Family Vacation.

In school I was very fortunate to be introduced to a man named Jean Vanier. Jean is the founder of L’Arche, a Catholic community of mentally handicapped people. In 1964 he invited two men with Down’s syndrome to leave the institution & live with him. This community has grown to over 100 residential homes throughout the world. He is a practitioner & a prophet. His words carry a great deal of authority because he is simply describing his life; he describes a lifestyle he is committed. In our culture, where we create social juveniles & as a church we are more often a group of strangers who meet once a week than a fellowship; Jean’s life is like a sunbeam shining through stormy clouds.
Here are some quotes from his book: From Brokenness to Community (Two lectures given at Harvard.)

“If they choose to follow Jesus, they receive a gift of love & communion, but at the same time they must say “no” to the ways of the world & accept loss; they must own their choice.”

“Community is a wonderful place, it is life-giving; but it is also a place of pain because it is a place of truth & of growth—the revelation of our pride, our fear, & our brokenness.”

“I have discovered that even though a person may have severe brain damage, that is not the source of his greatest pain. The greatest pain is rejection, the feeling that nobody really wants you “like that.”

“But this communion is not fusion. Fusion leads to confusion. In a relationship of communion, you are you & I am I; I have my identity & you have yours. I must be myself & you must be yourself. We are called to grow together, each one becoming more fully himself or herself.”

“That I think, was what caused me the most pain: to discover who I really am, & to realize that maybe I did not want to know who I really was! I did not want to admit all the garbage inside me. And then I had to decide whether I would just continue to pretend that I was okay & throw myself into hyperactivity, projects where I could forget all the garbage & prove to others how good I was. Elitism is the sickness of us all.”

“(Volunteers find…) God is not just present in their capacity to heal but rather in their need to be healed.”

“This healing power in us will not come from our capacities & our riches, but in & through our poverty. We are called to discover that God can bring peace, compassion & love through our wounds.”

“Community is the place where are revealed all the darkness & anger, jealousies & rivalry hidden in our hearts.”

“In struggling to ‘win’ at any price, members of the family lose a sense of community. More & more people are seeking the individual prize. In richer countries, this desire to win is instilled in children from an early age. I remember visiting a school in Canada where there was a big poster: ‘It is a crime not to excel.’”

“In community we are called to love people just as they are with their wounds & their gifts, not as we would want them to be.”

“Growth will come as we come closer to people who are different from us & as we learn to welcome & listen even to those who trigger off our pain.”

“People will come to L’Arche attracted by the community; they like our community. They like it, & it’s great—for a few days! When somebody says to me, ‘I find it very painful to live in this community, but I’m here because God has called me here,’ then I know that person has made a passage from dream to reality.”

“We must learn to celebrate.”

“TV can be a kind of death.”

“But the community only keeps its meaning if it remains open to mission.”

“Trusting people are vulnerable & can be easily crushed, as Jesus was crushed. A community which trusts in God rather than in the righteousness of its ‘cause’ can always be crushed, but from that crushing will come resurrection.”

Our men's retreat was a blast.
8 men from our church went to Henry Coe State Park & had a great time with God. Although we could have had more guys participate I intentionally chose to make the distance long enough so that whoever did go would have to commit to the whole weekend & not just a part of it. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, Saturday is the prime day, all day. Friday night was kinda' like a detox from all the business we pile on ourselves. I commented a couple of times, "Wow, it's quite;" when in fact, it's just that my life is filled with noise (by my own design!). So, to go to part of the retreat was to miss a large part of the retreat. Retreat! Too, by making it a bit too far for the "if it's convienent for me" crowd, we effectively brought those who desire to grow. I'm always amazed that many people walked away from Jesus because he qualified discipleship as something centered upon God & not the individual. Too, I'm often amazed that so many today cater to this very group of people in the church. "Let's go to the nicest retreat center possible. Therefore, the most people will go." This isn't bad, but it's not great. The cult of customer service has wreaked havoc on our culture! So, it was a short drive & there were no showers, but there was a whole lot of God!
Simple Times:

On Sat. we had two hours of solitude & silence where each man was sent of into the wilderness armed with a journal. We came back & each man had a wonderful story about how God has spoken to them: "Return to me." "I'm consistent." "Get this tattoo." "Play with me!" Laben then climbed a tree with God!! "Love your wife." This was a powerful experience.

