Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Cool HYPE United Story
Well, our first HYPE United was this past Sunday night. I’ve just now had the chance to really sit down a process everything. I must say it came off better then I expected. Everyone did their part, especially God.
I just want to relay one really cool story that came out of our first United. A friend of mine has been trying to get a lady she works with to come to church. The woman has a daughter that is in 6th grade. According to my friend, this girl is really into wicken, witchcraft and all that stuff. Now, I don’t know if she’s like a practicing wicken or not, or if she just thinks it’s cool. Point being this girl (and presumable her mother) are FAR from God. Well, she ended up coming with my friend to HYPE United, and she LOVED it. She can’t wait to come back. My friend was so excited! I was too. Now, here’s the really cool thing for me. This young girl happens to go to the same school as my kids go to. This morning when I dropped them off this girl, who I’ve seen several times but has never spoken to me, yells from across the room “Mr. Kelley, Mr. Kelley”, I see her and say “hi”. She then says “That Mr. Roboto video was weird!” At first I have no idea what the heck she’s talking about. Then it dawns on me she’s gone on-line and voted for our upcoming VMAs. Sometimes I get so engrossed in planning activities and worrying about what our regular kids will think about them that I lose track of why we do all this in the first place. This young girl now has a connection to our church because of a silly music video we put on line.
I wonder sometimes, at the end of the day, if God looks down and sees all the stuff we’re doing and says “Well, that’s certainly one way to do it. I guess I’ll just have to use that to get that 6th grade girl I’ve wanted to reach out to.” Here’s the really freaky thing that crosses my mind: Did God put that song in Dennis DeYoung’s (founding member of Styx) mind 25 years ago with the sole purpose of reaching this young lady? I know, that sound like a stretch. But, how else would an individual figure out a way to work the lyrics “Domo arigato” into a rock song?
I just want to relay one really cool story that came out of our first United. A friend of mine has been trying to get a lady she works with to come to church. The woman has a daughter that is in 6th grade. According to my friend, this girl is really into wicken, witchcraft and all that stuff. Now, I don’t know if she’s like a practicing wicken or not, or if she just thinks it’s cool. Point being this girl (and presumable her mother) are FAR from God. Well, she ended up coming with my friend to HYPE United, and she LOVED it. She can’t wait to come back. My friend was so excited! I was too. Now, here’s the really cool thing for me. This young girl happens to go to the same school as my kids go to. This morning when I dropped them off this girl, who I’ve seen several times but has never spoken to me, yells from across the room “Mr. Kelley, Mr. Kelley”, I see her and say “hi”. She then says “That Mr. Roboto video was weird!” At first I have no idea what the heck she’s talking about. Then it dawns on me she’s gone on-line and voted for our upcoming VMAs. Sometimes I get so engrossed in planning activities and worrying about what our regular kids will think about them that I lose track of why we do all this in the first place. This young girl now has a connection to our church because of a silly music video we put on line.
I wonder sometimes, at the end of the day, if God looks down and sees all the stuff we’re doing and says “Well, that’s certainly one way to do it. I guess I’ll just have to use that to get that 6th grade girl I’ve wanted to reach out to.” Here’s the really freaky thing that crosses my mind: Did God put that song in Dennis DeYoung’s (founding member of Styx) mind 25 years ago with the sole purpose of reaching this young lady? I know, that sound like a stretch. But, how else would an individual figure out a way to work the lyrics “Domo arigato” into a rock song?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Senior High Retreat (Sorry it's so long)
What a great weekend! We had a total of 36 students (29 from CCC, 7 from a church in Columbus). The first thing they heard from the stage (after a song) was me standing up and saying “Welcome to the retreat. This weekend we’re going to teach you guys how to be UnChristian”. All the kids just kind of looked at me with blank stares. Not what they expected a youth minister to say. If you have no idea what I’m talking about check out the UnChristian web site. We took these young men and women on a journey of what Christ really had in mind when he established the Church and Christianity. I pray that they’ll really take to heart what we talked about and apply it to their lives. That being said here are a few highlights from the weekend:
1) John Martin, Nathan McKnight, Zach Boswell and Nathan Martin did an incredible job of leading us in worship. Along with playing for the main sessions they put together an all worship service Saturday night (started at 10 PM) that was amazing. I challenged the teenagers to just show up, leave all their baggage at the door, and just worship the God that created them. And they did. Thank you band. We’ll see you at the next retreat (I hope!).
2) Lawrence Moore put together our fun activities. He did a great job of just getting the kids to loosen up and get to know each other. He did a scavenger hunt Saturday night that took a lot of planning and preparation and the kids really liked it. Good job my man!
3) Cathy Hooker came through again in the kitchen. Truth be told, I only do these retreat so I can get eat her cooking the entire weekend. If anyone came away from this weekend hungry it’s their own fault.
