johnny was here . . .

Advice on buying kids first guitar

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:14:00 -0700

I get the following question about once a week. 20109 -2010 @foundationRED guitarist, Michael Miyahara, and I lay out a complete answer in print that we can finally refer people to. Great resource!

Question: Hey band guys! My little Johnny has been saving up his money from birthday, allowance, (rarely true) etc and wants to buy an electric guitar and amp and take lessons. We have been doing research to try and find something in his very limited price range and we are getting two different suggestions from the people at the guitar stores:

A. Buy him a youth size/half size guitar for him to learn on and then go full-size when he grows

B. Go ahead and buy him a full size guitar so he won't have a sudden transition to "full-size" in a couple of years.

So my questions for you gurus of guitar are these:
1. Which of these scenarios would you recommend?

2. Do you have any suggestions as to inexpensive brands when it comes to guitars? We are looking at about a $200-$250 budget total (for a cheap amp and guitar). I know this will not be much of a guitar at that price, but any direction you can point us in would be helpful as I know nothing about any of it!

Thanks guys!

We suggest going with the larger guitar body. Unless you are starting your child out on an instrument at 4 years old then these youth style guitars are a sales gimmick. Guitar playing is very much about muscle memory, and he will get use to the spacing between the frets. After a few years of playing you can pretty much find your places on the fretboard without looking, and to change sizes completely when he gets that comfortable would be like starting from scratch. Try and stay away from the all in one packages. The hardware on the guitars is just terrible and his guitar will go out of tune ALL of the time, which can be very frustrating when you're just beginning. This is the most common reason kids quit an instrument. When a guitar will not stay in tune they will never hear the accomplishment being made in practice. It really steals the FUN.

Stay away from companies like Rogue, Fernandes, Laguna, AXL. Sorry sub par guitar companies but in all fairness you have been stealing musical joy from children for years now.

Squier and Dean are decent, BC Rich is pretty much trash, and you MAY be safe with Ibanez, look at the hardware (tuners) carefully.

The best pick would be an Epiphone, they build pretty good products (except for their all in one packs) in all price ranges. ESP LTD isn't a bad brand either, they usually build guitars that look REALLY cool, and a lot more expensive than what they actually are.

Highlights

Stay away from whole package deals with with straps/pics and amp in a box!
Craig's list and Ebay are going to get you a better guitar as long as you remember our brand clues from above
15 minutes of practice a day are better than 2 hours the day of your lesson :)

Here are our guitar picks:
Les Paul look a like at 149.00

SG Ephiphone at 169

Here are our amp picks

Line 6 Amp 199.00

The first is an ESP LTD EC-10, a single cutaway les paul style guitar. Friends of mine in high school had these and I was always supremely jealous, they are great looking, great sounding, great playing guitars for $150. Plus their sunburst finish looks a lot better than Epiphone's in the low end stuff.

The second is an Epiphone SG Special. Most people would probable recommend a Les Paul, but the SG shape and flatter neck will make for easier access as he is learning. These sound great, and SG is a rock legend! Nobody uses these anymore...it'd be pretty cool to bring them back.

Although they look cool you will want to also stay away from non-conventional shapes. The V shaped, X shaped, whatever guitars are really uncomfortable, and sometimes impossible to play sitting down.

For amps:

There's no way you're going to be able to find a tube amp for your remaining budget, not to mention tube amps need to be turned up to get their purest sounds, and as proud as you're going to be the first time he plays "Smoke On The Water", you're not going to want it taking over the house for two hours per night.

That leaves us with solid state, which opens a world of possibilities. My honest take would be Line 6. Their amps kind of do it all, in a very user-friendly format. He will be able to experiment with different effects and different amp types, which makes for hours of fun per day.

Here's the pic, the line 6 spyder series. You'll have to stretch a little bit...or look on ebay or craigslist...but these amps are a beginners dream. Beware of "mini" amps, as their sound is, well...small. (by "mini" I mean any speaker smaller than 12")
This is the smallest Spyder series they make.

Have more gear or worship questions? Ask @foundationRED twitter account

CIY Jr High Update!

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 09:02:00 -0700

Many exciting new things happening on the jr high front at CIY:

Dates for the 2012 Believe "Word" tour are finalized! HERE

We are finishing promo and will be announcing special artists/speakers in the coming weeks.
Team Believe will be headed to Israel, Rome, Ireland, Germany and England as we tell the story of God's story next year on tour.

