The Bible in 90 Days: Getting Started

     Last night the youth began reading The Bible in 90 Days.  Other small groups and Sunday School classes at Acton have started in the last week.  It was very encouraging to see how excited they were about reading the bible in a set period of time.  I know some won't believe me but when we gave them time at the end of worship to get started reading, they were quiet and attentive and started reading.
     I have often found that when committing to something that sometimes the hardest part is getting started.  Whether is learning to play guitar, reading all the Harry Potter books, or getting back in the swing of working out after a long layoff.
     When starting to read the Bible in 90 Days it might seem daunting to some.  Thoughts come up like: what if I get behind, that's a lot of reading, or maybe I can do this later.  When I read through the Bible in 90 Days over the last three months, I found that I did get behind a little bit occasionally.  So this time around I have decided that I will have a better routine by setting a time each day to read.  That way I am not reading so often at night when I am tired and just want to go to bed.  I feel like reading earlier in the day and being that it is the second time around, I will gain some insight that I may not have picked up on the first time around.
     So as you begin reading (or continue reading if you are a few days in) I hope that you are able to get into a routine from the very beginning.  Whatever that routine is, I hope that you simply pick a routine that works for you.  I know it will be a great experience for everyone involved.  Take heart in the fact that you have already done the hardest part: you started..

grace&peace
Kevin

The Bible in 90 Days

     Today, or later this week for some, we start our all church study The Bible in 90 Days.  The concept is pretty simple-you read the bible cover to cover in 90 days.  There is a reading plan and everything.
     I wanted to plan ahead and get the topics together for our Wednesday night worship and our Sunday night small groups so I began 90 Days before our all church study kicked off.  I started to think about what I could compare the dedication it took and to me it felt a lot like Lent.  Each year for the past 15 years or so I have given up something for Lent.  The first few years I thought it was enough to simply give up something (usually cokes or coffee or fast food.)  It wasn't until the last ten years or so that I began to think that it wasn't only about what I gave up, but what I put in its place.  It's great to simply give up fast food, but it was more meaningful to donate the money I would have spent on fast food to the church or give it to someone in need.
     So back to The Bible in 90 Days.  Obviously reading the entire Bible in such a short period of time takes some commitment.  In order to fill that commitment I had to give up something from my daily life to free up some 30 or so minutes a day to read.  I started reading two days after our daughter Courtney was born which made it even more challenging.  Really the main thing that I gave up was video games.  That's really about it, I think.  Instead of playing the new Lego Batman video game or Madden, or Star Wars, I simply put them away and read the bible.
     Not playing those video games wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I made a commitment and was determined to stick to it.  Sometimes I would stay up late on Mission Trip or Vacation, or wake up early on Choir Tour to read.  I stayed up late at home a few times to read as well.  Once I made it a priority it became routine and somewhat easy.  It's kind of like taking a shower every day, it just became part of my daily routine.  There will always be a reason not to read, my hope is that we all view reading scripture as such a blessing that we are able to put those excuses away and Just Do It!!!
     I plan on starting from the beginning again this week and reading along with the church and our youth group.  I'm sure I will pick up new things that I didn't catch the first time through.  I took quite a bit of notes the first time around and this time I plan on enjoying it by leading our youth in the discussion and reading for "fun."
     So for anyone who thinks it can't be done, I assure you it can.  Somehow I was able to accomplish it with a newborn, a very active four year old, and a busy youth summer.  And what an awesome feeling of accomplishment I have knowing that I was able to read the entire Bible in 90 Days.  I'll leave you with a scripture from day 84 of the reading.

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."                          ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Grace&Peace

Kevin

Connections

"What I got the most on mission trip was the relationships.  I liked the co-mingling (of churches) aspect and it was awesome how fast you can bond with people in only a weeks time and how God's love spread through us to make a bond of understanding and compassion to help a person in need and spiritually grow united in service.....BOOM, I NAILED IT."

