Sunday, May 20, 2007

Rusty's Last Day

Today my church celebrated the end of an era. Rusty Kennedy is moving on literally to "God knows what." Maybe it's the litmus test for a calling of God. If it doesn't fit any logic, it's most likely the real thing. That's exactly what happened to Rusty and he describes it in his new blog, www.leavener.com.

Rusty was the youth minister for all four of my children (though Jeff was the only one to experience all seven years of Jr. High and High School under Rusty). I've always admired his creative, outside-the-lines ideas. He is a true leader and an excellent delegater. I've never seen anyone so skilled at assembling a team to take on a monumental task. The Ultimate Youth Camp each summer has always been true to its name. Everything about it was over the top.

One year on Memorial Day weekend, which is also 500 race weekend in Indy, Rusty turned the church gym into a racetrack. Teams of people were racing their radio-controlled cars around the edges of the gym. The infield was complete with lawn chairs, old sofas and trash. Steve McNeil sang Back Home Again in Indiana just like Jim Nabors. What a fun time! We were new to the church back then, so that really made an impression.

I'm thankful for the fun and Christ-centered ministry Rusty provided for our kids in their school years, but I'm also indebted to him for spiritual insights he has brought us in just the past couple of years. When Rusty changed from being youth minister to being minister of evangelism, we saw a new side of him. One of my favorite sermons was when he drop-kicked a box of doughnuts into the parking lot. That's not why it was my favorite sermon, though that was very memorable. The message he was trying to get across is that the church building today is not the temple. WE are the temple! So quit bickering about doughnuts and other minutae. That stuff is not important. We need to be reaching people instead of getting bogged down in material things.

I know God has something great in store for Rusty and his family, otherwise he would not have awakened them at 3:00 in the morning to call them to leave Northside.

In the words of Jim Elliot, "God always gives his best to those who leave the choice with him."

God bless you, Rusty and family!