Archive for October, 2008
Cussing Christians
Posted on 10. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
One of the blogs I subscribe to posted this recently. I literally laughed out loud!
Lark is a news site that pokes fun at the Christian sub-culture, but in a very funny way. It’s like “the Office” of news blogs. The material is fictional, but it doesn’t read that way. The first time I came across this site I did a double take, thinking the content was real.
What made me laugh so hard was because the the situation described in this fictional story wasn’t too far off from something that I knew happened in another church. How funny.
It brings up a really good point though. More than it has in a very long time, I feel the church is becoming more relevant to the world. That is good. However, I wonder if some churches are becoming “too relevant.” Although this article talks about how the youth pastor was practicing how to drop a swear word into a sermon to get attention, I’ve had conversations with people about this very subject. I’ve met people who honestly believe that swearing may help them be more relatable to those they are trying to reach. I’m not so sure that’s a strategy worth taking.
The other thing I’ve noticed in the “authenticity” movement is a tendency to get complacent with some habits, actions or words we use. We say words or do things that are questionable and slap the “hey, I’m just being authentic” label on it and feel better about ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I love where the church is going. I love it when churches create an authentic and grace-centered environment where people don’t feel condemned or judged just by walking in the doors, but I think we all need to be careful about how “authentic” we allow ourselves to become. Grace is there to help us up, but not to be used as a crutch.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to get preachy. I actually found the article very funny because it hit close to home and this very issue has been the subject of conversations I’ve had in recent months.
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Oops: Snow Tubing on a winter retreat
Posted on 09. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay, this one was a total accident, who knew that this would happen. I took about 60 kids on a winter retreat called Snow Blast. This was several years ago. I was a little younger then, but I can’t say that this wouldn’t have happened now if the same circumstances presented themselves. Yah, sometimes accidents happen. When I called home to tell my wife about what happened she said something like, “where were all the other adults when you came up with this idea?” Don’t get the wrong idea about my wife, she’s very encouraging, but she’s also very safety cautious. I’m glad I have her to guide some of my decisions. I answered her by saying, “they were all right with me! Really, no one thought anyone could get hurt.”
So who was it who got hurt?
Me.
What happened?
I was the last person at the end of a 40 person long chain going down the hill while snow tubing. I fell off the side of the hill, fell about 90 feet off a very steep embankment and hit an uprooted tree. I was in bed and on muscle relaxants for a week.
Basically we were trying to break the record for the longest snow tubing chain at Perfect North (a tubing and skiing park near Cincinnati, OH. Because there were so many of us, the chain was about 1/3 down the hill before we “let go” and the back of the line dog-legged around the staging area. The logic was that the weight and velocity of all the kids going down the hill would whip all of us in the back right down the track. The embankment on the edge of the track was pretty high.
Unfortunately I was in the very back and when I jumped into my tube once the train started moving, my tube started sliding downhill (ever so slightly). Because all of us in the back dog-legged around since there wasn’t enough room in the staging area to line up in a straight line, by the time the force of the train yanked us forward, me and the few people ahead of me had just entered the track just beside the track the train was in. The force whipped us out of that track, into the right track and beyond. If I had been just a little lighter, I probably would have slid back down the embankment and back into the right track. However, I had enough velocity I flew over the embankment and cascaded down the side of the hill.
The funny thing was that we did break the record and everyone was celebrating and then one of the kids asked, “where’s Mr. Kenny?” Then all the leaders started running back up the hill to “rescue me.” One of my leaders slipped and broke his hand. Oops!
Here is what happened from my experience (it’s the last part of a video I made for the kids documenting the retreat).
Oh, and here’s the guy who broke his hand. Thanks Whayne!
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Soul Revolution: Creating an environment for life-change
Posted on 09. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Since I’ve been doing the 60-60 experiment I’ve been thinking a lot about spiritual growth.
When I look back on my life when I’ve seen season of dramatic growth, I’ve found that they’ve usually been the result of some kind of catalyst. Usually a summer camp, joining a new youth group or a missions trip. It often feeds into the typical roller coaster ride of spiritual growth that many of us experienced as teenagers.
I’ve reflected on this a lot and I think a lot has to do with the environment. When at camp or on a missions trip, we’re in a special environment where growth is encouraged and nurtured. While at camp or on a mission trip, God is very present in our lives. We’re either learning a lot about him, we’re serving him, or experiencing him more than we do in our every day lives. This environment causes extreme growth. Then we go home and growth tapers off. Excitement fades. Maybe we even find ourselves in the same patterns as before the experience.
We’re adults though. It’s different for us. We don’t go to camps and go on mission tips like we did as teenagers (well, some of us do). It’s no wonder that spiritual growth is so slow or non-existent for so many.
What I like about the 60-60 is that it is a catalyst. It creates an environment. Even though I have a watch or a beeping phone to help me, I know that at least every hour (more if my mind naturally goes there) my thoughts will be on God, his presence and on how he wants to be involved in my life. I know that a least during every hour, I’ll be in communion with God the way he designed me to be and it’s not because I’m having my quite time or singing a worship song. I’m just living my life with him in the middle of it. Could abiding him him really be that simple? It has made a big difference in my life so far.
