Outside the Program

Hillcrest serves in the community most Wednesday evenings during the year, and while there's much to be excited about with this program, some Hillcresters serve in the community outside of the program, in their own unique way and time. Part of my challenge is finding these stories and then communicating them to the rest of our church as a way of encouragement- you don't have to be with us on a Wednesday night to join us in our mission. One of these stories came my way a couple weeks ago:

This week we purchased 10 used coats and 12 new pairs of knit gloves to distribute to students involved (with an after school program). In addition we crocheted 30 stocking caps that have been distributed to students who have come without a hat.

I so enjoy these stories. If you're a Hillcrester (or even if you're not!) who's up to some good, drop a line and let us know!

Church Hiding Places

All of my kids probably feel like our church facility is a second home for them (they run around like it is, anyways) and recently my first grader discovered a new hideout with his buddy. Here's a recap of the convo:

Riley: "Dad, Jamie and I have a secret hideout at church."

Me: "Where's that?"

Riley: "(forgetting that it's a secret hideout) oh, it's the place where Pastor Doug pushes people under water"

Me: "you mean the baptismal tank?"

Riley: "if that's where Pastor Doug pushes people under water. By the way, have you ever pused people under water?"

Me: "Yes, a few".

Riley: "(laughing) you've pushed people under water?!? Why?!?"

Me: "it's called baptism, and (realizing I'm going to have a hard time explaining this to a 1st grader) it's something that people who follow Jesus do when they want to show other people that they follow Jesus (save your inditments of my heresy or incomplete explanation of baptism)

Riley: "(laughing again) well I know lots of people who follow Jesus who haven't been pushed under water . . ."

True, true.

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from Hillcrest's staff!

Do what I say, . . .

Another quote from McManus from Master Leaders: if you’re a leader, you cannot tolerate the discontinuity between what someone says and what that person does, if the two don’t match. I cannot tolerate it when we pretend we care about a world drowning in poverty and disease and yet do nothing about it. We say all that, and then nothing in our culture and in our values reflects those concerns. I just don’t have any tolerance for that (115).

This quote struck me it was honestly the rationale for Hillcrest's Wednesday Night Service. If we say that we’re a church that values serving, the community, and being a place that the community would miss, then we’d had to take some tangible steps into demonstrating that value, and not just being content with saying it. And that doesn’t mean that we’ll always have to have a program like Wednesday Night Service in order to model that value, or that people that don’t participate in Wednesday Night Service don’t model that value, both of those statements miss the point. It does mean that sometimes you do have to do things in order to bring alignment between what you believe and what you do, what you value and how you behave.

The Spiritual Gift of Cleaning Bathrooms

There's been a recent movement in churches to help people discover their strengths, their talents, and their spiritual gifts, with the hope that if people knew what they liked to do and what they were good at doing, than they would have more to contribute in terms of volunteering at church. Often, a church would have people working in children's ministries who had signed up years ago because of guilt or because their own children were in it, but they had no real interest in children (they liked their own children, just not other people's kids) and they weren't good at it, but they would stick it out because they thought that what a good Christian did. So the strengths/talents/spiritual gift movement was designed to help people discover what God had gifted them to do and then place them in opportunities where they could do those very things. It's a movement that has some wonderful positive things associated with it, and many volunteers now serve in roles that are better fits with who they are as people, and our children's ministries are better places because for the most part, the volunteers want to be there because they enjoy it, not because they have to.

For all of the good that's come from that, though, is that no one has yet to discover the spiritual gift of bathroom cleaning. The strength of chair stacking. The hidden talent of floor mopping. I think that the more specialized we've made spiritual gifts, the more we think that those acts of service are better left for people who have that spiritual gift. Trouble is, you can't really find that. I know, you can make an argument that 'acts of service' is a spiritual gift, but if that's the case, it operates more like the gift of evangelism, where some may have the gift, but all are called to do it. There may be people who prefer to serve in ways such as stacking chairs or setting up tables (and do it better and with more joy), but each of is called to do those things.

I think Erwin McManus, quoted by George Barna in Master Leaders, sums it up nice when he says this: Somewhere along the way, I began admiring people who have that kind of humility. I wanted to be like them and longed to become that kind of person. And then, on a practical level, I thought, look, I don’t know how to be humble, but I know how to do humble things. So I’m just going to fake it. I’m just going to take out the garbage and stack the chairs and clean the floors and scrub some toilets. That’s what all the people I really admire do, and maybe, eventually, it will translate into who I am. I think we have to actually love humility. And that’s how you can begin to know if you’re moving in that direction: when you love people who live lives of humility, people who are self-effacing, and people who are differential (126).

Saving the community money

Came across this the other day.

It's an interesting concept- a church donating community service hours to its community and the local and state governments actually being able to calculate how much those efforts saved them in real dollars.

I'm not sure what Hillcrest's impact would be, but a conservative estimate (Wednesday nights, mentoring, reading buddies) for Hillcresters would be over 3,200 hours a year. At minimum wage, that's over a $23,000.

E-mentoring

Came across this in Argus the other day. For those who can't make it to a school to physically mentor, this looks to be a promising option. Plus, kudos to LSS for 'out of the box' thinking on how to engage mentors with students in Sioux Falls' bedroom communities.

On a related note, Cleveland held an appreciation lunch for its mentors today. Of the 12 mentors who were there, 10 are from from Hillcrest. Very cool. The mentoring coordinator took pictures so I'll post those later if I can (Most of the mentees were all smiles for the picture their mentor. My mentee, true to form, did not smile, but gave a grumpy face!).

A Real Team Effort

We laucned our official partnership with Land of a 1000 Hills Coffee this past Sunday, and there's lot of neat things happening with that, but one of the things that most excites me is the real team effort it required to pull off this switch. Among the team's contributions

• proceeds from the fall craft fair helped purchase the coffee equipment; the craft fair is organized annually by Marti; in addition, this year Vicki recruited the many volunteers needed to pull off this event so that we had proceeds that go to equipment purchase
• when buying our own own equipment, Doug and Lee reserached local options, online options, pricing, specs, and a host of other issues and got us the best equipment, the most equipment, at the best prices
• someone had to detach the old equipment and install the new stuff, thanks to Greg for that work
• a ministry such as this requires week to week management and a passion for teh potential good this change can do in Rwanda. Nancy has this and oversees the ministry, and kicked off this past Sunday handling coffee sales and donations.
• we needed to communicate the change to the church, why we're making the change, and Doug and Joslyn played key roles here
• our coffee ministry team is made up of 8 people inclding Nancy and Larry, Deb and BJ, Greg and Julie, and Doug and Karen, who make and provide the coffee each week; they have played key roles with this switch as well.

I probably overlooked some folks, but personally, so much of what has been good about this switch has been that it's been a real team effort, and something that the team has been excited about.

Bell Ringing

Ringing bells last night for 'the army'. Of course, we rang on the first cold night in over a month, but good times still.

Worship Wars?

We're currently in the book of Psalms as we read through the Bible as a church and I am reminded again of how many of the songs we sing on Sundays come right from this book. In light of this, it makes current 'worship wars' (worship war: when churches fight over the music part of a worship service) even more interesting. There's primarily three camps: traditionalists (hymns and organs, baby), contemporaries (the louder the better), and blended (acoustic versions of Shine, Jesus, Shine followed by Rock of Ages).

I'm not a musician, a vocalist, or even really all that qualified to write a post on worship, but what is interesting is the two primary charges that get leveled against churches who follow the contemporary style.

• Charge #1- The Devil's Music. While not flat out saying it, some still hold onto the perspective that drums are bad, guitars are from the devil, and anything that sounds like top 40 radio can not be pleasing to God. Fortunately, this charge has greatly diminished in recent years and you seldom hear this charge anymore.
• Charge #2- Weak Theology. The argument here is that the hymns contain deep theological truths that are missing in today's worship songs. This statement is a half-truth. Yes, the hymns of yesterday contain deep theological truths. But to say that contemporary worship music doesn't is not completely true, because many of the newer songs are right from the Psalms! I know there are examples of contemporary songs that are theologically weak, but I would suspect you could say the same of some hymns.

