say, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.” Youth ministry can move so easily from Jesus to programs. Youth ministry should be a place where students should rub shoulders with people who love, and follow Jesus
value a collective vision. Being is visionary is highly overrated. The body needs the eyes, and splines, and sphincters. “ I’ve never done anything significant in my ministry ALONE. We are better together!
are willing to play A part in reaching that vision. “The starring role is reserved for Jesus.” Wow, what a statement!

10 Favorites from 2011

Chris — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:49:47 +0000

Here are some of my favorites from 2011:

1. Apple MacBook Air MC969LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)">MacBook Air - I love this little computer. Great for travel, and super fast.

2. Sticky Faith - These books have really made me think a lot about youth ministry and being a parent. I highly recommend them. Plus check out StickyFaith.org for more insights in their articles and blog.

3. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson – I found this book to be a difficult read. He could be so harsh with people. It really made me think about leadership, success, and family from someone who did great things, but failed at so much too.

4. iPad 2 - This continues to be a device that changes the way I interact with content. I love it.

5. Kindle Fire - You probably didn’t expect to see this after I listed the iPad, but it’s a different device for me. It’s a great reader that also does some tablet functions. Plus, I love that there’s someone pushing the iPad to be better.

6. YSnetwork - This one is personal, but we launched it this fall at YS (where I work). It’s a great way to connect with other youth workers, join a network or build your own. It’s free to join, and if you sign up join the Youth Ministry Geek network to stay connected.

7. Flipboard - This is probably the app I use the most, and with the addition of the iPhone version a month ago, I just use it even more. It’s by far my favorite news reader.

8. GoPro - I got one of these cameras to take on our vacation to Hawaii this year, and it’s so much fun. We use it under water, on water slides, in the pool, the beach, on the trampoline. It’s a great camera to take when you don’t want to risk you full size, expensive one. Sure it has it’s limitations, but you get an amazing picture that can go anywhere. It’s my Flip Camera replacement.

9.Timbuk2 Control Laptop Case - After about 7 years, my old shoulder bag finally wore out. This was my replacement. Things I love about it: separate sleeves for laptop and ipad, TSA compliant so I don’t have to take my laptop out, not too big, but big enough.

10. Tech News Today - I love podcasts and increasingly over the last year, this has been my #1 to go to. It’s about 45 minutes every week day covering the lastest in the world of technology. Entertaining and informative, perfect for this geek.

What were you’re favorites from the last year?

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Best of 2011

Jon — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:00:55 +0000

2011 was a whirlwind year for me. While serving in our student ministry, I also spent half of the year revamping all of our discipleship courses, and the other half of the year directing our elementary ministry. We built a website to host all of our discipleship course registration and blog content, directed the largest children’s Christmas production our church has ever hosted, and are in the middle of planning a county wide student conference. At the same time I am pursuing an MDiv in Apologetics. I have relied heavily on technology this year but have also found some other non-techie favorites. Here they are in all of their glory:

Adobe Indesign CS5

Having done all of my publications in Microsoft Publisher over the years the switch to InDesign was fabulous! In an effort to keep users from messing up, Publisher limits the ability to manipulate the document however you want. While this is not a problem most of the time, there are moments when it becomes quite bothersome. Publisher often gives me grief when I have images layered one on top of the other. InDesign has been a breath of fresh air. The program offers so much control over the document. The learning curve is steep at first but you catch on. I highly recommend this software if you want to step up the quality of your publications

Color Scheme Designer (colorschemedesigner.com)

Creating a professional looking publication means you don’t need to guess about your color scheme. While most of us can “eye-ball” a good color, this web app takes all of the guess work out. Plus, the app allows you to choose between monochromatic, complementary, analogous, split complementary and every other scheme you can imagine! I found this one late in the year but it has quickly become a go-to app.Samsung PX2370 LED Monitor:

I purchased this monitor at the beginning of the year and I have enjoyed every minute in front of it (well, maybe not every minute). The LED backlighting and 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio makes for a crisp display. Once again, if you want a top notch publication you need to create it on a display you can trust.

Screencast-O-Matic

When we built our discipleship website for our church members to register an account on we created a screen cast video to walk them through the registration (basically a video that captures everything happening on your computer screen). The software we used cost a pretty penny. Well, just the other week I found Screencast-O-Matic! It has 95% of the features as the expensive program but only costs $12 a year to use. I am amazed at what we are doing with web apps now, and this one is one of the most impressive I have seen yet!

