Sean McMasters

A Synopsis of our Pastor's Book Club

2012-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here's my friend's recollection of our last Pastor's book club & his invitation to other pastor's in Santa Cruz. Needless to say we have a great time discussing some serious issues. Thankfully we understand disagreement can be a fun process, which leads us away from the fallacy of unity & into the difficult beauty called community.

When I read this I had many thoughts, & wouldn't normally post something with my name in it so often, but it's too funny to pass up, seeing that this is the invitation to our book club many pastors in our city will receive.

"During a fun-filled discussion of the spiritual implications of fat and dieting, we ate great food and drank deeply at the well of Sean's hard work at mastering the magical qualities of yeast. And let me assure you, Sean is the magician's apprentice when it comes to harnessing the magical qualities that God has created into the world on the microscopic level. Sean makes great beer. In fact, if we all weren't so happy because of our dancing tastebuds, I'm quite sure our tongues would have formed into sharper shapes when a divisive topic like dieting is the ring around which we were all rosey-ing. But happy tongues have a hard time lighting fires, so instead we sang each others praises for disagreeing so tactfully."

Here's Pastor Jason at one of his church BBQ's.

Help me to Grow Up, Before I Grow Old

2012-01-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is a list of how to raise grateful kids. I know a few "adults" who would do well to practice the list too.

“What are purposeful, practical ways you’ve tried to train your kids to be grateful?”
Here are several common themes – and a few additions of my own.

Travel: expose your kids to different cultures. This will provide perspective that “our way” isn’t the only way to live. Kids will also inherently understand that life isn’t as bad as they might have originally thought.
Have your kids spend time hanging around with grateful and wise adults. Invite wise and trusted grownups over for dinner or a BBQ on Saturday afternoon. Role models are significant; surrounding your kids with grateful role models makes sense.
Teach gratitude rigorously. Point thankful spirits out in other people. Kneel down and look your kids in the eyes and tell them they did a good job thanking someone else. When they fail to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you,’ lovingly correct and guide them to respond with appropriate words right then and there. Don’t miss the teachable moment.
Confront entitlement immediately. Snuff out any spirit of whining or an attitude of “I deserve this” in your kids. Be kind, but firm. Simply do not tolerate it.
Make events and outings special, but not assumed. When kids assume special events or trips will always be there, entitlement begins to creep in.
Model it. It may seem obvious, but it can be easy for mom and dad to forget that modeling is the most significant way to guide our children. Eliminate sarcasm or complaining in your conversation. Remember: more is caught than taught.
Read Scripture together. The Bible has numerous verses about gratitude. Consider reading from the Psalms regularly or before dinner.
Minimize (or eliminate) time with television, advertisements and commercials. The goal of marketing and advertising is to make you discontent with what you currently have. Studies reveal that, regardless of income level, there is a direct correlation between the amount of hours people watch television with the amount of money they spend each month.
Give and serve as a family. Seek out ways to serve as a family (and not just around the holidays). Whether its for a few hours at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter on a Saturday morning or a week-long mission trip, it builds memories, allows for healthy modeling and provides perspective that breeds thankfulness.
Find the right balance between work and play. Communicate to your entire family that there will be times where we will play hard and there will be times where we will work hard. Expect both. Create age-appropriate chores – and schedule fun times to make memories together.
Refrain from buying everything your kids want. Pushing the cart through the toy section at Target can be dangerous, but don’t give in. At appropriate times, bless your children, but don’t give in to every request for something. The worst thing we can do as parents is to give our kids everything they think they want – when they want it.
Refuse the comparison trap. Refuse to allow your kids to compare themselves with other kids, especially regarding possessions and ‘their stuff.’ The root of discontentment is comparison.
Watch the language. Have a keen ear for phrases like “I need that doll,” “I want that toy,” “She has ____ and I don’t…” or any other form of whining. If you hear it in the grocery aisle or from the backseat of the van, address it immediately. This includes non-verbals like pouting or smirking.

The Story of Christmas

2011-12-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Grab a glo stick & enjoy the Gift.

Christmas Carols

2011-12-02T11:33:00.001-08:00

YESHU JAYANTI KIRTAN - DEVOTIONAL CHANTS TO JESUS

Sunday, December 11th, 7:00-9:00pm at the Pacific Cultural Center in Santa Cruz

This kirtan is a non-denominational event offering devotional chants in praise of Jesus or Yeshu and His Universal Qualities. Hosted by a local group who've been gathering regularly and wish to introduce this sweet form of bhakti to the community. Based on traditional music from Northern India and the musical genius of Chris Hale, Aradhna (www.aradhnamusic.com) . This is an invitation to renew and refresh our spirits with simple melodies and chants filled with devotion to Jesus. Please join us to celebrate the birth of of Light and Love this season!

If you're interested in joining us check out this link.

We are waiting

2011-12-01T06:23:00.001-08:00

We are waiting for peace to break out
we are waiting for flowers to bloom
we are waiting for the moon to come
from behind the clouds of war
We are waiting for the light
We are waiting
and as we wait we sing songs of celebration
We are waiting
and as we wait we hold out our hands in love and friendship…
…and as we wait we dance: we dance with the cold east wind
and the creaking singing branches of giant firs
we dance with the devils
of dust and the angels of clouds
We are waiting
and as we wait we are learning the language
of burning roses and sunflowers slowly turning
toward the sun…
(Carlos Reyes)

Christ Has No Body

2011-11-11T10:00:00.001-08:00

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Teresa ofAvila (1515–1582)

The Bay Area

2011-10-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

I like to post articles I think share the uniqueness of the Bay Area. Here's another good one:

San Franciscans who prefer to have their food in the nudeare facing opposition. Last Thursday, the ironically named Supervisor ScottWiener proposed an ordinance on public nudity etiquette that would requirenudists dining in restaurants to forgo their naturalist ways and don clothing.

Public nudity is legal in San Francisco as long as the nudeindividual is not in a state of arousal. But last Thursday's meeting of theBoard of Supervisors' Public Safety Committee resulted in a ruling that, if approved by the full Board, will ban practicing nudists from publiceateries, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.Wiener's proposal also requires those in the buff to place down a towel orbarrier of some sort before they sit down on public seating.

"San Francisco is a liberal and tolerant city, and wepride ourselves on that fact," Supervisor Wiener said in a statement."Yet, while we have a variety of views about public nudity, we can allagree that when you sit down naked, you should cover the seat, and that youshould cover up when you go into a food establishment."

The hearing did not draw the throngs of nude enthusiaststhat the committee expected. Only two individuals showed up to testify and theywere for Wiener's proposal. The ban is not thought to be an attempt to outlawnudity in San Francisco altogether but rather is a simple issue of publichealth.

Why?

2011-10-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

As a follower of Jesus I'm regularly challenged by why I do things. Why did I move to Santa Cruz? Why share the love of Christ? Why serve? Why love? Why do I do the things I do for Jesus?

I ask this question of myself because this is where I find a great deal of tension in my own life. I feel as if my desire to do these things often results in less than expected results; this leads to my disappointment & I then wonder if what I've done was"worth it." Too, I often wonder if what I'm doing is only for myself so that I feel o.k with the insecurity of whether or not I matter.

Yet today, as I was sitting out on the ocean waiting for good waves, I was struck by the revelation that I generally do what I do not because of my devotion to God, but for the results themselves. Results aren't bad; they are the outcome of our actions. Yet am I living my life in order to get results or am I living my life because I'm loved & in love with God? One never ceases to amaze; the other never satisfies.

Today I dropped into a really big wave (9ft+) & barely made the landing. People were hollering, as they often do on a great wave, & I felt the rush of my results; yet by the end of my surf session I was tired, & those who had witnessed my earlier exploits were gone, & I was surrounded by a new group of people who were snagging all the waves making me feel kinda' lame. The fulfillment of my results didn't last even 2hrs; why not just enjoy the water?

I'm not convinced results are the goal in almost any venture.

This is no simple task, but I want to do what I do because I'm loved; Too, I want to do because I deeply believe in what it is I'm doing regardless of what "happens." I assume real art results from this perspective. I want to be who I am because it's worship. I want to alleviate myself of what was never mine: The Outcome.

Easier said than done.

Keep Santa Cruz Weird

2011-09-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

...fact is stranger than fiction.

Woman jailed after throwing a duck in Santa Cruz

Sentinel staff report

Posted: 09/24/2011 08:07:44 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ - Authorities were called to the 700 block of 41st Avenue Saturday afternoon for reports of an intoxicated woman abusing a duck.
According to a Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office, deputies received a call that a woman was drunk and was refusing to leave a business just after 4 p.m. The caller also said the woman was throwing a duck to the ground and apparently also trying to strangle it with some sort of leash.
When officers arrived at the scene, deputies found an intoxicated woman throwing the duck around. It was not immediately known whether the duck was wild or domesticated, or if it was the woman's pet.
The woman, whose name has not yet been released, was taken to County Jail on charges of public intoxication while deputies tried to catch the duck.
Deputies said Saturday that the animal appeared to be uninjured, but they planned to take it to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter for evaluation.

Just For You

2011-09-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

A funny video a friend sent me the other day.

Who is Your Standard?

2011-08-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful to God for many reasons & certainly one reason is Jesus. I'm thankful for the gospel, & to be honest, I'm becoming even more thankful as the gospel continues to reveal itself to me through the years. There is no end to the transformative power of what God has done for us; Jesus is the apex of life.

Jesus is not only the one who gives life, but He's also the example. When I think, "Who is the Standard," of being human? Who is the standard of how to treat others? Who is the standard on how to forgive? Who is the standard on how to live? Who is God's standard on what it means to be human; once again we look to Jesus.

Now many might think this an impossible task; "I can't be Jesus." Rightly so, but no one is asking any of us to BE Jesus because He's one of a kind; however, God presented Jesus as the standard not because it's impossible so we might always be presented with failure, but because it is doable, with His help of course. Now without a doubt we will all fall short of His standard, but it's not about arriving as much as it's about abiding. Abiding in Christ, daily, hourly, through the laughter & tears; this leads us to Christ-likeness, which when you read Paul is one of the main objects of the Spirit in our lives.

Is it easy, no; yet as I look around the landscape of those who know Christ & those who don't, I find it's easier to choose Jesus as the standard of what it means to be a man than the option presented by those who use themselves as the standard.

^1-4If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. ^5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.

Pole Dancing for Jesus

2011-08-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

My wife shared a story about a Santa Cruz Bible study she was a part of discussing Christian women & pole dancing. Evidently most of the women in the group had heard of Christian women enjoying this form of "exercise" & didn't seem to think it weird or wrong (since "I" get to define what's wrong & right--right?). Below is the film & after is a post written about the subject followed by a comment on her blog, followed by my confusion.

The Pornification of Marriage

Posted on August 24, 2011 by elizabeth

So, what’s the deal with Christian women and stripper poles?
Apparently, Christian women learning to pole dance is no big deal because, you know, it’s “good exercise.”
I mean, seriously. Has pornography so infiltrated every corner of society that now even Christian women think pole dancing is a cute, fun way to “spice-up” their exercise routine?

The other day I saw a young girl proudly sporting a glittery Playboy bunny T-shirt as if it were somehow a symbol of her female empowerment. And my heart just broke. You know pornography is winning when little girls start wearing pornographic merchandise.

And that’s our fault. When adult women refuse to decry the objectification of women and instead normalize it by calling pole-dancing “good exercise,” we send the message to our daughters that pornographic behavior is OK. No wonder our little girls are confused!

As the womanizing character from the movie “Crazy, Stupid Love” said: “Men won the battle of the sexes as soon as women started doing pole dancing as exercise.”

So, where did this come from? How did pornographic ideas about sex manage to infiltrate Christianity? I have an theory about this:
It comes from pastors who preach that sex is primarily recreational.
Here’s what I mean: I’ve heard pastors preach that since the “marriage bed is undefiled” any sexual act is permissible and sanctified within marriage. In other words, as long as it happens within the context of marriage, ANYTHING goes.

By preaching that “anything goes,” a pastor unwittingly promotes pornographic ideas about sex; ie. that it should be available 24/7, that a wife should strive to present herself as a fantasy-mate, that sex is utterly detached from its life-giving, soul-creating power.

Is that what that what “the marriage bed is undefiled” really means? Because I’m not sure that verse is license for installing a stripper pole in your bedroom.
Could the marriage bed being undefiled mean that since it is undefiled, Christians ought not defile it by dragging in a bunch of pornified ideas about sex?
I think Christians should always be on guard when the “spice-up-your-marriage-advice” takes its cue from our porn-ified culture.

My guess is that many Christians have bought into the idea that the purpose of sex is primarily recreational. When sex is primarily recreational, it’s really quite easy to start justifying any lustful urge–as if the fact that it happens within marriage somehow sanctifies it.

Here’s the thing, if my husband wanted me to do a stripper-pole routine for him (which he never would), I’d say no. Why? Because the stripper pole is a symbol of female objectification and I fail to see how that changes just because we haul it into a Christian bedroom.

Sure, I want to remain beautiful and attractive for my husband but I refuse to believe that that somehow means I have to degrade myself by adhering to a standard set by strippers and prostitutes. Just because Jesus dined with prostitutes and tax-collectors doesn’t mean He started acting like them!
When pastors preach that ANYTHING goes in the marriage bed, I feel like this is an interpretation shaped by pornography and not by kingdom values. It’s a sad irony that we Christians bristle at the suggestion of letting God into our sex lives, but we gladly fling open the door to pornographic ideas about sex.

I guess I thought the general consensus among Christians was that purity within marriage was an obvious requirement. Has this changed?

from Chuck:

I work as a psychotherapist, primarily in the Christian community (but don’t call me a “christian counselor” – there’s no such thing, IMHO), and primarily with issues of sexual integrity (like porn addiction).

I completely agree with you about the pornification of marriage. In fact, I’ll even take things a bit further by saying publicly here something I’ve often said privately elsewhere…
Porn for a man is (imagined) sex with a woman who will not or cannot say “no”. There is no emotional risk involved, and no expectations on him for any kind of relationship. In short, it’s sexual violence. Porn for a woman is (again, imagined) sex with a man who will not or cannot fail her relationally. He will always be “romantic” and “make” her feel special (like anybody can actually force somebody to feel anything??) It’s not love, because there is no risk.

So what do we do in most of our “Christian” marriage conferences and seminars? (BTW, I HATE using the word Christian as an adjective – that’s why it’s in quotes – but that’s a whole other deal…) I those conferences, men are told to be more romantic, get out the candles and the soft music, send cards, make her feel special. Women are told to be more sexually available and assertive, “give him your body,” and for heaven’s sake, NEVER say “no.” In short (using my definitions above): be more like porn for each other.

How in GOD’s holy name (and I mean this prayerfully!) does that honor His image and likeness, in which we are made? How does it invite us to think about sexual union being one of the highest forms of worship that humans are capable of? “Two becoming one in the presence of God” is, IMHO, the closest we can come to experiencing, celebrating, and yes, worshipping Trinity. Our loving, relational GOD.