Then we played Risk for 4hrs, which, as any one of the guys would tell you, a wonderful time with God! As I mentioned to one of the guys: "When did play stop being worship?"

One of the most powerful things God has been showing me through our church is this: We don't fit together. Without Jesus none of us would normally connect as friends. Hippies, Ph.D, Homeless, Preppy, Cuban, Gay, Pentecostal, Drunk; these are the words I would use to describe some of the folks in our community. As my wife mentioned the other day: "We aren't a Christian clique." & we aren't. Our group is diverse. As Dietrich would say: "Community is a gift, not a given."

Laben is holding the gallon of milk the raccoons stole from us. Too, Matt looks pretty happy even though we put half a cooked fish & dog food next to his bed in hopes that the raccoons would battle next to him during the night! Sadly only the Blue Jays descended upon him in the morning.

I often say: "We're a small, but active church." And that is true; always doing cool stuff with & for Jesus! He invented fun.

This upcoming weekend we're having our first Men's Retreat. Of course we're going camping, which is what Jesus dreams about when he dreams of retreats. We did a Men's Camping trip last year & it was cool, although it rained on us. This year should be way better & we have quite a few new men coming along. I couldn't be more stoked. God has gathered together at our church world changing men of God. I'm constantly humbled to see who I get to spend my time with & eat Pork Ribs with on Sat. night; of course with our new BBQ!

Men’s Retreat Agenda.
Friday Night:
Dinner @ 7pm
Worship, Teaching, & Ministry @ 8-9
Sugar Consumption & Extended presence of The Holy Spirit @ 9-3:27am.

Saturday Morning:
Breakfast @ 8-9am
Worship, Teaching @ 9-10
Solitude Exercise @ 10-12pm
Lunch @ 12-1pm
Free-Time-1-6pm

Saturday Night:
Dinner @ 6pm
Worship, Teaching, & Ministry @ 7-8
Sugar Consumption & Extended presence of The Holy Spirit @ 8-3:29am.

Sunday Morning:
Breakfast @ 7-8am
Packing @ 8-8:40
Leaving @ 8:45am
The most incredible encounter with God Jesus follower gathering in Santa Cruz @ 11am
The rest of your life @ 1pm-forever.

Who are you? It's a simple question, but I don't think many people really know how to answer it. I've been going through the book: Victory over the Darkness, with a friend of mine who has recently decided to follow Jesus. Who are you? is Dr. Anderson's question. Most people don't know who they are. Too, most Christians don't know who they are & because of that, asserts Dr. Anderson, we are confused, powerless, weak, defeated, live in fear, & ineffective. It reminds me of a quote I heard Bill Johnson say, "The greatest fear the Devil has is the church realizing who she really is." Who are you?

I am the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13

I am the light of the world. Matthew 5:14

I am a child of God. John 1:12

I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ's life. John 15:1,5

I am Christ's friend. John 15:15

I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit. John 15:16

I am a slave of righteousness. Romans 6:18

I am enslaved to God. Romans 6:22

I am a son of God; God is spiritually my Father. Romans 8:14,15; Galatians 3:26; 4:6

I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him. Romans 8:17

I am a temple--a dwelling place--of God. His Spirit and His life dwell in me. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19

I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17

I am a member of Christ's Body. 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:30

I am a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

I am a son of God and one in Christ. Galatians 3:26,28

I am an heir of God since I am a son of God. Galatians 4:6,7

I am a saint. Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2

I am God's workmanship--His handiwork--born anew in Christ to do His work. Ephesians 2:10

I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God's family. Ephesians 2:19

I am a prisoner of Christ. Ephesians 3:1; 4:1

I am righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:24

I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now. Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6

I am hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3

I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life. Colossians 3:4

I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4

I am a son of light and not of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5

I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling. Hebrews 3:1

I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life. Hebrews 3:14

I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:5

I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. 1 Peter 2:9-10

I am an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live. 1 Peter 2:11

I am an enemy of the devil. 1 Peter 5:8

I am a child of God and will resemble Christ when He returns. 1 John 3:1-2

I am born of God, and the evil one--the devil--cannot touch me. 1 John 5:18

I am not the great "I AM" (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24,28,58), but by the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10

What would happen if you really believed this?

