I'm home schooled...in Canada...where the moose are!

Confession time-
I love High School Musical and Hannah Montana.
I was watching Hannah with Eden Tuesday night when, for reasons I won't rehash, Hannah's best friend disguised her identity by saying,

"We've never met. I'm home schooled...in Canada...where the moose are."

We cracked up. "That's me!" Eden said with a smile.

Which made me a little sad, because it's true. If you want to hide you're identity from America, go to Canada. We're off the radar up here.

But it gave me new resolve- I pray God does such amazing things through Connections that all of Canada, and America, and the world can't help but notice.

But I also got to thinking about why I like this silly kids show.
One word- Timeless. The genius is that it does nothing new- they simply rehash the classic comedy formulas with new faces and contemporary references. It's actually brilliant.

That's all we do at Connections Community Church. Take a look at the church when it was born, through 2000 years of changing lives, and at our church today.
Same Jesus.
Same Bible.
Same truths.

But...
New faces.
New tunes.
New venue.
New references.
New applications.
New lives being changed.

What we are doing is as ancient as time, but as fresh as tomorrow.
Up here...in Canada...where the moose are...and where we still home school our kids... even though it makes us look like a bunch of weirdos.

Signs of Belonging Video

Reflections From a Trip to Disney, part 4

I always try to read a book or two during holidays.
I picked up the book "Quiet Strength" by coach Tony Dungy.
(Check it out, coachdungy.com)

This book was great, but I'll use it as a string board for something else.

I was late in catching football fever.
I was torn in childhood. On one side I grew up in the shadow of the Steel Curtain and the Terrible Towel- Steelers country. Everyone was a fan.
But I had a mother who not-so-subtlety discouraged my brother and I from playing football.
"It will ruin your body!" she always said.
So I picked up really safe activities like skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and rock climbing- nobody has ever hurt themselves in those sports!

It wasn't until I moved away from Pennsylvania that I became a football fan. Much to my surprise it became a way of keeping me rooted to my past. And I've genuinely come to appreciate the sport.

But here's my thought, or my regret:
Now, as an adult, I wish I had the experience of playing for a great coach on a great team.

I was either so poisoned by a culture that said "do your own thing," or just genuinely had bad coaches, that I really don't know what great coaching and teamwork looks like. At least from the inside out. I can't even remember the name of any coach I had in my childhood.

And that is a great loss in my life.

Alas, I can't turn back the clock.
But I can encourage my kids to find a sport, and find a team, and find a coach that truly means something to them.

And in the mean time, as I try to build this church and build our leadership and ministry teams, I can learn from books like "Quiet Strength."
I can learn from just watching and enjoying football.
And I can learn by continuing to coach my kids soccer teams.

Yes, I coach soccer- talk about the blind leading the blind!

Trust me, I'm no coach Dungy, but I'm growing.

Signs of Belonging: Soaring in Worship

Series: Signs of Belonging
Sermon: Soaring in Worship
George J. Saylor
April 6, 2008

We have to find our place of belonging. It’s as human as the need to eat and sleep and breathe. Here at Connections we have a couple of convictions about belonging:
We were created to belong to God. This is the ultimate connection we must make, the ultimate belonging that must happen in our lives.
We were created to belong as a group, what we would call being the church.
We were created to belong socially, in a smaller network of friends.
We were created to belong personally, invest with a few true friends.
And we were created to belong intimately. With a spouse, with family, maybe with one or two life long friends.
Belonging is not a simple thing, it’s not even as simple as yes or no. It’s multifaceted and works out on many levels in our lives.

For the next five weeks we are talking about the Signs of Belonging here at Connections Community Church. We want people to know that these are Signs that mark and identify this church. Today I want to you first understand why they are important.

Read the rest of the sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com

Reflections from a Trip to Disney, part 3

Disney does things right!

The attention to detail was amazing.
The facilities were immaculate.
Everything was larger than life.

The real thing they do right is to go over and above your expectations.

Unlike so many other parks that let their "classic" rides get rundown, Disney keeps improving on the old.
Pirates of the Caribbean has been updated.
It's a Small World was clean and bright.
The Magic Kingdom was a magic as ever with new rides, parades and shows.

How many churches find the routine for their services and programs, then just let them run their course? When do churches decide that their worship is just right and then set it on "repeat" mode until eternity? Their contentment with mediocrity and the lack of creativity drives me nuts. At Disney they make every day special. They make every year different. They continue to grow and develop their vision.

And even that's not enough. On our third day, our last day, we were at Animal Kingdom. Definitely my favorite park. It was getting late, we were getting tired, the crowd was thinning out, but we had one more ride to hit- Dinosaur!

Just when you think you've seen it all, they take it to the next level.
A woman spotted us heading to the line (which was very short by now). She smiled and whispered to to the girls (and winked at me), "Please follow me."
The girls didn't know if they were in trouble or what was happening- I was loving it, because I knew this lady was up to something.
She gave us the royal treatment- little dinosaur toys, special certificates, a gift for Justin who was too small for the ride. Then a "time travel ship" of our very own- just the three of us in our own private car!

This woman saw the opportunity to make our trip that much more memorable- and she seized it.

I want to create a church environment where that attention to detail, and to people, consistent happens so that expectations are exceeded.