We are also pumped about the jr high training and leader gathering event of the year- CAMPFERENCE!!

http://middleschoolministrycampference.com

Mark Oestreicher was here a few months ago at Scott Farms planning with the CIY team to get the word out on this awesome new event. We are working on many details now and can't wait to worship/hang out with our tribe only in Michigan!

and yes, . . . a HUGE announcement is still coming :)

Stuff I'm remembering . . . Again, about speaking

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:23:00 -0700

Remembering stuff . . . again -hanging with kids this summer

Concrete & Abstract- I'm trying to live in the middle here resisting the temptation to go with either extreme. Jr highers are not incapable of abstract thoughts, they are newbies. If they are beginning to dabble in abstract thought I hope that they do so first in a healthy faith based environment (Church stuff yo!) .

Yes, it's old to you. It's not old to them. Don't do Other stuff that keeps you interested and loses them.

Kids are afraid of being made fun of in large groups, one mistake can destroy many bridges . . . Do other stuff

If it takes longer to explain the meaning of a song than to sing it . . . do Other stuff

Aside from the bible, stories from your personal experience connect better than . . . Other stuff

Teach kids to pray, it's more important than . . . Other stuff

Being willing to & even looking for opportunities to laugh at myself, helps create the attitude I want my fellow workers to share better than any . . . Other stuff

Churchy words can be redeemed. Do the work to define them.
& don't assume they know simpler words! Mine last week: rebellious. Yep, if I hadn't defined it clearly from the beginning #wastedtime #thanksgirlincaf

Kids are not important only when they show up, sometimes they have . . . Other stuff

Remembering names is more important than . . . Other stuff

Don't belittle their problems, culture or pain or they will find . . . Other stuff

"It's Friday", as much as we make fun of it, is a great song this summer! Have your band cover it.

MY kid is in the audience . . . #fear

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:45:00 -0700

For years I've looked forward to the day that my sons would be involved in my ministry with great anticipation. What I didn't expect to happen was the onset of puberty to make MY kid crazy. I've told many parents over the last 12 years that the swings in mood, growth and friction are perfectly normal. The words rolled off my tounge so easy. I'm afraid I even walked away from some of those conversations actually thinking I helped- #sigh #gasp

Now I'm looking a milestone dead in the eyes this summer. My son will be at the camp I'm speaking at-as a CAMPER. As the dates have drawn closer I can honestly say I'm sweating it a bit. My youngest brother and sister will also be jr high attending campers. My parents were divorced when I was young. Mom remarried and had two great kids. She told us they were pregnant with their first on our wedding day. When My wife and I were blessed with our first my mother and wife were both pregnant at the same time with boys. Many of the stories that surface as I speak with kids deal with my difficult Jr high years and my parents divorce. Both my mother and wife have been questioning me about my talks this summer at camp. The uniqueness of this situation has pushed me to think differently on some things.

As I've been kicking around thoughts as a parent of kids going to camp I'm challenging myself on many thoughts I used to have as professional :) camp staffer. So, as I'm experiencing a middle school kid living in my house I'm mulling a few things over that I'm not done processing yet but would love to throw out there. Here ya go!

Nothing is more encouraging than positive feedback on my kid from another adult in their lives.

You can do amazing things for me and I'll be grateful, if you do the smallest thing to show interest in my kid I'll NEVER forget the genuine effort!

As a parent I'm confronted with the reality that: We are scared. We don't want to mess our kids up and we second guess ourselves constantly. We know we are not supposed to parent out of reaction to our up bringing or other outside factors, but sometimes we do anyway.

I want to land on the side of quanity time not quality time. Planned quality time seems to blow up in our faces. With quality, there are better chances that some of it will be quality.

This summer, have fun! But please challenge my kid, they might be in to more stuff and deeper stuff than we want to admit.

If you are working with middle school kids and don't have kids of your own, don't feel unequipped or without the necessary tools to make HUGE impact. Be mindful of some of these emotions parents are wrestling through and take them seriously.

Believe Back Stage Pass Staff Video

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:03:00 -0700

Nick McNabb, Believe video tech, made this intimate video of our team working, laughing and doing life together on the road. Thanks so much Nick! I love you all and feel so blessed to travel with you on the road. Amazing, cool video. Romans 10:15 says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."

