Crash Sunday Morning Proposal

Here's a direction I propose we head. This is my best shot at taking into consideration everything that was mentioned at the meeting we had on 8/27, and picking a few good things that were brought up, and trying to incorporate those ideas into a format that I think we can execute with excellence.


Please think about it, and let me know if you see any glaringly wrong. Or speak up if you see something that needs to be tweaked.


1. A proposed "format" - Use a program similar to Buya, but get more students to be up front, running the show, and incorporate more student stories. Specifically, this is what I think a typical Sunday could look like. Please understand any of these parts could be substituted for some other element, or rearranged altogether, on any particular Sunday.

• 10:35(whenever 1st service ends)-11:05 - Hangout time
• 11:05 Start our program
• Use student and leader pairs to "emcee" (lead) the programming.
• Do something fun up front, like a game or funny video that draws everyone together
• Announcements about upcoming events would happen here too
• 11:15 - A video about our topic
• 11:20 - A student shares a story, or a student/leader interviews a student, about how the topic has affected them
• 11:30 - Message over a topic (probably most commonly done by an adult/leader)
• 11:50 - Pray, dismiss, and perhaps always have a "take home" piece of scripture, or encouraging note, or follow up activity. Perhaps even the last 2-3 minutes of the message, before the prayer/dismissal, could be a student sharing a practical application of the message or something they're going to try to do this week that has to do with the topic. Kind of an "I Will.." that we don't have to say is an "I Will", but is an example from a real student's life of how to try to live out the truth that was just discussed.
• 11:50-12:10 - Hangout time until service lets out.

2. The "Wow!" Factor - What about a full service, Starbucks style espresso bar operating out of the window in the kitchen??? My wife, who is much cooler than me, has always thought that a full-blown, full drink menu (so espresso drinks, iced coffees, teas, etc) type cafe would ROCK if we could just make it happen. This may be a "Wow!" thing we could pull off, and could be very attractive to high school students. What do you think? Would it be cool to come up into the Attic at 10:40am and get a mocha with your friends before we started our service? Would it be "invite" worthy?

3. Essential Needed Student Roles/Ownership - THIS IS THE CRITICAL PART! Without students who "own" this, meaning, if they don't sign up regularly to help make it happen--it won't happen! You have to want to do this so much that you'll find other students to help you pull it all off. It won't be good enough for you to sign up for your role, we absolutely need students committed to getting other students to sign up for roles as well. Here are some of the roles we'll need you to fill, and for you to convince your friends to fill, too.

• Greeters - At least 2-4 students working to specifically say "hi" to every student and to, MOST IMPORTANTLY, sit with and be friends with new students during the service. Greeters will have to resist the urge to go sit with and only talk to "their" friends. Greeters will have to desire making new relationships and see every single new student as a potential new friend. Remember what we said? Every single student has infinite value no matter what they wear or what their interests. Too many of us feel like "trash" every single week. We can NOT let any student feel like "trash" on a Sunday!!! 
• Baristas - At least 2, maybe 3, that can be trained on an espresso machine, can take orders, and make coffee/drinks. The coffee shop would be open from 10:35-11:05 (when our Crash program starts), and then could open up again from like 11:50-12:10 (when our Crash program ended).
• Story Leaders - A group of 4-6 students who would be willing to:
• A - share their own personal story or be interviewed on any given Sunday about whatever the topic is going to be
• B - are willing to go out and find others that would be willing to share/be interviewed about a topic on any given Sunday
• Special Note - This also could be a PRIME OPPORTUNITY for anyone who likes to make videos/films/digital stuff. For example, I'm betting there's at least one of you that would LOVE the chance to do your own interviews among your peers using your phones/mobile devices.
• Emcees - 3 or 4 students who would be responsible enough to review the Sunday planning ahead of time and who'd be comfortable getting up front and getting on microphone to help an adult leader lead the Crash program.
• Video "Miners" - This role isn't quite as essential as the others listed, but it could be cool to have students who are able to "mine" the internet for videos that could be used for stories. Coming up with relevant videos that students enjoy watching is actually one of the most difficult pieces of planning a Sunday morning program. So if you enjoy finding the new videos and sharing cool stuff you find with your friends, I'd love to have any/all of you just sending me links every week to the stuff you find!

