Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 In Review

Well it's the last day of the year. It seems appropriate to take a few minutes and remember and reflect upon 2008. it was an election year, an olympic year, a "green" year. For me it marks the year that I pretty much fully embraced the internet and technology as a means of communicating ideas and staying connected with people. From Facebook to Twitter to blogging - and all of it happening from my iphone. I guess when I decide to do something, I jump in with both feet.

It has been a life changing year for me and my family. In fact, it's probably been the most significant year of my life so far in that regard. I know some people hate these kinds of things - looking back and all of that. But I think there's real value in it. Over and over in the Scriptures we are told to "remember" and "don't forget" the things that God has done for us. So here's my year in review.

In January we welcomed our second born into the family - Joy, also our second girl. She was so perfectly named, as she has brought us nothing but Joy this year (well, almost nothing but Joy if you ignore all the sleepless nights). Hannah and Joy have bonded so amazingly. They absolutely love each other. Going from one kid to two has been quite an adjustment for all of us.

In March I went through an assessment process for church planting. Kimi and I spent the better part of a week in Wisconsin being studied and dissected with a group of other people who were potential church planters. We left that week feeling extremely affirmed in our calling. It's the week that really started the ball rolling for what we are doing today. In March we also announced to our home church that we would be leaving in the summer. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in ministry - that is to tell people that we had been called to something else and that we would be leaving.

In April I spent a week in Mexico building houses with our youth group and doing a kids program with a local church. It was a trip we took every year, but this would be my last. It was a great trip, with many memories. I'm proud of what we have accomplished in San Felipe over the years and I know that things will continue to flourish there.

In June, we graduated off our senior class, which included my sister-in-law Kandy. Kandy and her brother Tim had lived with us all through their high school years, so it was pretty cool to see them through this stage of their lives and be able to move them on into adulthood. We are proud of both of them and the people they are becoming.

July was my last month of ministry at First Baptist Church of Yucaipa. It's the only church I've ever called home. I closed out my time there with one final trip - our annual West Coast Missions Tour. We traveled to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland and worked and performed in homeless shelters. It was two weeks of bus driving, serving, hanging out, working, and just having a great time with students. It was a fitting way to end things for me in Yucaipa.

Then August rolled around. On August 1st I drove out of Yucaipa with a moving truck and a van packed with stuff and headed across the country. A handful of guys from my youth group came with me and we had quite an adventure. 2500 miles later we pulled in to Durham, NC. What began as a whisper from God more than three years ago had begun to take shape. We were here in Durham, ready to plant a church from scratch in a place where we didn't know anyone.

The last few months have been quite a ride. We were pretty lonely when we first moved here and we prayed for friends. God has brought several people into our lives here that have encouraged us, loved us, and helped us in so many ways. Hannah has a bunch of great little friends, and Kimi has absolutely flourished here. She amazes me more all the time. It's like something in her soul has come alive here - she is so good at life. She teaches me so much.

In October I started getting contacted from different people who were looking for a church community to call home. In early November, we started a weekly gathering in our home for dinner and bible study. We've had as many as 23 people here at once including kids. Over the last couple of months we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7. It's been so great to talk about the Kingdom of God and what that could look like in this community. We celebrated Thanksgiving in our home with our church group and Kimi's family. It was quite an event! I cooked my first turkey ever, well, half-cooked. Haha.

December has flown by. We officially decided on the name "Story Church" and we got incorporated with the state of North Carolina. We also opened a bank account and received our first ever check made out to Story Church. While not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, these were some pretty neat milestones for us.

Christmas came and we celebrated it in our home with Kimi's family. It was a beautiful 65 degree day here in Durham - reminded me a lot of southern California.

What a year it has been. So many life changes - adding a daughter to our family, beginning a new ministry, and moving across the country all in one year! We feel so blessed to be at the place we are right now as a family. Things are really going well and we know that God has been faithful every step of the way. We've had some financially tight times this year, as have so many others, and some difficult things as well. But God is good and we have grown a lot as a family this year.

The 2008 presidential elections were all about change this year. I feel like nothing could be more fitting as a theme for our year - "change". Thanks to all of you who have helped us throughout the year with your prayers, your friendship, your encouragement, and your support.

My next post will be a look ahead at 2009 and the goals and dreams I have for myself, my family, and Story Church.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas today. It was our first here in Durham, the first Christmas on the east coast - though you couldn't tell it by the weather. It was a beautiful day today, reminded me a lot of a southern California Christmas. A beautiful 65 degrees. We are starting a few new traditions now that Kimi's whole family is here together. We did Christmas breakfast together (really an early lunch), cooking pancakes, eggs, biscuits and gravy, potatoes, and cinnamon rolls. We spent the rest of the day together opening gifts, playing games, jumping on the trampoline, and doing more eating. It was very nice, very relaxing. That's what we did. My friend Dan and his family thought it would be fun to spend most of the night in the ER. How about you? What did you do?

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Who's your Vivian?

Back in Yucaipa I had an amazing administrative assistant. It was one of the coolest things about my job there. I got to focus completely on ministry - while my assistant did all the really hard work of planning events, taking care of details, payments, transportation, promotion, etc. I knew I had it good, but it became incredibly clear this morning just how good things were.

One of the cool things about Story Church and the group that is beginning to form, is that there is a real heart for putting into practice the kingdom of God and the things we discuss. So in light of that I planned for us to volunteer at the Durham Rescue Mission for their Christmas community event. I went down to the mission, met with the volunteer coordinator, signed up to volunteer, got my packet in the mail with all my instructions and name badges and all of that. We were ready to go. Just one problem - I forgot to mention anything to my group. I also failed to put it on my own calendar. So this morning at 9am I suddenly remembered that at that very moment Story Church and I were supposed to be checking in as volunteers at the Rescue Mission. Needless to say - we didn't make it. So the first public project for us as a church bombed because I suck at administration. VIVIAN, WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!

So today I will call and talk to Vivian and tell her how much I miss her. Who plays a role in your life that gets under-appreciated?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Story Church

So I suppose it's time to put an official post on here about our church plant here in Durham. We've made some progress in the last week or two making things official. We've been incorporated with the state, we have a bank account opened in the church name, an IRS tax number - you know, all the fun stuff. So anyway, the church name is Story Church. You can view the website by clicking on the name, or go to www.storychurch.org.

So far, there are around 20+ of us including kids who are meeting together each week in my home for dinner, some hang out time, and a bible study centered on Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. It's been really exciting to see this thing take on a life of its own as it grows in such an authentic, organic way.

If you are in the triangle area and looking to get involved in a church, feel free to send me a message. I'd love to meet up for coffee or have you come check out our group sometime.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A busy week

It's been a great week so far. Monday night I got to do a ride-along with the Durham PD. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least. We responded to calls about shots fired, hit and run, and a home invasion robbery. The officer was very helpful to me as he took me on a tour of some of the worst areas of Durham. He introduced me to some people who are seeking to make a difference there as well, and I look forward to how that relationship might grow. I had a lot of fun though, and I hope to do it again sometime.

On Tuesday I had lunch with a pastor in Cary who is leading a really cool church over there. We had a lot in common, and it was an encouraging time for me.

Then Wednesday I had coffee at a cool little place in Raleigh with Bill Cummings of Lemonade International. I encourage you to follow the link to his organization and read about what they are doing in Guatemala. We had a really great conversation and I hope to have many more with him. I'm looking forward to how Story Church might play a role in what is happening among the poor of Guatemala.

Today we'll head over to Duke Chapel and take part in a candle light celebration of Christmas.

Then on Saturday, we're having a Christmas party at our house and inviting a ton of people. So I'm looking forward to that!

I've been using Twitter for a while now as sort of a test to see if it's worth using and I've really enjoyed it. It's been another tool that allows me to get to know people and to stay connected with others. If you have any desire to know more about what I'm doing on a day to day basis, you can follow me by clicking on the Twitter link on the right.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Surprised by Hope Part 2

A while back I did a post about N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope and promised a second post later. Well, I almost forgot but some things I've been thinking about lately have brought it back to mind. So here goes.