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Soul Revolution: The 60-60 Experiment
Posted on 08. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Here’s what Soul Revolution is all about. Read the first part of John 15. It talks about God being the vine and us being the branches. If we abide in him, he will abide in us. The result? We’ll produce fruit. We’re supposed to stay connected. So, how do I grow spiritual fruit? Just like a branch produces fruit. Stay connected to the vine. Could it really be that simple?
Here’s the deal. I’ve taught many times about how God doesn’t just want one part of our day. He doesn’t just want Sundays. He wants all of us… all the time.
How many times have we said that God is our number one priority but then felt guilty because we spend way more time on 4 or 5 other things than on time with God? How does this even compute?
What about when hours and hours and hours pass by and I don’t even think about God. Not even once. Why does this happen? It’s not because he’s not important, because he is. I just forget. We all forget. If we forget, are we abiding?
Then I think about when we first fell in love. I met my wife at college and we did spend a lot of time together. But even when we weren’t together, we were thinking about each other… a lot. Even when we got busy and didn’t get to hang out, our thoughts were of each other. Shouldn’t that be what our relationship with God looks like? Too bad we have this pesky habit of forgetting.
Oh, that’s what the 60-60 experiment is about.
I can say, “oh, I’m going to be more aware of God from now on.” I’m lucky if that lasts a few hours. But what would happen if I intentionally set up a system of reminders? What if I was constantly being reminded that God is here, that God loves me and that God desires to abide in me and I in him? In some ways it sounds pathetic, but if my desire to connect with God all day long is so strong that I’d be willing to do anything to stay connected, then I say this system is genius.
So the 60-60 is simply about being reminded. I set me watch (in my case it is my phone) to ring/beep/sound every 60 minutes. Every hour I’m reminded that God is here and that he desires to be involved with my life at that very moment. I don’t have to pray, sing a song or anything like that. I just think about him and be aware of him… maybe even invite him into what I am doing right now. Intentional reminders every 60 minutes for 60 days.
Could it really be that easy?
I’ve been doing the 60-60 for over a month now and I would say that I’m more aware of his presence now that I have ever been. The reminders help me re-focus, recalibrating and put things in the right perspective.
What would happen if thousands of people in your church banded together in relational small groups and did the 60-60 experiment together? I think that would be a revolution.
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Oops: The candy drop
Posted on 07. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
In 2001 the church I worked at in Indiana was doing a Harvest Carnival Party thingy. It was my first year there and my Senior Pastor had asked that I make some significant changes and make it an event the pubic would really want to come to. Unfortunately we didn’t have any money to do it any differently than we had done in years past, so we changed our approach. I got together with my team and we started making some big changes. We changed the name (Family Fun Fest), changed the night (if it was supposed to be a Halloween event, let it be on Halloween) and started to raise money. We went the corporate sponsor route and sold booth sponsorships so we could really improve the event. I had one person on my team who really took it from a little church event and turned it into a city-wide extravaganza. She could raise money like no one else and she had such passion for the event, she ended up running it every year since.
Well, one of my brilliant ideas was a candy drop. At my previous church we did one of these things (mind you, it was a small church). Basically you get all the kids in one space and you just start throwing the candy out there. Once the kids start diving for the candy, you throw it where they aren’t and just keep doing that until all the candy is gone. Well, we set a goal to raise 1 ton of candy and we would drop candy every hour on the hour in each of our two gymnasiums. We had a press box in the big gym and a balcony in the small gym. I’m pretty sure some people doubted my plan, but this 23 year old knew what he was talking about.
So, this was the year that 9/11 happened. With the threat of anthrax, the authorities asked families to not go trick or treating. Instead, they recommended Family Fun Fest. What had been an event for 1500 to 2000 people every year more than tripled in 2001. It was amazing!
So, when it was time for the Candy Drop, people started making their way into our gymnasiums. They kept coming and coming. I’d never seen that many people in the gym before. I was way back in the back watching it all take place. At 7:00 I got on my radio and said, “DROP THE CANDY.” The candy fell from the press box for a few minutes and then stopped. Certainly they weren’t out of candy already. I got on the radio and said, “DROP THE CANDY.” Nothing!
I left the gym, found the stairs and met up with the volunteers who were supposed to be dropping candy. Their faces where white. I think I said something like, “what in the world is going on? Why did you stop?”
I was quickly informed about the major fault in my plan. The gym was packed so tight with people waiting for candy that as the candy fell, people couldn’t actually bend down to pick it up. Instead, they were being helplessly pelted by hard candy in the face and head. Children began crying as parents rushed to cover their children from the candy rain. Angry parents began yelling for the drop to stop, shaking their fists and I’m sure yelling some obscenities. Oops!
