Relevance in the RuralRelevance in the RuralHow to be relevant in ministry in a rural area Articles
Married!
2007-11-03 19:59:00 Just a quick note to tell everyone that I am currently A MARRIED MAN! And with that marriage, I hope to be able to work on the blog more and to be able to post new sermons from the church. God bless everyone who follows this,,,,if there is anyone!!! And look soon for more sermons and more tips of relevance in the Rural. God bless you! More About: Married
Married!
2007-11-03 19:59:00 Just a quick note to tell everyone that I am currently A MARRIED MAN! And with that marriage, I hope to be able to work on the blog more and to be able to post new sermons from the church. God bless everyone who follows this,,,,if there is anyone!!! And look soon for more sermons and more tips of relevance in the Rural. God bless you! More About: Married
rural ministry pt.3
2007-09-30 06:01:00 In the attempt to be relevant in a rural area we are going to have to ask the reason why are we relevant? What are we being relevant for?As I minister in the rural area, so often you see the discouragement of no jobs, family cycles of poverty that are not breaking, and immorality and sin.It's funny to note that in the county we minister in, there are over 9,000 people and less than 20% of those people are churched. What is the problem? No Churches? No there are plenty of churches in rural kentucky. Massive buckle of the Bible belt here. So whats the deal?I would dare adventure that we have lost the ability to be relevant. We have formed social groups in our churches and have forgotten the most important message that we share. The message of Jesus Christ! The message of hope and salvation and encouragement.As ministers of the gospel we must never forget that the power of Jesus Christ is amazing and life changing. People need to know that! They need to know the Bible is a radical lif... More About: Ministry , Rural , Ural
rural ministry pt. 2
2007-09-28 06:08:00 While serving in the rural sphere it will only take minutes to realize that "relationships" are a must in this kind of ministry. Relational ministry is a must to be relevant in the rural.I've had the privilege of living both in a rural area and an urban area. For almost a year I lived in the city of Louisville Kentucky. Coffee Shops, book stores, malls, and much more! The city offered a 'buffet' of entertainment. In the part of town that I lived in you had two major movie theaters, equal distance away, an all night diner, and just 3 minutes from the bustling down town night life. A very fast paced and high energy zone.But The Rural is VERY different.No coffee shops in town now. No lazer tag. No book stores. And definitely no malls. There are some diners around, but I assure you they're not all night and the food will probably be a bit more greasier than you want. Though the town may not be as happening as Big Louisville was, I can assure you of one thing. It is more friendly!The... More About: Ministry , Ural
rural ministry pt. 1
2007-09-25 20:49:00 If I'm going to have a blog entitled, "RELEVANCE IN THE RURAL" I guess I should share some insights and tools for Rural Ministry . The North American Mission Board has an incredible website dedicated to church planting. While fumbling through the website I discovered their section on RURAL church planting. Being the pastor of an already established Rural Congregation, I find these tips very helpful and encouraging. This link is to a really cool power point presentation for those seeking to plant rural churches and I would also say encouraging to those who are currently in the Rural!Just click on the link, and then use your right mouse click to go through the power point. Enjoy!!!!http://www.churchplantingvillage .net/atf/cf/%7B087EF6B4-D6E5-4BBF-BED1-79 83D360F394%7D/Rural_Church_Planting_at_So uthern_Seminary_March_2007.ppt More About: Ural
Where is Kenny? What about blog life?