What is God's purpose for the world as a whole? Think about it, that question is probably what drives the way you live. It's a question that Wright brings up as well. There are two common responses to this question. The first is what Wright calls the "myth of progress." This is the idea that the purpose of humanity is to continue to grow, develop, and improve our current state until we arrive at some sort of utopian existence. You can see that this idea is quite attractive. We are constantly changing. We are learning new things as a culture. Technology is advancing and learning to deal with disease and sickness and food shortages and much more. We are better educated than ever before. Many Christians buy into this myth. We are told, and in fact we often believe, that if we can just control things enough, this world will get better. It's the "hope" offered by politicians. Vote for me, and all your wildest dreams will come true (thank you Pedro). Things will get better, we'll all be wealthier, healthier, and happier. And of course, if your particular candidate doesn't get elected, then your march toward utopia has taken a serious hit and will have to wait for at least the next four years. The problem with this myth is simple really - it isn't true. Not only that, but it doesn't have any ability to deal with evil in the world. How do we explain new atrocities like what happened on 9/11 or the genocide of Darfur, or the rise of nuclear threats, or greed in America, or father's abandoning their families, etc.? If the world is progressing forward, why are more people dying than ever before of needless disease and poverty? More on this to come.

The second thought that many have to the question of God's purpose for the world is this: The world is decaying and dying. The existence of evil and the cycles of life and death show us that we were made for something other. A world without space, time, matter, a world of pure spiritual existence. This idea says that eventually we will get rid of our mortality and our physical limitations and finally arrive in a sort of spiritual state. It also implies that therefore this world will pass away and be destroyed. This idea originates with Plato and his idea that the present world is simply a shadow of things to come. This idea is also popular among many Christians. I think of the more recent sticker, bracelet, t-shirt campaign seen on many Christian's cars and selves that say "Not of this World." While the phrase is clearly biblical, the implication is that "I'm leaving this place behind anyway so screw it." Maybe not those words exactly. But you get the point. The material world is bad, the flesh is bad, and the non-physical spirit is ultimately what is good. Someday all the "bad" will be gone and we'll be left with what is "good." "I'm saved and I'll be leaving this place and going to heaven when I die." This idea just isn't biblical. In fact over and over we hear about heaven coming to earth and the two being united in the New Jerusalem. We hear of God's plan of redemption for all of mankind. Paul says that all of creation groans in anticipation of this event. So where does this idea come from? It has close ties to Gnosticism, which was clearly shut down in the early church. It's as though this world is at best irrelevant, and at worst a dark evil place (Wright, 90). It seems to me that we see strands of this within modern Christianity today as it translates into how we live. Let's take morality for example. If I buy into this view of the world then my goal is simply to keep myself pure and far removed from the reaches of the splash of the pool of sin. I think this is what Jesus is addressing in the sermon on the mount. He confronts the Pharisaical teachings of the law over and over. "You've heard that it was said don't murder, but I tell you that hate is the issue." "You've heard that it was said don't commit adultery, but I tell you that lust is the issue." His point is this - we can try and control the flesh all we want. We can avoid doing specific things. But that doesn't make us righteous! The issue that we must still deal with is the heart. In fact in Matthew 15 we see Jesus saying "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile you; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile you" (TNIV). In other words, it isn't the physical stuff that is bad, it's our hearts and how we respond. So the idea that the physical world is evil and I'm just passing through - it just isn't biblical.

So what is the hope of Christianity? What is God's purpose for this world? Early Christians didn't believe the world was progressing toward a utopia. They also didn't believe it was getting worse and worse and that they ought to escape it. "They believed that God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter" (Wright, 93). RESURRECTION. REDEMPTION. RENEWAL. If God's plan and purpose for the world is redemption, how can we believe that He will in the end scrap the whole thing and start over? The hope of Christianity is that God is in the process of redeeming, reclaiming, renewing, rebirthing, and recreating all the time. As followers of Jesus, the one who put this plan into action in one redemptive act, we partner with him in the redemption of all things. We claim this world for Him, as we bring hope and healing to people, to the creation itself, and ultimately we help to bring about the very thing Jesus taught us to pray for - "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." May it be so!

Friday, December 5, 2008

"Missional"

A while back I read Frost and Hirsch's book "The Shaping of Things to Come." If you are in to dialogue about the church and it's mission, I can't recommend this book any higher. I came across this video today over at the "Out of Ur" blog (there's a link on the side of my blog) from one of the book's authors discussing what it means to be "missional." It's about a three minute video, well worth your time if you think about these kinds of things. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Baby Lauren

Some of you have heard about baby Lauren. She is the daughter of our friends Dan and Rebecca Browne. Today was a long day for the family as Lauren had yet another surgery. Please keep them in your prayers. To read more about Lauren's story you can check out my friend Dan's blog by clicking over on the right side of my blog.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanks

Being grateful is a good thing. I believe it is the primary way that we avoid greed, materialism, despair, worry, self-centeredness, and pride to name a few. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are my top 5 things that I am thankful for today.

1. God's provision - He always provides what I need, and that goes way beyond finances. I'm talking emotionally, relationally, etc.

2. My family - I am so blessed to have a beautiful wife and two amazing girls. They are a gift from God. Aside from my nuclear family, I have been able to connect with some extended family lately and it's been a huge blessing. Thanks to technology my cousin and I had a face to face chat via skype the other day - 14 years after the last time we had seen or talked to each other!

3. Community - Moving to NC was at first a lonely experience. God has blessed us with an amazing group of people that we are beginning to do life with here.

4. Encouragers - Not sure what else to call these people, because that's exactly what they are for me. It's an amazing thing to know that people believe in me, and are willing to give financially toward that and to lift us up constantly in prayer.

5. Creation - Wow. I've always loved being outdoors. The trees here, the wildlife, the beauty of lakes and creeks and fields. The garden of Eden must have been something to behold. I feel so connected to God when I'm outside wandering through the wild.

So what about you? What are your top 5?

Monday, November 24, 2008

Surprised by Hope


During my recent trip to California, I read N.T. Wright's latest book Surprised by Hope. It was a pretty powerful book dealing with death, life after death, and life after life after death. And no, I didn't just repeat myself. Wright is brilliant to say the least. His knowledge of the New Testament is pretty much without equal. Anyway, there are probably a dozen things I could write about from that book but I think I'll limit it to two posts.

Very early in the book, as in page 6, Wright points out what is one of his primary reasons for writing this book: One's view of death and what happens thereafter are critical to how we live life in the present. He spends the better part of the book explaining what he means, but let me try and flesh it out a bit here. If you believe that after death there is nothing - then this life becomes about having all the fun you can, indulging in any and every pleasure you want. If you believe that God exists and will ultimately forgive all people, then once again how one lives in this life is not all that critical. If you believe that after death, God will ultimately destroy all of earth and as a Christian you will be transported to heaven, then what you do on this earth today really isn't all that important. Who cares about being "green" or recycling or any of that. It's all going to be burned up anyway, right? For that matter, what good is it to seek justice or work for the poor or any of that when the physical world, along with all of its problems will one day just go away? Wright suggests a different option however. He suggests that the biblical model is that heaven will one day come to earth and God's kingdom will ultimately reign here in this place. If that's the case, then our lives here matter a great deal. For Wright, life in the kingdom here and now is about making the reign of Christ a reality here in the present. It's doing and being the answer to the prayer "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." If this is ultimately God's intent, then our lives become about partnering with him in that endeavor.

The hope of the gospel isn't just a future state in some distant place. The gospel is hopeful now, here, in this place.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Speechless


Sometimes there just aren't any words to say...

Home

I flew to CA last week and just got back here again last night. I lived in the same city for pretty much my whole life until moving here to Durham just three months ago. So to go back and visit was kind of a weird experience. I was a little worried about going to be honest. I was worried about being conflicted. Moving across the country wasn't an easy thing to do. Now that we're here, I love it and consider this place home. But for thirty years before that I called my little city of Yucaipa home. I had a great time in CA connecting with family and friends that I miss so much. But after a couple of days - I longed for home. And home has changed. So it was kind of weird being in the place I called home for so long, but not feeling at home. I thank God that in the physical move of houses and stuff, he moved my heart as well. My heart is in Durham. I long for this city to be the place that God intended it to be. I long for resurrection, for hope, and for renewal.

I know that some of you out there have experienced moving. Some of you have lived all over the place. What would you call home?

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Meet the Family


Tonight was an incredible night for Kimi and I. After three years of praying and dreaming about church planting and forming new communities, tonight we had a house full of people who desire the same things. In the picture are 21 of us, kids included, who dream of doing life together in meaningful ways. I can't express in words what it's like to begin to see in reality some of the things that God has been putting in my heart for so long now. Thanks to all of you who are praying and participating with us.