My thoughts: I wish people would realize the church is here to help us all not get too weird. When the church (historical & contemporary) says, in a mature Biblical way, "that's within bounds," it's within bounds, & thankfully there are a lot of things within bounds. We aren't a cult so there are differences as to what's in bounds, but when, for the most part, the church (historical & contemporary) gives the thumbs up, we're cool; when the church says, "that's confusing, could be hurtful, & is something that generally hasn't worked out" we should listen. That said, we do live in the land of me, myself, & I, so even the idea of we over me isn't a playground reinforced idea, & so grows the fruit. Sex, in marriage or not, is at first elating & then a source of constant communication; I'm not seeing this as very helpful.

This Ain't Ohio...

2011-08-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Flash mob in Santa Cruz shows some skin for a cause

By CHELSEA HAWKINS

Posted: 08/19/2011 04:33:05 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ Sentinel - Women are baring all in the name of a good cause.
In support of breast cancer survivors and continued cancer research, women will shed their shirts at the city hall courtyard in downtown Santa Cruz. Led by Mariana Sophia Santiago, community members will participate in a flash mob from 5-7 p.m. on Sunday.

The event coincides with National Go Topless Day, a show of support for gender equality and an attempt to redefine cultural perceptions of female nudity.

Santa Cruz is one of the few cities that allows women to be publicly topless and Santiago, who organized the flash mob, is embracing such liberation. Participants will wear pasties and flaunt body art, exhibiting their nude torsos as a show of solidarity to the men and women affected by breast cancer every year. Community members of all walks of life are encouraged to come and show their support.

"I want to tap into ... the goddess in every woman," Santiago said. "Breasts are the origins of food, our first food, so there is no shame in showing oneself. There should be no shame, because there is this whole connection between womanhood, motherhood, food, [and] nourishment."

(My thoughts): Breast Cancer, Topless Day (showing your boobs will help equality with men & redefine the image of women? Men will show up, but I don't assume for the ideal of equality), Santa Cruz allows women to be topless in public (yep), goddess.

What does a church, devoted to sharing the love of Christ in Santa Cruz, look like?

This Ain't Ohio...

La Familia

2011-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

A Day in the Life...

2011-08-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

From the Orval Monastery.

Daily Rhythm:
"Show me your diary and I shall tell you who you are. The way in which a man uses his time reveals his life-style and his priorities. To what does a man give his time? For whom has he time ? In a monk's diary pride of place is given to seeking the Lord. The day is organized around those moments of gratuity, around those non-profit making hours which are the hours of prayer. It is there that one touches the price of monastic life: it foresees moments in which the monk does nothing other than take the time to live for God, the time to come together as a community of brothers and to sing together of God's love for man, the time to remain silent in the presence of the One Who gives life."

This is the challenge for all of us to follow Christ: Living out His values in day to day life; seeing Him in the day to day routines, habits, chores, & joys of life. I wish we were all able to see Him, as He is, in our daily rhythms.

How can we, as a church in Santa Cruz or other areas, live out the life of Christ, daily? Let's attempt to not make it more difficult than it really is.

All Over the Country

2011-08-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

I just got off a webpage about a Christian conference happening near Santa Cruz & must admit I'm kinda over church culture (it's been a slow process). Really, it's kinda gross. As I scrolled through the bios of each speaker & musician it was really weird. "So & so wrote this book & speaks (or plays) all over the country." I guess my question would be: Is that some sort of arrival point? Is it the goal of Christian leaders to write a book or song & then play "all over the country?" & this magically gives them some sort of clout to be a "main presenter?" It just seems weird.

I think this is coupled with a recent visit to a blog where the author was blasting a conference for not being Heidi Baker, because "if everyone did what she did this conference (on social justice) wouldn't even matter." It made me sad because this girl isn't Heidi & she won't really get to be herself until she realizes that's best.

Celebrity.

I guess I'm over the "so & so; & who's who," within the faith & my opinion is that as long as we continue to teach Christians to listen to "so & so who wrote this & that & spoke here & there," we belittle the little ones who make up the brunt of the face of Christ in the streets; because they never will be celebrities & that's just fine.

I realize certain people do have fabulous things to share & therefore do travel to & fro in order to share their wisdom; however, "so & so, has spoken or played all over the country," has become a mantra for our church culture to make us believe they're something special (or maybe we're helping them believe they're special?).

What if the speaker's bio said: "So & so, been faithful in the little things for 25yrs."

I'm not sure how that would sound on a conference bio: My name is Sean; I just got back from my neighbors house where he showed me his birthday homebrew with 4oz of weed in it.

How do we within the church help everyone to see they are as important as Heidi? How do we within the church help our teachers present us with a bio that reflects day-to-day faith? How do we in the church learn how to appreciate simple acts of faith like going next door?

The Perils of a Godly Man

2011-08-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

I recently opened a message from a woman I assumed I went to Highschool with. What followed was a rather interesting dialogue as I discovered I was being given a "proposal." I think we get proposals often, sometimes from simple things, & other times we get a proposal that will shipwreck who we are. I wish I always made the right choice when presented with a enticing proposal, but "very often" will have to sustain me to the finish lines as we practice the ways of Jesus in Santa Cruz.

Below is the actual dialogue between my suitor & I via Facebook:
--You look good in your profile picture, are you still single? Smile!!!!
--What's up Nancy. Thanks for the compliment. I've been married for 11 years & have 3 incredible kids. I hope you're doing well. Blessings.
--Yes, i am doing good and you?
--We're doing great. We live in Santa Cruz & are a part of a really cool faith community here following Jesus. What have you been up to?
--Nothing much just wish we could get to know each other and see how it goes, how are your kids doing as well?
--How do we know each other Nancy?
--well, maybe we can exchange email
--Hey Nancy I don't know if you caught on or not, but I'm a happily married man. Too, I have three kids. What would it have been like for your dad to accept some invitation from another woman? What would that have done to your life? Is that what you'd like to do to my family?

Maybe she's still thinking about my questions...

Sign of the times...

2011-07-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't been in the blogging mood lately. Here's some filler content...Santa Cruz style.

Medical Marijuana Gardener

2011-06-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yep...we live in Santa Cruz. Here's a local job posting for a Medical Marijuana farmer position; not that I'm gonna stop being the pastor of our church in Santa Cruz or anything like that...

You must already have current Medical Marijuana Approval, or be willing to apply for it. If so, I will pay for medical evaluation, and securing your State of California issued Medical Marijuana Identification Card.
You must be familiar with organic gardening principles and their application, or be willing to learn them.
You must be neat, clean and thorough in all areas of work.
You must be dependable, trustable, and honestly believe in the benefits of using marijuana both personally and as a safe & sane alternative to many of the products/practices now destroying our planet's integrity.
You must be self-motivated...NO SLACKERS NEED APPLY, all egos left at front gate...well, mostly!

The work can vary from as little as 9 or 10 hours to over 40 hours a week.
The work includes planting-through-harvesting; helping take care of growing plants, checking each plant for/removing yellowing leaves, thoughtful pruning, keeping the growing areas (green house, and indoors) neat and clean, staking, bracing and other wise supporting the plants as they grow and especially the flower clusters as they develop. Your finesse and patient gentleness are a must.

Further opportunity exists to learn how to properly dry, cure, and manicure so as to maintain highest levels of fragrance, flavor and medical efficacy.
Also, advanced breeding techniques can be learned all of which are cross-transferrable for successfully growing a wide range of food crops, many types of ornamentals as well.
As long as responsibilities are carried out your schedule is flexible.

Numerous other perks can come along with this job depending on your personality, dedication and length of employment. These include some meals, live music shows (reggae, Further, blues and rock, etc.) access, travel and Hawaii vacations, just to mention a few.

Once learned the skill sets that go with this job will empower you with abilities, and contacts, that will remain with you, can help you, throughout your life. This is not a "McJob", but it will be working for the benefit of others as well as yourself as a way of finding and maintaining your own independence free from toiling for a system that cares little, really, about you. Beyond its economic aspect, this plant deals directly with our spiritual and karmic advancement, if you also believe this then this could be the job for you.
Blessings to all who even read this.

Oh, pay starts at $20.00/hour. You must be responsible for keeping your own IRS forms/payments.

Now you tell me...

2011-05-23T10:14:00.001-07:00

“Pastoral work is slow and tedious. Be patient. It’s not easy or exhilarating. It’s plodding. In some ways its easy. Just stay there and be faithful. Pray. Know the names of the people in your community. Trust them and see them as blossoming saints, even if they don’t act like it.” Eugene Peterson

God, help me learn this lesson for our church in Santa Cruz.

Better Church

2011-05-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

"Men are looking for better methods; God is looking for better men." E.M. Bounds

Church Success

2011-05-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

"When the church is driven more by the idea of success rather than obedience, it really hasn't traveled far off the road called failure."

A homeless person in Santa Cruz California

Practice makes...Real

2011-04-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

What is the devotional life? What does it mean to be "saved?" What's the resurrection got to do with: Work, bills, the environment, sex, beer, coffee, career, hate, or any of the other aspects of "life?" Sadly, we've become professionals at seeing certain things as spiritual & other things as, well, just normal life. This isn't how it's supposed to be & as a community in Santa Cruz we want to live out our faith now.

Here's a great quote:

"Why is it that we look upon our salvation as a moment that began our religious life instead of the daily life we receive from God?" Dallas Willard

When we think about what it means to be a church we should be certain about these things: We're alive in Christ NOW. We're a part of the resurrection NOW. The church & our church in Santa Cruz is the body of Christ NOW. We are a part of the New Creation NOW. Work is worship TODAY.

All of this become even clearer when we take Communion as a church. Communion isn't a reassurance that one day we'll enjoy God without any issues; Communion is God's evident reassurance that we are to enjoy Him NOW. The Bread & the Wine aren't mystical things taken from the world transformed into something other-worldly; the Bread & the Wine are normal things of the world taken into ourselves that we might realize life is spiritual. His whole self was crucified & risen to redeem my whole self all the time...all of me...all the time.

What's it mean to live the resurrected life in Santa Cruz (or anywhere else) NOW?

The Last Supper

2011-04-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

In Grad school I read a book where two followers of Jesus enjoyed communion with some homeless brothers & sisters; they used Pepsi & Donuts. There is a tremendous breadth to Jesus, the Kingdom, & Communion. As I reflect on "who" is able to take communion, I must admit my circles are growing wider. Why? Because "sinners" cannot corrupt the body & blood of Christ; it is they who will become corrupted by: Truth, Love, Grace, Kingdom, & the Reality found in God through Jesus.

Stumble Not

2011-04-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

Great thoughts from a local pastor.

2011-04-01T16:56:00.001-07:00

My sister-in-law recently graduated from one of the top medical schools in the country. It has achieved that status not by being the biggest, but because of the quality of students it turns out and the number treatment-breakthroughs that are discovered there.

Similarly, our churches (or Bible studies, or worship teams, or whatever other ministry-effort we're leading) should not be evaluated by their size, but on what is happening in the lives of those who are there.

Here are a few other parallels that have crossed my mind:

Most med-schools also have hospitals attached. What a great picture of church! Everyone is welcome... nobody is shamed or turned away. However, entrance into the hospital does not guarantee entrance into the attached med-school. At our church, what we're looking for in people who would aspire to ministry leadership are servant-heartedness (my spell-check doesn't know that word), teachability (a desire to learn things that I don't already know), accountability (a desire to be linked up with others in a growth-process), and repentance (an eagerness to have my thinking changed by God).
We have more "students" than "doctors" and the learners are the ones doing the hands-on work. While patients at med-school hospitals might prefer to have full-fledged doctors doing the surgeries, often students are involved in the process. At church, it's the same. Our pastoral team and Delta leaders' jobs are not to do the ministry directly, but to mobilize and connect people who are learning how to pray and counsel with those who need it (all of us). Interestingly, studies have shown that (despite patients' nervousness) the care at med-school hospitals is better than at non-teaching hospitals.
For patients, healing is the goal. Everybody hopes that a trip the hospital is brief! Some treatments can take time, but every patient should aspire to wholeness. The point of coming to the hospital is to be healed so that we can get on with our lives. Sometimes church can seem like an endless cycle of going into the hospital! Instead, let's all set our sights on fruitful ministry (getting off the sick-bed and into the white gown and stethescope).
For students, each day is lived with graduation day in mind. The point of this school is not just to build a bigger and bigger school and hospital... but to SEND out these students into the wide world where they are needed. I am asking God to give me big dreams for those who call our church home... and the wisdom to equip them for what God is asking them to do. And I want to get better at planning a church-program that will love, mend, train, and send people in a period of a few years.

It's helpful to spend time thinking about what we're trying to do with this thing called "church." Without proactive thought, we'll end up just doing stuff out of tradition or routine. Neither will get us to our objective ("Go therefore and make disciples...").

Who's Your Momma?

2011-03-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

"He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother."St. Cyprian

I've recently realized the most prominent issue within mankind. One would assume it is: Greed, perversion, hate, sexual sin, or something else, but it isn't. It's rebellion. I'm the captain of my own ship.

I too wrestle with this, yet as I sink within the waters of my own choices, countless have been the times when the church has wrestled me from my own determination to find freedom through my distorted lens of reality.

Thank you mother church for offending my sinful nature. You are the water-wings that keep me afloat as I have been so determined to drown when I wrench the wheel of my ship from the Holy Spirit. Thank you Father, Spirit, & Son...& Mother.

"He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother."St. Cyprian

Santa Cruz: A New Kingdom

2011-02-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

I'm a part of a group of pastors in Santa Cruz who read a book a month & then gather to discuss, amongst other things, the book we've read. This month we're reading: "Surprised By Hope" by N.T. Wright. It's been a great read so far, & I must admit I'm a bit ignorant as to the meaning of the Resurrection now & for the life after.

N.T. Wright is tackling many questions including: "What do people believe in when they talk about life after death?" Moreover, what do we Christians believe when it comes to life after death? As N.T. Wright demonstrates we believe much more in "Heaven," then in the Resurrection of all believers. As my daughter said the other night at dinner, "People who believe in God go to Heaven. Those who don't go to Hell." Needless to say, I'm glad to be reading the book. Although her statement has some merit it's more a product of popular thought then thorough Biblical thinking.

One of the things I most appreciate about N.T. Wright's writings is his insistence upon the bridging of Jesus' arrival & our, the church, response in light of this in the world. He says, "It (The Resurrection) is not an absurd event within the old world but the symbol & starting point of the new world. The claim advanced in Christianity is of that magnitude: Jesus of Nazareth ushers in not simply a new religious possibility, not simply a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a new creation."

Jesus is the beginning of a new creation. He is the catalyst of the Kingdom of God. This is incredible in so many ways, but the thing I find most amazing is that we, the church, are that new creation. We are the the greatest living example of the Resurrection. We are the Kingdom of God here & now. This was a huge issue in the first century. The church was one of the most obvious signs that something real had actually happened: A new community was now in existence where beforehand there was not. A group of people who desired to have their lives shaped by the Lord of the Cosmos; a people who desired to live out the values of the Kingdom. That's a big deal.