SuperFreakonomics

I loved the book Freakonomics and just received its sequel SuperFreakonomics the other day. The book's premise is that the authors, one a journalist and the other an economist, debunk things that we think are true (but actually aren't) and also probe into things that we rarely think about but are in fact fascinating when you look at what's going on underneath the surface. The books have revealed such nuggets as

• your child is more likely to die in a swimming pool than by a gun in a home (yet we give no almost no thought when children swim at a friend's pool or at a hotel birthday party and yet instantly worry when we learn that a friend's home has guns)
• you're more likely to die as a result of an elephant attack than a shark attack (and yet shark attacks get all of the press when they occur, and elephant attacks never do. The authors attribute this somewhat to pop culture, in that elephants get portrayed as cute and fun, think Dumbo or Babar, while Jaws forever immortalized the shark).
• the most popular names for babies come from the wealthier social classes and make their way to the middle class
• a realtor will take more time to sell their own home than they will to sell your home

In the sequel, the authors will also look at child seats, and supposedly reveal how they aren't any safer than a normal seat belt for children (I've thought this for awhile, and it explains my rather lax use of child seats).

Finally, one of the more shocking conclusions from the first book has to do with a connection between abortion and crime rates. I'll be preaching on that in January so more to come later.

Hillcrest and Carnivals

We hosted a carnival for Children's Home Society (CHS) this past Wednesday Night. Over 30 Hillcresters filled candy bags, ran bean bag and ring toss games, and supervised a jump house with an 18 foot slide for the 60 or so kids who live at CHS. CHS is a unique place in that it functions essentially as an orphanage for the state. Kids ages 4-13 come to live there, most for the short term, while their parents work through various issues or while the state works to find foster care families or adoptive homes. Hillcrest has a unique relationship with CHS in that several Hillcresters work at CHS as teachers or staff who live with the children.

Hillcrest also has a unique relationship with carnivals. We love them! In fact, every year I've been at Hillcrest, we've had a carnival of some sort- a block party, a harvest/Halloween party, and now for the past couple of years, the CHS carnival. It's in our Hillcrest DNA to do at least one carnival a year. In fact, when Halloween came and went this year, some Hillcresters got the carnival 'twitch', and seeing that there wasn't one for Halloween, were wondering if we were doing one this year.

I like carnivals, but they are also a lot of work. They take a lot of energy, a lot of volunteers, and a fair amount of cash to pull off. And I'm not against carnivals for the community or as a means to invite people to your church- this can be very effective outreach. I'm just more wired to do a carnival that fits our mission, and in this case, the CHS carnival is a perfect fit. November is also National Adoption Month, so the carnival fits as one of our tools to raise adoption awareness within Hillcrest.

My favorite story from the carnival comes from the face painting booth, where my wife Tarina along with others, was painting faces. One of the little girls wanted Tarina to paint a dolphin, which caught Tarina off guard. Tarina's a great face painter, but she is used to painting less intricate designs, and had no idea how to go about painting a dolphin. This little girl happened to have her mom with her (sometimes mom and/or dad come to CHS to attend special events such as this with their children) and her mom had a tattoo of a dolphin on her arm! The perfect reference point for the face painting design!

It's Official!

We finalized Kinsley's adoption yesterday with our attorney and a judge. Hard to believe that we welcomed Kinsley into our home only six months ago; it's like she's always been with us. We praise God for his continued movement in our lives.

Sticky Ideas

How do you get people to care about what you are saying? How do certain ideas stick to our collective consciousness, even though they may not even be true (such as tampering with and poisioning Halloween candy, an unfortunate urban legend)? Just finished an interesting book called Made to Stick that outlines why some ideas survive and thrive and others don't. It's great for pastors, teachers, managers, coaches, parents, really anyone who's in the business of communicating ideas and desiring that people live out those ideas. It's an interesting read and the authors propose what I have found to be a useful model. If you don't want to buy the book, you can check out the model, hear a podcast, and get other free goodies by going to the website here.

The Monkey at the Book Fair

This past week I volunteered at my son's book fair that the school was hosting in connection with Parent-Teacher conferences. It's quite a remarkable scene- hundreds of books on shelves that take up most of the gymnasium, most of them nicely priced, designed to continue a child's love of learning and education. Of course, Scholastic Books isn't stupid, they, like most companies, are generally pretty good at not just selling something, but also marketing other things to make up for the great deal you get on these books. So stationed right by the check out at the book fair is a couple of tables' worth of trinkets: erasers, pencils, fake money, pointers with big hands at the end, posters of the Jonas brothers and Alex Rodriguez, you know, the other tools necessary for a child's quality education.

For the first half of my shift at the fair, my son did well. Perfectly content to come home with his $5 book on mummies (though the Flat Stanley book was a close second, because he knows nana and auntie teach on that book). The second half, the Scholastic marketing demons took over, and he became fixated on his trinket of choice: a stuffed monkey, complete with a carrying case. He used every angle to get me to buy the monkey:

• It's only a couple bucks more than the book (true).
• It comes with a book (kind of true, the book looked more like a pamphlet).
• I love it (of course you do).

I tried every which way to tell him that he was not coming home with the monkey, but he was welcome to come home with the book. He persisted at me until asking why I would let him buy a book but not a monkey (especially since it's only a couple buck difference). I surprised myself when I replied, "because I value your education, and I will spend money on that. I do not value you having another stuffed animal, of which you have 30 at home, and that won't contribute to your development so I will not spend money on that".

Now of course, we buy him and his siblings toys, trinkets, and other stuff. But when pressed, I admit that I value certan things, and will pay for certain things, over other things. My wife and I come from families that value education and that work in education. There's the story of my grandparents who took each of us grandkids out shopping for school supplies before they started kindergarten that furthers this value for me. I'm thankful for the moment to clarify that value for my son, and for me.

upbeat #2

Second takeawy from upbeat:

Do remember in the grand scheme of things you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to think and do something about it. More than half the people in the planet don’t have that opportunity. They have been living in recession-like conditions since their birth and probably live like that throughout their life. You have been given the biggest gift of your life- your ability to THINK and do something about your current and future situations. Be grateful for that. Be grateful that you have come this far with whatever resources you had under your disposal. Like I said, more than half of the people in the world cannot even dream of the fraction of resources hat you have had until now (46).

This thought is probably worth the $11 and the 45 minutes required to read the book. I can be so guilty of forgetting the idea that I actually have the freedom and opportunity to think of how the future can be different. To plan something that could work. To learn from a failure. To think of how to change something or some plan. Because I have clean water, make more than $2 a day, access to education, and so much, more I am afforded the opportunity to think about other problems, and perhaps, fail to spend more time with those more basic problems.

upbeat

I started and finished a new book called upbeat a book I really can’t believe that I paid $11 for. I am confident that I wrote papers in graduate school longer than this book, and I’d file much of it under the category of self help for tough times. The book's main idea is how to survive during these tough recessionary times. Despite my annoyance of it being shorter than a Berenstein Bears' book, here's my first takeaway:

You may not realize it but you may already be an “extra baggage” for someone out there. This happens often when you think that just because you know someone, you are entitled to make request of that person . . . a creative request is one when fulfilling it is beneficial to the person who is being asked for it. A very good request is one you can design in such a way that the recipient of that request is thankful to you for making that request. In fact, he or she won’t even feel that it was a request; they would think that it was an opportunity and they would be glad that you chose them to open up that opportunity for them (44-45).

Isn't that the challenge for those of us who invite others to volunteer in some way? How do I invite this person to do something that I need them to do without using guilt, manipulation, bait and switch, or some other negative ploy? How can I improve making the creative requests that Setty describes? How can I make the very good requests and I partner with people who want to do something (serve someone, be something, etc) where they feel honored to be participating instead of forcing them into what I need?