If you live in Durham and are seeking a community to share with and do life together, please let me know! We'd love to grow this group and create more communities just like it as well.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Church Planting Update

This has been and will be a big week for us as a church plant. A week ago we sent out our monthly newsletter to keep everyone updated on what has been happening. In that newsletter we made people aware that we are still hoping to add around $600 per month in monthly support. Yesterday I got a look at our most recent support records and I was thrilled to see we have added $550 per month in support. Wow! So cool. This extra support is really going to help us as we turn the new year and begin forming our launch team. With that said, we will continue to reevaluate the financial situation for Story Church as we go and make adjustments as they are needed. But a big thank you to all of you out there who support us both financially and prayerfully!

The really big news though is that this weekend will mark the very first home group that we will have. I'm really excited about it and I feel so blessed that we have met so many great people so fast. We've invited 16 adults who come with around 10 kids. We'll be having a meal together as well as talking about the future and direction of this group. Pray for us in this exciting step toward what God has called us to do.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Vote

Well, I just voted in what is probably the most significant election ever. I realize they pretty much say that every single time there's an election. But, it is the first time that an African American man is up for president, and a woman is on the ticket as well. No matter how things end up, it will be historical. I must say that living in the south has given me a completely different perspective on just how historical this really is. So anyway, make sure you get out and vote. You want to be able to tell your kids you were a part of this historical day.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Pray

Here's a great idea that is long overdue. Check out what Carlos Whitaker is doing through his blog. Let's jump on board with this and pray like crazy over the next couple of days.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Random Thoughts


Today is a great day. Free burrito day at Chipotle if you wear some foil.

The World Series ended rather abruptly. So when does spring training start?

UNC is unanimously ranked #1 in basketball to start the season - is it too early to switch allegiance?

I may be getting a new phone number soon. Hopefully it accompanies an iphone if my lovely wife will give the OK for my birthday.

Today is also halloween - and the first time I will be at home doing nothing for a decade or so. I used to help run Harvest Festival at my church and now - well, I get to hand out candy. So nice.

Durham is absolutely beautiful in the fall. Seriously.

My mom is flying in to visit in a few days.

We keep meeting new people here in Durham, so many of whom share our story of just moving here and not really knowing anyone.

It looks like Thanksgiving is going to be crazy fun. We may have more than 30 people in our house! Wait, didn't we just move here? How do we know that many people? God is sooo good!

The Office was amazing last night.

Is gas really $2.65?? When did that happen?

My wife is now blogging. http://kimicope.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Your turn. Tell me one random thing you're thinking about.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Picking sides

Anyone else tired of all the political banter yet? The commercials are killing me. It's finger pointing, blaming, vilifying, scaring, etc. The candidates can't stop talking about each other, and it seems like many voters are boiling over as well - ready to explode on each other at the drop of a hat. I've recently been reading comments from a couple of friends as they go back and forth against one another, one even accusing the other of not being a Christian because of his political views. It's crazy isn't it?

I was thinking about this need to pick sides. Are you with us, or are you with them? Are you in, or are you out? We want to box people in, identify them, and either bring them into the fold or ostracize them. All the while, both sides are claiming that God is on their side. Have you noticed how God always agrees with us? Whichever side we are on, it's God's side. It's funny because in the New Testament there are often two competing groups as well. The Pharisees, and the Sadducees. Or sometimes it's the Pharisees and the Herodians. Each side is often coming to Jesus with some sort of issue - assuming that Jesus will be on their side. So it may be about taxes, or about resurrection, or about how to enforce the law, but each side assumes Jesus is on their side. And then Jesus does something cool. When faced with an "A or B" situation, he often comes up with C. Jesus refuses to take sides. He refuses to join in on these useless arguments that vilify each other. He's much more interested in hearts, in community, in unity, in grace. I heard someone say once that you know you've made God into your own image when He hates all the same people you do. If the way of Jesus isn't difficult for us, then I wonder if we've missed it altogether. It's difficult to love people that don't agree with us. It's difficult to respect and obey authorities that we didn't vote for. And yet, it seems to me that the Bible calls us to those very things.

It makes me wonder, what if Jesus were to be interviewed here in our political climate. What if he were part of the Saddleback forum, right between Obama and McCain. Many of us assume he would join forces with one of these candidates. But I wonder if He wouldn't surprise us. Maybe Jesus would take the discussion in a totally different direction. Maybe he would address our hate for each other, or our pride in being so righteously moral, or our arrogance. Maybe He would remind us that it doesn't matter who is the next President, but that He's still in control. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 6. It starts out like this "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on the throne." King Uzziah is this long standing great ruler in Israel. And suddenly he's dead. You can imagine the sense of panic, the feeling that things are out of control. There must be questions about who the next king will be, what kinds of things might change, what new laws might be coming. And here is this subtle reminder that amidst it all, even when the earthly king is dead, the real King is still sitting on His throne.

So how do we forge a different path? What does path "C" look like for you?

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Five


I can't believe it, but my little girl is five years old now. These past five years have gone so fast. She amazes me more and more each day. The thing I love the most about her is her sweet spirit and compassionate heart. She is so much like her mom. Her heart beats for the poor and the ones that are suffering. She has a heart for the orphan. Every time she gets money, she immediately puts it in a jar "for the kids". She saves it in order to send it to help with world hunger.

For her birthday we got her a hamster. She loves it. She named it Chocolate. Chocolate doesn't do much yet, but she sits there and stares at it anyway. When we got it she said "Am I dreaming?" because she couldn't believe that she was getting her own pet hamster. How cool is that? So stay tuned for the adventures of Chocolate, a mini-series coming this fall to a blog near you.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Michigan

We've been in Michigan since Thursday. My wife's grandmother died and so we drove out to Grand Haven for the funeral. It's been a good trip so far. We drove all night Wednesday in order to take advantage of the hours our kids were sleeping. It's the only way to go, but quite tiring. I drove from about 8pm to 4:30am before my brother in law took over for a while. Anyway, the funeral was Friday and it went well. Grandma Kleist was a great woman who loved Jesus. It's always a different feeling when you go to a funeral of someone who loved the Lord. While there is still grief, there is great hope and celebration as well. We've had a fun time sharing stories, looking through old pictures and spending time with family.

Tomorrow we'll be driving in to Grand Rapids to attend Mars Hill Bible Church, and hopefully hear Rob Bell teach. It's one of those churches I've wanted to attend for a long time, so I'm excited that we're getting that chance. After that, we'll spend some time with my wife's other grandparents, and then another all-night drive back to Durham. Pray for our drive!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What's a bomb?

I was listening the other day to my daughter play with another friend. They were pretending all kinds of things. I don't really know the context of how it came up, but the other kid wanted to pretend that a bomb fell and things were blowing up. It was at this point that my daughter dropped the bomb of a question and asked "What's a bomb?"

Can you imagine a world where you didn't know what a bomb was? What if there was peace - real peace all over the world? Many will say that day won't ever come until Jesus returns. That may be true, but shouldn't we long for and work toward that day anyway? Think about the innocence of that question that Hannah asked. She has no understanding of a weapon that is made to wipe out hundreds or thousands of lives at one time. She doesn't understand something like war. I wonder if kids in other parts of the world ask that question. I wonder if their worlds are so safe and so innocent that the idea of a bomb is totally foreign to them. Don't they deserve that kind of innocence? Shouldn't we long for and work toward that as well?

Remember that time that Jesus said "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you"? I wonder if He meant that.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Citizens of Virtue

Ok, so I got a weird email the other day about this website called Citizens of Virtue. It was actually an invitation to some sort of game revolved around this website. Some how it was connected to Rob Bell's new book. Thus, my introduction to the world of ARGs (Alternate Reality Games). I don't really know how to explain this whole thing. It's basically like living in a movie like National Treasure - where everything is a clue. The object of this story is to find a guy named Xander Greene, the nephew of one Lila Greene who is concerned about her son's involvement with the Citizens of Virtue. He has gone missing and no one seems to have heard from him. So there's this whole group of people online who are contributing by figuring out the puzzle pieces. Clues have come from a phone number, from text message, songs, from sounds, from books, from the Bible, from hidden websites with secret passwords, from cryptic messages within song names, and all kinds of things. I can't believe that some one came up with this. I'm even more amazed that this is somehow connected with Rob Bell's book. I don't know if it's him, or the people around him, but I am continually amazed at the creative things that come from him, from Noomas, from Mars Hill, his books, etc. It's really unbelievable.

So, I'm guessing that if you read this, you might be really confused. I know it sounds crazy, but go to the websites I linked above. Start following the clues, look it up on Facebook, or through google. You can also call this number 1-888-64 VIRTU and dial extension 704. It looks like the game will last 7 weeks or more. So we'll see how this thing ends up.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Don Miller



I got to meet Don Miller today. He's a guy I look up to quite a bit. His books have meant a great deal to me and my own spiritual growth. He's a guy who doesn't just talk about faith, but is seeking to live out the way of Jesus in every way. He recently completed a bike trip across America in which he and a team raised tons of money for Blood:Water Mission - an organization that builds well in Africa. He is also the founder of the Belmont Foundation, which is an organization that seeks to partner with the church in mentoring kids that grow up without fathers.

