Archive for Personal Thoughts
Nov
13
How Not to Act in Church (or Why Stun Guns Should Be Legalized)
Posted by: | CommentsThe last two weeks at church have really been a test for me not because of our Pastor’s message but because some people really do need to be zapped with a stun gun.
Sunday I was extremely compelled to jerk a teenage boy out of his seat and whip him into submission because he continued to drape his legs over the seats as though he was in a Lazy Boy recliner. The whole service he continued to do this and be a huge distraction all the while his parents sat there and simply ignored his rude and unruly behavior.
Last week we had two couples behind us, probably in their sixties, who apparently had not had enough conversation the entire week and whose batteries had all expired in their bionic ears. They loudly bantered most of the service. I almost turned around and told them our kids acted better in church at eight years old than they were behaving that day and that God would soon have to protect them from my mighty backhand about to follow.
While I do need to seek forgiveness for my violent and reckless thoughts it just abhors me how rude America has become.
The best place to really observe this rudeness is in places like *Wal-Mart where hugely overweight people will roughly push you out of the way -instead of asking- to get to their Oreos or you get run down by Hillbillies driving their beat up, duct taped pick-up truck going the wrong way in the middle of parking lot section.
What happened to the days where people showed respect for the people around them? Where are the days of just plain common sense?
I remember a time where young men opened doors for ladies and the elderly instead of letting them slam on them. Or when you talked back to your parents you got properly corrected with a swift kick in the pants. There were days where people weren’t so consumed with their selfish attitudes and acted kindly towards others around them. You could actually make it through a church service without a cell phone ringing during prayer time!
Friends, we need MUST get back to a day where kindness and selflessness are the norm. We must have a renewed attitude that great values and morals are highly regarded instead of looked down upon. We must move from a rude and self-centered society to one of respect and giving. If not, our nation really has no hope for the future. It will be worse than it is now.
So maybe stun-guns should be legal to carry and use at our leisure…
*Wal-Mart is a nasty,hideous place where you go to pay for your bad karma on earth. It should be avoided at all costs.
Jun
20
A Worker Deserves Their Wages
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I am going to take a huge risk and go way out on a limb.
A couple of my current comments on an article at Church Communications Pro regarding open source products or “freeware” got me thinking about a situation with churches I have encountered personally. The situation has to do with some churches or their leaders that feel as though they should receive free stuff just for being a church or pastor.
I believe that there is nothing wrong with a church receiving any type of gift when a person wants to give it from the heart or in a worshipful response to God. I do believe it is wrong for churches to expect or guilt people (knowingly or unknowingly) into giving to their church by using the “Kingdom building” excuse.
Let me share an example from my business life.
My professional work focuses on helping churches communicate their message. I do this because I love God and want to give back with the talents He has blessed me with and am passionate about seeing the Church grow. This is the way that I provide everything from a home to food to education for my family. The Bible says “a worker deserves their wages” Luke 10:7. The sad thing is that there have been so many churches during the last six years who have tried to get my services for free or for a huge discount because “I am a Christian and I should give to the Kingdom building movement.” This is absolutely wrong and not Biblical!
What some church leaders don’t seem to understand is that, like them, I too have had to pay my dues for education, training, expensive software, and computers. They forget this is how I feed my family and probably don’t know that there aren’t benefits like being on a church staff. Sometimes I have to work when I am really sick and I don’t get yearly vacation times. Please understand this is not a gripe about my choice and lifestyle but that there are many things in the background that can easily be forgotten.
This brings me to my comments at Church Communications Pro.
If a business charges for their services which take time, money, and experience, shouldn’t they have the right to earn a profit and make a living from their talents? Is it right for a church to feel as though everything should be provided for free or at a discount? Wouldn’t you feel horrible by taking the blessing from another person or food from a child’s mouth? And to those wealthier churches who have played the “Kingdom” card – are you not sinning against the person or business by pretending to have no money?
I wish I could give it all away but my priority is providing for the people in my household – and it’s that way for other businesses and individuals too! My hope is that churches will understand this and remember that no one can just work for free…unless you’re independently wealthy.
A worker deserves their wages and churches should be the first to willingly pay Christians who are using their hands to make a living instead of always giving to the people who refuse to work and expect a handout.
May
13
Do Things Better
Posted by: | CommentsI read this quote in Quiet Strength – The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy last night.
“Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.” – Chuck Noll
Are you doing the ordinary things better than anyone else?
Mar
07
Are you kidding me? My take on Christian Conferences.
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I have to break from part two of my series on whether “Church Marketing is a Sin” to rant about how Christianity in America has become a highly lucrative business. Check out the current list of church conferences on the calendar this year (and this isn’t all of them):
- Healing Place Church Experience (have I ever said how sick I am of hearing the word experience and church together?)
- Unleash 2008
- Q (very short name I’d say but at least this looks like it actually has a bigger purpose)
- Orange: We hope you will join us this year for an authentic, dangerous and UNCENSORED experience! (Does this mean they’ll drop the F-Bomb?)
