Quote of the Day

"Some people want to live within the sound of church bells but I want to run a rescue station at the gates of hell."

-C T Studd

Youth miniStarz

Insights from "The Monkey and the Fish"

Just finished reading The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church by Dave Gibbons. This book really challenged me and it also reinforced some things that I already have been exposed to. Here are some excerpts:

"I believe that today God is calling us in the church to become a different kind of movement, known for our kisses of compassion rather than our condemnations."

"I think we {the church} are preoccupied with big."

"We cannot be fully human alone."

"...questions should lead us. Questions, not answers."

"'You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into the bottle, it become the bottle. You put it into a teapot and it becomes the teapot. The water can flow. The water can crash. Be water my friend' [Bruce Lee]"

"While an answer may fork in a specific situation, questions can guide us to the answers is all kinds of situations."

"Where is the other side of the tracks in your cit or region? In other words, who are the marginalized or the outsiders near you, people whom you feel pain for?"

"What will draw most of the world to Christ is not simply a prosperity gospel but a gospel that takes a real look at the beauty and the bane of suffering."

"Any worthy endeavor is constrained by our worst fears."

"Our {the church's} party should be the best.

"...create unity among diversity."

"We need to learn to walk in the blur and in the intersections of cultures, to bust the walls that separate us from a world of colliding cultures and generations, and the shifting of roles, responsibilities, and influence."

"All of the prejudices we've set up among cultures, among peoples of color, among backgrounds is so alien to the mind of Christ that it is the deepest kind of evil that I know. {Brennan Manning}"

Creativity in the Church

I grew up in a church that was, for lack of a better term, old-school. The church I went to in high school was old-school (the youth service was very relevant and so you can imagine the problems that emerged between the two philosophies). The good thing about growing up in churches like this is that it gives you a deep theological background. The bad thing is that you don't get to see creativity exhibited.

As crazy as it may be, there actually is a debate about creativity in the church (though not a verbal one, unless you are Stephen L. Anderson). In a lot of "old-school" churches there isn't a lot of room for creative expressions. Most churches in the US don't have a band--and most of them probably believe that it is wrong to do so. Musical talent is ignored because it seems to "worldly" (I will make an exception for Church of Christ. Through I disagree with them, they have a theological reasoning for their belief in "no-instruments" praise. I can respect that and agree to disagree).

Now that I'm a part of a church that provides an environment for progressive, creative thinking, it's really showed me how important creativity is to our faith. For the next couple of days, I want to share with you some of the things I've learned about creativity and its relation to our faith.

Tomorrow: "Serving a Creative God"

Friday Download

What a week it's been. Here's a recap of a week that has flown by:

• Visited Kingwood Church in Alabaster Sunday. Had a great time. Love the people there. Several of their staff have invested a lot in our church and I for one am very grateful for their efforts/sacrifice.
• My brother, Daniel, came up Monday to stay with Amanda and me for Spring Break. Pretty amazing what God is doing in his life. Just wish I would have started living for God at that age.
• Filled out my tournament bracket. So far I'm 12 for 16 (not all that good). I have a tendency to try to pick too many upsets. Of course, I didn't help that favorite Clemson got beat by Michigan of all teams. Their basketball team suffers from the same "do-awesome-the-first-half-0f-the-season-and-then-completely-melt-down" thing that their football team usually does.
• Got to help some of the youth make a video for Fine Arts. I may be a little biased, but I'd be surprised if it didn't advance to Nationals.
• Had a great service Wednesday night. There wasn't a whole lot of people there (Spring Break), but the worship was very powerful and raw and I felt like the teaching/preaching time went well.
• I tried something new with my sermon this week. At the end, before I gave an altar call, I opened it up for Q+A. It's easy for people to get lost even when you think you've covered all the bases. Teens get to ask questions everywhere except church...so why not let them be more informed about spiritual things?
• Went bowling with Amanda and Daniel. I had a pretty decent second game--for me anyway. I think the baby was throwing Amanda off because her bowling ball kept veering all over the place.
• This pregnancy is going be really fast. I thought it would take forever. But it's already almost here. Yes!
• Got to watch some NCAA tournament action last night. Thought American was going to pull off the upset but in the end we see why Villanova was a 3-seed and they were a 14-seed. Great teams always find a way to win games.

Finding the Sweet Spot

I am by no means a baseball player. The one year I played (5th Grade) I had a .000 batting average. I generally love to watch and play, and I usually understand sports of all kinds: football, basketball, golf, ultimate frisbee, tennis, etc. But I'm not particularly fond of baseball. I know that saying that as a resident of Vincent is on par with blasphemy, but that's the way it is.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for America's Game (let's be honest, baseball hasn't been America's game for at least a decade--thanks NFL and March Madness), I do understand some concepts. One of those is the "sweet spot." It's the place on a bat that provides the best power, acceleration, etc. that leads to greater hitting distance (i.e. more homeruns). But, the sweet spot isn't all over the bat. In fact it's just in...a spot. There's a balance between the regular spots and the bad spots and at the center of that balance is where you want to be.

Ministry is very similar. So is faith. There is a danger than I believe almost ALL ministries and believers fall into of going too far in one direction. All grace or no grace. Meeting on Sundays vs. never meeting. Republican or Democrat. Faith or works. Most disciples gravitate toward one extreme or another. My desire (although it is a great struggle for me) is to be balanced--to find that sweet spot that is the right location between two extremes. I think that's what God meant be "narrow [is] the road that leads to life." (Matthew 7.14)

So I guess the moral of the story, or the challenge is this: to find the sweet spot in your faith. Don't be blown back and forth between two extremes, but find that balanced, narrow sweet spot where God desire you (and me) to be.

