Nicknames

Today and I'm taking a break from talking church stuff to throw a random thought at you. "What's up with Nicknames?"

Growing up I always wanted a cool nickname. It seemed like many of my friends had cool nicknames. Some that I can remember are, "Mony", "Schick", "Slobs", "Rookie", "Maestro", and the ultimate one, "Beast!".

The only one I ever remember getting was "Rabbit". I never understood why my friends called me that. So one day I asked my mom and she cleverly said, "Oh, its because you run so fast... like a Rabbit!". Imagine my dismay when eventually I found out they called me Rabbit because I had buck teeth!

Why do we crave nicknames? (Maybe I'm the only weird one who does??) Perhaps we perceive value from it or a sense of belonging or camaraderie. Oh well, I'm not here to get philosophical on you.

Here are some current nicknames. Do you know who they are (hint, some are on staff here at NewPointe):

Double D

Pronk

Hosey

Johnny B

The Professor

A-Rod

Booter Bob

Chadillac

KatieConn (this one is all in the delivery!)

Beanie

Woden

?????

Did you have a nickname? Better yet, what's your nickname now?

Signed, Michael Conn (ohhh wouldn't a cool nickname sound better here)

This WHACKY Church World (Part 3)

Hey, thanks to all of you who have been reading my new blog and for the all the encouragement! I'm having a blast and hope you are too!!! As our dear friend Bubba Joe would say, "I just wanna be a blessing!"

I've been sharing with you my observations since I've joined this "Whacky Church World". There is one more BIGGIE that again is so unbelievable so unimaginable it is hard to fathom it can really be true. I'm not going to build it up any more... I'm just going to lay it out there for you.

Here it is... in this Whacky Church World you don't have any competitors.

Let me explain, so far what I have noticed is that every time I have a question about how something should be done Dwight tells me to call another church and ask them how they do it. At first I was really hesitant to do that. Where I came from in the software industry, the real money was made from protecting your intellectual property -- the stuff you knew and didn't want any one else to know. This is what made you different and better. Its kinda like the secret formula for Coke. Coke would never take a call from Pepsi and say, "Oh, you need our formula... sure, let me fax it right over to you."

However in the whacky church world that's exactly what happens! They will tell you anything and everything. Isn't that cool? We're all playing on the same team and we all want to win for the same reasons. When Jesus told us to "build the church" he wasn't just talking about the people under our own roof.

My experience has been that every time I call a church I get an answer. It doesn't matter if I know anyone there or not. I've also taken several trips to go visit some churches and they actually take time out of their day to host me, help me, and encourage me. They share strategies, policies, tools, diagrams, documents... they even share the things they've tried that didn't work.

A win for the Kingdom is a win for every dedicated person in ministry. If you happen to work for a church, give it a try. I guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised.

So to sum it up, I now am working in an environment where I have free labor and no competition! People in the business world would kill for this scenario. Throw the love, grace, and favor of the almighty God in there yet and we have an unbelievable opportunity to change our world! I'm pumped about that!! I hope you are too!

This WHACKY Church World (Part 2)

I must "confess" (hey, I gotta tie my blog title in here somewhere!) that since joining this Whacky Church World environment I have noticed an amazing phenomenon. This is something so radical, so mind-blowing, so unbelievable it is up there with John Bunn being a good 3-point shooter (he really is!).

So what is it that I have noticed that is so incredible? Here it is... YOU CAN GET PEOPLE TO WORK FOR FREE! That's right, in this Whacky Church World people will work for free. The typical church word for this is "Volunteer", but I really see it as a person so committed to your church and building God's Kingdom that they are willing to take responsibility, give of their time, sacrifice, get involved, and even get frustrated without being paid simply because they want serve God. Wow! Is that incredible or what?

NewPointe has a lot happening (that's a topic for another post!). There is no way this all gets done without our people volunteering. One of my goals is to change the culture of our church so that volunteers are recognized as "staff" who have responsibility, accountability, and are completely overwhelmed with God's blessings. The only difference is that they don't get paid (at least here on earth!) Wow, I guess that's not too "Whacky" after all.

Thanks to all who volunteer at NewPointe!!!

This WHACKY Church World (Part 1)

I've recently joined the staff at NewPointe (since January). Before that I was in the software business for 20 years. Many things have jumped out at me in this transition and I hope to bring you insights in how things operate at a church and through its staff.

But to start with, I've got to share with you some comments I received when people found out I was switching from the "corporate world" to the "church world". I never in my life had so much attention from the general public. Most people were just very interested and supportive, but some asked the funniest questions. Here are just a few:

• "So I hear you are going to work for a church, do you have to be there every day?"
• Another person asked sincerely, "That's great, what are your hours? I bet you'll start at 11am and quit at 3pm"
• "Don't you have to be a pastor to work at a church?"
• One of my favorites, "So, are you gonna like be semi-retired?"

These make me chuckle because they show what some people think really happens in this "Whacky Church World". But I'm here to tell you that these comments couldn't be further from the truth. :)

What I have found so far about church work here at NewPointe is this:

• The staff takes their roles very seriously
• People work hard. I put in more hours now than I ever did in the corporate world.
• The responsibility I feel is off the charts. These are people's eternal lives we are dealing with (not $$$$).
• The staff here wants to win (big time). Every day we come to work striving to succeed in leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

I'm glad I made the career change!

Look for more behind the scenes insights from this "Whacky Church World" from the new kid on the block!

My Inaugural Post

Today I join the world of BLOGGING. This is going to fun. However, I'm one of those perfectionist kind who think everything on this web page has to be JUST RIGHT (but I don't have the time). I'm hoping you experienced bloggers out there well help bring me along. If nothing else I hope this experience helps me to learn that 80% is okay to move forward with (instead of procrastinating because it is not 100% right). So feel free to leave me your best "Blogging Tip" for a newcomer!