New Year's Resolution Ideas!

        Well, it is a new year and you know what that means? New Year's resolutions (empty promises that we half pretend to keep this time, just like last year). They are empty because we have no strategy. We try to lose weight, but with no plan. We want to go to church more often, but with no accountability. We want to watch TV less, but it never seems to take. Here are some ideas with the means to accomplish them.

1. Lose weight-- Actually go to a gym and get a membership tomorrow. Pack a lunch for work each day so you will not eat out and crock pot on Sunday's to avoid the temptation to eat out. Restaurant portions are HUGE!

2. Go to church more-- Pick a friend or a family to keep each other accountable and get together once a month for lunch on Sunday. The one who has missed the most church that month picks up the tab (perfect attendance for both = dutch).

3. Watch TV less--Put your TV on a timer switch and program it to only come on for a certain amount of time a day and do something else when it cuts off. You can also invest in some card games like Uno, Blink, or Monopoly Deal.

4. Use Facebook less-- It will initially take some time to use Facebook less. Organize all of your friends into lists and only check the news feed of your close friends and family lists. Aimlessly scrolling through the news feed is a serious time waster.

5. Read your Bible more-- If you have a smartphone you can get the YouVersion app fom LifeChurch.TV and use there reading plans or listen to the Bible on the go. If you do not have a smartphone you can bookmark Crosswalk.com on your computer and use one of their plans or simply leave your Bible in the bathroom or in a prominent place.

6. Spend more time with your family-- If you want to be a better husband, wife, father, mother, son  or daughter then please see the suggestions for numbers two through five (one through five if you want to be around for your family when you are older).

What will you do differently this year?

The Top Ten Christmas Movies Ever Made!

It has been two years since my Top Ten Christmas Movies of All Time blog. Some of my opinions have changed. Several movies received high marks for being classics, but I no longer go out of my way to see them. Others were newer and are starting to be time tested favorites. So here is the new list:

10. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Yes, this was only a television special. It was not on my previous list for that very reason. However, this just seems wrong. It is time tested and great. You can even buy inflatables and Charlie Brown Christmas trees years after its release. What other Christmas movie had a song that is so readily played on Christmas radio stations? It is classic and is here to stay.

9. A Christmas Carol (2009)

The best of the Christmas Carols by far. I had not seen this when I made my first list. Although, if we could make a perfect version it would have Kermit as Bob Cratchit, George C Scott as Scrooge, Goofy as Jacob Marley, and be done in the style of the Jim Carrey version. 

8. Die Hard (1988)

Yes, it is a Christmas movie. And I will be watching it again this year!

7. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Great! and unlike other Christmas movies, it is surprisingly original in its storytelling.

6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

It is worth watching simply for the back story of the Grinch's descent into obscurity. A back story that seems to have been copied in part by MegaMind. 

5. Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)

Definitely the Superior of the two "Miracle" movies.

4. The Santa Clause (1994)

Tim Allen's best work by far. It is too bad that they kept making these, because one was perfect. It would serve better as a stand alone movie than in an sub-par trilogy.

3. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

I LOVE this movie! Last time I had it as number one, but it is a little long. It also seems to be slipping in popularity. It must be the modern attention span. I still think it is Jimmy Stewart's best role.


2. Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone was the best Christmas movie that came out when I was a kid. Perhaps that is why it has stuck with me all of this time. The hijinks of Stern and Pesci as the inept wet bandits never gets old.

1. Elf (2003)

Elf is HUGELY funny and highly quotable.

"Smiling is my favorite"

"You sit on a thrown of lies!"

Need I say more? Elf has become my favorite Christmas movie, simply because it is one that constantly makes me laugh. It is an added plus that my wife and kids love it as well.

Didn't see your favorite? Comment below.

Christmas Already?!

Christmas is upon us!!! Or at least the department stores would have us think so. With only a week before Thanksgiving one would never know that it wasn't the middle of December.

A few weeks ago I was at a store that had Halloween decorations on one aisle and Christmas decorations on the next. Really? I mean come on. Why not throw some fireworks and chocolate bunnies into the mix?

I even came home the other day and my wife had Christmas carols blaring as she cleaned. What in the world?

As Christmas really gets closer it will probably monopolize a good chunk of my posts as well. What can I say? I actually love Christmas, just not so early.

How to Get a FREE Texting Service for your Ministry

Have you ever wanted to text your entire student or children's ministry all at once. If you are anything like me you have looked into it. I found out that the price was more than my church could afford to budget.

Only 50% of emails are actually read, but 96% of texts are opened and read. This means that not only are texting services the best way to communicate with large groups, but they are also a necessity.

