Trivia Wednesday #141: Who wrote more: C.S. Lewis or Leo Tolstoy?

answer #140 - And Then There Were None (Which book has sold more copies, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie or The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger?)

question #141 - Who has written more books, Leo Tolstoy or C. S. Lewis?



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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Prayer helps - to help you focus

Prayer is pretty important to a Christian. It is the avenue through which a Christian can talk directly with God (the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe) and share true emotions with the one person who had to power to really change things.

Because prayer is so important, it can be overwhelming. Students struggle to pray. Adults struggle to pray. Youth workers struggle to teach teenagers ways to pray or encourage them to start, even just for a few minutes.

Below you will find 3 prayer helps. The first 2 are methods that can be used to help a student (or anyone for that matter) focus their prayer time. The 3rd help is about focusing your prayers, but learning to focus more on other people and less on yourself when you pray.


P.I.N.C.a.P.
Praise - praise God for Who He is
Intercession - praying for other people
Needs - pray specifically for needs you know about
Confession - confessing your sins
and
Protection - asking God for protection for those who need it


A.C.T.S.
Adoration - praising God for Who He is
Confession - confessing your sins
Thanksgiving - telling God "thank you" for His blessings
Supplication - asking for "stuff" on behalf of yourself and others


me & we vs. You & them
How do you pray? Do you spend your prayer time focused on yourself and those close to you? Or is your prayer time focused more on God and others?


What ideas/helps have you used in the past? What would you suggest and add to this list?

Learned from Twitter: week ending Sept. 26, 2009

A few highlights from the last few weeks:

1. chadswanzy (Chad Swanzy) linked to a book on mentoring. If you are involved with teenagers, go check it out.

"The Be With Factor" Mentoring Students In Everyday Life is on Google Books http://tr.im/ywIk

2. Drun (David Runnels) offered some great advice, that we all could stand to hear.

We need people who will encourage us, strenghten us so we can learn from our limitations.

3. BtotheEtotheN (Ben Boles) shared a thought on not letting all of the "noise" around you become overwhelming.

I realized last night, it's not about the amount of noise in your life but how well you control the volume

4. gavoweb (Gavin Richardson) pointed us to an article on working with parents.

Youth Ministry Today - Parents Are Your Friends http://ff.im/-8a68o

and also this video from AT&T about "future" technology, from 1993.

RT @Alyssa_Milano See the #technology AT&T envisioned 4 our future in commercials done back in 1993 http://bit.ly/2jCzBt // i remember these

5. DougFields (Doug Fields) has officially stepped down as a pastor at Saddleback. This will mean he'll be spending more of his time training and encouraging youth workers - that's a good thing.

My resignation from Saddleback is public & all good. If you're interested see http://tinyurl.com/9sqpgo

6. pattigibbons (Patti Gibbons) reminded me of one of the reasons I love going to the National Youth Workers Convention - getting to meet online friends in person. It's going to be a great week.

@lilkup you mean I'm finally going to get to meet you?! :)

What did you learn from Twitter this week?

Photo Friday: Pink Flamingos

If you can't find a way to use this photo with your "pink flamingo fundraiser" - you are not a "real" youth worker. :)


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These weekly pictures are provided as an available resource for use within your youth ministry. These pictures can be used for background slides, event promotion, or anywhere else you need a good photograph. What I ask is that you do not use them for anything in which you make a profit and attribute me as the photographer. I would also love to hear how you are using them (pictures of your final product would be great, too) within your youth ministry.

2 Small Group Series Released - Elijah & Trusting God

I'm pretty excited about these 2 small groups. They are the first "stand-alone" small groups/lesson/curriculum material that I've written that's been published in any form other than being printed from my computer. Plus, I love the fact that they have great looking covers (its a shame they are only downloadable).

If you have used these lessons, I would love to hear what you thought.


I wrote a 4 week series on Elijah and its now available for download from Simply Youth Ministry. Follow this link: Elijah Small Group Series to get more information and to download.

