Jonathan's Blog From The Source
Posted on: 07/10/14 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee
You see, in the last 5 days I’ve been called upon twice by Ashley, my 16-year-old daughter, to provide her with a failsafe game. The pressure was on!
Dad, don’t let me down!
So here’s the two foolproof games I gave her Continue reading “Epic Games”
Posted in Contests, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 02/26/14 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee
WINNERS POSTED! (at bottom of post)
I feel like giving something away!
Last week in Chicago my 16-year-old got on my case for Tweeting and posting pics on my Pinterest… but not Instagram. So I finally caved in to her repeated onslaughts.
“Okay… I’ll get an Instagram. Shut up!” (Isn’t that how loving father’s talk?)
So there it is. I just leapt onto the Instagram bandwagon, and thought it would be fun to have a little contest Continue reading “Instagram Contest”
Posted in Books, Contests, Family, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Social Media | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 02/10/14 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee
WINNERS NOW POSTED! SEE BELOW.
It’s time for my first contest of 2014. I’ve got some great giveaways for youth workers this week: your choice of any one of my books, OR… a free registration to the Youth Specialties’ Team Training event, coming to another 8 cities across the US! (of which I’ll be teaching at 3)
Winning is simple. Just use my blog’s comment feature in this post to share your best “careless” story in no more than one paragraph. I’ll choose three winners Continue reading “Keeping Teens Safe Contest”
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Posted on: 11/11/13 9:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee
Last week I let you all in on a little contest we’re having this month where I reward you for connecting with me on my Facebook page (you can read all about how to win HERE). Well, last week I already randomly chose the first two winners. One was someone who had FRIENDED me… the other was someone who LIKED a bunch of my posts. As you know, each time you LIKE… your name goes into the hopper.
It doesn’t get much easier than that!
So congrats to David Barton and Matthew Erickson!
Still lots of prizes left, including Man of Steel on Blu-ray. So don’t forget to keep hitting LIKE when I post something that intrigues you!
Posted in Books, Contests, Internet, Social Media | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 11/4/13 3:00 AM | by Jonathan McKee
It’s this simple: connect with me on Facebook, and you’ll be entered to win one of 10 different prizes I’m giving away in November (like the new Man of Steel on Blu-ray/DVD).
Why now? After hiding for years, I just went public on Facebook. So FRIEND me… because I’m in a friending mood this November! Anyone who FRIENDS or FOLLOWS me on my personal Facebook account since this going public will be Continue reading “November Give-aways”
Posted in Books, Contests, Internet, Social Media | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 08/13/13 3:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee
For any of you who have teenagers or work with teenagers, you know what a “meme” is. Those crazy little pictures with a funny caption that teenagers pass along to each other (often from iFunny, reddit, or even Google images).
That’s why we’re giving away a bunch of prizes (including a $100 gift card to Starbucks, Best Buy or Amazon) to the best zombie-themed meme, in celebration of my brand new book, The Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide for Teenagers, releasing this week!
THE CONTEST IS SIMPLE Continue reading “Meme Contest”
Posted in Books, Contests, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 06/27/11 10:24 AM | by Jonathan McKee
I really love good standup comedy. The problem today is that most standup is pretty raunchy.
It’s hard to find comedians that are appropriate, especially for the entire family. I can only think of a handful of truly great “clean comedians.” The two current “clean” comedians that rise to the top would be Brian Regan (uses “damn” or “Hell” every once in a while) and Tim Hawkins. Both of those guys have me in stitches the entire show. (I actually spoke after Tim Hawkins did a standup routine once… it was a hard act to follow, believe me!)
In my search for good comedy I have to admit I’ve enjoyed the Thou Shalt Laugh series. Each DVD is an evening featuring a gathering of Christian comedians. I’ll be honest… each DVD is hit and miss, but they always have a few good nuggets in there to make it worth it.
I just watched Thou Shalt Laugh 5 last night with my family… it was definitely worth it. (We’re giving away 5 of those DVD’s and 5 of my books next week in our little contest- make sure you join in. See here.)
When you watch it, don’t bail out early. I’ll be the first to tell you that Thou Shalt Laugh 5 didn’t start strong. The host, Chonda Pierce, took a little warming up. And the first comedian was completely forgettable. I don’t think I chuckled once during his entire act. It’s sad… because the comedians to follow knocked the ball out of the park!
Canadian comedian Leland Klassen was next, and he had Lori, myself and all three of my teenagers rolling! His antics were hysterical and his physical comedy was really creative.
Leland was followed up by my favorite of the bunch, Bone Hampton. Bone, who jests that he’s black, not “African American” was definitely the highlight. I’d pay to hear him alone. Hilarious and clean. Rather amazing.
The other guys were okay. Chuckles and laughs. And Chonda became funnier as the night went on. But Bone and Leland made the whole night worth it. I think you’ll agree.
Who are the current “clean comedians” that you enjoy?
Posted in Contests, Humor | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 06/24/11 4:25 PM | by Jonathan McKee
It’s summer and a lot of youth workers are on our site searching for fun games and activities. Add to that our fun little game rating and commenting contest we’re having right now where I’m giving away 10 prizes, both DVDs and books (peek here for details).
This brings up a big question. Do games still work?