My friends, your feet are beautiful!

2011 CIY Believe NOW Tour Crew from Nick McNabb on Vimeo.

NEW Believe Leader's Guide!!!

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:24:00 -0800

God made all sorts! The reality of this is only heightened when you work with jr high kids. As adults, we are as dynamic in our personalities as the kids we work with. The only catch is we are usually more set in our ways. So this post is for a specific kind of youth leader (and we love all types). Chances are, if you are reading this then you are EXACTLY the type of person who will love our "Leader's Guide to Believe".

You don't HAVE TO READ this document. One of the great things about Believe is that you can show up and experience the whole weekend with you kids in the moment. We plan it FOR YOU! However, if you like to know whats coming next then this is for YOU! I like to think of my buddy Alan Mercer when I put tools together like this. Alan, this one is for you . . . or awesome youth leaders like you! We've put every piece of info you might need to know to help guide your kids through the weekend!

LEADER'S GUIDE TO BELIEVE!

Also Check out our VERY simplified version:

BELIEVE'S READY TO GO CHECKLIST

*please don't request for 'edit access' simply print the page

Take Believe Home with our free resource "Session 6"

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:52:00 -0800

Believe Session #6 The weekend doesn’t have to be over! Team Believe wants to help you take the Believe experience home. Our “Session Six Package” has everything you need to have one more Believe session when you get home. Use these links to collect band chord charts, Eric’s special “Session Six” video, our take home activity, “NOW Action Step”, and talking points for simple talks with your kids on the Session #6 theme.
• Opening Session Video (download this to start your session)
• Send your band here (for cool stuff like the chord chart to that Lion song!)
• Session #6 Video with Eric Samuel Timm• Download Action Packet for "NOW Action Step"
Use this as soon as you get back to the church or for Sunday morning, Wednesday night or even a wait a few weeks after your Believe event. The kids who attend your group during regular weekly programming won’t be out of the loop. The session will work as a stand-alone message and recap for the main theme of the Believe weekend.

Opening Session Video

Use this one minute video to start your session. For those students who attended the Believe event it will be familiar and or those students who did not attend believe, the main thought of the weekend will be introduced – “What are you going to do for God NOW?”

NOW Action Step

At Believe we looked at the story of Yuseph on Saturday morning. Yuseph is a young hero of the faith whose faith, like Esther’s, put him in a place to decide whether or not he would do something NOW for God. There are many other Christians around the world that are not free to worship God. When we write letters to the leaders of our Country the views of Christians have to be taken seriously. We encourage you to download the prepared letter for Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and have kids sign it. Join 50,000 kids across all CIY 2011 programs in writing our Nation’s leaders on behalf of Christians around the world enduring persecution.

Other stuff to know about at Believe!

Don't forget to bring a small tube of black and white acyrilic paint for lunch group project (we give you the box and directions. Just bring the paints and sharpies.

Doors & CIY Station open at 3:00 PM Friday afternoon for adults (seat saving allowed)

Follow Believe band(Foundation Red), National Tricycle Racing Leauge & Believe on Facebook
&
Twitter Believe Band(Foundation Red), National Tricycle Racing Leauge & Believe.

Tulsa Believe moved to MAY!!!

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Sun, 6 Feb 2011 11:48:00 -0800

Due to weather-related postponement, the Tulsa, OK CIY BELIEVE event has been rescheduled for MAY 13th & 14th, 2011 at the Tulsa Convention Center. All registrations will automatically transfer to the MAY 13TH & 14TH event. If you are already registered for this event and would like to switch your registration to either the St. Louis, MO event, February 25th & 26th or the Arlington, TX event March 18th & 19th, please call 1-888-765-4CIY to make this change. Again, thank you for your patience as we work to help make BELIEVE part of your spring ministry plan for 2011.

Believe Set Lists 2011 NOW TOUR

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:41:00 -0800

Believe 2011 NOW Tour Worship Sets

We want for you and your kids to enjoy singing songs at Believe that you know and can fully participate in from the beginning. We also like to help you introduce new songs to your group and Believe is the perfect environment for your group to experience moments together around a new song.

There are 21 song slots during the weekend. The master set list has 10 songs (today :)). Some are ‘core songs’ for the weekend while others are filler ‘one timers’ we hope everybody is already familiar with. We love teaching kids about worship corporately. One goal we had this year was to give the speakers a little bit more time. In so doing we have cut a tiny bit of time from the band. Everybody speak up if you have an opinion (johnny@ciy.com) and we can make changes mid tour based on evaluations. We pray that our list and tools help you go beyond the event in your ministry!