4. A Special Note About Music On Sundays - I am all for music being used on Sundays in a "performance" style mode, kind of like how big church does it. If we had the people/abilities to do music, I'd be all for seeing what would happen with artists/musicians who'd want to get up in front of everyone and share a song, or something they created, that had to do with the topic and what God was teaching them. I would not see us doing regular, corporate "everyone stand and sing" worship music, however. Mainly for two reasons:

• Out of respect for the seeker. Big Church will occasionally do worship songs, but rarely do they do it with the expectation that everyone in the room stand and sing. I personally believe (but could be wrong) that performing a worship song for the seeker (and then having that artist explain why/what makes the worship song powerful) would be completely ok, and even cool. But I don't like the idea of seekers feeling like they're expected to participate in worshiping a God they don't believe in yet. So when I think about music done in a "performance" style, I think "AWESOME!" But when I think about worship music done with the hope that everyone will join along and sing, I cringe a bit, because I think that could create a type of tension that we don't want to create on a Sunday morning.
• I still hope to do Collides on a quarterly basis, and incorporate a lot of worship, response stations, etc. I think corporate worship will have a lot more excellence, and be in a better spot for our ministry if we focus on Collides as worship nights.

5. NEED YOUR RESPONSE - Will you please email me with what you want to help out with, or what any general thoughts or comments you have about what has been said here? My hope would be to get this stuff all going in the next 4-5 weeks. Trevor Moran and I are renting a dumpster Wednesday to throw out all the old stuff. So in the next 2-3 weeks we'll probably schedule a "painting and planning" night to paint the walls, and to solidify the roles we can each own. I'd like to know ahead of time which roles you think you might be interested in, so please help me with that.

THANKS!

At Second Glance - Reading the Bible

A second look at this past week's message from Shoal Creek's Student Ministries...

This past Sunday our topic was "Reading the Bible," and we focused on the factors that keep us from reading, and believing, the bible.

Our biggest obstacle, what keeps us from reading the bible more than anything else, is that we don’t want to be told what to do. Generally speaking, we all intensely desire and are attached to our personal freedom. Nothing can ruin my mood more than when someone else tells me what to do, regardless of whether I respect them or not. I like doing things my way. You like doing things your way. We all "buck" authority in our lives when any kind of authority suggests that we should do things their way instead of our own.

So naturally, when the concept of reading the bible comes up, there is an internal resistance that comes from our desire to keep doing things our way. When we look at the bible, or think about the bible, we default into thinking about it like some kind of spiritual instruction manual. We assume that the purpose of the bible is to tell us what to do and what not to do. We assume the bible is like spiritual "home work," and we all HATE homework, don't we?

To fix that, we have to stop looking at the bible as a set of directions, and start looking at it like a story. This might sound weird, but let me tell you something: the primary purpose of the bible is NOT to tell you what to do!!! Crazy, huh?!?! It’s really not! The bible is more like a diary--God's diary. In the bible are stories, and poems and accounts of the lives of God's people over the centuries. When we engage the bible, we need to start with primarily asking ourselves, "What does this tell me about God?" 

You see, you and I, we all have our own views about who God really is. The primary purpose of the bible is to help you know who God—your Creator—is!!! The bible is NOT trying to control you!!! The bible is actually trying to SET YOU FREE!!! 

We absolutely need God to help us from being controlled by destructive forces in our lives (sin). Meaning, the broken internal thoughts/feelings that you have about yourself that lead you to do what you do. We all completely miss how much God loves us and how worthy we are to him, so we all seek affirmation apart from God--that's what "sin" is. We seek to make ourselves feel better with things that are not God, because we don't understand how completely and absolutely God loves us. Because if we did, we would of our own will (so not forced) choose to honor God at of gratitude/thankfulness for what he has done/will do for us.