4) Small group leaders. Holy Cow! I can’t imagine doing this stuff without you. I always tell students that the leaders enjoy this stuff more then the students. And we do. Watching you guys play games with the kids, eat with them and lead them closer to God is almost too much for me to handle. I know one leader just sat and talked with a student for an hour or so after our campfire. I think as adults we don’t realize how much of an impact we can make on a young person’s life by just sitting and listening. This leader gets that and did it. WHAT WE DO WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU. I love you all so much.
6) BJ Parker took some of the load off of me this weekend. He might think what he did wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was. He helped set up the topics every night by leading the students in activities. He did a great job!
7) Becky Martin. Enough said. If you know Becky you know what I mean. If you don’t know Becky you’re missing out. She basically does all the work and I just walk around pissing people off. But we make a good team. I could go on, but I don’t have the time or space.
8) My wife. The main session wouldn’t have happened without her. She takes all the jumbled mess in my head and somehow makes it look like a well oiled machine. I don’t know how or why she puts up with me but I thank God she does.
1) John Martin, Nathan McKnight, Zach Boswell and Nathan Martin did an incredible job of leading us in worship. Along with playing for the main sessions they put together an all worship service Saturday night (started at 10 PM) that was amazing. I challenged the teenagers to just show up, leave all their baggage at the door, and just worship the God that created them. And they did. Thank you band. We’ll see you at the next retreat (I hope!).
2) Lawrence Moore put together our fun activities. He did a great job of just getting the kids to loosen up and get to know each other. He did a scavenger hunt Saturday night that took a lot of planning and preparation and the kids really liked it. Good job my man!
3) Cathy Hooker came through again in the kitchen. Truth be told, I only do these retreat so I can get eat her cooking the entire weekend. If anyone came away from this weekend hungry it’s their own fault.
4) Small group leaders. Holy Cow! I can’t imagine doing this stuff without you. I always tell students that the leaders enjoy this stuff more then the students. And we do. Watching you guys play games with the kids, eat with them and lead them closer to God is almost too much for me to handle. I know one leader just sat and talked with a student for an hour or so after our campfire. I think as adults we don’t realize how much of an impact we can make on a young person’s life by just sitting and listening. This leader gets that and did it. WHAT WE DO WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU. I love you all so much.
6) BJ Parker took some of the load off of me this weekend. He might think what he did wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was. He helped set up the topics every night by leading the students in activities. He did a great job!
7) Becky Martin. Enough said. If you know Becky you know what I mean. If you don’t know Becky you’re missing out. She basically does all the work and I just walk around pissing people off. But we make a good team. I could go on, but I don’t have the time or space.
8) My wife. The main session wouldn’t have happened without her. She takes all the jumbled mess in my head and somehow makes it look like a well oiled machine. I don’t know how or why she puts up with me but I thank God she does.
Monday, January 21, 2008
To All My Fans
Alas, my job is very hectic right now. I'm way to busy to blog. Darn these people for wanting me to work! So hold tight. I should be back to regular blogging in a few weeks.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Pay it Forward
State Bank and Trust in Fargo, ND gave their employees a really cool Christmas gift. You can read about it here and watch the video. Basically they gave their employees $1000 ($500 for part-time employees) and a video camera. The employees can’t spend the money on themselves, their family, or other families at the bank. They have to “pay it forward” to people in the community. They were also asked to video tape their good dead. Wow! What a great and original idea. As I thought about what the bank had done it kind of reminded me of Jesus. Didn’t He do the something, ask his disciples to “pay it forward”? I know when I get a Christmas bonus I immediately think of what I can do for myself or my family. I never really think about paying it forward. Most Christians are the same way when they receive God’s grace. Just like a Christmas bonus, God’s grace isn’t something we earn or should expect. It’s a gift from God. Unfortunately, Christians and the church don’t feel it their responsibility to “pay God’s grace forward”. Once they’ve got it they do very little to tell others about it. Jesus, right before He ascended into heaven, told the disciples to “pay it forward”.
One of the things that keep me going a lot of the time is watching the baptisms that happen at our church. It’s cool that we tape all of them and show them on occasion. It helps us all refocused our attention on what we’re here for. Our church is doing it’s best to pay it forward (and we have much room for improvement), and we’re video taping it. So I guess the bank’s idea isn’t so original after all. I think it would have been cool if Jesus had given the great commission to the disciples and then handed them video cameras. I can just hear them all saying “Is the red light on?”
One of the things that keep me going a lot of the time is watching the baptisms that happen at our church. It’s cool that we tape all of them and show them on occasion. It helps us all refocused our attention on what we’re here for. Our church is doing it’s best to pay it forward (and we have much room for improvement), and we’re video taping it. So I guess the bank’s idea isn’t so original after all. I think it would have been cool if Jesus had given the great commission to the disciples and then handed them video cameras. I can just hear them all saying “Is the red light on?”
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