Andy said…

I was really moved by something Andy Stanley said this weekend. He told leaders to pass on what they know to someone else. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know everything. You know something and that needs to be passed along. We often fail to pass along anything because we don’t feel qualified. If we all took that approach no one would know anything. The greatest asset the world has is collective knowledge. The idea is that knowledge builds as we pass along what we know. It is time to pass along whatever we know whether little or large.

The Big Idea

I bought a domain name emptymycup.com and I hope to create an online place to help people connect with others who are willing to pass along what they know. I think the site will have three main sections; a blog, free resources, and mentoring opportunities.

Your Turn…

Would you be interested in contributing? Maybe write a blog post, maybe volunteer to mentor, maybe shoot a video or submit a photoshop file.

Not me…

Of course right now you are thinking you can’t do that because you don’t know enough. That’s the opposite of what the site is about. If you wait till you know everything you’ll never share what you do know.

What if it fails?

To be brutally honest I don’t know if this will work or not. I could spend the next few months creating a website and it might fail. I don’t know if anyone else will even get on board. I don’t know and that’s the cool thing about it. This will be my part of emptying the cup. Andy Stanley said it isn’t my job to fill someone’s cup. It is simply my job to empty mine.

I think it’s time to empty my cup…

After 7+ hours on the road, three bathroom breaks, and two bad meals we made it to Dallas with a 16 month old in the backseat. A church conference doubling as a trip to see family makes for a great reason to get out of town. After trips to see the local sites including IKEA, Legacy Church, and In-N-Out we woke up early to head to Catalyst.

It’s hard to relate all that went down in just over 12 hours. Start with a metronome and a beat boxing cello player then intro the amazing Andy Stanly, followed by the mentor John Maxwell. Throw in a girl who went to Uganda, a zip line that broke, an NFL quarterback, free swag, and Gungor. Don’t forget Kari Jobe, Amena Brown, Kirk Franklin, Matt Chandler, Jud Wilhite, awesome lights and sound and of course God himself was definitely present.

To say I’m on overload is an understatement. Tears, laughter, hope for change, and lessons learned were too many to count.

Instead of butchering the wonderful speakers by trying to recap it all, I’ll simply leave you with some one line highlights from the day.

I am going to learn to say no to a lot of things so I can say yes to one big thing. -Andy Stanly

1 insult + 1000 compliments = 1 insult. Critics math can make 50,0000 cheering fans disappear. -Jon Acuff

If you will humble yourself and let people teach you something you will grow. -John Maxwell

Your calling is not to a spectacular ministry but a sincere heart. -Jud Wilhite

We surround our lives with people who applaud us. The reason we don’t run to God is we don’t think he applauds us. -Matt Chandler

I can’t wait for day 2…

5:30AM on Saturday morning.

Shana calls me. I know what the call was about. Literally rolling out of bed I get dressed and drive around the block to her house. We were at our first yard sale by 6AM. I love yard sales! Somewhere around the 9AM range after crossing across town I saw a sign.

Basketball Goal $40 around back.

Curious me wanted to see what a $40 basketball goal would look like. It looked amazing. And after a few minutes of talking he came down to $30 without me asking. I said sold.

Now we get to move it

I asked Jeff if he could help me haul it across town (my poor truck had died). The trip back to the house was too funny. The goal stuck about 5 feet off the back tailgate. We talked it over for a bit and decided to “try” to make the trip back across town with me in the back. I now feel like I am a true Arkansan. I felt like I was in a parade. I did wave to curious onlookers.

Now we get to use it

The teens got it set up tonight at small group. $30 dollars, some water to weigh it down, a borrowed basketball and we have an instant memory maker with the teens. How many Sunday nights this summer will be spent around the basketball goal? I hope we have too many to count.

Sweaty and tired I came in tonight after staying outside til the sun set. Bowen stayed around to help Zach and I learn how to dunk. We managed to dunk on the 8ft goal. Lebron who?

Complicated is overrated

Youth ministry doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. We didn’t buy any fancy video games or spend hours in the kitchen cooking. We ate pizza rolls, doritos and sodas. We talked about the miracle of Jesus calming the storm and how we must choose faith instead of fear. Then we sat around, laughed and played basketball. And that is what I call youth ministry.

