Youth Ministry Geek - Youth Ministry Ideas - Youth Technology Resources

Summer Fun: David Crowder*Band – Oh Happiness Live

Chris — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:34:16 +0000

I’ve been a little crazed of late and haven’t given the blog the time it deserves (I have some fun posts coming very soon, including my Comic-Con wrap-up), but for now enjoy this bit of Summer Happiness.

Star Wars on a Subway

Chris — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:14:51 +0000

The gang over at Improv Everywhere are at it again, this time re-enacting a scene from Star Wars on a subway. Actually I think I really saw this at Comic-Con last year.

Getting the Most Out of Youth Group Games

Chris — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:56:41 +0000

This week over at YouthMinistry.com there was a great series of articles on using games in youth ministry.

Part one: GAME ON! how games can enhance your ministry – it’s a great reminder of why we play games in youth ministry.

Part two: GAME OVER! seven game mistakes that will derail your effectiveness – goes over some common mistakes that can derail your games.

Part three: TIME OUT! three practices that will strengthen your game plan – gives some great suggestions about making your games the best they can.

If you are looking for some new games to play, YouthMinistry.com also has some new free game e-books for you. You can download Grass Stain: Outdoor Youth Ministry Games or Rugburn: Indoor Youth Ministry Games. To get the free downloads you need to sign-up for the YouthMinistry.com Daily email from Doug Fields and Matt McGill, but you also get access to some other great e-books as well as content like these articles in your inbox 4 days a week.

iPhone 4 Review: To Buy or Not to Buy

Jeremy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:41:49 +0000

This past tuesday I got an email that told me I would be one of the lucky few to receive my iPhone 4 the day before it was released. I was more than a little bit pumped about that fact and waited somewhat patiently for it to arrive. Now that I’ve had it for a week, I feel fairly prepared to answer the question of whether or not you should rush out and get one.

The Basics
The phone is a substantial upgrade from the 3G, but far less of an upgrade from the 3Gs than apple would have you believe.

Topping the list of upgrades is the phone’s camera. Not only is it now 5 megapixels for stills, it added an LED flash. Video taken with the camera is now HD quality and can be illuminated by that same LED in dark situations. I will say that the camera quality is by far the best phone camera I have ever seen. It is on par with any 5 megapixel point and shoot I have used, and the video coming off is just as good, if not better, than any of the Flip models. AND, there is a smaller, lower quality camera that is front facing which will enable you to do easy self-portraits, video chat and FaceTime.

FaceTime is Apple’s video chat service that is built into the phone app, but it only works [...] Continue Reading "iPhone 4 Review: To Buy or Not to Buy"

New David Crowder Band EP

Chris — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:30:54 +0000

I love the David Crowder Band and was excited to see they released a new EP today. It’s a 4 song acoustic set and it’s great.

Track List:

Alleluia, Sing
How He Loves
Oh, Happiness
Shadows

You can get it from iTunes today:
Summer Happiness (Acoustic) – EP – David Crowder Band

Great (short!) Youth Ministry Training Podcast

Jeremy — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:15:27 +0000

I’ve been involved in a project to provide free Youth Ministry resources online at umyouthpastor.com for a while now. We thought about doing a training podcast for a while, but wanted to make sure that we were adding something worthwhile rather than just creating more work for ourselves. After consuming a lot of podcasts, I realized that what I wanted was a periodic training/idea podcast that was short and to the point. That is where the idea for 10-minute Training (itunes link) began.

Each episode is an interview with a talented youth minister about a specific topic covering everything from having hard conversations to indoor game idea roundups. Every episode then concludes with a resource recommendation from the guest. All in about 10 minutes.

I love and listen to tons of long-format podcasts like the SYM podcast (iTunes link), but know very few people who are both entertaining enough to listen to for that long and experienced/talented enough to have that much quality content (Doug and the gang are some of the few in youth ministry). The point of the podcast is to get you some usable information or idea as quickly as possible, or as the tagline suggests… we get to the point so you get the training. Check it out by going to the website or subscribing via iTunes.

Related posts:
1. Quick Tip: Find What You Are Looking For
2. Watch the Inauguration Live

Crazy Video: How to Pull Out a Tooth with a Rocket

Chris — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:17:55 +0000

I’m not quite sure what I can add to this, but my son thought this looked like a good idea. I think I should be afraid.

Send Your Kid to Apple Camp

Chris — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Last summer I signed my daughter up for one of the free day-camps they do at the Apple store and she learned all about photography. She had a great time. I was excited to get an email this morning about this summers program. It’s all about making movies this year. I’ve already signed her up because spaces go fast. Did I mention it’s FREE? I thought I’d pass it along to any of you who may have kids between 8-12 who would love a fun activity for a few days this summer. They are even having a film festival for all the films the kids make. Should be fun.

If you’re in San Diego we are doing the early session at Fashion Valley on July 19 – 20. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Find a location in your area.

Last Day to win an iPad, Get 40% off

Chris — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:23:41 +0000

Today is the last day to enter to win an iPad over at Simply Youth Ministry.

Also it’s the last day to save 40% off on almost 300 resources. It’s only good till 3 PM PST today, so hurry over.

Simply Youth Ministry 40 40 40 Sale