Friday, July 31, 2009

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.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

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.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

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.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

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.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

An interesting idea

Click here for an interesting idea

Saturday, July 18, 2009

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 . . .

Thursday, July 16, 2009

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.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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".

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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.

Monday, July 13, 2009

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?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

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.

Monday, July 6, 2009

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.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

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!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

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.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Who moved my . . .

I was recently at a meeting (not related to Hillcrest) where the leadership announced a major change that would affect everyone, and would affect everyone soon. The change will significantly alter how this organization operates on a day to day basis (the bad news) but is also a major cost saving measure (the good news). While it is certainly relevant to discuss and debate the merits of this change (or any change, for that matter), most of the room was caught off guard by the swiftness and the suddenness of the change. Looking back, I think a couple of items could have made the meeting (and the communication) go smoother:
  • Widen the first group you tell about the change- I was surprised by some people in the room who didn't know anything about the change (and I thought they would have known about it). I think those people were surprised as well that they weren't in on the first round of communication. If there are key people who will need to be ok with a change before making it, better to tell them as soon as you can so they can advocate for it and not rally against it.
  • Anticipate potential questions-I was also surprised at how little thought went into anticipating some of the questions that the change raised. Some of the questions seemed basic and reflexive- just a bit of forethought could have provided good information as well as assured the asker of the question that things are good. Instead, the "we'll note that down" and "we'll have to see" only created more confusion and drew more questions.
  • Highlight benefits- I admit that there is a fine line between highlighting the benefits of a change and over promising or manipulating or whatever, but it seems like we can do better at explaining how a potential change could be good for us, the team, the organization, etc. These are 'big picture' moments. With everyone trying to filter the change through how it affects them, if the leader can bring them back to the big picture, people might just sacrifice some for the good of a good team.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Jubilee Article

Our denomination recently highlighted Hillcrest and the Jubilee- read about it here.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

In the News

KELO ran a story last night on Cindy Cummins and her recent adoption of Mataya from China. Since I am pre-writing this post, I am unsure of the exact link, but check KELO's site for Tuesday's "Eye on Keloland".

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