Mopping for the First Time

It's one thing to volunteer, it's another thing to volunteer with your 6 and 4 year old. Last night we were at the Summit House, an intentional community house for Sioux Falls Seminary students in one of the more under-resoruced parts of Sioux Falls. Most of our group was painting downstairs, but I wasn't willing to bite that off with my brood so we decided to mop the dining area and kitchen. The boys wanted to go right for the mopping, not understanding that we had to sweep the floors first. Apparently, sweeping isn't as fun as mopping since it doesn't involve a bucket, a lever, and soapy water that we can splash all over the place. Once swept, we had to locate a second mop and bucket, because we were not ok with the idea of sharing a bucket, no no, we had to have our own. That's understandable. So we filled them with soapy water, and took to mopping the floor. Of course, water went everywhere, of course a water filled mop was too heavy for them, and of course they missed more than they mopped (and of course, Dad had to mop up the standing water drawing bewildered looks from the boys- why are you mopping again?). But in the middle of it all, Riley says to Wes, 'do you realize Wes this is our first time mopping?'. Priceless.

Links

My brother Mike started a blog; check it out here for his thoughts on Tim Keller's book The Reason for God.

Rainn Wilson, "Dwight" from the Office, was on Nightline last night (I know, the fact that I watch Nightline raises my geek factor) offering his thoughts on faith, God, and spirituality. While certainly not orthodox Christianity, it was interesting to hear a star talk faith and have it not be about the Church of Scientology, which ABC News has also been examining for the last week or so.

In the News

A neat piece on Cindy Cummins, a Hillcrester, and her recent adoption from China.

Target

A new Target opened on the east side of Sioux Falls, the part of town I call home. This opening has been met with three very different responses:

• Extreme Fanatcism- there are apparently folks who will only go to Target, and for them, this opening is akin to visiting Mecca or going to Lambeau.
• Tempered Excitement- I'd put my wife in this category as she likes Target and it gives her some options (such as a cheap $1 section, I guess) that she likes and that other stores don't have.
• Passive Disinterest- I'm here in the 'could give a rip' category as I probably won't go there unless I can save $2 more on Pull ups. But it's another retailer on the east side and that's a good thing.

For the extreme fanatic of Target, there are usually many options given for why they shop at Target, and more importantly, why they won't shop at the 'W' store. I have done no research on the topic, but some of the issues may have merit, including health insurance, working wages, and other labor concerns. The one objection from the Target fanatic, though, that holds no water for me is the 'Wal Mart shuts down small, mom and pop businesses' argument. To that, I'd like to clarify that Target is the 5th largest retailer in the US. I find it hard to believe that the 5th largest retailer has any more concern for "Joe's Corner Store" than the 1st largest.

One other interesting tidbit: the median shopper at Target is educated, in their 40s, and makes $60k+ a year . I couldn't find comprable info on Wal Mart, but my completley uneducated guess would be the median Wal Mart shopper has less education and makes less money, thus potentially serving as an interesting paradox: while Wal Mart gets flack on issues at the corporate level that (allegedly) work against poorer income people, they might get more of those same people's business.

If dollars are votes, it is an interesting paradox indeed . . .

Can you make an announcement for . . .

Our youth pastor and myself are the designated "announcement pastors" which means that about halfway through the worship service, either he or I will lead the church in a brief prayer and then announce events of particular interest while people give their offerings. Sometimes, it's a harmless thing, a couple minutes letting Hillcresters know about the monthly mission partner or a unique serving opportunity. But the busier the church calendar gets, the longer announcement time can become, as ministries and programs vie for that ever so precious announcement time. And I get it, because if we do announce something, it communicates that the something is important. The other stuff, left for people to read in the bulletin or in a weekly email or on a web site, is subliminally communicated as less important as what just got announced (though I'd argue it's not the case).

I'm sure like most churches we've done some changing in how we approach announcements. We used to have no filter and announce everything- that was too long, both for the announcer and the church. Tunrs out when you announce everything, it has the same effect as not announcing something- people deem it unimportant. We also used to announce things way in advance, and have come to find out that with most events, an announcement a couple of weeks away is just as good. We've also tried to limit things that impact the entire church- men, women, and children. While we'll occasionally announce a men's or women's event, most of our announcements are limited to events open for everyone. One more thing: we keep our announcements at 3 (again, for the most part). This insures that the announcement interruption isn't too long.

For a second look at how one church chooses to do announcements (or in their case, not announcements), click here.

What if we didn't need a Good Samaritan?

As the weather gets cold (premature, I might add, as my kiddos actually played in the snow on their off day yesterday!) and the holidays beckon, there will be much more ink and press on non profits and churches seeking to make a difference in terms of compassion: winter gear, food, shelter, etc. We'll hear stories about ood Samaritan people and Good Samaritan organizations and be moved to act as the Samaritan did in Jesus' famous parable. And Hillcrest will certainly play its part in these essential acts of compassion.

But a recent teaching from Bill Hybels and the Willow Creeks folks reframed this issue for me. While speaking of the Good Samaritan, they certainly agreed that we are called to act as the Samaritan did (there's no out for ministries of compassion), but they posed the question: what's being done about the conditions of the road in which the man was beat up on? Who's fixing the lighting? Who's tackling the crime? Who's working at a safer route 'from Jericho'? In other words, what's being done

• to correct the system(s)
• that led to the problems
• that beat up the man
• that required a Good Samaritan in the first place?

While acts of a compassionate Good Samaritan are good, they have little impact if bands of Samriatans don't also address the systems that create the problems in the first place.

It's gonna be good!

I recently got a note from one of a Hillcrester who mentors a student in our community. The mentor wrote "(my mentee) is the same that I have mentored since I started 2 years ago...so, we have had quite the journey! She started at (one elementary school) in 4th and beginning of 5th. Then around Dec. of 5th grade she moved to (a different elementary school) and I went with ! This year have transitioned to Middle School. It's is a huge difference in mentoring experiences than any of the other schools for numerous reasons, but it's gonna be good!"

As I've shared before, mentoring can be tough work. Especially as students move to middle school, somehow playing games of "Sorry!" or tetherball don't cut it. Students today deal with issues that older generations dealt with at much later ages. There is a need, a real need, not just a perceived need, for adults who will give a rip about students.

The non-profit that we mentor through likes to send monthly updates of how mentors make a difference in the life of a child. And I think that's a great recruting tool and makes that one mentor feel terrific. But most mentors probably will never get that kind of feedback, but stick with it because they inherently know the difference they are making, and because, they too, are changed as a result. It's gonna be good, indeed.

Church and Politics

Pastor Doug gave a solid message on politics and how followers of Christ ought to interact with political issues and people who hold different opinions. You can check out the message on our website.

Coincidentally, a blog I follow is debating a similar topic. If you go there, make sure to check out the comments and see where you most agree and/or disagree.

Where did you work tonight?

Following each Wednesday Night Service, we invite those who served to go to Dunn Brothers for coffee and to hang out and hear the stories of how their serving went that night. Our fam takes this in about once or twice a month as a coffee shop at 8:15 on a school night isn't an ideal spot for four kids 6 and under, but it's fun and they enjoy it as well. When we went this past Wednesday night, the manager asked where we had worked that night. I think it's cool that she knows what this group of folks does each Wednesday night and is curious as to where they had been serving.

Cupid's Arrow

The 4th grader I mentor has been hit by the love bug. During our mentoring time last week, I felt as if I was chaperonoing a first date as they went through the various mating rituals of pre-tween children. There was mutual interest in a shared activity (in this case, tetherball, and the girl beating the boy at tetherball at that), a gift exchange (looked like a necklace or something), senseless chatter (after tetherball, they walked along the playground and I followed close enough to hear their innocent banter), and an act of bravado on the boy's part (during the game of tetherball, he said a word he shouldn't have said. He was clearly doing it to impress the lady, but his mentor wasn't impressed, and quickly put an end to it). From what I could tell, it was typical first date stuff (!). Yesterday it was raining, so we stayed inside, but in the lunch line my mentee asked me to stand at a certain spot so the lady couldn't see him, either revealing that a) they are no longer going out (whatever that means in the 4th grade) or b) sometimes love feels a bit embarassing. Based on his actions, I'm going with b.

