Late night thoughts that make me hungry
Most nights I sleep like a baby. You know the joke, I wake up every two hours to go to the bathroom and I come back to bed wide awake for a for an hour or so. I have learned though not to cry. My wife doesn't find it funny to be awaken at 1:00 am by her husband play crying. She used to think it was cute when our daughter did it but I guess her being an infant at the time makes it a little different. Over the years it is during those hours laying awake in the middle of the night/very early morning that I have done some of my most deepest thinking.
Some people count sheep when they can't fall to sleep. I tried that once but I got bored of seeing sheep walking through my mind so I started making them jump and do flips. I imagined their wool to be different colors to the point it looked like they were painted by NASCAR. After a while I figured out counting sheep wasn't for me so I started counting bacon recipes that I have seen. That didn't work either, it just made me want to get up and fry some bacon. Which leads me to another thing my wife doesn't find funny at 1:00 am.
One night last week I had a very deep thought. Have you ever done one of those progressive meals? You know where you go one restaurant/house for the appetizer, another for the salad, another for the meal and another for dessert? There is a fast food version where each person goes to a different fast food restaurant to get the parts of the meal. Then everyone meets together to make a meal off what was bought. I was a part of a group that used to talk about doing that but never got around to it several years ago. Every since then I have tried to figure out where I would want everyone to go and what I would want them to get. Last week at approximately 2:13 am on Tuesday morning I figured it out.
I would want someone to go to McDonalds for the fries. I know McDonalds isn't always
consistent with their fries. Sometimes they are overcooked and hard and the next time they are undercooked and mushy but when they are cooked right they are the best fries in my mind. I would want someone to go to Wendy's for their burgers. Every burger place has their burgers that are good and others that make you want to throw them back at the cook. Wendy's burgers across the board are consistently good. For the drink it has to be Bojangles Legendary Ice Tea. You know 2 parts sugar to one part tea. For dessert I would send somebody to Taco Bell for the Cinnamon Twist. What isn't to like about something friend and dipped into cinnamon? It they wanted to grab a couple hard shell tacos too I would complain.
To me that would be the perfect progressive fast food meal because it has what I feel is the best of each place. It isn't to say there isn't other good stuff at those places. Wendy's Frosty ran neck and neck with Taco Bell's Cinnamon Twist. Bojangles or Popeye's chicken could easily be swapped for Wendy's burgers. McDonald's sweet tea is almost as good as Bojangles. Burger King's Hershey Pie is good too. I could be talked into Jack in the Box's Chicken Teriyaki Bowl with egg rolls. We haven't even mentioned Chick-fil-A. Their chicken sandwich, waffle fires, lemonade and peach milkshakes could make the meal too. Arby's roast beef sandwiches are great too.
So at approximately 2:41 am I came up with another thought. I have ate way too much fast food. Then at 2:42 am a deeper thought came. That is the formula for a successful church. You should take the best each member has and combine it make the church the best it can be. Because there are many members in the body you can swap them out just like swapping out McDonald's fries for Chick-fil-A's waffle fries. Each member has something to add to the church to make it unique and to help fulfill
its mission. So why not use them all?
There is the trouble. Getting them all to contribute. Not all members want to contribute. It would be like going to Arby's to get the roast beef sandwiches for the meal and Arby's saying, "I am sorry but I am too busy to help with this meal." Other members only want to do one thing and it may or may not be their best gift. It would be like going to Burger King to get Whoppers for the meal and Burger King saying, "I only want to provide fries." That isn't good because that is one of the worst things on their menu. So what happens is the church relies on the few that are willing to provide their services. That is why we go to McDonalds and order a combo because we know we can get everything we want. That is why the church continues going to the same people because it knows it can get what it needs. It isn't a progressive meal if everything comes from the same place and it isn't a progressive church if everything continues to come from the same people either. It is time everybody contributed to their church. That is why God has put us in the church we are in, to contribute. So make your church progressive and find some ministries for you to plug into. Don't be the stumbling block for your church.
Parting Thought: There is no plague worse then being on the Nominating Committee at church.
Some people count sheep when they can't fall to sleep. I tried that once but I got bored of seeing sheep walking through my mind so I started making them jump and do flips. I imagined their wool to be different colors to the point it looked like they were painted by NASCAR. After a while I figured out counting sheep wasn't for me so I started counting bacon recipes that I have seen. That didn't work either, it just made me want to get up and fry some bacon. Which leads me to another thing my wife doesn't find funny at 1:00 am.
One night last week I had a very deep thought. Have you ever done one of those progressive meals? You know where you go one restaurant/house for the appetizer, another for the salad, another for the meal and another for dessert? There is a fast food version where each person goes to a different fast food restaurant to get the parts of the meal. Then everyone meets together to make a meal off what was bought. I was a part of a group that used to talk about doing that but never got around to it several years ago. Every since then I have tried to figure out where I would want everyone to go and what I would want them to get. Last week at approximately 2:13 am on Tuesday morning I figured it out.
I would want someone to go to McDonalds for the fries. I know McDonalds isn't always
To me that would be the perfect progressive fast food meal because it has what I feel is the best of each place. It isn't to say there isn't other good stuff at those places. Wendy's Frosty ran neck and neck with Taco Bell's Cinnamon Twist. Bojangles or Popeye's chicken could easily be swapped for Wendy's burgers. McDonald's sweet tea is almost as good as Bojangles. Burger King's Hershey Pie is good too. I could be talked into Jack in the Box's Chicken Teriyaki Bowl with egg rolls. We haven't even mentioned Chick-fil-A. Their chicken sandwich, waffle fires, lemonade and peach milkshakes could make the meal too. Arby's roast beef sandwiches are great too.
So at approximately 2:41 am I came up with another thought. I have ate way too much fast food. Then at 2:42 am a deeper thought came. That is the formula for a successful church. You should take the best each member has and combine it make the church the best it can be. Because there are many members in the body you can swap them out just like swapping out McDonald's fries for Chick-fil-A's waffle fries. Each member has something to add to the church to make it unique and to help fulfill
There is the trouble. Getting them all to contribute. Not all members want to contribute. It would be like going to Arby's to get the roast beef sandwiches for the meal and Arby's saying, "I am sorry but I am too busy to help with this meal." Other members only want to do one thing and it may or may not be their best gift. It would be like going to Burger King to get Whoppers for the meal and Burger King saying, "I only want to provide fries." That isn't good because that is one of the worst things on their menu. So what happens is the church relies on the few that are willing to provide their services. That is why we go to McDonalds and order a combo because we know we can get everything we want. That is why the church continues going to the same people because it knows it can get what it needs. It isn't a progressive meal if everything comes from the same place and it isn't a progressive church if everything continues to come from the same people either. It is time everybody contributed to their church. That is why God has put us in the church we are in, to contribute. So make your church progressive and find some ministries for you to plug into. Don't be the stumbling block for your church.
Parting Thought: There is no plague worse then being on the Nominating Committee at church.
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