Learning from the Best

I absolutely love new ideas.  I could honestly sit around and do nothing be read different ideas and strategies and theories all day [I'm guessing this may be the reason I love blogs so much].  One of the books I'm reading right now is by Jeanne Mayo--one of the greatest, most experienced youth pastors around--called "Thriving Youth Groups."  I must say that it really has gotten my creative juices pumping.

On top of that, there is a chapter in the book when she draws comparisons from three businesses: Disney, Nordstroms, and Starbucks (three of the most successful and friendly businesses in the US).  These guys are tops when it comes to customer service.  There really is a lot for churches to learn from business.

Here's a snippet about Nordstrom's:

One day, a customer returned a set of car tires to Nordstrom and demanded a full refund.  The clerk questioned the individual regarding the purchase of the tires, but the person persisted that he had acquired the tires there.  The clerk then smilingly returned the customer's tire money.  The only problem?  Nordstrom doesn't even sell tires!  What is the implication for youth ministry?  How many students do we alienate because we insist on our right to be right, even if it means the loss of relationship?

Great stuff.

Wednesday Morning Download

For those of you who may not know, Wednesday is the biggest day of my week.  It always is (except on rare occasion). I absolutely love Wednesdays.  Today, is particularly busy, because on top of all my other "normal" tasks, I am going to the Speed-the-Light Luncheon at Joe's Crab Shack.  This is the annual event where we eat fish, listen to a lot of heart-gripping stories about people who gave boo-coos of money to STL, and then make our pledge that never quite stacks up to the little girl who walked through a blizzard and raised $20,000 last year.

Had an interesting breakfast this morning: pretzel sticks and left-over birthday cookie-cake (and a glass of milk).  Actually was pretty good.

Got my Alabama watch fixed this weekend.  It had been missing a pin that held one of the links together for over a year (and a half?).  Took it to the Galleria--on my quest to find some new Pumas, that failed--and got it put back together.

Sunday was my first Sunday in about 4 weeks to actually be in the main service.  It was great.  Really enjoyed communion and was in awe of the message in tongues and the interpretation.

Loving my Office calendars from Josh and Amy...I mean Michael Scott.  I have one huge one that hangs on the wall and is monthly, and one that sits on my desk and HAS A QUOTE FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR :)

Well, I guess that's it for now.  I have to fix the sound order for tonight's service, which is going to be great by the way.

Peace!

P.S. -- Here's some more great tips I've learned about being a Dad:

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday

Have you ever gone on a huge trip and the day before, all you can think about is going on the trip.  That's where I'm at today.  Tomorrow morning we head out for our annual Staff Planning Retreat.  We go and plan out what direction the church is going to take for the next year--which is a great thing.  The only downside is that we leave on a Thursday and this year we are staying at the Opryland hotel in Nashville.  I stayed at the O'land when I was a Senior in high school; it was awesome!  So needless to say I can't wait to leave.  But, when you have a service to minister to teenagers, you don't usually want a bunch of distractions. 

 Oh well.

The Cross, Jesus in China

The Cross, Jesus in China from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

Orange Beach

Had a great weekend at the Alabama District Youth Leaders' Summit at Orange Beach.  I really look forward to this every year.  It's great to be able to get away, meet new people, hang out with old friends, enjoy some great food, and be feed spiritually without having to think about how the lights look?, is the music too loud?, will this transition work?

God spoke very powerfully into my own life.  He gave me some much needed encouragement that I probably wouldn't have heard in the normal hustle and bustle of ministry.  And He's given me some new direction.  Very exciting stuff (a little nerve-racking too).  

To Steve and Crystal Mason, Matt and Carrie Britt, and Leo and Debbie Blankenship: thank you guys so much for the investment into Alabama youth pastors.  We appreciate all that you do.  God bless.

End of High School Football

Well, another year of High School football has ended (well at least in Vincent it has).  I really enjoyed getting back into the volunteering thing.  I had a blast coaching the Junior High and holding the huge signs for Varsity.  It was great being able to build new relationships with students and teachers/coaches.  

Trying to do two extremely demanding jobs (pastoring and coaching) isn't easy.  I must say I am relieved (and yet somewhat saddened) that football season is over.  I absolutely love football, and I look forward to coaching again; but, man is it tiring.  I look forward to having afternoons back to work at the church.

(Somewhere in the background I hear basketballs bouncing...)

Married Life

Well, the honeymoon is over now.  We had a blast in the mountains.  We wound up staying an extra day.  Turns out my parents (special thanks to them for paying) had made our reservations through Thursday instead of Wednesday--it was a nice treat.

Amanda and I came back home to find a completely destroyed house that had been labeled.  There were literally thousands of labels everywhere.  It was a good joke...kudos to the groomsmen.  I'm already working on the plot for revenge.

The past couple of weeks have been kind of a blur.  I almost don't remember anything about the wedding.  The Hyatt Place was EXTREMELY NICE.  We probably spent more money on food this week than should be legal.

I'm glad to be back to the real (married) world.  It's nice to have all the pomp and circumstance and then to have the secret getaway, but it's also cool to sleep in your own bed, with your wife.  It's nice to be able to focus on ministry instead of a thousand details of things that have to be done before Wedding Day.  It's nice to be me.