The Age of the Unthinkable

I just finished Joshua Cooper Ramo's book The Age of the Unthinakble. It's a book that probably confirms for people that I am a 'geek'. Ramo examines everything from the recent financial meltdown, military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the (initial) surprise success of the Wii, details interviews with both Israeli and Hizb'allah leaders, reveals how most Silicon Valley venture capitialits missed out on Google (and why one in particular didn't), and a host of other topics all meant to demonstrate how the world is fundamentally changing and what we can do with it.

For the purposes of the church, though, came this interesting thought. Ramo cites a discussion with Roberto Unger, a Brazilian politician, who believes that our current approach to the world has been reduced to the passing of checks through the mail- a danger that means our generosity is often wasted and always isolates us from a world that we need to feel and not simply see or touch at a distance (244). For the past couple of years at Hillcrest, we've discussed the danger of simply outsourcing our care for the world. We can write checks to places like The Community Outreach, the Furniture Mission, or even World Vision, but a check is simply a transaction that outsources the burden of care. While not everyone can work for these places, or even work in the places where these places operate, we all can take steps to do something so that our care isn't a simple outsourced transaction.

Biblical Inerrancy

Is a children's bible supposed to be without error?

We were reading a story from Riley's bible the other day about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. It opened the story by mentioning the fifth commandment of doing no work on the Sabbath. I read it and stopped and said "that's not right". Riley said, "what, we can do work on the sabbath?" (I'm kidding). I grabbed my bible- one without error, I presume- to make sure I was right. And yep, the sabbath commandment is #4- not #5. So Children's bibles are probably exempt from the inerrant argument, as Riley did remember another time he found a mistake in his bible that we had to look up as well.

Sloppy Joes

We had sloppy joes this past Wednesday at church for the meal before our Wednesday Night Service. It truly was a group effort to pull of what I thought would be a rather easy meal. I had gotten a recipe from Karen and started work on it Tuesday afternoon but was missing two ingredients. Wednesday morning I picked up the ingredients and turned the roaster on. As I thought about the sloppy joes, I had two thoughts: first, I know the kids like them extra sloppy, and second, since I'm not exactly a cook but more of a recipe follower, I had better have a couple people taste them to see if they are ok. So I enlisted

• my administrative assistant to tell me if they tasted ok. She tasted them, and said they were ok, but were missing something. She added some things and made them better
• my wife, who stopped by while running errands. She thought they were good to go, but only after my administrative assistant had added some other things.
• Pastor Ben, who took a sample, and said they were good, but wondered if I Had enough (I was beginning to question that myself).
• the kitchen crew came later in the afternoon, and decided we needed to add more meat, and they even added some onion!

Who knew so much went into sloppy joes? And in the end, my kids didn't eat them. Oh well, this week's chicken enchiladas ought to be better because I didn't have any hand in them . . .

Kids say . . .

Recent comments from my kids:

Convo #1
Riley: Dad, can I join the Cub Scouts?
Me: Probably not.
Riley: Why not?
Me: Why do you want to join the cub scouts?
Riley: Because you can get badges (is that all it takes? no wonder tats are so cool).
Me (later in the conversation): what was the best part about your day?
Riley: When they told us about cub scouts (of course it was, but you're still not joining scouts).

Convo #2
I came home this past Sunday afternoon from a meeting and found Chraley doing something he shouldn't. I asked him to stop. Charley looked at me and said, "you, go back to work".

Convo#3
Me: Kinsley, can you go downstairs and let Pepper out?
Kinsley: Sorry, dad, but I actually can't do that right now.
Me: When did you learn the word 'actually'?

I'm a failure as a parent . . . !

Seth Godin on Non-Profits

Godin has a tough post on non-profits here. I suppose you could put "church" every time he writes "non-profit" and finish reading with the same humbled feeling I had.

Backpacks

Wednesday Night 30+ Hillcresters kicked off the first night of packing 2000+ backpacks for the Food Bank's weekend food ministry to under-resourced elementary and middle school students. It was a fun night!

R.I.P Summer and Brett Favre

This past Labor Day we had a fire to roast smores and bid adieu to summer. R and W have fond memories of their campfires out at the lake with nana and papa, but this fire was my personal favorite as the kids shared their favorite things about summer and in addition to saying farewell to summer, we also laid to rest our fondness of Brett Favre as a Packer icon.

Tim Keller on Parenting

I've just finished Tim Keller's fine book The Reason for God. It's an excellent book that present reasons for the Christian faith in a new and smart ways. In the midst of his discussion on why Jesus had to die on the cross as our substiution, Keller presents a nugget on parenting:

"Children come into the world in a condition of complete dependence. They cannot operate as self-sufficient, independent agents unless their parents give up much of their own independence and freedom for years. If you don’t allow your children to hinder your freedom in work and play at all, and if you only get to your children when it doesn’t inconvenience you, your children will group up physically only. In all sorts of other ways they will remain emotionally needy, troubled, and overdependent. The choice is clear. You can either sacrifice your freedom or theirs. It’s them or you. To love your children well, you must decrease that they may increase. You must be willing to enter into the dependency they have so eventually they can experience the freedom and independence you have (194)."

Recommendation #2: Program Insights

Since there is a potential generation gap (see earlier post), there may be different imlications for future programs aimed at spiritual development. A couple of potential insights could include:

• Design development opportunities that meet real needs over a set period of time. This is one of the reasons why Finanical Peace University is so successful because it meets a real need and it takes place over after a certain number of weeks. For our groups, we communicate no end time, leaving some to wonder how they exit groups they don’t like or join groups that they do. For future spiritual programs, Hillcrest ought to consider programs that meet real needs (spiritual disciplines, parenting, marriage, finances, etc) and do so over a set number of weeks (i.e. 6 weeks).
• Connect learning to mission- we can probably do better in terms of connecting learning or development opportunities with our current missional focus. We perhaps would offer a seminar as part of Wednesday Night Service that would address how to be a mentor, what to expect during a home study, a book talk on The Shack, or how to handle conflict that would both provide content/skill training and connect with our mission.

Recommendation #1: Care for Leaders

Simply, it shouldn’t have taken an intern and a project to check in with our leaders in terms of spiritual development. Many of our leaders are doing good things and feel a general sense of support from Hillcrest, but many of these same leaders are operating on an island. There’s no cross connection or conversations between them and other leaders, whether other group leader, study leaders, or FPU leaders. There is also some tremendous potential to simply ask people how they are doing when it comes to matters of faith, what is God showing you, how can we praying for you, etc. Discussing these questions amongst each other could raise the temerpature of spiritual development throughout Hillcrest.

Finding #3: Generation Gap

Looking back on the survey, we wish we would have added a question about age. We then could have separated the data against ages and look for any possible patterns. Nonetheless, our conversations with several leaders indicated a potential generation gap. The gap mainly exists in the different expectations older and younger leaders have towards the Sunday morning worship services and spiritual development programs. Going forward, Hillcrest may need to allot for the idea that no program or opportunity will be ‘one size fits all’.

Finding #2: Mentoring

Perhaps the greatest insight that came from the survey is the lack of spiritual mentoring taking place within Hillcresters. The mentoring component is really the only data piece that holds up no matter how you analyze the data. In our conversations with leaders, several of them shared the needs people in their circles have for mentoring and also their desire to see mentoring have a great influence on Hillcresters. It's a balance because you can't just begin a mentoring program and arbitrarily pair people up, but let it be too 'organic' and it'll be a long time before something takes place.

