Tossing Stones at Willow

Posted on: 12/13/07 7:51 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Some of you have seen articles like this one taking cheap shots at Willow Creek while totally misrepresenting them. Not many people are speaking on their behalf right now… allow me.
 
On one side of a room sits a guy named Bob. Bob has been a Christian most of his life and has little tolerance for those who haven’t. Bob loves tradition and hates change. But Bob’s biggest downfall is… he’s a turd! Unbelievers are repelled from the guy because he comes off snooty in every situation.
 
Who would you rather look like… a Pharisee, or like Jesus?
 
On the other side of the room sits a guy named Bill. Bill grew up with a lot of guys like Bob. Bill saw a lot of his friends running from the church because they were scared of people like Bob. So Bill started a church that tried to reach out to people like his unbelieving friends. He preached the Word, but didn’t make people feel dumb in the process. Bill’s church grew very large, led thousands of people to Christ and influenced millions.
 
Bob grumbled, “This isn’t the way I’ve been taught to do it!” So he returned to his home so he could continue being a turd.
 
But then something happened.
 
Bill noticed that many of the people attending his church weren’t growing like they should. Bill realized that attendance didn’t necessarily reflect life change. So Bill did something very difficult. He admitted that he needed to change his model of ministry.
 
When Bill confessed this publicly, Bob showed up to throw stones. “I told you so!” Bob jeered.
 
Bob spread stories about Bill, claiming that Bill never cared about life change, only numbers. These convoluted stories were exaggerated and unfair. But Bill was an easy target. After all, he had confessed with his own mouth that his people weren’t growing spiritually as much as they should be.
 
The ironic thing… Bob’s church is having the exact same problem and he doesn’t even know it. As a matter of fact, the same study that revealed to Bill about the need in his church revealed that churches just like Bob’s are struggling with the same thing. But Bob was too busy tossing stones at Bill to even notice.
 
Thousands upon thousands of people’s lives have been truly transformed by Christ through Bill’s church. Bill could have let that go to his head. But he didn’t. He noticed a need for growth in churches across the nation, he admitted it and he’s taking strides to change, starting with his own church.
 
Wow.
 
Bob, however… is still a turd.
 
Don’t be a Bob.
 
Jonathan wrote this blog in response to this article that feathered through the internet in the month of November. For a more accurate picture of what really is going on, watch this video to check out the research first hand, or this video to hear Bill’s heart on the matter, or read articles like this that summarize some of the facts for you.

Hello Pastor

Posted on: 12/6/07 8:35 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Anyone who is a pastor can relate to receiving that voice mail or phone message that just makes you go, “Hmmmmm.”

This is a classic. Make sure you listen to the “megamix” at the end of the message. Classic!

CLICK HERE (and wait a few seconds, it takes a few seconds to load on a high speed connection)


GIFTS YOU SHOULD NOT GIVE TO YOUR ELDER BOARD! 

On the same site… 13 different gifts that you probably DON’T want to give to members of your church elder board this year. For example… Thongs of Praise!

CLICK HERE for the whole list.

Sigh.

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Is Facebook Too Popular?

Posted on: 12/3/07 4:46 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Sorry, my crystal ball isn’t working. But this is an interesting theory. This guys is basically saying that he thinks Facebook’s growth in popularity could be their downfall. Check it out yourself. WIRED reports this:
 
Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow has (a) theory. The crux is simple — the more people get involved in social networking, the more users are likely to encounter people they’d rather avoid. Doctorow goes on to theorize that the more often this happens, the more likely people are bound to abandon a site.
 
His argument may be simple, but it’s genuinely tapped in to how people communicate. “That’s why I don’t worry about Facebook taking over the net,” he explains. “As more users flock to it, the chances that the person who precipitates your exodus will find you increases. Once that happens, poof, away you go — and Facebook joins SixDegrees, Friendster and their pals on the scrapheap of net.history.”
 
I’m not convinced. But it’s interesting to hear people’s speculations.
 
Here’s what I do know. Fact: Facebook is growing by leaps and bounds in popularity. MySpace… it’s holding it’s own for now.
 
It will be interesting to see what the future holds. Right now it seems as though many of the teenagers that are tired of the “anonymity” and “pick up” atmosphere of MySpace are fleeing to Facebook. But some teenagers are enjoying the lack of responsibility that MySpace offers.
 
Plus… who’s going to switch their account when they have 867 “MySpace friends?” Starting over would be pretty depressing!
 
Time will tell…

What? We Almost Had ‘Sausage Biscuit with Eggs’ All Day Long!!!

Posted on: 12/2/07 8:40 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I’ve got to talk to you about something very important that will effect youth ministers everywhere: McDonalds has been in talks about providing breakfast all day long. Yes… it’s true!
 
I’m not surprised. Everyone knows that their breakfasts rock! (and their lunches… well…) So why not offer the good stuff all day?
 
Well, someone up high in Mickey D’s isn’t buying it. United Press International reports here:
 
McDonald’s has no plans to offer breakfast all day long, even though it is the most profitable meal of the fast-food chain’s U.S. division, an executive said.  Here:

“Breakfast all day is certainly something we’ll always take under consideration, but I can fairly tell you it’s not something that is going to happen for a long time,” McDonald’s USA Chief Operating Officer Jan Fields said in a webcast news conference.

Breakfast accounts for 24 percent of McDonald’s Corp.’s U.S. sales and 28 percent of transactions, she said.
 
Wow. Talk about a bad decision.
 
Sigh. So close…

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Playing Redneck

Posted on: 11/30/07 8:35 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Thanksgiving was definitely one of the highlights of my year… for one reason: family.
 
When I look at my family I can’t thank God enough. Not only has He given me a smokin’ hot wife and three kids that are FAR better than I was when I was their age… but he also has given me an incredible extended family that love and follow Him.
 
Every year for Thanksgiving we go up to my cousin’s 900 acre ranch in Northern California . It’s two hours from the nearest city (30 minutes from a tiny grocery store) and it’s surrounded by God’s country. This year we had over 30 people there for Thanksgiving. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people that got along! Lets be honest. For many of us, family means DRAMA! At this ranch, very little drama. Just a bunch of fun loving people who love God, listen to country music… and like to ride horses.
 
When we weren’t stuffing our faces, we were all out riding quads with our cousins and nephews twice removed (not exactly sure how that works), or shooting skeet. Picture this: about 7 or 8 of us all in one line, one at a time yelling “pull” and then shooting that little plastic Frisbee that shoots in the air. Fun stuff.
 
Alec (my 14 year old) was shooting pretty good. Ashley (my 10 year old), bless her heart, really wanted to give it a try. So she tried a 20 gage and it still bruised her arm pretty bad. Alyssa (my 12 year old) doesn’t want to touch guns. Fine with me. So she stayed back in the cookhouse and played with 4 little cousins.
 
When all was over we headed back to my brother’s (25 minutes from the ranch, a little closer to the small town, population 368) and just chilled. We watched his little “almost 2-year-old” jam around the floor saying the word “basketball” (his favorite word) every 10 seconds. Cute kid. Smart as a whip. But we have no idea why he is so obsessed with the word “basketball!”
 
About 10:00 we hit the rack every night.
 
Beautiful country. Great time.
 
I can’t thank God enough for family.

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