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January 4, 2012 in Community, Devotional Thought 1 Comment

A Donkey, Really?

Community and our need for it is a bigger than we think.

The idea of community so permeates the Scriptures that Jesus even sent two disciples to go fetch a donkey. Really?

     Luke 19.29-30 – When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.

Was this simply because they could not do so alone? Hardly. These men were fishermen, surely they could get a donkey alone. No, the simple truth taught here is that Jesus knows we are in need of community, even in the mundane of life. Maybe I am looking at this and overthinking it, or maybe I am not. I think there is something there, something simple yet profound.

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September 10, 2011 in Community 0 Comments

Community

I found this to be a helpful video on Community and what we need to do. You can also pre-order a copy of the book this video is promoting,  Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support (RE: Lit) on Amazon, which comes out September 30th.

April 11, 2011 in Community, Personal 5 Comments

Starbucks and Youth Group

If you know me well, you know I spend a good amount of time at Starbucks. For me there is more to it then just coffee (here’s why). Recently I was part of a conversation with someone who was saying how they wished when they walked into Starbucks the barista knew who he was.  This made me think of the old show cheers.

In the theme song it says Where everybody knows your name, where the troubles are all the same. Does this describe your youth group, your ministry, your church? When people come are they excited because they know they are going to a place where community is active and intentional? Most of us walk in and walk out, the whole time being alone.

Now I know many of you might not like Starbucks, but isn’t this what we want to have in church? Now I’m not saying we want our church to be like Starbucks, but don’t you want and need a place where when you walk in everybody knows your name. Shouldn’t we want to be a community of believers who know each other and care for each other. Shouldn’t Starbucks look at the church for true community and not the other way around.

 

January 19, 2011 in Community 1 Comment

American Idiot I mean Idol | Part 2

So the other day as I sat in Starbucks writing a American Idiot I Mean Idol, I did a bloggers worst nightmare, I hit “publish” not “preview” (I really hope there is a way WordPress can make that more fool-proof some day!). Anyways I was about 90% finished the post but I had one little caveat that I felt I would like to add, so here it is.

Why?
Why does it matter if we have someone tell us we cant sing? In all reality, what harm is done if I am to make a fool of myself? I mean to be honest I make a fool of myself all the time! Here is my thinking. If someone will not tell me, lovingly, that I can’t sing then they definitely will not tell me when I am sinning in my life. It is that simple.

My biggest problem in life is not if I am a good teacher or not, or a good singer, writer or even blogger. No, my main issue is I am really good at sinning, and sinning is not something we want to be good at. If there is no one in my life who is letting me know where my sin is, if there is no one bringing the gospel to bare on this cancer in my life, I may just die, never knowing how out of tune I was with God!

So, if no one is telling you that you need to work on your teaching, your care for students, your openness to other leaders, then trust me no one will be in your life who will confront the sin in your life. You may have friends, other leaders or even a pastoral team, but if everyone is merely patting each other on the back, you are in need of some new friends. You need a real loving community around you!

January 16, 2011 in Community 5 Comments

American Idiot I mean Idol

We have all seen it before, for many of us it is the only part of the show we really even like watching. I am talking about the American Idol audition rounds.

The people we love seeing the most, or at least the ones I enjoy watching, are the ones who really, really stink at singing. When I watch them it makes me think, ‘how can people allow these people to sing?’ For many of them they say things like, ‘my friends tell me I am the greatest singer out there’ or ‘people love my singing’. Every time I hear them say this I want to help them get new friends. People who actually tell them they are really bad singers.

What about us? Who do we have in our life that will tell us we are really bad? I’m not asking how many of us have friends, but how many of us have people who will let us know we are not really that good at preaching, writing, counseling or what have you. Who in our life will tell us when we need to learn how to do something better?

It seems like many of us, and our ministries, would benefit if someone would love us enough to bring gospel truth to bare in our life. If you don’t have someone in you life who can tell say, you suck at singing then I would recommend you need to get a new community around you.

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