Hey folks, I don’t think I’ve come out and said where I’m youth pastor at before. It is First Assembly of God in Front Royal, VA. This is in Warren County right beside the Warren Memorial hospital. I’ve been working hard on the church Web site the past year or so and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Give it a peek.

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If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball and if you can count to 10 you can try to count how many times two dogs jumped in a video clip.

The Dodge Ball version was much funnier after editing but the video trivia challenge would have added a whole new element to the movie.

I have been wanting a projector for the youth building for years. About 5 years to be exact. That is how long I have been in this ministry position. I was approved to purchase one but it isn’t like I had the money in the budget. At the end of 2012 the Youth helped with our Royal Rangers tree sales and I got a pretty good payment into the department for some much needed/desired things. I set aside some money for camp scholarships, paid for the giant bounce house I bought at the end of November 2012 (that is another story), and finally bought that new projector.

Of course, now that I have a projector instead of having to beg every time I want to use one, I will be trying to come up with every excuse to use it as often as possible.

A Legend is Born

After testing the new projector I started trying to come up with ideas. I went through video illustrations for the sermon series I’m doing, but honestly, I’ve done that and it just didn’t seem like the right way to celebrate the blessing of a new projector. Then it hit me, to celebrate we should have fun. So I started planning a game.

My good friend Google didn’t let me down. At first I was going to buy a video trivia game but ended up finding the site Rivvid on my first Google search. The concept was perfect. Basically people make a quiz that they share. There is a short video clip followed by a multiple choice question with a count down timer. The question might be about the clip or it may require knowledge of the subject.

There are quite a few categories to choose from and most categories have multiple quizzes already made. Personally I loved the 80s movie trivia and to be honest my students did better than I expected they would in that quiz.

Trivia is not enough

Well, it might have been. The students had a blast just doing the trivia portion, but it isn’t enough for me because I like overkill. When playing Madden I alway take the 2pt conversion because why settle for 1 when you can have 2 right?

I figured the more active students would want something they could do rather than just watching someone answer questions, so I added a physical element, dodgeball.

Rules for Video Trivia DodgeBall

• Students take turns as contestants
• Students take turns as “bouncers” (the ones throwing the ball)
• The contestant picks a category then a quiz
• Everyone watches the video clip and the student has one chance to answer correctly
• If they answer correctly they get a point
• If they answer incorrectly the bouncers throw dodge balls at them
• If the contestant catches a ball they get a point
• If the contestant gets hit they are out for that question
• If the contestant dodges all of the balls they get a point
• But hurry because there are no pauses between questions and the next video

The most important part is to really ham it up as the “game show host.” Work on the voice, keep the energy very high, and keep asking things like “is that your final answer” and “are you sure you wouldn’t like to change your answer” while the clock is counting down. I was able to select their answer as the clock hit “1” one several occasions.

Additional Notes

I went through quite a few videos. I did come across one that had some inappropriate language. So be warned, you should review as many videos as possible. The one I caught was in the teen category. I tried to find it so I could share incase you wanted to know just how “bad” it was and if you needed to skip it or not but I couldn’t even find the category, so it might have been removed.

During the “physical challenge” things need to move pretty quickly. I had three students with dodge balls and gave them each one chance during that particular question. This means the person throwing could catch 3 balls and get 3 extra points. If a student got a point by catching a ball but then got hit I let them keep their point. After throwing I had the “bouncers” retrieve the balls quickly so they would be ready after the next question was answered. In some cases that was actually pretty funny because they would be rushing around trying to find a ball that had rolled under someone else’s seat.

I think the dodgeball addition was a lot of fun and I’ll probably do that most of the time because more students can be involved, but I am also thinking of other physical challenges I can introduce. Maybe a point multiplier where students have to stack cookies on their forehead then if they can answer while the cookies are still stacked they get that many extra points.

If you have other ideas for additional physical challenges or point modifiers leave a comment.

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I make a cameo with part of my youth around the 45 second mark.

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I opened with Tamar, who wasn’t a Jew, who lost 2 husbands and lost hope in the promised marriage. She took matters into her own hands and posed as a prostitute to get what was owed to her. We learned that sometimes people in teh church will give us lip service, claiming that we belong, but treating us like we don’t. We also learned that God never gives us lip service, and will bring us honor even if everyone else puts us into a place of dishonor.