I just got back from Redding yesterday & had a great trip. I was invited by The Stirring to come & participate in their conference: When God Dreams. I had a great time! I didn’t know what to expect from it all, & I don’t think they did either, but it really turned out great. It was really wonderful to be in the presence of the Lord with a bunch of my old & new friends. I’m always encouraged to see some of those people who started this journey with me still following Jesus.

What did God say to me at the conference? I loved that there were different speakers & workshop people who had very similar messages. One theme stood out above the others: Be secure in God’s love alone; that’s how you realize God’s dream. The other major theme was encouragement. Using the text of Jonathan & the armor bearer we learned a bit more about this gift. Encouragement isn’t just complimenting, but when one person literally gives courage to another person. What an amazing gift; I can actually give courage to people in their journey with God. Likewise, I can also discourage people; I can take courage from someone. That is a powerful Kingdom reality. Another thing stood out to me: Redding is kinda’ the Bible belt of California! There are some outstanding churches in Redding &, for the most part, they like each other. There were many different churches represented at this conference, which is awesome, & there was really a spirit of teamwork. Here is Santa Cruz it’s really not like that; however, I do need to go to the Evangelical Prayer Meeting, etc. I was really blessed to sit with two other guys on a panel who didn’t agree on many theologies, but were good friends. Too, one of the speakers started out by saying, “& I’ll try not to offend anybodies theology!”

There’s other stuff, but that’s the main & plain of it. I love what the Stirring is doing. Yaks opened it’s 4th location. We’re gonna’ have our 1st men’s retreat at Henry Coe State Park.

What's up party people!?

Church is really a weird thing. I think the only thing consistent with our church at this point in time is: God's consistency. Often times, from my perspective, it all seems very jumbled. I was talking to Jeff the other day & mentioned, "starting a church is kinda' like a riding a bike with wheels that don't have all the spokes in them." Bumpy. Funny. Painful. However, as time goes on more spokes are added (I'm not talking about more people.) & things will start to smooth out, although, if the Mystery is leading, it will never feel totally smooth; once again from our perspective. This all requires: Faith, Hope, Trust, Crying(?), & Celebration; Not to mention a wonderful family to explore & live out God's purposes with.

We're seeing awesome things happening within our fellowship. We threw a B-Day party for one of the people in our church & invited all sorts of people & all sorts of people showed up! Those who knew Jesus & those who didn't had wonderful fellowship celebrating someone's birth; that was cool. It was really cool to hear the many different conversations happening around several different dinner tables. Some were talking about spirituality, some were talking about the Bulls winning, some were talking about surfing. However, coolest of all was: Everyone was invited by a friend. I don't take this for granted. Having an outward mission statement & living an outward life can be two totally different things; & believe me we've had to work on this by asking wonderful questions to each other!

Often times I want to run from all of this, but I know this is where God has me. I'm scared of seeing all of this fail; & I'm equally scared of seeing all of this succeed, which is weird. However, I trust Him; I know Him; I want to offer Him the fruits of His salvation in my life; I don't want to shrink from the call He has for me: Failure or success.

Well our 4:20 outreach was amazing. Janine Jones & our wonderful little church did an outstanding job visionearing, packing, & passing out 1,000 bags filled with water, chocolate, candy, & a note saying, “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we;” & “Come to our free BBQ Wed. night.

So we get to our UCSC on campus housing drop off place. It takes us about 15min to unload our stuff, & set up our table & tent right next to the main trail heading to the field where 2,500 students are going to get high at 4:20. Well, no more than 5min goes by & a police officer approaches us & says, “Do you have a permit to hand these out?” We don’t so we say, “No.” He then lets us know, “If we see anyone handing these out on campus without a permit we will give them a ticket.” What?!!? Uh…officer, there are 2,500 students 100 yards away from you who are about to smoke an illegal substance!! Anyways, we figured we would get the officer back & do the worst thing possible to him: We didn’t give him a bag or tell him about Jesus!! (Just joking). So, we pack all our stuff & head off campus before they close the campus to all traffic (this is literally a huge deal in SC—I met people from Davis, Fresno, Stockton, etc…). We then set up stations along the sidewalks heading up to UCSC & were able to pass out all 1,000 bags within an hour & a half. Wow. Everyone’s response to our gifts was amazing (as usual—Linda & I used to hand out Hot Chocolate at Shasta College 10yrs ago & we’ve yet to have a bad experience). There were actually people who took our bags & then started shouting to everyone else around us that we were giving away free water & candy (remember it was really hot, so water was a huge deal). We had a great time & what was most amazing to me was the group who helped pass out the water with us from our church. Not everyone who passed stuff out with us is totally convinced Jesus thinks they’re awesome. This was so cool to me. When we gathered at the end for prayer I was amazed to see who joined us & I could tell they had all just experienced God; you could see it on their faces.

