I can’t imagine a better way to start the week than Deep Thoughts with Matt McKee.    Matt is the Pastor of Students and Children at Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Matt is funny, thoughtful and creative.  Read what he has to share today, share your thoughts then check out his blog.

For some reason while I was with my 2 year old, Azlan, I started singing a line from the song “September”. I really don’t know why but I sang, “Do you remember, the 21st night of Septemeber?” On cue, Azlan sang back to me, “I don’t remember…”  I was floored. One with laughter and two because of course he doesn’t remember, HE’S 2!

Ephesians 2:12 “…remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world“

How often we forget.  We forget about what God has brought us through.  We forget all of the steps of faith that has brought us to where we are today no matter where that place may be.  We forget what God has done for us and through us.  We forget…

What if we lived as people who remembered?  What if we lived as people who have a hope that no matter what junk is going on right now that God is bigger and better than all of it?  What if we remembered that the God we serve made the oceans and yet cares how many hairs are on my head?

Today I want you to remember.  I want you not to forget to praise God for all that he has done.  Remember what it was like before you had Jesus in your life.  Share your story today of what God has done in your life.  I am sure that it someone needs a little hope today.

Kenny Conley is the Next Generation Pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, Tx.  True to Texas, Kenny thinks BIG.  I’ve yet to hear anything out of Kenny’s mouth that isn’t bigger than all of us put together.  He’s joining Jabberfrog today to share glimpse of what God has done inside of him lately.  Enjoy, comment, then skip over to his blog, Children’s Ministry Online, for more.

Hello. My name is Kenny and I’m a Sabbath Skipper.

I’ve known better for years, but I habitually work on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I realized how out of control I was and began to put guidelines back into my life concerning the Sabbath. Actually I jumped into a small group of other men on staff and we’re on a Bible reading plan. While we were in the books of the Law, the thing that convicted us the most was the importance of the Sabbath and how pitiful we all were at celebrating it. Being in ministry, we’re all busy with really good things. Unfortunately our family was taking a back seat to unrealistic and out of control schedules.

For us, we first had to recognize what our Sabbath was. Sunday is a workday, so it wouldn’t be fair to our families if that was our Sabbath. We chose to go OT style and do the sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. It was a schedule that allowed us to have a full 24 hours with our families without school or work getting in the way. It also gave us flexibility to start ramping up for work again on Saturday night. We then surrounded each other with accountability, making sure we’re all celebrating the Sabbath.

I’m five weeks into my new practice and I’ve only blown it one weekend. Here is what I’ve learned:

• I’m just as productive as I was before. I’ve got the same about of work, but I seem to be getting it done in one less day of work. Who knew. I think it’s like the tithe. For many people it is a step of faith to first begin giving that 10% and they have to trust God with the tithe. When choosing to celebrate the sabbath, you have to trust that God will multiply your ability to get everything done with one less day to work.
• Celebrating the Sabbath changes the way I work during the week. Every day I’m thinking about that Sabbath and and prioritizing my week so that when Thursday comes, I’m able to wrap up what needs to be done for that week. I’ve found that it has helped me become more efficient.
• I’m happier. Seriously, I’m less stressed, I feel more confident about the direction we’re going and I’m having such a blast with my family on my days off. My relationship with my wife is better and I’m making great memories with my family.

It’s funny how as pastors, we’re sure to tithe and stress how important it is for others to follow this suggestion, yet so many of us totally neglect taking a Sabbath rest. The irony of it all is that taking the Sabbath rest is one of the ten commandments, which is pretty important.

So, schedule your next Sabbath rest day. Enjoy it and be sure to honor God this way!

Do you ever compare yourself to others? I do. I’ll go ahead and admit that I sometimes try and size up people in the first few minutes with one standard-bearing question: Are they better than me, or am I better than them? It’s all very subjective, I don’t literally wonder if I’m a better person than someone; but I do wonder if my house is bigger, if my salary is larger, if my church is more heavily attended, if my marriage is healthier, and any other way that I could possibly walk away with a win in this dangerous “compare game.”

Now that you’ve lost total respect for me as a human being, let me say that I believe when you are left to your own human devices, that you are the exact same way. Think about it, how do you feel when you come back from a mission trip where you saw children without adequate clothes and housing? You feel terrible and sad, and leave with an appreciation for NOT being where they are, doing what they are doing. And how do you feel when you leave the dinner party of some fabulously rich medical professional? You feel terrible and sad, and leave with an appreciation for all they have that I do NOT have yet. If you’re not this person, then thank God for people like you.

As I’ve matured and grown to accept my place in the world (cue the Michael W. Smith song), I’ve learned to rise above this stupid “Compare Game.” I’m grown tired of trying to measure myself against the things and people I have no control over. As I read 2 Corinthians 10:12 from The Message Bible, I’m reminded that to compare myself with others is totally missing the point.

2 Corinthians 10:12 “But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.”

Here are four reasons why the “Compare Game” is a losing proposition:

1. I unfairly compare myself to others. I can’t compare my 2 year journey through Bible College with the Doctor that spent 10 years in medical school. Apples and oranges my friend.
   
2. I compare the GAINS of others and not the LOSSES. We do such a great job sometimes of covering the losses of others, and only seeing the positive. Some people have much more than me, because they’ve given up much more than me.
   
3. I tend to overlook my own personal success. I have been good at some things, but when I play the compare game I’m often leaving my own success hidden in the background.
   
4. I disapprove of my own choices. When I fail to take ownership of my own choices in life, then it become easy to be the loser when playing the compare game.

On this great journey of being myself, may the Lord help me to see myself in the light of his wonderful grace and never-ending mercy. I’m striving to only compare myself with the perfect one, Jesus. In this game I always fall short, but it has never kept me from Him.

Roger is a friend of mine from LC OKC. I get to serve every week with him and his wife in LifeKIDS. Roger’s pretty great, but (truth be told) I get pretty excited when I get to hang out with his wife.

Roger called me out of the blue one night to share a story about one of his boys. Working in kids ministry, its stories like these that remind me how amazing it is to get to do what I do. Roger agreed to share his story here. This is only the first of 3 posts. To catch the rest, you’ll have to check out Roger’s new blog, RollMentalCamera.

Take some time and join the conversation.  Then visit Roger’s blog and comment there.  Welcome him to the blogging world.

What Would Your Kid Say?

Part 1 of 3

Ever worry about your child’s perception of things? What would you say is most important to them?

Roll mental camera…

I went to my son Connor’s third grade open house at school to check out some of the work they had done. An autobiographical worksheet caught my eye that had all kinds of statements like “My favorite ice cream is ___” and the kids fill in the blank. You get the picture.

There were two statements that stopped me in my tracks.

“I believe in ____.” Which some answered harmlessly enough “parents” or “themselves.” But many put “my Wii” or “Pokemon” or something else just as selfish.

The second and by far the most disturbing was “My final destination is ____” and I began to read things like “Disneyworld”, “Paris, France” or “Los Angeles.” (I felt a bit queezy and blacked out for a second after reading that… But back to the story)

Hope was renewed when I got to Connor’s paper and he answered the 2 questions in big bold letters “I believe in GOD and JESUS” and “My final destination is HEAVEN”. With a huge smile I mumbled “THANK YOU GOD” (should have screamed it) and immediately called Gina and thanked her for the ministry that has helped in Connor’s faith. It wasn’t that we knew this worksheet was going to happen or that we worked on it at home. He did it at school with nobody but himself telling him what to write. It was an awesome sight.

Do you know how your child would answer these questions?

Don’t you think you should?

So, you think the hour they spend in kids church every week will fix them?