Nostalgia - Memories, Moments, & Smiles

Nostalgia. A sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time. We all have at least one. One memory. One moment. One smile. So, here's some nostalgia from my childhood...a little trip down memory lane.

• Within the parking lot of McDonald's. Sitting alongside my grandpa. In his old truck. Eating a fish sandwich after an afternoon of fishing. Laughing and smiling.
• Watching the nightly show of flickering fireflies. A masterpiece.
• Resting against a fence post. Looking across the snow covered fields. Falling in love with the amazing beauty of creation.
• Soaking in the warmth of a radiator. Lying on the kitchen floor. Listening to the old farm house creak and clank.
• Playing hide and seek with Scottie, my dog. (Side note. I was an only child.)
• Listening to the sounds of holiday prep. Blenders, buzzers, pots, and pans. Basking in the glow of holiday lights.
• Enjoying a Mars Bar after golf lessons. Thanks dad!

These memories, moments, and smiles have defined and molded the person before you today. The person sitting opposite your monitor. Blogging and typing away my nostalgia.

What's your nostalgia? How has this nostalgia defined and molded you?

Just as important. This nostalgia plugs into the local church. Into your church. The hugs, laughs, lessons, ministries, prayers, sermons, and tears of yesteryear. Defining and molding. Thus, here's the important point. Ready? Get your notepad and pen. And...go.

The only way for a church to move forward is to look back. Paradoxically, change can come only when the good past is guarded with passion. (pg. 69 of Transforming Church by Kevin Ford)

The What If Of Blogs

Blogs are a funny thing. A mouthpiece of one. A mouthpiece reaching a virtually unlimited audience. Pretty amazing actually and somewhat scary all at the same time. Day after day. Hour after hour. Minute after minute. Blog after blog. Authored, burned, fetched, pinged, posted, and tagged all across the globe. And guess what tomorrow holds? Yep. More of the same.

I have several blogs listed within my reader. Check them each day. Often, a couple times each day. I maintain two and soon to be three blogs. Much like a good book or a good song...I love a good blog.

Here are some of my favorites. Church Marketing Sucks. Dan Kimball. Seth Godin. Tony Morgan. All blogs on church, culture, leadership, and ministry. All good and highly recommended. Perhaps not your cup of tea. Well, there are blogs about anything and everything. Building, designing, driving, flying, gardening, hiking, painting, running, surfing, and so on. If you can name it, there's likely a blog about it.

These blogs probably suck up more energy and time than I'd care to admit or really even want to know. Makes me wonder. What if?

What if the church believed and loved as much as they emailed and followed?

What if the church proclaimed and served as much as they messaged and posted?

What if the church trusted and witnessed as much as they subscribed and tweeted?

Want to get personal...perhaps sting a little. Forget the church. You are the church. We are the church. I am the church.

So. What if you? What if we? What if I?

Death By Twitter

Those of you on Twitter will appreciate this rockumentary from the David Crowder Band. It's a riot! If you're not on Twitter, fly away now, as you'll only be scratching your head. Let's not puzzle your puzzler more than necessary. After all, it's the weekend.

Note. You'll never fully "get" Twitter until you take the plunge. Come on...everybody's doing it. And I don't want to hear any bridge jumping analogies, which you've likely committed to memory thanks to your parents. Despite what you may think...Twitter is not suicide.

So, look me up on Twitter here. Have a great weekend! Tweet twit away.

Eternal Or Tacky

What grabs attention? Perhaps something shocking? Do you slow to peek, peep, or peer at whatever debacle sits roadside...usually encompassing someone's misfortune. Yes, this misfortune is shocking at times. But, is shocking always better?

More than shocking...I love to preach engaging. Engaging grabs attention! An engaging conversation, culture, painting, people, picture, piece, etc. Engaging will accomplish just that. It engages people, which cracks the doors for true conversations...for soul conversations. These cracks are the significance of life. These cracks are what thrusts doors open for eternity. These cracks are an engaging concept.

To risk some silliness...this engaging concept is why Mickey Mouse poses within my watch. Sure, I love Disney. But, this watch is also a great conversation provoker and starter. Provoking and starting and hopefully leading to the significance of life...these cracks. Sounds silly, right? But, conversation tends to flow and grow quickly beyond a cartoon mouse. I recently applied this philosophy to my iPhone. A picture of my new case is below...my wife hates it. I tried to explain my engaging concept. But, we seem to lack a kindred spirit. Instead, she goes straight to...what was it again...oh ya, tacky. Your thoughts?

The Bottom Line

Death By Paralysis

When Ishbosheth heard...he lost all courage and ALL Israel became paralyzed with fear. 2 Samuel 4:1.

First off...what kind of name is Ishbosheth. Poor guy. I bet he never got teased. Sure - ya right! So, for you expecting parents, take this one off your list of potentials for little Johnny. You'll thank me later...and so will Johnny.

Anyways...talk about the importance of leadership. The crippling of one leader froze an entire nation. ALL Israel. What? Say that again. One man froze one nation. An entire nation. Not ten men, five men, or even two men. But, one man.

So, leaders need to lead. Simple enough. Right? Despite what you may hear - cast your eyes upon the Lord and lead - cling to His cross and lead. Ignore the whats and whys of your ear, as they completely deflated our friend, Ishbosheth. They promise the same for you - while clapping, singing, and smiling along the way.

The alternate is paralysis, which generally leads to a slow and painful death. Until next time. Jed.

Whose Work Is It Anyways

Recently, I attended a book tour for Killing Cockroaches by Tony Morgan. Tony had some great insights and thoughts. Here's one that stuck with me...

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Now these are the gifts of the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT)

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up. You mean God's work rests upon God's people? The short and long answers are yes. Regardless, we prefer to punt this responsibility to the pastors and preachers. After all, let's keep evangelism where it belongs...in the pews. People come to the pews. How they get there is a little foggy. But, once there, the pastors and preachers do their thing. They preach to the pews, as we sit and smile and pretend our lives are the perfect sunset. Let's review. Come to the pews. Preach to the pews. Sit, smile, and pretend. Call it a pew mentality.

This mentality racks up the victims, including myself. It's comforting. It's nonthreatening. It's warming. Let's be honest...it's just flat out easy! The one thing it's not is engaging. What did Paul say again? Something about equipping me and you to build up the church. Ok. Slow down a notch and allow this truth to sink in. ME and YOU. Who? ME and YOU. One more time. ME and YOU.

So, no more belly aching, complaining, finger pointing, griping, or name calling. Evangelism must no longer be an event. An event is planned. An event is scheduled. An event has a start and finish. Evangelism must be a lifestyle. Bottom line...God's people must be engaging!

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Fairly obvious God is trying to tell me something...perhaps about my personal life. :-) After all, there's always room for improvement. Right? Any thoughts?