More than anything else, the bible is trying to tell you who God is, because if you ever really get to know Him, there’s NO WAY your life won’t be changed. The bible isn’t trying to force you to do anything. The bible is trying to show you the amazing awesomeness of God!!! The bible isn’t trying to change us through force; the bible is trying to win us over by showing us how much God loves us.

As we come to understand how infinite God's love for us is, our hearts will begin to change and to want the same things God wants. And THAT--wanting the same thing God wants--is what "obedience" is. Obedience isn't becoming a mindless robot, as we often mis-think that's what it means. Obedience is wanting what God wants, and when we obey God, we experience God's life-changing love.

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Jesus, John 15:9-13 

Shoal Creek Student Family Weekly Update 8/19

Hey Buya and Crash Families, here are all the things to pay attention to for students!

1. Check out Justin Talley's "At Second Glance", a review of the message given this past Sunday in Shoal Creek's Student Ministries. Find it here.

2. Crash Sunday Morning Change-Up Coming in Sept! After just seeing what would happen with a combined 6th-12th grade service on Sundays, we've gotten enough feedback to know that the Crash students need their own space on Sundays. Sometime in September this will happen as we will move back into the Attic for a high school only, 11am service.

• OF SPECIAL NOTE - We absolutely need the help of students and adults to make this happen. Specifically, if you're a student, would you like to a planning meeting next Wed, Aug 27th, at 7pm in the Attic to help us plan September?

3. Crash Small groups will be starting up again Wed Sept 3rd, in The Attic, 6:30pm-8:15pm. Message Justin Talley or reply to this if you have any questions.

4. Want to go the the Hillsong concert next Monday August 25th? Justin is seeing how big of a group wants to go. Message him for details.

At Second Glance - Sheep and Goats

A second look at this past week's message from Shoal Creek's Student Ministries...

This past Sunday our topic was "Seeing the Needs Around us," and the teachings of Jesus that we focused on came from Matthew 25:31-40. In this teaching, Jesus says there will be a day when all of the people of the earth will separated as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats of his herd. The goats will be on the left, and the sheep will be on the right. Out of those two groups, it will be the sheep that will be rewarded. Here's the scripture:

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Coming from and having grown up in a rural community, there were a couple observations I gathered about sheep and goats that might translate into what Jesus was ultimately trying to say.

First, goats always seem to be hanging out by themselves, while sheep "flock" to one another. This is probably an over generalization, but it might be on target for what Jesus was trying to communicate. This passage ultimately is trying to communicate that by giving our lives away, by helping others, by meeting the needs of the people we live, work, and play with, will not earn us, but will be given to us by grace, the Kingdom of God.

The only way to be aware of the needs of others is to seek to know them and to put ourselves in a close enough proximity of others, that we might learn their needs. If we're like the lone goat, standing off by itself, unmindful and uncaring of the rest of the herd, we won't be in a position to make a real difference in the lives of others. Jesus would have us be sheep--close enough to each other to be aware of each other's needs and desiring to stay close enough to do something positive about them.

The second observation about goats is they seem to be more consumers while sheep seem to be more givers. Again, another blatant over generalization, but think about it.

What are sheep mainly known for? No, not their dynamic personalities. Their wool! The life of a sheep is one continual, literal cycle of giving "the shirt off their own back" to those that don't have one. We round them up a couple times of year and shear what they've naturally been given by God to make clothing for ourselves. 

What does the goat do? Eat. My parents have a goat, and that's all it does. Eat. Continuously. I don't even think it's one of those dairy producing goats. It just stands around, eats, and then poops.

Perhaps I'm spending too much time trying to force a spiritual and physical metaphor together in what Jesus said in Matthew 25--it wouldn't be the first time.