Finding #1: Mixed data

As we sifted through the data we really though we'd find connections between the amount of time a person spends with God and other positive things- time spent in service, better relationships, better finances, etc. But the data was mixed at best. For instance, 1/3 of those who had spent 2 or more hours with God were experiencing difficulty in one of the other areas we surveyed- either relationships, serving, or finances. We later theorized that perhaps it was the difficulty of a relationship or finances that was driving that person to spend more time with God during the week, but nonetheless, we weren’t able to draw any connections here. While spending time with God certainly isn't a negative thing, there wasn't any conclusive data that made a direct correlation between the time one spends with God and success in other parts of life. You could spend less time with God and get just as good, if not better, results in these areas. It's an incomplete analysis, for sure, but interesting nonetheless.

Pastor Richie

KELO did a great story on Pastor Richie last night.

Spiritual Development Insights

This summer a seminary student interned with me and we did some work exploring what spiritual development looks like at Hillcrest. We conducted a survey (that several people responded to), held a focus group meeting as a follow up to the survey, and interviewed several of Hillcrest's small group and bible study leaders to get their input on what they see happening in terms of spiritual development at Hillcrest. We made a presentation to our Leadership Council last night that detailed some of our findings, and over the next couple of days, I'd like to share some of the results on the blog. While Hillcresters will be most interested in what we discovered, there might be crossover to those from other churches as well.

So for today, here's the raw data from the online survey:
• Time spent in spiritual practices
o 38% spend an hour or so per week
o 27% spend more than two hours per week
o 24% spend two hours per week
o 12% spend less than hour per week
• Hours spent serving others in the last month
o 47% spent more than 6 hours
o 21% spent 3-4 hours
o 15% spent 1-2 hours
o 15% spent 5-6 hours
o 3% spent none
• Quality of close personal relationships
o 35% have shown great strength and healing
o 35% have shown small amounts of progress
o 24% have the same amount of conflict and stress
o 3% have more conflict and stress
• Health of personal finances
o 35% made excellent progress
o 35% made some progress
o 18% made no progress
o 3% went backwards
• Involvement in mentoring relationships
o 62% are not in a mentoring relationship
o 35% are in a mentoring relationship

We'll attempt to explain what these numbers might mean tomorrow.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law hit Hillcrest this past Sunday. If it could have gone wrong, it did, including

• It was baptism Sunday and upon getting to church the tank was full but cold; apparently the heater wasn't on. The property guys got creative and drained the tank and then refilled it by attaching garden hoses to our water heater, insuring a warm tank for baptisms.
• There was confusion over who was to make coffee for this 5th Sunday and so we got a late start on making it. 5 minutes into making the coffee, the large coffee maker keeps tripping a breaker thus making it inable to make large batches of coffee. We resort to making one pot at a time.
• Halfway through our 9:00 service an older gentlemen begins to choke, very audibly. Several people jump up to attend to him, but he regains himself pretty quickly. It's one of those moments that feels like it took minutes, but was acutally only a few seconds. The paremedics were called but we were thankfully able to send them home.
• There was a biting in our preschool room during our 10:30 service.
• We ran out of coffee by 10:40 (see above). Wouldn't have been so bad if there wouldn't have been like 10 people trying to drain every last drop from our empty pots.

On the plus side, we baptized 6 people, took communion together, and enjoyed worshipping with one another. The stories from our baptism folks remind us what the point of ministry really is, even if Murphy decides to crash Hillcrest on a Sunday.

The Church and School

An interesting article on what some churches and schools are doing together.

I stink at tetherball!

I resumed mentoring my mentee over at Cleveland this past Thursday over lunch. After lunch, we hit the playground as he wanted to play tetherball. I don't really get the concept of tetherball- a pole, a ball on a string, an oval playing surface. I mean there are so many other options: football, basketball, even four square seems a better option, but tetherball is a big deal right now for 4th graders as every tetherball court (is that what you'd call it?!?) was full with lines waiting to play. I quickly learned that I stink at tetherball! The game favors those with height, and since my mentee is a couple inches taller than me (seriously!), I inevitbaly lost to him several times. No big deal. A bit more crushing to the pride was losing to a 4th grade girl who was like 3 feet tall!

Wednesday Night Review

The boys and I were with the Furniture Mission this past Wednesday Night. We had lots of help (thanks Jason, Sam, and Shane!) and the we didn't move anything heavier than a loveseat, but it was another impactful night. Our first stop was at Scott's. After moving the furniture, we talked with Scott for awhile and learned that he had spent the better part of the last year 'camping' in Sioux Falls. In other words, he was homeless. He decided he couldn't make it through another winter homeless, and so is in a modest apartment with some furnishings from the Furniture Mission. I am struck every time I volunteer with the furniture mission, as I meet the faces and hear the stories of people, real people, who are experiencing some tough times, even to the point of not having a home.

The ironic thing is I know Scott. 10 years ago when I was managing apartments, Scott was one of the guys who did some maintenance work me. To have seen him in this spot on Wednesday night reminds me that something like homelessness really can happen to anyone.

What to do?

Last week a rough week as #4 went to play for the dark side. I've never gotten so many texts, emails, and facebook messages as I did last week when this dreaded news hit. The author of a blog I follow loves this development as he's both a Packer and a Viking fan. Not sure how that works. That's like saying you voted for Obama and McCain, that you hope either the Red Sox or the Yankees win the World Series, or that you don't care if your next new truck is an F150 or a Silverado.

Either way, it was a rough week, and now I'm left with the task of cleansing my house from all green and gold #4 items as if it were yeast the week before leaving Egypt. It seems there are a few options:

• Cremation- I have a backyard fire pit and could easily see the boys and I having a good time burning the mesh replica jerseys and roasting mallows over the open flame.
• Burial- much like burying a beloved pet, I could also bury the items. I would probably choose the spot in my backyard where we've had wasp nests two consecutive summers.
• Donation- several friends who cheer for the dark side could use my jerseys (with a can or two of spray paint), or I could follow the lead of these guys.

What to do, what to do.

The sport my kids play

Before I had kids, I referred to soccer as the sport others kids played.

When my kids were young, I told them that soccer was a sport other kids played.

For the past several summers and falls, I would drive past the soccer fields, look at the kids playing and the families watching, and think thoughts such as "suckers" and "glad we're not there".

Well, that all ends today, as soccer becomes the sport my kids play. Sigh. Our next two months of Saturdays will be spent at the soccer fields, watching R and W and other rugrats their age play a sport I really don't understand all that much. The important thing is that they are excited and are already having fun.

Back to school

It's back to school time. Sioux Falls Public students went back this Monday (sidenote: WAY too early in my opinion) and our oldest, Riley, is in 1st grade and in full days of school for the first time. He seems to be doing well and liking school; it helps that his teacher is fantastic.

Hillcrest is also in back to school mode and we've been renewing our partnership with Cleveland Elementary. In the past couple of weeks we have

• bought the staff lunch for their back to school inservice day. This is the 3rd year we've done this and it's such a good time. The better we get to know the school, the better time we have.
• put together two circular clothes racks so a staff member could hang coats, jackets, shirts, etc instead of having them come out of boxes. Thanks to Ben and Roger for their work with that project.
• touched up the paint on the playground. Several of the bars were losing paint and so a team painted the equipment. Looks great and pictures to come. The interesting thing about painting a playground is that several kids asked why we were doing it and one even helped! Thanks to that kid plus Josh, Shane, Doug, Jen, Kristi, and a bunch of our kids for their work on that project.
• sent each staff member a back to school card with a $5 Starbucks card. Now, granted that buys like 1/2 a drink over there, but who doesn't like 1/2 a Starbucks! Thanks to Allison, Kadie, Deanna, Kelsey, Renae and kids, Christy and kids, Linda, Tarina and Jennie for their work on that project.

In the weeks to come we hope to invite more Hillcresters to serve as reading buddies and mentors, for there's great needs there as well.

Seth Godin on ending poverty

Check out his blog post here.

