Ministry Monday: The Church is Closed?

Yesterday Horizon Community Church was closed. Yes closed. We did not have any services this past weekend. Why? Well for the past several years, at least as long as I have been on staff, we have taken the Sunday off between Christmas and New Year's Day. It is a time of rest for the staff and the volunteers at the church. Would it have been possible for us to have church yesterday? Of course it is. If we did have church yesterday it would have been up to the standards of every other weekend. The same level of excellence would have been the benchmark and nothing less would have been acceptable.

I know that there were quite of few churches like us who took this past weekend off. I also know of many churches that had services this past weekend. Some of those were abbreviated services or instead of doing all 3 services on Sunday they chose to do 1 instead. What did your church do? Was it the same as usual? Was the same level of excellence executed?

Am I glad that we took this past Sunday off? Yes I am. Did we miss an opportunity for new families to visit? Yes we did. Why do I think it is a good idea? It is a small reminder to our community that they to need to rest. In fact, we may have had more people think about church in our community because we didn't have it than if we did yesterday. It's like Chick-fil-a and why they are closed on Sundays. It is simply a reminder to be still.

I took the opportunity and spent it with my family. A nice morning where the boys and I played together. We ate together. We had time to relax as a family. Thank you Horizon for believing in resting.

2 Minute Tuesday: Merry Christmas

There are some cute moments ahead. You have been warned.

Ministry Monday: Why go to Conferences?

Why go to a conference? Seriously. I think you really have to ask yourself this question. Is it to network with other people? Is it to gain information that you wouldn't have reading books, blogs, and magazines? Is it to experience something out of the ordinary? Or is it simply for a break so that you can recharge? What is your answer? Why do you go to conferences?

In 2009 I will be going to 2 conferences. One is a local conference put on by Group Publishing. It is called the How2 conference. If you live anywhere near Cincinnati, OH I would encourage you to attend. Here is the info on the conference.

your bigger, brighter children's ministry starts here At the ALL-NEW, HOW2 Children's Ministry Conference! It's the only place you'll... Develop a one-year, dream blueprint for ministry. Renovate your ministry with proven solutions. Discover your church's unique strengths and opportunities. Network with children's leaders in your region. Get a year's worth of training resources. (Video clips, PowerPoint slides, and more!) Have the time of your life! This conference is for Children’s Ministry leaders, Sunday School directors, Christian Education board members, Department leaders, VBS and Midweek leaders, Ministry coordinators, and Your entire leadership team! Visit group.com/how2 for more details, location, and registration information!

Why am I going to this one? It is local. I don't have to spend the night away from my family. It is hands on. I don't have to just sit and listen but I get to do activities and I learn better that way. Budgets are tight. For $199 I can swing this one and not have to break the bank.

The second one that I am attending is the Orange Conference. Here is info from their site http://www.theorangeconference.com.

What is Orange?

The Orange Conference is an opportunity for churches to have their key leaders in a room together being challenged about what it means and what it takes to reach the next generation. It's not a children's ministry conference. It's not a youth ministry conference. It's the only place that a senior pastor, student pastor, children's pastor and volunteers that work within these ministries can learn together and begin formulating a strategy to impact the lives of the people in your congregation by...

...creating a plan for handing off kids from preschool ministry to children's ministry; from children's ministry to student ministry; from student ministry into college ministry - a plan that works among these age groups to build a strong foundation of faith, grow it, challenge it and mature it before students leave your ministry to become independent adults in this world.

...equipping parents with kids at every age level to become the primary spiritual leader for their kids - to partner with them so that the one hour the church has with kids each week is multiplied at home.

...creating opportunities for families to invite their neighbors to a relevant and engaging environment at your church - to see what happens to their own faith when they begin investing in those around them.

So why go to this conference? 1. This is to get away from Cincinnati. Sometimes when you leave your environment things change. You have to look at things differently. You have to adjust and in doing so you learn something new. 2. My team is also going with me. This is a time to connect with key staff members. Relationships are built upon doing. It's not built on meetings, agendas, or e-mail. 3. This subject is vital. Learning how to do ministry that is targeted for the whole family is a huge step for churches all over the world. Church can't just be about Children's Ministry or Youth Ministry or even Adult Ministry. We have to figure out a way to impact the whole family. I hope to gain some insights.