Some people seem to be casting stones at ministries who still use games. Are games a tool of the past? Do they no longer open doors?
That’s the question I asked this week in my guest post on Tim Schmoyer’s Life in Student Ministry blog… an article I titled, To Play Games or Not to Play Games. Here’s a couple snippets:
The location wasn’t anything special—a multi-purpose room of a small little church. But about 70 students, gangbangers and high school dropouts from the community were gathered, laughing, playing games and having fun.
Games? Yes, gangbangers playing games.
30 minutes later the leader told a story and began a discussion about real life issues. This week the topic was death. A student laid down in the front of the room as if in an open casket at a funeral, and friends of the teenager began coming up and giving eulogies.
The leader wrapped up by sharing the Gospel. A handful of kids checked a box on a card saying, “I’d like to talk about this more.” Three one-on-one meetings happened that week between a caring adult and students. One of the students gave his life to Christ.
Across the country I visited and entirely different venue:
Every Thursday night teenagers would gather together here. A little music, a video, then a student would come up and share their story—or testimony as some like to call it. Then the leader would open the word and share for about 25 minutes. Week after week teenagers gave their lives to Christ, grew in their faith, fellowshipped with other believers and worshipped their creator.
When I talked with the leader of the group, the subject of games somehow surfaced. “We don’t play games here!” The leader snapped. “High school kids don’t want to play games,” he continued. “They want something relevant to their lives.”
Really? Games don’t work?
Who’s right?
That’s what I seek to answer in that blog. Read it, jump in and comment.
Posted in Contests, Discussion Ideas, Youth Ministry Philosophy | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 06/20/11 10:46 AM | by Jonathan McKee
Let’s have us a little contest. I’m gonna throw 10 prizes into this one and make it really simple to win!
Here’s the skinny: we just totally revamped our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page on TheSource4YM.com last week and now we want your comments and votes! Every comment or vote you make, you get entered to win any one of my books (your choice) or a DVD of the brand new Christian comedy concert, Thou Shalt Laugh 5. Ten Prizes total (more on the contest in a minute).
YOUR COMMENTS COUNT
It’s like this. When some people think of TheSource4YM.com …they think “Awesome game ideas!” Well… our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page just got logarithmically more awesome, because now you have a louder voice!
Let me explain. Our web guys have been working hard, revamping many of the free resources on our web site to include comment and rating features. This way, you can rate resources with 1 through 5 stars and/or comment. Our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page now has this feature on all 919 of our free game ideas. That means when you play HAPPY SHAKE and your junior highers love it, you can give it 5 stars and use our comment feature to tell us the game was a hit! (I just did!) Similarly… if you jump on our SICK & TWISTED GAMES page and choose to play CHOCOLATE DROP… but don’t organize the game so that the audience can see the action, then you might want to comment and share your experience. That way others will steer clear of the same problem.
So get to it! As you browse through the 919 different game and icebreaker ideas on our GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page, be sure to add your vote and share your comments. Your voice is important! PLUS… every time you vote with 1 through 5 stars and/or give a comment, your name is entered in to win in our little contest! Hurry… time is limited! (We end the contest on July 4th, Independence Day, and post winners July 5th!)
BOTTOM LINE:
– jump on our new GAMES & ICEBREAKERS page.
– vote 1 through 5 stars and/or comment about games you’ve tried (“This one was a hit with my youth group- but make sure and have plenty of buckets of ice! We ran out!”)
That’s it. Every time you post a comment or a vote, your name is dropped into the hopper to win!
PRIZES:
10 prizes total: 5 DVDs and 5 books. You can win any of my books in print, or a DVD of Thou Shalt Laugh 5. Personally, I’m a big fan of standup comedy. I love the Thou Shalt Laugh concerts because it’s comedy that the whole family can watch. Thou Shalt Laugh 5 has some great comedians… my favorite being Bone Hampton (a Thou Shalt Laugh alumni. My son and I still quote lines from his previous standup. “$4.50. Bye!”) You can get Thou Shalt Laugh 5 at most Christian retailers, Amazon, etc.
Posted in Books, Contests, Youth Ministry Philosophy | | Leave A Comment
Posted on: 05/12/11 2:43 PM | by Jonathan McKee
My buddy Tim Schmoyer over at StudentMinistry.org wrote a cool little book titled, Life In Student Ministry. I really enjoyed it, so I’m going to give away 5 of these books. Let’s have us a simple little contest!
Here’s how it will work.
In addition to my daily blogging and writing here, next week I’m going to start chiming in on StudentMinistry.org (every Wednesday), provoking discussion about current youth ministry issues. Tim has several authors chiming in on this blog— I’m excited to be part of it.
Here’s where you come in: I’d love to hear from you- what youth ministry issues do you want to hear about? Any specific questions you have? I want to make sure that both these blogs keep addressing relevant issues.
The contest is simple. You comment– you enter to win. Just use the comment feature in my blog (this blog that you are reading) to respond back with relevant youth ministry topics/issues that would be good to discuss, or any questions you have, and I’ll randomly draw 5 winners on Monday to receive Tim’s cool new book, Life in Student Ministry.
Let’s hear it!
Posted in Books, Contests, Discussion Ideas | | Leave A Comment
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