The Right Kind of Fear

I continue to read through the Bible with Hillcrest and we finished Deuteronomy and are into Joshua now. It’s interesting how significant a theme courage is in these sections as the Israelites get ready to take over the promised land. They are taking the land that their parents’ generation was too afraid to take. They are going to 'burn the ships' once they cross the Jordan and there’s no going back. You can certainly think there’d be some healthy sense of fear going into their preemptive strike, but for the Israelites (at least for the new generation led by Joshua and Caleb), the fear of going into these occupied lands is outweighed by the fear of going back to Egypt or being taken into captivity again.

I’ve also been reading in Tim Kimmel’s Homegrown Heroes, where he writes that fear can often paralyze children and parents, but we need to be motivated by the right kinds of fear. The fear of letting my character derail me keeps me from giving into things that would allow my character to slide; the fear of raising undisciplined kids keeps me from giving into the fear of them not liking me when I say no to certain things; these are examples where fear is ok, you just need to be fearful of the right things so that it motivates you to keep doing the things that you need to do.

Wednesday Night Highlight

This past Wednesday night we were able to get started on the Cleveland playgroud painting project. I had assumed this would be a great spot for Riley and Wesley to be at as they could play while I and a couple other guys worked. I was wrong. They wanted to help paint! So I gave them each a brush, told them where to put the primer, and they went at it. They primed for about 40 minutes and then went and played. I was proud of both of them for their desire to serve.

Watching our words

In my message last Sunday, I mentioned two areas (election/free will and baptism) in the church today where we battle over words and ideas that seem to take off of the greater point of loving others with the gospel. For those of us in evangelical churches, you could probably add the issue of women in leadership as a third area. Here's an interesting article from the Southern Baptists on the issue.

Missing time

Stearns also writes on the topic of our time and concludes that “if we (American Christians) all just volunteered one hour a week to serve a charitable cause, it would be worth $62 billion each year. That’s what it would cost if our churches and nonprofit organizations had to pay for that time” (assuming $10 an hour, page 260). Non profits in Sioux Falls periodically have a tougher time with getting volunteers than they do raising funds. People value their time and can sometimes be much more stingy with it. At Hillcrest, our most successful community effort has been the funds we raise for the backpack program. Our community effort that has 'struggled' the most, mentoring in the schools, is one where you can't give anything except your time to.

Missing Monies

I finished The Hole in our Gospel this morning and a couple final thoughts stick with me. The first is I have always wondered how much more money would be available for the kingdom if all American Christians tithed? That is, how much money is available if each Christian gave 10% of their incomes instead of the 2.5% we statistically give? Richard Stearns, author of the book and president of World Vision, estimates we would have an extra $168 billion to spend in funding the work of the Church worldwide! That’s a big number, but when you consider that we spent $65 billion on jewelry in 2008, $58 billion on state lottery tickets in 2007, $31 billion on our pets in 2003, $13 billion on cosmetic surgery in 2007, we already have some discretionary funds.

Stearns writes “if every American churchgoer tithed, we could literally change the world. In fact, $65 billion could eliminate the most extreme poverty on the planet for more than a billion people. Universal primary education for children would cost just $6 billion, the cost to bring clean water to most of the world’s poor, an estimated $9 billion, and basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world, $13 billion (218)." Grandted, we might have to change some of the ways in which we handle and would operate with these additional monies, but the truth is that the monies to change the world are already here.

The second thought comes tomorrow.

Mistake!

I preached on 2 Timothy 2 yesterday and made a mistake (shocking, I know). Paul talks quite a bit about work and discipline in the passage and so I cited Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour principle as one way to understand all that goes into a person experiencing success. All good until I told 1/2 my church that if they were reading through the Bible with us, that at the end of the year they'd have logged over 5,000 hours- 1/2 way to be an expert. Now, I had edited my sermon and practiced it several times but didn't realize the math mistake until shortly after saying it at the 9:00 service!

Reading the bible for 15 minutes a day = 91.25 hours.

Reading the bible for 15 hours a day = 5,475 hours

There lies the mistake! And a big one at that! I apologize to 9:00 AM Hillcresters (and didn't make it in 10:30 service, so we will be posting that one on the web site!), and yet it also underscores just how much work it takes to reach expert status.

Window Washing

This past Wednesday, a few of our Hillcresters were washing windows as part of Workers on Wheels. Here's a couple pics:

Change of Plans

This Past Wednesday Night, a group of us were scheduled to begin painting some of Cleveland's playground equipment. Key word here is were. I had went to Cleveland that afternoon and then to the paint store and found I had bitten a bit of a big project. I was peppered at the paint store with questions I should have known the answers to (what color? Yellow. What kind of yellow? Uh, playground yellow? That's not helpful. Do you have a sample we could match it with? Uh, no. Well, we'll need to tint the primer too, so until you can identify the color, there's not that much we can do). So needless, to say, we had to go to plan B, which was helping Cleveland collalate back to school packs for their 29 classrooms. It was a great time, our kids were able to participate (thanks to the folks in the picture for being so kind with our kids serving), and we completed a tangible project. We'll paint next week, and you can bet I'll be better prepared! By the way, the color is "sunnyside up". Who knew?

Strong Words

Richard Stearns, World Vision President and author of The Hole in our Gospel nails it here:

There lingers in some conservative American churches a suspicion that social action and reform are somehow part of a liberal theology that substitutes good works for evangelism. Working to reclaim and reform our world today is of little import, they say, because we’ll all soon be “beaming up” to heaven. Further, the notion persists that committing one’s life to Christ begins and ends by reciting a brief prayer that activates one’s “fire insurance”. The parts about helping the poor, working for justice, and being salt and light to redeem a rebellious planet are seen as optional (202).

I think some see churches and their missional involvement in the community as a fad or the latest tool in the church growth tool box. Some adhere to Stearns' words and essentially argue that social works are misguided and are not part of the gospel. Othes will argue that churches need not go 'all in' on justice issues, but rather do them incrementally and add them on as a church program similar to small groups or children's ministries. As we prepare tonight to mow Lorna's lawn, wash Jeanette's windows, help Cleveland with some back to school work and playground painting, and stuff 200 envelopes with $10 HyVee cards that we will give to our neighbors next week, these words remind me that faith is lived out both by what we believe and what we do.

Open House

Our neighbors have their house for sale. If they move, it will be a sad day as they are great neighbors, good friends, and our kids all get along together. They had an open house the other day, and their realtor sent us a postcard inviting us to come and to check out this "3 bedroom ranch with a great fenced in backyard, close to parks and schools, and in a great neighborhood". I wondered why we received an invitation. Surely, the realtor doesn't honestly expect that I will move one house over to this house! I mean, I already have what the postcard was talking about because I live next door! I don't get it.

Good links

Andy Wright, a church planter in Dell Rapids (SD), has two good recent posts. One on the important, but tough, issue of discipling parents to disciple kids here and the other an article on 'radical' churches selling their buildings to give back to their communities here. Good stuff.

Aaron's Leadership- Part 2

I wrote yesterday of one of Aaron's glaring weaknesses, but today's post highlights one of his finest moments. In Numbers 15-16, some rogue groups are rebelling and beginning to take people with them. God responds with a plague that is wiping out thousands, but God also provides instruction for how to stop this devastating plague. And in Numbers 16:48, this is written of Aaron:

he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked.

This for me is such a profound statement. I know that it describes literally what Aaron did- by taking his censer with the incense on it, he literally prevented the plague from continuing. But I can’t help but make the connection between this event and what I am reading in The Hole in our Gospel. Years ago, the big buzz word, coined by Promise Keepers, was ‘stand in the gap’. But this image of standing between the dead and the living is also a moving image- of literally standing between life and death and preventing the spread of death. And reading a book on poverty and how preventable some of these things that are causing 26,000 people to die each day is quite sobering. The author paints the picture of 100 jets crashing each day- that’d cause quite an uproar. And yet the equivalent of that die each day and we sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Or at least I do. So I am challenged and moved by the actions of Aaron to stand between the dead and the living and to check the plague.