I am just surprised, given the simplicity, at how many churches don’t do anything. Teens aren’t looking for the big show. They aren’t looking to be entertained or amazed. Just go buy you a $30 basketball goal.

Just A Camping Trip Right?

I guess it’s never “just” anything. It’s always a little more complicated, takes a little longer, costs a little more than you originally planned. But in the end it’s worth it.

Guy’s Camping Trip

Every year the Church of God does a camping trip in April. This year we decided to take a group. We loaded up the bus, my truck, and the trailer. We drove through 2 hours of rain and set up just before the sun went down.

Friday night the temperature dropped into the low 40s and some of us froze the first night and into the morning. But the sun came up and the rest of the weekend was perfect.

We roasted marshmallows and told stories. Went fishing and rode a zipline. One teen cut his hand open with a knife and we got to practice first aid. We laughed, relaxed, and looked for Will. I truly enjoyed the whole weekend.

Uh Oh

On a return trip from Walmart, to get corn to roast for dinner, I noticed a gauge light on my truck. My truck was overheating. Got back to the campsite and my radiator was shooting coolant everywhere. After discussing what to do we attempting driving it back. Long story short a hole in my radiator turned into my engine cracking. Yep. Not such a good end to the weekend.

That aside

But that aside you can see from the pictures below that we had an awesome weekend.

Quick list

Here is my list of free resources for ministry. Let me know where else you go for free stuff!

Free Stock Images

sxc.hu

Free Sermon Graphics

vintagechurch.cc
stufficanuse.com
creationswap.com
newspring.cc/resources/
open.lifechurch.tv
lifechurch.tv/resources

Free Video Loops

creative.newlifechurch.tv/downloads/backgrounds

Youth Ministry Resources

studentministry.org
stuffyoucanuse.org
simplyyouthministry.com

Free Sound Effects

freesound.org

Free Game Ideas

egadideas.com

Free Web Hosting

If you are 501c3 then Dreamhost offers free hosting of your website. Contact them to inquire.
dreamhost.com/web-hosting/

Newsletters

Go to your favorite media outlet and sign up for their newsletter. I get emails all the time for free resources.

Small Group

I love my small group. The atmosphere is fun and laid back. The students want to be there and are always let down when we have to cancel. We keep things simple. We just sit around, talk about Jesus, and eat food. It’s the food part that got me thinking.

The Experiment

It might have been a pointless experiment given the fact that I already knew the outcome. I went through the pantry and looked for what all I could put out for the teens to eat. Here is the result of the experiment…

The Law of Consumption

The law of consumption states that any amount of food placed in front of teenagers will be consumed.

One pizza or Ten. The amount of food is irrelevant. The law of consumption is hard at work. Okay so it’s not a real law but it should be.

Invest in Students

It’s not the pizza or the soda that I am really worried about. It’s the students. I don’t care if it takes 10 pizzas or a dozen cans of pringles. Let’s invest in students and see what God can do through them to change our world.

The Numbers

8,000 Easter Eggs. 4,000+ people. 500+ kids
Three church services. 900+ people. 15 Salvations.
One Easter Dinner. 3 Ryans rolls/3 honey butters. 4 hands of PIT. 300+ family photos.
One amazing weekend!

One Amazing Weekend

I am always amazed at how busy and how wonderful Easter Weekend can be. In the ministry it’s like superbowl weekend. You are running like crazy doing so much and in the end it is always worth it. So many people will walk through the doors of our church on that one weekend.

I’ll Still Take It

Easter is an opportunity to reach more and impact more and I’ll take it. I know it might simply  be a religious requirement for some. I’ll still take it. It might the one and only day you see them in church. I’ll take it. Why? Who knows what might be said or what might happen on that one day that could change a life forever. I’ll take it.

A Testimony Was Born

Today a testimony was born. Someone gave their heart to the Lord on the day he gave his heart for ours. Easter is simply amazing.

What to read more?

Find out more about our Easter Egg hunt by reading this blog post.

Spring is here.

Having some fun outside!

Today we went to the grocery store.

Our local Kroger has turned into the place to go for groceries. It’s easy to get in and out of, has good prices, and the people are friendly. Joel went with us and we got one of those carts with the little cars on the front for him to ride in as we shopped. We went by and got him a free balloon and he smiled as we went up and down the aisles.

Another picture dad?

