Leaving Already

I wanted to make sure I showed you a picture of where we stayed this week. Pretty hot pad, huh? Getting ready to pack my laptop up...it has been the community laptop sitting out in the common area for all to use. After a great getaway, it's hard to believe that we are packing up to head home. I am actually going to leave at 4:30am tomorrow and drive in for church. I am thankful that Pastor Lew is preaching, because I did not have to have my mind on a sermon the last few days. We have had a great time, but with 16 people in 1 house, you are pretty ready to divide again after 5 days. This week has certainly reminded me of how much I have to be thankful for. Noise, commotion, laughter and chasing after kids all represent things that God has richly blessed me with.

Have you ever shopped all night?

We have lost our mind. One of the things that we look so forward to every year that we come up here to the beach, is to go to the Rehoboth Beach Outlets and do Christmas Shopping...getting great sales. We usually go very early in the morning for the early bird sales. Well, we found out a few days ago that this year the outlets were going to open at midnight. We went. 1:00am-9:00am! It was fascinating to stand in lines that wrapped all the way around stores at 3 in the morning. Wild experience. But, guess what? We are done our Christmas shopping in one all-nighter!

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. By the way, if you have never had fried turkey, then you have never had turkey. It takes turkey to a whole new level. My brother fried one yesterday and the men just hung out outside staring at the turkey fryer. Good Times! I am not sure what the women were doing. Perhaps they were preparing the other 20 dishes at the table yesterday. :-)

Totally Relaxed

After a 3 hour nap, I am up and here is the view out the front of our Beach House just as the sun set. We are doing it now...so relaxed!! Everyone is just doing the things they love...sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, and other less important things. Smile.

A Courageous Confession

There was an article that came out at the end of October that has been on my mind at least once a day since I read it. It is in my head and on my heart. I have received emails from more than five friends in ministry making sure I have seen it. It is really a stirring confession that was released by Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Here is the link...click here!

Willow Creek is a mega church that has impacted many churches and church leaders with their wealth of resources and training. This church (and they have their own association), under the leadership of Bill Hybels has been on the front edge of church growth strategies and tools for the last 15 years in America. Highly Influential. I have driven all the way out there for a conference myself.

A brief summary of the article is that Willow Creek is saying:

• They have focused too much on the size of a church, numbers and providing people with what they want.
• They are realizing that in neglecting to give people what they need, they have failed to teach people how to engage in a healthy and personal faith journey.
• They have confessed that they have made a mistake and sent people in the wrong direction.

OK, now, I am going to be blogging more about this, but let me share with you a few of my personal thoughts and ideas and how this article is impacting my thinking. Again, I will elaborate more later, but here goes:

• It is easy to fill a church. It's easy for the church...Just say the right things, advertise in the right places, have the right programs, appeal to people's senses, exert enough Charisma, have the right friends, be creative, have cool publications and a cool website, create buzz, so on and so on and the chances are you will grow a church! It's easy for the people. Show up for an hour and a half a week so that we grow this thing. That's easy enough. For most people, if you will give them a creative enough service, they will give you your hour and a half. We've got a deal.
• The difficult part is to fill lives with lordship of Jesus Christ and to create Disciples (Matt. 28:18-20)! This is the tough part for the church (organizationally) and the people (the people are the church). Discipleship is the job of the faithful, the strong, the brave. When the church commits to discipleship (over church growth), they take on a hefty task! Reason...because it is so much more difficult for the people you are reaching. An hour and a half of sitting is simple and even fun. Changing my language, my choices, the way that I treat my spouse, my trips to the club, finding time for God through the week...that is a whole different conversation. That is the conversation of discipleship...a journey for the faithful, the strong, and the brave!

At CCF, do we want to grow a church or disciple people? This is a huge question.

More about this later...Tricia is inviting me to the grocery store...for the 4th time in the last 15 minutes. Peace!

We're here!

We are here and having fun already. We just sat around singing Johnny Cash and other old country songs to the guitar. John Armstrong (My Mom's best friends husband) plays. In case you were wondering, kids change life! It looked like we had packed for a 4 week getaway. Last year, we went away and had no kids. This year we have a house full of them...and the house echoes. It will be loud, but fun!!

All Packed Up...

