Always Pray and Consider Giving

Supporting Family,

It has been amazing year on staff at Flood Church! Exclamation point!!! You all have been crucial in it.

God's plan 'A' has always been people. Through your support and our efforts, we have become the "people" who are giving the seekers (and growers) in San Diego a safe, invitational home(s) to know personally who God is. The weekly community groups that I oversee have multiplied, adding 3 in 2010 ... with an additional group launching in January 2011!!! (This will total 10 PC/C groups throughout San Diego county). Every time I am given the opportunity to preach on a Sunday or teach my leaders, I gain key insight into contextualizing and communicating the Gospel in culturally sensitive ways. Most importantly, God has fostered some amazing relationships where seekers, co-leaders, mentors and I are realizing our true identity in Jesus Christ. For instance, to say that we are all sinners is only half the truth. The total truth is that we are all deeply loved sinners. Knowing that we are 'deeply loved' makes the life-changing difference. And I get to be a part of these life changes, baby! Amazing.

The following are some responses I have heard this year from our peeps in the church body*:

-"Your sermon on pornography... It hit home and talked to my heart."

-"I just wanted to thank you for today's message. It was the most personal and practical message about evangelism I have ever heard..."

-"Your message was like an onion because it contained beautiful layers and as you continued to pull the pieces away you uncovered truth, authenticity and at the very core - Christ."

-"Your message touched home for me in a lot of ways- I am working through the challenge of a family of non believers and was encouraged by God's word today."

-"It is clear that you are doing what God has called you to do."

Here is some feedback that I have received from leaders I oversee at Flood*:

-"Andy has the skill to capture your attention, no matter what age or stage of life you are in.... I believe that Andy gets discernment from the Spirit... relying on God's strength and power."

-"His sheer interest and enthusiasm in teaching topics, as well as quick and pointed responses to questions, hold my attention."

-"Andy has the ability to reach and relate to a wide range of people because of his humility coupled with his intellectual capacity."

-It’s very evident that faith in Christ has transformed him deeply, and he genuinely longs for others to experience that love and grace."

And I received one of the best messages from one of my best friends the other day. He simply stated, "Bro, watching you the other day, I totally understand why you do what you do!" My boy is not chasing after Christ just yet. He is what I like to consider a 'Pre-Christian.'

*Please note that this is incredibly humbling to share. The good Lord knows that I am a work-in-process.

As the year closes, I thought I'd remind you all how you can continue to support my graduate internship at Flood Church.

How to Support?

PRAYERFULLY:

Your support has enabled me to experience significant growth in ministry: continuing to facilitate, support, and direct the Post College and Career (PC/C) community groups, preaching, and offering 'enrichments' (or training) for leaders. Moreover, serving in Flood's "New to Faith" ministry has been an additional life-giving step, as evangelism is a great passion of mine.

I was also recently licensed by Flood as a pastor on October 17th ... another exciting milestone to celebrate! Stay 'linked in' (via this blog) to journey with me. I appreciate your words of encouragement, affirmations, questions, and, above all, your prayer!!!

... it is honor to continue praying for you.

FINANCIALLY:

GIVING BY MAIL

Send a check payable to Flood Church.

Please write in the memo line: Andy Kelly Support.

Checks can be mailed to:

Flood Church

3878 Ruffin Rd., Suite B

San Diego, CA 92123.

GIVING ON-LINE

Flood's Website - You can give online through the Shelby site that Flood uses for all online giving:

-www.DIVEintoFLOOD.com/give

-Set up a Flood account on Shelby Webview

-Donate to my internship by choosing:

Grad Intern #2.

Through your Bank - You can donate online from your bank by clicking to Pay an Individual (or equivalent).

Under Payee Details

Payee = FLOOD, Nickname = Andy Kelly Support

Address = 3878 Ruffin Rd., Ste. B., San Diego, CA 92123

Phone = (858) 268-2330

Account Number = N/A (check off no account number).