I later came to find out we had many bruises, on child who needed stitches and one of my co-workers had his watch faces smashed by a dum dum. That was the last year we did a candy drop. That was the last time I’ll ever do a candy drop. It’s been 4 years since I’ve worked at Graceland, but my team hasn’t forgotten that October 31, and they’ll never let me forget either.
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Soul Revolution
Posted on 07. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
My church began a revolution this week. Actually the revolution has been in the works for months and months (depending on how you look at it, this things been developing for years). To be honest, it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been a part of. I guess a lot of churches did the 40 days campaigns several years ago and those were usually a big deal, something the whole church can rally behind. Back in 2000, my church in Indiana was very involved in the Louisville, KY Billy Graham Crusade which also was an amazing thing to be involved with. However, there is something different about Soul Revolution. I really believe it has the potential to make a lasting difference in the lives of people which in turn can radically change our church and have a huge impact on our city!
It’s already had an impact on me and I look forward to seeing what else happens. Basically it’s all about being in community with others and doing the 60-60 experiment, the most practical spiritual practice I’ve ever done, and it’s changing me forever.
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Oops! More to come
Posted on 06. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
I know, the two mistakes I wrote last week were fairly small ones. Typos. Who doesn’t do that? A good friend and fellow co-worker (she’s practically family… I call her Nene) from a previous church really would like me to share two of my biggest oops that she experienced first hand. What can I say, I was young and she was there to experience them. I’m sure we’ll be laughing about them many years from now.
Typos are one thing. These oops are on a whole different level of mistakes!
I always enjoy hearing about or reading about other people’s disasters. It makes me feel a little better about the dumb mistakes I’ve made or the total flukes I’ve experienced. So, I’ve got three more Oops for you this week. Get ready for a good laugh… I certainly wasn’t laughing when they happened!
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Back from vacation
Posted on 06. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Well, I’m back! I arrived to Austin just before 10:00 PM. Now it’s Monday and it’s time to get back to work. Is it just me or is the first day back from vacation one of the least productive days ever? You know, your body is at work, but your brain is still in transit. Hopefully today won’t be like one of those days.
I’ve got a big week this week with a lot of things going on.
This week I plan to write a little about the revolution going on at Gateway. It’s something that has been in the works since before I arrived and officially kicked off this week. It’s big stuff!
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Oops! Major email typo
Posted on 02. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Yesterday’s post reminded me of a very funny typo from an email I sent out last year. I was working at Cross Timber Community Church and we were getting ready of Venture Quest (our version of VBS). We had close to 1000 kids registered and I was sending an email out to all the parents of the kids, close to 1500 emails.
The email had instructions on what the week would look like, what they should expect and how they could be prepared to have the best experience possible.
I’m smart enough to know that before sending an email out to that many people, I should have the email proofed. So I typed up the email and sent it to my assistant. I emailed the letter to her just as I would everyone else, but in the subject line I said, “hey, will you proof this before I send it out?” My assistant proofed it and sent it back to me. This is usually a good plan as I usually then take out the forwarding mark-up, take out any editing notes and then add all the recipients to the BCC line. Then I hit send. I always include myself in the list so that I know when the email is delivered. Just a few seconds later I was horrified by my error. In my inbox was a an email from my mass mail out with the subject line of “Hey, will you proof this before I send it out?”
A very funny thing happened though. Within an hour, I had at least 20 responses of parents happily offering me suggestions of how I could make the email better. Fortunately there were no typos, so the only suggestions were personal opinions and thoughts. I was getting emails from people I didn’t even know. Certainly there were hundreds of people who were thinking, “Why in the world does this guy want me to proof his emails?”
I was able to resend the email later that day with a humorous response to my faux pas. After this experience a thought occurred to me. Perhaps this mistake could even be used as an intentional strategy. If I’ve got some information that I need a group of leaders of volunteers to really understand and know, I could send them an email or letter asking for there help in suggestions and thoughts. Letting them be a part of the process lets them feel like valued contributors as well as a crystal clear way for me to communicate my thoughts to them as well. I’ll let you know when I try it.
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Oops! Email typo
Posted on 01. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Since I’ve arrived at Gateway a few months ago I’ve made it a point to communicate with parents just about every week. Many changes were in process and it’s very important that all of our parents feel informed and like they are in the loop. One of the ways I communicate is through a weekly constant contact email that points to posts on the Children’s Ministry blog.
Just last week I was sending out the weekly email and I was in a rush. I was trying to tie up all my loose ends before going on vacation and I had a deadline. I skipped my normal routine of having my assistant proof the email before sending it out and depending completely on Constant Contact’s spell check.
I had one major typo that I saw seconds after the email went out. Of all places, it was in the subject line. What complicated word did I misspell? Gateway, the name of my church. How does one misspell that? Not only was it embarrassing to know that 1100 emails went out with the glaring typo, but certainly when a fellow staff member’s wife (who used to be an English teacher) let me know about the typo.
I learned a lesson. When sending emails to thousands of people, don’t skip your processes!
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