Church Kid Chronicles! Starting my new book!

So I'm starting to formulate the framework for my next book! I'm excited about this because it will include so many people and so many different stories. I believe that this could be the beginning of a powerful movement! Church kids go through so much, and they need to have an outlet - a voice of reason... That's what this does for us. I'm asking that all church kids young and old go back into the annals of time to retell a story that has never been told! Yes, you've heard it! I want to hear your stories - good, bad, ugly, or funny! I want to hear them so we can pull together one of the most well-rounded books written about church kids!

Check out a story from my childhood! 

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up! 

It was a wonderful spring Sunday Morning at Bailey Cathedral. Our family were faithful members at Miller Memorial Church of God In Christ under the leadership of Bishop Earl J. Wright. Our church was experiencing exponential growth, a booming children's ministry, and I was having tons of fun as a church kid. If there is one thing I loved, it was being a church kid. I wasn't just any church kid. I was "Tiny." That's what everyone called me. I thought it was totally funny after I grew up because it is such a funny nickname, but as a kid, that was who I was. As always, all the kids had gathered in the chapel for children's church around 10:45 a.m. Our parents sang in the Mass choir and they would send us off as they got ready to go up to the choir stand. You see, we had a “Live” radio broadcast each Sunday morning at 11:00, so all the parents were always on time. We would spend our time running around until the ushers and children church teachers told us to go inside for children's church. On this particular Sunday, our first lady, Mother Geraldine Marvel Miller-Wright was our teacher. She was like my other Grandmother. I loved her so much and her sweet, warm, and inviting personality made us kids feel like we were all her children. After we did devotion, which always included prayer, scripture, and song, she got up and said, "Today we're going to have a message brought by one of our young men." She looked around and said, "Tiny, I want you to get a scripture and a thought to present to us." Of course, I loved being in front of people. I smiled, got up from my seat and scooted to the back of the room to prepare.
    Before I knew it, they called my name. A friend of mine, Corey Gatlin, came to the podium and said, "Praise the Lord Saints! I'm glad that we're here together this morning. How many are ready for a word?" Looking back, it was so funny that we would talk like the adults we heard in church! We could mimic anyone's Holy dance, preacher's tune, or the mannerisms of the elders, deacons, and mothers. When I heard Corey finish with the introduction, I got up from my seat and started moving towards the podium. I was so nervous, but I felt good. I thrived on this feeling. I started talking about the lady in the commercial that would cry out, "I've fallen and I can't get up." I was telling my friends that Jesus was the only one who could help you get up. I found the verse from Jude that said, "Now unto him, that is able to keep you from falling..." When I got done, my friends were clapping like we were in church. When I got done, Mother Wright got up with this big smile on her face and sort of a surprised look. She was almost in disbelief that this 11-year-old kid had just said all of this. I knew that deep down, I loved preaching.
    She couldn't wait to tell my Dad after church. Mother Wright said to him, "Elder Coleman, you should have seen your son. He was just preaching..." I had this bashful look on my face, but I was proud because my Dad was proud. To see my Father standing there looking at me was worth all the nervousness and anxiety I went through to preach. I remember Dad reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a $20.00 bill and saying to me, "Here Man. It's your first offering. Good job!" I smiled. He gave me a hug, and I ran down the hall to the bookstore to get some candy and pop! 

The Stuck Feeling

What an exhiliarating moment! When an ESPN production manager handed me the all access pass to work the EPSN College Gameday set, built by the HomeDepot. I had access to the greats. I thought I was on my way to creating major moves for my career. From there it was Fox Sports, working with them as a Liason for the school's communications department. Major resume boosters. I had calls coming in from the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and the Dayton Dragons to work for their organizations.

Then God said, move home. From there all that I had imagined for myself seemed to be a distant memory. I worked for SVSU during a time where the athletic director was in transition. The worst part was that HE NEVER TOLD ME! If he had told me, I probably would have chosen another place to work. Without clear management or leadership, I could not excel at my job. I was stuck.


What do you do when you feel stuck? How do you respond to the clutches of your own mind wanting to break free but you can't. How do you handle forgiving yourself for not moving, or being ok when God has set this agenda for you. It's never an easy pill to swallow.

I'm at another moment right now, where things that I truly desire have not panned out like I want, but I plan not to stop trying. I plan to keep going, to keep believing. Through my grit and determination, I'll pull myself out of this mud, and continue to dream! 

