Parents Meeting

I went to a parents meeting for my son’s soccer team. It is amazing how passionate people can be about what they believe in. It was hard not to draw some comparisons to church. But I did it anyway.

-Those that are investing whole-heartedly into something get very frustrated with those that are not. Lack of commitment is always being challenged by those that are totally on board.

-The coach is usually the one that has to lead and direct from day one. And the pastor is the same way. If something is wrong, it can all go back to the point person. The question came up several times by the coach “How can we improve to avoid the problems we had this season”

-Everyone has their perspective on things. And normally their perspective is the springboard for their comments. And most people want their comments to be heard with the same passion in which they give them. Wrong or right, they have passion.

-The club team has a reputation to uphold and protect. And we talked a lot about doing our part in preserving the image and integrity of the “flag”. Church seems to have the same challenges. How do we serve our church with integrity and have a great reputation in the community.

-Communication is key. Fundamental. Absolute. If communication is lacking, everything else will eventually falter.

Conferencing Online

Because of time and money, our church is not yet at the point of getting on the conference circuit. I probably am not missing all that much. But, if you are like me, you may want to get some information from these conferences. So, I found some freebies for you if you want the info but couldn’t afford to go for whatever reason.

Innovate Conference Videos- Granger - http://www.wiredchurches.com/site/Innovate07_summary.html

Unleash - NewSpring - http://www.newspring.cc/unleash/media.html

Internet Ministry Conference - Just found it but not checked out - http://ied.gospelcom.net/internetministryconference.php

Got any other links you want to add?

No matter what

No matter what, I know God absolutely loves me
No matter what, I know that God won’t stop loving me
No matter what, I know God has great thoughts for me
No matter what, I know my future is well thought out and planned by God
No matter what, I know I can be led by the Holy Spirit
No matter what, God’s word is ultimately powerful

Round Rock Express

Went to the game of the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. It was nice to sit and do nothing. Watch the game. Eat some dogs. Laugh with the kids. People watch. For the most part, the event is pretty family friendly. I am amazed at people drinking loads of beer and then wondering if they would be on our roads driving. I also am amazed at how much food some people can pack away. Since it was dollar dog night, my son packed away four. WHAT? FOUR? Yep.

Thanks IRS

The stimulus checks are on the way. Kandy and I have already decided what we are doing with the money. So, here is a list of things that I won’t be doing with it.

1. Buying an iphone.
2. Buying a bigger TV
3. Getting a new grill (but maybe)
4. Buying a new PS3, XBox360.
5. Buying Kandy some diamonds
6. Spa treatment in the desert. Like I would want that.
7. A Brighton shopping spree
8. Two tickets to the soccer world cup in a couple of years
9. Funding my first rap album
10. Hiring a ghost writer for this blog

Ephesians begins

I am now gearing up to begin teaching Ephesians this Sunday. I have heard around the church blogs that many churches seem to be hitting Ephesians right now.

Here is my slant on Ephesians. How do we take a document, that was written 2000 years ago, addressed to one particular church in that era, and extract the information and make it relevant for today’s church? That’s the quest.

Left Behind

No this isn’t a post about the book series. This is more a post about people who claim our church as their home church but rarely come.  A church, like many organizations, is a moving, growing thing. There is a timeline that it follows. It has a birth place and it has several markers along it’s life that are significant. And if someone doesn’t attend regularly and become a vital part of the church, they get left behind.

It’s not that we want to leave them behind. It’s not that they are not loved and welcome and valued. But attendance is mandatory. And if they don’t attend, they don’t engage, they don’t reciprocate the relationship, eventually, because of the moving timeline, the get left behind. And that is one of the hardest things for a person like me to deal with. I don’t like it when people are left. No matter how hard we try to keep them on the journey with us, it is still hard when they just choose not to go.

Mick

You probably don’t know my friend Mick. But I served almost four years on staff with him. He is the best children’s pastor on the planet. He is a great leader. He is a model individual. And he is one person that reminds me alot of Jesus. And when I look at leaders and I look for leaders, I think of Mick. So here is what he possesses.

1. He thinks about people above process.

2. He believes in being a good steward of God’s resources and God’s people.

3. He is not trying to get somewhere else by using where he is at as a stepping stone. He has no other agenda but serving God in the local church setting. He started a t-shirt business once. Why? To get t-shirts for the church at cost. I know for a fact most of the time he lost money on all his printing because he cares so much about helping ministry along.

4. If he could be doing anything else, it would be what he is doing for God in the church.

5  He is a team player. He partnered with me on so many things. He helped me personally and in ministry. When people come first, everybody wins.

6. He has vision. Everything he touched had wheels. Everything was advancing. Everything was improving. Everything had a place it could to to and not just stay the way it was.

7. He loves his family. His kids are phenomenal. I love his kids. All four of them. And they are the best behaved, Jesus loving, caring and fun loving kids. And his wife? She is amazing. She will serve until she passes out by exhaustion. But Mick doesnt let that happen much because he loves his family.

8. His is deathly loyal to his senior pastor. Amazing, unyielding loyalty.

What a Jesus look alike.

Ustream

As I have blogged about before, I am heading long into the video training. Here http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/373421 is the first video I posted. Forget about the lighting and the quality. I will work on that. Here are things I am thinking about.

Staff training - I can break down some teaching elements and put them into a video, dump it down, and place pdf notes online. The leaders can go through this at home. It saves a meeting. It gets training done. It is then done for whoever comes on staff later on.

Membership - I am going to put our membership stuff into video format. PDF’s will be emailed to whoever is wanting to go through the class. They are then assigned a staff member to interview them before the class and after for q and a. This eliminates extra outings for church members and it helps us focus on other aspects of ministry. From time to time, we will do a live membership class for those not interested in online stuff.

Leadership development - We are developing our leadership track. This will include spiritual authority, prayer life of a leader, foundations of the faith, and a lot more. We can put this stuff online and create an online learning environment. Someone wants to know how to read their Bible? Video. Pair them up with a mentor.

This is obviously a process in the making. Thoughts?

Honey Do’s

Did some honey do’s today. What’s amazing, my wife does honey do’s everyday, without any fanfare or appreciation. So thanks honey for all you do. You are an awesome specimen.