How did I get a text service for absolutely free? I let Twitter pick up the tab. I recently learned how to do this at a breakout session of the Orange Conference. Now I want to share this with you.

Here are the simple steps to make this work.

1. Start a Twitter account for your group. Example: @kwazykids

2. Plan to tweet no more than 3 times a week so as not to annoy the receiver enough to where they drop out.

3. Communicate the new communication method (you do not even need to mention Twitter)

4. Have everyone in your group text to 40404 the following: follow kwazykids

It is imperative that there is a space between follow and your Twitter name.
You do not need to include the @ sign.

5. Tweet to Text to your group

Good luck with your New FREE texting service. May God bless your ministry

Halloween and Spirit World

It's Halloween! The time when the ancient Druids incorrectly believed that the veil between the physical and spiritual world was the thinnest. Costumes and the use of pumpkins both date back to their times.

There was however a time when there was a veil between the spiritual and physical. It was a time when people needed to go through a priest to ask God for forgiveness of sins.

Jesus came to remove that veil. He was God in the form of man. This closeness is what He wants for all of us by indwelling us with His Spirit. It was not possible before Jesus because of our sins.

When Jesus died on the cross God tore the veil in the temple in two. Now anyone may come to Him and experience His unconditional love.

Honey, I Shrunk the Car!

I only remember going trick or treating once as a small child. The rest of my childhood was spent hiding in the dark on Halloween with sheets over the windows so that children would not know we were home. We would take our stand against the evils of Halloween in the silence of the family room.

Several years later we begin going to a kids carnival put on by our church. Unbeknownst to my family, I was slowly developing a deep appreciation for Halloween. It wasn't necessarily the candy or scariness as much as fun of dressing up.

I grew up reading comics and the thought of becoming a different character still excites me. If it were socially acceptable I would where a cape every day.

Now that I have kids Halloween has become one of my favorite times of year. Yes, I know the origins, but I do not care. If it was once meant for evil, I definitely mean it for good.

The annual Trunk or Treat for our church is coming up and I am preparing a shrink ray for "Honey I Shrunk the Car". We will be scientists (except my wife who will decked out in curlers as my wife) There is something about getting into character as someone else that is awesome fun for my whole family.

I am not done with the ray yet, but here is a pic of it so far:

Pizza Imperfections

        Is it a little strange that my six year old will literally flip out if he does not get the slice of pizza with the largest cheese blister on it. When I think about it, I never see him eager to put anything burnt into his mouth. I should know because I have used a knife to transform toast back to a less than charcoal color so I could save my ears from hearing that old familiar "yuck".

        Although Pizza may be the most perfect food we will enjoy prior to the pizza bearing trees of Heaven (my translation) it is still imperfect. In a fallen creation even the pizza suffers. As the cheese melts to coat the pizza in a warm gooey thick spread, the heat from the oven is more than it can take. Bubbles pop up, pulling the cheese tight then singeing the blister like a crusty wart.

        When I think about my son reaching for the bumpiest slice available, I think of God seeking relationship with messed up people. I was one of those people with the marks and scars of my sinful actions. He still called me and He still wants us--warts and all.

My Lawn Wants to Eat Me

        I could almost hear my lawn licking its lips as I walked though it last night. Long blades of grass grasped for my ankles. Getting back inside did not come quick enough. It is official: My lawn wants to eat me. It has rained here in North Carolina on every possible mowing day for the last few weeks. 


        Generally I try to keep my lawn at bay. You know, just so everyone knows who is really in charge. It is different now. There is mutiny brewing. The once tame fescue I called my friends has teamed up with the wire grass and kudzu to put an end to me. This may be my last post.


        An unkempt lawn is no different than an unkempt relationship with God. If we do not confess our sin to God as it comes, we can easily be fertilizing the sinful nature within us that Jesus died to defeat. Before you know it we may be only feet from the house but it is completely out of sight. Be sensitive to the Spirit's conviction. God wants to do regular maintenance on our lives so that we do not become a weeded tangled mess. 


1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

French Toast Gone Wrong

        I have always loved breakfast foods. Any meal, any time. Among my favorites are pancakes and french toast. I even enjoy making them and add my own "special" ingredients.


        A few days ago I was making french toast for my family and had just used up my last egg in the mix. I reached into the spice cabinet and grabbed what I thought was cinnamon. It was the same color bottle, and I  saw the 'C' at the beginning of the word as I reached for the bottle that was half way turned around. 


       I shook in just the right amount, mixed it, and began dipping my bread. As I breathed in to smell the familiar smell of french toast on the griddle, I was greeted by another scent. A familiar one. I grabbed the bottle to discover that I had used chilli powder on nearly all of the bread. There were no eggs left and very little bread. We actually ate the french toast anyway (although I do NOT recommend this recipe). 


