Look, I found God

Yesterday we had a world religions panel at our church. We had representatives from Judaism, Islam, Hindu and Christianity. I found it rather fascinating. I love stuff like that. I can sit down and watch panel discussions and documentaries until the cows come home (no offense to our Hindu speaker). I really tried my best to go into the whole thing with an open mind. Of course growing up Christian, and working at a Christian church, it was hard for me to be totally objective. After listening to everything I came to two conclusions. First off, after listening to all four speakers, if I was seeking a religion Christianity would be the hands down choice. For no other reason then, out of the four, it seems the least complicated. The other three religions have no less then three texts you’ve got to keep up with. I have a hard enough time reading the Bible, let alone having to keep up with two or three others! I know that sounds stupid, picking a religion just because it’s easy. But I’m trying to approach this from a “I have no religion and I’ve got to pick one” angle. Also, the other religions seem to have a bunch of “do’s and don’ts”. They seem more about what you do as opposed to who you are. Now, as a Christian I certainly believe how you behave is important, there are certain things I do and don’t do based on my faith. But those “do’s and don’ts” come out of a relationship with Jesus. It’s through my relationship with Christ that I decide I do certain things or don’t do certain things. It’s not out of obligation or fear of spending an eternity in Hell. Sure, I know that’s a possible consequence for my actions, but it’s not the motivating factor. Anyway, as I listened to the other religious viewpoints, I just kept thinking “man, that just seems too complicated”. Again, some of you may mistake my attitude for laziness. It’s actually the opposite. I just don’t think God makes things that difficult. I’m not saying being a faithful Christian is easy, but having a relationship with God is. The second thing that struck me is what an amazing and loving God we have. And in light of light I’m embarrassed of how I honor God. I’m ashamed of the amount of time I spend in personal devotion and prayer. I looked up at that stage and thought how lucky I am to believe in the one true God and His son Jesus. Then I thought about what a poor job I do of continuing to grow and know Him more. I’ve been given and accepted the greatest gift in the world, and I don’t do much with it. That changes today.

Take me out to the ballgame

In light of yesterday’s post, Who’s Your Daddy, I would like to say that since then I have learned a few more things about being a dad. Although in many ways I still feel inadequate, I did learn 10 valuable dad things last night I want to share:
1. If you have an eight year old son it should me mandatory that you take him to a baseball game. Charlie and I went last night and it was a blast.
2. Boys can last as many innings as their age (i.e. a two year old can last two innings, five year old five innings, etc.) By the eighth inning Charlie was more interested in catching bugs then watching the game.
3. Dad’s should be more interested in taking their son to Tooner Filed then watching the game.
4. Every eight year olds favorite player (if a Braves fan) is Chipper Jones. Not a bad choice.
5. Eight year olds have no concept for what an accomplishment it is to achieve 3000 strikeouts.
6. Drunk people shouldn’t try to start the wave, especially during the singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
7. Don’t worry about spending $7 on a hotdog, it’s well worth the look on your sons face to have a hotdog bigger then his head slap full of chili and cheese (jalapeños on the side for dad)
8. Don’t worry about spending $10 to park right next to the stadium.
9. Eight year olds have a better concept for money then you would think. They understand the logic behind NOT spending $5 on a bag of cotton candy.
10. Talk to your son during the game. Teach him the proper and non-obscene way to belittle the umpires and other team. Try until you’re blue in the face to explain basic concepts of balls, strikes, outs and foul balls. Make sure you do every tomahawk chop, Adam’s family clap and every “Budabubumpbaba CHARGE”. Promise you’ll take a three row, head first, bear handed dive for any foul balls that come close.
Baseball is a great game. There are so many things about it that make it great. Add an eight year old boy and it becomes perfect. Especially if that boy is as cool as my son!

Who's Your Daddy?