Get music from Believe here:
ITUNES PING LINK

Youtube links
Our God
Like A Lion
These are Your Words
Everywhere I Go
Arms Open Wide
No One Like You
Cannons
Take it All
We Shine

CHORD CHARTS
Our God
Like a Lion
Arms Open Wide
These are Your Words
Cannons
No One Like You
We Shine
Take it All

Believe 2011 “NOW” Tour Session Guides
Friday Night Session #1
Our God
Rise and Sing
Like a Lion
Lovely Noise

Friday Night Session #2
Undignified
Like a Lion
Cannons
Arms Open Wide
These Are Your Words (before speaker)
These Are Your Words (after speaker)

Saturday Hanging @ Believe Session #3
Spark’s Concert Set

Saturday Pre-Lunch Session #4
Lovely Noise
Like a Lion
We Shine
speaker and then some other cool stuff :)
Arms Open Wide
These Are Your Words

Saturday Post Lunch Session #5
Take it All Versus
Rise and Sing
Our God
I See You
These are Your Words
Like a Lion

More T - designs and other updates

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:13:00 -0700

Many things are coming together! Believe launched the Beta version of the new Web site. You can now download the Leader version promotional video right from the Believe player too. If you are not following Believe on twitter then check out the join link on the bottom of every page. Team Believe will be in Michigan next week. Wanna do lunch?

Believe Update: NEW Designs and giveaways!

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 5 Oct 2010 13:26:00 -0700

One major value at Believe is our tradition in telling Bible stories. This year we will look at the life of Esther and ask kids what it is that they too can do NOW as kingdom workers. The best tool we can think of to get this job done is a Bible. We know that many of your kids have a few Bibles at home they can lay claim to. There is a marked difference when we couple the powerful shared experience at Believe with a Bible that feels like it was a special gift just for them. Here is the cover art work. Every attendee on the 2010 Now Tour will recieve a Believe ESV translation.

Here is a preview of two new Spring Believe Shirts we'll have on tour. Many things are coming together. Have any thoughts about the design? We are also wanting to do a Believe Veteran Vollunteer T that has a throw back feel. Any thoughts? Both of these T's will be available to Believe insiders on the new Believe webb site very soon!

Believe NOW Film Week Day #3

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:09:00 -0700

We had an amazing week filming for the Now Tour. The final launch of www.ciy.com/believe will be up this week. The use of cardboard and the bobble heads are a thread that is running throughout everything so it's been great to see that spill over onto the new website as well.

Over the next two weeks Team Believe is concentrating on the two biggest changes to the 2011 tour: NO REGISTRATION at Believe for those who choose to pay in full before & integrating a new team member to oversee volunteers exclusively at Believe.

We will be posting the inside material we have added to the 2011 Believe Bible later this week too. It is going to be a sweet year of attendee giveaways this year.

Day #2 Shoot Week

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:59:00 -0700

Believe Film Week Day #1

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:29:00 -0700

Awesome Day shooting on 5 locations with 2 teams! Team Believe is working with Eric Samuel Timm getting ready for the 2011 Now Tour. We are telling the story of Esther at Believe this spring. Esther was a hero of the faith who did something for God in her "right here" moment. Our video content will challenge students to look at thier right here moments and do something right now!

"Believe Insider's" print promo release

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:28:00 -0700

CIY Believe is very excited to release the 2011 publicity and 2011 NOW Tour Dates! As Believe INSIDERS, we want you to be the first to see the new publicity. This stuff hasn't even come off the press yet. It will soon though, so keep an eye on your mailbox during early September. In it you will find some returning faces as well as some new ones. No matter who you recognize, be sure to visit all of our artists online to tell them which event location you will be at!

2011 Believe Artists:
Illusionist - Jared Hall
Artist - Eric Samuel Timm
Speakers - Mark Oerstreicher, Kurt Johnston, Scott Rubin, Heather Flies, Chad Monohan & Jon McCallon
Special Extreme Sports Guests -NTRL Racing Sensations Eddie & Cameron Falcon.

Download the whole PDF version HERE

Not signed up for Believe Twitter? Be sure to start following us now to always be aware of the latest news about CIY Believe!