There you have it. Those are the conferences that I am attending. Which ones are you going to? Why?

Sign Wednesday: A Unique Message

I am asked quite frequently why I like signs so much. I mean it is just a novelty type thing and I'm not connected to the sign business really. My answer is nearly the same every time. I say something to the effect of, "Signs make you have a message and I am intrigued by people's messages." People put all kinds of messages on signs. Some messages you stand back and say Wow. Others you look at and think to yourself, that's weird. The following message is just flat wacky. Enjoy.



I wonder if the word Tightie is Webster. The word itself makes me feel like I'm in junior high again.

By the way, I'm not a tightie whitie guy. Sorry to disappoint. I won't be honking.

Thanks to Sam Luce for sending my this sign. I really appreciate the thought.

2 Minute Tuesday: Christmas Songs

We decided that we needed to dedicate a 2 Minute Tuesday to Christmas Songs. Here are our favorite and least favorite songs of the season. Enjoy.

Ministry Monday: Southeast Christian Church

On Monday, December 15th, the Children's Ministry of Horizon Community Church went to Louisville, KY to visit Southeast Community Church. Steve Young, Director of Early Childhood and Elementary, was gracious enough to spend the day with us. He answered every question and gave us full access to their facilities. He even bought us all a coffee. Needless to say, but my thoughts of Steve have gone way up since this trip.

I love seeing other churches. I find it fascinating how other people do ministry. Southeast is a huge church. The main auditorium seats over 9000 people. They have over 16,000 people who attend on a weekend. Over 300 people work there full time. It is very impressive. The most impressive part though is that the focus I heard over and over again is being relational and small groups. The pastors are truly getting the concept that the larger that you are the smaller you must become. That was refreshing.

I took a lot of photos while I was there. Here are quite a few of them.






























We even had access to their new Student Ministry building that is under construction. Here is a picture of the rock wall that is going in.



Can someone tell me why a church who is building a new building would put a rock wall in it? The shelf life for one of these is 8 years at best and the cost is outrageous. My prediction is this rock wall will be down by 2020. It would be taken down earlier than this but someone will say, "We can't take that down. Do you know how much money we paid for that?" Then the response will be, "But no one uses it." Believe me, I have heard this conversation to many times over the last 5 years from many churches that put in rock walls that have since taken them down.

Anyway, the day was a great day. Thank you Steve for your hospitality and your willingness to put up with me and my team. I really do appreciate you.

Sign Wednesday: Make Your Own

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a project and organization that I am doing called Better 2 Give. This year Better 2 Give is supporting a family here in Cincinnati. Well one of my good friends has put together an incredible deal on a Xerox printer that could help you make your own signs and half of the profit of the sale goes to support this family in Cincinnati. Thank you Rick Purcell for wanting to help out and believing it is Better 2 Give than 2 Receive. Here is the promo that tells you more about the printer and the deal.

Get a Color MFP for less than the price of the comparable Black & White MFP (WC5645)

Xerox WorkCentre 3545

Copy/Print/Scan In Color

Lease a new WorkCentre ® 3545 starting at $ 201. a month, Color on demand!

Office Productivity has never been easier in both Black-and-White and Color, streamline all your document processes for one low payment!

True Multifunction Capabilities! Copy, print, scan and fax*, in both black/white and color on one device!

Xerox Quality and Reliability. Built for endurance, the WorkCentre® 3545 consistently produces sharp, clear and concise images.

AWARD Winning Customer Service! Behind every Xerox product is an unrivaled network of customer support to keep you up and running.

*Additional option available for additional charge.

LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE!

Help Us Feed A Family-in-Need for 1 Year: 50% of proceeds donated to the “Better To give” Foundation”

For More Information Contact:

Rick Purcell

Toll Free: 888.344.4123

Direct: 513.237.0066

Fax PO’s to 866.551.5232

rick@dp-technologies.com

2 Minute Tuesday: I love you Mommy!

Here is a nice tribute to my wonderful wife and the mother of my 2 kids. I love you.




If you want to learn more about my wife then you can read her blog. She considers herself a blessed mom 24/7.