Lessons include:

• Week 1 - He Was Confident in God (1 Kings 18:16-39)
• Week 2 - He Battled Fear (1 Kings 19:1-8)
• Week 3 - He Battled Loneliness (1 Kings 19:9-14)
• Week 4 - He Was a Lifelong Servant (2 Kings 2:1-11)

I also wrote a 3 week series on Trusting God and its also now available for download from Simply Youth Ministry. Follow this link: Trusting God Small Group Series to get more information and to download.

Lessons include:

• Week 1: With Your Past (1 John 4:10)
• Week 2: In the Present (Ephesians 4:22-24)
• Week 3: With Your Future (2 Corinthians 5:6-10)

Trivia Wednesday #140: Best-Selling Books

answer #139 - 'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton was the first modern paperback published in America, by Pocket Books in 1939. (What was the first paperback ever published?)

question #140 - Which book has sold more copies, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie or The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger?


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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Book Review: 99 Thoughts for Youth Workers by Josh Griffin

There are two things you need to be aware of before you read 99 Thoughts on Youth Ministry. First, the title is a lie, because this little book is filled with 113 nuggets of youth ministry knowledge, not 99. Second, as you read through the pages you might notice that Griffin seems to be writing to a very specific audience, even more specific than say the average youth worker. In fact, based on this section from the description I would say he's writing with his ministry team and atmosphere in mind: "Over the past couple of years Josh has been journaling his youth ministry learnings in his Moleskine and on his blog. The good, the bad and the ugly - this is a collection of those thoughts."

I think the fact that Griffin is currently "in the trenches," and writing about what he knows, gives this book a little extra boost of character and authenticity. 99 Thoughts is more than a random collection of ramblings, it is a categorized peek into the youth ministry thoughts of a youth worker who passionately strives to serve students and help other youth workers be more effective. You will find thoughts in four areas: vision & leadership, programs & people, small groups & events, and everyday ministry. Within these sections, each thought is short and to the point, making the book as a whole short and to the point.

99 Thoughts is a great youth worker stocking stuffer (or if you feel uncomfortable stuffing a youth worker's stocking, you can just slide it under the door). Anyone currently working in youth ministry can benefit from reading this book. The rookie youth worker can learn from Griffin's experience, and possibly avoid a mistake or two of her own. And since you can read this book while eating lunch it is not intimidating to a youth worker who already feels overwhelmed with responsibilities. Veteran youth workers can also glean from these pages, as each thought will serve as a reminder or encouragement.

I highly recommend getting a copy of this book for every member of your youth ministry team. You can either encourage them to read the whole thing on their own or use it as part of your team meetings (discussing one section at a time). Regardless of how you use it, I believe your ministry will benefit from the 113 thoughts found within these pages.

My advice (rating) – buy more than one and give out copies (5 out of 5)

2 recent articles: Six Days of Work & Who's Keeping You Accountable

Here are two articles I've recently written and had published on youthministry.com. If you haven't read them yet, take a few moments and do so. Then I'd love to hear your feedback/thoughts, just leave a comment.

Six Days of Work

Sabbath rest is a two-part deal: taking a break from your work and working efficiently the other days.

Who’s Keeping You Accountable?

By asking for help, you're acknowledging to yourself that you want to make a change in your life.

Photo Friday: Brown Bear

As a parent, the first thing I think of when seeing this brown bear is... "Brown bear, brown bear what do you see?"



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These weekly pictures are provided as an available resource for use within your youth ministry. These pictures can be used for background slides, event promotion, or anywhere else you need a good photograph. What I ask is that you do not use them for anything in which you make a profit and attribute me as the photographer. I would also love to hear how you are using them (pictures of your final product would be great, too) within your youth ministry.

Trivia Wednesday #139: First Published Paperback

answer #138 - "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" by Rudolphe Topffer (What was the first comic book published?)

(In 1837, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" was published by Rudolphe Töpffer and it is considered the earliest known comic book. In 1842, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" became the first comic book published in the United States. "Obadiah Oldbuck" was a forty page book. Each page had several picture panels with accompanying text underneath.)

question #139 - What was the first paperback ever published?