New Believe Promo Video for 2011

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:05:00 -0700

Believe is excited to Release the official promotional video for the 2011 Spring Believe Tour - "NOW". Now is all about the story of Esther and how jr high kids can decide become Kingdom workers in whatever situation they are in - NOW!

Read Josh Griffin's post about the Believe Tour on his Blog: http://www.morethandodgeball.com/

a thought for jr higher's and Angels talking to them

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:54:00 -0700

I love the questions that jr highers ask. I by that I mean I usually hate the questions that jr highers ask in the middle of EVERY lesson that take us to a Sonny’s buffet of tangential abyss. Wow. That was therapeutic. I totally didn't even know that was inside of me! ha!

I'm working on a project right now that is dealing with jr high students hearing and their calling from God. If you work with jr high kids you know they have a unique ability to dive into the deepest subjects that baffle man kind in one second and then wonder about how fart’s get their smell in the next. So as I am pounding through all the things a 6th grade jr high boy would ask about the subject, “hearing God’s calling”

(Some of you are laughing right now at the myriad of rabbit holes this daunting task alone has presented in theory)

You know that a question kind of like this is going to come up because you have most likely tried to answer it in the last week yourself, “Why doesn’t God do cool stuff like part the red sea anymore?”

Some of you answered this question like this: “The Lord enabled you to stop playing PSP long enough for me to get through an entire lesson! In my book that is a miracle in direct proportion to the Red Sea parting!”

With that in mind I took a stab at one of those types of questions. As always, please through in your two cents on the hot topic below with comments and real ministry moments. Here is the excerpt:

A specific word about Angels:
There would be no need for a book like this if God still used Angels as His main mode for telling us our calling. During Old testament times there were not copies of God’s word laying in the Tabernacle lost and found. But who are we to say God won’t fall back on the angel option instead of, say a text. So here is our official stance on hearing your calling from an angel: If an Angel told you to do something, it is God’s calling on your life. (They don’t carry angel identification cards from what we can see in the Bible. To identify an angel look for: music from out of nowhere, wings, glowing faces and robes that look the brightest white you’ve ever seen.) From our research we saw Angels had a two main jobs when appearing to mortals: telling people their calling from God or killing. So if you see an angel and they don’t say, “Do not be afraid”, then be afraid.

Great new Jr High Parent Tip

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 20:14:00 -0700

Getting the trust and support of parents in ministry is huge and the best window for hitting a home run is just around the corner. We all want to have great relationships with parents and at times we work tirelessly trying to win them over . . . or even catch them for a few seconds in the hallway at church. This is your chance to sow little seeds and reap huge! Of course you’re going to spend time thinking of the best way to welcome kids into your ministry this fall! Take some time to help parents transition their kids into jr high.

My oldest son is entering Jr high this fall. Although I’ve been working with jr high kids for 10 years in ministry, my wife and I are still finding ourselves anxious as our son prepares for this fall. There are many parents who have children entering jr high for the first time that are experiencing a sense of the unknown or even fear of the school year to come. This is an opportunity to reach out, meet a real felt need and build a bridge that will yield crazy results for the next three years.

Here are some tips and ideas to get you started: (if you have more please comment)

• Get parents who have had kids go through jr high come to an evening program or casual setting to talk with kids and new parents, give advice and pointers
• Find out when the school does orientation and partner with them or offer an afterglow with refreshments; go ahead and invite teachers, the principle, sell school T-shirts and such
• Let parents know you plan to visit kids at school their first week for lunch
• Offer to Pray with these parents specifically for this. Prayer is our weapon against fear. The parents will never forget your intentionality to their situation.
• Make jr high survival kits for parents and kids, include: before & after school safety tips, a fall activities schedule for ministry at your church, a top ten list of things they should know about their school (DO YOUR RESEARCH – but don’t name mean teachers  they’ll get that info at the water cooler.
• Encourage parents to tell their jr high stories to their kids. Kids never tire (ha, usually never tire) of hearing NEW stories from their parent’s childhood. Don’t let them trick you into stopping, they love it, they don’t know how to show that they love it 

as we all pack up for the summer . . .