Anyway, he was in Chapel Hill at UNC as part of the Obama campaign. He led a forum where he simply spoke about his own journey of faith, the issues that are important to him as a believer, and why he feels Obama is the candidate that best matches his values as a Christian. It was a pretty interesting hour or so as he not only spoke but answered questions. You can visit his blog if you want to read some of the things he was speaking about today.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Reading Binge

I'm going through this phase right now where I am reading a ton. I like these times. I just finished Rob Bell's newest book which is called Jesus Wants to Save Christians. Now I'm back to Shane Claiborne, and his latest Jesus for President. A couple of people commented before about Shane's book, so I'm looking forward to getting into this more and maybe seeing what kind of dialogue we can get going. Anyone read Bell's latest yet? I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'll share mine soon.

What about you, what are you reading?

Monday, September 29, 2008

Late Night

In the early years of our marriage, we used to stay up really late a lot of nights hanging out with friends or watching movies. Since we had kids, that all changed. But ever since we moved to the east coast, we've kind of gotten back into this late night thing. It's weird, I don't know why we do it. Most nights we're up until at least 11pm. But on top of that, I get these occasional really late nights. Nights when I lay in bed wide awake, with a thousand things running through my head. This is one of those nights. So it's 12:20am right now, and I can't sleep. Most of the time when I can't sleep it's due to worry. I worry about finances, about relationships, about our future. Tonight I can't quite place it. I think I'm troubled, not so much worried. I'm troubled for other people. Their burdens, their struggles. I have some close friends who are struggling, being alone for the first time in their lives. Others are trying to figure out what to do with their lives, and their faith is being challenged in a way it never has before. Others are at their wits end feeling like life has ganged up on them and that it's always going to be this way. Today was an especially difficult day for my wife too. Joy wouldn't take naps, Hannah just craves her mom's attention all day. On top of that, she carries the burdens of her friend in CA. I feel pretty helpless in these situations. I want to help these people, I want to tell them all that it's going to be ok. But there's not much I can do really. It's one of those do less, pray more moments. So that's what I think I'll do now. Pray.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

UnChristian - Part 6

Ok, so this is the last perception that Kinnaman deals with in his book UnChristian: Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.

Pride. The chief of all sins according to C.S. Lewis. This perception is one that we really need to hear. When we speak to those outside of the church, many feel that we are simply more interested in proving that we are right than we are in sharing about God, or about caring for the person with whom we are speaking. Many said that we simply love to hear ourselves talk, and we have no interest in hearing what someone else believes. "Nearly nine out of ten outsiders said that the term judgmental accurately describes present day Christianity" (182). Later, he says "Arrogance is perhaps the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today" (191). Wow. We've got a big problem.

Given the fact that the Bible makes it pretty clear that God alone is the judge, not us - what are we thinking? Why do we see so many Christians who view it as their personal mission to let people know that God hates them, or that they are some how less worthy of God's grace than we are? That grace thing is sneaky isn't it? It's like we come to God in a moment of complete need and desperation and we experience unmerited grace. And then we spend the rest of our Christian lives pretending we deserved it.

Kinnaman finds six things that outsiders told him could help reduce this perception. They all boil down to respect. I suggest we follow all six really closely.

1. Listen to me - talk less. Pretty simple.
2. Don't label me - using words like "lost", "pagan", or "nonchristian" aren't particularly endearing.
3. Don't be so smart - Don't pretend to know everything. It's ok to say "I don't know".
4. Put yourself in my place - This comes with really listening. Try to understand where they are coming from.
5. Be genuine - don't try to inject spirituality into every conversation whether it fits or not.
6. Be my friend with no other motives - don't befriend someone for the purpose of one day inviting them to church. It's fake, and people see right through it.

UnChristian - Part 5

Here's the next perception that Kinnaman deals with: Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.

In this election year, I've personally really struggled with the level of involvement a Christian should have in politics. I've had conversations with other pastors about how much the church ought to get involved in politics and/or patriotism. Should we celebrate the 4th of July in the church for example? I'm looking forward to reading Shane Claiborne's newest book that deals with this topic. But anyway, back to UnChristian.

Where does this perception come from? Statistically, Kinnaman shows that people outside of Christianity "recognize Christians in politics more readily than in any other sector, including music, movies, sports, or business" (154). The reality is, there is no other sector of life that Christians jump into more than politics. It's where we make the most noise. And I think that's because there is an underlying belief that says that politics and legislation are the way that you change the world, and/or it's the way to protect and uphold our Christian freedoms and worldview. Some would say that the way to make the world a better place is to legislate and enforce a Christian morality. But is that really the case? Because it sure doesn't seem like Jesus believed that. It seems to me that Jesus believed in a kingdom that was subversive in a whole different kind of way. In the garden just before his crucifixion Peter cuts a guys ear off in what was no doubt a struggle for power. What does Jesus tell him? "Put your sword away!" And Jesus heals the guy. In fact, he basically tells Peter, "If I wanted to play the power game, don't you realize that I could call millions of angels right now and these guys would be toast!?" Instead, Jesus realizes that you can't change the world by playing by its rules. It's done through love, service, sacrifice, generosity, grace. The old saying is true, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We can legislate behavior, but it's no way to change the heart. And isn't that what God is really after anyway?

So what do we do with this perception? Do we bail on political involvement? No! In fact, I think we embrace it, but we do so in a different way. A more holistic way. For one thing, as Christians we're basically known as speaking and voting on two particular issues -abortion and gay rights (marriage, etc.). Certainly those are important issues. But when was the last time the church was passing petitions around for the sake of the poor? The single mom? The HIV infected? The homeless? Isn't all life sacred? I think this is why this year we are seeing way more evangelicals singing the praises of Obama. Many are tired of being in the pocket of the Republican party, simply because they throw evangelicals a bone or two with the abortion or gay marriage issue. For one thing, let's let our candidates know that we care about the poor, the outcast, the orphan and the widow. Let's be known for coming to the defense of the defenseless. Let's stop promoting one particular party as if it is somehow the party of Jesus. Let's be clear on this - Jesus is not a Republican. He's not a Democrat. He cannot and will not be co-opted by any political party. And let's be known for how much we support our government officials, whether we agree with them or not. That's still biblical right?

But mostly, let's live in such a way that says regardless of any election, or any law that does or doesn't get passed, or who is sitting in the oval office, we will love people, serve them, and stand up for those who suffer injustice because that is the heart of God.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Thank you!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been praying with us that our house in California would rent. We just got word tonight that a tenant has signed a one year lease!! God is good!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

It's back!



Fall is a great time of year for many reasons. The cooler weather, the wind, the colors. But let's be honest - this is why we all celebrate fall. The return of "The Office."

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

UnChristian - Part 4

The next perception is this: "Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality."

The perception is that Christians are simple minded people who aren't very educated, believe in some silly things, and basically have no idea what the real world is really like. I have to say that in some circles of Christianity, that probably isn't too far from the truth. But overall, while the perception may not be true, the reality is that it's how we are perceived.

Here's the main thing to me - younger generations are more than willing to live in a world without all the answers. Previous generations have prided themselves on figuring it all out, from science to theology. Everything was neatly categorized and boxed. Newer generations are excitedly exploring all the intricacies of life, and are highly skeptical of anyone who says that they know the answers to life's most difficult questions. They are comfortable with difficult questions, with contradicting answers, and with the unknown. For me, this is a breath of fresh air. I love to hear people wrestling with ideas. I love that younger generations aren't satisfied with pat answers. I'm also really excited about a generation that is comfortable with a growing understanding of God. God teaches me new things all the time. My understanding of Him grows. And there is so much that I don't get. I just don't understand Him. And that's ok! Who wants to serve a God that we can completely understand and disect? I want a God that is Big. A God that I learn more about all the time. A God that surprises me in the ways that He does things. A God that speaks through people, and then bushes, and then donkeys. The day that I have God figured out and I have all the answers is the day that I have made God in my own image. He doesn't play by my rules, I don't understand Him, and that is beautiful.