2007-09-23 05:08:00 Hey guys, Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that I'm still alive.Wanted to write a few words and apologize about not giving any recent updates. Life has been very hectic and very busy. I havn't podcasted in over a month, and I apologize about that. I felt the need to kind of give some very specific messages to my church and felt like the podcasting needed to take a break. But I believe we're going to get podcasting up and running probably in the next three weeks. So make sure you check it out and let me know what you think.The big day is October 20th! Thats when the old Rage is getting hitched. I'm really excited, and as you can imagine that has been consuming my time. In the process of moving my stuff, and her stuff into our new house. It's very crazy. Plus the Rage PC will probably be sent over there soon, within a week, and there is no internet there for now. So hold on tight, and don't let this blog slip through fingers.I'm going to be posting some tip... More About: Blog , Kenny
The Vagabond Path: THE CALL
2007-08-14 09:04:00 Every journey has a beginning just as every race has a starting point. It is no different with the ‘Vagabond path’. As we hope to approach this sacred path we must begin to understand that, like all other journeys, it too has a starting point. Though you might be able to ‘choose’ some journeys and destinations, the vagabond path should not be treated so lightly. As we’ve seen the great Heroes of the Faith walk down this path, we must understand the Journey of the Vagabond is one of “calling”. Call ing is word that I hear oh so often working in the church. Some might say, “God has called me to work with teenagers” or “God has called me to start a bible study or to go on missions”. But as we use this word so much we sometimes actually forget what a “call” is. If we were going to define what a “call” was, we might say this. “It’s what happens when my phone rings”. Not such a great spiritual response is it? But think about what happens when som... More About: The Call , Path
The Vagabond Path
2007-08-09 07:17:00 Like to travel? I do for sure. I love the thought of just getting up and going. Leaving behind the everyday workings and embracing a new path, a route that is unknown to a destination that is eagerly waiting. Even if it’s just getting in my car and driving, there’s just something about it that stirs some sort of adventure inside of me. The adventure of seeing the new sights and meeting new people, a mystery that will unfold right before your eyes. I guess I’ve done a lot of traveling for a guy my age, but I haven’t even scratched the surface. My travels haven’t been as glamorous as Rome, Japan, or even Hawaii, but they’ve all been incredible. Maybe not the most desired destinations, but ones that I’ve embraced with a glad heart. At the age of thirteen years old I answered a “call” that God had on my life. A call to do his work wherever he may lead me, even into small towns that I never even knew existed, and even into some towns that reminded me of “Texa... More About: Path
Busy Busy Summer
2007-08-06 19:57:00 Hey guys,just wanted to write a quick note and apologize for no recent post. I've also taken a break from the podcasting too. I hope I still have some readers, but this summer has been really busy, and trying to keep up with the blog has been a bit hectic. I hope to have some more weekly post coming soon, so keep checking back. I might get the podcast up and running soon, but I've just felt recently that the sermons I've been preaching are more on a personal level with the church. But feel free to download any of the archives and God bless! Stay in touchKenny More About: Summer , Busy
Warped ideas of God
2007-07-09 07:46:00 Hey guys,Well we have moved forward into our second sermon in the series "Be The Blessing" Today I preached on the parable of the "talents"Whats interested about this parable to me is this: For the longest time I did not understand it. I'll own up to, I'll admit it! But As I was lead to preach on this and as I began to read it really fleshed out. The problem with this parable for me wasn't that God gave gifts, but that last guy in Matthew 25 that buried his gift. Remember that guy? He tells the Master ( who symbolically represents God) that the master is basically a cold hearted guy that is super demanding.This always hung me up, because it sure did seem like the parable was telling us that God is mean! Well after much studying I finally got it.The commentators that I read was quick to point something out. That the Master had first given all three a gift. The one with the five for sure had the most responsibility, as the one with only one had the least, yet regardless he gave to ... More About: Ideas , Warp
Three weeks of being a vagabond for Jesus
