Archive for March, 2010
For Saint Patty’s Day we got in the mood of things with the theme: Night of the Green Monster. We started things out by taking a look back at all the green monsters that the youth could recall from their memory (both past and present). We’ve assembled a video montage that depicts some of the most notorious Green Monsters to ever hit the big screen. See how many you can identify… and it’s okay if you don’t recognize a few of them. Enjoy.
Before youth named any monsters though, we pulled out over 100 clothespins. They were each given 3 clothespins that they were to pinch (get it–St. Patrick’s Day) on their clothes. They were then challenged for the rest of the evening to not use the words, “I,” “Me,” or “My”. If they caught someone using these forbidden expressions, then they got to take one of their clothespins. The person with the most clothespins at the end of the evening was our winner.
As we began to discuss the various Green Monsters they could recall, we pointed out a few key characters. The first was perhaps the most iconic figure from the movie Ghost Busters (1984), Slimer - a little green ghost who was always hungry for food. Inspired by the movie, we decided to make our own batch of the green goo… We challenged our youth to shuck off their socks and jump feet first into the mess. Waiting for them in the slime were lots of key ingredients, but there were also strategically placed clothespins within the mix. The person who could gather the most clothespins using only their feet was the winner. As you can imagine… it got pretty messy. We even had to pull out the steam-cleaners to take care of all the mess.
Everything began to come together, though, as we looked at our final monster of the evening: the Incredible Hulk.
If you saw any of the TV shows from the original series, then you probably have a good idea of the shows premise. A brilliant scientist named Dr. David Bruce Banner is one day conducting a dangerous experiment with gamma radiation. Tragically, things go awry and the brilliant doctor is transformed into a 7′ tall, hugely muscular and extremely powerful monster with bright green skin. Before reverting back to his human self, he destroys everything around him… as such, he becomes a hunted fugitive that is forced to roam from town to town to keep peace. In his journeys, he generally encounters someone who ends up picking on him, and he does what most of us would LOVE to do–He HULKS out on them, and kicks everyone’s tail. One of the most recognizable quotes from the series plays on this, “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.“
We have a lot of different things that are coming up in the student ministry within the next few weeks that you will absolutely want to take advantage of. We are listing the events here, but you can find more information about each of these events by clicking on the name.
April 2nd. Six Flags Over Texas .
Special concert series with Kutless and RED.
$24.
April 18th. Dinner and Dessert Auction.
Brisket and BBQ along with your favorite desserts.
Our Goal: $3,500
April 24th. Texas Rangers Game.
Special pre-game concert by THIRD DAY.
$14.
July 12th-17th. Youth Camp at Falls Creek.
Chris Orr Band and Tony Lambert.
Camp Deposit Deadline, April 25th.
$40.
Last night was Marshmallow Madness Night at the church, and we had a great time with the jet-puffed treat. We came up with as many games as we could utilizing the gooey gob. Some games included passing the mallow-ey treat with toothpicks in student’s mouths along their team’s line, and other games involved partners tossing the white puff across the room to be caught using nothing but their mouths. One of the games played got quite messy as we implemented the use of chocolate syrup. Volunteers had to lay on the floor as a friend covered marshmallows in the chocolate-y sauce, and then had to drop the treat into their partners mouth from an elevated position. As you can imagine, it got very messy. All those who participated really were great sports.
Of all the games played, though, perhaps the favorite of the night was when we pulled out the ’shmallow guns!!! We challenged the youth to knock down as many Marshmallow Peeps in an allotted time to score points for their team. What made this challenge especially interesting was the guys all lined up on one side of the room and the girls on another. Battle lines were drawn, and at the sound of the word, “GO!” — it was on!
When everything was said and done, the guys pulled out the victory knocking down two peeps, while the girls were only able to knock down one.
Everybody seemed to have a great time. And, since words can never do the moment justice, check out the pics over at getflooded.com. You’ll need to register in order to view the pics.
My favorite part of the night was when we got into God’s word… and then tied all this back together. Check out the video and you’ll see how this all relates.
REGISTRATION is going on now. — This summer we will be heading to Falls Creek up in Oklahoma for our youth camp, July 12th-17th. I know, I know: “Falls Creek?,” you’re thinking. Though none of OUR youth are familiar with Falls Creek, many, MANY people are. Falls Creek is the largest youth camp in the WORLD. They are capable of hosting up to 7,000 students in one week! One Week! That is remarkable. And, while the size itself is pretty awesome, the things that happen during a week at Falls Creek are even more incredible.
In youth ministry, one of the hardest things I’ve had to experience is leading students into a growing relationship with Jesus, while their parents are doing the opposite. In a lot of cases, the parent wants the best for his/her teenager. It’s just that their definition of “best” might not match up with mine. There are some hard-and-fast rules to engage if you don’t want your teenager to care about God. The following are just a few.
1. Make sure their extra-curricular activities are priority over church. You should always make sure that their scholarships are intact, and that they don’t get kicked off the team. That’s definitely more important than their relationship with Christ and eternity, for that matter.
2. When your teenager screws up, ground them from church. Of course! If they don’t care that you take away their TV, cell phone, or friend time, hit them where it hurts. Take away church. Yeah – that oughta do it.
3. Don’t call them out when they need guidance. Always let them make their own mistakes. And if they’re about to do something super-destructive, it’s probably best that they learn on their own. Because learning it the hard way is always the necessary path, right?
4. Talk negatively about your church staff around your teenager. If your pastor messes up, make sure that you call a family meeting to roast him. You should definitely let your teenager know that people can’t be trusted, especially incompetent church leaders. Your teenager needs to know that trusting church leaders isn’t smart! If they don’t trust church leaders, there’s a small chance they’ll ever accept God’s direction in their life. And that’s the safer way to live.
5. Don’t model real faith. At the end of the day, the last thing you want to do, if you want your teenager to ignore God’s voice, is to follow it yourself.
Please know my heart on this issue. We parents need to be leading our families to Jesus every chance we get. Maybe it’s time to take inventory of who or what we’re actually leading our families to.
After all, actions speak louder than words.
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article by Mark Cox. Mark Cox is the Student Pastor at Indian Springs Baptist Church.