Archive for 'Inspiration'
Don’t raise well rounded, well educated and happy kids
Posted on 03. May, 2012 by Kenny.
I’ve been working alongside parents now for fifteen years, but I’ve only done this from the perspective of actually being a parent for the last five. Having kids of your own certainly changes your perspective. We all have hopes and dreams for what our kids will grow up to be. Every time we host a child dedication class, we ask the question, “What does parenting success look like to you?” We also ask another question that hits the same issue from a different angle asking, “If you could pass only one thing to your child by the time they become an adult, what would that thing be?” I know that we put parents on the spot with these questions, but I’m amazed how often parents give answers like, “I want my son to be happy” or “I wan’t my kids to be successful” or even, “I want my child to have respect for all people.” I’m not going to say that these are wrong things, but if these is the greatest hope this generation of parents have for their kids… well there’s no wonder we’re seeing moral and spiritual decay. My goal is that by the end of the baptism class, I’ve either convinced them or at least built a case for wanting an authentic relationship with Jesus for their kids.
I absolutely loved Craig Groeschel’s talk at Orange this year. He essentially communicated many of the philosophical and strategy positions behind Orange, but from his own personal perspective and experience. His shocking statement was that we should not aim to raise well rounded, highly educated and happy children. That’s what our culture communicates as a need, but this doesn’t line up with the scriptures.
Continue Reading
Creating a healthy staff culture
Posted on 30. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
Most of us could probably tell some great stories of horrible church staff situations. I’ve been a part of several, some of which were highly political where few trusted each other and I’ve been a part of church staff where things even got hostile. I’m not quite sure that the perfect church staff culture exists out there, but I’ve been a part of some good ones too.
While at The Orange Conference last week, Andy Stanley spoke specifically to to the issue of staff culture. Many of the points I’ve heard before in one of his leadership podcasts, but it was a great and timely reminder. He spoke at length about creating a staff culture where mutual submission is present. Yes, God may have called key leadership and senior staff to do something significant and the primarily purpose for additional staff is to serve that vision (I truly do believe that), but this doesn’t mean that senior staff doesn’t and shouldn’t serve the staff that works for them. This type of mutual submission creates a healthy culture where people want to work.
Continue Reading
ORANGE 2012: Game Changer
Posted on 26. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
I’m at the 2012 Orange Conference and so far, it’s been pretty amazing, but Orange is always like that.
I’ve actually been able to attend more breakouts than last year… and I’ve actually been paying closer attention in the general sessions as compared to last year. I hope to publish my notes from some of the sessions/breakouts later tonight. I also had the opportunity to lead a preconference breakout on yesterday, and include some notes from that as well.
Stay tuned…
Continue Reading
The Eric Trap Blog Tour: Day 9
Posted on 25. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
I’m writing this several days late. I had a super busy weekend and I’m now at Orange… but I didn’t want to miss pointing out more of the great reviews. So, look for the updates catching everyone up.
Matt Norman who actively blogs over at Kidmin1124.com wrote a great post. Matt simply posted a brief summary of each chapter which is helpful as by just reading his summary’s you’ll see how this book is just right for you. I did love his opening line thought:
“the week caught up with Eric as he buried his face in his hands and wept.” With this one sentence I knew that his book was for me.
I think many people can relate to that experience.
Continue Reading
The Eric Trap Blog Tour: Day 8
Posted on 19. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
Yesterday was a big day for The Eric Trap blog tour. We took four virtual stops and people had some great stuff to say! So, let’s get started.
The first stop is over at the Compel Blog, which is the kidmin encouragement/resource blog for the Church of God of Prophecy denomination. Jason Vernon, the blog’s author is the senior pastor at RTP Community Church (which I wrote about a few weeks ago). He’s a great guy and I’m so glad to get the perspective of a senior pastor for this book. What spoke to him most was the chapter on delegation. Craig Gyergyo who wrote that chapter did an incredible job approaching delegation in a very unique way. Many of us do a great job delegating tasks, but we don’t delegate authority, which is huge. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Read Jason’s review here.
Continue Reading
Blue Like Jazz Opens Today
Posted on 13. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
A few weeks ago I got to see an advanced screening of Blue Like Jazz. It was a wonderful movie and I was inspired to do whatever I could to support the film. I certainly want to see more movies like this go to the box office. Movies that tell great stories that point to authentic Christianity. The best way you can support a film is to go see it on opening night. How a movie does on opening night may determine its future at the box office.It will determine if the movie will open in more theaters the next week or if it will begin shutting down to even less theaters.
So, I decided to do my part in supporting BLJ and I organized a group outing. I’m taking almost 30 of my student ministry volunteers and high school students who play in our student band to go see it.
So, here are some ways that you can support Blue Like Jazz:
Continue Reading
The Eric Trap Blog Tour: Day 4
Posted on 12. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
Day 4 and already 9 reviews of the Eric Trap. Not bad, huh? I’ve got three more reviews to point you towards today. Three really great reviews:
Sarah Richards, Children’s Pastor in MN wrote a great post summarizing the essence of The Eric Trap on her blog this morning. She’s also giving away a couple of books, so if you haven’t scored one yet, be sure to comment on her post!
Wayne Stocks, my friend from Dad in the Middle wrote a very fun post. I really appreciate his post. He expressed his hesitation with another collaborative book… and I totally get it. Collaborative books are great. One of my favorite books (Switch) is a collaborative book. However, sometimes collaborative books can get in a rut.… Read the rest
Continue Reading
The Eric Trap Blog Tour: Day 3
Posted on 11. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
Man, we’re really starting to get into this thing.
Today we had two incredible reviews of the book, The Eric Trap. Let me tell you, these people aren’t being paid or encouraged to say what they’re saying. I personally asked about 3-5 people to write reviews and Sam invited 3-5 people as well. Everyone else simply requested a book to review. I had a conversation with Brother Jim last week where he told me that he didn’t know half the people who were going to review the book. We determined that this is a good thing… that’s its not the normal fans who are going to say it’s a great book just because someone’s name is on it.
Continue Reading
Task list vs. wish list
Posted on 11. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
I’m in the middle of writing an article about family ministry and it made me think of a specific frustration that I and my team experience so many times when it comes to family ministry. I thought I’d post my thoughts here as it isn’t likely this aspect will be covered in the article.
I and my staff team have all sipped the family ministry kool-aid. We’re all believers and have great vision for what family ministry could look like at our church. However, there’s one massive barrier. We’re all so busy doing what it takes to make the weekend experiences successful that there’s not really any time to do some of the things we’ve dreamed of doing.
Continue Reading
Eric Trap: First video review
Posted on 11. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.
Several people will be posting video reviews of the Eric Trap over the next few weeks. If they say a picture is worth a thousand words… it probably means a video is worth ten thousand words. Don’t let Paula Dean throw you off, I haven’t gotten her to read the book yet.
Evan Doyle was the first person to submit a video review. Awesome… and it only took 17 tries.
Continue Reading