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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Learned from Twitter: week ending September 12, 2009

Here are a few of the things I learned from my twitter friends this week:


1. MinistryAllies (Ministry Allies) offered an invitation to anyone willing to be part of an ebook by adding input and suggestions to the written content. If you would like to take part, let him know. (if you don't know how to contact him, I can get you connected)

Looking for ppl to add input to an eBook on hanging out w/ teens outside youth group, like what marko did with ym3.0. anyone want to help?

2. gavoweb (Gavin Richardson) shared a story from the AP on Dave Ramsey. I have to say some of the info in the article makes it harder to believe he is truly "saving as much as he can and giving as much as he can away" as 2 of the 3 things mentioned. (the third being "make as much as you can" and that seems to be covered). What do you think? Can it be a ministry when its a for profit business? Maybe part of me would like to see what % of profit gets sent to "missions or other ministries."

The Associated Press: Christian money guru gets rich mixing faith, funds http://ff.im/-7S5LM

3. nywc (National Youth Workers Convention) was nice enough to inform anyone going to the Cincinnati convention about some lower rates at one of the hotels. BTW, I'll be at the Cincy convention and would love to connect with any of you who might also be there. Leave me a comment or send me an email and we'll get together.

Coming to Cincy? Check out the new rock bottom rate at the Westin. http://bit.ly/bBcwa

4. zondervan (Zondervan) linked to a free download of "The Naked Gospel." Go check it out and read it. What can you lose, its free. :)

The Naked Gospel ranked as Zondervan's top selling book on Amazon. Download your FREE copy at http://www.TheNakedGospel.com w code "farley"

What did you learn from Twitter this week?

Photo Friday: Giraffe

Nothing quite like a giraffe, up close and personal.

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These weekly pictures are provided as an available resource for use within your youth ministry. These pictures can be used for background slides, event promotion, or anywhere else you need a good photograph. What I ask is that you do not use them for anything in which you make a profit and attribute me as the photographer. I would also love to hear how you are using them (pictures of your final product would be great, too) within your youth ministry.

Trivia Wednesday #138: First Published Comic Book

answer #137 - L. Ron Hubbard (Who is the most translated author of all time?)

(In 2006, Guinness World Records declared L. Ron Hubbard the world's most published and most translated author, having published 1,084 fiction and non-fiction works that have been translated into 71 languages.)

question #138 - What was the first comic book published?


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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado

(This review of Fearless is written by my wife. She captures the essence of the book and applies it to our life at the moment. First, read her review and then think about whether or not you need to read Lucado's book. Sidenote: the book comes with study questions in the back, making it an easy choice for a small group study)


As a young child fears are easily identified. They lurk under beds, in dark closets, within scary movies. As I have become an adult those fears of my childhood have been mostly dismissed and replaced with new, less defined fears. These fears seem to be found in the uncontrolled, unpredictable, ever-changing details of what lies ahead. In Max Lucado's book Fearless I have begun to grasp the need to both identify and put to rest the fears in my life concerning that which I cannot control. I have gained courage not only from Lucado's perspective and insight on how to overcome fears but even more so from the examples of Scripture that he highlights. Through using various "have no fear" statements made by Jesus, Lucado touches on the main areas that we find fear in: the future, our economic status, our children's safety, and not mattering to others to name a few.

When I thought through the fears discussed in the book, I realized two things: there are things I could/should fear that I have never even considered. And secondly, I have no need to fear anything but God. These two rather opposite realizations have made a difference in my thought life, especially in light of the current situation in which my husband and I find ourselves. He is currently looking for a full time ministry position, and has been for around 15 months. Reasons for fears to take over my mind and soul? They are abundant. And although they are abundant, I now see more reasons that they are unnecessary. Every reason to allow fears to grow can be answered confidently with the call of Christ, "Do not be afraid." I believe we all have much to gain from listening to the voice of Jesus over our fears.

Youth Ministry Mentorships (10 weeks & FREE)

The next round of youth ministry mentorships is about to start. This 10 week program allows youth ministry newbies (2 years or less) to learn from youth ministry veterans. The program is open to full-time, part-time and volunteer. (Sorry, no females this time, due to there not being a female mentor this time around).