I think what these generations are saying to the church is this: Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." It's ok to not have the answers. Don't take huge complex issues or ideas and boil them down to 3 easy steps, or 5 keys to this, or some funny clever acrostic. Share your opinions, share your journey as you've come to understand something, but don't be so quick to package it, and mass-market it. Younger generations love to hear your story, but they want their own story too. They want to learn and experience these things for themselves. They are eager for this. As the church we need to provide opportunities for people to explore, to ask questions, to grow and to wrestle with deep, difficult ideas. And if they leave asking more questions, that's ok too. Isn't that what we want? I'd rather someone come searching and leave with a hunger for more, than to have them come with real questions and leave with a bookmark. Let's not trivialize God.

UnChristian - Part 3

I'm reading the book now faster than I can keep up with the blog, but I'll try and do a couple here tonight to catch up a bit. The next perception Kinnaman tackles is this: "Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians." At least so far, this is probably the most difficult perception to deal with, and maybe a bit controversial in some circles.

First, what Kinnaman is not saying. He is not saying that homosexuality is ok. He's also not saying that we should read Scripture any differently or adopt a new theology of any kind. But here's what he is saying. He is pointing out the hypocrisy of the church as it relates to this issue. There are many, many sins in the church that get simply overlooked. Divorce, gluttony, greed, pride, materialism, etc. And yet, homosexuality somehow gets raised as the sin that simply can't be forgiven. Let's agree on this, sin is bad. All sin. My sin. Your sin. Listen to this finding though in Kinnaman's research: "In our research, the perception that Christians are 'against' gays and lesbians - not only objecting to their lifestyles but also harboring irrational fear and unmerited scorn toward them - has reached critical mass. The gay issue has become the 'big one', the negative image most likely to be intertwined with Christianity's reputation" (92). He also says that "our hostility towards gays - not just opposition to homosexual politics and behaviors but disdain for gay individuals - has become virtually synonymous with the Christian faith" (92). Wow. Is that what Jesus said? "This is how they will know that you are my disciples, by your disdain for people."

As usual, there are tons of talking points from this chapter, but let me focus on this one thing. I fully believe that most Christians simply don't know what to do with this issue. It's a difficult one. It's hard to understand. But even more, unless you can put a face to this issue, you are going to have a very different view than others. Kinnaman shares a personal story about a homosexual friend who felt condemned and judged by him because of his Christian views. I have experienced some of the same things. One of my best friends as I grew up came out as gay in his twenties. All through junior high and high school people teased him because he was different. He swore he was straight. I'm positive that at that age I said things about gays that I would be completely embarrassed about now. I wonder though, did he know in high school? If so, he clearly had no safe place to share that, or to wrestle with the feelings he was experiencing. Even worse, I wasn't safe. What things did I say that may have pushed him away? My guess is that the only place he experienced grace and understanding was in the homosexual community. It certainly wasn't in the church.

Flash forward 10 years. I got a call one day from a student who wanted to come talk to me right away. When he showed up in my office I could tell he was as nervous as could be. After some small talk he eventually got around to telling me he was gay. I was the first person he ever told. Can I tell you the first thing that came out of his mouth after this news? "Am I going to hell because I'm gay?" This question wasn't just a random question. It was THE question that had given him such grief and heartache for so long. It's what kept him pretending. It's what caused him to be angry, to be socially awkward, to over eat, to hate his parents. It was fear that drove him to live a lie. It was fear that made him shake so badly as we talked. Yet, in the midst of this fear he was searching. He was reaching out because he desperately wanted someone to love him and accept him and to tell him that God still loved him. In his mind, God hated him. I wonder where he got that idea.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

UnChristian - Part 2

The second perception that Kinnaman deals with is this: Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others. In this chapter he touches on a number of myths about how people come to be Christians. I was going to go over each one, but I think instead I'll just talk about the one that stood out the most to me. That is this - "Anything that brings people to Christ is worth doing." Many churches pay huge dollars to do evangelism efforts that will reach tons of people at the same time. They may mail Bibles, or tracts, or other Christian material to homes in their community. Or they will do an event and then sneak in Jesus at the end. Kinnaman says that the research shows that such efforts will create three to ten times as much negative response as positive. In other words, for every person that responds positively and moves toward Christ, three to ten others will move away from Him even further. This is huge. The perception of people is that they are simply a number, a notch on a belt, a statistic. Can I ask a really difficult question? Is that really just a perception? Do we care about them, really care about them? What if that person that you befriended tells you that he or she has no interest in Jesus - what happens to the friendship? What is our motivation? Do we seek conversion, or friendship? Do we love unconditionally, or with an agenda?

Here's a confession for you. As a pastor I struggle with evangelism. It's not one of my gifts, nor is it something I get excited about. Let me clarify. I struggle with the whole make-a-decision-and-pray-a-prayer kind of evangelism. Let me explain. I've done plenty of "raise your hand and pray this prayer" kind of sermons. But if I'm honest, they always feel awkward and weird. I feel like I'm trying to sell someone on something. It's almost like I'm trying to be a used car salesman. Just get them to sign on the dotted line next to the "as-is, no warranty" line and once they drive off my property it isn't my problem anymore. We get so geared up and focused on the decision. The prayer. The raised hand. The checked box. Don't get me wrong. I believe that people need to make a faith commitment to Christ. There's a place in there somewhere where people acknowledge their need for a Savior. But it seems to me that while this is an important step, it certainly shouldn't be where it ends. Nor should it be the highlight. To me the highlight is someone who is learning to walk with Jesus as his disciple. Kinnaman says "Intentionally or not, we promote the idea to outsiders that being a Christ follower is primarily about the mere choice to convert" (79). We need a more holistic approach to being a Christ follower. We need discipleship. We need to do life together with people. We need friendships that run deep. It's not as flashy, not as noticeable, not as numbers driven. It's slower, harder, more messy. But it's real. It's genuine. It's authentic. It's discipeship. Now that's something that gets me excited.

I'll end with this one other quote from Kinnaman and then I'd love to hear feedback. "Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision. This resonates with Mosaics and Busters. The depth and texture of Christianity ought to appeal to young people, but the unChristian notion strains life in Christ into mere mental allegiance to a religion. The truth is that when a person makes a commitment to Christ, it is just the first step into a much larger reality" (82).

Thoughts?

Thursday, September 18, 2008

UnChristian

I'm finally getting around to reading David Kinnaman's book UnChristian. I bought it right after it came out, and then it joined the list of books to read at a later date. For those of you who may not know about this book, Kinnaman is a researcher who works with the Barna Group. This book is the result of research he did into the perceptions of 16-29 year olds on Christianity and the church. As someone who has worked with this age for the last few years, I'm finding the book to be an affirmation of so many of the things I have seen and heard in young people both inside and outside the church. So here's the plan - Kinnaman says that in his research there were basically six broad themes that continued to surface from people. Over the next week or two (depending on how long it takes) I plan on spending a little bit of time on each of those six themes. I'll review a bit of what he says, and try and give my own take on my own experience and perceptions. So anyway, here goes.

The first theme that he touches on is the perception that Christians are hypocritical. By that, he means of course, that we are perceived as saying one thing and doing something different. With that, is the idea that Christians pretend to have it all together and in reality they are just as messed up as everyone else. And the evidence backs that up. In just about every lifestyle activity, Christians and non-Christians are nearly identical in their behavior according to the research. There's a serious problem here. Of course the lives of Christians probably ought to be a bit different than the rest of culture. But beyond that, I'm more concerned with the fact that while most of culture is pretty open about their behavior, Christians (generally speaking of course) pretend that they have squeaky clean lives. In a culture that values authenticity and transparency, a little bit of honesty could go a long way.

Here's a thought, what if we stopped pretending and starting owning up to our own junk? How huge could that be to people who want nothing to do with us because we look down at them for their behavior and in reality our lives are generally no better? What if the church was a place of open dialogue about our struggles and failures as we attempt to follow Jesus? Kinnaman gives the example of a friend who taught a five-week series in his church entitled "Confessions of a Sinful Church." What a great idea. It reminds me of what Donald Miller and his friends did in Blue Like Jazz. They dressed up like monks and set up a confession booth in the middle of their secular campus. But rather than people coming in to confess sin, it was Miller and his buddies who did the confessing for all of the junk that Christians and the church have done in the name of Jesus.