There will be more, but I wanted to write something. Please pray for our BBQ tomorrow night. We have no idea how many people are going to show up. Obviously by putting “Jesus” on our invitations not everyone will show up to hang out with His people, but we believe many desire to come & see what it’s all about. Please pray.

Lastly, we weren’t the only Christians out there. This is an incredible photo. If you look hard enough you can see a student blowing smoke into this dude's face! Now if stoners go to Hell this guy might be hosed 'cuz you know he's gonna' get high!!



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(Add on) Laben had a classmate say something to him. "Thanks for the free stuff yesterday. What you guys were doing was totally awesome, thank you so much for the munchies." Where this goes somebody knows.
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For more, check this out: http://cruzjones.blogspot.com/

It's been a while; sorry. There has been a lot going on lately, all good stuff, but it seems as if not working has made me busier! Just joking; although one of my dysfunctions is busyness.

Things are going well & our Easter was funny. The first words out of my mouth at our service were: "I think we're the only church in town who lost more people on Easter Sunday than we gained!" It was a funny moment. We even set out another row of chairs, but this only served to give our back row dwellers more space between them & I. All in all we had a good new group of visitors & all but 1 didn't believe in Jesus! This is great: The church is supposed to be a place where believers worship alongside the non-believers they brought. We had a BBQ after our service & I must say, our BBQ's are filled with the Spirit of Christ. We have genuine fellowship: Period. If we knock the ball out of the field in one area for sure, it is genuine relationships. This is great because, in the NT a new community was one of the biggest proofs of the validity of Jesus. We are an inclusive group of friends who follow God; we are not a group of Christians who worship together, but have no real desire to know or be known. This is a chapter to a book of it's own & a major reason why the church is shrinking; say no to nepotism; say yes to genuine friendship with as many people as possible.

As of right now I am desperately trying to address two areas in the life of our church: What is Discipleship? What are LifeGroups & how do we train people to lead them? Basically, without proper direction & structure you'll get other people's ideas lived out in key areas within your church. Now, with when a person is mature in Christ, you want this. However, when you're worshiping with a bunch of new believers or people who have never done this before you can easily end up in a ditch. So, say hello to my new friend, "Let's do this together." We're not doing bad, but we're not doing great in these two areas & these are KEY areas within our church. For example: Hae-Jung (A Ph.D student we baptized last year) is leading one of our LifeGroups. He's gonna' leave in 2yrs & when he does we think it is crucial that when he leaves he can answer these two questions: What is Discipleship? What is a LifeGroup & how do we train someone to lead it? Why? Because that's how churches are started!

Our 4:20 outreach is this Monday. 1000 confused kids will be confused even more by a bunch of Jesus people handing them bags with water, candy, & a card that says, "Jesus thinks you're awesome & so do we." & an invitation to a free BBQ that next Wed. Uh...please ask God how he's gonna' pay for this one!!

This is pretty cool.

Dear Sean.

I’m Thomas Araki, The pastor of VCF Tokorozawa, I got e-mail from Karl.

I can reach those Japanese students in Saitama.

Please introduce them to us.

Saitama is a large prefecture, so that they may not be able to commute to our church.

But Tokorozawa is a one of big city in Saitama, there are big universities in Tokorozawa.



And please introduce yourself to me, Sean.



I expect your touch.



Blessing.



