#2 - Throw a BBQ

I know it probably seems like a lame idea, right? Well, not if you do it a little different. Try setting up at the local park, or local venue for fireworks, and throw a FREE BBQ. That’s right, free, as in no strings attached, no donations accepted, no tracks passed out, no attempts to promote the church - other then telling people who ask, no preaching, teaching, or anything. Just FREE.

Why do this you ask? What benefit does this have for the church? Well besides just being a great thing for your community, it does promote your church. people will inevitably ask why you are doing this and who you are. At that point you tell them the truth. “We are (Your Church Name). And we are just out here to do something nice for the community”. You will probably even have some people ask when you meet and such so you should have some small, and I stress small, invite cards handy to give those that ask.

It may not seem like muc for the amount of work and money involved, but hey serving the community should be blessing enough.

And on a side note please go to a public place to do this, not your church parking lot. If you do this from the parking lot you will miss a huge opportunity to reach people who will take the opportunity in a park, but would drive past a free BBQ in a church parking lot.

***Another easier variation on this would be to only hand out free (cold) sodas/waters to people.***

#3 - Do A Giveaway For Military/Vets

Our active duty military give up a lot to serve our country and often times aren’t acknowledged or rewarded very often. Go out and get some things to offer in a giveaway to active duty military personnel. Weather you have to buy it or ask for donations. It is a great way to say thanks to those who are currently protecting us.

Some things you could give away:

• Gift Certificates(Restaurants/Movies/Sbux/Retail Stores)
• Video Game Consoles/Games
• I-pods/MP3 Players
• Gift Baskets
• Anything and everything you can get donated in new condition.

How would you get some of these items? Well besides buying them as a church or asking attenders to donate them, you can go around to businesses and ask them if they want to sponsor the giveaway by donating items, advertising (for newspapers/TV & Radio Stations/Websites), money, promotional materials.

Once again try to run this event in a public place on the 4th as you are more likely to get more participation then running it at your church. And once again mention that church is running it but don’t make that the main point. The main point is that you are wanting to honor service members and you shouldn’t care who gets the glory.

If you have good relations within the community then you would be suprised at the amount of support you can get. Every business want to be associated with honoring the military esspescially on the fouth of July, it is just good advertising for them. and great community service by you.

With the 4th of July coming up I thought I would put out four ideas for churches looking to celebrate.

#1 Honor the Vets

Now when I say honor the vets, I don’t mean ask anyone who has served to stand up on Sunday morning. That is uncomfortable and not really doing anything to honor them. If you really want to honor the vets go to a local VA home or hospital. Visit with some of the vets, take some stuff to give away to them. Show them that you are thankful for thier service.

If you really are thankful for what they have done, go back more than just Memorial Day, the 4th, and Veterans Day.

These guys and gals have sacrificed for this country so we cn have the right to even have church. Lets be the church to them and honor them by serving them.

Read #5 - #3 here, and #2 here

#1 Trust Him

This is the biggest thing that I am learning. I think it will always be the toughest thing to learn, and I have a feeling that it will be a lifelong lesson in trust. No matter what change will always be going on. There will always be issues to deal with. I will always have kids to worry about. Because of this I will always have a need to trust God.

I will always need to trust His plans. I will always need to trust His Love. I will always need to trust His protection. In short I will always need to trust Him.

So knowing this why is it so hard for me to do? I wish I knew, but then again if I knew I wouldn’t need to trust His power in my life. If I knew I would probably presume that I could trust Him on my own. Man, I need His help to even be able to trust Him.

I guess it’s just one of those things. I am learning more and more to give up, because in giving up I leave it to Him. That is the only way I can get by in this life. I spent a few years of my life trying to do it on my own and it didn’t work. The only way to survive this life and thrive for Him is to stop trying and trust His Word, His Will, and His Love.

To read #5 through #3 click here.

#2 Failure
It sounds a little weird, I know, but God is desperately trying to teach me how to fail. That is the only explanation I have for the fact that I seem to do it a lot. (And I mean a lot) I am convinced that God would rather use people who have learned to fail and fail on a grand scale then those that are only successful. I know that it is not His desire to see us fail, but I also know that He seems to teach me more through my failures then my success many times.

As the famous quote goes:

“Show me a man who has never failed,
I’ll show you a man who has never tried.”

I have never thought of my self as a great person, but I have never thought of myself as a failure either. That is what God is teaching me. I am. A big one at that. If I start to think of myself as anything other than that, then what need do I have for the power of Christ in my life.

I look back at the “heroes” of the Bible and think, “Wow, God had his pick of the whole world and chose these guys?” I mean go back through and look at the people He uses to affect His will throughout the Bible. Liars, prostitutes, cheaters, drunks, adulterers, murderers, cowards, and I could go on and on. The point is I am no better then these people. I just have to come to grips with that and admit it in order for Him to use me.

I AM A FAILURE!

Are you?

#5 Compassion
Yes I hate to say it but I can be an un-compassionate person every now and then, ok, ok, quite frequently. I do not always have the kind and caring thoughts when I come across situations or people. In fact sometimes my thoughts are down right mean. But that is not what God wants for me or my thought life.

#4 Patience
I have 6 kids, patience is something I need…. desperately. Unfortunately for my family it is something I struggle with. God is working on me though. I know one of these days he will perfect His patience in me. It is just simply a matter of how much I fight to hold on to my selfishness and anger. I am learning to give that junk up for His patience and peace.

#3 Purity
Well I am a man (surprise, surprise), so purity is a struggle for me. It has been a struggle in my life since I was young. I finally learned a few years ago that I can’t become pure. I can only rely on Jesus blood to purify me and keep me pure. It is a daily battle between my flesh and God’s will. Most days God’s will wins out, but every now and then my flesh sucker punches me when I am not looking. I am learning to deal with those days and instead of trying to recover from the punch and fight my flesh, I am learning to turn tail and run the other way, right into Jesus’ loving and forgiving arms.

#2 and #1 in the next few days.

Life is a constant state of learing. What is God wanting you to learn.

I am currently reading the book “God’s Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Expanding Universe” by Amir D. Aczel, and wow is it some intense stuff. I am by no means a math expert so I am at a slight disadvantage when it goes into a lot of the heavier stuff(Non-Euclidean geometry, Quantum physics, and other stuff), but I am smart and know enough to get the gist of what is being discussed, and I must say, WOW!

My brain has been stretched reading this book then it ever has before. Just trying to wrap your brain around such problems as the size of the universe, “What’s beyond the universe?”, “Will the universe stop expanding?”, “Is Time travel possible?”, and many more thoughts and questions will make your brain stretch beyond normal thought.

All of this has just gone to show me how incredible God made the universe. 500 years ago we still thought the world was flat. 500 years before that we thought that we were the center of the universe, and 500 years before that we didn’t really have any clue as to what was beyond our view. God has created an incredibly detailed and mysterious place for us to live in.

Einstein said it best “Subtle is the Lord God, but malicious He is not.” We live in a world where we assume that our current science is the end-all-be-all and that what we hold to be truth now will still be true in the future. God has created and extremely detailed and intricate world for us to live in. I look forward to the day when I can be with Him and see this creation as he does, from the outside looking in. To see the universe as what it is small, finite, and minuscule compared with Him. It is hard to imagine now, but one day soon I will be able too.