        We all make mistakes, but I am reminded of what an older carpenter I know used to say. "Measure twice, cut once." What is done is done and although I could have gone back to the store or made something else, I chose to live with my mistake.


        The next time you are tempted to share something about someone else, measure twice and maybe you will not cut at all. James tells us "...the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark" (James 3:5).

Should We Offend People?

       
        In 1 Corinthians 10:32 Paul says, "Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God". We tend to run with verses like this in churches today. We have become an ulta-tolerant society. 


        Often we assume that we already know what the Bible means when it says words like offend. However, we should first ask what Paul meant by offense. Before we do that let's ask what 'we' mean today by offend. The definition of offend is: to Cause to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful. It can also mean: to transgress the moral or divine law. 


        When we say we are offended it means that someone did something we did not like or that we do not think they should do. Occasionally we may use it to talk about how someone morally or ethically wronged us. When the Bible talks about us offending God it is talking about transgressing a moral law. We literally commit offenses against Him.


        However, when the Bible talks about us offending each other it means something entirely different. In the King James Bible we read, "But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). The New International Version captures the meaning of the word better for today. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6). 


        Why does the NIV have to capture the meaning rather than say offend? It is because what we mean by offend has changed drastically over the years. Webster's Dictionary still shows an old definition for the word but has the word obsolete beside of it. That definition is to cause to sin or fall. This is usually not the case when we "offend" someone today.


        Jesus told us not to judge if we had a plank in our eye, but to first remove it so that we can help our brother. This means that we ARE to confront other believers who are falling into the trap of sin as long as we are not involved in the same things. It is our Christian duty to offend (in todays meaning of the word). And we all probably know some Christians who need to be "offended".

Truths From a Galaxy Far Far Away

As I watched The Empire Strikes Back with my children (Luke and Leia) tonight, I was reminded of some classic truths that are core to my faith.

1. There is a darkness inside all of us that wants to take over. The Bible calls this darkness sin and Romans 3:23 tells us that we all have it.

2. Fear is a path to the Dark Side (or sin). Fear and worry are not from God. Jesus told us not to worry about the future and Yoda said that this was a major problem in Luke's life as well. God has not given us a spirit of fear. It is definetly from our sin nature (Dark Side).

3. Unbelief leads to failure. Luke tells Yoda that what he wants is impossible and that he does not believe he can lift his X-Wing from the swamp. Yoda tells him that is why he fails. In Philippians Paul tells us that we can do ALL things the Christ who strengthens us.

I am sure there are many other truths such as Tauntauns make great Hot Pockets, if a cave shakes when shot it may not be an actual cave, and if you are looking for someone you have never met he may in fact be the little green puppet rumaging through your things.

What truths have you noticed in Empire or the other Star Wars films?

His Strength is Perfect in Our Weakness

        I just returned from a mission trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We took 24 teens and adults to do ministry in the wake of the tornados that hit this year. I was challenged by our teens as I saw them continually resort to prayer in hard situations.
        The time in particular that I want to share with you was a block party that we threw for a neighborhood in a very low income area. We had pulled out all of the stops. We had bounce houses, hundred of hotdogs to grill, face painting, basketball and a host of other activities. We even had another church bringing coolers stocked full of ice water. I was sure we had planned it well enough to be a success.
        If my plans had gone right then I may have been able to boast in me rather than God alone, but my plans went horribly wrong. The propane grill would not work, the breakers for the bounce houses and sound system kept tripping, and we had no stakes to even hold the houses down. The worst however came when the other church came an hour and a half later than scheduled. It was a hundred and two degrees and when they finally arrived there were no coolers or ice just hot water..
        If anything good would happen it would have to be God. Our teens did a couple of skits, I preached the word, students counseled, and HIS Gospel which is the power unto salvation redeemed 22 people. I will boast in Christ ALONE because his strength is made perfect in my weakness.
        One older lady noted that churches come in every year and try to do something in the same pavilion. According to her there are never more than 20-30 residents in attendance. In total over 300 came to the block party.
        The day before God had given us the opportunity to spend the entire day there. We picked up trash, hauled debris, and cut down damaged trees. We also witnessed a drug deal and an arrest (separately). None of it scared us off. There was a police chopper overhead looking for someone, but we had a job to do. We knocked on every door to invite the neighborhood to the block party. I am convinced that people don't care how much you know until the know how much you care.
        It took God's love through us for that many people to show up, and then God took over and did the rest. Isn't He awesome? What stories do you have that can only be answered with, God stepping in?