Special Delivery!!

OK so yes I am excited tonight.

I get home and I find a package on my table..

What package you say…(or not really but play along)

Well, a few months ago, just after I found out about Church IT RoundTable, I was searching through the vast amount of new blogs and had ran across one I really liked.

That blog happened to be Tim Stevens of Granger Community Church in Granger, IN.

Anyway, he had a contest about finding where he was writing his book at.  Well, I happened to know the city where he was staying quite well…and I guessed it!

So I opened the package up and looked inside and was excited to see.. his book!

I’ll be sure to post about it when I read it.

Go check out Tim Stevens and give a big hello!  (and go buy his book)!

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Recently, I’ve read a few blog posts that stand out to me in regards to how people are treated both in ministry settings and personal. 

There is a saying I’ve heard many times:

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

While I will again say that we are not trying to gain a following but to help people in their lives, we cannot do that unless we have established that we care for them in whatever state they come in. 

A good example of this is a small story that Kathy Guy, Director of Community at Granger Community Church, tells about what person visiting one of their classes said. The guest commented that “I’ve never been in church before where it’s safe for broken people. Thank you. It’s really helping me.”

The question remains for the lot of us, what are we needing to do to change perception and change our attitudes and thoughts about those who are broken and hurting and calling for help and do not fit our mold.

What are things that you all are doing to help gain people’s trust?

This year I decided I was going to participate in Lent. Quite a few people have asked me why I decided to do such a thing since it’s “not in the Bible” and quite a few Bible School students I know didn’t even know what it was and those that did associated just with the Roman Catholic Church.  I think some more church history lessons are needed.

Lent lasts 40 days (like Christ’s 40 days in the desert), generally from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. In this time, we are to remember and prepare for the commemoration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ed Gungor, Pastor of Peoples Church, describes the Lent season as a time in which we to make room for God in our lives.  I know I get busy with all the things going on in my life and take more into thought material items than I do Christ and his everlasting love for us.

I decided to remove Pop (or soda for you other people).  I’ve had pop all of my life and never go without it each day.  I have to say the first two weeks were stinking hard.   But every time I had a battle, I did my best to keep the focus on why I was doing this seemingly trivial abstinence.  Needless to say, there were quite a few occurrences and struggles.

I have to say I recommend participating in Lent for any Christ-follower, even us Charismatics and Protestants..  It’s been a very good experience and time to regain some focus back on Christ.

Today (the 24th that is), was my birthday.  To those who ask this question, yes, having your birthday right before Christmas is not usually a winning combination.  Every year, a large majority forget that it’s my birthday, even though I see many of them at the Christmas Eve church service, etc.  I don’t say this for sympathy or anything like that, not looking for that at all.

Even though I know and understand that people are very very busy this time of year, I still wish to be remembered and appreciated.  I didn’t hear from a few people that I would have loved to today, whether that is me being selfish or whatever, I don’t know, but I felt kind of down that they didn’t call.  I wanted to feel remembered and appreciated for being me on my “special” day.

How many times do the people in our congregations or staff members or neighbors feel the same way our churches or work places?  People have a want to be remembered and appreciated.  They want to be noticed and feel like they mean something in our busy lives and schedules.  I know people who have written thank you notes for when the Pastor asked how their son was, and he remembered the son’s name.  The parents felt special at that moment and felt cared for, not just another tithe check.  I’m not saying that we are pandering or playing towards people, but trying to come in on a personal caring level.

What steps are we taking to ensure the best possible relational interaction as the church?  What can we do to help people not fall through the cracks?

Mark Batterson writes in his book, In a Pit With a Lion On A Snowy Day, 

 Jesus commissioned the church in Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it.” Gates are defensive devices. Storming those gates requires offensive measures. Think of the church as a battering ram. 

 Who is ready for a dangerous church?  It’s coming… 

Over the past year, I have been involved in many new projects at work. I love doing new things, though they can take a lot of time and energy. One thing that I wish I had earlier was a group of like-minded tech people to bounce ideas off of and hear what they are going through as well. After searching for information on ministries using Fellowship 1, I ran across a few blogs; one of them being Jason Powell of Granger Community Church.

Finding that blog and then the Church IT Roundtable set off a series of discovering a whole world I never thought to look for. I have since found and added to my RSS reader numerous blogs from IT and communications staff members, leaders, and pastors. Many of which can be found on the blog roll on the right..

Well to list some of the projects I am immediately engrossed in, here we go.
PeopleSoft Enterprise CRM
ChMS Selection
SAN Storage and Consolidated Backup Selection
Complete website redesign and backend creation
Collarboration Software Selection

Again, going through some of these now, knowing there are others who have gone before us and have graciously offered insight into their experiences is going to be a very valuable and helpful asset.

So I am going to try and start a real blog.  I’m really not for sure why though.  I’ve been reading a lot of them lately, maybe that is why.  There are a great deal of people who have a great deal to say, whether or not it is profitable..that’s another story.  I cannot say where mine falls in regards to quality.  The site still need a whole lot of work and tweaking, but that doesn’t mean I can’t post.  Make sure you check out the blogroll too.  Some of those guys and gals are amazing reads.  So off to the races.

 I was sitting in McAlister’s yesterday eating lunch.  I hate McAlister’s.  I don’t like their food, their quality of service, or their prices, but there are times I still go there.  Sometimes I go for the comapany of friends or co-workers. Other times it’s for the tea.  I do like their sweet tea.  It’s not my favorite (I like a bit stronger) but it still is good. 

 As I sat there, I realized that even though I genuinely do not like the place, I still go back.  For one reason or another. Then I started wondering how many times do people go to their church or their small group, absolutely hating it, but because their friends are there or their kids love the church they continure to go back.  Which bring us to the question, if they continue to go and do not like it, do they get anything out of it?  Do they tell everyone how much they do not like it but refuse to share their thoughts within the organization or group or church?

I guess you could say, it’s good that you have a great product or service or whatever that brings people in, but then you have to wonder, how do you handle or proceed knowing that this attitude exists?  Can people really stick around because they become comfortable in the fact they know they will receive one or two good items in a stream of consistently poor items?

I would say that while we cannot compromise our teachings, message, service of God OR seek the admiration of all, I believe there comes a point where we must seek to understand our communities, if you will, and make subtle changes on what is not “working.” 

I must say I am glad we have the Holy Spirit in us and do not have to be the best doctors in the world, having to diagnose all problems and find the solution! 

 Be sure and posts your thoughts below!  I’m hoping I’ll get better at posting coherent thoughts..

The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter-he’s got to just know.
  - Will Rogers