Aaron's Leadership- Part 1

As I read through the bible with Hillcrest, I am struck by the leadership of Aaron, Moses' sidekick of a spokesperson. Much of the attention in the bible's first five books , and rightly so, is devoted to Moses, but Aaron is an interesting leadership case study. Aaron's role in the golden calf incident in Exodus amazes me. The thing that jumps out at me Aaron’s vacancy of leadership. When the people come to him and complain, instead of redirecting them, he agrees and leads them somewhere else. When being grilled by Moses as to why this happened, he essentially says the same thing- look I agree with you, but I just caved and I didn’t say no. It’s as if he says, look, you are the leader around here, and without you here, I didn’t have anything to go off of, and I just let them do their thing. I mean, you were gone 40 days! I am not the man, you are, so what did you think was going to happen!

I think this idea of not saying no, of not feeling like the real leader, of over deferring, can be an issue for me and other leaders. I think through smaller things, whether it's a calendar issue, an event issue, a financial issues, etc, where I knew the right answer was to say no, but didn't, and then seeing the fallout that I presumed would happen, happen. Part of it is personality, but part of it is having an Aaron complex, vacating leadership or deferring leadership when I should have led. So I have tons to learn in that area of leadership, and I have much more common in Aaron during this event then I’d care to admit.

God Answers Knee Mail

For last night's Wednesday Night Service Tarina and I served with our 2-two year olds over at Fran’s house. Fran is an older woman with varying health issues. We went as part of Workers on Wheels to do some light cleaning. We vacuumed the upstairs, mopped some floors, and cleaned the bathrooms. Before we arrived at Fran's house, we were unsure what to expect, as we were bringing the 2 year olds, and bringing them into a stranger’s home (and an elderly stranger at that) and expecting to get things done with them might have been asking for too much! But the evening was a great experience. The two year olds were able to help- Kinsley used paper towels to help me clean the bathroom while Charley had his own dust pan and brush and he went around the sweeping the floors. We had the house cleaned in an hour and a half (it helped that Fran is already a pretty clean person and we didn't actually have much to clean!), but more importantly, our two years olds were introduced to one of their first serving experiences. Before we left, we all joined hands and prayed with Fran; she reminded us that God doesn’t answer email but ‘knee-mail’.

This summer we haven't provided child care for Wednesday Night Service, and I think for some folks serving with children, especially younger children, is a daunting thought. And while the thought for us is still just as daunting, and while it isn't particularly easy, it was a tremendous experience and one we won't soon forget. If the goal is to accomplish as much work as possible at a serving event, then children, especially younger children, will always seem like a hindrance. But if the goal is to engage people (especially people from different walks of life) through a serving event, then children only help to foster that engagement, and getting some work done is a bonus.

Do Something

I’m resuming reading the The Hole in our Gospel by the president of World Vision. It’s a biography type book- part his story from successful businessman to leading a nonprofit, and part teaching on what it means to follow Jesus. Something I read last night really struck me:

“I don’t want to also suggest that all true followers of Christ must forsake everything to bring comfort and justice to the poor. I only propose that a genuine concern for “the least of these” that finds tangible expression must be woven into the patterns of their life and faith. That expression might involve small but regular gifts to compassion ministries, advocating on behalf of the poor to government representatives, or regular volunteering at a soup kitchen, the local nursing home, or the Ronald McDonald Home. Even Jesus did not spend every waking hour helping the poor. He dined with the wealthy, celebrated at weddings and feasts, taught in the synagogue, and perhaps even did a bit of carpentry. Still, there is no question that his love for the poor found consistent and concrete expression in His life and ministry. The question for you and me is this: will Christ find evidence of our genuine concern for his beloved poor when he looks at the fruit of our lives on that day? (60).

It’s pretty incredible to write such graceful and challenging words at the same time. It as if to say one doesn’t have to be consumed by the poor (the grace), but one will be asked what you did for them (the challenge). I think that’s what I enjoy about projects such as Wednesday night service and even the stuff we do with Cleveland, because it’s simple and manageable steps for people to engage with the poor (or the poorer) that doesn’t take too much of a radical shift for folks. And when we engage, we learn that people, with fewer resources then us, aren’t different from us, and that they have as much to give us as we have to give them.

No Fun Allowed

It seems to me that swimming pools life guards are there for one reason: to save you in the event that you are drowning. Having now swam in pools in multiple different states this summer, I can say with confidence that life guards have a second purpose: to prevent any fun from taking place in the pool. I think lifeguards have more rules for swimmers than the people in the Old Testament. A sampling of these rules includes:

• no going down the water slide in pairs (meaning I can't take my 2 year olds down the slide)
• no going down the water slide head first (why?)
• no splashing (seriously, we are in a pool!)
• no spinning the floating frog (then perhaps you should anchor it down better, because with one anchor, it's going to spin)
• no jumping off of the floating dinosaur (or the floating frog for that matter)
• no inflatables or other pool toys allowed
• no hanging onto the metal railing (I think this one is just to show the swimmer who has the whistle)

I could go on and on, but I'm disheartened by the idea that so much effort is made into making sure kids do not have any fun. If I make a connection to parenting, and even to my relationship and work in a church, I realize I need to guard against making sure that there's more to my parenting (and that there's more to following Jesus) than just saying "no". While boundaries and limits are important, sometimes we make up rules, whether in the pool, in the home, or in the church, not because they are an important parameter to stay within, but because we are tired, lazy, or annoyed, and those aren't good reasons to make up a rule, even at the swimming pool.

An interesting idea

Click here for an interesting idea

Came apart

Went to Kmart yesterday for a couple of things and was reminded of three reasons why I rarely shop there. First, their prices. The only reason I am at Kmart is because it's close to my house, and then I leave there with two items that are easily less than $10 at the competitor but are at least a few bucks more here. Second, there is never anyone to help you at Kmart. At Wal Mart, I get this phenomenon, because at least their people are working- it is busy- and there are 10s of customers needing to check out so waiting is understandable. But at Kmart, there's like 4 of us, and it is still taking forever, and they open up a second checkout line but it doesn't work, and . . . Third, receipts. As in, I got like 3 huge receipts for two items! One was the actual receipt with a long survey for me to take (I'll skip the survey and instead blog to the 10 people, ok 3, who read this!). The other two were coupons- $5 off my next $50 grocery purchase. Wow- thanks. I understand it wouldn't take too much to get to $50 in groceries at Kmart, but whereas $5 off at Wal Mart is like a free box of cereal, at Kmart it's like a free bowl of cereal. No thanks. I am surprised I didn't get a gift receipt for my spray paint. Some blue light special . . .

The Evolution of an Idea

I was with a group last night that served free hot dogs at Frank Olson Park, located just a few blocks north of Hillcrest. It was a fun event, and also a good reminder of how an idea morphs over time and even during the event.

Living in the neighborhood, the park is a busy place in the summer. It has two playgrounds, a pool, and several softball diamonds. When I thought about doing this event, I intentionally scanned the area on a Wednesday night in June and the park was packed. Kids at the pool, at the parks, and the diamonds were full of softball players and fans. I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to bless lots of people with some free food, so I asked Joslyn, our administrative assistant, to reserve both the shelters.

Last Wednesday night, before heading out to the furniture mission, I decided to drive by the park again just to confirm that the place would be packed. Apparently, they don't play ball there in July because the diamonds were empty. The pool was somewhat busy, but there wasn't too much activity outside of that. Needless to say, I was concerned, but still hopeful that it would be a good event. I realized I no longer needed both shelters, though, and asked Joslyn to cancel one and keep the one right between the pool and the playground.

Heading into the event, I honestly thought that we would serve 100 people. It was a gorgeous summer day- sunny, warm (but not hot), a light wind- perfect for the park. I anticipated the park could be buzzing. I had predetermined that the way we would track this was through how many individual bags of chips (we'll call them the good chips) we gave out. To insure that the count would be accurate (because I was sure I'd need an accurate count), I asked our Hillcrest folks and their families to eat the chips from the four big bags (the not so good chips) that I bought for them. Pretty smart, hunh?