- Coast 2 Coast
- Externally Focused Conference: Transform your community. Transform your life. Hmmm…
- The White Board Sessions: You can get a whiteboard for under $20 at Staples.
PLUS, and I love this one…I can spend two days following the Senior Management Team of Granger Community Church for a cool $1,500.00 to get an inside look at how they do ministry. Are you really serious?!?
Please understand that I do not mean to sound harsh towards any of the people or their teams presenting at these conferences. I personally only know one presenter out of all of them (who has an ego the size of Texas) but I am sure that most of their hearts are for helping others build the Kingdom. I also ask Jesus for forgiveness in that this may not be the most Christ-like post or way to communicate my feeling about this topic. However my question is this:
Do we really need all these conferences to tell us how these leaders do their ministry or how to be effective at ours?
I don’t know whether it’s a conviction of the Spirit or common sense but it grieves me to think at how much money will be spent to attend and hear these speakers. I did some number crunching based off of an average on each conferences fees and the number of attendees they allow or “guestimate” based off the size or speakers at the event.
My very rough calculation = $2,185,940.00. That’s over two million dollars not including airfare, hotel, meals, and the “I was there” t-shirt.
Do we really need to spend over two million dollars to follow teams around for a day and watch how they interact with each other or to have churches who have been blessed with great growth tell us how “they” did it? Is it worth going to another conference to hear about another innovation, theory, or technique that may or may not work for our individual situation – or one that a church staff will never implement because they’re still working on the method from last year’s conference?
I know of many church planters who have been called to plant in their community who are doing a great work but are struggling because of financial support. I see people in my city who can’t afford a hot meal or warm place to sleep for one night. I know of single mothers who are working at least two jobs just to feed their children and keep the electricity on. I could mention the fact that some “on-fire” Christian leaders give more to buying conference tickets, books, and lattes than sending support to missionaries who look death in the eye every day for fulfilling the Great Commission.
I pray that church leaders, their teams, and congregations will wake up and realize that “the Church” has become just like corporate America. We have been blessed way beyond our dreams and we are now taking advantage of it. We talk of being missional yet some of us can’t even break beyond the missional motivation speech. Shame on us! American prosperity has definitely been a curse.
How about we spend more time in prayer, fasting, serving in our community, and listening to the hurt of others over spending more money on an expensive trip to tell us how we might do it and give it to better causes? And I point this to myself – an addicted lover of books and technology. Maybe it’s time to just go out and do it and learn for ourselves. After all, experience is the best teacher and Jesus Christ the best leader we could follow.
Feb
25
An Unscheduled Stop to The Emergency Room
Posted by: | CommentsWow! What a Monday!
This weekend I had a big flair up with a common chest pain that I have had on and off the last year but for some reason this time it just felt different. I had also been feeling nauseous a lot and even though I look pregnant at times I am sure that this couldn’t be the case (unless of course I was abducted by aliens and made into an experiment). So last night I did what most smart people do…I got on WebMD.com to make my own “professional” diagnosis. The results came back as angina (which doesn’t sound manly at all) or heart attack. I then did the next best thing I could think of: I went to sleep and decided to call a doctor for a visit this morning.
My appointment was scheduled for 3 p.m. but my chest starting hurting again and I got a really bad feeling. I called the doctor to see if I could get in ASAP and I was told to immediately go to the emergency room. Don’t finish my coffee, don’t do one more design, don’t make whoopee – get there now!!! And I can’t say that I didn’t contemplate whoopee. After all, I am a red-blooded male and figured what better way to die?
Two hours after being scanned, stuck, and hooked up up to a machine like a dead battery I emerged from the emergency room. The report and tests all came back good and they think it was just a bad case of stress or anxiety. While I don’t think I am stressed I am grateful to God that is wasn’t something worse. My dad died from a massive heart attack at age 51 and some of my mom’s family have been diagnosed with rare forms of cancer so naturally I was just a little cautious this time.
This whole situation isn’t a new reminder of just how precious life can be; I already know that and am thankful for every breath of every day! But it is a reminder. The hardest thing today was watching my children get upset and that hurt worse than the actual pain.
My goal of this post is not having a pity party for myself. No, this is about telling people how you never know what each day brings and that we must think of every day as our last. Material possessions, awards, job titles, money and bills – they don’t make a damn bit of difference in life. As John Ortberg’s book title says, “When The Game Is Over, It ALL Goes Back in the Box!” The stuff that does matter and makes a difference is focusing on God, relationships, and loving others.
Please don’t wait before it’s too late to do what matters. Don’t put off being with your spouse, spending time with your kids or family, inviting a neighbor to lunch, visiting the forgotten elderly or sick, telling someone you’re sorry, or stopping just to be present with someone you love. Tomorrow might not come, but today you have every opportunity to do what matters!
