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king of nerds!

kevinhaglund Leave a comment

Last night was my last night as a Dogwood Church staff member and as the director of a great bunch of vocalists. We’ve experienced a little of the Kingdom in our rehearsals and while ministering together for the past nearly 8 years.

One of the things we did each May was crown the King and Queen Choir Nerd. This was just a fun and goofy way to acknowledge the male and female choir members who had a tendency to raise their hand to correct a part, or who carried a notebook of “music” with them to rehearsal each week. It was a lot of fun and was something that everyone looked forward to. Some even campaigned for it throughout the year. It was not uncommon for someone to raise their hand to ask a question and someone else would say, “Choir nerd!”

Well, this past May, there was a sort of mutiny. I was at a conference and one of our altos Melanie McCormick led the rehearsal. Since the King and Queen Choir Nerd were selected by secret ballot, they decided that everyone would vote for Suzanne and I to be the King and Queen Choir Nerds for 2008. So, I guess it was fitting that at our farewell party last night, they crowned me the King of all Choir Nerds!

Now, I wanted to share with you an article written by a pastor that went through a similar journey that I have been on for the past 18 months. His story of discontent that God began to stir in his heart is very similar to what I have experienced and what has led us to pursue a new way of not just “doing church” but “being church.” Please read his story at http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/fall/13.39.html and let me know what you think.

be ready

kevinhaglund Leave a comment

As I was wheeling around the yard on my riding lawn mower today, I was chewing on a verse of Scripture that has come to the forefront of my mind of late.

I Peter 3:15b says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have people ask me about the hope that I have very often. When Peter wrote these words, he was making a couple of assumptions:

  • That we are living our lives in such a way that people notice that something is different.
  • That we are living our lives in close enough proximity to outsiders who might notice our lifestyle.

So, if you’re like me and people don’t typically ask you why you have hope and why your life is different, maybe we should check to be sure the two things above are happening in your life.

For me, I can say that I am not living my life in close enough proximity to outsiders for them to notice. Like many Christians, I live my life into a safe, Christian bubble and rarely rub shoulders with “those people.”

Moving forward, my family and I plan to live among “those people” and I will be personally carving time out of my schedule to build relationships with people outside the bubble. It’s hard to taste the salt, when it’s still in the salt shaker!