But what does the church mean in the world today? Jesus is the start of a new creation. We are the deposit in this world of that new creation. However, currently, to what end? Are we the lightning rod for the Kingdom God envisions to demonstrate here? Is the church, like a window into a house, a way for people to see: "Aha, that's what the Kingdom looks like." Clearly the answer is, in most cases, no. At least in Santa Cruz, when people think church they don't associate it with: The clear example of what God's Kingdom looks like here & now.

Somehow we (I) don't get the Resurrection; because if we did this world would look a lot more like the one Jesus came to inaugurate.

Big Ass Grasshoppers

2011-02-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

I love spending time with people who aren't Christian. I find it incredibly refreshing to spend time with those whose interest in Jesus compels them to seek after the one who has perplexed & given life to the cosmos, which includes people like me.

One thing I like about spending time with those who are seeking God is how they describe the Biblical narrative in their own language. We Christians have our vernacular &, correct as it is, isn't as colorful as those who don't yet know "protocol."

As I've been coaching track at a local high school I've had the honor of helping some of the athletes see more clearly who God is. One athlete even agreed to start meeting with me each Friday at 6:15am. So, this morning we had our first "Bible Study." We started in proverbs, then moved to Mark, & finished, per his request, with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

My favorite quote from our time was when after reading Mark Chapter 1, as Mark describes John the Baptist wearing Camel hair & eating Locusts. As we passed through this description I asked, "Do you know what a locust is?" He replied, "It's like a big ass grasshopper. Right?" After he said this my soul grew warm as I enjoyed the company God had placed me in. As we sat in his car, the rain moving down the windshield painting our Bibles with refracted lights, I answered, "Yep, it's a big ass grasshopper."

I'm Too Busy

2011-02-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

"I'm too busy." Really? Too busy? Too busy to: Pray, read, share, love, sit, rest, worship, etc. Too busy? Too busy.

I often wonder what we're too busy doing. Why is it that spiritual exercises: Service, prayer, reading, meditation, hospitality, or singing aren't refreshing to us; yet physical activity is something we can find time for (when we aren't MAKING time for movies).

Time released a new study on time, at least time spent in physical activity.

Time: Santa Cruz 4th most active city in the country

SANTA CRUZ - Time magazine has taken what they call geographical sloth distribution data from the Centers for Disease Control and compiled a list of the 15 most active cities in the country, placing Santa Cruz fourth on that list.

In reality, someone who says, "I don't have enough time to do that," isn't telling the truth (lying? maybe not sooo intentionally); because everyone has the same amount of time. What should be said is, "I don't find that activity valuable enough to devote what time I do have." That's a bit more honest. Right?

Please stop saying you don't have time; in reality that's all you have. It's a measure of value as to where you place yourself for a given period of time. I don't value that, but I do value this.

We do have time & we spend it on what we value most. It's never been about time, but I often find we blame it. Time isn't the issue; value is.

I wonder what SC would look like if it were rated: Ranked 4th in the nation for churches living out Kingdom values.

But, who has time for that? Too many new releases, trails to run, bodies to look at in the gym, & waves to surf.

& yes I do run ultra-marathons so I get the rub.

What or Whom?

2011-02-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

Another great chapter from "The Christ of the Indian Road," is titled: What or Whom? Are we to believe in the "what" of our faith or is it centered upon a "whom?" Stanley Jones puts it sharply that we believe in a whom & not a series of whats.

Here are five great quotes from the book:

"Christianity with a what-emphasis is bound to be divisive, but this tendency is lessened with a whom-emphasis. Note the things that have created denominations in the west: baptism, human freedom, rites, ceremonies, dress--the points of division have been nearly all "whats."

"Only life can lift life. A doctor lay dying--a Christian doctor sat beside him & urged him to surrender & have faith in Christ. The dying doctor listened in amazement. Light dawned. He joyously said, 'All my life I have been bothered by what to believe, & now I see it is whom to trust.' Life lifted life."

"But the statement made above about Jesus coming out of an uninspired Book must be corrected a bit, for Jesus did not come out of the Book; it came out of Him. It did not create Him; He created it."

" We must call men not to loyalty to a belief but loyalty to a Person. We may be loyal to a belief & be dead spiritually, but we cannot be loyal to this Person & be other than alive spiritually. He creates belief. We do not get Jesus from our beliefs, we get our beliefs from Jesus."

"There is no real danger lest Jesus be lost among the many in all this, that it may end up in his being put in the Pantheon of Hinduism. Greece & Rome tried that & the Pantheons amid which he was placed are gone--Jesus lives on. He is dynamic, disruptive, explosive like the soft tiny rootlets that rend the monuments of man's pride. Like the rootlets he quietly goes down into the crannies of men's thinking, & lo, old forms & customs are broken up. Absorb him? you may as well talk about the moist earth in springtime absorbing the seed. The seed absorbs it, for it is life. Jesus is life. He will take care of himself."

Thanks E. Stanley Jones.

Jesus through Experience

2011-02-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a pastor's book club. 6-7 of us get together & discuss a book we've read the previous month. It's a wonderful time of argument, tension, & serious discussion, mixed with sarcasm, laughter, & friendship. It is a truly wonderful time. This month we read: "The Christ of the Indian Road;" by E. Stanley Jones. Mr. Jones is truly a theological find. He was described as the Billy Graham of India & his wealth of knowledge is radiant. Faced with unbelievable theological issues from a very spiritual culture, Stanley Jones is forced to search his soul & faith to find the very thing that makes Christianity worth living; thankfully, he doesn't shrink from the challenge.

Chapter: Jesus Through Experience.

Religion is the life of God in the soul issuing in the kingdom of God on earth. But first of all it is the life of God in the soul. Religion means realization. If not, then religion soon means ritual, & that means death. The early disciples had little ritual but a might realization.

Chapter: The Great Hindrance

(To Ghandi, his friend.) What would you suggest that we do to make (Christianity naturalized in India?)

"I would suggest, first, that all of you Christians must begin to live more like Jesus."

"Second," he said, "I would suggest that you must practice your religion without adulterating or toning it down."

"Third, I would suggest that you must put your emphasis upon love, for love is the center & soul of Christianity."

"Fourth, I would suggest that you study the non-Christian religions & culture more sympathetically in order to find the good that is in them, so that you might have a more sympathetic approach to the people."

Ghandi has some other amazing things to say about Jesus in this book.

E. Stanley Jones is a serious theological find.

Jean Vanier: On Sex

2011-02-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

This is my wife's post, so since we're one in flesh--often--I figured this would be good on my blog too! Enjoy.

The Newleywed Bed
I seem to be passionate lately about sharing the naked truth about matters of sexuality. There are a lot of things I learned growing up, but I am a late bloomer when it comes to this conversation topic. As a newlywed I would have greatly appreciated some honest talks from women who knew the truth about normal and healthy sexuality rather than basing my knowledge and expectations on TV and other popular media. There may have been women around who were willing to share, but the truth is when it came to questions about sexuality, I just never asked!

So far, I've found little truth about healthy sexuality on TV. As a newlywed mentioned to her virgin friend, "I haven't seen a sex scene yet that is realistic!" She's right. Hopefully, though, she at least has someone to steer her to some honest resources and candid conversations about realistic expectations and healthy sexuality. Hopefully she finds out that she is somewhere in the realm of normal in her newlywed experience.

Some friends and I are currently reading Man and Woman God Made Them by Jean Vanier. I am more than willing to talk openly about sexuality, but not so graceful about bringing up the subject on my own. This book has been the perfect way for us to start good conversations and shed some light on many popular myths. The following quote started a wonderful conversation since most virgins are shocked by Vanier's comments about the time of adjustment and how long it may be before a woman experiences an orgasm.

"Sexual education is not so much a practical manual of what one must do and how, as a basis for harmonious sexual relationship, but rather a matter of helping people to be at ease with their own sexuality. It implies growth in the capacity to see the other as someone with needs. It also includes helping people to face the challenges and difficulties involved in relationships. This is, in fact, apprenticeship for true love. In most couples it takes a long, long time for one, or both, of the persons to have fulfilling and joyful sexual relationships. Often it is the woman who has the longest period of adjustment. There can be pain involved, or failure to have an orgasm. This can last for years. This is a real learning process that requires much sensitivity towards the other (and most often it is the man who has to learn to be sensitive to the woman's body). It is important for young people to know that sexual relationships don't 'work', are not completely fulfilling, right from the start."

I haven't seen that scene in a movie yet.

I find Jean Vanier's delivery of truth in this book to be refreshing. Why don't we talk about this stuff more often? Okay, okay, as I mentioned earlier, I am not the most graceful at bringing up intimate issues. It's not like I'm going to say, "Hey friend! How's your week going? By the way, it may be a year or more before you experience an orgasm. Just thought you should know."

But I am, however, going to find a way to expose as much truth as possible in my daily life. For me this means intentionally choosing a book on sexuality to read with some friends. It means posting faithfully about healthy sexuality when I find resources worth sharing.

It also means getting used to pointing out false truths that I watch on movies with my kids (regarding sexuality, or any other myths I see presented in movies we watch together). I might even pause the movie and say, "This is just a movie. This movie is pretend. In real life it's more like this..." I am certainly not going sit there and by my presence place my seal of approval on some dream world notions about life and sexuality that will be cruelly crushed when they come face to face with reality. Nope. Not me. I am going to speak truth and hopefully equip my kids, my friends, (and heck, you, the general public who may read my blog) with some tools to deal with reality.

So today there are some myths to dispel. Sex is not all about me, nor is it all about sensual pleasure (though pleasure is a definite bonus). In a healthy relationship there is a lot of give and take, a lot of communication and sensitivity to the other person's needs. Learning about making love is a process that is both beautiful and awkward in the best sense of the word.

Let me tell you that more complete sexual pleasure usually comes a long way into a committed relationship as two people become more and more in tune with one another, more and more intimately acquainted. Shy and clumsy, strange and funny, practice and failure are all part of real life picture perfect. Not only does intimacy become more pleasurable over time, but the journey made with one committed partner is truly better than any movie could ever depict.

I fear that there are many women in particular who are sadly disappointed in their sexual experiences as they seek love and affection from a man who is not committed for the long haul. Also, I fear that many newlyweds are left with feelings of failure and insecurity when they realize that their intimate life is not picture perfect like they imagined. They have simply been presented with an unrealistic and highly romanticized 'picture perfect'.

Much of this could be avoided, or at the least understood, if we are faithful to speak openly and candidly about sexuality with our kids and other who are looking to us for guidance. Trust me, I am not the best at this, but I am more than willing to embarrass myself in the process. I think it's worth it to be real for the sake of relational and sexual health that should be the blessing of every marriage and every marriage bed!

Please join the conversation in the comments section. I value your opinion and would love to hear your perspective. Feel free to be "anonymous" if that enables you to share more freely, or email me if you want to discuss more in private.

No Power Lovin'

2011-02-01T19:38:00.001-08:00

As I was reading through the latest Cutting Edge (The Vineyard Churches Publication) I read the article on Power Evangelism. When asked what he meant by "power evangelism" the writer said, PE "is using the "power gifts:" healing, prophecy, deliverance, & ministry of the manifest presences of God-to reach people." Oddly, love didn't make the list of "power gifts." Love isn't power? God IS love, but it's not a power gift? Paul explicitly says love is the greatest gift, yet it's not a "power gift?" Weird. Wrong. Unbiblical. Sad. Reflective. Unfortunate.

I am thankful for the multitudes of those who are great lovers of God who never prayed in tongues or prophecied. E. Stanely Jones; Mother Theresa; Jean Vanier; Henry Nouwan; Charles Studd; Francis of Assisi. These incredible people remind me, as I flounder in the shadow of Apostolic shadows, that "love is the greatest gift." I am thankful too of my "empowered" brothers & sisters; I'm blessed to witness the miraculous in & around me.

Yet if love isn't the greatest of the "power gifts" than we've missed the point. In fact we've missed Jesus.

Epiphany 4: Jesus Loves Lepers

2011-01-31T06:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a video we used during worship to celebrate the 4th week of Epiphany.

What would Jesus Brew?

2011-01-21T12:34:00.001-08:00

As we approach the 3rd Sunday in Epiphany we look at the first of Jesus' miracles: Turning water into wine. It's odd to me that Jesus would do such a thing; or, should I say, it's odd only because our understanding of who Jesus is, the Kingdom of God, alcohol, & parties are distorted.

Alcohol is a theological hornets nest in almost any room filled with Christians. Some use it to prove they're: Mature, unreligious, or part of the intelligentsia. Others decry it as an ultimate evil: Prohibition! It seems to be a very polarizing subject.

Yet Jesus neither made wine to show he wasn't a Pharisee (which He was) or that He was cool (which He still is); & Jesus, knowing western Christianities view on alcohol didn't reject His mothers request to make it. He made a product people used & still use to sin.

Sadly, I think this is just one area we see Jesus distorted through our theological lenses. I see many people whose faith is constipated with erroneous theology, anger, frustration, disappointment, & sadness. But this isn't because of Jesus. He is pure, undefiled, & a perfect representation of the Father. We are the ones who approach Him with conditions, theologies, expectation, doctrines, & other distorted tails we blindly attempt to pin on the donkey. However, thankfully our theological donkey tales never stick to Him. He is the reality we should aspire to in theology, which leads to Life as He intended, using the things of the world He created in ways that honor Him.

I'm thankful Jesus was a wine maker. It's challenging because it opens up the Kingdom of God to me. It demonstrates a faith of parties, fun, fellowship, & laughter. We've got much to learn from Jesus.

Addiction

2011-01-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

Last night was our time of community worship & we did things a bit differently. There are several reasons why, three actually, that are leading me to imagine new spiritual activities as we gather.

First: On ITunes you can download podcasts of just about anybody; & all of this for free (mostly). Thankfully Eugene Peterson has several podcasts from various talks he has given throughout the country. The talks I have been listening to revolve around his latest 5 books, or as his wife calls them: Peterson’s Pentateuch. As a pastor, scholar, & practitioner of the faith for over 50yrs, Eugene has so much wisdom to share with us.

One of the themes he continually, & appropriately, works through is his dissatisfaction with the Evangelical church. I’m thankful for his perspective on this because he’s seen so much & this is the field I find myself in. He continually brings up illustrative points as to how we’ve created something so distant from Biblical & historical Christianity. I must admit as I listen to Eugene I am equally amused & convicted by his wisdom. He shares how in so many ways we have created a generation of Christian culture addicts; they sit, listen, tithe, & go their way. He, without reservation, details how we have not done so well at helping people to access the Holy One as a way of life.

All that to say this: He was invited to Seattle Pacific to do a sermon series. What was most intriguing to me was that each one of his "sermons" wasn’t a sermon; it was a story. He passionately, profoundly, succinctly, & effectively told stories to a listening audience. As I was running & listening to this I found myself smiling often because I was engrossed in the story he was telling. It was God’s story; it was my story. It wasn't a 3 point sermon; he told a story. As I look at world history one thing is beyond a doubt: Stories, & good story tellers, are a cross-cultural hit. Stories have been & always will be one of THE most effective ways to share information. Thanks Eugene.