2007-07-01 21:51:00 Sup guys, Well the last three weeks were no doubt rewarding but very tiresome. From Oklahoma, to Honduras, to Church camp, and pastoring all at the same time. Very exhausting, yet it was all worth it.On all three trips we saw people come to Know the Lord and God doing great things. Last week in church camp we saw three give their hearts to God and one young man surrender into the gospel ministry. So amen! It's been a wonderful last three weeks, but I'm really sensing that God is telling me to slow down a bit, we'll see what happens in the upcoming days.Today we started our new sermon series "BE THE BLESSING" The game plan is that along with the messages (which will be about learning how to bless people), people will choose an individual outside of the church to perform AGAPE random acts of Kindness. We had people take commitment cards to sign, saying that they will bless people just to be a people of love. Interesting to see what may come of this.But things are back in full swing... More About: Jesus , Weeks
THE FISH, TONIGHT, SEVEN (back home from Honduras)
2007-06-25 17:09:00 Hola mi amigos! Well we have survived and completed mission trip '07 to Central America Honduras . And every year we are thourougly blessed to see how God moved in such a powerful way. No doubt was my time there a time of revival and excitment.To give you a little update about our central american endeavors, I lead a short term team with "Baptist Medical and Dental Missions International" (http://www.bmdmi.org) every year to Honduras central america. This year we were able to go into a small village called Jacalaepa (sp?) here we were able to do bible schools and a tent revival at night. We thank God for the about 50 professions of faith. God is always so amazing!Many stories to tell you about and not enough blog space to write it. But in a nutshell one of the greatest things that we saw, was a young lady who had left the church to become a homosexual, and then repented and exited out of that lifestyle. That was one of the major things that we saw God do, and was no doubt... More About: Fish , Home , Back , Tonight
in the middle of mission trips (OKEY DOKEY HOMA)
2007-06-12 17:20:00 Sup kiddos,Well Here I am on Tuesday completely warn out and tired and getting ready to fly to Central America Honduras on Thursday at six in the morning. But oh boy! Did I have a great time last week.Our church took our first trip to home mission trip, to Oklahoma. It was no doubt incredible as we saw God move in a powerful way. We were able to work with OTOE baptist church in Red Rock Oklahoma. This is a church with predominately native Americans in it. We went down for the sake of doing a revival and some odd jobs around and about. We took a team of seven with us.So the pastor of this church is no doubt amazing, along with his wife. In a nutshell, he left where he was pastoring, and moved to Oklahoma by faith. Raised a little support to work with a church of about five people. They went in and literally changed the community for Jesus. They were able to open up what they call "the center" or "the Rock" and the community was changed. This place is a combo between a rec room, a thr... More About: Middle , Mission , Homa , Missi
A little dreaming
2007-06-01 20:51:00 I guess to get the ball rolling I'll go ahead and announce it officially here on the blog, I'm engaged! yup me and Ternips are going to get married and it's looking like it's going to be October the 20th (shea allens birthday) We would like to remember shea forever!!! hahaha. Seriously we're pretty excited.I just got done reading Erwin McManus's "Soul Cravings” Yet another great read, everything that I've read by him has been amazing. So go pick up a copy and read it. Very much worth your while, especially if you have many questions about God and you are seeking a truth. Check it outBut in the aftermath of reading Soul Cravings and now contemplating my future with my future wife, God has kind of been working on me in very different ways. Most of my close friends are aware that I'm somewhat of a visionary. Often times I cook things up in my head and in my heart, and I honestly have no idea where they come from. I'm always like 3 months ahead in dreaming and 2 wee... More About: Dreaming , Litt
Did we survive the atomic bomb?
2007-05-28 06:09:00 Hey guys. Well today was the final message of "How to Survive an Atomic Bomb " I believe the series concluded with a bang. Wow. How cheesy was that. Well any hoo. It was a lot of fun using the theme and I had a blast.The whole purpose of the series was to talk about the "hard" things in life. The direction I went with it was that we are no doubt living in a bomb dropped world. Adam sinned (which was a Hiroshima of evil) and as a result we are living a world of sin. Sooo i wanted to have some fun so talked about the hard things comparing them to monsters. We tried to be creative and use old 1950's horror movie trailers for the effect. We even decorated our sanctuary like an old 1950's drive inn. It was a hoot.Today was the final message and we used the film "The crawling eye" How Perfect of a title is that! Seriously. THE CRAWLING EYE! I preached a message about LUST and SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Which in all honesty is a message that affects everyone, including myself. But I believe the c...