10 minutes into the event, I found myself in "event modification" mode. There were more Hillcresters then people at the park. There were more lifeguards at the pool then swimmers. I told the group a couple of things. First, I told them that we could fail tonight, at least in terms of how many people we serve. I am used to failing, I've failed much in my ministry career, so I generally am ok with it and try to learn from it and move on, but I wanted to caution those I was serving with that we might be disappointed with the night's results. The second thing I told them was that they could eat the good chips, because tracking guests was going to be too much of a concern, as there were none!

And yet, good things happened. Tarina and other like-minded extroverts roamed the park and told people what we were doing. They went around the pool and told the swimmers there was free food at the park's shelter. They invited the lifeguards over as well, and later took them a bunch of hot dogs and chips. During the 10 minute break, the swimmers came. Their friends came. Some families came. And while we fell short of my pre-determined 100 people goal (and much shorter of the packed June night that inspired this idea in the first place), it was a fun night, and a night where those I served with took the time, the opportunity, and the risk to engage our community, not on our turf over at the church building, but at a neutral site like the park.

Cash is King

A recent conversation with my six year old during the "10 minute break" at the swimming pool:

Riley: "Dad, did you bring any snacks?"

Me: "No, I forgot" (I'm not sure snacks actually crossed my mind).

Riley: "Mom would have brought snacks"

Me: "I know".

Riley: "Do you have any money for snacks?"

Me: "No" (it is towards the end of the pay period; I don't have money for anything!)

Riley: "Does Mom have any money?"

Me: "No" (apparently, he hasn't figured out that we share our money).

Riley: "Do you have a credit card? Because with a credit card you can buy snacks without having any money."

Me: (thinking, how does he know this?!?) "I know, but no, your mom and I do not have a credit card".

Riley: (disappointed, but understanding) "ok".

Church = Building?

Adam Sieff, our student ministries director at Hillcrest (and budding Hip Hop artist) gave his first sermon Sunday (it was excellent!) on who the church is (a hope, a blessing, a people, etc) and what it is not (mainly, a building). And yet so much of what we talk about and discuss and even read almost makes the subliminal connection that the church is a building. We're reading through the Bible at Hillcrest and we're almost done with Exodus, and as much as the book is about the people's exit from Egypt, you could almost argue that a better title would be "how to build a tabernacle". Over 11 chapters in Exodus contain either instructions for how the tabernacle was to be built and/or instructions concerning the priests once the structure was completed!

A popular blog I read by a well known church leader has been interviewing several other well-known pastors and asking them, among other questions, what their current biggest leadership challenge is, and many of the answers deal with 'church as building' kinds of issues whether it's a new facility, moving facilities, or securing facilities for multiple campuses. I don't doubt the sincerity of these leaders, and am not saying that talking about buildings or acquiring new buildings is a bad thing (perhaps it's even some steeple envy on my end, as Adam preached about Sunday), but to learn that church is people, many of us have to unlearn that church is a building, because we see and hear so much of it.

The biggest ethical issue in our world

I'm teaching a college ethics class right now and recently asked my students (as part of an online discussion forum) this question: What is the biggest ethical issue facing our world? The answers have been insightful and thoughtful and include the economy and corresponding meltdown of the financial markets, to greed, to misunderstanding of different cultures, to stem cell research, to a sense that people overall are apathetic and don't care about these and other issues. So, what say you? What's are the bigger ethical issues facing our world today?

Why I love the Furniture Mission

Last night I took Riley and Wesley with me to serve with the Furniture Mission and I enjoy it every time I serve with them, for these reasons:

• You meet the people you help- last night we were at Jon's apartment and then later at Gina's. Both were very appreciative for the furniture, and both are going through difficult times, especially Gina, who had just lost everything. Being able to pray with each of them was a privilege and an opportunity to ask God to continue to provide comfort and strength.
• You see different parts of Sioux Falls- I was at a recent meeting where a non-profit director commented that the poor are spread throughout all of Sioux Falls (not centralized in just one area like downtown). One tour on the Furniture Mission proves her point as we've made deliveries in the known poorer areas like Pettigrew Heights, but have also been out by the zoo and out by the mall.
• You connect with one another- me and my boys got to spend a good chunk of time with Darwin and I am thankful for that. They get to see a true man of God in action, serving, praying, talking with them, letting them ride in the truck, etc, and that impact is priceless.

Rewarding Participation

All of my children just completed swimming lessons this past month. All of them received their participation certificates and were passed onto their next level of swim lessons. One of my children, though, spent more time out of the pool during swim lessons not wanting to do swim lessons than in the pool actually learning some basics about swimming. At the end of the week, this child too received a certificate. Upon receiving the certificate, I kind of scoffed to Tarina that this child didn't swim enough to merit a certificate. She gave me the 'are you serious' look that I am accustomed to getting after sharing my wisdom, muttered something about the scrapbook, and left it at that. For Sioux Falls parks and rec, participating is what mattered and what they rewarded (full disclaimer: as the kids get older, they have to master certain skills, like not drowning, in order to pass to the next level).

Contrast this rewarding participation approach with some of the children's discipleship programs you see in some churches. Whether it's AWANA, Pioneer Clubs, etc, the goal seems to be the same: for children to grow in their relationship with Jesus through memorizing scripture. The leaders of these various programs figured out too that kids will do what you reward, so the more you memorized, the more you were rewarded (trophies, patches, dollars to spend at the store, etc). This had a great effect for those who could learn verses well. But for the child who had difficulty learning verses, the results were often disastrous, especially store night, where Bibleman had 200 dollars to spend while the child who didn't memorize as much had only a few bucks to spend.

I grew up in an AWANA program and learned so much from it; it also fit my personality and learning style well. I also led AWANA programs and begin to see some of the unitentional damage being done by such a heavy focus on rewarding those who memorized the most. The prgoram in and of itself isn't bad, but sometimes how we work it out can be.

I find it interesting how one youth program, swim lessons, rewards participation (again, at the younger levels) while another youth program (children's discipleship) rewards achievement. You might think that it be the other way around, that the 'secular' program would reward achievement and the 'church' program would reward participation.

A good idea gone bad

I am sure that the person who invented signs for church vans thought it was a classic idea. What better way to advertise your church then when you are driving around town, picking up people for your services or programs, that you are a church? Throw your name on there, some contact information, and it's a low cost, low effort marketing tool that raises awareness of your church. Brilliant. Except for two things:

• People still drive the church van, meaning that inevitable you are going to cut someone off, change lanes without signaling, roll through a stoplight, tailgate, drive too slow, whatever, and when you commit said traffic violation, the person who's about ready to show you their appreciation for your crazy skills now gets to associate said traffic violations with your church. This case alone is not worth it.
• Youth ministries primarily use church vans. I'm not ripping on youth ministries here, but I was sure glad that the two youth ministries I spent 10+ years in did not have the church's name on it. Especially when my group was kicked out of Fargo's mall. Twice. Nothing worse than being escorted out of the mall by a rent a cop only for him to see us heading to our van with the church's name on it (though he probably already figured that out by looking at our color coded trip shirts).

If you are going to put your church name on your van, you may want to add one of those "don't like my driving (my youth group, my men's/women's group, etc", call . . ." bumper stickers. And then give them a different church's number!

Beware of Serving!

As we come up on one year of serving on Wednesday nights and almost two years of service within the community, I am struck by how messy missional work can be. Within the past month or so, a couple of unique situations have come up:

• a group of ours who was building a handicapped accessible ramp for a person, only to find out that the night they were to finish the ramp, the police were looking for the man (who was in the hospital!).
• someone whom we have served several times throughout the past year believes that a group of ours damaged some of her property

Situations such as this can dampen the serving spirit. We may question what it is that we are doing, take steps (in the form of policies or procedures) to guard against future occurrences such as these, and be slower to respond to needs that come because we're a bit gunshy. There can be wisdom in some of these approaches, but if they take us out of the serving game, the other side wins. Serving is messy because life often is messy.