The application process is only open through Thursday (9/10), so if you want to apply - you'll want to do so soon!

There is a great bunch of youth ministers who have a lot of wisdom/insight to learn from - and I'm on the team, too. :)

Check out Tim's post on the mentorship program that covers all the information you'll need to know, plus more...

Learned from Twitter: week ending September 5, 2009

I took last week off from posting these updates, but this week's edition is jam packed with great information and resources. Enjoy :)



1. snavenel (Len Evans) shared a link that youth ministers need to read - the newest Youth Leader Only from Interlinc.

Savy Youth Ministry: Work Smarter Not Harder http://bit.ly/11PX8N by @interlinc

2. Psych_USA (Psych) shared a great picture from an upcoming episode. Looks hilarious.

RT @psychwrites: http://twitpic.com/flb0c -From L to R: Jaleel White, Kenan Thompson, Dule Hill, Demord Dann. THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING.

3. gavoweb (Gavin Richardson) shared a link to an article on how to turn your blog ramblings into a published book. And one about putting your youth newsletter on Twitter.

Blog to Book-12 Keys to Posting for Publishing http://ff.im/-7jBhe

How to make a Twitter Youth Group Newsletter http://ff.im/-7suNF

4. saraeden (Sara Eden Williams) reminds us that some chances are worth taking in youth ministry. (Especially if you really want to go to the amusement park) :)

70% chance of rain but we're still going to the amusement park. If I were I mom I'd probably say no. But I'm a youthworker and we're crazy.

5. Writepop (Writepop) thinks we all should know these great opening lines from great novels. I must not pay attention to the first line, because I did not know many of them.

Great list! 100 of the best first lines from novels http://u.nu/78m43 #writing #books

And he wants to inform us that laptops have been "around" for a long time, since 1937?

Is this the first appearance of a laptop in fiction, all the way back in 1937? - http://u.nu/3am43 #scifi #comics

6. SYMConference (Simply Youth Ministry Conference) is getting relationally ready for the upcoming conference in Chicago. If you haven't heard of this conference yet, you need to check it out.

lots of reconnection this week with a whole bunch of #symc volunteers who've become like family to us...I seriously love these people!

7. radarradio (Under the Radar) let us know about Amazon's free download. It only lasts until tomorrow, so hurry!

Here's link to the FREE DOWNLOAD (1 song your choice) on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ktvssj

What did you learn from Twitter this week?

September Photos: Zoo Animals

This month will feature pictures of "zoo animals." Most everyone loves going to the zoo and these are four of your "staple" animals that almost any zoo will have.

Zoo Animals feature this month:

1. A Colorful Bird
2. A Giraffe
3. A Brown Bear
4. Pink Flamingos

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These weekly pictures are provided as an available resource for use within your youth ministry. These pictures can be used for background slides, event promotion, or anywhere else you need a good photograph. What I ask is that you do not use them for anything in which you make a profit and attribute me as the photographer. I would also love to hear how you are using them (pictures of your final product would be great, too) within your youth ministry.

Photo Friday: Colorful Bird

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These weekly pictures are provided as an available resource for use within your youth ministry. These pictures can be used for background slides, event promotion, or anywhere else you need a good photograph. What I ask is that you do not use them for anything in which you make a profit and attribute me as the photographer. I would also love to hear how you are using them (pictures of your final product would be great, too) within your youth ministry.

September Trivia Questions

This month's trivia questions are all about literature. And I'm not going to ask about what book is the most published - its still the Bible (and I have a hard time believing it will ever be anything else).

The five questions are about:

1. Most translated author of all time. (already posted)
   
2. The first comic book ever published.
3. The first paperback ever published.
4. Which, of two books, has sold more copies?
5. Which author, of two, has written more books?

Come back each Wednesday this month and test you knowledge of literature...

Trivia Wednesday #137: Most Translated Author

answer #136 - The formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. (What is an onomatopoeia?)

question #137 - Who is the most translated author of all time?

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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.