We are all packed and ready to go! We leave tomorrow at noon for Bethany Beach, DE where we will spend the rest of the week in a beach house with 16 people (family and friends that we love being with!). The place has 7 bedrooms, 4 levels, and an elevator, so I think we will all fit. We will eat, play games, chat, laugh, lay out and swim in the ocean (ok, maybe not those last 2). We are so excited for the break. I am going into the office in the morning and I hope to have everything pressing wrapped up and off my chest before we head out.

By the way...Our house is all decorated for Christmas, inside and outside (our home in Bowie that is, not the place we are going)! We did half Saturday and the rest yesterday. It looks pretty festive! We graduated to 2 trees this year. We have one in our family room and one in our formal living room in front of a window facing the street. It is one of our traditions that we like to decorate for Christmas before we travel for Thanksgiving so that when we get home, we plug and play! I truly do love the Holidays! Tricia absolutely loves traditions. She is our steady eddy. When it comes to the holidays we do things a certain way at a certain time...period. Oh, and since this is our first Christmas with a kid, we are starting a few new traditions this year. I can't keep up, but I don't worry, she won't let me forget them.

If I link up to WiFi, I will blog this week. If not, we'll pick up when we get back Saturday night.

Love!

What everyone thinks, but no one says...

This morning was the party for the death of Jaye's father, Stanley Shelton (click his name and it will connect you to his obituary). Jaye is our administrative assistant at the church and a dear friend. Her family wanted it to be a celebration this morning and it was just that! It was a neat day, and from the little I knew of Mr. Shelton, he would have been pleased with the spirit of the day. We hosted the funeral at the church and I shared leadership with another Pastor in their family.

Something happened during the ceremony that really made me chuckle and I wanted to share it with you. It's what everyone thinks, but no one says...

If you have been to very many funerals, then you know what it is like to sit through them and think to yourself "are they burying the same person that I knew?" "Am I at the wrong funeral?" It seems that everyone is a saint when they die. Well, today during the funeral the family wanted me to facilitate a time for people in the congregation to come forward and share personal tributes about Mr. Shelton. That is ALWAYS risky, but sometimes it can be very meaningful. Well, it turned out pretty good this time. The last person to get up and share was Jaye's older brother, Jerome. He is the eldest and only son. When he stepped to the microphone he thanked everyone for their kind words and support and then he began to share the real deal. He bragged on his Dad and then said...

"I am not sure who you all were talking about today, but my father was a mean man. He beat me regularly. He was a liar. He told me he would win me the lottery and he never did. He was a con artist....he said a few other things and then he bragged on his Daddy some more. He really loved him!"

It struck me when he did this, because so often at funerals we sit there thinking things that no one ever says. After all, we are all born human, so my guess is that we probably die human too!

A Thank Offering

Some of you that read this blog are a part of CCF. Others of you are friends and family from out of state or that don't attend the church. So, if you were there, you know that this morning was a very special morning at CCF. If you were not there, allow me to tell you.

Seeing as how it is Thanksgiving this Thursday, I preached a message that invited our congregation to identify things that they are thankful for. At the end of the message, we all wrote on an index cards 2-3 things that we were specifically wanting to thank God for. After that, we all walked to the altar and placed our cards into a basket as a "thank offering". After that, we lifted the basket to the Lord (me and about 30 people in a huddle) as an offering of Thanks to the Lord. Psalm 50:14-15 & 23 set the tone for our offering of thanks today.

Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

OK, it overwhelmed me to tears this morning to witness hundreds of people walking forward and extending their personal offering of thanks to God! It was evident as tears flowed in the room, that the Holy Spirit was moving this morning. The things written on those little pieces of paper must have been as various as the stories in the room. We destroyed the papers after the service. What was written was for God, not any of us.

Lord, to you be the praise for another great morning at CCF!

Teething is so fun!

Davis is such a great kid with a super warm personality. We have enjoyed him so much this year. Recently, when I was at the Doctors with him, a mother of three in the waiting room told me that teething was a challenging time for her kids. Of course, I have heard that before. But she said something else that I had not heard stated quite this way. She said that their whole temperament changes...they are almost like a different child. Well, I took note of that statement and thought "I will have to see that to believe it." Well, I decided tonight that I believe it. Davis is a late teether (the first one still has not broken through), but he is certainly teething and he is definitely whining pretty much from 5:30-Bed every night. Thankfully bedtime is about 7:30. It is taking some patience for Tricia and I to sustain the continuous whining and crying all evening.