Name on Account = Your Name

Under Payment Details:

Enter the account you want to support from.

Set up a manual or automatic payment

Category = Donation or Miscellaneous

Memo = Andy Kelly's Support

THANK YOU!

Words cannot express what your support has cultivated in my life and the lives of others. Through your affirmation, I have found a place where my passion for Jesus Christ is completely unleashed. Your support has enabled me to live out my Calling. I am forever in your debt for blessing me with this chance to partake in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In it together,

Andy Kelly

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver ~2 Corinthians 9:7

Writing Curriculum...

Part of my internship requires writing weekly curriculum based on the Sunday sermons. I invite you to check out some of these and provide feedback (it reflects Flood's current 2 series through the book of Ephesian's). Anything stated could be beneficial to my growth in writing these (unless you make fun of my Mom):

Heirs: Reclaiming Our Identity in Christ

9/12 Discussion Download (Adoption): PDF
9/19 Discussion Download (Hope & Power): PDF
9/26 Discussion Download (Alive in Christ): PDF
10/3 Discussion Download (One Another): PDF
10/17 Discussion Download (Power of Our Story): PDF
10/24 Download (Experiencing the Trinity): PDF

We Stand: Living out our True Identity

10/31 Discussion Download (Spiritual Gifts): PDF
11/7 Discussion Download (Putting off/Putting On): PDF
11/14 Discussion Download (Imitation): PDF
11/21 Discussion Download (Living in the Spirit): PDF
11/28 Discussion Download (Relating through Christt): PDF

AK's Top Movie Picks

Family,

I wanted to suggest a few top 'flick picks' for the year. This could be top 5.

5. How to Train your Dragon. A weak young viking who is striving to get Dad's affection, get the girl and impress all by taming a rad dragon.

4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. A mad young scientist who is striving to get Dad's affection, get the girl and impress all by creating 10 lb steaks.

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. A nerdy young middle school kid is striving to get everyone's affection, get the girls and impress all by making multiple cameo's in the year book. It is reminds me of all of us.

2. Inception. It is a wild ride. That's all I am going to say, because I am still trying to figure it out. There is bold line in the movie that basically states "all of our decisions are based on an emotional impulse (i.e. love, jealousy, affection) instead of logic." Curious.

1. Disney's Ocean. Watch it. I just love that movie. Great music too.

All of these things point to our driving impulse for love and a Creator who provides it. This pic is freakin' nutz!!!

Evangelism - Is it Good News?

Family,

When I was back east reminiscing with some friends, an old buddy of mine approached us (out of nowhere) and stated, "Andy, I don't trust the church! When me and my fiance', well she was my girlfriend at the time, had an abortion, those we know who were "Christian" looked down on us and gave us the silent treatment!"

Whoa. You should have seen his eyes. Yeah, there was some anger, but underneath.... there was a lot of hurt, and pain from rejection. With those two sentences he shared, I had a doorway into my buddy's heart that I had never seen. I could see he and his fiance' finding out about the pregnancy and feeling the weight. Then, there was the decision to have the procedure, the drive there, the drive back and all of the the conversations that occurred before and after. All 5 of us were captured in silence as everyone waited for me to respond. I prayed the fastest prayer ever before responding.

My reply was quick (I remember it like it was yesterday). I said,"I am sorry that you had to go through that tough choice, dude. That is hard.... I do know that God loves all life, and that definitely includes you and your girlfriend (now fiance').

I tell you. Please don't substitute the Church for God. It can be very easy to think that those people are a direct representative for the heart of God. Many times this is not the case. We (the Church) aren't perfect bro. We are one of the main reasons God came to the earth...

I am sorry you had to experience that tough decision."

My boy looked at me and said some stuff to think about.

Like countless times before, this was a chance to share my faith and trust in who God is. It was an "evangelistic" opportunity.