     The above quote is not my words.  They belong to John Norton, who is going to be a Senior in High School this year.  This was his text messaged response when I asked the youth what they got out of Mission Trip this year.  John and his brother Joe went on the CTCYM Mission Trip in June as well as a mission trip to the Bahamas just over a week ago.  What a message.  Two week long mission trips in one summer for them.
     What reminded we of this quote was when Paul mentioned on Sunday how he loves how the Methodist Church is connected.  John and Joe are connected to two churches which enabled them to go on two mission trips.
     Every year on Mission Trip AUMC gets connected with other churches, which is just one of the things I love about CTCYM.  We have built a relationship with those churches.  In fact we are crashing on the floor at one of those churches this weekend on our end of summer trip and then worshiping with them on Sunday morning.
     It's always nice to see how quickly a group of youth and adults can connect when they have the same purpose in mind, which in this case was to SERVE others.  I am glad there are youth who are so aware and so willing to help others when they see a need for it.  I hope and pray that we all of us continue to show compassion and understanding and join to serve others.

grace&peace
kevin

Welcome Home

     Soon I get to see Kathy, my boy, and my sweet baby girl.  I feel like I have missed a lot of fun that they have had this week while I was gone.  Going to a "staff with kids" lunch after church on Sunday (without me), going to have dinner with Paul and Stephanie (without me), going out on the boat (without me).  Well you get the idea.  I have had a great time driving around Louisiana looking a various sites and getting to see and hold gators.  That being said......
     I am ready to be home after a week away.  Not because I didn't have fun but because I want to see my family.  It's great that I have a wife that supports me and allows me to go on youth trips.  I know she has done a great job "holding down the fort" while I have been gone.  And I know it hasn't been easy at some points with Carson's ear draining and Courtney being a bit fussy.  I can't thank her enough for what she has done.  I hope she knows how much I appreciate her and how much I am looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.
     As for Carson.....he wouldn't go to sleep tonight because he misses his daddy.  He knows I am coming home so he wouldn't go to sleep.  Kathy called me and I told him I would sleep in his room with him when I got home if he went to sleep tonight.  Hopefully he wasn't just using it as an excuse to stay up late.  (As of the writing of this, I haven't heard that he didn't go to sleep)
     As for Courtney she has been trying to talk to everyone and has even started to smile a little bit.  At least I did get to see her smile before I went out of town, but now its being reported that she is smiling while she is awake more.  She seems so alert in the pictures I have seen of her this week.
     I can't wait to see all three of them.  I can't wait to feed Courtney, even if it is a midnight or 1am feeding.  I just want to be able to hold her tight in my arms.  I can't wait to have some time on Friday just me and Carson doing something fun.  I told him it was a surprise when he asked what we were doing.  (It will even be a surprise to me, since I don't know yet)  And I can't wait to hug Kathy and let her know how much I have missed her and how much I appreciate her.

See you soon
kevin

Swamp Tour Musings

Here are some musings from the Soundwave Choir Tour.......so far...     
     I always find it funny when I go on a choir tour.  Because if you have ever heard me sing, well I can't.  Even when I was in youth choir as a teenager I only joined so I could go on fun trips.  What I have found over the last four years is I can sit back while the youth are singing and get an outside perspective.
     This year I have noticed that no matter what are differences are we can always find some common ground.  For instance at Christian Hospitality House in Shreveport a man we were working with saw that I had a camera and shouted across the kitchen: "hey take a picture of me, I'm very photogenic."  So him and I proceeded to ham it up for the camera and take a couple pictures.  In Gonzales this today at lunch we talked with some church members about our friends, our dogs.  At FUMC Kenner we were talking with the Pastor's son, Poni, about random things.  The conversation evolved, or should I say devolved into a discussion about superheros.  (I know you are all shocked by that)  But the point is that Poni was so proud to tell us about the water fountain he had just taken out and how fun it was because he got to kick it in with his steel toed boots, which is a superhuman feat of strength for a 13 year old Tongan.
     No matter what our differences are it seems when we are united in Christ and a common belief we can always find common ground.  There are many examples that we (Adam and Michael are helping me write this) about how our differences can divide us.  In fact Adam and Michael are arguing right now about who is smarter.
     To paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12 we all have our gifts but we must use those diverse gifts to be one body in Christ.
     On Swamp Tour we have met many different people and we know we will meet many more people.  Our hope is that we will continue to be positive and find common ground with everyone else we meet at the children's hospital, in the 9th ward, Dulac community center, and even on the Swamp Tour.