Am I complaining? Nope! This time last year, all we wanted was to meet this little sonogram...now he is here and is lighting our life up! What a precious addition to our home.

Extreme Makeover Episode Over!

OK, we are done with remodeling our master bathroom! We are both thrilled with how it came out. It will not look too impressive if you don't look at the before picture (scroll down to my blog entry of November 7th). It looks like a pretty drastic change if you compare the two.

Again, I am not handy, so I thank God for lots of good help. However, even though I am not handy, I will not leave a project undone for very long. I like to finish what I start. I promised Tricia a Christmas completion. Beat the deadline!

That's it for me for a few months. I am too busy to take on projects like this too often.

Almost Done

I ran all day! I used my day off today to finish the remodeling job on our bathroom. We are almost there. Tomorrow we will go out and get a new decorative picture that matches our new paint color. Once we have that done, I will post a picture of the final product of "Extreme Makeover Kaye Bathroom Edition." :-)

In order to finish it up, I had to make two trips to Home Depot, one run to a tile and marble store and one run to Duron. Between that and completing the work, it pretty much shot my whole day. My brother helped me a lot. Neither of us are master carpenters by any stretch of the imagination, but together we get it done (and enjoy hanging out). We closed our day together as a family with an evening trip to Target. Davis stayed awake until almost 10:00...and was a good boy!!

Almost Done! Will show you tomorrow.

Lanham Christian School Banquet

Just got home from a very nice evening at an alumni banquet from my High School (Lanham Christian School). Tricia is still not feeling all the way better. She has a doctors note saying that she cannot return to school until Monday so she felt that it would be best that she stay home tonight. Hence, I invited Selah (my sister) to take her ticket and she was able to get Randy (her husband) a ticket at the last minute. We had fun together...laughed the whole way home...mainly at people we used to go to school with.

It was nice to see old friends, old teachers and administrators and connect with people that I have not seen in years. Honestly, there were more than a few times tonight where people were very warm and friendly and "so glad to see me again" while I had NO IDEA who they were! I am the faker, though. "Oh, so good to see you too...it's been a while (evidently)." Lord, forgive me!

Honestly, I thank the Lord extra tonight that I am an alumnus of 2 great schools! Both my high school (Lanham Christian School) and my college (Valley Forge Christian College) hold VERY special places in my heart. God used both of these places to form me and shape me for my call in life and ministry. I am thankful for that tonight!

Who learns to dance before they walk?

Davis Joseph Kaye!!

While watching Barney and Handy Manny this morning with Davis, I kept noticing him moving his body back and forth in a weird way...almost like dancing. He has always loved music! Tricia got on the floor with him and started dancing. He joined her. This morning he began dancing on command. Of course he dances stiff and weird like a white boy should. He doesn't even walk yet (although he is getting close). Who learns to dance before they walk?

On top of that, we all know that dancing is a BIG SIN! So, my son needs delivered from sin already. Smile. Hopefully you know me well enough to sense my sarcasm.

"He's Gone"

Most of you that read my blog probably know Jaye Lindo. Jaye is my right hand woman, Director of Operations at CCF. She is a dear friend and an asset to the church. Over the last few weeks her father has become increasingly ill with brain cancer and other forms of cancer as well. We have known that outside of a miracle he would passing into eternity very soon. Well, I received a text from Jaye at 4:00 today that simply read "He's Gone." To which I replied "I will be showing up at your parents house in a few minutes unless you stop me." She did not stop me and I was there in 30 minutes. Jaye has a super family! I thank God for that. Her dad was still laying in the bed. He looked peaceful. As I stood over him with Jaye rubbing his head, the verse in James 4:14 was as real to me as anything could be...I looked at Jaye and said, "life is truly a vapor that appears for a while and the vanishes."

May God be extra near and extra real to the Lindo & Shelton families during these days!

Blog-Spirations

Over the last few weeks I have taken some time to read many different pastors blog and I have learned so much from it!! There are pastors that I know and respect across the country that utilize blogging in a BIG WAY in their ministries. One of my biggest blog-spirations (has been for a few years) is Mark Batterson's blog. Mark is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church in DC. He is a fantastic writer, dynamite leader and has a super blog.

I am finding over the last few months that this is going to be a pretty awesome and effective way for me to keep up with myself and for others to keep up with me as well. I have really been enjoying it and now I can see why these Pastors have utilized this tool.