Ministry Monday: The People Business

I spend more of my time now with business men then I do anybody else. Don't get me wrong, my title is still Pastor of Students and Children and I love working with both students and kids. I find it interesting though that my opportunities as of late are more in conference rooms instead of classrooms. I also find it interesting that I am really enjoying myself with the suits. Of course I don't wear the suit but I could see myself in a nice Hugo Boss one if the situation was right. I am interested in ties as well but I rarely wear them.

Anyway, I tell you this because I was asked recently what type of business I was in. Of course I was surrounded by a CEO, a consultant, a salesman, and a administrative assistant. My answer even surprised me when it came out of my mouth. I said, "I'm in the People Business." I kind of like the way that sounds. I like that I am all about people. Of course you could say that all pastors are in the people business but I don't know if that is really true. There are quite a few pastors that I know that are more about other things besides people because being about people is hard. Being about people can be humiliating, humbling, and hostile all at the same time. I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy the unpredictability. I am all about pushing people to get real with the God who created them. In fact, I even had the opportunity this past week to sit down with a millionaire business guy who I had only known for a couple of days and actually ask him the question, "So when are you going to find Jesus and give some of your money away?" I couldn't believe I said that either but I did. I didn't know I had that in me. I didn't even know that it was exactly what he needed to hear.

I like where God has me right now. I like that I am connecting with all kinds of people. I like being in the People Business. Now I just have to figure out how to leverage my new found business to its most profitable position. I guess I will take that one person at a time.

Sign Wednesday: Do you want some cheese with that Gas?

My friend Tom James sent me another sign for Sign Wednesday. If you have any signs that you would like to see make it then please send them to me. I love the collaboration and seeing what signs you think are interesting or bad or whatever.

Here is the sign that Tom sent me:



I am just glad to see that gas has been cheaper than wine for several weeks now. This is one trend that I hope doesn't go away anytime soon.

By the way, if you know Tom then you know that he carries around a portable pot of QT coffee with him at all times. Let's just say that I am glad it is not a pot of gas or a pot of wine. He's a lawyer and I don't think the judge would enjoy either in the courtroom.

2 Minute Tuesday: The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Patriot had his first play date with a girl. He went over to her house and found out that boys and girls are not the same. Here is just a little insight to what he found out.

Ministry Monday: Better 2 Give

3 years ago Rich Palmer and I started an organization called Better 2 Give. When I use the word organization I use it very loosely, but it is coming into its own. Better 2 Give exist to provide tangible ways to help out those in need. The first year we raised just over $1000 and supported a local family here in Cincinnati for Christmas. Both parents were in jail and the kids really needed to experience Christmas we thought so we helped. Last year we adopted an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico. We raised just over $2500 and was able to support their utility bills for almost the whole year. This year we have found another family here in Cincinnati who could really use the help. This family is the Ingles.

The Ingles have 3 of their own children and they have adopted 9 others, all with special needs. They are a Christian family living in Montgomery - there have been various articles on them and you can read one of them here. While their hearts are accommodating of any situation, their home is not. A neighbor started a campaign to raise funds for a remodeling/expansion of their home. Donations are being accepted through a non-profit entity based in Colorado Springs (thus, donations are tax-deductable). Better 2 Give will be an official 501(3)c in the very near future but the paper work has not gone through yet. We are going to work with the non-profit in CO for now.

What is the best way to give - what are their needs? Remodeling their home is a big need, but you can imagine the monthly budget with trying to raise 12 kids. As you can imagine their food bill is very high. We would like to raise $5000 for this family to buy them a Kroger, Wal-Mart, Meijer, ect gift card that they could use for food and other necessities. We're also checking with these companies to see if we can leverage the $5,000 (i.e. if $5,000 in gift cards are purchased, will they allow the value of those cards to be greater than $5,000).

So how can you help? I think that question is simple. Let me know if you want to give money to help a family who gets the concept that it is Better 2 Give than 2 Receive. I will let you know where you can send the money in CO so that it is tax deductible. On the other hand, if you know of someone at Kroger, Wal-Mart, Meijer, ect that could help us out that would be great.

Remember it truly is better 2 give than 2 recieve.