Thomas Araki 　荒木稔久

Well last week I got laid off from Fleet Feet. We didn't expect this to happen & it was a bit of a surprise to me (although not to my wife). However, for the first time since living in SC God has given me peace about finances. Although, it has never really been one of my pet vices, living in the 7th most expensive city in America presents some unique circumstances. So, my wife & I are convinced God wants us to press into working with the church, & SC, as a full-time gig. I will not be looking for work anytime soon; yet at the same time, I will be spending my time doing discipleship & evangelism non-stop (I did this before, but also helped people find why shoe inserts could benefit them.) The church is growing & the timing seems right. Although the church cannot fully support us, we are approaching our finances like missionaries & raising support, which, thankfully through a host of wonderful friends & family, is allowing all of this to happen. Too, just having this last week off has made a huge difference in my wife. Being bi-vocational & one of those responsibilities being the church stretches us & having 3 kids under the age of 5 & a crazy husband who is highly distractionable is tough on little Linda! So, all that to say; God is still God & we are still his beautiful people!

Last night we baptized our friends from Japan. It was incredible & we are overjoyed at what God is doing through our church. One of the groups of people we wanted to reach out to in SC was the International Students & the fruit of that has been outstanding. It's been such a blessing to meet our new friends & it is our hope that they take the seed of the Gospel back to their countries & "make disciples." Sadly, our Japanese friends are leaving, but we're in contact with other churches in Japan that they can grow with.

Mari went to church with her parents, but never believed. She was afraid God would take away her dreams & we let her wrestle with that reality. She is now a follower of Jesus.



Teru didn't know anything about Jesus, but as he spent time with us he met Him through our church & now desires to be like Jesus whom he respects very much. He mentioned more than once how he was inspired by Jesus' ability to love those who hated him.



We have LifeGroup leadership meeting during the 4th week of every month & last month Jeff, Hae-Jung, & I went out to dinner. Afterwards Hae-Jung (whom we baptized last spring) mentioned he was taking Yuseke out to coffee to share his testimony with him & it had a lasting effect on Yuseke. This is an awesome picture of God creating community in people who would otherwise be separated (Yuseke: Japan--Hae-Jung: Korea).

Yuseke really experienced God at our Sunday Service. I was blown away when I saw him hold out his hands in worship & then before I started preaching I asked if anyone sensed God telling them anything. He shared he felt God's presence. Hae-Jung baptized Yuseke.


The Baptismal!

Preacher doin' his thing in style. Actually, I'm showing people how I had to carry Linda back to the couch after she ate too much ice cream.

This is Yuseke's friend Alona. At dinner she started asking Janine some questions & Janine learned that she had never heard of Jesus! Unreached people groups in SC?! Wow. Oddly she had attended some local church, but had never heard the gospel/Jesus? We don't know how it all works, but Janine gave her a Bible, showed her how to read it (Good job Janine! You're fast!), & then before the night was over she prayed for her, while Alona's hands were on her lap face up & open. Janine is going to meet with her to see if she wants to start following Jesus. Awesome.

Today Laben & I went surfing with a Mormon guy who's asking a lot of questions & would join us at our service this week except he has to work; he says he's gonna' show up the week after. It's awesome to see what God is doing.

Well I just ran the Cool 50K yesterday & had a great time. This is one of the most popular 50k's in the nation & it was a hoot. Many people warned me about two hills on the course: Ball Bearing & Goat Hill. (If a hill has a name, it's a tough hill!) Both proved to be humbling! Ball Bearing has to be one of the steepest climbs I have ever come across. I literally thought I was going to black out on it! This has never happened to me & I was kinda' freaked out about seeing my vision get a little fuzzy. Sadly I started cramping up near mile 21, which seems to be something I do on longer runs. I think I need more salt. Goat Hill comes at a wonderful place, mile 26, & it worked me. My goal was to run the course in 4:30, but I finished in 5:21; sad. What a blessing to have two healthy legs!

Too, I'm not at church today. Our leadership team agreed that after each sermon series we would preach on our vision & values. Jeff Jones is guiding our church today. It brings joy to my heart that Jeff has really risen to the task of being excellent in many areas & being an outstanding communicator is one of them. It is truly a sign of health when the pastor isn't the only one who can bring vision to the church. Our value for discipleship is being demonstrated today & I'm (we're) am blessed.

This is one of the things in life that never grows old. Our friend Hae-Jung is bringing his lab mates to LifeGroup & his friend, another Ph.D student came for the second time. His friend is not a believer, but during worship as we were experiencing the presence of God I looked up & watched as he was singing the songs with us.

I have seen this happen so many times & it never grows old!

We're baptizing 3 Japanese students next week (wow!). We had intentioned to reach out to the international students here, but we didn't really expect we would see more of them come to Christ than the locals. God's got his agenda to fulfill through us.