Change in the Church House!

Over the last two years, I've been heading a committee to re-think church in its most simplistic form. We were in a place where our needs were changing and we were looking for something different. Not only were we looking, but those around the church were searching for something. We began to ask ourselves, "Where are we heading?" Sustainable growth became the underlying factor - driving our group to begin searching for the answers. So it began. We started researching scriptures about everything regarding change. We started researching churches across the country that had changed their way of doing things, implemented new ways to spread the message of Jesus, and learned how to grow their churches. We realized that we were looking for change, but we needed to identify what was most important. 
We took a moment to think about what we were trying to do and began listing the necessities for growth within our church. We found that people wanted a place to feel connected, a place to grow, a place to find themselves, a place to find people that they could share their lives with. It was simple. We had overcomplicated the purpose of the church. We tried to make the church our everything - our entertainment, our classroom, our kitchen, our dinner table, our medicine, our psychiatrist, our fitness club, and our idol. This model of church does not fit in today's ever changing world. Things are moving fast, social media is everywhere, our jobs require more attention, our children are more active, more people are attending college, and people have so many more choices to pick from. 

We discovered that church could not be everything, but it had to be the center of people's lives. The Church was not the "building"; it lives within every Christian. People want to experience live, not hide through it. So, things have changed. I am encouraged that abundant life does not have to always be exhibited in our church services, but it must be demonstrated in our everyday lives. 

Pursue Passion

September 2015

What is passion? Passion is defined in webster's dictionary as a compelling emotion or feeling. People often ask the question, "what is your passion?" They ask it because they are usually trying to get people to narrow their focus on the things that matter the most  - what makes a person happy. If you are in it for the long haul, you must ask the question, Am I in it for the long haul becuase it will help you determine your passion. 

I am sitting in a computer desk in Mobile, Alabama in the business center of a Holiday Inn express. I am currently working on my website and updating my content, preparing my thoughts for the set up objectives that are coming before me. I looked around for a moment and said, "I'm tired in my body, sleepy, but I am chasing my passion." I am a builder, a musician, and a creator! I am currently on the last leg of a 9 day tour across the southern states. We went to cities like Beaumont,TX, Mephis, TN, New Orleans, LA, Greenwood, MS, Mobile, AL, and Little Rock, AR. It has been an amazing experience being able to wake up and see another city and do what you love to do. I visted some amazing churches with some great leaders that have discovered the solutions to growing a church effectively. 

I've been tired in my body with little sleep, but becuase I have passion for this, I do it with a glad heart and I'm eager to play my instrument. Passion drives you to do things that you thought you couldn't do. Passion takes you out of your self and into a territory that enables you to do more than the mere individual. it's because passion produces strength and untapped potential to make things happen! 

Whatever you do, move with passion. Be intentional about your efforts and relentless with your goals. I pray that passion propels you into your next accomplishment, your next assignment, your next venture, your next big moment. When it's accomplished, passion will drive you to do it all over again!

#Passion 

Pull the Trigger

I was just sitting in the office answering an email for one of our region's biggest christian fesitval. I told one of my board members to pull the trigger. That theme just stuck with me. It grabbed me and told me that this "saying" was more than just a phrase that I told my friend. I truly believe that this is going to be a theme that will lead us into 2016. 

Sometimes God will place oppurtunities in front of your face for you decide - will you pull the trigger? Jeremiah 29:11 says, I know the plans toward you. Plans of good not of evil. To bring you to an expected end." Well the bullet in that gun you will pull has an expected end, but you have to have the faith to believe that it will be done! Pulling the trigger takes courage, faith, and grit to actually go foward with it. 

I don't know what it is that you will have to decide to make happen. Whether it is launching a website, a business, a new job, changing locations, or beginning to work on your dreams. When the oppurtunity manifests and materializes, you have to pull the trigger and follow through! 

Transparency

A few days ago, social media used Steve Harvey as an example of comedy for MeMes, they also scrutinized him for his mistake he made on the Miss Universe pageant. It was one of the biggest stories on Monday. What a buzz! I didn't even know that there was a such thing as Miss Universe, due to my frame of reference. I do not follow pageants, so I wouldn't expect to know. After Monday, most people around the world knew what Steve Harvey did. Sadly, many people did not honor him for his transparency. After making a major mistake by calling the wrong person up to recieve the crown for Miss Universe, he had taken it upon himself to correct the situation before millions of live viewers in Las Vegas and abroad. He told the people, that it was an honest mistake and he felt horrible. 

