something that bothers me

You know what I am curious about? I have wondered quite a bit why many large churches charge so much for their materials, when other churches could really be blessed and be a blessing in their communities if they used them.

Here what I mean:

Why do places like Granger Community Church, Willow Creek, North Point, or Fellowship Church charge people to download the weekly sermons? It seems like it should cost them next to nothing to record the message and put it up on the website. I know that I have grown so much from pastors like Perry Noble, Brian Tome, and Rob Bell, where I don’t have to fork out $3-10 just for a message download.

I think churches who have been blessed by God with great amounts of resources and staff should let some of that blessing flow out to other churches who can’t afford to pay $20 for a drama script or music chart. I mean come on, seriously? We are in this together, let’s bless all other.

I just want to say thank you to Brian Tome at Crossroads Community Church for really getting me thinking about this idea. Hopefully some of the guys like Tony Morgan and Terry Storch will pick up on this post and give me a reply. I think we could be doing better, and I know the Kingdom would be better for it.

major soreness

Man, have you ever been beaten up so badly that you can barely move? Yesterday I pounded on myself like I haven’t in awhile. Many of you know I am training for a marathon, and yesterday was the next step in my training. Just a short little 18 mi. jog. Yikes. That is by far the longest I have ever run and I am paying for it today. My calves and hamstrings just keep saying ‘I hate you!”

The service went awesome yesterday. I spoke about making sure as followers of Jesus that everything we do represents him well. My main text was Colossians 3:17 -’whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus Christ.’ In the middle of the message we did a great drama (way to go Brandt, Justin and Jesse) based off Donald Miller’s confessional booth story in his book Blue Like Jazz. We ended the service offering ourselves to Christ in prayer and singing Chris Tomlin’s remake of the hymn Take My Life.

Update: Praise God! Jason and Janelle had their first child, a cute baby girl Sunday morning at 4 am by C-section! Please pray for Janelle’s recovery and the continued health of the baby.

bumblebeetuna are champions!

What a fun day today was! This afternoon the Quarry had a men’s/women’s sand volleyball tournament. The turn-out was awesome. But the best past was that my team won! Way to go Stephanie, Steph and Brandt. We started off slowly but then picked it up and won some great matches, including a 2-0 win over Pastor Michael’s team that was a bit of a domination.

Anyway, if you were not there you missed out bigtime. Props to Jamie and Stephanie (my awesome wife and teammate) for setting it all up. I am still picking sand out of my eyes and ears.

By the way…
Stephanie’s brother’s wife (Jason and Janelle) is in labor with their first child today, and I am preaching tomorrow on the movie Kingdom of Heaven So if you have some prayer time happening pray for us. Thanks.

do people want to come back here?

You know something I like about Best Buy? They have this person who stands at a little desk right inside the door, and every time I come in they smile at me and say “Hi!” And then when I leave they say “Have a good one!” And they don’t try to sell me anything or put any pressure on me. They just greet me and then say goodbye. And they make me feel comfortable to come back.

How many churches really make you feel welcome when you come and visit?

Last fall when I visited Eagle Brook I stopped by an informational booth to find out where to bring my son. Instead of just telling me where his class way, or showing me a map, the woman came out from behind the booth and walked me all the way to the room (which was quite a walk). And the whole time we talked about the church and her involvement with it and how much she loves Eagle Brook. I was super impressed by this. I would go back there. Just like I go back to Best Buy.

Does your church make people want to come back?

One thing the Quarry doesn’t have is ‘Goodbyers’ (is that the opposite of Greeters?). I wonder how helpful it would be to have people hang at the exit door and just thank people for coming, or offer to help them get kids/gear to the car? I’ll bet that would be huge for single mom’s and others with big loads to carry out of church.

Did I stumble on something big here? What do you think?

starbucks hates kids?

To what extent am I responsible to know the political agendas of the companies I buy product from?

I very, very rarely ever think twice or do any research of this type. But a recent article posted by Terry Storch has made me reconsider at least the amount of Starbucks coffee I consume.

Check out this article and let me know what you think.

Starbucks: A habit easily broken by Meghan Kleppinger

the big transition

We made a big move tonight, a major parenting transition…Jacob moved out of the crib and into his ‘big boy’ bed. It is almost unbelievable that this day is here. It comes so incredibly fast.