However, I have a notion to believe that if doing so actually leads you and I lead more communal lives, lives that are more connected to one another, and not just connected, but aware of each other's needs, then that's ok.

The point is that Jesus desires for us to take what we're naturally gifted with and to give it to others that need what we have--just like a plain old sheep. 

Shoal Creek ParenTeen - Is my teen developing a heart for God? Part 2

I ran across a series of concise, one minute audio snapshots that seek to give us examples of what to look for to determine if our teens are developing what might be called "heart for God".

I have listened to the second session, which can be found here if you'd like to listen to it on your own. Below I've written out the summary of what I listened to, and then provide my own take on how we might be able to tell if our teen is on what I think of as a "Kingdom-Bound" trajectory. 

Sign #2 That Our Teen May Be Developing a Heart For God = Teens that are developing a heart for God will have a desire to participate in corporate worship and instruction.

This pretty much just means, "A teen who is developing a heart for God will want to go to church services so that they can be surrounded by others that are pursuing the same thing--God--that they are."

Again, kind of a "no-duh." Meaning, of course they'll like going to church if they like God. Perhaps we'd get more out of this Sign #2 if we thought about the biggest reason why our teens don't want to go to church. 

The biggest reason teens don't like going to church is that it church can very easily seem completely non-relevant to their lives. Most likely, they know very few people who've been revolutionized by the love of Jesus, and never end up saying to themselves, "Wow! Following Jesus really DOES make a difference! I want some of that! Let's go to church!"

The average teenager is overly busy, overly committed to school, extra curricular activities, and/or overly concerned with finding acceptance among their peers. The don't see the power Jesus' Kingdom in their everyday world, so going to church seems like a waste of time.

Teenagers (and adults alike) will always feel like going to church is a waste of time unless the ones who claim to follow Jesus verbalize their personal reasons for going, and by example show the difference that Jesus is making in their personal lives.

Humans need to "see it to believe it", so those who follow Jesus need to show--and VERBALIZE--from their own lives, the difference that Jesus is making.

Which really should make us ask ourselves, "What kind of difference IS Jesus making in my life RIGHT NOW?" If you can find an answer that question, then the next time that your teen is dragging their heels on going to church (or serving, or giving, or whatever the spiritual practice may be), we need to be ready to verbalize why it's important to us, and help them understand that our job as parents/adults is to help them experience the same kind of positive life transformation that can be found in following Jesus.

Mountaintop Experiences

This past weekend my family and I were fortunate enough to visit the Land of Branson--an almost mythical land where time stopped in about the 1950's. We visited the beating heart of Branson, Silver Dollar City. We really did have an excellent time, and the trip was perfect for my two young boys. We went underground into a real cave (not the normal fleece blanket draped over pillow cushions). And we got to ride all kinds of "Wacky-Worm-Esque" roller coasters, while stuffing our guts with peanut brittle and sarsaparilla.

At one point, my wife and I got away from the kids to go jump on "Thunderation" an actual adult-sized roller coaster, one of the wooden ones that throw your spine out of place. One the way up, and down, and then up again, and down again, and then corkscrewing all around, my stomach tried to veto the buttery succotash I had just loaded up on. Luckily, I was able to by executive order keep it down. After we got off the ride though, and even for the rest of the day, I never could quite shake that sick-to-my-stomach feeling. The ride started off great. The excitement of going up was awesome. But the constant up and down over and over again made me not want to get on another ride.

I find this to be so true in each day that I try to believe in and follow God in my life. I have wonderful ups, wonderful mountaintop experiences, but then the downs always make me sick to my stomach. I easily become intimidated and hesitant of allowing myself to enjoy the ride.