Evangelism is a term for "sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ." But do many of us believe it is "Good News"? "Good" enough to tell other people? Before we swallow that guilt-bomb, we need to consider what it really means to evangelize.

Again I could write on and on, but I wrote a sermon on this. Check it out: http://diveintoflood.com/media/1119/heirs_evangelism.mp3

Seminary Thought # 127 - Leadership that Transforms.

School Thoughts:

I am taking a class called "transformational leadership." That's a big name that can mean a lot of things. In my studies, I have found in Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, that the difference between a Level 4 Leader, the top tier of transactional leadership, and a Level 5 Leader, the Transformational Leader, is the depreciation of Ego. An executive leader that is immersed with himself operates transactionally, i.e coping with complexity, in lieu of being an agent of transformation, which really means creating waves of change. To be the complete leader God intended, we must negate self in the promotion of others. Elevate everyone else (This provides another clue to what "submission" looks like in relationships).

In Kouze and Posner's The Leadership Challenge he states that "Exemplary leaders have a passion for something other than their own fame and fortune." It is this passion that inpires a shared vision for others to fully own. Again, others. Rad.

By definition, this philosophy from secular sources points to something higher than oneself. Ultimately, there has to be a universal picture of a "diminished Ego" in order to elevate others. And there is. The Cross of Jesus Christ is God not only reducing his Ego, but crushing it, so that the world that He loves would be elevated to a place that we could not attain on our own. So much more to write... but I am finding that the loudest message of Transformational Leadership [Ego - down, World - up] is found in the cross of Jesus Christ.

I like studying,

AK

~ The art of leadership dwells a good deal in the future. ~ Max Depree

~ If you and I name the sacrificial realities to those we lead, we as a team have an opportunity to recommit to the vision we share together. ~ Andy Kelly

Crew Retreat (Hollywood, here I come...)

I am in love with the creativity of Flood's staff. Every year we have a "Crew Retreat." The idea behind this time is reflection, recuperation, and celebration (I wish I had another "r" word there) for the church body, our "crew". And of course, there is a theme each year. This year's theme: Cops and Robbers (oldies styles). We even created a promo video to get the church in the mood. Enjoy!

I lead a seminar breakout during the retreat. The session was entitled: Grand Theft Auto: Recovering Your View of Self. I created it with a peer, friend and soul sister, Laura St. Pierre (she is gonna marry my boy Kyle someday). The basic tagline was "On the road of life we are often driven by the need to prove our self worth, which steals our true, God-chosen selves. If you’re exhausted of the frantic chase to fill an empty tank, try changing tracks. Take a pit stop with us, reclaim your autobiography, and fuel up on God’s desire for you." We used Eph. 1:3-14 to remind us of our sole identity: Sons and Daughters of God.

Download, the attached sheet we created for a logistical look at the breakout (VIEW OF SELF)....

Catch you later,

AK

Month off...

Family,

I am getting ready for the school year and will get back to you in September!

AK

PS - Great Pick - Ray Lamantagne's latest Album, God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise. There is a tune called "For the Summer" that reminds me of my days in Fenwick Island. But adding my bride into the story of course... Check out the song --> For the Summer

Off the deep end...

Family,

I have been considering getting baptized for a year now. It took some consideration and deliberation to jump in, but I realized that the constant mulling over getting it done pointed to my real desire to get it done, (that is, choosing to be baptized in the Protestant church as an adult, in addition to being baptized as a baby in the Catholic church). Enough reading, check out the video:

The answer is simply this: Freedom. Like Paul wrote, "Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Cor. 3:17). I wanted to be baptized. Moreover, I want to baptize others. That about answers any question that I may have had. Check it...

grace - a definition

Team,

It's been too long since I've blogged, but what a bright, weird and hard season. That's God's grace right there.