Too, please pray for our Easter Service. We're believing God for 60 people. Please pray with us.

The first full weekend of each month is our worship weekend when we dedicate ourselves to God through fasting & prayer. This is something we've been doing for 3yrs now & it just keeps getting better & bigger.

Here's the list for the 24hrs of prayer.

FRIDAY March 6th
6pm – 7pm Janine
7pm – 8pm Janine
8pm – 9pm Alana
9pm – 10pm Linda
10pm – 11pm Rachel
11pm – 12midnight Rachel
SATURDAY March 7th
12am – 1am Jeff & Matt
1am – 2am Karol
2am – 3am Sarah
3am – 4am Sarah
4am – 5am Mari
5am – 6am Emelia
6am – 7am Sean
7am – 8am Sean
8am – 9am Illona
9am – 10am HaeJong
10am – 11am Julee
11am – 12noon Laben
12pm – 1pm Laben
1pm – 2pm Jeff
2pm – 3pm Daniel
3pm – 4pm Daniel
4pm – 5pm Ryan
5pm – 6pm Gabriel

Viva Japan! Both these guys (front row your right) are getting baptized in March. I'm meeting with them weekly before they go back to Japan teaching them how to spend time with God each & every day. Too, it's my desire to teach them how to start a reproducing small group back in Japan. I only have 3 weeks, but if Paul could start churches in less time, why not me with these guys?!?

Just some random, but important thoughts. As I was running the other day I was listening to N.T. Wright's "New Perspective on Paul," & he mentioned something like this: "Nietzsche defined Paul as the most tormented man to have ever walked the face of the earth." I didn't think too much about it, other than: The Enlightenment's perspective on life, especially spirituality, is dumb(?). There are more educated words, but they escape me right now. Anyways, I tucked it away. At our service this Sunday we were talking about giving everything to Jesus (seems like we talk about that a lot) & our friend Carol, who is pretty heavenly minded said this: "Paul, was a man totally enraptured by Jesus. He never really thought about the cost of following him because someone who is absolutely captivated doesn't regard losing one thing for love's sake as sacrifice." So, when I put these two statements together things mesh for me. Nietzsche, who is looking from the outside at Paul's actions can refer to him as tormented, & he was; he was tormented by a love that is undefinable outside of actually submitting to it. Carol knows that love & is therefore smarter than Nietzsche.

There have been some cool things going on in SC. This last Saturday, Valentine’s Day, we did an outreach with another church in town, Faith Community Church, & handed out 485 (some got broken!) carnations around town. On each flower was a tag that said: “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we.” We have been doing this for years before moving to SC & think it’s a great idea still. I was really blessed to see how many people from our church actually turned out for this (about 45%--15/17 peeps). This was great & shows me we aren’t creating a culture of spectators, but people who really desire to know Him & make Him known. We broke up into 3 groups & went: Downtown, UCSC, & around the Rio Theatre (“Mid-Town” to the locals). Everyone had a great time & they were genuinely surprised at: (a) how easy it is to share your faith in a very practical way; & (b) how receptive people were to what we were doing. As I was talking to Laben the other morning I told him that, although 480 people got to hear a portion of the gospel, everyone who was involved became more emboldened to share the gospel , which will have wonderful results.


Our next outreach will be April 20th aka. 4:20. Stoners around the world smoke pot each day at 4:20pm & on April 20th they all get together & light up at the same time. In SC a huge group of students gets together on campus to light up at the same time. What a great opportunity to tell them about Jesus. We want to pass out, what I’m calling right now: “Stoner survival packets,” which will include: water, candy, snack, & a card that says, “Jesus thinks you’re awesome & so do we.” It’s my hope we can pass out 1000 of these.


If you want to be involved, please come down; we will need all the help we can get.


