BretKoontz.com

A few posts back I told you that I had big news regarding our future. I have been asked (and accepted) to become the interim Jr. High Student Ministries Pastor at the Community Naperville - Yellow Box campus. This is a huge opportunity for me and Ginger, and we look forward to working with the StuCo team, parents, and students. We are so honored to be asked to help lead these students.

We began our first weekend in StuCo this past Saturday, and we’re very pleased to see such energy, excitement, and passion for knowing God! Shawn Harris is leaving us with very large shoes to fill, a tremendous volunteer team, and some pretty amazing students. We will no doubt have fun with this group.

Not only will we be working with Jr. High students, but I am currently at Christ in Youth (CIY) summer conference in Anderson, Indiana. If you know my past, I have always loved attending CIY - no matter if I was a student or now as an adult. There is just something great about the spiritual environment created here by the CIY team.

I have already told Shawn Williams many times just how great it is to be involved with this team and group of students. I have been involved with many student ministry groups, with this one from Community being one of the finest. We have nearly 90 in attendance, with all 9 campuses represented - and still, this group functions as a very close-knit family. Simply amazing!

So, we’re back…back in student ministry. As Ginger put it - “I’m sure that [this] was one of the last places you expected to end up…” No kidding. But that’s what happens when you tell God what you don’t want to do…I’m still learning just to let Him lead.

Last Friday, was the finale to the Arts Conference and we were blessed to hear from two incredible (but different) speakers: Dr. Richard Allen Farmer and Francis Chan. Here are a few notes from each talk:

Dr. Richard A. Farmer

• We must have something he called “deliberate disjunctivitis” - that is to say, “putting things together that don’t normally go together” - some people may liken this to dissonance.
• Do we constantly welcome diversity in practical ways? Do we rely to much of safe-and-sound practices?
• As artists, we write and speak - imagine an artist holding a pen close to his mouth, with his lips wrapped around the pen. This is great imagery of the two sides of the artist’s brain.
• We need to become better at being “bowled over by what God is doing…and be made speechless.” We need to somehow be articulate in how we speak about God, and yet, be made speechless by what He is doing.
• Exodus 31:1-6 - God has commissioned the craftsman’s work, and God is still choosing people in all kinds of crafts to display his beauty to others. He is still choosing people like Bezalel.

Francis Chan

• In talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, Francis posed the question, “Has anyone seen my good works and actually praised our Father in heave?” They’ve certainly praised us - “Oh, thank you, Pastor, for that wonderful message.” But have our people ever walked away from a service saying, “there’s no way he could have pulled that off by himself, so I will praise God for what He is doing in the lives of the people at that church.”
• Funny quote: “Some people in your church give you a hard time. It’s like, ‘I know you’re a part of the Body [of Christ], but what part are you?!’ Some people are like the appendix, if they blow up, they’ll kill us all.”
• Are we more like the prophets of Baal or the prophets of the ONE TRUE GOD?

A couple of days late, but here are my thoughts from Day 2…

My time at the conference didn’t get started until lunch (due to other obligations), but after dining on some tasty Willow grub, I spent a little more than an hour with Mark Batterson. Mark is the Lead Pastor at National Community Church in DC. Having spent this past year at Community, I know that there is a very good relationship between Dave, Jon, and Mark, so I was excited to hear from another guy in the midst of multi-site and creativity.

As Mark began providing the crowd with tips on Right-Brain Preaching, he led with the fact that churches/teachers must simplify the messages during the week. One way to do that is to go with one “big idea”. At this point, I beginning to feel a sense of pride - knowing that Community embraces a weekend Big Idea (all facets of the celebration service pointing to one main topic/theme) and that we carry that one topic/theme over to our small groups. Read more about The Big Idea here.