The other day at our staff meeting, I was challenged to write a definition of GRACE but without the use of the axioms that seem to flow from our academic minds so easily. Some of those theological definitions of grace include (roughly):

• An infinite God bestowing a divine gift to a finite humanity.
• Love and Mercy merged together
• Justice without Revenge
• Get-out-of-jail-free-card (this one doesn't make complete sense to me but we can talk...)
• the power to do something that we could not do on our own.
• undeserved favor
• unmerited worth
• and underwear backwards... what?!

There are so many definitions out there and yet we all have a hard time conveying this concept (as well as the reality) of grace to others.

Long story less long, here is a definition that I compiled:

Grace is why the Christian worldview works. It is being accepted even when you feel condemned. It is God telling you that you are OK in such a way that when it is received, it simultaneously changes you and the world surrounding you (and me). It is ok. I am OK.

Like a mother's milk, God's grace can bring a malnourished child back to health, gives her sustenance to live the another day, and all the while giving a healthy bacteria to combat the future diseases along the way. It is her husband loving her, holding her, as she cares for this child that was never her own.

Grace is the solid foundation and reality for waking up in the morning, much more doing anything else. Without grace there is no God for we could know him no other way.

With grace defined, I wrote some personal axioms.

• Grace is being comfortable in a worn pair of shoes.
• Grace is head high waves with only a few dudes in the water.
• Grace is my wife holding me for an hour as I scream out to God when a best buddy felt the desire to end his life early.
• Grace is being caught in the headlights, recognizing it and looking away.
• Grace is a phone-call from my Mom and Dad.
• Grace is being yourself, looking down and the looking back up w/ a chuckle.
• Grace is Courtney's cookies. They're so freakin' good.
• Grace is voicing things to others that you are scared to write in the privacy of your journal.
• Grace is continuing every sentence with the word 'Grace' or maybe using too many "I's" in your writing.
• Grace is yelling "shit" in Cross-Fit.
• Grace is typing that you yell "shit" in Cross-Fit.

Grace is amazing. There is even grace in this as I didn't feel the need to polish and repolish this blog. I am growing.

Andy

Still grieving...

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. In short, suicide sucks... especially for those who are left behind. Please don't hear what I am not saying, "Sucks" doesn't necessarily equal "going to Hell." "Sucks" means it is hard for us. We cry out to God, thinking there was something we could have done. I lost 2 friends this year. One was a definite suicide.

I am not going to give many details, but I know that my good buddy was getting over a decade of drug use, coming off of anti-depressants, getting over a relationship, among other issues. In the midst, he heard the message that death was the next realistic step for him. He went excitedly! I don't know if he was conscious of his decision to kill himself...

That being said, we must continue to show compassion, understanding and love for all people. What does that mean? Let's continue to check in on those around us. That's it. The rest is up to God. Now, I understand that we can't be "on" all the time, but the rhythm of God's heart is to be focused on others. Cling to God and the "others" part will come.

Also, if there are signs of depression or suicide, we must convey the tragedy that would occur if we lost this person. Positively, we can constantly celebrate everyone in our life (without obligation).

Ultimately, none of us can fully control another. Therefore, we can't take blame for other's suicide. This seems obvious, but you start questioning everything when it happens to you personally. I did and still do at times...

God, please keep healing. And people, please keep reaching out.

PS - Attached are some pics for a tribute surf to my pal, Gage. The waves weren't big. But God provided the perfect shape so we could celebrate our fallen comrade.

Gage

My buddy Sean Gage died on Saturday (5/1/2010). He was one of the best friends a man could know. We shared weeks of bloody adventures, nights of steely pints and hours of philosophical ponderings. I have known Gage for a little over a decade. As I have considered his death for the past 24 hours, I have thought much about the life that he gave.

Gage helped keep my spine in alignment when I fell off that balcony years ago. He grieved with me when news came that my cousin Pete had died from a drug overdose. He surfed big waves on his first day out with me. He dropped everything for a friend... a semester class... even a girl. We wrestled, danced on speakers, took the stage, conquered the night and loved the days. The dude is a warrior poet.