Later that night Jeff, Janine, Linda, & I all went out for dinner. Randy K (who is an incredible coach) gave my wife & I some money for Valentines, so we all went to sushi. Our waiter, Jeff, is the owner’s son & when we got our food we told him we were about to pray & asked if he needed prayer for anything. Not really sure what to do (I don’t think many Christians offer to pray for their waiters) he said, “Pray for better business.” We did, had a great time, & left him a $100 tip. We’ll go back & see him again. When we got into the car I called Randy & told him what we did with his money. I’m not sure if he’s gonna’ send more or less after hearing about that.
On Sundays we continue to see more homeless people in our service. This is great, but many of them leave after realizing we aren’t going to feed them physically. However, some stay. Lori is a wonderful Asian woman who “dropped out” after her 14 month old girl was kidnapped. This was her second time joining us, so after praying for her (she’s huge into Asian medicine & not prayer) my wife invited her to come over the next day to eat & clean up. So, the next day she arrived at our house & took an Asian herbal bath (milk, sage, & rosemary) & ate some of our Turkey soup. It was great to have her over & my kids were playing with her the whole time. Before leaving she mentioned that after living in SC for 7yrs, no one had ever invited her to their house. This is interesting to me; is it interesting to you?

About a year ago we passed out flyers at UCSC for a free BBQ. We had close to 100 students show up & we played games & ate food. At the BBQ two Japanese students came & have been hanging out ever since. Often they walk into our mtgs late, which is really funny, but they show up on a regular basis. Last night the guys invited one of the two guys, Tader, to hang out & watch the Jesus video in Japanese (what a resource that is). Tader confessed Jesus & we will baptize him in March.

This last Sunday a new girl came to our service. She is philosophy major at UCSC & we had a chance to speak afterwards. I’m always blown away at how ignorant (not stupid, but unknowing) people are concerning Jesus. Now much of this is perpetrated by the church, but pop-culture does its work too. She mentioned many subjects to me including: imperialism; ethics, values, etc. (Basically Christianity sucks--& in many cases I agree) One thing she said was Jesus’ primary focus was ethics; I told her Jesus wasn’t concerned with ethics (at least not what she meant, i.e. a list of external do’s & don’ts) & she was kinda’ stunned by this statement saying, “Jesus didn’t teach ethics?!” I said, “Jesus was not a teacher of ethics; however, when a person is transformed by God they become much more ethical. Jesus was, & is, concerned with people being transformed by His love, not conformed to a set of rules.” How many people’s view of God would be totally rearranged if they really understood this one truth?

That's a lot of pictures!
Blessings,

My friend Juan is helping us with logo stuff. What do you think of these ideas?

This is a response to a question within our church. We've all wrestled with similar issues, & to be honest, will wrestle with them again.

"I think what you're doing is great. Yeah, this is a hard one. All of us have dysfunctions that over time will come to the surface in one way or another. Generally, what comes to the surface, isn't really the issue, but the fruit of the sin or dysfunction that person deals with. Obviously we will make things a bit more complicated because we have sin too; however, because of our maturity in Christ we don't intentionally complicate things, but we are always attempting to reconcile the situation. Now a person has a couple of choices when faced with a sin issue, namely in the area of responsibility or, "Who is to blame for this problem." They can take responsibility for the "fruit" their inward dysfunctions are creating; or, they blame their circumstances, which will include us because we are making it too hard on them. No doubt, circumstances can become difficult, including circumstances we create as a church, & we will take responsibility for our part. However, when it comes to sin & maturity, circumstances won't create new sin, they will however reveal the sin that has existed in the person yet has remained safely tucked away generally labeled as: “That’s just a part of who I am.” So, who is to blame? My experience has shown me that those who are Poor in Spirit, Broken, etc...will take responsibility for whatever part they play within the conflict; confessing our responsibility & sin brings freedom & goes the distance in helping us become more Christ-like. Yet, those who continually blame their circumstances easily allow themselves to become the "victim" whenever they choose; this is a never ending cycle of convenience: sin. We all encounter hard times, but maturity always points to ME & my part in the problem & leads me to the feet of Jesus who can then heal me. In this case: pray, repent for our actions, challenge the sin issue you see happening in both parties & ask yourself, “What’s the next gracious step for us all?” Too, draw upon your experience. You too wrestled with something very similar & because of your choices have a great deal of authority in this area."