So far its going well, he is laying down and quiet as I type. One cool part of it all is that Jakey is sleeping in a bed I grew up sleeping in. For some reason that is really neat; its like a little part of me is still in there with him.

I am blessed to have two healthy kids filled with love and joy. I could never have imagined how amazing it is to be a parent. To watch your children grow and learn is something that can only be experienced, words are not adequate.

champs conversation

I had a sad moment today. I was sitting in the entranceway at Champ’s restaurant waiting for some friends to arrive and feeding Izzi a bottle. As I was sitting there I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on a woman sitting at a table not far from me. She was on and off her cell phone constantly but smiling and looking happy. Then I overheard her talking with another woman about why she was having such a wonderful day.

Do you want to know the reason? Too bad…just kidding. Any guesses? It wasn’t because she had just got a promotion after all her hard work. It wasn’t because her child had made the Varsity football team. It wasn’t because she was just coming back from serving the poor. None of those things were even close.

The reason this woman was so happy was because 1) her home refinance was going through, and 2) the divorce papers were finally being processed. I was sad. Sad because she was happy to see a marriage end. Sad because the highlights of her day was saving a few bucks and getting rid of a spouse. Sure, I don’t know the whole story…but I don’t care….the whole deal just made me sad.

Luckily the rest of my day was great. Ask me about it if you care.

my saturday

Today was a good day.

It started off at 6 am. I rode up to Mora with a friend who is a local pastor in my area. We went up there to run in the 24 annual Mora Half Marathon. I ran a reverse split and felt good running at the pace I am hoping to go for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. My finishing time was 2 hrs. and 2 min. Not bad for a guy like me.

Then I came home, got the family and we drove up to Lindstrom to visit our friends Corey, Andrea and Malia McKinnon. I played golf with Corey and Mike Frost and John Bradley (all Bethel hockey buddies) at Chisago Lakes Golf Course. We had a real fun time playing a scramble and my putting was on fire. Our -10 was even good enough to win the low score. It was good to spend time with all of them. Chad Anderson came up after golf and we all just hung out talking about life. It was fun and relaxing.

So that was my day. It was a good one. I hope your was too. Peace out.

kids matter!

At Quarry Community Church we believe that kids matter. And with that in mind we will be rolling out a new Bedrock format this fall. In the nearly 5 years we have existed kids have always participated in the first twenty minutes of our service. At the announcement time they are released to go to their child-specific activities. But that is changing. Starting September 4 kids will be gone the entire hour.

Why? How can we do that? Don’t we care about kids and families worshipping together? Yes we do. We wholeheartedly encourage parents and kids to spend M-Sat and all of Sunday except an hour worshipping together. Worship is a lifestyle, not a church experience.

Here are some of the main reasons we are making the change:

1. Being together all hour will give kids and adult leaders more time to process the lesson, participate in music designed for kids, and complete activities. We have been too rushed and, in the process, have sacrificed quality learning and growth.

2. Removing kids from the service will give parents the chance to be still and quiet before God without having to worry about distracting the people around them. Church services are designed to engage the hearts and minds of adults, not children. Why bore kids in parent church when just down the hall they could be experiencing dynamic, relevant and life changing ministry targeted specifically for them?

That’s just a couple of reasons for the change. It is a big bold one, but it must be done and it is a win for both parties in the long run.

customer service and church

Ok, I never really know what to blog about but I just had to say something about this. Customer service is everything. It is the difference between you getting my repeat business and you getting my absence. It is the difference between you getting my word of mouth recommendation and you getting my word of mouth condemnation.

Here’s an example.

Sunday night a small group of us went to Applebee’s restaurant in Buffalo and had 2 for 1 appetizers. On the way out I realized that Applebee’s doesn’t give you any mints. That is a bummer. I really wish they did that. I really like eating at places that do that. It is a small thing but it makes a difference, it leaves a mark that this place will go the extra mile to serve me.

Today I stopped by a pawn shop in town. While waiting to talk to the shop owner (who was the only one working while 7 or so customers roamed the store needing help) his 3 month old puppy was sitting at my feet biting me ankles and pulling at my shoes strings. How annoying is that?

It got me thinking…what do we do at the Quarry that serves our guests, and what do we do that is like a small dog biting people’s ankles and annoying them? I am not going back to the pawn shop. And people will not come back to the Quarry if their experience is horrible. Customer service is huge and we should never kid ourselves into thinking its not.