Second: Reading through Charles Kraft’s book on communication has been illuminating. He continually demonstrates how our communication models aren’t really comparable to God’s via. Jesus’ communication on earth. Since this book is written to those who actually care about Christian communication one natural audience for this book is pastors, so naturally the topic of “sermon” is brought up many times. Dr. Kraft does an outstanding job putting “preaching” within its proper context; he never says monologues are bad; yet he, like many other scholars, reminds us: It is one of THE least effective ways of communication. This, for most of us isn’t a new idea; however, & this is a big however: I guarantee that the next time I sit in a room of pastors & we discuss how church is going 8 out of 10 pastors will share with the group what they’re monologue topic is. Preaching: Fresh, exciting, humorous, convicting, accessible, apologetics, power-point, passionate, etc; is one the least effective means of communicating. All of this has its roots, not is the NT as Dr. Kraft make obvious, but in the Reformation. Jesus’ monologues, but what percentage of his communication is monologue? Paul, Peter, John? Actually, John did a lot of monologues: John Calvin. But he ruled his own city, so he could monologue if he wanted to.

Last: I have continually been asking myself, “Who are the 95% who don’t follow Jesus & find church to be irrelevant to their spiritual needs?” Thankfully, God placed an awesome group of people around me to help me see who they are & how they worship their gods. As I recently attended one of their worship times I was struck by several things: The music was simple, repeatable, & had a moving tempo. The scene was sensual (not sexual, but there was a bit of that too!); people were dancing, others were blowing incense in your face, people were sitting & meditating. There was a ton of worship happening & there was no teaching, monologue, or preaching. As I reflected on “church” I imagined the opposite happening: There’s a ton of monologue, but not so much worship. Too, as I sat in the room with these passionate worshippers I asked myself, “The goal is to introduce these people to the living God & the gathering of the saints is one of the main ways this happens. How would any of these people respond if I asked them to leave this way of worship in exchange for a neat Bible & a comfy chair where they could listen to me extrapolate Biblical truths in the name of solid apologetics.” I at once was struck by the difference between their active worship with our static worship. But, in our faith (generally) when the greatest amount of space is given to monologue by the experts, what are the people to do, but sit, listen, & be amazed at the oratory skills of the speaker?

So last night, which was the first Sunday of Epiphany, I didn’t preach. We sang songs to God, I shared a story about the pain of a dark creation giving way to joy, as the stars lit the way for the Magi to worship the light born in a manger. Too, I told the story of the light being born in my life. We then practiced Lectio Divina on the text where Jesus says, “those who practice my words build upon the rock.” We: Read, Meditated, Prayed, & Contemplated the Word; Together.

Where this is all headed is a mystery to me...

Preach it Brotha!

2011-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

As a pastor's group we are reading: Communication Theory for Christian Witness, by Charles Kraft. It's been heady, but really good. Here's what he has to say about preaching:

"It is simply a damaging myth that supports our tradition of preaching. It is based on the one hand on the historical fallacy that this is the way the early church did it and on the other by inadequate translation that gives the impression that monologue preaching is God's intended way of getting his message out. There is no magic in this (or any other) method. Jesus himself much preferred personal, interactional communication that encourages immediate feedback and, if necessary, adjustment of the message to assure greater relevance." Pgs. 28-29

&

"In what follows I will argue that Christians should use a multiplicity of forms of communication (as Jesus did), chosen according to their appropriateness in each given situation. A monologue approach is thoroughly appropriate if one wants to present a body of cognitive information in a short period of time...But a monologue approach is very poorly suited to either changing people's opinions or leading them to make significant changes in their lives." Pg. 31

He says quite a bit more & really demonstrates that what we believe "preaching" is really isn't what the NT means when it uses the words; or rather what the Bible translators thought of the words they translated. Too, given "preaching" is the preferred method of communication by the vast majority of churches, Dr. Kraft goes on to show how monologue (that's what our preaching is) is one of the least effective means of transformation for anyone. Yet, as Evangelicals monologue/preaching IS the main method of communication. This is challenging to me; especially as I find myself coming into closer proximity with a group of people who worship their gods in almost every way other than the way we do.

Eye Opening: Epiphany.

2011-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Some people take the beginning of Epiphany more seriously than others.

Epiphany: Thomas Merton

2011-01-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

We're doing our best to go through the Liturgical Calendar. The book I'm using had this quote from Thomas Merton, an author I have yet to read.

“We who have seen the light of Christ are obliged, by the greatness of the grace that has been given us, to make known the presence of the Savior to the ends of the earth…not only by preaching the glad tidings of His coming; but above all by revealing Him in our lives…Every day of our mortal lives must be His manifestation, His divine Epiphany, in the world which He has created & redeemed.” Thomas Merton

Poor Jesus

2010-12-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1: The Master Plan of Evangelism

"Is it not rather disappointing that one with all the powers of the universe at his command would live & die to save the world, yet in the end have only a few ragged disciples to show for his labor?"

It's amazing to think Jesus had so little to show for his labors; yet that's if you're qualifying his fruit on the quantity & not the quality of his students. This thought has been interesting to me, since in many ways our popular church culture measures the exact opposite.

"Really it is a question of which generation we are living for."

This is a great question. What generation are we living for? Jesus could have had masses. Jesus could have been made King. Jesus could have had it all in His day: publicity, stature, popularity, etc. He chose anonymity & invested to reap His rewards in the future & not in the present. Once again this goes against popular church culture where we attempt to attract the masses in order to create a church.

Seeing is believing

2010-12-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

The leadership of our church is going to read: The Master Plan of Evangelism. This will be the 3rd time I have read this book & must admit, I'm excited to read it again. I don't know when I first read it, but it is one of the books that has shaped me. When I first read it church, leadership development, friendship, discipleship, & evangelism, were never the same to me.

It's a simple premise: How did Jesus view & do evangelism? This is important because, "He always knew what was right, & as the perfect Man, he lived as God would live among humans." That's an amazing thought: Jesus lived as God would live among humans. What's more is Jesus didn't "do" life in a certain way because he was perfect & therefore had a super-human means of doing evangelism; he was perfect & demonstrated how God would do evangelism not only because it was "right," but for his church to see. (What's amazing is how many read about his life without seeing his life as an example to follow.)

This is both challenging & inspirational. On the one hand challenging because we don't generally follow Jesus' life as something to be replicated, especially in the realm of evangelism. So many have reduced Jesus to being the means of our salvation & little more. As N.T. Wright has said, "Many people would be fine had Jesus been born, left to grow in seclusion into a 33 year old man, & then taken to the cross to die." However, God intentioned for Jesus to demonstrate how God would act within humanity. We should take notice. On the other hand his methods are inspirational because anyone can do what Jesus did. His plan is accessible; we can all what Jesus did, however, very few can copy Billy Graham. Evidently easily replicable is a natural outworking of perfect!

Reading the preface I was struck by several thoughts. One was this: "Do we see an ever-expanding company of dedicated people reaching the world with the gospel as a result of our ministry?" Many definitions & examples of church discourage me. However, this is not one of them. If this is what we're called to be, I see hope.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

2010-12-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

"No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God - for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God. Emmanuel. God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God."

(Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran Archbishop who was assassinated while celebrating Mass...murdered, because the day before he had cried out on behalf of justice for the poor.)

Sex God

2010-12-13T08:42:00.000-08:00

"Our collective efforts to deter premarital sex are not that successful: 41 percent of churchgoing, conservative Protestant men's relationships become sexual within one month, barely lower than the national average of 48 percent. We expend so much energy to generate so little difference."

Mark Regnerus is associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford, 2007).

William Stringfellow

2010-12-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I heard about William Stringfellow, but I'm glad that I did. William Stringfellow was an Ivy educated lawyer who accepted an offer from a church to work within Harlem. His book: My People is The Enemy is an outstanding look at the issues created by the American Dream, the theology of the Evangelical Church, & the reality of a segment of our country we'd rather forget about: The poor. William Stringfellow is a prophetic voice deserving of your time.

"The premise of most urban church work, it seems, is that in order for the Church to minister among the poor, the church has to be rich, that is, to have specially trained personnel, huge funds & many facilities, rummage to distribute, & a whole battery of social services. Just the opposite is the case. The Church must be free to be poor in order to minister among the poor. The Church must trust the Gospel enough to come among the poor with nothing to offer the poor except the Gospel, except the power to apprehend & the courage to reveal the Word of God as it is already mediated in the life of the poor.

When the Church has the freedom itself to be poor among the poor, it will know how to use what riches it has. When the Church has that freedom, it will be a missionary people again in all the world." (Pg. 102)

It's amazing to see how true this still is. We minster to the poor out of our wealth, yet this isn't what they need. They don't need our wealth, which is often the thing that keeps us from truly trusting in God; & in many ways separates us. We all need the good news to saturate our lives. We need to learn to be content & rich with His presence. That's what "they" need. It's also what we need.

William Stringfellow's life is very challenging to us.

Christian Yoga?

2010-12-08T07:55:00.001-08:00

This article is of particular interest for me. What if we started a Christ-centered Yoga center? What if we worshiped & connected with Jesus through a form of Yoga? What about using Yoga as a way to help others connect with God? Sounds like this article is about playing defense; how can we use culture to impart Christ?
Share your thoughts.

December 8, 2010
Can Yoga be Christian?

Mohler, Driscoll, and others weigh in on the controversy.

by Url Scaramanga

A few months ago, Al Mohler set off a firestorm when he pronounced yoga to be utterly incompatible with Christian faith. The comments came in a review the Southern Baptist leader wrote about Stephanie Syman's book The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. Mohler said:

Yoga begins and ends with an understanding of the body that is, to say the very least, at odds with the Christian understanding. Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine. Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables.

To his surprise, Mohler received a significant backlash from Christians who use yoga as part of their exercise routine as well as those who believe the practice can mesh with Christian forms of reflection and meditation. But Mohler would have none of it. He wrote, “Most seem unaware that yoga cannot be neatly separated into physical and spiritual dimensions.” In other words, those who merely use yoga as a form of stretching and muscle strengthening are mistaken. He continued:

Christians who practice yoga are embracing, or at minimum flirting with, a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a 'post-Christian, spiritually polyglot' reality. Should any Christian willingly risk that?

Not to be ignored amid a cultural controversy, Mark Driscoll added his $.02 into the discussion. In this video the pugnacious pastor calls yoga “absolute paganism” and says it opens the door to demonism. But he adds this caveat: “Is it possible for a Christian to do stretching and read scripture and pray and do so in a way that is exercise that is biblical? Yes, it is possible. But if you just sign up for a little yoga class you’re signing up for a little demon class.” (BTW, Driscoll also warns against watching Avatar…the “most demonic movie ever.”)

Of course not everyone agrees with Mohler and Driscoll. David Sapp, senior pastor at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta says the form of yoga taught at his church has "sort of been de-religionalized.”

"What we do is yoga as stretching, exercise and relaxation technique," he said. "We don't do yoga as Buddhist philosophy." Sapp also believes that when yoga stretches and breathing techniques are combined with Scripture meditation, it can be used as a way of communing with God."I believe that God can come to us in all experiences in life," Sapp said. "God has lots of ways of revealing himself to people, and if he chose to do it through yoga, he could sure do that."

Dayna Gelinas, a Chrisitan yoga instructor, also sees a benefit in combining yoga with Christian themes. "It's very different from getting on a treadmill,” she says. Gelinas has replaced any association with Hinduism or Buddhism in her yoga instruction with signing or chanting Scripture.

"My yoga practice is just something I do to enhance my faith," Gelinas said. "I don't see how you can separate your body from your mind or spirit."

Many of the responses Al Mohler received to his original column were from people who do yoga stretches while forgoing any of yoga’s religious elements. Mohler took issue with this bifurcation. "My response to that would be simple and straightforward: You're just not doing yoga.”

Mohler received support for his view from a surprising souce—a Hindu. Rajiv Malhotra wrote a column for The Huffington Post on the question of “Christian yoga.” He said:

While yoga is not a "religion" in the sense that the Abrahamic religions are, it is a well-established spiritual path. Its physical postures are only the tip of an iceberg, beneath which is a distinct metaphysics with profound depth and breadth. Its spiritual benefits are undoubtedly available to anyone regardless of religion. However, the assumptions and consequences of yoga do run counter to much of Christianity as understood today. This is why, as a Hindu yoga practitioner and scholar, I agree with the Southern Baptist Seminary President, Albert Mohler, when he speaks of the incompatibility between Christianity and yoga, arguing that "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine" is fundamentally at odds with Christian teaching.

With the growing popularity of yoga among all people, including Christians, getting a better understanding of the issue is important for pastors responsible for giving spiritual guidance. What Mohler, Driscoll, and even Malhotra agree on is that the philosophical/religious origins of yoga are incompatible with Christian belief, AND if those elements of yoga are stripped away what remains (the stretches and breathing practices) cannot be rightly called “yoga.”

So what are we to do? Christianity has a long tradition of adapted pagan symbols and practices and filling them with biblical meaning. Even Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s birth near the winter solstice is an extra-biblical tradition rooted in the pagan rituals of Scandinavian and Germanic tribes. The Puritans were so disturbed by the Christmas holiday that they refused to acknowledge it.

What do you think? Is it possible to take pieces of yoga and adapt them for non-religious or even Christian use? Or are Driscoll and Mohler right—are we flirting with the demonic?

Vineyard Paper

2010-12-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

(This is my paper submission to the Vineyard Scholars Forum)

“There is an almost universal quest for easy answers & half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” Martin Luther King Jr.

During graduate school my theology was stretched & shaped. I had the privilege to sit under several outstanding scholars & practitioners who eagerly shared their wisdom with me. However, amongst this backdrop, certain ideas shaped me more than others.

One afternoon we were invited to participate in a President’s luncheon. We left our classroom & entered into the dining hall to join the President whom, for various reasons, I thought to be a fairly aloof man. Yet it was here that a man I had little concern for said something that challenged me to the core of my theology, especially my ecclesiology.

Throughout the lunch, & with a slight southern drawl, the President shared his thoughts on various subjects & about midway through the lunch he said, “One of the greatest errors I see happening within the current trends of the church is duplication. We so easily take what worked in one city, learn it, package it, replicate it, & believe it is destined to work in any city. Yet we misunderstand that God does things in one city that might not be for another; what worked is His gift to that city through that community. If only church leaders were willing to find out how God wants to use them in their particular city we might see greater fruitfulness.”

To say the least, this was a bullet to my soul. I was months out of planting a Vineyard church & instantly recognized that the majority of what I was setting out to do was in fact what the President just stated: Replicating what worked in one area & doing it somewhere else. I knew what he said was true, but as I embarked on my journey to start a church in the Bay Area I would find out just how true his statement was not only to me, but other church leaders as well.
This paper is a short attempt to reveal why we replicate few models, the implications of this replication on church leaders, & a few ideas of where we might take things.

Consumeranity
As we survey the landscape of churches within America one things stands out: A majority of them look very similar. In fact, I believe prevalent Christian culture & theology renders a very narrow group of church “models” the way & most others sadly fall into the “different” category.

