The Indiana State Fair, officially “The Great Indiana State Fair”. (Yes, I know it’s cheesy, but every state has a State Fair. And Indiana’s is by far the coolest.) On August 9, I was at the Indiana State Fair. It almost hit 100 Fahrenheit (that’s 38 celsius for our overseas friends) that day, and it was downright oppressive. We were there to see Jeremy Camp and Casting Crowns at 7:30 that night. Before the concert, we had a ton of fun. If you ever get a chance, visit our awesome state fair (I would say most awesomest state fair like ever, but that might get me arrested by the grammar police), and swing by KidzMatter on your way through.

But that is all beside the point. Here’s some good ministry insights gleaned, from all things, the State Fair:

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Here’s a thought that popped into my head a few days ago that I thought I would share:

Variety makes a ministry good, selective variety makes a ministry great.

I’m sure you’re wondering: What is that supposed to mean? What it means is that you should always be trying something new with your kids and changing things up. Keeping it the same is boring. But at the same time you need to make sure that you aren’t simply using the first idea that pops into your head or shows up on Google and calling it “variety”. Make sure it’s a quality idea that kids will love.

This may take some crazy thinking. What about some of these ideas:

• Tech-free week- Support TV Turnoff Week, and have a totally technology free week (except for necessary things like a CD player and microphones). Leave the projector off, and do things the old school way. Once upon a time, not too long ago, people had never even heard of video projectors.
• Game-free week- Eliminate games for an entire Sunday. “But Evan, how could you possibly fill all of that time? I NEED GAMES!” Spend more time on your lesson and community-building. Some kids may just learn how cool that “nerdy” kid in the front row really is. (Just so you know, I was the nerdy kid in the front row
• Outside week- Take your kids (yes, all of them, even the misbehaving ones) outside. Have a Kids’ Church “Fun-out”. Maybe even have hot dogs and chips at the end.

What ideas can you come up with? I’m excited to see.

WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING FOR THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Hello, this is Evan Doyle reporting for the Way We See It Blog. This morning in Kids Church while writing this blog post, I caused our media application to crash. We were watching a DVD, and it stopped. It never got started again, because I was tediously fast forwarding at just 2x the regular speed. The moral of this story: Don’t do other stuff on the computer during Kids Church. It’s a bad plan.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING.

The 10/40 window. We always hear about this area between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. It is reported to be the part of the world where the fewest people have heard the true Gospel. It is the focus of most missions.

But that’s not the 10/40 window I’m talking about. The one I’m talking about is right here at home. Perhaps right next door. It’s the $10K-$40K a year income bracket. The most, perhaps, unchurched income bracket in the entire United States. How is this, you ask? It’s simply how churches have been and continue to be run.

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Each year, our youth group goes to Fort Bluff Camp in Dayton, Tennesee (http://www.fbc-naca.org). They always have amazing preaching, but this week through a long series of events, Daniel Hollenbeck, soccer coach at Trinity Baptist College who happened to be at the camp that week, ended up preaching one morning. He preached a sermon entitled “The Familiarity of the Cross”.

The entire point of the sermon hit me hard: We (Christians) have become so familiar with the cross that it no longer holds any of the power and awe that it did the first time we experienced it. It doesn’t affect us, we can just move right past us. Even films like The Passion of the Christ, which was so graphic and moving, affects us for a day or two then we move on with life. We have allowed “The Old Rugged Cross” to become just that- Old and Rugged in our hearts. It’s just another thing to us.
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The other night I was doing my daily quiet time and I came across the following verses in 1 Corinthians 11.  Read them first, then my questions.

1 Cor.  11:4-5, 14-15 (ESV):
“Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head–it is the same as if her head were shaven…Does not nature teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?  For her hair is given to her for a covering.”

I read this and it bothered me.  Why do we say that we have to obey the principles of one verse, yet ignore the principle of the next?  Why must men remove their hats in church, yet women aren’t required to wear them?  Why do we accept long hair on guys as “fashion”, yet we gasp at a woman with short hair?  I threw this question at my mom the other day, typically my source of great spiritual knowledge, and her response was something like, “Uh, um, well, uh…”  So she suggested throwing it at the blog community.  Why do we do this?  What reasoning is there behind it?

Here’s a couple of verses that I think are relevant:
Gal. 6:12-16 (ESV) [Paul is talking about those who are legalistic about circumcision]:
“It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.  For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.  But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”

James 2:8-11 (ESV) [The sin of partiality, as described by James]:
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

Let me know what you think in the comments.