My own experience has echoed this research too. I can't tell you how many conversations I had with students for whom this issue was keeping them from embracing Jesus. They were afraid to become like the people they couldn't stand. Other students who were part of our church already would often confront me when they thought I wasn't being real with them. I couldn't get away with anything. When I had a bad week, I better not try and put on a face and talk about joy. They could see right through me. I appreciated that about them so much. I learned from them all the time about living an authentic life. They seemed to have no problem living authentically. In fact, sometimes I wished they would put on a face a bit. Their willingness to be so authentic often led to situations of brutal, blunt honesty. That's fine when it's just you and them talking, but it's a whole different thing when you're in a group setting with other adults who don't share their willingness to be so transparent. But I think these students got it. They refuse to carry on a version of Christianity that is fake or forced. It's also why I think there is great hope for the church in the future. There is a generation of Jesus' followers who are forging a new path. I pray that we learn from them and learn with them as we advance the kingdom.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Acts

I've been reading through the book of Acts. I figured that's it a good thing to be doing seeing as how we're trying to start a church here in Durham. It's amazing to me the way things were happening in the early church. Entire paradigms were being shifted. There is the shift from Old covenant to New, the extension of God's grace from the Jewish people to include even Gentiles. There's the shift in dietary rules, the movement of the Holy Spirit, a well known terrorist becoming one of the apostles. Wow. Why do we tend to think that all the cool stuff happened way back then? I mean seriously - is God still moving and active or isn't He? Didn't Jesus say that the gates of hell would not be able to hold back the church? Didn't Jesus say that we would do even greater things that He did? It sure doesn't feel like it most of the time does it? I want to believe that Jesus meant those things. I want to believe that its possible for a church to exist that is literally transforming the culture around it through the power of the gospel.

Along with Acts, I've been reading Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution. You need to read it. I'm warning you though. Don't read it unless you are willing to have some of your foundations rocked. You won't be able to read it and continue on with life as usual - let's put it that way. I'll give a more full review of it in a couple of days. I'm still digesting and wrestling with it. The cool thing is that Shane will be in Durham in January to speak at Duke's chapel. So I'm looking forward to that.

It's been interesting to read about the early church, and then read one person's perspective on where we've gone wrong between then and now. Shane is living out the kingdom like no one else I've heard of and there is such power in it. It's the kind of power that makes you really believe the things Jesus said.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

2008 Western Division Champs!


That's right, my halos just got through polishing off the Yankees to capture their 4th title in 5 years. Bring on Boston or whoever the heck comes out of the East. I may be on the east coast now, but I will always be an Angels fan. Now, let's keep the best record and get home field advantage. How about 100 wins? That would be nice.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

A Franciscan Benediction

The church we went to this morning here in Durham was awesome. They ended the service by reading this Benediction together, and I think it is one of the most amazing prayers I've ever heard. May this be true of all believers everywhere.

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart


May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.


May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

To turn their pain into joy.


And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.


Amen to that!

Friday, September 5, 2008

You throw a baseball like a girl!

I don't usually venture into politics or discussions about politics. But I have been really blown away by what is going on in our country over the last couple of weeks. Regardless of what your specific political views are, this last week has been a history making week for us as a country. One party has nominated an African-American man to be their presidential candidate, and the other party has nominated a woman as part of the presidential ticket, meaning she could be president if McCain keeled over, or potentially after his terms are up. Wow. How far have we come?

But as someone who works in the church, I am quite intrigued by the incredible support for Palin coming out of the conservative Christian ranks. I don't think it's a bad thing at all, she is pretty impressive. But it is interesting that in many of the churches from which Mrs. Palin is gaining such support - she would not be allowed to lead. In other words, she can lead our country, make decisions that affect millions of people, but she couldn't take on any kind of leadership role in those churches. A blog I read regularly is that of Dan Kimball, and he raised this issue today on his blog. You can find it here. What do you make of this?

Look at these girls!


Holy cow they are gorgeous.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Good Times

I've realized lately that I tend to focus on the negative a lot. So today I wanted to comment on all this is good. Durham is really cool. I love the combination of living in a historical, old city and also one that is growing and progressing - full of college students and people moving into the area. We walked the other day down at the American Tobacco District - a really cool restored part of the city that was once a thriving tobacco industry, and is now a bunch of restaurants and businesses. It was really fun to hang out there and to explore.

The storms here are really cool. Lightning and thunder like you wouldn't believe. The trees are unbelievable. For those who live here they probably don't realize how different this is from the rest of the country. The green here makes my home town look like the Sahara. And I can tell you from recently driving across the country, thank God He didn't call us to New Mexico... or Texas.

Speaking of what's right with the world - my wife and kids. They are awesome. They teach me God's love every day. I am blown away at how big Hannah is getting. To hear her pray - wow, there is nothing more sweet in all the world. And Joy is well... so joyful. She is always smiling. She is so happy.

And the Angels! Come on now - absolutely dominating the West. Even though I don't get the games on TV anymore, praise the Lord for mlb.tv! I get to watch all the games online, so that is awesome.

So am I the only one that tends to get swallowed up by stress and all of that and forgets to practice gratitude? How about you? Despite all the stuff going on in your life, how has God blessed you?

Monday, September 1, 2008

The Job Search

So my hand is getting tired of filling out applications, I've done quite a few of them lately. I think so far I've applied to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Lowes, Chili's, 2 different golf courses, a cafe, a restaurant, Dick's sporting goods, and I'm sure I've forgotten something in there. So far, no takers. I would love to work at Barnes and Noble, and I've had two significant conversations with the manager, who happens to be from Fontana, CA - so that was cool. But it looks like there aren't any openings right now. I'll keep looking though! The goal is to get a job that will not only help us pay the bills, but that will allow me to get to know people in the area and to better understand the community. So I'm trying to get jobs that will allow me to interact a bit with other employees as well as customers.

In other news, we might have a renter.... Pray hard!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Rain


It's funny how you have a certain perspective on things from living in one part of the country your whole life, and then suddenly you see something that shakes that. Last night it rained. I'm talking serious rain. Like Noah and the Ark kind of rain. I realized one thing for sure. I had never really seen a thunderstorm before. I have now. WOW! The sky was lighting up all over the place. We thought Kowe was going to die from a heart attack. She was panting, her heart was racing, her eyes were totally bugging out, it was pretty crazy. I wish I had a picture of that. I tried to take a few pictures of the rain but nothing seemed to capture the severity of how hard it was coming down. Anyway, I was thinking about how in the Bible a lot of times God's grace and his favor are often compared to rain on a dry land. Now we don't really live in a dry land, but I've been feeling pretty dry lately on a personal level. I think the lack of real relationships, the lack of direction right now, and the stress of finances and all of that are making me feel kind of swallowed up. We've been feeling a bit discouraged to be honest, so rain is beautiful. I pray for rain in our lives as well.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Kindergarten Part II

Kimi and I have to make some decisions about Kindergarten for Hannah. She didn't score the necessary 98th percentile, though she did get in the 90th on the reading portion of the test. So we are still going to try and get her in to kindergarten as the psychiatrist felt that she was definitely ready. However, if she is turned down by the district we still have some decisions to make. We could simply say ok and wait until next year. Or we could pursue homeschooling for a year. But that would definitely add a lot to Kimi's plate. So - just pray that God makes it clear to us what we should do.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Kindergarten


So we're trying to get Hannah enrolled for Kindergarten, and apparently things are different here in NC. The rule here is that if you aren't 5 years old by Oct. 16 then you can't go to Kindergarten yet. Hannah's birthday is the 21st of October, so she just missed the cutoff. We got a packet of paperwork from the office that will allow us to appeal to get her enrolled, but the lady pretty much said that once people see the requirements, they never come back. Well, we may be the first. Hannah is required to be evaluated by a psychologist (at our expense of course) and she has to take an aptitude test as well as a math/reading test and score in the 98th percentile. She also has to be evaluated by the school, we all have to be interviewed, and we have to get references from her pre-school teachers. Doesn't that all sound like a bit much? I mean, this is Kindergarten, not Harvard (at least not yet!). Anyway, she is so ready for school and I know she will be bored to death at home for another year. So pray with us that everything will go well and Hannah will be allowed to be enrolled. She is so excited about school and I'd hate for her to have to wait.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Friends

I am so glad that we are here. I don't really miss our house, our neighborhood (haha), our little city of Yucaipa. But I'm realizing more and more I miss people. I miss seeing familiar faces, running into people I know, going to church with people I know, hanging out with friends, etc. I miss people walking in my front door and knowing they can hang out as long as they want and eat all my food. It's weird to be in a place where everything is new. Every face, every place, every church, everything. I'm praying for friends. If you think about it, pray with me, pray for me.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Durham

So here we are. It's been a week and half since I arrived here in Durham. Kimi and the kids arrived the next day. I had a great trip out here driving the truck with my friends from Yucaipa - a group of guys I've been trying to disciple over the last six plus years. It was seriously a fun time. Almost every day was at least 500 miles, with only one exception - our short day of 350 miles. We stayed overnight in St. John's, AZ at my dad's place. It was great to see him and his newly opened restaurant. I'm happy for him, but I hope he doesn't work himself too hard. The next night was Erick, OK - which is just inside the Oklahoma state line. We had dinner that night in Amarillo, TX, and the guys were determined to get out of Texas as fast as we could. So we went another 100 miles and stopped in Erick that night. The next day we headed out to Little Rock, AK. Little Rock is a cool city, I really liked it. Plus we got to see some lightning that night, so that was cool. The next night was on to one of the guys' uncle's house in Nashville, TN. It was great to be in a real home with a home cooked meal. They were extremely gracious and we had a good time playing Rock Band on the xbox360. We got up really early the next day in order to get to Durham somewhere around 4pm. I had to meet the real estate lady at my house to get the key. So we were on the road by about 6am, and had a few hundred miles behind us by lunch. We made it to Durham in time, and after heading out to dinner, we spent the rest of the night unloading the truck.