The successful Evangelical church we are presented with generally looks like this: It is white; It is suburban; It has a large or growing attendance; It is profitable; It has beverages; It is economically & culturally mono-cultural—namely middle-class “Christian” culture; It has relevant & youthful worship; It has a energetic leader; It is primarily defined as a Sunday gathering.

Now to say any of these things is bad would be erroneous because these features in & of themselves aren’t. These attributes are in their context good. However, when you read church literature any number of these elements will be glaringly present as a descriptor of what a “successful” church is. This, I believe, is representative of our culture & it’s values.

Culture is a very powerful force. As Charles Kraft says, “The term culture is the label anthropologists give to the complex structuring of customs & the assumptions that underlie them in terms of which people govern their lives.” All cultures define certain things as normal & most, without any depth of thought, believe these things to be inherently ordinary; we are no different. Our cultural beliefs affect how we live & shape what we deem “normal,” which would include our theology of success. There are several cultural beliefs which shape our theology & to explore them all would require more space then I’m given, so I’ll expand upon one, which I believe has shaped how & why Evangelical churches look so glaringly similar: Industrialization.

The industrial revolution (18th-19th centuries) had a tremendous affect upon how we produce almost anything. As Europe discovered, replacing manual or animal labor with mechanized means greatly increased production of almost any product whether textiles, metal work, or food. In fact, there is little that wasn’t affected by this revolution. Needless to say the Western world adopted this new found means to financial success & industrialization became the method of production. Like most “modern” countries America adopted this production method lock, stock, & barrel.

One of the great examples of industrialization in our era is McDonald’s. Opened in 1940 this restaurant created a revolution, namely: Fast Food. By using simple industrial methods McDonalds plowed the way to consistent, inexpensive, accessible, tasty meals for the whole family. After perfecting their methods they franchised (another value of industrialization) their business philosophy & expanded out of Southern California, which allowed people from all over the world the opportunity share an almost identical experience as they enjoyed a Big Mac in L.A. or Egypt.

Industrialization, on a surface level, is genius: If we take the methods that worked in one location & reproduce them in another the results will almost always be the same. Countless franchises demonstrate that industrialization works. So it’s easy to ask: if one sector of our culture finds a great deal of success using industrialized methods, why not another? What if we combined Christianity with Industrialism?

Saddleback Community Church is one of the key churches to have revolutionized how a large portion of evangelical pastors perceive what church success is. More importantly, they were one of the front runners to create a template of how to reproduce their results in almost any given location as church historian Earle Cairns notes, describing both Saddleback & Willow Creek, “The church also reached out to other churches with “how to do it” leadership…” The methodology of Purpose-Driven was a success & was custom-ready to be reproduced in any city.

When Rick Warren published his how-to book at least 500,000 pastors & church leaders bought it; 500,000 eager church leaders who were ready to ride the Purpose-Driven wave. Looking out across the landscape of the Western Church we see a large group of people who adopted the “Purpose-Driven” template as their own. In fact, it is easy to say there are Saddleback copy cats in almost every city in the U.S. Saddleback did it, franchised it, & many bought it.

The Vineyard story is similar. When the Vineyard exploded in Southern California people were swept into its vision: Hawaiian shirts, sandals, signs & wonders, hippies, & contemporary worship were all an attractive part of the ethos. As the Vineyard started to gain popularity many cities wanted a Vineyard church. In fact, one of the prevailing church planting criteria was: Is there a group there who wants a Vineyard? What this meant was: Is there a group of people who want what’s working in SoCal in their city? We then exported the template & in essence created a Vineyard culture within reach for those who wanted it &, for a period of time, it worked. Indeed, this model is still working where the prevalent culture finds this type of church service new & exciting. (see Ohio)

But churches like Saddleback or the Vineyard aren’t the only answers to our “what should I do!?” questions. We are supplied with ready speed all the info we need to be: Seeker-Sensitive, Emerged, House to House, Bethel, Acts 29, etc. Really, as Westerners we have this compulsion to look for what’s working in one area & order it on Amazon as quickly as possible. However, by allowing so few churches to define success for so many, we’ve created a situation where a large amount of leaders aren’t truly discovering who God wants their community to be within their city. Church industry is now eerily similar to the car industry offering: “All the latest models.”

Yet there is a problem in replicating so few models; we’re really not reaching the unreached. The dominating contemporary church models do gather people, but who is attending? Generally those in attendance are Pre-Churched, De-Churched, or those who easily fit into the suburban cultural context we Evangelicals have come to, in many ways, represent. This is a problem Alan Hirsch expands upon, “…in Australia we have the somewhat farcical situation of 95% of the evangelical churches tussling with each other to reach 12% of the population. And this becomes a significant missional problem because it raises the question, “What about the vast majority of the population (in the U.S, about 65%) that report alienation from precisely that form of church.’” That’s a big problem when “that church” is the dominant “model” we seem to deem successful & the majority of leaders are being led to replicate.

Idle Worship
For the vast majority of us in church leadership, Saddleback, Anaheim Vineyard, Bethel Church, Willow Creek, IHOP,” or other “successful” ministries will not be our reality. No matter how hard we try, no matter who we hire for help, & no matter how many books or conferences we devour; the reality is: Most churches cannot replicate the churches we look to for inspiration & this unfortunately leads to a great deal of frustration.

I am regularly reminded as I speak with church leaders of a common theme: Many leaders are frustrated by their church size (or at least their overseers are). Actually, if we were honest, church size is probably the defining measurement used by ourselves & our colleagues to determine the effectiveness of our churches. The implicit formula is: Big church: Healthy, influential, anointed leadership, good programs, etc; Small Church: Small Vision, lack of good leadership, little effectiveness, mom & pop. This is a generalization; however, it is generally true, not biblically, but socially, & this social pressure has its ramifications on how the majority of those in church leadership view themselves, how they view the importance of their particular calling, & therefore determines how effective they believe they can be at representing God’s unique dream for their life.

There is a huge amount of power in what we believe about ourselves & our churches. If we believe we & our communities are important, valuable, worthy, & exactly who we were meant to be, then there is little doubt we will feel confident living out God’s plan for our lives. Yet the opposite is also true. When people believe they aren’t who God wants, they believe their lives & ministry consistently doesn’t measure up, there are powerful results as well.

All of us are struck by the story of the boy David. In 1 Samuel we are introduced to one of the least likely characters within Israel to defeat the giant Goliath. As people are introduced to the boy each of them shows disbelief at the one who claims ability to overpower the giant. Yet the boy remains unmoved to his estimation of his own strength. David exudes a confidence despite the social pressures placed upon him by others.

As has served as an illustration for many King Saul (who is confused by his own identity) puts his armor upon the boy, yet the armor doesn’t fit. We are presented with a powerful truth; armies are good, swords are preferred, armor is helpful, but God isn’t a God of formula. The truth is God determined it would be a boy with a sling & not an army with conventional tools of warfare to slay this giant. Thankfully, David was brave enough to be himself however different it was.

Amazingly, 75% of all churches within America are 150 or less & 95% of all churches are under 350, while only 0.11% of churches have in attendance 3,000 or more. Therefore, the largest group of believers within our faith are part of “smaller” churches. That said, in my modest estimation, the 0.11% supplies at least 90% of the teaching materials the 95% consumes & their definitions of “success” put pressure on the 95% who still want a “how to do it” template. This “worship of what works” then leads to idleness because many abdicate their vision for someone else’s & if & when it doesn’t work like the book said it would we start to see our churches are more of a problem than God’s unique gift, not only to us, but to our cities. Saul’s Armor makes us Idle.

When I moved to Santa Cruz I joined the Vineyard Area pastors group. As my planting team & I sat down with our Area Pastor he laid out his plan to help the churches in our area. I sat excited to learn how he planned on strengthening the area churches. He then explained how he was going to pair up the pastors in our area for church growth. How? He was going to take the 8 existing churches & pair them up according to attendance. He would pair the pastor with 300 people with the pastor who only had 200; the pastor with 170 with the pastor of 100, the pastor of 70 with the pastor of 30, etc. By doing this he hoped the smaller churches would learn how to increase their attendance & thus “grow.” But is it everyone’s vision to pastor a larger church?

I’m not advocating that large churches are bad & small churches are good. In fact, I’m not advocating that a particular size of church is advantageous at all. However, as believers who hold to the doctrine of sovereignty, we are often gifted to see His will through circumstances & circumstantially 95% of the churches within the U.S. are numerically smaller than 350 people & 75% are smaller than 150. Once again, this is the largest people group within Protestant Christianity. Nevertheless, even though the majority of us are found within this group our lack of size is more often than not the determining factor of our success, & this is a problem.

The majority of those in church leadership constantly endure this pressure. And I believe, instead of spurring our churches on to greater growth, which might include attendance, it renders too many idle at being who God wants them to be because they have been indoctrinated at seeing their communities through the lens of the industrialized Evangelical church growth machine. So, the 95% look at their churches through the lenses of the 0.11%. Looking at it this way, who wouldn’t see a problem! Consequently, instead of teaching smaller churches how to effectively be themselves, which might actually look different, we consistently present the 95% solutions to the identity problem their having; or is it the identity problem that’s being projected upon them?

Consumeranity, combined with the reality of our current circumstances creates, for lack of a better term an identity crisis, or what I’ve deemed: Idle worship. Because as long as we worship “what works” for one man’s calling we only replace who God wants us to be with another man’s (corporately & individually) vision. This worship then makes us idle because we consistently see ourselves as insufficient at being able to measure up, not to what God is calling us to, but to our neighbor. But what would happen if we shed the security of Saul’s armor for our distinct call within the Kingdom of God regardless of the insignificant social values placed upon us by others? My call might not be multi-sight, yield large numbers, or be “Christian” in culture, but who says it has to?

Let’s get Married
At this year’s Western Regional Conference Rich Nathan said, “We need to be married to John’s questions & not his conclusions.” I hope this was a fresh perspective toward new directions in church. We need to ask ourselves the questions that led John to push in the direction of starting the Vineyard. As we allow these questions to confront our current realities some of us might realize similar conclusions; at the same time, many of us will discover new conclusions to old questions.

In America we live in a melting pot of culture, ethnicities, socio-economic classes, & countless other cultural variations. As those who have been sent to represent the Kingdom of God within this melting pot our churches should also be representative of the cultures we find ourselves in. If not we are doing little more than the founders of the California Missions who came with a ready-made culture & the natives were required not only to receive Christ, but adopt “Christian Culture” as well. There should be churches where “every tribe tongue & nation,” worship one God.

We must learn how to approach our cities as missiologists. In this we attempt to create communities that have the least amount of cultural barriers so the unreached can access the Kingdom in a language environment they understand. As one great missiologist stated, “We need to learn to become all things to all people.” There is little doubt, in our century that what we view as popular church has mastered the “White, suburban, republican,” church. But that only speaks to a small portion of our country & that portion is shrinking.

We need to learn how to create churches where correct theology is demonstrated & spoken in the vernacular of the people. This is one of the major goals of missionaries: Learn the local dialect, learn the local traditions, see how Christ intersects into it, & build a community around Him. As Leslie Newbigin states, “1) the communication has to be in the language of the receptor culture. It has to be such that it accepts, at least provisionally, the way of understanding things that are embodied in that language; if it does not do so, it will simply be an unmeaning sound that cannot change anything.” I would go further & say, language must be accompanied by at least an attempt to replicate the culture from which is originates.

There needs to be new categories of orthodox Christ-Centered churches which better represent the people groups & religious views of the American landscape. Can we imagine a Muslim Vineyard; A New-Age Vineyard; A Buddhist Vineyard; A Bohemian Vineyard; or a real urban Vineyard? The Vineyard is in a great position to accommodate these people groups; yet one thing remains clear: The Vineyard is a white suburban church both ethnically & economically. We might say it’s because it started out in the white suburbs, but I believe the culture, language, & model of the current popular “successful” church is designed by white suburbanites for white suburbanites.

New Wineskins
God called my wife, myself, & a team of five people to Santa Cruz California to start a Vineyard church. We had our plan & were ready to start something new within a city that was rumored to be amongst the hardest to start a church in. Our plan seemed airtight & destined to succeed & we started with an off colored generic model. In fact, we really didn’t set out to do much different except keep discipleship as a key value & live together. That said, & four years later, we find ourselves humbled by the city where before we arrived there hadn’t been a new church started in over ten years. Amazingly, in context of the Bay Area, we aren’t doing poorly. However, as we’ve started to move from the safety of what “church” is, we find ourselves standing on the precipice of something beyond our thoughts or expectations.

If the Bay Area were a knife called post-Christian than Santa Cruz would be its cutting edge. Santa Cruz is one of, if not the most liberal, educated, free thinking cities in the U.S. Amongst other things we boast one of the largest lesbian populations (per capita), anyone can freely smoke pot downtown, & we are considered one of the Mecca’s of New Age. What’s more, Christianity isn’t a benign philosophical belief here; it is clearly seen as one of the key problems in our country. If ever there was a run at creating a humanistic utopia, Santa Cruz would be a willing contestant.

Santa Cruz is where God has called us. However, the popular version of church isn’t going to reach the 93% of this county who won’t go to an Evangelical church. Furthermore, for those who want this style of church, there already exists a wide variety of congregations who do a much better job than us! So we find ourselves asking pointed questions: What does a church look like that reflects the 93% of our county who will never go to an Evangelical Christian Church? What does a church look like that reaches the largest religious group within our county: New Age? Who do they worship? What do their worship services look like: décor, smells, language, seating, etc.? How do they worship? There are many more questions too.

One of the main questions we hold dear as a movement is this: “Do what you see the Father doing.” What type of church will reach the wide variety of people, both ethnically & economically, within our country? It is a ridiculous conclusion to believe a small variety of “models” will be able to demonstrate the Kingdom to such a wide variety of people living in the U.S. The Father is doing various things in the various cities we are called to & someone is more than likely already doing the Purpose-Driven church in most of them. Would we be willing to ask the questions that led Rick to his conclusions? As we do we should see as many varieties of church as there are people groups!

I had to remove a section because it is private. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, etc.

God created His church to fulfill His mission, which is to “seek & save the lost.” Sadly, the unreached are continually bombarded with churches whose culture, language, worship, & lifestyle are “Christian” & therefore have little relevance or appeal to them, even if they’re interested in Christ. And for many this might be a new concept, but the unreached aren’t Christian. How long will we keep presenting them with the same replicated models hoping we’ll get different results? In this regard we would do well to follow the example of another incredible missionary: Jesus. Jesus isn’t a 1st century Jew; however, He was for a specific period of time to communicate a very important message to Jews within the 1st century. We too have the ability to create churches that personify the cultures we are surrounded by. Missionaries call this: contexualization.

We are poised to see a vast variety of models as we send out planters to unique places where, as the President stated, they might become “His gift to that city through their community.” Will we have the maturity to celebrate the church in all its possible forms as it performs the functions God has assigned to it? Can we create new categories of success, growth, & fruitfulness as we reach out to those who are culturally beyond the grasp of the 0.11% who seemingly dictate how these categories are defined? Will we risk being ourselves even at the price of looking different? Will we be bold enough to be ourselves? These are questions I’m wrestling with right now.