Ethics for a Brave New World:

I took an ethics course this semester and this was one of our main texts. The title plays off of the famous work by Aldous Huxley, Brave New World. It’s a massive work (close to 1000 pages), but boy does it cover a load of pertinent topics. The Feinberg’s set out to give evangelical views on issues ranging from abortion to just war theory. If you want to give yourself a kick in the pants, pick up a copy and begin working your way through it.

Well, it’s Christmas eve when I am writing this and I am wicked tired and ready for Santa to get here! Hope 2012 treat you all well, and I hope all your techie dreams come true.

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Marshmallow Shooters

Jon — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:39:59 +0000

Every Youth Pastor needs some back up, and our preferred weapon for office warfare is the Marshmallow Shooter. Each week Chris Dortch (Lead Youth Pastor at my church) and I will be showing you how to create sweet and often geeky youth ministry inventions! And if you are in dire need of other office weaponry check out these items at Think Geek!

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Free Digital Film School

Chris — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:17:22 +0000

Have you ever wanted to learn more about movie making even if it’s just to make your Youth Group videos better? I just saw this class over on iTunes U that might help. It’s an 18 part class to help jump start your digital movie making. It covers both iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, so no matter what platform you use, you should be covered. It doesn’t appear to be the complete class but a crash course to get you started.

The iTunes description:

Have you ever wanted to pick up a video camera and make a short video or film, but felt intimidated by your lack of knowledge? The explosion of film-making for websites and mobiles gives people and organisations the opportunity to tell their stories and show what they have to offer, at low cost. This collection of exciting videos features the Open University’s experienced team of filmmakers, who will show you some of the craft secrets that underpin good filmmaking, and how professionals stay up to date. You will learn the basics of editing, how to conduct an interview, the role of the producer and other crew members and how to archive your finished project. This material forms par

Best part is, like all iTunes U courses, it’s free. It may be a great way to introduce some students to film making so they can help you out by making some awesome youth group videos for you.

Chick here to check out the course.

Xtranormal Video

Jon — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 01:07:07 +0000

Xtranormal is a digital animation company that allows you to create your own movies! Just think of the applications: camp rules, announcements, topic teaser, discussion starter, mid=week shout out. These are so easy to create and incredible versatile. Check em out at www.xtranormal.com

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Youth Specialties Black Friday Sale

Chris — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:02:46 +0000

I’m not sure if you did any shopping on Black Friday, but I’ve seen pictures of how crazy the malls were. In fact I saw people camping out at Best Buy 2 days ago. I like a deal as much as the next person, but that’s a little extreme. That’s why i prefer to do my shopping at home. So if you’re like me and you love a great deal on youth ministry resources check out the Youth Specialties Black Friday Sale. Great resources from the Skit Guys, Mark Matlock, Kara Powell and Brad Griffin, Lars Rood, Chuck Bomar, Zach Hunter and more.

I recommend checking it out, while you are eating your sandwich made out of the leftover turkey. It goes through Monday, don’t miss it.

Youth Specialties Black Friday Sale

Free iOS Course

Jon — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:58:02 +0000

Just the other day on twitter I saw the most interesting tweet. Stanford University was offering their iOS app building course for free through iTunes University. I have a few app ideas I want to develop so I have downloaded the videos in HD, and plan on working my way through the course this coming spring. Just figured I would share this with all you fellow geeks out there. You can find the link to the course on Stanford’s iTunes U page. I have only watched a few minutes of the first lecture but they look top-notch; which is what you would expect from SU. If you decide to watch these all the way through anytime soon let us know what you think!

First Look: Apple iOS 4

Introducing: ym wiki

Jon — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:24:04 +0000

Are you one of those people who can spend an hour following internal links on Wikipedia? I am. This past March I was having coffee with our very own Chris Davis at SYMC. We began talking about new possibilities for combining technology with ministry. One of the ideas that sparked was creating a wiki for youth ministry. It’s never been done, until now. I am so excited to introduce ym wiki. It’s your personal database for gaining and sharing your youth ministry knowledge! Find the best games, restaurants, guest artists and speakers… it’s all HERE! What makes a wiki so great is that anyone can upload content. Just think, every youth worker in the world sharing their experience, and knowledge. Do you know a sweet restaurant in Duluth? Add it to the wiki. Is there a game that really worked for your group? Add it to the wiki! Wanna find a great guest speaker for your D-Now weekend? Find him or her on the wiki! This could grow into the largest database of youth ministry knowledge in the world; a virtual compendium of youth ministry knowledge. Don’t let all of your experience die with you! Leave it for other generations! Okay, maybe I’m a little too excited, but I don’t think so. Head over to the wiki and create an account, surf around, then share your own expertise! You can also follow @ymwiki on twitter to receive links to games, restaurants and other cool stuff on the wiki.

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