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Stormtrooper Hoodie = Awesome. Yes, the zipper goes all the way up the hood so you can wear it like a mask. Marc Ecko made it, though, so it costs about a million dollars. Or $98.
We had a pretty crazy youth night this week — it involved a live and hilarious performance of Viva la Vida complete with a choreographed gang choir, an epic ’snowball fight’ with 224 rolls of toilet paper, a visit from the infamous horse head, and 100 crazy teenagers that resulted in three guys getting their heads shaved. Tons of fun, a great sense of momentum, and lots of new kids having a blast.
It was very good. And it served a purpose.
But today, I had a teen walk up to me at church and proudly show me his new Bible. This guy comes from a challenging family situation and saved up his own cash to get this Bible. He was pumped. He told me he already finished Genesis. Oh, and could we add him to the list for whenever we do baptisms next?
That’s the pay-off of whipping toilet paper rolls at each other. That’s why I do ministry. The big crowds are fun, but to see Jesus grab a hold of someone and quite obviously change their life? There’s nothing like it.
I have teens who know holler and clap and applause when I preach about how Jesus can change their lives and transform their city. Seriously. It throws me off sometimes, because doesn’t that only happen at black churches? They’re stoked about missions and evangelism. They want to know what else they can be doing to help out. Jesus is transforming them.
These are the ups of youth ministry. I’m the middle of it. And it’s good.
Last year at youth we made watching a video clip from Yo Gabba Gabba a weekly event. Most of the teens thought it was pretty funny. Some absolutely loved it. One girl now has a ‘Party in my Tummy’ t-shirt, and last week a kid gave me some Yo Gabba Gabba stuffed animals. Good times. I found a new clip today, and thought I would share.
My favorite kids show + One of my favorite bands ever = A Beautiful Day
On the other end of the happy spectrum is this clip from Mark Driscoll. It’s obviously been edited to include some ‘funny’ pictures, but what he’s saying has not been edited. He said this. He means this. And I think it’s pretty lame.
Last time I read the Gospels, I really loved the part where Jesus shot his gun, married a woman and made babies, and then went and bought land to make money. What an innovator! Driscoll needs to get over this.
I bet whoever came up with the phrase ‘tickle the ivories’ has never done it while the ivories were still tusks.
I also bet that whoever decided to name the brownie the ‘brownie’ wasn’t very cutting edge. There’s a good chance he also named the orange.
This is what I think of when I eat.
Someone is a genius. Take a clear bag, add green splotches, and voila! No one is touching your sandwich ever again. Genius, I tell you.
Sorry, world.
Once again some Christians decided that, instead of innovating and creating something of their very own, they’d simply rip off someone else’s successful idea and ‘Christianize’ it. Haven’t we realized yet that separating ourselves from the rest of the world so that we can live safely in a Christian bubble free from ‘the rest of humanity’ isn’t helpful? Nope.
Today I bring you:
1. Christian Twitter — Gospelr
The high point of Gospelr for me was reading about Daniel’s problems with diarrhea. Why did you save this for Christian Twitter, Daniel? I’m sure the rest of the pagans on the web were dying to know about your IBS.
2. Christian Guitar Hero — Guitar Praise
The high point of Guitar Praise? It’s a toss-up between including Petra’s “Backsliding Blues” or a song by The Crucified. The Crucified?! Did Mark Solomon really agree to this? I don’t believe it.
Why can’t we simply use the original Twitter and the original Guitar Hero as creative and worthwhile ministry efforts in the first place? Or simply to have fun with? Sigh.
I’m off to create a Christianized version of sleep. It’s like real sleep except, uh, better. And it probably will cost more.
Sarah Palin has made big news recently (wow, that’s an understatement) but much of it has been due to her children’s names. She’s got five kids — Track, Trig, Willow, Bristol and Piper. So some guy buried in the world wide web decided to figure out what we would be named if Palin was our mother.
Lo and behold, my Palin name: Crust Scramble Palin.
This is actually quite fitting for me. It’s a breakfasty type name, reminding me of toast and eggs. I like it. I wouldn’t want the nickname ‘Crusty’ but I can live with it.
What’s your Palin name? Share the wealth.
Unbelievable. Watch it all to truly enjoy. Here are my Top 3 Favorite Moments:
1. The dance move that happens at 1:03
2. The ‘echo’ effect on their voices at certain ‘powerful’ moments
3. The breakdown // dance solo at 1:53
* We kicked off the fall @ Crosspoint with the Groove this morning, and had tons of people there. Sweet! Our new website has launched, too. Visit us here and watch for some upcoming changes to the site.
*I couldn’t hardly believe this when I read it, but it’s legit: Ray Boltz ‘came out of the closet’ yesterday. Woah. You can read the article here (I stole the link from Los).
*I’ve become slightly addicted to following all of the crazy election news as of late, and I find it hilarious that it in the States, the act of pulling off an election takes years of planning, millions of dollars in fundraising, and a crazy and drama-filled adventure that hits on issues such as a race and gender, and that’s just to pick the candidates who are going to run against each other.
In Canada? Our head honcho wakes up and decides to give us a good 37 days to get ready. That’s more like it. That’s how I work. Let’s not waste time and money with this chaos, let’s put our X on the paper and get this thing over with. Mind you, the Canadian election is way less exciting to track: we’ve got a couple of middle-aged white guys with the same name. Boooring.
We’re kicking off our fall series @ Crosspoint tomorrow — it’s called ‘the Groove!’ and it’s gearing up to be a fun and creative 4 weeks. One of my favorite parts is the fact that we’re holding a sideburn-growing contest. I’ll obviously lose this competition horribly (maybe I’ll get a consolation ribbon) but I think it’s going to be awesomeness nonetheless.
And talk about ingenius promotion! When someone asks you why you have huge disgustingly awesome sideburns on your face, you get to talk about your church, and how it makes you grow facial hair (or has dancing horse heads on youth night). I’m pumped.
Here’s my ultimate goal:
Or this:
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