Yet one thing is certain to me: God didn’t send John Wimber, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Bill Johnson, Rich Nathan, Rob Bell, Francis Chan, Timothy Keller, or any other incredible pastor to my city; He sent me because I’m the expression of His Kingdom He desired here. Likewise, He’s sent a huge group of no-names to create communities that are His gift to the cities they were called to. Hopefully, we’ll all have the courage to be ourselves & “do what we see the Father doing.”

Pastors Book Club

2010-11-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

Some of the pastors in Santa Cruz have started a book club. Each month one of us picks a book & then we have a lunch & discuss, amongst other things, the book. My Reformed friend picked a book by Alexander Schmemann called: "For the Life of the World." Alexandar was an Russian Orthodox Professor & Priest within the church. When Russia came under Communist rule this book was mass produced underground & widely read amongst Russian believers. It is incredible; I would have to say this book is now in my top 10.

"If there are priests in the Church, if there is the priestly vocation in it, it is precisely in order to reveal to each vocation its priestly essence, to make the whole life of all men the liturgy of the Kingdom, to reveal the Church as the royal priesthood in the redeemed world. It is, in other terms, not a vocation "apart," but the expression of love for man's vocation as son of God & for the world as the sacrament of the Kingdom. And there must be priests because we live in this world, & nothing in it is the Kingdom &, as "this world," will never become the Kingdom. The Church is in the world but not of the world, because only by not being of the world can it reveal & manifest the "world to come," the beyond, which alone reveals all things as old--yet new & eternal in the love of God. Therefore, no vocation in this world can fulfill itself as priesthood. And thus there must be the one whose specific vocation is to have no vocation, to be all things to all men, & to reveal that the end & the meaning of all things are in Christ."

Peter Gabriel

2010-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

I'm on my way, I'm making it
I've got to make it show, yeah
so much larger than life
I'M going to watch it growing

the place where I come from is a small town
they think so small
they use small words
-but not me
I'm smarter than that
I worked it out
I've been stretching my mouth
to let those big words come right out

I've had enough, I'm getting out
to the city, the big big city
I'll be a big noise with all the big boys
there's so much stuff I will own
and I will pray to a big God
as I kneel in the big church

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
big time
I'm going to watch it growing
big time

my parties all have big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
tell them how my life is one big adventure
and always they're amazed
when I show them round my house, to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
with a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
and my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show-yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing
big time big time
my car is getting bigger
big time
my house is getting bigger
big time
my eyes are getting bigger
big time
and my mouth
big time
my belly is getting bigger
big time
and my bank account
big time
look at my circumstance
big time
and the bulge in my big big big big big big big

Individualism

2010-11-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

At a recent conference one of the speakers was speaking about community. Not surprisingly he shared as he started to survey scripture he saw just how connected God & his people are vs. his ministry. I didn't think much of it because its obvious to anyone who actually has a strong community that the vast majority of churches are gathered strangers. Did I say vast majority?

Our culture has so shaped our theology in this sense. Our theology is based upon me; our church is about me; Jesus is about me; ministry is about me; my office is about...me, etc. However, God is in community (The trinity) & scripture is really about how a group of people work out their relationship to this very relational God.

As the speaker was, you guessed it, speaking, he said something else: "Paul was the greatest apostle." I totally disagree. Our American cowboy theology makes him the greatest, but neither he, or scripture, describe him as such. Now Paul's calling put him in a place of prominence within the church, but to say he's the greatest Apostle is like saying Buster Posey won the World Series single-handed. Paul doesn't view himself as an individual; he's one person within the church being faithful to who God called him to be within it.

As the speaker was speaking I had two pictures of Paul, one from an American cultural perspective & one from, what I believe, a biblical perspective. When I thought about what Paul looked like I had these two pictures in mind. The first one is how I believe most Westerners theologically picture Paul. The second one is what I believe he really looks like & how I believe he portrays himself in Scripture.

(Colossians 4)
7 Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!

12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

14 Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

16 After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.

17 And say to Archippus, “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”

18 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul.

Remember my chains.

May God’s grace be with you.

Look at the Church

2010-10-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

When people visit our church I'm always interested to find out what they thought. In fact, I love hearing people describe any church experience because I find they are more apt to talk about: music, scene, sermon, etc; things the church might have a part in, but most people don't talk about the church, which for all you biblical scholars is: the people. It's far & few between when visitors actually say: "I loved the people!"

Sadly, because we've moved so far from expecting the church (the people) to represent the church at any given time, we've discovered how non-communities (Starbucks for instance) create a semblance of community. So, church staffs make up the difference by creating or training small groups within the larger church to act out how the general church should act. Therefore, we create groups of: ushers & greeters; in order to give people the sense of: community & fellowship (church). I used to facilitate this as the Sunday Director for a 1200+ church & we trained our people right!

However, during the "meet your neighbor time," (I call it introvert nightmare time) something becomes glaringly evident: The church isn't as interested in being the church as it is in watching or attending a service. So, in order to overcome the glaring awkwardness of non-church within the service we release the trained to make up the difference. So, when people are asked: "what did you or do you like about that church?" they don't generally say: My neighbor. But why would they? No one comes to church to love their neighbor; They only come to hear that they "should" love their neighbor. (Which is optional since the greeter guy's already doing such a good job of it.)

Too, the size of the church isn't the issue. I visited a friend's small church &, as I often do, I didn't say hi to anyone, but sat in back. Why? Because I wanted to see if the church would invite me into community. The worship was nice, the sermon Biblical; however, when my friend asked me, "so what did you think?" I answered, "Nobody said hi to me." The people weren't being the church.

When people visit our church they might notice several things; yet, will they notice the church within the "service?" More importantly, will the community reach those outside of it & invite them into the church whether on Sundays or any other day of the week? Will the church shine above the service, or will we train special groups to: make it seem like we're something we're not.

I sat with some visitors to our church this Sunday & listened to them for some time. They had many interesting things to say, but one thing stood out to me as we spoke. One woman, with her friends in agreement said this: "You have a wonderful group of people here." I would agree: We have a wonderful church.

But what about my sermon?

Patrick Lencioni

2010-09-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting on so many levels.

The Greatest Leader, by Patrick Lencioni
March 2008

I have been asked on a number of occasions, by journalists and curious clients, whom I believe to be the greatest leader in America. And I usually respond with my own question. “Are you asking for the name of a famous leader?” This usually leads to a fair amount of confusion, until I explain that the best leader in the world is probably relatively obscure.

You see, I believe that the best leader out there is probably running a small or medium-sized company in a small or medium-sized town. Or maybe they‘re running an elementary school or a church. Moreover, that leader‘s obscurity is not a function of mediocrity, but rather a disdain for unnecessary attention and adulation. He or she would certainly prefer to have a stable home life, motivated employees, and happy customers—in that order—over public recognition.

A skeptic might well respond, “But if this person really were the greatest leader, wouldn‘t his or her company eventually grow in size and stature, and become known for being great?” And the answer to that fine question would be, “Not necessarily.”

A great company should achieve its potential and grow to the size and scale that suits its founders‘ and owners‘ and employees‘ desires, not to mention the potential of its market. It may very well wildly exceed customer expectations and earn a healthy profit by doing so, but not necessarily grow for the sake of growing.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where bigger is often equated with better and where fame and infamy are all too often considered to be one and the same. And so we mistakenly come to believe that if we haven‘t seen a person‘s picture on the cover of BusinessWeek or in a dot-matrixed image in The Wall Street Journal, then they can‘t possibly be the best.

Consider for a moment those high profile leaders we do read about in the newspaper and see on television. Most, but not all, of them share an overwhelming desire and need for attention. You‘ll find them in all kinds of industries, but most prevalently in politics, media, and big business. Look hard enough at them, and there is a decent chance you‘ll discover people who have long aspired to be known as great leaders. These are the same people who also value public recognition over real impact. And based on my experience, you might also find that they‘ll be more highly regarded by strangers and mere acquaintances than by the people who work and live with them most closely.

The truth is, our greatest leaders usually don‘t aspire to positions of great fame or public awareness. They choose instead to lead in places where they can make a tangible, meaningful difference in the lives of the people they are called to serve. The challenges and consequences of their decisions are no less difficult or important than those of higher profile leaders, even if they don‘t quite qualify for a cover story in TIME Magazine.

Francis Chan

2010-09-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Francis Chan leaves his church. So many interesting reactions, questions, responses, & issues brought up.

In another video he says, "I hope this is something bigger for the whole church; getting back to doing what this book (the Bible) says we're to do & be who we're called to be."

I find it interesting because here's a man: Successful; Published; Branded; Speaker, & in many ways embodies what many are aiming for. Yet, he realized what it all amounted to wasn't what he was reading in scripture. It seems odd we would create a church where this would be an issue. I know this is a tension, but for some it really isn't.

Once again I'm intrigued by the idea that our idea & outworking of church caters to the very people who Jesus turned away or weren't willing to follow Him; & then we call it success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-SYMis0-w

Kids

2010-09-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Kids really do say funny things. Just ask any parent & they will gladly share some of the humorous, interesting, & odd things to come out of the mouth of their babes.

Siena: "We do this (put our hands on our heart) & say something about God everyday." Aka. The Pledge of Allegiance.

Jonathan: "Jesus carried a piece of wood & then died on the cross." Dad: "What's that mean for us son?" Jon: "We should probably pray for him."

2010-08-30T09:48:00.001-07:00

I've often wrestled with what we believe as Christians & how it effects our lives. One of the areas I've had particular interest in is: Salvation. What does it mean to be saved? How is a person saved? WHY does a person want to be saved? How does someone live out their salvation?

As I've explored this subject in the NT & other books I've realized Jesus' main mission wasn't to impart salvation (at least not the way we realize it), but his mission was to impart: life. No doubt we all agree, salvation is important; however, it is the result of being "born again," into a new life. He came to give "life & life unto the full." Thankfully, salvation is a part of the package.

Yesterday I visited a wonderful church. At the end of the sermon, "with all heads bowed & every eye closed," the pastor faithfully asked those in attendance, "who wants to receive the forgiveness of the cross?" I was grateful several people accepted the invitation. My question is: An invitation to what?

Within western theology salvation generally means accepting the mechanism of Jesus' death upon the cross & little else. Like a light-switch that is in the down position, my acceptance of what He's done flips the lever to the forgiven side & it's a done deal. However, is this faithful to the biblical example of what it means to be saved? No where does Jesus use such formulas; & what we've adopted as Paul's formula (Romans 10:9) isn't the silver salvation bullet we all imagine. The explicit implicit theology of Lordship is the overarching theme of this verse, not: "Just say these words in this order friend & you'll be saved." I don't assume Paul ever intended this line to be THE salvation mantra.

Too, what is Jesus continual invitation to this new life within the Gospels? Surely Jesus had one? I'm always perplexed by Jesus turning people away who seem to be interested. Why does He do this? Maybe they wanted to reduce Him to a mechanism of their salvation; instead of accepting who He is: the Living Lord of the Universe who wanted to give them transformational Life.

Jesus wants to forgive our sins is much less an abrasive thought than Jesus wants to give us a new life. Why? Because by giving me a new life He's saying there is something wrong with my old life; the way I live, my systems, my values, my loves & He's going to rearrange them to suit & reflect Him.

The mechanism of what Jesus did on the cross is amazing. However, the new life He wants to give us is so much more. New life; a life; real life; the life; Life to the fullest; Jesus' life lived out in me & through me.

The coolest thing ever.

Dallas Williard puts it so well: "So the replacement of salvation (new life in Christ) for one of its effects or components (the forgiveness of sins) has dominated both the monastic system of Christianity & the reaction against it (monasticism) in which we still live today."

What are we to do?

2010-08-27T08:52:00.001-07:00

This last Sunday I was talking about Colossians 4:2-4
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”

I imagined being in the room when this letter was originally read &, having come to the end of the letter, thought of what the Colossian church would have done; I imagined they would have remembered Paul’s words to: Pray, & would have spent some time in prayer.

So, this last week instead of expounding upon the text & what it meant in the original context (I don’t think a request for prayer has changed too much even in 2000yrs) I decided we would do the very thing Paul was asking the church to do: Pray.

There were a few new visitors at our service & what happened was very interesting. Two visitors were “Christians” who were “checking out other churches,” which I don’t care for & another visitor is a man we met at the Shanti Tree who likes Jesus, but also participates in other religious beliefs. He is someone who is checking Jesus out, but he likes our church. (Not our services, as there are better church services in SC, but our people). Before the service I grabbed my Shanti Tree friend & said, “Tonight will be a bit different. I’m not gonna’ preach, but we’re gonna’ break up into small groups & pray.” His response was, “Is it cool if I pray too?” I warmly affirmed his desire to pray with us, which he was very grateful for.

The two “Christians” didn’t have such a positive experience. I’m not dogging “Christian,” & what I mean by this is: They were expecting to come & hear a message (fed, entertained?). They were not expecting to participate; ironically even if the text the teacher was teaching on was a request to: participate. I made mention that generally in the church we expect to come & hear a message, but God’s perspective on the church is much different. In God’s economy church is a people who, not a place where. I then shared this picture
& asked, “Where’s the church in the picture?” Humorously my new age friend shouted out: “The four people in front!” We had a good laugh.

After sharing the four things we would pray for as directed by the text, I said, let’s break up into smaller groups to pray. Our “Christian” friends stood up & left; our new age friend jumped right in.

Without a doubt we live in a consumer based culture. So, it’s right to say that a way to engage a consumer based culture is to create an environment where the consumer will be: Awed, entertained, comfortable, caffeinated, & content. However, how do we encourage our consumers to participate when it doesn’t serve their pleasure or purpose in life? As we read we see the example of the church in the NT is very participatory; a group of people gathered for the purposes of God; not themselves. Can we say the same for the successful churches of our day; or is “success” defined by bodies in attendance?

Our culture is filled with professionals who share with us the latest ways at getting people to sit in a service we have created. In fact, we’re often duped into believing this is what a church is: A hip local & bodies. But will the bodies: Pray, serve, love, give, sacrifice, go, defend, etc? I believe this is one of the biggest reasons people are frustrated with the very faith they were created to be a part of: Those who claim to believe in Jesus don’t follow Jesus. Sadly, most have created a system devode of the living Christ & substituted it with a “Christian” culture that allows them to look but never touch, hear but never listen, & learn but rarely engage. "Where's the beef?" Too, this majority fuels the flame of the leaders who gather them into large groups & proclaim, “Church. My latest blog will detail how I did it;” primarily because the crowd is the churches biggest sign of: Success. Yet who is willing to do what is being taught?

Once again: Jesus never said Go plant a church. He did say, “Go make disciples.” There is a vast difference between what we call church & what he calls a disciple. Too, Paul didn’t plant churches; he made converts into disciples who then met as the church.

I invited our church & the visitors to participate with God during this space in history; our New Age friend was eager to join Him.

