Commenting on Comments

Why do I care about comments on my blog? Because that says that not only are you reading but you are responding. Responding is the goal of three of my passions: marketing, ministry, and believe it or not fashion. Not specifically in that order.

Anyway, thank you for reading. I mean that but more importantly thanks for your comments. Now don't get me wrong, not all comments have made it through. I do moderate comments because I don't like for you to have to read curse words or inappropriate material. I hope that if you have a blog that you moderate as well. I do publish comments that disagree with me though. I like that we disagree. It means you have an opinion and I hope that your opinion has been thought through and doesn't just come from your feelings.

So when I wrote this post I was at 99 comments. I know many of you out there are laughing that I only have 99 but I feel really blessed. For those of you who get hits like crazy I am still waiting on my 5,000th as well. I am close but not there yet. I should be there by the time I do church this weekend.

So again. Thanks.

What do you do?

I had breakfast yesterday with a very good friend. We do this once a week and push each other to be better husbands, dads, and Christians. I know that I am totally blessed to have this type of person in my life and I thank God often because of it. We are doing our normal deal when my friend notices that one of his co-workers is sitting by himself in the restaurant. My friend calls him over to eat with us. I thought this was great. I didn't know the guy and he has only lived in Cincinnati for 6 weeks. I went with the first question that every guy asks, "What do you do?" Typical sizing each other up alpha male type of stuff. Nothing fancy and very standard. The guy goes on to say he is a Merchant Banker. I didn't know what that was and I was to afraid to ask. I didn't want to seem inferior. For those of you like me... It means that he is basically a Venture Capitalist or someone who buys and sells companies. Then he asked me the same question. My response is always simple. I am a Pastor. I love the looks that I get when I say this. I love the way people pause for a second and go through everything they have said up to the point of finding out that I am a Pastor. But that is not the point... The point is that my friend stopped me. He said that it is not fair to call me just a Pastor. Then my friend goes on to give me one of the best titles and compliments that I am soon going to put on a business card. My friend says that I am a.... Drum Roll Please....

Entrepreneur Marketing Technology Guy who happens to be a Pastor.

If you are like my friend who has a CFO, CEO, or another C(something)O after your name then when you see my business card that says Matt McKee EMTGP then you will know what it stands for.

So if you friends were to give you a title, what would it be? What do you do? Do you even like what you do? If not, change the initials after your name. You should do what you love.

Sign Wednesday: Area 51

These 5 signs are at the entrance to Area 51. I find this very funny. First, they have posted the same sign twice. I wonder how many tax dollars that cost? Second, don't you think one large sign could have been used instead? Third, I know that I have a rebel streak in me but this really makes me want to take pictures and see what is going on back there.

Let's look at the positives that we can take from these signs. They over communicated somthing. This is a very good thing. These signs are not hand written, another good thing.

Negatives: You can't read them well. They need to be updated with one sign. And last but not least... WHY? Why have them unless you are wanting to stir up suspicion?

Maybe we could do this for all of our ministries. Tell people they can't come and stir up some big controversy over nothing and then people would flock for no reason. Then you would have volunteers in line for the nursery.

They would have been better to put up a sign that says, "Hey Everybody, We are doing stupid stuff over here. Please come check it out but NO TRESPASSING."

Back 2 Back Ministries

Here is a little love to the ministry in which we worked with in Monterrey, Mexico. Our church has taken our youth for the last 5 years. It has been a great partnership that stretches everyone who has been on the trip. If you want to know more about their ministry or are looking to go on a mission trip to Mexico check out their website. The address is www.back2backministries.org. They also have an office here in the Cincinnati area if you wanted to talk to them. Their number is (513) 754-0300.

Now I know that there have been many questions about Children's Ministries doing mission trips. This is a very hot topic right now. While we were in Mexico there was a group of kids there ranging in the age of 9 to 12 with their parents who all home school these kids. I think this is a great way for kids to go on mission trips. The whole family should be involved. This would include local, out of state, and even foreign mission trips. If we are talking about kids who range in age from 9-12 going with a Children's Pastor and a couple of volunteers then I think it should be local. Have a mission week and go to local charities during the day. Let the Junior High Ministry go out of state and then let the Senior High Ministry go on foreign trips. Unless you involve the whole family then there should be some progression in your missions opportunities for students. What do you think?

Best Blog in Cincinnati gets an iPhone

Just thinking about writing this post goes to show that I have no shame. There is a contest going on right now that ends this Friday about who has the Best Blog in Cincinnati, OH. The winner of this contest wins an iPhone. I, like many of you, want an iPhone, but can't figure out how to make it in my budget. So you can help me out. Go here:

http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/5953g2b1b3

Please vote for this blog. How cool would it be for the Best Blog in Cincinnati to be about Children's Ministry and the Church? I think it would be awesome and I would call everyone who voted for me on my new phone.

Thanks to Rich Palmer for being the first one to vote for this blog and to bringing this competition to my attention. By the way Rich, I believe it is your turn to pay tomorrow.

So go vote. What are you waiting for?

Throwing Up and Kidney Stones

Yes you read the title correctly. While I was in Mexico I got a bug. It was only a 24 hour bug thankfully but it did bring me to my knees and my back. Here is a nice picture of me that they took while I was sick.