The guys stayed for a few days while we explored the area, played some disc golf, and just hung out talking. My mom arrived with Kimi and the girls and she was able to stay for a week as well. It was nice to have her here, tough to say goodbye. She'll be back again in November hopefully.

So far we love the neighborhood God has placed us in. We have a great home, and some really nice neighbors. Hannah has already met a bunch of kids to play with. Our housing development has a lake, a pool, tennis courts, a fitness center, and walking paths all throughout. I haven't got to fish yet, but as soon as they'll let me get a resident's license, I'll be there. We continue to pray that God will connect us with the right people at the right times. It's a bit overwhelming to know that we are trying to start this church from scratch, but it's exciting at the same time. I can't wait to see where God takes us!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Yesterday

Yesterday was a pretty hard day. I preached in the morning service - my last Sunday here at First Baptist. I got through my message ok, toward the end some tears came. But then during the prayer time - I pretty much lost it. The church gave me a standing ovation for a long time, and so many people came up afterwards in tears to tell me really nice things. I described it to someone as being at your own funeral, where everyone says nice things about you and cries a lot. The reality of leaving is really starting to set in. Leaving our friends and my family behind is tough. Leaving the students here at FBCY behind is really tough. I'm fortunate to have four or five guys traveling with me across the country to help me move. It will be a fun time with them, sort of a last hurrah.

This week is basically a week to pack up my office and home, finish up some loose ends, and Friday morning I pull out of here. Crazy. I can't believe it. This is the hardest and easiest thing I've ever done. So hard to leave, so easy to follow where God is leading.

Friday, July 25, 2008

God on Caller ID

As we've been preparing ourselves to move across the country and start this adventure of church planting, we have continued to pray that God would add people to our team. One particular family has been on our hearts since day one. Up until now, God had not given them the same vision. However, they did feel that God was stirring them to move, to go, and to be a part of something new, but they didn't know what that was. This week we had dinner with them again, and we connected like we never have before. It was an incredible night. It is so clear that God has been working in their hearts and changing them into something even more beautiful than they already were. After that night, they went home and continued talking and praying with the feeling like maybe God was in fact asking them to go with us. This is where it starts to get interesting.

They were sitting on the couch talking about the possibility of moving. Without knowing for sure, they say "God is going to have to give us a sign or something." Within a minute the phone rings. Not recognizing the number on the caller ID they didn't answer it. But suddenly, my friend felt the need to look up the number. He had never seen it before so he wondered where it was coming from. He jumped on the old internet and searched for the area code. Guess where? Durham, North Carolina. Yep. That just happened. So if that weren't crazy enough, the number keeps calling and guess what it says under the number for the caller ID - CHURCH PLANTING. Are you kidding me?

So this just in.... add Caller ID to all of the ways in which God can speak to us. I don't know how all of this is going to end up, but when you ask for a sign from God and less than 60 seconds later you get a call from Durham, NC that says "CHURCH PLANTING".... I'm just saying.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Countdown

The plan is to move in 11 days. I just got back from my last youth outing - a 12 day mission tour up the coast. We served in shelters and on the streets with the homeless. It was a great trip. But 11 days? Wow. It's coming fast. Everything so far is falling into place except for the renting of our Yucaipa home. It's the last piece of the puzzle. So we are praying hard for a renter in the next few days so that we can stay on schedule. Some high school (I guess they are college now) guys are planning on driving with me across the country, so it's kind of important to get this all nailed down soon. We have to buy airline tickets and all of that. If you read this, please pray!

The ESPYs

So I love sports. Last night I watched the ESPYs and it was a great show. I was actually quite surprised by Justin Timberlake's hosting. He did a pretty good job. I've never been much of a Timberlake fan, so to see him in a sports show, I was a bit leery. But he did a good job. JT and I have a bit of a history. A few years ago I went to the Bob Hope Classic golf tournament. It was the celebrity round and I went primarily to see Roger Clemens (pre-roid allegations). JT was playing too. So at one point between the 9th green and 10th tee box JT came walking by within a few feet of me. Some teenage girls stopped him to sign some autographs. There really wasn't anyone else around. After signing the autographs and posing for some pictures, the girls ran off and all that was left was JT and I. He looked at me as if to say "would you like an autograph too?" I looked back with a sort of "I think I'll pass" look. He kind of looked away and started walking toward the tee. So yeah, I basically snubbed Justin Timberlake. That's how I roll.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Monsters Inc.

So I was talking to a friend the other day over lunch. We were talking about the church and culture and how the two relate. I left that conversation thinking about "Monsters, Inc." Have you ever seen it? It's the story of a bunch of monsters who work at a power plant of sorts. All of Monstropolis runs on the power that is captured from the screams of young children. The monsters go in to work, where doors are brought to their station. They open the doors (which are sort of like doors into another world - think Wardrobe and Narnia), go inside and scare kids. The kids scream, their scream is captured and converted to power. It's a rather clever story line. However, there is one thing about this job. It's a dangerous job. The monsters believe that any contact with humans or human things requires decontamination. Alarms go off, monsters get shaved, its crazy really. But one day a little girl follows the monster through the door and into Monstropolis. A couple of monsters grab her (after much debate about whether it was safe or not) and spend the rest of the movie trying to get her back where she goes. Along the way, the monsters figure out that the girls laughter is way more powerful than her screams and eventually the whole process gets revamped. The monsters are no longer mean and scary, but funny and nice. It's a great movie for helping kids with the inevitable fear of monsters in the closet.

So why did I leave a lunch conversation about the church and culture thinking of "Monsters, Inc."? Many people in the church live in a sort of bubble. We are afraid of what is outside of Monstropolis, but we need it in order to maintain our way of life. So we'll go in, but only as much as we have to, and take what we need in order to carry on life. So we'll go to the grocery store, the mall, the car dealership, etc. but we do so with great caution and great care - knowing that we could be contaminated quite easily. Those that live in the real world (the humans) are afraid of us too. They only see us step in on occassion, and it's never with good news. We're usually there to make noise and then we retreat to the safety of our churches, christian coffeehouses and book stores. I wonder if we can't learn a thing or two from a good old Disney movie. What if the people in culture (the humans) aren't as scary and contaminating as we think? What if they actually have something to offer us? What if there was a way to bring joy to them rather than fear? What if when they saw us coming they didn't scream or hide under the sheets, but rather got excited because we brought with us hope and joy?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Art


Ever wonder what you look like in the eyes of children? We went swimming this weekend at the home of one of our students. Hannah was in the pool the whole time. She drew a picture of the day. She's the one with girl hair and a tube around her waist. I'm the square guy with huge nipples and lots of hair. A classic picture.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Father's Day


I love my wife. She is awesome. She and the girls made me this amazing Father's Day gift. She had each of these pictures strung up across our living room. I went ahead and put them all together here. So cool.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Teaching

Tomorrow I get the opportunity to teach three times. First, in the morning I am part of a team of pastors who will be teaching a Father's day message from Ephesians 6. My part is the first three verses and asking the question "How can children build up their fathers?" It should be fun, but I have to keep it short, as three other pastors are doing a part of this too. After that, I'll be leading the high school ministry in a discussion of 2 Timothy 1-2. There's a really cool thing happening there where Paul continues to remind Timothy of his spiritual heritage, and then calls him to become part of someone else's heritage too. He tells him to take the things he has heard from Paul and entrust them to reliable men who will pass it along to others. The gospel is meant to be relational and I think there's a lot of cool things in there to talk about. Finally, tomorrow night I have the privilege of being the main speaker at Baccalaureate for Yucaipa High School. I'm excited about this opportunity as I get to challenge students about their participation in the kingdom of God. I hope to encourage them to pursue hope and healing and restoration in the world and to give their lives away for the sake of others.

Because of the nature of church planting, and the near proximity to our move, I don't have that many times left to teach here. Once we move, I'll have a bit of a sabbatical from teaching as we begin to form relationships and grow a launch team. It will be a good refresher for me. I love to teach, but there are times when I feel like I don't have much to say.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Blogs

Over the last few months I've been getting into this whole world of blogs. There are several that I read every day now. What I've noticed is that most blogs are way cooler than mine.Haha . Besides that, these people are dedicated. I try and write on here as often as I think about it, but it is still way sporadic. These other bloggers are writing at least once a day and Carlos writes like 3 times a day. That is some crazy dedication. I just don't have that much to say. I could give updates about every little thing I do (which I guess is what Twitter does) but I just don't think that would be very interesting. Anyway, I think in the future it will be a great way to stay in touch with supporters, and with our church. But for now it's more of an outlet, a place for me to put my thoughts out there.

Seriously though, you should check out Carlos - the guy is an animal. You can click the link on the right to see his blog.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Fundraising

We are in full on fundraising mode at this point. After a couple of weeks of accumulating names and addresses, our first letter has been sent off. We need to raise quite a bit of money - something like $3000 per month of support. It's quite a challenge and quite overwhelming. I hate asking people for money. It's really difficult for me to do. Aside from letters, there are some people that I have set meetings up with and have begun to share our vision for what God wants us to do. That's kind of fun because I get to talk about something that I have a passion for. I hope that people get a sense of what it is that God is putting on my heart and catch a vision for how they can help make it a reality. It's really important to me to have the support of my family and friends and so I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond. I know that God will take care of us, but it is a pretty stressful time nonetheless. In addition to trying to raise all this money, we need to sell our house. Although, more recently I am exploring the idea of renting it out. If we could swing it financially, that would actually be the better route for us, because this is a terrible time to try and sell a house. I wouldn't mind hanging on to it for two years or so and putting it back on the market then.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Family Picture


This is what we're thinking about using as a communication piece with our supporters as we leave to plant a church. It was taken last weekend at my cousin's wedding. It's a pretty fun picture, unlike the standard post card perfect family photo. I like it. We'll probably make it into a magnet or something like that.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Team Leadership

I read an interesting blog today. You can find it here.
It follows up and even references another article that I read that can be found in the newest issue of Leadership magazine. Apparently there is a trend among younger evangelicals toward churches with a team leadership structure, rather than a hierarchical or senior pastor model. Of course, this intrigues me as I'm getting ready to set out and launch a new church. I really resonate with the idea. I don't want to be the guy in the spotlight, and I certainly don't want a church that is "Jeremy's church." I guess what I wonder though is how you do this in a practical sense. How does it work? How are decisions made? Who sets the vision for the church? Who holds people accountable to their particular ministries? Who does the fundraising for the new church? Who recruits people? It seems like at some point there's got to be a point person. And maybe that is only necessary for the first year or so, up until the church launches. Maybe at that point leadership can be shared. But it's an interesting idea nonetheless. It seems more biblical to me. Rather than one guy trying to be and do everything, there's a team of people who function and minister out of their areas of giftedness. I say it seems biblical, but then again in the New Testament it seems pretty clear that there is a hierarchical structure in place. Form Peter to Paul to Timothy, there are clear cut leaders in the local churches. Paul writes to whole churches at times and urges them to function as the body of Christ, but other times he writes specifically to the leader (Timothy, for example) and encourages him to lead.

It will be interesting to see how this all works itself out in the next 20-30 years. I do think that the current model is lacking. I wonder though if this team leadership model is the answer. My guess is that there is some kind of balance of the two that would be ideal.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Church Planting is Hard

We haven't even moved yet. And I feel swamped by this. I've been buried in budget planning, fundraising, team building, house selling, and ministry. My stress level is pretty high right now. I'm a worrier, and I think that's because I am kind of a control freak. I want to have everything figured out and planned out and yet so much of this is simply a step of faith. I don't get to have all the answers. It feels like everything I was holding on to for security is being yanked out from under me. The people I was totally sure were coming with us are now in question. The places I was sure I was going to be able to fund raise are now being pulled away from me. The money I was sure we were going to get from our house selling is now slipping away as the price continues to drop. My plans are falling apart. And maybe that's the point. This isn't about my plans, it's about His. I've always wanted my life and the things I do to be unexplainable apart from God. I want it to be clear that He is the reason for everything that happens - not me. It looks as though He is making sure that happens. I am running out of plan B's at this point. It's all going to happen according to His plan, His will, and His glory. And that's the way it should be.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tim Keller

This is a video I ran across today by Tim Keller on the Missional Church. I thought it was really good, so have a look.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Day of Silence

Today is what is being dubbed as the "Day of Silence". It's a nationwide (maybe worldwide?) push to bring awareness to the harassment, violence, and name calling that homosexual students face. It's of course sponsored and promoted by many groups. It's also of course opposed by many groups. Students in school are going to be silent for the day as a way to bring awareness to the issue and show support for those who are gay. As a youth pastor, I get lots of email and things in the mail from Christian organizations all the time. Many have focused on this day and warned of the slippery slope that a day like this can be. They have talked about the "homosexual agenda" and the "indoctrination" of our students. Many of these organizations have encouraged active opposition to our schools, including keeping kids home today. I was asked what I thought about it recently.

To be honest, I think that most of these issues that come up would just go away and not be that big of a deal if we didn't have such strong reactions to them. It's like when your mom used to say "they only make fun of you because of the reaction the get - if you stop reacting, they will stop messing with you." While I'm sure that analogy has its limits, I kind of feel like this issue is one of those things. We make it into a bigger deal than it really is. Many of the organizations I heard from were really hyping this thing up. I don't know if they had their facts wrong or maybe just my community is different, but many of the things they were warning about simply weren't true. There was no forced participation, there was no disruption of class allowed, there was no school sponsored events. It's simply a student club led demonstration of silence. What kind of indoctrination happens from people being silent anyway?

At any rate, I wrestled with what the Christian response should be to something like this. I definitely think the Bible is clear about homosexuality - it's a sin. But I don't share the view that somehow homosexuality is worse than heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage. I see pride, arrogance, envy, materialism, injustice, self-righteousness, hate, racism, lust, and every other sin as being right there along side homosexuality. In fact in the Scriptures it seems like things like being disobedient to parents is listed right along side homosexuality as sin all the time. I wonder why there is such a strong reaction to this particular sin? I understand for many they see it as an attack on the family. But so is divorce, and pornography, and selfishness, and lots of other things that we don't get that riled up about.

In youth group this week, I led a discussion about all of this. Our students really seem to get it. Most of them would agree that homosexuality is wrong. They believe the Bible to be their authority on that. And yet, they see that anger and protests really aren't the best way to respond to things like this. For one thing, they simply reinforce the picture that Christians are against everything. There is very little we are known for being in favor of. But secondly, they understand that grace is big. It's really big. It's big enough to cover my sin, as well as the sins of others. They also realize that the Scriptures are pretty clear about who gets to judge people for their sins, and it aint us. The Scriptures are also pretty clear about loving people, and that it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. I love to picture Jesus when he was confronted with people in sin. Take the woman caught in adultery for example. Jesus agreed that the law said she ought to be stoned for her sin. But in an absolutely brilliant moment he is able to point out to everyone there ready to kill this woman that they are all guilty of the same law. When they all walk away shamed, Jesus turns to the woman and says "where are your accusers?" They are all gone, the woman responds. And then Jesus says "Neither do I condemn you." Wow! That is huge! Of course it doesn't end right there, because Jesus, like he always does, is constantly moving people closer to the kingdom and to Himself. He loves us way too much to let us stay where we are at, or to let us continue the way that we are living. He tells the woman "Go and sin no more." It's beautiful really. I don't condemn you, but take a step forward. Learn to live life better. There is a right way to live. There are things that are true. But Jesus seems to invite people to discover that reality rather than condemning and getting angry with sin. More than anyone else, it's the religious people that Jesus seems to get angry with.

There are many other examples of Jesus doing this same thing. The woman at the well who was on her 5th man, living with him, not married, divorced 4 times. There's Zachaeus, who was a well known swindler and thief. In fact his story is amazing. Jesus simply says "I must eat at your house tonight." Instantly, Zachaeus is transformed, voluntarily repenting of his sin and making restitution with everyone he had stolen from.

Well this is a long post. But I hope that the church will become more intent on taking on the name of Jesus than we will be with pointing out sin. Jesus - "Friend of sinners." How great would that be?

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