Peace Tree

2010-08-14T11:03:00.001-07:00

So for some time now a few of us have been giving away Coffee & Chai at the local drum circle. This has been a wonderful time for us as we bless this small community of: Bums, hippies, street kids, & musicians. However, a few months ago the city decided to expand the Farmer’s Market into the drum circle territory; effectively creating a drum circle with no home.

In the midst of this we were left to follow this group around, but I asked our group: “What if we started a booth at the Farmer’s Market?” We got together to brain storm & it was evident this was something we were doing. 2 months later: Shanti Tree (Peace Tree) is an official booth at the local Market.

Our booth offers “Meditative Arts,” meaning: candles (to help one meditate) & prayer flags, which are very popular amongst the hippies, people who are into eastern philosophies & religions, & New Age people; so, really, about 90% of Santa Cruz! The belief is when you hang the flags near your house, each time the wind blows a blessing is put onto you, etc.

We are selling candles & are soon to provide booklets for people to meditate with, which will be a practice in Lectio Divina. Too, our flags are in Tibetan, but a Tibetan translation of 1 Corinthians 13. It’s awesome to have people ask us what they say & we point to an English translation of this scripture. I love watching people read the chapter from beginning to end; some people smile, others agree, & still others walk away perplexed.

Our first week was a trial run & most of the time we spent setting up & moving things around. Sadly we only made $10, which doesn’t cover the cost of the space, but we got to speak to several people about who we are & what we’re up to, which all of us agreed was more than enough incentive to keep going.
Week number 2 was a bit different. We asked to get moved to a corner slot, so we had way more foot traffic. Likewise, we set down two big rugs for people to sit down & visit with us. In no time we were selling things & at one point in time we had 3 people join for a time of prayer/meditation(?).

All of us agree Shanti Tree is a very effective arm of our community into Santa Cruz. We’re always blessed to be the church to those who don’t care to be a part of Christianity.

2010-08-06T11:40:00.001-07:00

I recently read an article citing 5 reasons why beer is good for you. Here's reason number 4: "A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that moderate drinking may be associated with better brain function. Women who consumed up to two drinks a day scored 20 percent higher on a cognitive functioning test than those who had less than one drink."

I must admit I remember feeling pretty smart after a few beers. Well, at least I could drive better...

2010-07-31T15:31:00.001-07:00

"The question of forming habits on the basis of the grace of God is a very vital one. To ignore it is to fall into the snare of the Pharisee—the grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, the Redemption is praised, but the practical everyday life evades working it out. If we refuse to practice it is not God’s grace that fails when a crisis comes, but our own nature. When crisis comes, we ask God to help us, but He cannot if we have not made our nature our ally. The practicing is ours, not God’s. God regenerates us & puts us in contact with all His divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to His will."

Oswald Chambers

2010-07-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

As of late I've been watching some of the footage on YouTube about Lonnie Frisbee. The Jesus Movement, Calvary Church, & the Vineyard movement wouldn't be the same without Lonnie, which is saying a lot! I really recommend checking out Lonnie's story; it is amazing in so many ways.

2010-07-17T14:22:00.001-07:00

Within the unreached people groups of the world, there are 1,741,114,000 people who don't even know Jesus exists.

2010-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

As Laben & I were on the road to our Luxury Suite at the A's game we both agreed: We don't have a lot of money, but living by faith is a rich life. It can be frustrating at times; however, allowing God to give us what we need when we need it is a rich life.

The Church in Santa Cruz

2010-07-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today was an incredible day. In Santa Cruz we have an incredible group called EMF. It is a group of local ministers or ministries who have been called to reach Santa Cruz. This group has a long history &, from what I've heard, it's slowly changing the spiritual climate of this city. In the past each church was an island unto itself, which sadly set up conflict with other churches; yet that guard is passing, however there are still churches who are islands for one reason or another (bad reasons no doubt).

As relationships have grown 4 pastors, including myself, decided to worship together on July 4 2010. Today: Antioch Church, Trinity Covenant, Gathering by the Bay, & Faith Community Church put their ego's & differences aside & worshiped together. It was incredible. God showed up in a powerful way. God showed up because this is his heart: That the world would know he is real because of our love for one another. We've realized Santa Cruz isn't going to be reached by one church: We affirm THE church will reach Santa Cruz & we are committed to the local church winning; not my church.

Lastly, 5 churches were invited today. There is a new church plant: Missio Dei happening in town & we invited them too. We told them we were going to ask them to share their vision with us, but they didn't know we were going to give them the combined offering of the churches. The planter couldn't be there, but his wife shared with us. When we shared with her our desire to give them our offering she started crying. Why? Because the idea that the big dogs don't want to see the little ones in the yard isn't true with this group. We want everyone (orthodox & healthy) to work together to reach this city.

We affirm THE church will reach Santa Cruz & we are committed to the local church winning; not my church. It sounds like this is gonna' happen quarterly & with the success of this service I can only imagine what other churches will want to participate. Actually we already have the names of 4 churches that do.

My church isn't the answer. God's church is.

2010-06-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Great stuff from N.T. Wright

...we've got to tell the truth about God, that God is not the same as the world, as in Pantheism, nor is God a million miles away from the world, as in many dualistic schemes, but that heaven and earth have overlapped and interlocked once and for all and forever in Jesus, and that ultimately they will overlap and interlock entirely.

Never go near any theology which cannot play out into Isaiah 11, because if you do you'll be colluding with dualism, sure as anything.

We will discover what it means to be genuinely human as we go in the service of the Kingdom of God, should I say the Empire of God.

2010-06-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

As I was hanging out with a friend I asked a simple question to point out a clear theological flaw. I drew a picture of a car & explained the possible positions for people to sit or be in, each of which demonstrates a different perspective within the car: The Driver's seat; Shotgun, The back seat, & the trunk. I then told my friend, imagine the car being your life; & then asked, where is Jesus in your car? With a little thought he answered, "In the trunk." After a little bit more dialogue I asked, What can you do to make Jesus love you more as He's riding in the trunk? His answers were well meaning, Christian, & sincere, but all of them fell short of the truth. I realized he was unaware of what he could do to make Jesus love him more as Jesus was stuffed in the trunk of his life.

The answer?

Nothing.

2010-06-18T16:21:00.001-07:00

Christ's cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird.

Samuel Rutherford.

2010-06-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

We're going through Colossians right now. Here's what one commentary said about Chapter 1.

(1) The head of the church. If Christ is the head of the church, it means that the destinies of creation and the church are bound together and that God’s purposes for all creation gestate in the church’s congregational life. The church does not exist to meet the needs of its members or to insure its institutional survival, but to fulfill the redemptive purposes of Christ, its head.

2010-06-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's my response to what I see as a misunderstanding by church leadership.

"Greetings Church,

Our Spiritual Transformation Class will begin on June 20th from 9:00-9:50am in the Yaks conference room. Make sure to order your book ahead of time. The text we will be using is Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. The book can be purchased on sites such Amazon.com, Half.com, CBD.com, or by checking out our local Christian book stores.

Blessings,

VCC Staff

....doing the things that Jesus said and did."

My Response:

Isn't a book titled: Celebration of Discipline an oxymoron?

Shouldn't it be: Celebration of my feelings/desires/wants; or something like that?

Sean

2010-05-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

“I have seen many men work without praying, though I have never seen any good come out of it; but I have never seen a man pray without working.” - James Hudson Taylor

2010-05-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Edwin Friedman is a well respected Jewish Rabbi. He has written several leadership books. I started reading “Friedman’s Fables,” which is a series of short stories that share a great deal of insight into the complexity of relationships & communication. The fables are separated into four parts & Dr. Friedman desires to reveal these four wrong ideas:

That communication is a cerebral phenomenon rather than an emotional process.
That insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change.
That resistance to your message can be overcome by trying harder.
That seriousness is deeper than playfulness.

Here is the intro to the first set of fables. I thought it was pretty cool!

“Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, & they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are used to overpower. Attitudes are the real figures of speech. “

2010-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is a sample picture from our new church directory.

2010-05-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Prayer requests & cool updates.

This next week I am getting together to brainstorm with some people in our church about the future of our church. We are going to dream & put onto paper 3 key things we feel like God is doing.

1) A DTS here in SC. After talking with some of my coaches we believe inviting 5 people to be a part of a year long DTS, put on by our church, in Santa Cruz is what God is doing. The DTS would be a mix of classroom & outreach into SC. The students would move here in order to be missionaries to our wonderful city, which I believe is on the cutting edge of culture; therefore, it provides an incredible opportunity for someone to grow in their Faith. The primary goal of the DTS wouldn't be church management, but that they would learn how to "know God & make him known" in Santa Cruz, which hopefully would result in some students seeing that they too could start a church.

2) Each Wed. 3 of us head downtown to love on the unlovables & hippy kidz. Through this we are brainstorming about starting a booth at the Farmer's Market in order to create a simple "storefront" where we would engage more people with Jesus. This is no simple task, but not impossible. We're not sure what we're gonna' sell, but there are some options. We've had this idea before & have seen the success with Yaks up in Redding. We'll see...

3) We want to get a college group started on campus. The largest group at UCSC is Inter-Varsity, which has 60-70 students (& we love Inter-Varsity) (Cal Poly...Campus Crusade...over 1000!). UC has roughly 13-15,000 students; so do the math: We need more groups on campus! Wow. I've recently been speaking with an alum who is stoked about getting something going on campus & I'm willing to go with him. Once again this is no simple task, but not impossible either.

Fun to have 3 ideas focused on "Knowing God & Making Him Known," in Surf City. Please pray that God would guide it.

2010-04-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

At the age of 63 when his critics told him to go home, that he had done enough, C.T. Studd replied, "God has called me to go to Africa, and I will go. I will blaze the trail though my grave may only become a stepping stone that younger men may follow."

2010-04-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

C.T. Studd--a missionary to: China, India, & Africa.

"Our recruits come out from home vastly raw and are largely parrots. They have been crammed with religion as though for an examination, and seem to come out to carry on their education rather than finish it. So many are just taught doctrines without ever having thought them out or searched the Scriptures for themselves. They come out like infants with pop guns. They need to be trained into soldiers with real devil-defying weapons. Some arrive thinking they are the last thing in high-class Christianity and have to find out they know little. That is why I keep the newcomers here at base for a time till I can make them really think out things and settle questions, not from hearsay but from Bible-say."

2010-04-21T12:09:00.001-07:00

What do stoners need? Well they need a couple of things: Water, Candy, & Jesus! Each April thousands of UCSC students gather to celebrate 4:20 as a national Marijuana holiday. You see, each day at 4:20pm stoners around the world have adopted England's celebrated time for tea: 4:20pm. So needless to say April 20th is an all day event. As followers of Christ we know there is so much more to life than what the world can offer; including any high drugs can offer. So following the example of our Biblical heroes we took the good news to the streets & headed up on campus to celebrate 4:20. Armed with water, candy, & the gospel, we dialogued with hundreds of students about Jesus.

On campus we stood out with our sign & with our shouts to those who passed by, "4:20 support tent! Get your munchies!" When students approached us they weren't sure what to make of us. Most students asked, "What is this all about?" Our answer: "We're followers of Jesus & He's blessed us beyond compare & we want to share that blessing with you." Most students were taken back; one student named Angel was so struck that she just stood in our tent for a few minutes in awe. I asked her, "What are you thinking?" She replied, "I've never seen anyone do something like this. I mean, what's Jesus got to do with 4:20?" Our answer: "Jesus has everything to do with 4:20. He loves the students at UCSC" Another student approached us & asked for water. When we told her why we were doing this she said, "That's f-----n awesome! I'm a Jew is it still ok?" I said, "heck ya, Jesus is a Jew," which she replied, "was a Jew." Correcting her I mentioned, "Jesus is what it means to be a Jew." Her friend came over moments later for a bottle of water too. Favorite quotes from yesterday: "Smoke that joint bro & you'll just have to roll another one 'cuz the high doesn't last. Get close to Jesus & you'll be high for the rest of your life!" "When you smoke, talk with Jesus, see what He has to say to you. You'll be surprised by what He will say to you."

We also had the opportunity to pray for at least 15-20 students. Many students asked for prayer in regards to their school work, but several others wanted personal prayer. One student when asked, "can we pray for your ankle right now?" allowed us to lay hands on her & pray. Too, as you can see in one of the pictures (Smiling face at the field) a man named Joel joined us. He is the brother of one of the guys who helped all day. What's cool is Joel doesn't believe in Jesus, but helped us all day share the love of Christ with a group he normally hangs around with! Sorry Joel, but the handwriting is on the wall my friend!

Thanks for all of your prayer & financial support. The students at UCSC are eternally grateful.

2010-04-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

A question & statement I've been thinking about as of late: Was Jesus a Christian?

My statement: Jesus wasn't a Christian.

To all my 6, & soon to be 7 followers: What do you think?

2010-04-09T11:37:00.001-07:00

"It's hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God's new age, a kingdom of surprise.”
Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University

Yeah, sometimes it's really hard to remember...

2010-04-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

2010-04-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've been reading through 1 Corinthians lately & it's been good. I appreciate this letter because it's so raw in many ways, which I think reflects real life as opposed to what most people try to do with their lives: Sanitation. One verse keeps popping out to me.

"1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God."

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

As I look at the hero's in my life, I am starting to see one thing in common: They loved others. As I look for Christ in people I'm starting to realize I see him most in those who give themselves to something other than themselves. They give what they have, which might not be much, to be used by Christ in whatever way he can use them. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." One is about me, the other is about others. One NEVER satisfies; the other always satisfies.

Last night we watched a movie about St. Francis of Assisi & he said something that struck me: "If you want to feel loved, go & love. If you want to feel significant, go & serve," & he lived this out! "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

2010-03-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Matt Redman lyrics:

"Dying you destroyed our death. Rising you restored our soul."

I've been singing that a lot lately. Jesus was something "other" than all humanity. He is & was totally unique. It is important to understand WHO Jesus is/was, but it is also important to understand WHAT Jesus is & was. What was Jesus? In part, & a huge part: The Passover Lamb of God. Without this key it's easy describe Jesus as just another "good teacher;" a description of WHO he was. The WHAT in many ways defines the WHO. We should do a better job of telling the story of WHAT Jesus is & was.

"Dying you destroyed our death. Rising you restored our soul."

2010-03-19T14:01:00.001-07:00

Every Wed. Jacob & I go & give away coffee, Chai, lemonade, & Jesus to our friends at the drum circle, who by chance congregate next to the weird people at Farmer's Market.

First: This last week I was introduced in what has to be the best introduction ever. As I rolled up & got out of the car one of the guys we talk to on a regular basis shouts, "Check it out everybody Juan Valdez is here!" Doesn't get much better.

Second: A young lady who is hosting youth groups approached Ronee & I to talk to us about how she might be able to bring some youth groups to the circle this summer. We told her that would be great & gave her some easy ways to participate: Bring water, socks, or they could help us make coffee & we could pray together. We mentioned that, "just 'witnessing' to the people in the circle is kinda weird," after she mentioned one of the youth pastor's desire to "witness downtown to people." I'm not sure she understood what a unique group of people we are working with until one of the young hippie chicks took off all of her clothing & started dancing around. I said to her, "kinda crazy here 'cuz just last week somebody died & now this girl (who was in a tree by now) is totally naked." If only someone were willing to tell her she needed Jesus.