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:14:00 -0700

The offices here at CIY this week are at their peak of activity. Summer staffers are getting to know each other and all of our brainstorming meetings from last October are finally being brought to life. It is exhilarating being in this atmosphere, knowing that as we ate lunch together today our paths would separate over thousands of miles across America.
I’m reminded of a highlight from last summer’s travels as we anxiously anticipate all the wide eyed students who will experience a Move high school event, Knowsweat service project or Engage trip very soon. I was speaking at one of our more jr high intentional Knowsweat service projects. This night we moved the entire room to a tight focus on a small center stage where the day’s activities would culminate with our nightly programming. It was Wednesday which is a double sided sword. If you have spent much time on student trips then you know some of the common patterns: Wednesday can be a major break through day in pushing through walls that kids have had up all week, exhaustion can start to set in; but more times that not it seem s to take about three days of retreat from the tyranny of our pop cultured driven world for kids to hear the voice of God speaking clearly. As a speaker and programmer who had poured into this evenings events my hopes were high.
The stand out moment happened about 7 minutes into my HIGHLY engaging talk that evening. With such a cosy room set up there was a bit more energy in the room between speaker and audience. I remember walking through a few rows and looking more kids in the eyes thinking we are all really tracking together in this moment. Then I saw it. I was mid sentence and almost completely lost my train of thought. Sure this kind of thing has happened to every person to publicly speak but it was more eventful this night for me due to two downright funny occurrences.
The first sticky point in this story is that because the way the room was set up with all of us so tightly knit together into the center of the room there was no hiding such a sight. In normal conditions most folks wouldn’t know and there would be no distraction at all. There we all were however, confronted with the reality of this moment that totally caught me off guard.
Secondly I just so happened to catch the eye of the youth worker in charge of this student simultaneously as I happened up on the whole scene. Because of her mirrored reaction to mine there was no way we could brush this over. It was going to be a total distraction of epic proportions.
As I energetically weaved from one point ready to land another I spun on my heal and right in front of me sprawled out over two and a half chairs was 8th grade boy unapologetically crashed during this intense moment. I know I said it, we have all had kids fall asleep on us! Unfortunately just as I clearly stopped, stunned at this picture the kid made a huge bear like gurgle, sighed like he was home tucked in bed and readjusted his position before falling back into an almost coma like sleep. Every student in the room instantly realized I was speechless from suppressing laughter while still trying to hold the moment I was in . . . whatever that was.
At that instant I recollected many conversations I’ve participated in that brought perspective to my immediate situation and the stark reality of what we do in youth ministry. We toil, plan, pray, communicate, promote, explain, and execute so many trips over the course of just one summer season. Sure, sometimes the light bulb moment for a kid actually happens during the special song on the night we think it will . . . but most of the time some freaky series of events unravels in such a way that we scratch our heads and wonder how in the world God used THAT to touch a kid. The comforting thing is that He will have His way no matter what. If you are like me; it’s good to hear things you already know but will most likely forget on the interstate when the air conditioning goes out . . . again 
1. Even though he uses other goofy ways than what we thought he would, still plan well cause sometimes he goes conventional just to keep us honest
2. Get to know a kid’s story. You may not know that the most Spiritual thing happening in that kids life could be a nap in the middle of your sermon
3. Take some time to think back to a special trip you had in adolescence. Remember the moments that stuck with you the most?

Brent the Stunt Guy Update Stay in Touch

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 08:12:00 -0700

Brent the Stunt Guy was one of your student's favorite artists on the Jesus Tour 2008, The Connect Tour 2009, and The Speak Tour 2010. Brent and Amanda felt the call to full time Mission work in the Phillipines during the Speak Tour. As God was talking to the students attending the event Brent also clearly felt a pull away from his stunt ministry in America to missionary work.

We are excited to watch thier adventure and we want to invite you to watch as well. Stay connected to thier ministry on Brent the Stunt Guys Web site and on Brent's twitter account.

Two great student or yoth leader summer games that lead to discussions

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:53:00 -0700

Two great student or yoth leader summer games that lead to discussions

Summer is an awesome time to hang with students and enjoy a diferent pace of life. Recently the staff here at CIY has done the following two activities and had a blast (The cart race evidence is all over Facebook).

One question I ask youth leaders consistently is, "What does your summer look like?" You guys are BUSY!!! We already knew that our kids had crazy schedules and I GET IT! This is when we have a chance to be with kids so we go go go go . . .