The following week we learned there are a lot of prostitutes in the Christ family tree (ok, maybe not a lot but the first one pretend to be one and the second one was one, so it sure seems like a lot). Rahab probably didn’t grow up with great plans on how she was going to sell her body, but for what ever reason that is the path she ended up walking down. Then one day she got some customers that didn’t fit the mold. She was certainly full of fear, but she also had hope, probably for the first time in years. Over the course of several days she probably had some seriously mixed emotions. She betrayed her people in the hope that the spies would keep their word. Would they save her? Would she go from bad to worse or would things get better? She was an outsider, not part of the invading army she was trusting. Would they leave her and her family to starve? In the end she marries a war hero and lives happily ever after. God saw her in her brokenness and shame and saw fit to lift her up.

Last week we talked about Ruth, who’s life took a terrible turn through no fault of her own. Her sister in law went back to her old life and her mother in law found nothing but misery in the pain of her loss, going to far as to name herself “bitter.” God redeemed Ruth for her faithfulness in tending to her mother-in-law.

This week we will talk about Bathsheba. She also experienced loss, and more likely than not a good deal of shame and judgement. Even now she is judged. Was she trying to show off her body for the king and trap him with her womanly ways or was she forced into a no win situation by the most powerful man in the land, one clearly favored by God? How often do bad things happen because good people over step their bounds and how often do the victims get painted in the light of accusation? Fortunately we have a God who sees all and desires grace for the victims.

What a wild and crazy family tree, but we know that Christ didn’t come for the perfect, he came for the broken.

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We had the “Winter is over games” and for the opening ceremony I used my t-shirt cannon. Several of the students had never seen it before, so that was a treat. I launched over 30 glow sticks about 40′ into the air. It was pretty impressive. Then the opening game was a snowman building competition, but we have had a really crappy winter (actually really good because I hate cold and snow) so we had to make due. First everyone had to wear gloves, because you can’t build a snowman without gloved, then I gave them a box of instant mashed potatoes, and some candy for decorations. I have to admit, they did a really good job.

Then we had a bob sled competition. Basically I setup an obstacle course in the youth building and gave the teams a big flat piece of cardboard. One person sat on the cardboard and had to be pulled/pushed around the obstacle course. If they crossed any of the lines or otherwise “wrecked” I stopped them for a couple seconds. One person totally missed a turn when they were way in the lead in the first lap, and the reset cost them dearly.

Finally we had a bunch of boxes. I let the winner pick a spot in the room and 3 boxes. I didn’t say why. Then the other team got to pick their boxes. Then I let them in on the rules. They were building an igloo and could use the boxes they picked, then could go get one box at a time and place that box, and only then could they go get another box. Boxes could be moved, but only when the whole team was there, when someone went to get a new box everyone had to leave the igloo alone.

In the end we had a lot of fun, but had a good deal of instant mashed potatoes left over. Turns out that makes some pretty good snowballs. I’m kind of hoping the evidence isn’t in the parking lot come Sunday.

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I am very glad to be a full time YP, that gives me time to make up my own graphics and such for the series I run, but I’m all about getting a head start on the work I do too. Back when I very first started, and had much less skill, I found a terrific resource called “Vine Resources.” They changed their site name and URI to Stuff I Can Use, but still offer tons of free graphics you can use for your sermons. They may not have exactly what you want every time, but they do make everything they have available for free. You have to click through to check this resource out.

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New series I’m starting with my students tonight. Do you ever ask/yell, “WHY!!!???” to God? What kinds of answers have you received? What was the question about? How do you think that question affects your relationship with God?

Share your thoughts

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Me: How was your day?

C: Good.

Me: What did you do today?

C: Play, eat, learn.

Me: What did you play?

C: Games.

Me: What games?

C: Fun games?

Me: Can you describe them?

C: Yeah.

………..

Talking to students can be a lot like that too. You have to go through a whole lot of that kind of stuff before one randomly tells you what is really happening, how things are at home, how frustrated they are about school, and ….. It often comes out in a torrent. The dam broke and nothing is stopping the flow of information.