2010-03-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

This last Wednesday I watched a man die.

Each week a friend & I go to the Farmer’s Market because next door a group of: Hippies, Street Kids, & Homeless people get together to drum &, well, do what they do. However, this week the drum circle stopped for no apparent reason. When I finally noticed the silence I looked over to see the normally noisy group transfixed on the ground. I then walked over to see 3 “street people,” doing CPR on an unconscious man & my friend Jacob praying for him to live. After some time the Firemen arrived & took over; that said, the man was without life.

As I spend each Wednesday afternoon with this group I have been challenged on so many levels. On Wednesdays, within a small patch of land, two groups exist: One, the “normal” Santa Cruz people who go to shop for quality produce; & Two, the “street people,” who, well, do what they do. (We do get the expired Food not Bombs food.) As I’ve spent more time with the “street people,” I have been challenged; there really are some great people in this group. Sadly, I have lumped them all together, but like any group: Christians, Muslims, Gay, Straight, Rich, or poor…there are really honest people & some really funky people. I say all this because when I saw the dead man 3 people, whom our society sees as bad scenery to their otherwise utopian coastal village, were doing CPR on a dead man.

When the police arrived they asked, “Who was this guy?” None of the people in the circle knew; he was a stranger that day. I was stunned because I realized I had watched a man give the dead man mouth to mouth CPR. Moreover, as they were giving the man mouth to mouth he threw up; & after this, as his face was lined with vomit, these “street people,” went right back to work. A person that our society deems a loser put his mouth around the mouth of a stranger; a mouth of a dead man that had just vomited. What kind of man would do such a thing for a stranger? These people, who most of the normal people will never get to know, are incredible people…created in the image of God.

2010-02-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

Listening to Dallas Willard's "Hearing God," has been amazingly refreshing. He said something today that really struck me (I listen to him while I run, so he really did say.)

"But in the lives of NT personalities—especially Jesus himself—there is a great preponderance of strictly—nonphysical—communications between God & his people. Vision, dreams & angels continue to play some part—as I think they may do today. It would not be too much to say, however, that where these phenomena were the main, as opposed to the occasional, means of interaction, it indicates a less developed spiritual live both in the individual & the church group. I am not trying to be judgmental here; I am merely trying to be helpful in pointing out the kind of life with God into which we should expect to grow—a life in which one hears from God amid & frequent times of conversational prayer."

I am always troubled by those who NEED another HUGE experience & can't seem to hear him in the daily, which there is nothing normal about it, life. There is no spiritual non-spiritual flesh/spirit dictonomy. Certainly not in the eyes of Jesus. I love what Dallas says in this book.

2010-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

"some assembly required'

i took the subject title from steve greggs teaching www.thenarrowpath.com "some assembly required"

it is no secret that i am disillusioned with our western evangelical church model. it generally leaves me wondering what am i doing, once again, going thru the motions. and yet, i am in church at least once possibly twice every sunday:) because i am aware that there is "some assembly required"

i attend different churches as i am trying to know the "body of christ" in all of santa cruz and possibly monterey counties. i am achieving that, i think:)

still always in search of finding a place "God shows up, in presence and power" rarely have i observed this. exception of course...the Jesus movement and the after glow of that.

lately tho, and i am going out on a limb here, because i know none of us are perfect, and i have only attended a handful of times, but there is this sweet little group i found (found me) that i can almost think i sense this!!!

they are called "antioch church" and they are a vineyard based church that came here from san luis obispo. although in the early 80's i have visited the slo church too. also we know lonnie frisbee, our ground zero man for the Jesus movement came out of calvary chapel and then vineyard church.

antioch church, left without a building when our vets hall closed it's doors is now meeting in "the next door space" a comfortable space right next door to the rio theatre. santa cruz, soquel ave. they meet at 6:30 pm sunday nights.

i have gotten to know their pastor sean mcmasters as he has come consistently every week, bringing coffee and chai to our wed. drum circle. he also has personally gotten involved in the life of my own kids, simply by spending time with them. sean has also spent personal time with people in and around drum circle. a one on one type a guy!

i have to say this type of "grassroots" outreach is extremely rare for "pastors" and yet they are servants and sheperds biblically speaking.

sean does not know i am writing this, i did not ask, but i am impressed with this little group that has managed to come away enough from the "model" and just be Jesus to people!

God Bless you guys!

2010-02-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm going up to UCSC on Monday to pass out a flyer with this info on it. Give me some feedback if you will.

What if you used your spring break to serve in a city where poverty & hopelessness reign? Consider taking 3 days to serve with other groups in Oakland who desire to see a city transformed.

Who: You & some other incredible people.
What: Serving the less fortunate in Oakland; by working with various community groups, serving those groups & the poor.
Why: Because many live without hope & we can choose to help them or ignore them. I vote to help them!
When: March 22, 23, & 24. On Wed. the 24th we will serve in Oakland for the beginning of the day & then serve at the drum-circle that evening in Santa Cruz.
How: We’ll network with a couple of different organizations in Oakland & join them in their work to serve the poor.
How much: $150 for room, gas, & food.

Sponsored by: The Bridge Collective: Bridging the gap between what is & what should be.

2010-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Do I have to be a Christian to follow Jesus? Christian historically means: Little Christ; & this title was given by those who were outside of the believing community to describe those within it. You are a Christian...a little Christ. However, as times change, so do definitions of words: Gay for example used to mean happy, now it means, almost exclusively, homosexual; & there are many other examples…stoked, gnarley, bomber, wicked, crazy, bad, sick!

Christian.

It seems as if in our American day & age the term Christian has deviated from its original meaning so far that I feel comfortable asking: Do I have to be a Christian to follow Jesus? Do I have to talk like Christians talk? Act like they act? Behave like they behave? Dress like they dress? Even though they look cool, it all smells the same: Christian. Jesus? No doubt there are many Christ-like aspects to modern day Christianity; yet at the same time, there seems to be a lot that isn’t centered upon the person of Christ, but upon a culture that has been created by his followers called: Christianity.

I believe a great deal of people are turned away from following Jesus not because of who he is & what he stands for, but because of a belief that baptism is a symbolic rite of passage into a club; A Christian Club, & they aren’t attracted to what they see. Maybe in certain places in the U.S. where "Christian" is the norm, but in the Bay the reaction is negative.

Christians, whom God has chosen to reside in by his Spirit, who possess life itself, don’t seem very alive. Don't is more predominate than do. Certain conversational subjects are taboo. Materialism masked behind spiritual language is routine. Spiritual conversation is often Christian gossip. When their faith is pressed we are invited into shallow pools of thought & encouraged to steer clear of deeper waters, where mysterious questions are laid to rest. Do they actually believe everything they claim to believe? Their lack of conviction doesn’t seem very convincing. Too, how could you belong to such a large group of people (Sunday Worship) yet have so few real friends? Who are you? Your confusion is confusing. Sarah Palin?

Do I have to be a Christian to follow Jesus?

2010-02-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

One of the things in our culture that disturbs me is: Idol Worship. Not, wooden statue I bow down to, Idol Worship, but Celebrity Worship. It seems as if our culture is driven by the famous: Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, Jack Johnson, Michael Jordon, etc. When we think of what we want to look like, how we want to perform, are we successful or not, we are presented with a who's who in the area we desire to grow in or emulate.

Sadly, church life is little different. As I confront challenges in my vocation I am handed, quite readily by my friends, the shining examples within Christianity who have "risen above the fold." Communication: Rob Bell. Evangelism: Louis Palau. Programmatic church: Rick Warren. Signs & Wonders, Church Growth, Para-Church, Satellite Campuses, etc; These are our celebrities; & not only do we have them, we desire them, emulate them, covet them; but can we think beyond & through them? (I think very highly of our celebrities; they are in fact outstanding people)

In grad school the president, whom I thought a rather weird man, said (paraphrased), “One of the biggest problems I see in churches today is cookie cutter church. Instead of fasting & praying to find out what kind of church God wants in a specific local we latch onto the ‘what worked there, if implemented correctly, will work here.’ Therefore, we cut off God’s creative arm for the local church.” But why would I settle for what God has for me when I can have what Joyce Meyer, or Bill Johnson has? Why be me when I can dress like so & so? Too, when asked about my church I don’t assume people are really asking within the context of what God has for me in Santa Cruz; I think we’d agree we want to know why I’m not enjoying the success of John Ortberg or Dan Kimball. "Haven't I read their books? It describes everything they've done. You can do it to for: 14.99!"

The average church is 85 to 100 people. This is a problem, or so I’m told. This isn’t God’s plan, or so they tell me. Without a shadow of a doubt, those of us with an “average” size church realize we aren’t all that God wants; & who could argue with that? Think of this: when you tell a man he isn’t measuring up, he’s “small,” at some point in time he’ll see the gift of his community not with potential, but with disdain. Why wouldn’t he? We don’t celebrate churches of 85; we celebrate those who have risen above this level. We talk of the famous & they don't have small churches.

Yet only so many of us get to become famous as servants of Christ (paradox?). We idolize the few, while the greatest potential within our movement is relegated to: “Performs below par.” Sad. Combined, the average churches far outweigh the potential of the “rich & famous.” Yet if a man is convinced he needs to be somebody else than he’s probably not gonna’ be who God created him to be.

We love celebrities. We emulate our idols. We judge ourselves by them. We want to be celebrities. They're a part of our life & it's not as fruitful as we think.

God speak to me about me. Let me covet what you have for me & not what another man has.

2010-02-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

"In Luke's gospel, Jesus waited until his followers asked him for a prayer; & the reason they asked was because they saw what he was doing. Something tells me there's a lesson there." N.T. Wright: The Lord & His Prayer.

2010-01-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well after we found out our normal mtg place was shut down, I made one phone call; & that's all it took for God to get us a new place to worship. My friend, Andy, leads another faith community here in SC & they lease a small building next to a theater, which they use for their kids ministry. Without hesitation they allowed us to use it. So from here, until it changes again, we worship God at night; & at no other time. That said, the room is more expensive: $5 more than our previous local, but we'll live.

Thanks God. My ulcer doesn't really reflect how I feel about you.

2010-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Planting a church in Santa Cruz is difficult. However, we have been blessed by having a wonderful place to meet, which is very inexpensive. Well, yesterday, that all changed. Yesterday at 5pm the Vets Hall of Santa Cruz was officially closed by the county. Evidently in the very earthquake friendly area we live in, the auditorium would pose a significant health risk during a shake up. So, we are without a meeting place. We're excited to see what God will do, but, as always, things like this are frustrating. It seems as if the wind in Santa Cruz is constantly blowing in the face of those who serve Christ.

2010-01-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Dallas Williard takes on some outstanding questions.

http://mppc.org/toughquestions

2010-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

As Evangelicals (& especially Pentecostals) have we stressed the divinity of Christ so much that we've downplayed his humanity & by doing so we gloss over the more unfortunate aspects of our humanity as well? "The flesh is evil the spirit is good!" "My flesh made me do it." "Focus on Christ!" Problems normal to all people are seen as obstacles to be solved; opportunities to crucify self...yet again. However, my common problems, are in fact, pretty common: anger, lust, selfishness, loneliness, pride, insecurity, greed, etc. In fact, I find my problems are one of the greatest places we find common ground. Not all of us travel to the 3rd heaven, but we all get angry. No doubt those of us who have the Spirit will produce the fruit of the Spirit, but what of the times when I do not?

6 But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

2010-01-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

I was recently invited to go to a prayer retreat for the pastors of the churches in Santa Cruz. To say the least, it was amazing. About 25 of us went & I was really blessed by the humility of all the guys there. We started with a "log-in" time, which is a time to share what has been happening in your life. I was very impressed by what I heard from this group of pastors: honesty, transparency, humility, etc. Only a couple of guys held back, but most were willing to reveal their "thorns."

Too, being the youngest man in the room, I was stunned by our worship. I found myself crying several times as these older awesome men of God belted out songs of thankfulness to Christ. I really lost it today when we sang some hymns & these guys really let it out. I realized these were their songs. These are the songs that encouraged them through the night. I was honored to be in the presence of those who have tarried long before me. It was an encouraging.

2009-12-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

I give guitar lessons & that's my "extra" cash. We're spending Christmas in Chester Ca, where my sister-in-law runs a second hand store. Because it's in the mountains, 10F this morning, there are a ton of beanies at her store. In SC a beanie costs $3 at a second hand store. In Chester, today, they're 50 cents. I told my wife, "I'm gonna' go buy 40 beanies today," & of course she said, "Great idea."

Being the godly man I am I told God, "This isn't what I want to spend my money on, but I know it blesses your heart; this is the best use of my money." Two thoughts fought in my head like heavyweight fighters: Selfishness vs. Selflessness. That said, we went & picked out 40 beanies, which was all they had. As we approached the check out line, beanies bulging out of my arms, a woman offered to help me put them in a bag. I thanked her & walked away. She then approached my wife & said, "here's a gift certificate I wanted you to have," which my wife thanked her for. I asked her how much the gift was for: $20...enough for 40 beanies.

Ironic on several levels.

This comes as my friend, Ronee, has come under criticism for her work with the poor in SC. I asked her if she could use more beanies & she said: "absolutely!"

I guess God wants these beanies delivered to SC. I guess God blessed the direction my feet took me & not the direction my heart wanted to go. I guess God is faithful to the unfaithful.

Thanks God.

2009-12-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Return Stolen Bike Part 2

So, we return the bike & needless to say the police officer was totally perplexed. He kinda' looked at my friend & didn't know what to say other than, "You stole this bike 10yrs ago?"; it was great! Well, I get a phone call from my friend because the police officer called him later in the day. Without us knowing it, someone from the Santa Cruz Sentinel (the local paper) was in the room & overheard what was going on. They asked the police officer for my friends info, 'cuz they want to do a write up on an unbelievable story! What would possess a man to give back a bike he stole 10yrs ago without getting caught? Why would a man want make his wrongs right?

2009-12-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Today I get to go to the police station to give back a bike that was stolen 10yrs ago by a man who has committed his life to Christ. It's wonderful to see people being healed by God, taking inventory of their past in order to walk into the future God has for them.

2009-12-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas:
"In other words, eternal life is not the by-product of some enlightenment or knowledge acquired mystically. Eternal life is historically anchored in what we may call the scandal of particularity unique to Christianity. The life of God has been channeled to us through a historical event, an event that John says has been verified by people who saw it."

Formally Winter

2009-12-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Winter Formal Charity Dinner

2009-12-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Good old Mark Twain:
Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute and cannot unite -- but they all worship money.

2009-12-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Entitlement:
When your dog sits next to the table waiting for scraps, so you toss him some. Instead of catching it he allows the food to pass by his snout, hit the floor, where he is given enough time to discern if it is worthy. Then, he walks away leaving you to pick the scrap off the floor.
Entitlement.