So yesterday my son lost his first tooth. I’ve never seen a boy so excited. He’s not big on the whole pain and blood thing, but he did great. He wanted me to yank the thing out. Here’s the thing though: I couldn’t remember how to pull a loose tooth. I know that sounds stupid, but as I was thinking about it it’s probably been 20 years since I’ve had to do it. And that was my own tooth, not someone else’s. So last night was another “dad right of passage”. It’s one of those things they never think to teach you in school. Sure they tell you where babies come from, and make you and some random girl carry around an “egg baby” for a school day, but they never think to say “Oh, and one day your kids will have a loose tooth, this is what you do . . .” Anyway, after about an 30 minutes of trying various methods to get the tooth out (yanking, string, tweezers, I couldn’t find my needle nose pliers) we finally just wiggled it enough that it came out. And there stood my son, with a huge bloody smile. Its times like these that make me question my adequacy as a father. There’s so much stuff you seem to have to do and know, and nobody ever thinks to sit down and tell you how to do the stuff. You kind of just learn on the fly, doing the best you can. In service Sunday we talked about God as Abba or “daddy”. It really hit me Sunday as Jason was speaking and I watched the Mailbox video what a loving Abba I have; an Abba who has all the right answers, who knows how to do everything. How different would I live my life if I truly trusted, talked to and listened to my Abba? My son put his trust and faigh in me when it came to his tooth. From time to time he had a look of fear and pain in his face, but he stood there, trusting his daddy to take care of him. And in the end we go the tooth out and he got $3 under his pillow. Jesus calls us to have the simple faith of a child. Adults get so muddled down in making God complex. He’s really not. Do we ever get to the point that we put our trust in God like my son put in me? Like my son had faith in me, I hope to one day always have that same kind of faith in God. More importantly, I hope my son takes the faith he has in his screwed up earthly dad, and have that same faith in his Abba.

Top Ten Ways to Get Out of Praying

First of all let me say that this is not a anti-prayer post. I totally believe in the power of prayer. That being said, it does annoy me sometimes when I have to pray in public, or at family gatherings. My wife’s grandmother, who I love to death, thinks that for some reason, since I grew up a PK (preacher’s kid) and am now myself a preacher, my prayers carry some special weight. Same thing at Charlie’s cub scouts. Point is, anyone can pray. Preachers (or PKs) don’t have a special one way line to God. So on occasion I get annoyed when asked to pray. That may not be very Christ-like. Sue me, write comments to me, and think less of me, but sometimes I just don’t want to pray out loud. My friend Wes and I were talking yesterday about this very subject. He felt the same way. His mom makes him pray at all the family functions. So, in order to help Wes, myself and all you other not so crazy about praying out loud people, I offer the top ten phrases to say that will guarantee you won’t be asked again:

1. “Dear Lord, I want to first thank you for clearing up that touch of gonorrhea I had last month... “

Ok, so I don’t have ten. But I think that one will suffice.

Great Week of Serving

The Great Week of Serving started out slow. This was our first attempt at something like this. I was riding with a friend of mine from work and he asked if we had a good turn out. I told him we had four. On average we have about 80 students that I would call active in our student ministry. So when you look at the number that showed up for that first day it doesn’t exactly WOW you. Five percent isn’t anything to brag about. But here’s the thing. On that first day we had four teenagers that gave up their life for a few hours to serve. Four students went against the grain and decided to give up their first official day to sleep in and show up at the church at 9:00 in the morning. Personally that does WOW me! The next two days proved to be a little better. On one of those days we had the chance to serve some people at a home for abused women and children. We painted, did yard work and played with kids. In all we had 19 students participate in the great week of serving, one student came to all three (yeah RaShaan). Five leaders also came out, our Sharpsburg Campus Director, the lovely Becky Martin, stepped up and lead the way (since her lousy boss, a.k.a. ME, decided to schedule a bunch of other stuff). Thanks to everyone to helped out.

Now when you look at it we only had 19% of our student ministry (students and leaders) participate; overall, not a great number. I really didn’t have any idea how many we would have. Like I said, we’ve never done this kind of thing before. But here is what I do know. We had 19 students make a sacrifice this week. In our day and time I don’t think we know what true sacrifice is. But to a teenager, time out of school is one of their most precious possessions. And to a teenager giving any of that time up is a sacrifice.

2000 years ago 12 men made huge sacrifices to follow some guy from Nazareth that just said “Follow me”. That guy and those 12 men changed the world forever. Proof that numbers don’t matter; it’s what’s in the heart that counts. Nineteen students didn’t set out to change the world this week, but some change did happen in their hearts. I believe that heart change can and will change the world. Twelve did it 2000 years ago, there’s no reason we can’t do it today. Besides, we’re 7 up on them. Piece of cake.



