Hannah Montana

First off, it bothers me a bit that I have a pic of Hannah Montana on my blog. I am a bit creeped out by it. Are you? She scares me for some reason. But my daughters LOVE her.

I’m talking to our students tonight about “What Hannah Montana Can Teach Us About Being Real”. It’s all about relationships. We’ll use David & Jonathan as our biblical example of authentic relationships. I’ll be talking about the big idea: The reward of authenticity is worth the risk.

Here are the 2 things we learn from Hannah about being Authentic: 1. It’s RISKY! Can you imagine what would happen if she really said, “Yeah, Hannah’s fake!”? I mean there are kids who believe they are 2 different people. My kids are 2 of them! Kids’s would freak! She would make half the $$$ she does now. It’s risky to be real. People can hurt us with our own story. People can turn their back on us. Life hurts. Betrayal hurts. 2. There’s a REWARD. Don’t you know she gets tired of wearing that mask (or wig I guess). I mean as she gets older, it’s got to get tired. It’s tiring for us to wear masks. We can only keep it up for so long. It gets old trying to be someone else. It’s FREEING to be us…to be authentic.

So if the risk of authenticity is worth the reward…HOW do we transition from being fake to being real? I think Hannah shows us this too.

1. TRUST – My girls have this dance step thing that tells them the exact steps to take to dance just like her to her songs. I think her steps are so mapped out. Sometimes we refuse to trust life because we are just trying to follow the right steps in the right order. God says our steps are “ordered” by HIM. We’ve got to trust people, life, others, ourselves.
2. COMMIT – Shelby has a wig for HM & wears it a lot. I feel bad for Miley Cyrus, she can’t commit to one persona. We have to choose to pull off the wig/mask and commit to being in authentic relationships with others. Even if we get hurt…we have to be us.
3. BE OURSELVES – Instead of changing our voice and being someone else…I have to be ME. You have to be YOU.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on HM or MC. Just using them as an example. Let’s choose today to be real/authentic in our relationships. It’s risky…but there’s a GREAT REWARD. Let’s be real with others. Let’s be real with God.

Wednesday Night Thoughts…

Last night we had the kickoff for theMIX, our midweek programming for middle & high school students. We take a break in mid-week programming for the summer, so we ramp back up this time of year. It was also the first night in our new student facility. Here are some thoughts I had going into, during & on the other side of this night…

• I was nervous. I always get nervous. My #1 fear = no one will show up. I’ve always been this way & I always will I think. We did ZERO marketing. We just told our church that midweek was back.
• I was also nervous as to how the students would like the room.
• Kids SHOWED UP! We had 122 students there. Great for a first night. Exactly 20 first time guests. Plus, there were a lot of regulars who were out.
• The room is great but the sound quality is bad. Too many hard surfaces. I’m working on sound absorption pieces.
• The band did a great job. Jordan, our worship leader, did better than ever. He really led & taught the kids.
• Our volunteers were awesome. Lots of newbies. They did well. I think we had a team of around 16-17 vols. From security to tech to cafe.
• Our registration team were overwhelmed but handled it with grace & ease.
• Honestly, it was somewhat awkward for me speaking in the new room. It still feels like we’re living in someone else’s house & playing with their stuff. And at any moment they will come home & be mad.
• I felt like the message I taught was one of the worst in years for me. I needed to give them a refund.
• Kids responded though.
• We have 2 video screens walls! They are HUGE & crystal clear.
• We gave away over 100 new shirts in about 15 mins.
• We did the grossest game ever.
• We are doing a few retools to the service flow to help out for next week.
• Some things still weren’t finished in the room…it will take a few weeks.
• I was hung-over this morning from last night. The good kind though. The Christian kind of hangover.
• Now I’m nervous again. Will they all show back up next week?