I happened to be reading the story of Elijah this past week, found in 1 Kings 18-19. In this particular part of Elijah's story, I found myself empathetic to Elijah's situation. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah just experienced a truly colossal and life-affirming victory. On top of a mountain, Mount Carmel, Elijah wagered his own life against the life of 450 others. Elijah not only won his wager, but absolutely embarrassed his opponents. Elijah bet his life on God showing up, and God did. God didn't just show up, but God also proved he was undoubtedly the superior spiritual and physical force when compared to the god of the other 450 prophets. Elijah was basking in God's realness, and would've felt the soul-satisfying feeling of being higher than any other object around him. He was having a truly classic mountaintop victory.

However, in the very next chapter of 1 Kings, because of the victory Elijah had been champion of, the opposing, losing forces put a bounty on his head, forcing Elijah to flee for his life. Though Elijah was figuratively still within arm's reach God's undeniable presence, Elijah decided to plunge himself into the wilderness in an attempt to escape his pursuers. Though Elijah had just tasted God's realness and victory, he found himself now alone in the wilderness saying, "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died."

Though Elijah is only very recently removed from undeniable proof that his God is undoubtedly real--and not just real, but loving towards him--Elijah becomes ready to give up hope. In fact, after confessing that he is ready to die, he lays his head down under a tree, spent, with no more will to go on.

We feel spent, in some form or another, almost every day, don't we? Or is that just me? Don't we quite often feel like we've tried our best, but come up short? Whether it be in our job, or a relationship, or in the internal battles we fight within our own selves, I think we very regularly feel "down for the count". We are no strangers to wanting to "throw in the towel" and lay our head down on the mat, or on our pillow, ready to let our pursuers overtake us. I think we go through a lot of days only one or two random events away from giving up.

What we need to hear, and what I believe to be true, is God has no intentions of letting that happen. In Elijah's story, God sends Elijah just what he needs to get up and get going. God provides Elijah the motivation to get up again and move forward. God tells Elijah that he still has a journey ahead of him, that the end is NOT nigh, that there is more ahead. Elijah gets up, puts one foot in front of the other, and journeys on.

Eventually, Elijah finds himself back in the presence of God, back in another mountaintop experience. Elijah finds himself conversing with God on Mount Sinai. On top of this mountain, God asks Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" To which Elijah explains that he is fleeing for his life, and can find safety no where.

I find it not necessarily odd, but at least significant, that God would ask, "What are you doing here?" Because surely God already knew every detail of Elijah's situation. If God is God, then he would know the exact plight that Elijah was facing. God could not have been clueless of Elijah's situation, so God must have had other intentions when he asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" We can make a guess at God's true intentions by continuing with the chain of events and questions found in the rest of 1 Kings 19.

After Elijah summed up his plight to God in verse 10, God tells Elijah to go stand on the mountain. The mountain is then subsequently hit with a mighty windstorm, then and earthquake, and then what must have been something altogether more terrifying, some kind of fire that engulfed the mountain. Yet, with each destructive force that assailed Elijah's mountain, it says that "the Lord was not in the wind/earthquake/fire." When the fire had passed, then came "the sound of a gentle whisper." And when Elijah heard that gentle whisper, he knew that it had to be his God.

After hearing the whisper of his God, Elijah reengages God in conversation.  God for a second time asks, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And a second time Elijah's explains he is been hunted down. This second exchange is almost exactly identical to the conversation between God and Elijah that had happened before the successive mountaintop storms. However, what I think is the point in all of this, is that Elijah's heart has been reminded of God's power, sovereignty and ultimate control over all other powers that exist in this world.

Before the mountaintop storms, I would imagine Elijah stated his cause out of fear of his life and future. God responds to Elijah's fear by sending Elijah to witness the furious power of three terrifying and destructive forces:  a windstorm (tornado anyone?), an earthquake, and a consuming fire. Yet, each of these destructive forces were subdued by the mere whisper of God. It was God's whisper that silenced the destructive forces surrounding Elijah.