When we got home I was uploading some pictures to facebook and kinda felt silly. I mean parents take their kids to the grocery store all the time right? And how many of them post pictures of their kids in the shopping cart? For a split second I almost wanted to delete the photos. But that split second passed and I was thankful. Thankful that I documented the trip. Thankful we took him along. Thankful they gave us a silly little balloon.

The Speed of Life

I mean life has blown by so fast already. Joel is 15 months old and it seems like yesterday he was 6 months. Feels like yesterday that he was born. So I won’t regret taking silly pictures or making a trip to the grocery store seem really important. Life is full of everyday moments that need to become important.

My best friend growing up was Patrick.

We did everything together and his mom was sure to document it all. It became a running joke on how many times we had to smile for the camera. At the time I was too busy having fun to figure it out. I was just eating dinner in the den, or playing at the park, or going to the fair. I didn’t realize I was making childhood memories. And I still remember the silliest things. I remember riding in the truck listening to Garth Brooks. I remember playing GI Joes in the driveway. I remember eating green beans and hating them. I remember life even though it was just life.

So the next time you go to Kroger, enjoy it.

Our latest adventure: Easter Eggs.

Although I’ve been to a few I have never been a part of organizing one. Working with Kenny and his staff the church is putting together a hunt for the community of Jonesboro. We have no idea how many to expect.

Buy 8,000 Easter Eggs

We started with 5,000 eggs and then nervously ordered an extra 3,000. Of course we are still worried this won’t be enough. The eggs came from American Carnival Mart. The cost was $75 for 1000 empty eggs. We spent roughly $600 for 8,000 plus shipping (which was marginal). You can order eggs pre-filled with candy but we chose to let the church people help by buying candy and stuffing eggs. We also stuffed the eggs with a scripture verse.

Buy The Candy

We asked our church people to help us provide the candy for the eggs. It took a couple weeks to get the word out but the candy has come pouring in and we will have plenty. I am always blessed when people in the church take their time and money to go buy things for events. We decided on three pieces of candy per egg. Along with the scripture that will ensure each egg feels full. Hopefully that was a smart choice.

Stuff 8,00 Eggs

In one night we were able to stuff about 4,000 eggs. We had about 50 people total and it was a really fun atmosphere. Tables were covered with empty eggs, scripture papers and all sorts of candy. Some of the teen guys just happened to find candy that wouldn’t fit into the eggs and thus needed to be eaten. We are having our final stuffing party on Sunday. I am sure we will finish in under an hour. We will make a game of it and enjoy the time together stuffing eggs.

Secure The Venue

We were thankful to get the ASU track to host the event. This is the perfect location on a main highway right next to the football stadium. It will be easy for the community to find, plenty of parking, and enough grass to hold all 8,000 eggs. The University didn’t charge us to use the field. We will be making a donation to the ASU Alumni fund to thank them for letting us use the field. If it works out well we will schedule next year’s event at the same location.

Advertise The Hunt

So far our only means of advertisement has been 100 yard signs that we ordered from Yard Sale Wholesale. Cost us about $400 for 100 two sided one color signs with the metal posts. We put 8,000 Easter Eggs, the date and time, location ages and website on the sign. It might have been too much information for a road side sign but it works. We also have placed an ad on the large digital sign in front of the ASU Convocation Center. It cost us roughly $10 a day plus a set up fee. I feel like this is the best return for our money. Thousands drive by the sign every single day. Our total advertisement costs have been around $800.00

Our Main Goal

Our main goal for this event is to do something for the community, present the gospel, and make them aware of our church. It should be a fun experience and a door to reaching more people for Christ. I think this should be a great way to interact with the people of our community in a venue outside the church. Some might not darken the doors of the church but they will take their children to an egg hunt. Let’s take Jesus to them! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Sharing the Knowledge

A big shout out goes to Access Lakeland for sharing what they know about Easter Egg hunts. We stole almost the whole idea from what they did in Lakeland, Florida last year. Find out more about what they are doing in Lakeland and soon Tampa. Click Here Than Graffam was so helpful to me. Responded to multiple emails and openly shared all he knew about egg hunts. That is what it’s all about. Follow him on twitter @thangraffam

Check out the basic website we made for the event. Eggjonesboro.com 

How did it go?

Check out this album on facebook to see how it all turned out. Click Here.  Or check out the pictures below.