GREAT TIMES AT SOUTH G! (drug day and the wayside choir)
2007-05-21 17:29:00 Yesterday was our third part in our sermon series "how to survive an atomic bomb" the film we used was "THE WEREWOLF" I honestly can't tell you that I've seen the movie or ever well, in my own personal opinion it looks like one of the cheesiest monster movies ever. In this version of THE WEREWOLF, it takes this 1950's atomic spin. Instead of it being a curse, a man is injected with radioactive medicine that transform him into "THE WEREWOLF" man turns into beast!So the theme of yesterday was one of loosing humanity, and we looked at the aspect of "addictions" We kind of labeled it "DRUG DAY" at our church. I hope you will listen to the sermon, because it features my good friend Jason Davis giving a special testimony during my message.Addictions can range from so many aspects...and no doubt are they enslaving. My prayer is that we can escape our addictions by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Because He has the power to truly free.Yesterday was no doubt incredible. Las... More About: Great , South , Times , Drug , Choir
GODZILLA!!!! And two videos from two different mars hills
2007-05-14 08:13:00 Well we are now well into our sermon series "How to Survive an Atomic Bomb". I just spoke on Violence yesterday using the originial Godzilla movie. I'm digging it. I think it's a lot of fun.My message was about "turning the other cheek" I actually got a lot of it from Rob Bell's teaching. Do you know how Rob Bell is? Love the guy. He's the teaching pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids Michigan, also wrote the book Velvet Elvis. Speaking of Mars Hill, it brings to my mind the other Mars Hill in Seattle. These two churches are NOT connected. One is pastored by Rob Bell and the other is pastored by Mark Driscoll. I absolutley love Driscoll. A lot of people are very turned off by his boldness and blutness but I dig em.I suggest that you subscribe to both of their podcast. Get a vareity. Do you podcast??? Ah you should. Just download Itunes, go to the store and type in "mars hill church" and subscribe. You can even do it with our church "south greensburg" ... More About: Videos , Hills , Zilla
West Virginia, Spiderman 3, and THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL
2007-05-07 15:57:00 Hey guys,Long time no post, but thought I would redeem myself and try to get one up and going.Well this last week I was invited to go and speak in West Virginia . I really appreciated the opportunity and was there from a Saturday to a Saturday. It was a very long week. It's always great to be able to travel around and about and see new churches and new people. Always a treat.I also had the great privilege of viewing one heck of a midnight showing of Spiderman 3. It's a good flick. I'm debating whether or not it's as good as number 1, but I'm really torn over the matter. It's pretty awesome, but I did think that the character development of some of the bad guys was kind of cheezy. But I have to remind myself. This IS the comic book world. Soooo you know, I guess it's expected.Yesterday we also began a new sermon series at our church called "How to Survive and Atomic Bomb" Basically we're going to be discussing on how to live in a fallen world of sin, with this 1950's horror m... More About: Spiderman 3
Thoughts on Easter
2007-04-10 06:24:00 It's about 12:30 A.M. on a Monday Night/Tuesday Morning. I always get confused about what to call the wee early morning hours. I know technically it's the next day, but I haven't gone to bed yet so it still feels like the same day.Today I took the old KIA into the shop to get it worked on, simply because a Deer hit me the other day. She was real gruesome, not very gently or kind at all. I'm thankful she only hit me, and didn't stab me with a knife or shoot me with a gun. That would have been really bad. But needless to say I'm laid up without a ride for only a very temporary time, till my grandparents gimme a loaner car or till I get my KIA back form the shop. SO I thought I'd write a few words about this last Easter .Well first and foremost Easter has always been a really cool Holiday for me. Well, the mere fact that I'm a Christian should mean that it is THE MOST IMPORTANT holiday for me, and it is....but I'm just always amazed every year at the feelings it ignites in me. ... More About: Thoughts , Aster
Is Revival Relevant?
2007-03-09 21:41:00 In this month (march) our church will be having our first "revival" since I've been pastor on March 18th-21st. But exactly what is revival? Are a 3-4 day special meeting with emphasis on spiritual awakening something in the past? Are these practices relevant in the culture that we live in? Are revival meetings something of old?I think before we can really and truly answer that question we need to know what exactly Revival is. First and foremost a "revival" is not a series of meetings. Think of the word itself. The dictionary defines as this restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, etcSo in this term revival would be used for someone who is having a health problem, or lacking in strength and needs a boost so to speak. Or needs to be "brought back" to where they need to stand. In order to do the things that they need to do in the daily grind of life.For ten years I traveled as an evangelist, preaching week after week in different churches, and gymnasiums in events called ... More About: Relevant , Viva
Know your Language (Thoughts on Missional Church)
2007-02-25 05:02:00 I failed Spanish I in high school. There you go, I admit, I will no longer hide this ugly face anymore. I failed Spanish in high school. A dark deep secret that I shall no longer ever hide anymore. I failed it. And for somebody who goes to Central America every year, you would think something like a Spanish class might have come in handy. But I was a slacker....so be it.But the truth be told language is very important. Now the point of this blog is NOT me telling you that you need to go to Spanish class. I'm sure you could pick up a good one here and there if you need to, but you do need to know your language.I'm a complete fan of the missional church movement. I feel it's going to be critical to adopt the practices of the Missi onal Church in the upcoming generations. You've heard me ramble about it, but I'll try to sum it up as best as I can.In my own words it would be: The church functioning as a mission movement as opposed to an organization. In a mission movement you will o... More About: Thoughts , Language
Videos for Thought
2007-02-20 23:52:00 Thought I'd post some videos on here that you might enjoy,all three are very different, but I thought you might like em. I know I do!Remember variety is the spice of life.Hope you liked! More About: Videos , Thought
podcasting intrigues me
2007-02-15 22:54:00 Well this is going to be a short little blog, but I've recently tried to get into the realm of podcasting. If you look over at the right you should see my rss feed to my churches podcast. Right now I only have one sermon up, but maybe you all would like to subsribe or what not, any feedback would be appreciative. Also the quality isn't the best, and I promise more is coming. Thanks a lot! More About: Podcasting
blast from the past (who is Keith Green?)