Was that the time for him to hide in his dressing room? Ask for a police escort and exit the venue? He took it upon himself to do a press conference and address the media head on. By facing it head on, he took ownership of his mistake. Fox executives released a statement backing Harvey for his committment to excellence and said that it was an honest mistake. They actually invited him back to do the show next year. Sometimes, God will take your mess and make a mesage out of it - in the presence of your enemies. All he asks is that we be transparent, and walk through it. 

Conflicts

As a child, I always avoided conflict. I would try to navigate through it without hurting anyone intentionally. Conflict is inevitable in this life, and how we deal with it truly determines the caliber of our character. The bible is full of stories that involve conflict. In many stories, conflict was needed to usher in a positive movement and in other stories it was needed to usher in a negative movement. It is essential that we allow conflict to enter into our lives, because it always has a way to make us better Christians. If we are to apply the Word of God to every aspect of life – sin and all – we must change our attitudes about conflict[1]. When we are going through our own life situations that involve conflict, at the moments when it arises, we never think about why it was placed there at that particular time. The bible tells us that God ordains conflict for his redemptive purposes.

Before I began to write this paper I prayed about what area of conflict I needed to concentrate on. As I read through the text, the area of conflict that began to prick my soul was the issue of authority. Authority is defined by Webster as the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. It is also defined as the right to act in a specified way, delegated from one person or organization to another. The issue of authority lies in the failure to exercise authority. This failure of authority implies that one does not abuse the authority given; they in turn do not use the authority given to them. The actions of unused authority are being indecisive and unwilling to commit to a specific course of action.[2]

NARRATIVE OF CONFLICT

There is a story found in the Book of Exodus (18:19-22) that explains how Moses failed to exercise his authority in the form of delegating leaders to help him manage the children of Israel. The 18^th chapter of Exodus introduces us to the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro is not mentioned much in the Old Testament, but he is known as the father-in-law of Moses. His entrance into the wilderness and the life of Moses came at the most opportune time. Moses was dealing with so much – ministering to the people, going to God for the people, taking care of his family while serving in leadership. He worked tirelessly day and night, even though many people saw that he was tired, they never thought it to be respectful to tell him to slow down. It was Moses’ father-in-law that seen the great load that was upon Moses’ shoulders, and it was his God-given idea that inspired the need for delegation. Jethro told Moses that he needed to devote more time to God by relinquishing some of his daily responsibilities of leadership and delegating them to others. The reason for this is so that he could spend more time before God which would enable him to teach the ways of God to them more effectively. He would have to select leaders who were competent, bold, full of integrity, and selfless men to lead of the children of Israel. These men would serve as judges for the people at all times, but would have the responsibility of reporting the most difficult cases to Moses. In turn, the load the Moses (the leader) carried would be lighter because more people were carrying the burden of ministry with him.

WHEN CONFLICT ARISES

Conflict will come, and we will have to deal with it. We will be forced to make tough decisions that will involve using sound judgment as well as carefully articulated statements. We must remember that we should ‘believe that conflict provides opportunities to glorify God, serve other people, and grow to be like Christ”[1]. It is important to realize that our obedience in pursuing peace must be the outflow and overflow of hearts fully aware of being saved by the Prince of Peace. We are to go back to the sermon preached on the mount where Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God”. What Jesus did not include in his statement is the many different ways there were to be peacemakers. There will be so many different obstacles, confrontations, quarrels, church hurt moments, and backbiting moments that were break us, but how we deal with those issues will determine how kingdom minded we actually are.

The conflicts that arise within us today bring glory to God through the reminders of our fleshly state. Sometimes, conflicts that arise send a message that we are not to think too highly of ourselves, that we are not to boast, or be over-zealous, or covet. They teach us that at the end of the day, God will use the trials we face to bring glory to our lives and open up an opportunity for someone to be changed and delivered by the conflicts that occur.

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[1] Ibed, p. 37.

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[1] Poirer, Alfred. The Peacemaking Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006.

[2] Poirer, Alfred. The Peacemaking Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006.