I did have a sense of humor that day. My shirt simply says "It's just a flesh wound". I look fat in that picture and I know that I unloaded a good 5 pounds before this picture was taken. Maybe I should take a hint...

Now if the bug was not bad enough. The next day when I was just starting to feel better I had a kidney stone hit me. This was not my first stone. I had one 7 years ago when I was working at a church camp in Panama City, Fl. The first one was a boy and I named him Spike. This one was a girl and I named her Crystal. I hate kidney stones.

Needless to say but the trip would have been much better if these 2 events didn't happen. I was man enough to get out of bed so that I could present the gospel to the teenagers that were on the trip with us. That's right... Satan tried to keep me down but God gave me enough strength to share his love. So even through throwing up and kidney stones, God made the rocks cry out.

I love it when things like this happen. It really makes me feel like God is using me. Just next time, I don't need to go through the pain.

Beatboxing and Handshakes

By the way, I think this would be a great name for a local hangout or bar and grill but that is not the point of this post.

The point is that I really wanting to post while I was in Mexico but I couldn't so I am going to this week. So here is one of the post I wrote while in Monterrey.

I don't speak Spanish. I took Spanish in high school but it all left me years ago. Basically I can say the important words like "where is the bano(bathroom)?" So how do you communicate with a teenage boy and a 9 year old boy in Monterrey, Mexico? By beatboxing and handshakes, that's how. Isn't it amazing how we can connect with one another and not say a word? The same thing works here at home. When you don't know what to say the next time you are around a bunch of kids try beatboxing and handshakes. Why does it work? These 2 things are personal experiences and kids crave interesting experiences with each other and with adults. Maybe this week you should come up with a cool handshake or learn how to Beatbox. You never know when it might spark a connection that you will never forgot.

Centri-Kid: The Overview

Here are my thoughts and ramblings from this past week at Centri-kid. What I have done is taken the schedule from the Centri-Kid website and taken out their description of what is going on and put in my own twist. Enjoy.

A DAY AT CENTRI-KID

8:30 am	Quiet Time. The Bible study was nice during this time. Of course you have to get kids still enough to do it, but it once they did it started good conversations. I would give this a 4 out of 5.
9 am	I Can't Wait: morning large group time. Lots of energy with fun songs but predictable dramas. I would give this a 3 out of 5. I came away wanting more splash and sharper dramas.
10 am	Recreation: Taught by the staff. I didn't even have to be there but did check it out to see how the kids were doing. Great Centri-Kid leader for this time. Good organization and it got the kids hot, tired, and happy. This is one area that I really enjoyed on a programming side. 5 out of 5.
11 am	In Bible Study, taught by the Centri-Kid staff (25 total) for the kids and for the adult church leaders we had our own worship time on the first day and Starbucks on the last day. Very impressed by how much I felt fed because of this focus on the first day but wanted more of it after that. 4 out of 5. Do more worship time for adults.
2 pm	Track Time! The kids picked 2 different tracks to attend. They had everything from Self Defense to Fishing and Basketball to Crafts. The list of choices were impressive and it had something for everyone. My kids liked this time very much. 5 out of 5.
4:00 pm	Free Time! A decent break but not long enough. Our dinner started at 5:15 so there wasn't enough time to go off campus to go to the indoor swimming pool. They did try to do stuff on campus and most of that was fun. 3 out of 5
7 pm	Evening Worship I could be way to critical of this part. The music was good but not great. The energy was somber. The sermon illustrations needed more punch. It just seemed as if they were trying to please the older people more than they were trying to meet kids where they are. I hope that is not to harsh. Overall 3 out of 5.
8:30 pm	The Parties are just a fun time. They did a large group Bean game that had a good missions twist on it and then 3 stage shows. 1 Game show type, 1 Variety Show type, and 1 bad idea. The game show was good. The variety show is never good but the kids are cute. The bad idea was one they called the World Record party. Such as the World Record New Year's Countdown that isn't on New Year's Eve. It was a waste of 3 minutes. I won't go into the rest of the bad idea. Overall 3 out of 5.

The overall score is 30 out of 40. Believe me when I say this is a very good score. We all have areas of improvement and now you know where I think they could.

Rest

I know I told you I would give you a full breakdown of Centri-Kid today. Don't worry, I will do this very soon but today I am going to rest. So I encourage you to do the same. Rest. Forget the list of ten thousand things to do. Be still and know that He is God.

Centri-Kid: Last full day of Camp

Why is it that on the last full day of camp that the kids go nuts? I mean seriously... Up to this point we have had every kid well behaved. Then today it seems like they all were just tired of being good and tired of taking showers. I don't understand it. I mean I would expect to have home sickness on the last day and maybe some leaving new friend anxiety but why not listening?

Okay, enough of the tangent. Today was a very good day on the spiritual side. Many of the kids really got it today. The theme today was faith which lead to many great conversations.

Last thing... Georgetown College has treated us incredibly. The staff is very good and they gave us free Starbucks today. Five stars in my book.

I will post more about the overall experience tomorrow. Until then...