I remember a trip we took together on the outer banks. Gage drove 9 hours just to crash my cousin's wedding (who he had never met). It was an incredible weekend. Yeah. Gage was the kind of guy you would write about. I remember writing a poem about him that weekend in North Carolina. The poem is called "two ninjas":

and ye to engage

a battle to begin with feist

before ye turn the last page

discovered, two allies disguised

an irish pillager opposes the pilipino cornerstone

pounding strength against wiry scrap

too fatigued to finish this battle alone

no one was granted the ultimate blow, the last tap

rather “ye two will combat together”

quoted the sky’s wise sage

fight tall, brother with brother

andy – two ninjas – gage

That's grieving for you.

Sean took his own life. I don't want to go into it.

The funeral... tears. When I looked around the sanctuary, I saw so many broken hearts. Sean filled our hearts. He was a gift from God. I thank the Maker that I knew Sean.

It is still so damn hard.

The Porn Identity

I recently preached on the topic of pornography at Flood. My story with pornography is not unlike many. As a sophomore at the University of Delaware, there was a 6-week period where I was going to school, working full-time, and pledging a fraternity. Those memories are filled with heading out 6:30 A.M. and returning back to the dorm at 1 A.M. About a week in, I realized I could partake in a late-night escape from the stress of life on my brand new P.C. The disease Pornography.

I found myself going down a road that would take years to turn around.

Now, it is very easy for all of us to diagnose pornography as a clinical addiction. Although some cases are, pornography is not just an addiction. Pornography is a result of impulsive behavior ("just happened, did out of nowhere"), compulsive behavior (people who range from habitually practicing it, to those who think about it all day to the point that they can’t control their behavior when they go home), and then there is addiction (it controls your life, motivation and vision). There are many causes beneath the act: boredom, needing a high, depression, escapism, masking depression, lack of sleep, marital or relational detachment, low self-esteem and loneliness. And for whatever reason we act on it, we need to acknowledge that there is a problem because it is rampant!

40% And yes, there is a storm of statistics!!! But we are just going to stick to one. Who here goes online (Uh, everyone reading this blog!)? 40% of people that go online are searching for pornography. Now, 40% of that 40%, a little under half, are woman. It’s wild! Now, I want to be careful not to project this statistic on you fine readers but...

After watching CNN the other day, I found out that there are new video games (available online) that are not only filled with racy images but have the “mission” of raping teenage people and their mom’s. What?!

I read this quote: “Porn companies can (and will) capitalize on the latest technological advances because of their deep pockets and the relative certainty that their investments will be returned by customers willing to pony up for their product, experts say.”

Chat rooms are used to create facades of sexual fantasy. Technology is trying to conflate intelligence software with sex dolls to recreate something surreal. And yet, it is not real. In each case, there’s no one real there!!! And yet it is creating real damage.

I read an article in Time Magazine that sociologists and psychologists found direct links between porn and:

• Increased dependency of visual imagery for arousal
• Decreased sexual activity among spouses
• Body issues and behavioral insecurities (men and women)
• Increased divorce rate
• Increased unprotected sex for youth (kids are the largest consumers 12-17)
• Connections with pornography and sexually abusive behavior
• Breach of trust

Whoa! Information overload. Pornography is a real cancer. But instead of me continuing to type, check out the sermon for yourself: The Power of the Pixels.

And let's find healing together in this.

By the way, I preached this with my in-laws in town and it wasn't awkward. In fact, they stood with me while I was up there. Awesome. THAT is another example of God's grace...

AK

Ps - XXX Church has a great website and computer software that provides accountability with online pornography. http://xxxchurch.com/ You partner with a buddy so that he/she can view the websites you are viewing. It paves the way for transparency and honest conversations. This website has brought tightened the bond between me and some fellow warriors who are fighting the good fight.