In the midst of the busyness of summer, don't miss those moments that make it all worth it. Below are two great games that could help start the season off right. Try them with your kids or do a special youth coach get together. If your ministry partners are anything like we are at CIY then you will have many spin off discussions and build some great relationships along the way.

Barnga Game click here for the downloadable direction pages
This is a great game to see how people communicate, lead and handle conflict. The gist is players are seperated into seperate tables for game playing. Winners move to play together and loosers move to play together. The trick is that every table has a seperate set of rules and talking is not allowed. The first round goes easy when everyone has read and understands the same ground rules. How will people handle a new environment with new rules? This is a great game for helping high schoolers talk about moving away to college or helping youht coaches discuss the unseen youth culture that is right under there noses!

Cart Race click here to get CIY 500 Cart Race Rules
One would think that getting together to build race carts wouldn't need such detailed ground rules! People are competitive folks! Here is how we structured our CIY 500 :) Your adults and kids know thier summer schedules. They have everything planned months in advance. Use this as a mystery fun day. Tell your group how to dress in advance but not what they are doing until they get there. Invite parents and friends (or the whole church) to show up at the end of the day for a cookout and the big race!

Great quick YOUTH LEADER training tool

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:20:00 -0700

I was at SYMC this past spring and Kurt Johnston showed an entire episode of King of the Hill. In this episode Bobby goes to youth group . .. funny. The resulting conflict is one of the best tools for gaining/teaching perspective in considering our role as youth workers. If you do one night of leader training a year. Get this and watch it. Then discuss the role of parents and how your ministry interacts with them.

King of the Hill Season 8 Episode 2: Reborn to be wild

Sunday's Coming

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Mon, 10 May 2010 07:07:00 -0700

If you haven't seen this yet take a minute. If you are like me you will laugh and groan a bit at the unfortunate truth.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

2010 Messiah Tour

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:21:00 -0800

I've been busy putting together the set lists over the break for the tour. The sessions are laid out differently this year so it's been a new experience. For those of you who want the new songs the links are to listen and buy are included on the google document! HERE

Get the Chord Charts on the Foundation Red Esnips account. See link Below.

We never want to suprise youth leaders with what is going on. The following link is a basic layout of the entire weekend session by session. This is the most detailed sequence events to date! View it HERE.

2010 Messiah Set Lists

johnny@ciy.com (Johnny Scott) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:42:00 -0800

2010 Messiah Tour Set Lists Christmas DRAFT

Welcome to the planning process. EVERYONE has an opinion about worship :) and so we try to listen diligently. Foundation Red is the house band for the Jr High Believe Tour and we only do Jr high events. This year we have some new faces like Hetti Marie and Billy Brimblecom. You are going to LOVE them and your kids will see that they love the Messiah passionately.

Below is a draft of our sets for the tour. This is very dificult and every song has a purpose. If you want to see something on the list that is not there then let us know. IT'S NOT TO LATE. We have lots of goals in putting the set list together. It's nice to have keys that girls can sing in and Hetti will be leading many songs throughout the weekend. Hopefully your kids learn some new songs and have a ton of familiar tunes too. (that is the tough part)

New Songs to Believe

Rise And Sing Listen/Buy Here

Stronger Listen/Buy Here

Alive And Running Listen/Buy Here

Your Name High Listen/Buy Here

To Know Your Name (available on Itunes Australia only, sorry guys!)

How He Loves - David Crowder's recorded version. We will only do the chorus tagged onto another song. I feel like the words in the verses will drag and take to much explaining to do. I am not against really explaining a song. We will do that. We simply have to be choosy how many times we do it and on how many songs. Listen/Buy Here

Special Songs

Here I am to Worship - Moment Song Listen/Buy Here

Forever - This is the classic Tomlin tune your kids should know from 'big church' :) but our twist on it is a total hip hop feel. It will be a breath of fresh air stylistically from the standard anthemic Hillsong feel Listen/Buy Here

Carry over tunes from last year

Today is the day Listen/Buy Here

We won't be quiet Listen/Buy Here

Happy Day - we can bring songs like this back and do them at least once but are your kids SICK of it yet? Listen/Buy Here

I am Free - Yes this is an oldie but kids LIKE IT . . . right? It is also a very high energy song that just WORKS at getting kids involved. Listen/Buy Here

Sing Sing Sing Listen/Buy Here

From The Inside Out Listen/Buy Here

Hosanna Listen/Buy Here