2007-02-04 22:40:00 I've always had this knack for older music. I can remember as a boy, that I would record the oldies radio station onto old cassette tapes, and re listen to the songs over and over again.Even now my music library consists of great groups such as; The Band, Stevie Wonder, Steve Miller Miller band, The Who, Ray Charles, Queen, Peter Frampton, Elo. Just a few to name that I happen to love.But perhaps one of the greatest artist from the past is a guy that little know. He didn't originally want to be on a Christian label, but his message was so radical that it's amazing that even Christian music would take Him. He looks a lot like Bob Ross, but don't' let that curly afro and beard confuse you. This is Keith Green . He sung with raw passion and straight worship to The Lord. If you ever read his story in the book "No compromise" or watch the DVD documentary about Him you would learn that Keith was the Real Deal.Some interesting facts about Keith may amaze you. Keith loved the homeless. ... More About: Blast from the Past , Past , Blast
a real poverty
2007-01-26 23:57:00 I always have my nose in more than one book at a time. I recently heard of Francis Schaeffer. He writes this in a book called "Art and the Bible""A few years ago I started to work out a Christian epistemology and a Christian concept of culture, many people considered what I was doing suspect. They felt that because I was interested in intellectual answers I must not be biblical. But this attitude represents a real poverty. It fails to understand that if Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just "dogmatically" true or "doctrinally" true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life"I appreciate his words. I suppose when we think of poverty we begin to think of the poor and hungry that are starving around this world. And no doubt a real poverty that is. But could you imagine having a multitude of food and abundance, yet never eating it. Instead you decid... More About: Poverty , Real , Vert
Helps with understanding Missional
2007-01-20 07:41:00 A couple of videos by the Desirng God people to help us understand Missi onal Church Movement. Mark Driscol (one of my favorite preachers is on the second one) More About: Understanding
What is God brewing?
2007-01-19 23:22:00 Challenged today, by a simple thought. What is God brewing in our church?I find it very interesting that the people that are in our church are there. We have an assortment of folks that attend our Church in Green County.For example. We range from punk rock kids, to the elderly. We have those who ride motorcycles to those that ride horses And the most amazing thing is, that I feel the people really want God to move, no matter how different they are.I step back and ask that question. God what are you up to? Why have you assembled the ones that you have for our group of believers. What are you doing with them?To be honest, I don't know exactly what God is brewing. But I do know that he doesn't gather his children together for no reason. I know when he puts them together in community its to use each and everyone of them in the way that God has gifted them.I'm so gald that the Bible speaks about this. It talks of the nose needing the ear and the foot needing the mouth. All ...
The People of God
More articles from this author:2007-01-16 21:22:00 I'm currently reading a book entitled "The missional Leader" by Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk. This book is for sure opening up new ideas and visions in my life for me and my church.As a young pastor of a church in a rural community I am very blessed to have the privelage of serving in a church that is ready to reach the county for Jesus Christ. They are very open to change and very open to what God is doing in and around us in the community.I was very struck today when I read in the second chapter of this book about the people that God uses. It speaks of how God always shows up in "forsaken" places. Interesting. I suppose the temptation for younger leaders is to go out and plant a church and for the older ones to just move on to retirement, as the book does a good job explaining, and we often forget about those areas in which already established congregations are in existence.Can God move in Green county Kentucky? Can He? I mean in a small rural farming area, where the... More About: People , The People 1, 2, 3 |
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