'Homeless' Documents America's Forgotten Kids

Here's a link to a video that one of our ministry leaders posted on Facebook. Our church is gearing up for an annual ministry we do to help kids from low income families get ready for school. Basically we collect school supplies and backpacks and then throw a back to school party for the kids. At the party, adults get to help the kids pack the supplies they will need for their specific grade. A lot of the kids we meet are considered homeless; most of them live in hotels.

The video is a promo for an HBO documentary that airs tonight (July 26). I actually have a free subscription to HBO for the next month so I will be able to catch it. The documentary profiles the homeless kids and families of Orange County, CA, BUT these kids and families are in all of our cities and towns.

I've been to Orange County and have friends who live there. It's basically Fairfax County with palm trees. We have some of the very same problems as they do when it comes to homeless families.

Here are some stats from the video that were hard to hear:

• 40% of those who are homeless in America are families.
• 1 in 50 kids in America are homeless.
• The average age of the homeless in America is 9 years old.

I'm thankful for groups like FACETS in Fairfax County to help us help homeless families. I'm thankful we have a church that cares enough to get involved. I'm thankful we have people leading some of our ministries to the homeless who understand the need, some of them first hand.

If you live in Fairfax County, get involved with one of the many organizations, non-profits, churches and ministries who are working to solve this problem. If you live somewhere else, look for a place to plug in; if there's not a place, create one.

'Homeless' Documents America's Forgotten Kids

Pray and Play Retreat

Our staff is heading down to Lake Gaston, NC tomorrow for our annual Pray and Play Retreat. We take our entire staff plus their families and for four days we play and pray together.

There will be lots of boating, tubing, skiing, card games, kayaking, movies plus some great group devotions and concentrated pray.

I haven't made the commitment yet, but I'm thinking about completely unplugging for the four days.

Change of Pace + Change of Place = Change of Perspective

As I write this, my children, and many of yours are finishing their last hour of school for the year. Summer is finally here. It seems like this was a particularly long school year. But now it’s time to slow the pace for a couple of months.

I have a friend who’s a pastor. He has an equation that he uses in his personal life. It goes like this: change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. It’s a formula that I’ve used myself to evaluate where I am and how I’m doing in life and what God has called me to do and be.

As we head into summer, this is a great time to put this equation into play in our lives. Most of us will get away in some way this summer; a week’s vacation, a weekend get away, time off from work at home, a mission trip, you name it. Let me encourage you to take those opportunities to look for a change of perspective in some area of your life.

Here’s a few questions that have helped me discover some life-changing lessons as I gained a new perspective. They might be helpful to you:

• How am I doing spiritually? Am I growing the way I want or should? If not what needs to change? Do I need to add any spiritual habits to my life?
• How are my relationships? Is there healthy communication? Do we have healthy disagreements? Is there a relationship that is missing that I need to pursue this year?
• How is my work life? Do I find fulfillment in what I’m doing? Am I allowing God to use me at work?
• How is my relationship with my church family? Am I serving out of my SHAPE? Is there a next step of commitment that I need to take?
• How is my pace of life? Is it balanced? Do I need to slow down (do less)? Do I need to speed up (do more)?

A change of perspective may come with some challenges. I might have to give something up, or I might need to add something. It may challenge me to think or act differently. And there could be some risks involved.

But here’s what I’ve found over and over and over. When I have a change of perspective about things in life, it leads to growth. It makes me a better husband, father, friend, neighbor, leader, Pastor – a better person.

Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. Go after it this Summer and see what God does.

Think Orange

I’ve just started reading a new book that I'm pretty excited about. I’m actually going to blog through it as I read the ten chapters. The book is called Think Orange: Imagine the Impact When Church and Family Collide... by Reggie Joiner.

You might ask, “Why orange?” Here’s basically what Reggie says about why he chose the color orange. Orange is a secondary color, created when you combine two primary colors – red and yellow. Orange is the outcome of taking two influences and combining them to create a vibrant effect that you couldn't get otherwise.

The principle behind the book is about two entities partnering to make a greater impact or to create a better solution. In practice the book explores the possibilities of what can happen if the church and the home combine efforts for the sake of impacting the next generation.

Reggie writes:

“I am not suggesting that the church and the home merely need to work concurrently and effectively in order to accomplish more…Working on the same thing at the same time is not as effective as working on the same thing at the same time with the same strategy. When you creatively synchronize the two environments, you get more than just red or yellow – you get Orange.”

Here's why I'm excited about this book and the work Reggie and his company have done.

A few years ago, a name was coined by those working education to refer to some of the parents they were encountering. The name was "hover parents." Basically, it describes parents who have a desire to be hands-on in nearly every area of their kids lives, especially their primary education.

The phenomenon took local schools by storm. All of a sudden they didn't just have parents showing up for sporting events to cheer for their kids or getting involved in the PTA. They had parents showing up in the classroom on a regular basis to volunteer. Teachers became inandated with Emails from parents wanting to give input about their kids' education. It created a unique problem for schools and teachers.

That same phenomenon, "hover parents," has reached the church.

Now, while many schools, administrators and teachers viewed it as an intrusion, I think church leaders should see it as divine intervention. A growing number of parents are no longer content to drop their kids off at Sunday School and leave the spiritual growth of their kids up to the local church. They want to be spiritual leaders in their kid's lives.