In my pride, I begin to look around wondering if anyone in the room even knew that I was with Community. Perhaps I’d be asked to talk about The Big Idea, and somehow, become famous too. I looked all the way across the room to my left, only to notice that Eric Bramlett (co-author of The Big Idea) just walked in. Mark continues on for a minute or so, then he, too, notices Eric. He excitedly exclaims, “Eric! Eric Bramlett, everyone. He co-wrote The Big Idea. I love Eric.” (Shameless plugs for the book as well as name-dropping always works with the us.) {Read Eric’s take on this interaction on his blog.}

The breakout session went on with great content regarding intentional creativity in how we speak, teach, and preach. This wasn’t revolutionary, but it was a great reminder that we need to be in-tune with God, so that we can allow HIS creativity to lead how we speak.

My second breakout was not what I thought it was going to be. So, as I was taught as a child, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Later that night, we attended the conference’s Film Festival. This is similar to an awards show that showcases some of the best in church videos - funny, serious, topical, music, testimony, etc. It was great to see the immense amount of talent and creativity in these videos. There were even a few that made me think and spiritually encouraged me.

Community entered a ton of videos, but only 2 won in their respective categories (Eat This Book, Serving Back). With this video winning the “Best in Show.” Unbelievable! Congratulations to my tech/drama/video team friends!

I need to get you up-to-speed on the Arts Conference. After Nancy Beach spoke, we were treated to lunch (not bad considering the number of people to be fed), then back in the main auditorium for a time with Brian McLaren.

Here are a few things from his talk that I found especially noteworthy:

We need to ask 2 important questions - 1. What are the top global problems? 2. What does the message of Jesus say regarding these problems?

- “If the church doesn’t get involved (in these global problems), then the rock stars will cry out.” ~Shane Claiborne -
(true comment, but sad nonetheless)

- there are 4 main global crises: prosperity, equity, security, and “why don’t we care about our neighbors?”

* Prosperity *
this is about life betterment. We are running out of resources to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prosper.

* Equity *
this is the fairness of life. we can’t keep pace with the wealthy vs. poverty gap….it just gets wider.
“Where you live should not determine whether you live.” ~Bono

* Security *
Instead of closing the gap between the wealthy and poor, nations just obtain catastrophic weapons to ensure security and protect “what’s theirs”.

* “Why don’t we care about our neighbors?” *
the stories we live by are sending us in a destructive direction…we must change the stories (here are the main stories in which our world lives by):

• Stories of DOMINATION - we are in charge, and must control everythinG
• Stories of REVOLUTION - we must change the people in-charge
• Stories of SCAPE-GOATING - if we had different leaders, then we be better; it’s someone else’s fault
• Stories of ISOLATION -if there was no one else, then it’d be great

We have too much Status-Quo Christianity

• we need to ask the question - “Why hasn’t my faith motivated me to respond to global problems?”
• Unfortunately, we feel good about our personal growth and live in a bubble, alienated from global problems
• Jesus evens says that “there should be no poor among you.”
• Most Christians believe the whole purpose of Jesus’ coming is about how to get right so that we can get into heaven. However, the center of Jesus’ message of the coming of the Kingdom of God is how God’s will can be done here on earth, as well as in heaven.
• We need to be less focused on “getting to heaven” and more on “giving the greatness of God” to the earth.

I am currently sitting in the Cafeteria/Atrium/Large Room with a lot of tables and chairs below the Seeds Bookstore at Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL). Over the years I have heard a lot about Willow, Bill Hybels, and the amazing amount of ministry to the people of Chicagoland that these guys have been doing for years. Well over 20,000 people attend weekend services, with thousands of ministries and staff members - Willow is doing great things. Every year they host a fairly large (appx. 3000 attendees) Arts Conference. This is day 1 of the conference and I’ll be doing my best to give a running blog of this event.

Main Session 1 - Nancy Beach

We spent time working through Psalm 40 (made famous to music fans by U2). Here are a few things from Nancy’s talk that were especially noteworthy:

- Ask the questions: “Am I in any kind of pit? Am I in danger of falling in one spiritually? If I’m in a healthy place, what area(s) do I foresee to be tempting?”

- We need to move from solitude to community to ministry. Too many times we skip community (developing a friend/accountability base for our ministry launching) - which equates to an isolated ministry experience.

- We need to capture moments of surrender with God.

- Remember that the people who come to our churches are in a miry pit of life. We must be sensitive to them, but continue to show how God’s mercy and love are coming in the dawning of a new Day.

- If we are not careful, we will do ministry out of memory and not imagination! ~Mark Batterson

- We need to fight against the ruts of routine…enter into the mystery of God.

- Ask the question: “Is our worship and teaching in balance?” We must present the Word of God in fullness!

- God will give us new ways of communication - i.e. The “new songs” of today.

There are still a few more bugs to be killed in this new design. One bug is the comment page. Do your best to figure it out, for now - hopefully I will have it fixed soon.

Have fun and thanks for the comments on the new design.

Ok, so the Big Changes have taken place on the site: there’s a new look and more changes to the header image, sidebar colors, and sidebar content. What do you think of it? It’s gonna be a work-in-progress over the next few weeks, so bear with me.

Also, there will be a HUGE announcement coming soon. Some Big stuff has been happening with me and Ginger, and I will be announcing some exciting news very soon. I will say, though, that this is not about us having children yet. Sorry to burst that bubble but I didn’t want to lead you on. We are excited about what’s happening, and can’t wait to share it with you all!

Thanks for all you have done to support us in our journey with God here at Community. We are eternally grateful!

The journey continues…

Over the years, my interest in the NBA has severely waned. I remember following the Boston Celtics as a kid in the 80s. My family and I would cheer on rural Indiana farmboy, Larry Bird and the rest of the Cs - Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge. This group was led by head coach, K.C. Jones, and won the title in 1984 and 1986 (while playing for the title in 1985 and 1987). It was a ton of fun watching the rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers - it ranked right up there behind the Cardinals/Cubs and Cowboys/Redskins rivalries.

Lately, however, the Cs haven’t been much to write home about - a number of losing seasons, first-round playoff losses, and terrible player moves/draft picks. Simply put: it was no fun watching the Cs…or any kind of pro basketball.

But all of that changed last night in Detroit! With the Kobe Bryant led Lakers reaching the Finals on Thursday night, all the Cs had to do was beat the Pistons…and they did. That’s right, people, the 2008 NBA Finals will feature the Boston Celtics versus the Los Angeles Lakers. I cannot wait until Thursday night for all of the action to begin.

It may not be Bird and Magic, “Tradition” versus “ShowTime”, or the Boston Gardens and the LA Forum - but I am super-pumped about the drama that is about to unfold. So here’s to you, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen (oh, and the unsung supporting cast of heroes) - the Celtics fans have waited for 21 years for this…don’t blow it!

Here are 2 new designs for an upcoming Community video project. We will be spoofing cereal commercials with this next video shoot. Let me know - Would you eat either one of these cereals?

Frosted Wisdom Wheats - Branny Bran 

Just to let you know, my favorite cereal is still Captain Crunch. I don’t know what ship he’s “captaining” but let me on…that dude’s got some serious breakfast food! Unfortunately, the roof of your mouth will take a beating from the crunchiness, but the reward is definitely worth the risk!

I don’t know if you have heard about the fantastic online shopping site, WOOT.COM, but it is really cool. Every night at 12:00 AM, a new product is available for purchase - at a very reasonable rate. Most of the time I look and wonder what it would be like to own said product - alas, I have little money to spend on such frivolity. The other day I was notified that this item was available…

My friend, Dan, has a similar model that I have tried to fly many times. Flying this toy is difficult. I’m really good crashing it into his household appliances, sticking a landing in women’s hair, and dive-bombing kittens. I must say, though, that my skills are only honed when at Dan’s house.

UNTIL NOW! Dan bought me one from WOOT.COM! I am going to practice here in the Community offices. Who knows…maybe I can help deliver papers from one desk to another. Or I’ll put out little desk fires with my home-made bucket-on-a-string. Or maybe I’ll dive-bomb co-workers who wish to overload me with work. Any way you look at it, it’s gonna be fun!

I love you, WOOT.COM - Oh, and you, too, Dan.