This may change over the years, but here are the reasons I blog for now:

1. Forces me to slow down and process, think and reflect.
2. Helps me capture my journey as a Christian, leader, husband and father.
3. Allows other people a chance to get to know me more and have a window into my day and into my life. As much as I would like to know everyone in my church, I know that I can't. At least those that wish to know more about me can connect to my life daily through this blog.
4. Accomplishes so many other goals from serving as a means of advertising, humor, confession, learning and teaching. One of my friends calls this "Digital Discipleship." Interesting definition.

So, this got me thinking more. I wish I could know everyone at CCF personally! I am convinced that we have more special people with amazing stories and untapped ability than I can even imagine! I wish I could touch them, know them, know their needs and pray with them and for them. Obviously, there are not enough hours in the day. I appreciate what Andy Stanley said..."Everyone needs to know Jesus! Not everyone needs to know Andy Stanley."

Here is my question to you...
(I would love you to comment through the link below)

Do you find value in reading my blog? (Who are you?)
If so, how do you think I could publicize it and invite more people to interact with it?

Can you take a moment to comment?
Thanks, friend!

Come on Tuesday!!

OK, confession time again! I cannot stinkin' wait to go away for Thanksgiving! I love my job...too much! I end up getting so deeply into what is hoppin around here that I eat, breath and sleep it. Hence, I know when I need a break to disconnect (for longer than 24 hours). My next "disconnection opportunity" is coming next Tuesday at noon when we head to Bethany Beach, DE for the Thanksgiving week. We are really looking forward to it now. Wait till you here about this place we are staying. I will tell you about that later. You can't handle that today:-)

Love!

Flee Flu!

Tricia is really sick. It seems as though she may be coming down with the flu. She has gotten progressively worse throughout the day today. I just returned from the 24 hour CVS to get her medicine. She has a high fever and has the shivers (and other stuff). If you are reading this, please pray for her! I am not the most nurturing soul in the world, and when she is sick, she wants Mommy. So, I went and got my Mom an hour ago and she is here spending the night and taking care of her (in that nurturing way that mothers do). She is spoiled by a great mother-in-law!

My prayer is FLEE FLU...away from my wife!

The Red Cups...always a good day!

When I was doing my devotions at one of my satellite offices this morning (Starbucks in Bowie), I was reminded of what happened last week that I never told you about...

I went in to get my morning coffee and I noticed that the menu was red, Christmas decorations were out and the THE RED CUPS were back!! Starbucks always switches to red cups for the Christmas season. I look forward the "red cup day" every year. It means that the holidays are upon us! I love the return of the red cups!

Well, I reacted aloud when I walked in and saw the red cups. I told the employees how happy I was that this day was here! The lady ringing me out said "thank you so much for saying that...people have been complaining all morning that it is too early for the red cups! It is good to hear someone positive!" When I handed her my money to pay, she refused it and told me to have a good day! Free coffee as a reward for a positive comment!

Man, I should have ordered breakfast and a new coffee maker!

Poem

As I expected, our youth Sunday yesterday morning was spectacular! (Incidentally, I sat in the middle section of the church with my family and never moved from my seat to the stage once! It was weird, but good!) I told my Youth Pastor that they hit a home run...to which he replied "No, we hit a grand slam because CCF already has the bases loaded!" Let that mean whatever you want for you. ;-)

After service yesterday, a young lady in our church approached me and told me that the Fearless production on Saturday night really spoke to her and when she went home, she wrote a poem. She often does this. She loves to write poetry and expresses her feelings this way. Her name is Jesse Coffey and she gave me permission to share this poem with you:

I fear only God, it's Him that I trust
To honor and love Him, this is a must
When you're going through troubles He'll carry you through
His strength and His love will help you renew
As I go through this life my worries are less
Your story has taught me to boldly stay "FEARLESS!"

Youth Sunday

Oh...and if tonight wasn't a big enough blessing, tomorrow is Youth Sunday at CCF. The youth are leading the entire service. They are leading worship, doing announcements, praying, singing special music, ushering, greeting, and TC is preaching a message entitled "How to Run a Marathon" (which is quite appropriate for a guy that ran a marathon 2 weeks ago...and finished). Looking forward to a super day tomorrow!

Guess what I am doing in the service tomorrow? Nothing! Cool, huh? Go Youth!!