So when Elijah reengaged in a conversation with God, though the conversation was identical to the first, Elijah's heart had now witnessed God's whisper as more powerful than any other destructive force. And when, after this second conversation, God gives Elijah instruction to keep moving forward with his journey, I have to imagine that Elijah's perspective had been altered in a way that allowed him to understand that if God's whisper could silence the destructive trifecta of a windstorm, earthquake, and wildfire, then God must be more powerful than any other threat he was currently facing.

I believe God would like us to alter our way of seeing the world in this same way. As I said before, we regularly are challenged with feeling like we our outmatched, outnumbered, or unfit to "win" the battles we are engaged in. Yet, if we can place our hope, faith, and life, in Elijah's God--the true God of this world that we live in--I believe we can live with a type of certainty that God really is the God we have all hoped for, and that he will be there when we need him.

Quite Quotable...On Our Right To Individual Freedom

From Timothy Keller and his book, "The Reason for God,"

For a relationship to be healthy there much be mutual loss of independence. It can't be just one way. Both sides must say to each other, "I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I'll serve you even though it means sacrifice for me." If only one party does all the sacrificing and giving, and the other does all the ordering and taking, the relationship will be exploitative and will oppress and distort the lives of both people.

At first sight, then, a relationship with God seems inherently dehumanizing. Surely it will have to be "one way," God's way. God, the divine being, has all the power. I must adjust to God--there is no way that God could adjust to and serve me.

While this may be true in other forms of religion and belief in God, it is not true in Christianity. In the most radical way, God has adjusted to us--in his incarnation and atonement. In Jesus Christ he became a limited human being, vulnerable to suffering and death. On the cross, he submitted to our condition--as sinners--and died in our place to forgive us. In the most profound way, God has said to us in Christ, "I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I'll serve you though it means a sacrifice for me." If he has done this for us, we can and should say the same to God and others."

When I went on an 8-day trip to Buena Vista, CO, two weeks ago, I had the extreme pleasure of being guided by a man younger than myself, but who seemed so much wiser. He was a recent Philosophy/Psychology  double major from Oklahoma State, on his way to finish out his senior year studying abroad in the Swiss Alps. His hair was even already prematurely graying--a true sign of his superior wisdom.

As he was leading myself and the group of high school students I was traveling with, we were tasked with hiking our sorry, out-of-shape butts up into some mountains found in the San Isabel National Forest. To keep my mind off of deadness I was feeling in my legs, I struck up a conversation with him, and we both soon realized we shared a same favorite author, Timothy Keller. We kept sharing our favorite quotes and messages we had listened to, all the while plodding upward and onward. Eventually, this young man asked me and the only other adult older than him, "What advice would you give to young men about marriage?"

I really wanted to be profound in that moment, but my blood pressure was so high, and my brain so pressed up against the insides of my skull, I truly had nothing to offer, other than something I had heard from a pre-marriage counseling session that I'm sure butchered. I doubt his future wife will have much (any?) thanks to give to me for the ninety seconds of rambling I bestowed upon this young gentleman.

Only after getting settled back into my home in Kansas City a week or so later did I come across this quote from Timothy Keller. I wished I could have shared it with him them, but I didn't. Though marriage is what our conversation in Colorado was about, and though I believe this quote has a PROFOUND impact on the way we view marriage, I believe this quote can have an even more profound impact on the way we see God and life.

In life, and again in marriage, I consistently find myself fighting for "my time." I feel like there are certain things, certain sequences of events, particular freedoms that should exist, and that I should be able to concretely hold onto, in any given day. As a father of two, and a husband of seven years, I have found it harder and harder to not get angry, or at the very least frustrated, when "MY" things/time/order is taken away and/or disrupted.

I think what this quote makes me reflect on, is how short I fall in exhibiting and living in real LOVE for the human beings around me. More often than not, I am a human falling short of the capacity and potential I have been given, because to be fully human means being able to love. And, like Keller said, for a love relationship to be healthy, there has to be a mutual loss of independence, or else one half of the love relationship will be oppressed and taken advantage of. Too often I care too much about my "right to _______", and miss an opportunity to experience a new level of profoundly changing love.