I'm one of those parents. Nothing gave me more pleasure than baptizing my own son or sitting with my wife and son while our daughter gave her heart to Christ. I love watching my kids grow in their faith and knowing that I am helping to shape that.

I'm also a pastor. And I love watching the church be a part of shaping the lives of kids and standing with parents as they raise spiritual champions.

But back to Reggie and the book. Here's why I am excited about this book. Left on it's own, the "hover parent in the church" phenomenon will cause nothing but frustration for both parents and church leaders. I've already seen some of that frustration in our own church and in other churches around us. The frustration of knowing the goal and seeing the potiential but not knowing how to get there.

But Reggie's company, The Rethink Group, has created some strategies to help churches and parents come together as two leading influences in kids lives to create a vibrant effect that you wouldn't get otherwise - Orange.

Here's an excerpt from the Rethink website:

Children and student ministry brings pressure. It can frustrate and bring joy.
It stresses and exhilarates. It makes you want to share victories and scream for
help. You’re here because you’re looking for answers. OK, you found us. Breathe.

We believe we have answers for you. They are in the form of a ministry strategy that, if you let it, can revolutionize the way you approach children and student ministries—even the way your church functions as a
whole unit.

I'm looking forward to "thinking Orange."

One of My Favorite Places

One of my favorite places is Fairfax Corner. In the warmer months our family will sometimes walk there from our house (about a mile) and get some Ben & Jerry's Ice cream.

Fairfax Corner is a town center complete with residential space, shops, an awesome movie theatre, restaurants, coffee shop and a fountain that is not only a piece of art but is designed for kids to play in. And did I mention the Ben & Jerry's?

I love Fairfax Corner because it's where worlds collide. Everyone from every walk of life is there, from kids to teenagers, to young adult and on up to older folks. On top of that, people from every place in the world are there.

I'm usually there at least twice a week. On Mondays I drop the kids off at school and then walk the dog over to FC. It's sort of a magical time because there's no one there at 9:00am. It's just workers getting ready for the crowd. Kind of like being on the beach early in the morning. It's a great way to start the week.

I'm also there on Thursdays. I don't work in the office on Thursdays; too many distractions for my ADD mind. So I work at Fairfax Corner, getting ready for Sunday and future messages and series. It's a great office.

One of the things that always comes to my mind when I'm there is how it would be a great place for a church. There's already a crowd. Great places to eat after worship. And what better place for a modern worship service than a movie theatre? Just a thought.

Re-Post

I was looking back at some old posts and thought this one deserved a re-post:

I'm loving the Dangerous Surrender series we're doing on Sundays and in small groups. Seems like God is really stirring some hearts to tackle some giants. I was really proud of Andrew and his friend Josh for standing up in front of the entire congregation and asking them to help the kids in our church help kids in Afghanistan.

Here are some stats that we used in worship today as we talked about Pushing Back the Darkness and what to do about evil:

• Human trafficking is estimated to be a 32 billion dollar business in our world today.
• Each year more than 2 million children are exploited in the global sex trade.
• There are twenty-seven million people who are slaves today. There are more slaves alive today than have ever been in the history of the world.
• It’s estimated that about 300-500 million people contract malaria each year.
• Approximately 2.5 million people die from malaria (a disease we have a cure for) every year.
• Every 24 seconds a child dies in the world from the lack of basic necessities.
• There are over 500 thousand children in foster care in the U.S. right now.
• In the U.S. there’s approximately 3.5 million people who are homeless. 39% of those are children.
• There about 2200 people who are homeless in Fairfax County alone. One of the most affluent counties in the nation. Half of those are children.
• 3% of the population of our nation’s capitol have HIV/AIDS. There are more people living with AIDS in Washington, DC than in West Africa.

“Anyone who knows the right thing to do but doesn’t do it is sinning.” James 4:17

Memorial to the 12 Disciples of Christ

I found this on Mark Batterson's blog and had to share it. Mark's an amazing reader and researcher, not to mention a great writer. I've had the pleasure, along the way, to get to know him and he's the real deal.

The way the 12 disciples of Christ lived and died is truly a testimony to who Christ was.

James the brother of John was killed with a sword during a persecution initiated by King Herod in AD 44. Andrew was hung on an olive tree around 70 AD. Thomas was thrust through with pine spears, tortured with red-hot plates, and burned alive around 70 AD. Philip went to Phrygia where he was tortured and crucified in AD 54. Matthew was beheaded sometime after 60 AD. Bartholomew was flayed after he refused to recant. After the removal of his skin, he was crucified in 70 AD. James the lesser was taken to the top of the Temple where a crowd gathered. When he refused to recant, he was thrown down. He survived the fall so a mob beat him to death with clubs in 63 AD. Simon the Zealot was crucified by the governor of Syria in AD 74. Judas Thaddeus ministered in Mesopotamia where he was beaten to death with sticks in AD 72. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, went to Ethiopia and was stoned to death while hanging on a cross in AD 70. According to Eusebius, the third century historian, Peter thought himself unworthy to die in the manner in which Jesus was crucified so he requested that he be crucified upside-down. And last but not least, John the beloved is the only disciple who died a natural death, but that doesn't mean he was exempt from persecution. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos and according to legend, thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil.