I know you are, but what am I?

My daughter loves to dress up as a princess. In fact, when she dresses up, she assumes the identity of whatever princess dress she is wearing. So when I say "Joy, you look so beautiful!", her response is a matter-of-fact "I'm not Joy, I'm Sleeping Beauty." It's really quite cute. But what if when Joy turns 20 she's still dressing up as a princess and assuming that identity. What if she never embraces her true identity as my daughter? I'd be crushed.

This Sunday we talked about our true identity. Too many of us have continued to play dress up. We have refused to accept our identity as "Child of God". The Bible is quite clear that this is how God sees us - as his children (see 1 John 3:1, Ephesians 1:4-8). The truth is though, that it's much easier to believe that about someone else than it is to believe it about ourselves. They may be a child of God, but certainly not me. They are loved, but not me. They are forgiven, but not me. It's like that childhood phrase we all used to say - "I know you are, but what am I?"

May you and I live in the reality that we are children of the King. And may we begin to say to each other "I know you are, and so am I."

Read More

Childlike Faith

This Sunday at Story Church we kick off a brand new series called "Childlike Faith". It's a series I've been thinking through in my head for three or four months now and I'm really excited about it.

In Luke 18:16-17 Jesus says this:

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

So here's a question for you - what do you think Jesus meant by that? What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a child? What are the child like qualities that you think Jesus wants us to mimic?

Read More

California

I recently spent about a week in my hometown of Yucaipa, CA touching base with old friends, family, and those that pray for and support me and my family. It was a pretty incredible trip. Here's a recap:

• First of all, I got to meet with many individuals over coffee or lunch and tell stories about Story Church. That was a huge highlight. Only a year ago, there were no stories to tell! Now I could go on talking forever about the people, the life change, and the growth and excitement we are experiencing.
• One night I got to hang out with some friends who were former students in my youth group. There's about 8-10 of them that gather every week just to pray together and talk about Jesus. They are about 20 years old. How cool is that? Blows me away. Anyway, I shared with them a bit about what God has been teaching me, and then they all laid hands on me and prayed for me. Very humbling. Very awesome.
• I spent one evening with my best friend and his family, eating dinner, laughing, sharing stories and just catching up. I miss him and his family a ton.
• Another night I got to catch up with another friend and his family. He's kind of my arch-rival. In a good way. We are both super competitive and we love to compete in whatever way we can. This time it was one of our favorites - FIFA on the PS3. We used to be neighbors and we spent many nights doing this same thing.
• On Saturday I got to reignite another passion of mine - baseball. Before moving I was a coach at our local high school. This day they happened to be holding some tryouts so I got to head out to the field and hang out with a bunch of young talented players and all the coaches. They put me right to work evaluating players and I had a blast.
• Later that day I headed over to my aunt's house for a BBQ. It was great to see my cousins, aunts and uncles and grandma. My aunt Missy made her famous Skor bar cake in my honor. Doesn't get much better than that.
• Sunday was all about telling stories with my home church. I had the opportunity to get on stage in front of both services and thank them for loving us well, sending us, praying for us, and supporting us.
• That evening I got to go hang out with some other friends who are planting a church in the neighboring city. I love seeing what other church planters are doing and learning from them.
• On Monday I got to hang out with another former student and encourage him. He's had a rough couple of years, spending some time in jail and fighting addictions. Pray for Billy.
• Finally, Monday I spent a little time in heaven. In case that's not totally clear to all of you, I'm referring to Angel Stadium - the home of Angels baseball.

It was a jam packed week but really a great time reconnecting with people. The goal of the trip was to raise some personal support and to thank those that have supported us for these two years. In that regard it was a successful trip and I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to go, thanks to my friends at Converge.

Read More