I'll leave you with a thought from 1 Corinthians: "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

grace&peace
kevin
with adam and michael

Not My Plan, But Yours

     I said I would never use anything I learned in college.  I take it back, I was wrong.  When I graduated high school, I had no idea what I was going to do for a career.  So I at some point I had the following majors: general business, computer science, english, journalism, broadcast journalism, before eventually "settling" on Exercise and Sports Science.  Exercise and Sports Science is a fancy way of saying teaching and coaching.
     I was asked by Boyd Goodloe just before the summer of 2000 if I would like to spend the summer in Houston and be a youth intern.  I thought sure, I'd rather hang out in Houston and work at a church than work at a pizza restaurant for the summer.  I owe Boyd so much and could never thank him enough.  If he had not asked me to be a youth intern in the summer of 2000 I might not have become a youth director at all.  If he had not asked me to work for JUMMP in 2005, I would have not met my wife.  So, thanks dude.  Back to summer of 2000.  I realized after about a week of interning that I wanted to work with youth and work in the church.  I had been pretty good about attending youth group growing up and going to church on a regular basis, but working in a church never seemed like a natural fit until that summer.  The realization came while having a serious, or maybe it wasn't, conversation with some senior high at a McDonalds about how Jesus could relate to superheroes.  (It's a long story so I won't share it today)  I decided at that point that I wanted to work with youth.  I had the most credit hours towards a degree in ESS with a minor in English so that's what I decided to major in so I could finish.  I did not figure I would use anything that I was learning in that field after graduation and for a while I really didn't.  Well turns out that now I am.
     For the last few weeks I have been able to go to the Rancho Brazos community center twice a week and play baseball with the kids and youth there.  I have found myself teaching the kids some of the skills I learned in little league and using some of those teaching techniques that I learned while helping teach elementary P.E. for that one semester as part of my practicum in college.
     I love being able to coach and relate to the kids there at Rancho Brazos.  They are much quicker learners that I was at their age.  I hope they are getting a lot out of it.  I know that I am.  We get what we put in, so it is great to see all these volunteers at the community center putting in the time and the work to help these kids, and I know that I am just a small part of that and am so grateful for the opportunity to serve with them and help the kids learn.  And getting to be outside and play baseball at the same time, well that's pretty cool too.
     So maybe there is a reason after all that I took some classes in P.E. and coaching.  I haven't used a lot of stuff from the book but I have used some practical knowledge I learned while working in the field, or the gym, as it was.
     As Jeremiah 29:11 says: "I know the plans I have for you."  I guess God really did have a plan for my indecisiveness in picking a major.  He saw it way back when I was struggling in college, I am just now seeing it fully.

Here's hoping anyone who reads this follows God's plan for you.

grace&peace
kevin

Mending Fences

     The storm last Friday did a "bit" of damage to a bunch of fences in our neighborhood.  So Saturday was spent fixing our fence and a church members house down the street.  Of course, it was made much easier due to the help of Michael Horn and Adam Lubbers, two of our youth.  And I know why they helped.  They did not need something in return, they did not need recognition.  They simply helped out because it was the right thing to do.  I am sure it probably would have been more fun play outside, sleep, or do something else on a Saturday afternoon.  But, that is not what is important, and Michael and Adam and a lot of our other youth realize that.
     It should come as no surprise that 23 of our youth (and 9 adults) are giving up a week of their summer to go to Willard, MO to help others.  It will be hard work, it will be pretty hot, and they are paying to go on the trip.  They could be doing something else, but they are choosing to go on a mission trip because it is the right thing to do. 

Simple as that, its the right thing to do and they want to do it.

grace&peace
kevin