Since it takes a lot of very shallow conversations to get to this point, we (youth pastors) have a habit of filling the time with events. It starts of slowly. When I started my current position I had 2 major events on the calendar and plans for a couple others. I just went over my calendar with the students this week, a kind of state of the youth address. This is what we did last year, this is all the cool stuff we are doing this year. We are up to 8 major events with the bulk in the summer. We also have smaller events each month, the events are multiplying. They may be related to tribbles. I have so many things I want to do, but quite frankly I need a system that makes it really hard for an event to get onto my calendar. Otherwise, my summer will just be one long event, staying up till 3 am, getting up at 6 am, and running hard all day for 3 months straight surviving on junk food. It will be one epic summer, especially when my heart bursts right out of my chest on the last day of summer.

What methods do you use to evaluate events? How do you say “no” to great ideas so you can say yes to even better ones?

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Just got an email letting me know my credentials were renewed. Every year I have to fill out a form and agree to the fundamental beliefs of the Assemblies of God and make sure I have paid the district 75% of my tithe. It is kind of interesting since I know I don’t “need” a license to do ministry, I can even get approved to do weddings without a license. I go through this because in my mind it is the right thing to do. In any case, I’m happy that my license was renewed even if I might be a tiny bit disenchanted with the process.

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That night my heart was heavy. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about this family, and then all the other families in need. I know we made a difference for this family. But my heart was crushed at all of the families out there who need more from those who can help. I kept getting up to pray, then trying to sleep, then getting up again. I finally gave up on sleep at 4am and saw you had already given quite a bit. I was happy to see it but I still kept thinking of everyone else that needs help.

But before I go there, I want to share about what we’ve been able to do and what I’ve been hearing others doing.

To date there were over $300 in donations. My wife is going right now, literally as I type this, to take the money to help pay their rent. I talked with them last night and basically they would be on the street today if we didn’t have this money to give. That is why my heart was so heavy, because I wanted to give them a good Christmas, but what is a nice Christmas morning when you get kicked out on the street a few days later.

The day after I wrote the last post, my wife went Christmas shopping for this family. She bought them food, clothes, and some other presents. The young lady didn’t have a winter coat, so we made that happen too. God has really blessed us in this past year and for once we have disposable income. I was thinking about computer upgrades, other nice toys, generally enjoying the money. Turns out I got the opportunity to really enjoy the money.

The family was just beside themselves with gratitude for the presents. We also got a small tree and a few decorations. They called me a few times just to say thanks again. I am telling you all this because I want you to know they are thankful for your help as well. If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t have been able to give them as much, we would have been forced to chose between giving them food, paying for their rent, and giving them that Merry Christmas. Thank you.

This year we exchanged gifts with friends, and for the first time we were buying and receiving some pretty nice gifts. Normally we had to set really low limits, not because our friends couldn’t afford it, but because we couldn’t spend as much on them as they could on us. I talked to someone I work with online and this year their family did a donation gift exchange instead of their traditional one at the extended family party. They raised $500 for a charity when normally they would have played dirty Santa with stupid little gifts.

Based on that it occurred to me that next year my friends and I could do the same thing, instead of giving gifts to each other we can bless families in our community.

How cool would it be if we all did that next year? At the office party, skip the office gift exchange and raise money for a local charity that is helping keep families warm and full. In your church, sponsor families. With your friends, take the spending limits off and see just how much you can do for the people in your community.

What would happen if we took that same attitude and spread it through the year? What if the 99% said “I don’t need what the 1% has to help my fellow man.”

I guess I’ve been kind of all over the place here. Let me close by once again thanking you from the depth of my heart on your gifts to this family. Because of your giving we didn’t have to choose between keeping a roof over their head, food in their stomachs, and a Merry Christmas morning. You helped us do it all for them, more than anything we could do on our own.

Please continue to pray for them and those in need through our world. Specifically, pray that they are able to get a job and get into the apartments they have been trying to get into, there the rent will be better and they’ll even have more space, a kitchen, and a better opportunity for a better life.

What have/are you doing to help others? Does your family have any traditions this time of year or through out the year? Share in the comments so we can all be inspired to more.

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