Thanks to everyone that came out. I love you guys!

What's with all the blanking blogging?

Ok, so I’ve been blasted for not bloging but once every two or three weeks. Well, not so much “blasted” as much as someone said “Hey, you don’t blog a lot”. I don’t understand people who have the time to blog every day. Sure the computer geek college student has time, and most high school kids, but the average working person with a family doesn’t or shouldn’t have the time. In my opinion anyone who blogs more then two or three times a week either A) Has way too much time on their hands or B) Has a big head and assumes people want to hear what they have to say. Of course it is a free world and people can choose whether or not to read a blog, but the only reason people to blog is so people will read it. If I didn’t think anyone read my blog I wouldn’t blog. Now, there is a difference between reading and caring. I don’t think anyone cares that I don’t blog, they just enjoy reading it. Now I have been accused of relating everything I blog about back to my church or Christianity. Not accused in a “hey, you shouldn’t do that” kind of way, but more of a “you ever noticed . . . “ kind of way. That’s just they way my brain thinks. If I’m not thinking about sex I’m thinking about how everyday common things can relate to and remind me of God and how he works. Which, when you think about it, is pretty cool. Sex was created by God and I guess if I’m thinking about sex with my wife that’s ok. So if I’m thinking about sex, and I’m thinking about how things relate back to God, I’m basically thinking about God ALL the time. Wow, I’m a really good Christian! Enough blogging, I’ve got to get back to work and think about sex.

In the world of fast food Hardee’s is by far my favorite. Now, it's not my favorite because I eat there. I think I’ve been to Hardee’s a total of 1 time in the past 20 years, and that was by necessity only. So you may be asking yourself “Self, why does Kelley love Hardee’s so much but never eats there?” The answer is simple: They give the proverbial “Up Yours” to the fast food world. Think about fast food for a second. Fast food chains do nothing more then present mounds of calories, fat and sodium into recognizable eatable products. That’s what we love about them! It’s their job to put fat on a bun, cover it with cheese and special sauce and serve it to us quick and cheep. However, there has been a movement over the past few years to get fast food chains to offer healthier choices on their menu. Healthy fast food is an oxy moron. It’s like asking a German not to invade France, it just can’t be done. What I love about Hardee’s is that they have turned the health food nuts on their heads. They say not only are we going to continue to serve fat on a bun, but we’re going to make it as un-healthy as possible. Now, I’m not saying people should eat as un-healthy as possible. But I think it’s idiotic to expect a fast food chain, whose business it is to sell fat, to do otherwise. Check out Hardee’s Monster Thickburger compared to what can arguable be considered the Granddaddy of fast food burgers:








If that’s not saying “Up Yours” I don’t know what is.

I like to think of Community Christian Church as the Hardee’s of the church world. Most churches decide that hunkering down and taking care of their own is the way to go. Sure they like visitors, but only if they look, smell and act a certain way. Oh, and they can’t be sinners either. They say that in order for a church to be “healthy” they need only serve “healthy” people. If we went with the flow and did what most churches do we’d be no different. But, just like Hardee’s is not in the health food business, we are not in the business of serving healthy people, we’re in the business of serving spiritually unhealthy people and letting God make them healthy. We go against the flow. Our church is full of spiritually unhealthy people, from the senior pastor all the way down. And we want more spiritually unhealthy people to join us. It is only through God’s grace that we can one day be completely healthy. And if we don’t provide a place for everyone to get to know God then we have failed as a church. Now, if I could only find a way of getting them to serve the Monster Thickburger after communion. That may truly be Heaven on Earth!

HYPE United! Part Deux.

We had our second United this past Sunday night at East Coweta High school. Once again the student ministry team came through in a BIG way. When we opened the doors teenagers just flooded in. I don’t know why that shocks me so much, God is truly at work.









We played Deal or No Deal. The kids really got into it. One stinken’ kid took us for $250 (which was the top prize for that games) in the FIRST game! When I thought up the idea I was thinking “Nobody ever picks the million dollar case”. Opps. Everybody had a great time, including our “Howe” and and the lovely “Case Holding Girl”.

The HYPE United Band was awesome as usual.

Looks like this crazy idea might work after all. Yeah GOD!