I can't put the video here, but you can get with a little cut & paste action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

Well we just got back from World Mandate, which is missions conference in Texas. I have attended this for the past 6yrs & it is always a huge blessing to see the potential of the local church. Every year I am inspired that a community devoted to the person & purposes of Jesus can reach the world with the gospel; & this is done primarily through raising & releasing disciples who go & do likewise throughout the world in local expressions of faith: Church Planting.
This year we were 17 people went with our church, which is a testament to what is going on with us. There were 5 people who had never been to an event like this & two of them who aren’t even totally sure about Jesus, but they’re so intrigued by him that they follow as close behind as possible as they discover who this man is.
God spoke to me is several ways: As I was holding Abigail, our youngest, high up in the bleachers one night I heard God say very clearly, “Spiritual Authority.” I was blessed because this is something I have been wrestling with for some time. I have desired for some time to see the Holy Spirit set people free from all forms of spiritual oppression; however, my theology in this area is underdeveloped & needs some attention in spite of my life’s experience. Certain things ring very true for me in regards to the works of the Spirit (too many to talk about right now): God desires all mankind to be free from spiritual oppression, especially as it regards death & sin; As believers we are endowed with spiritual authority to enact the purposes of God throughout the earth. So back to God’s message to me; God tells me, “Spiritual Authority.” 1 minute later a young man approaches me & says he has a word for me, he’s nervous, but I encourage him to take a chance. He says he saw a picture of me on a white horse & my eyes were burning with fire (others have seen this too, but I’m generally mad!!). He’s embarrassed, but I share what God had just shared with me & what I’ve been wrestling with & what it means to me; we pray. Then the next night I go forward for prayer, not really needing to hear another word from God, but wanting to sit at God’s feet again. A man starts praying for me & says, “I see you as a man with great spiritual authority.” (This wasn’t a leadership thought, but a “..we wrestle not against flesh…word.) I was encouraged again that this is God’s theme for me & a new season for our church. God wants to set people free from sin & death & its effects upon humanity; he has entrusted the power to do this to his people the church.

This is a huge subject, but I wanted to share a small part of what God did in me at Mandate.

Kurt won a Super Bowl for my boys the Los Angeles Rams. Go Kurt... Here's an article about faith & quarterbacks.

I'm less than comfortable with the apparent epidemic of religiosity among our nation's quarterbacks.

First, Colt McCoy, fresh from a thrilling win over Ohio State, begins his post-game comments by thanking his "lord and savior Jesus Christ."

Then there's Tim Tebow, whose game and demeanor I rather like, changing the Bible verse he endorses on his eye-black, from "Philippians 4:13" to "John 3:16." As if that might make the difference.

Personally, my own taste in quarterbacks runs toward the epic old-school debauchers, guys like Kenny Stabler and Joe Namath. If I go to Hell for that, then so be it. I refuse to believe that God — anyone's God — has a rooting interest in the outcome of something as secular and perverse as a BCS game.

But now football fans direct their attentions to Arizona, where one of American sports' most prominent God Squaders — Arizona Cardinal quarterback Kurt Warner — takes on the Philadelphia Eagles for the right to go to the Super Bowl. And I can't help but think that the religious guys are, well, blessed with an advantage, a big one at that.

Actually, the issue isn't really religion. It's faith. I don't care what or whom a ballplayer believes in: Jesus, Moses, Buddha, L. Ron Hubbard. I don't care what his position is on stem cell research, abortion, gay rights. But a system of belief — any system, really — that stills the mind and quells doubt is of obvious benefit, particularly if you're an athlete.

Warner's case is as instructive as it is well-known. In 1994, after being cut by the Green Bay Packers, he found himself working the nightshift at a Hy-Vee grocery store near his alma mater, that noted football factory known as Northern Iowa. By 1999, he'd won a Super Bowl ring and the first of his two MVP awards.

His appearance as the starter in Sunday's NFC championship game marks yet another absurdly improbable comeback. Warner had been let go by the Rams and the Giants. His career as anything but a spot starter had been pronounced dead years ago. In his several years in Arizona, he's been a backup to Josh McCown and Matt Leinart, who was named the starter for the 2008 season. Now, having thrown for more than 5,000 yards this season, Warner has a chance to deliver the Cardinals — the Cardinals! — to the Super Bowl.

"It's an advantage for any individual, when you have faith and believe in something," Warner told our Greg Boeck Thursday after the Cardinals broke practice. "In my case, it's the power of Jesus ...

"I walk by faith and not by sight. I walk according to what I believe, and what I believe the power of God is, as opposed to what the world tells us, or what circumstances appear to be."

Put another way, belief can liberate you. You need not dwell on the long odds. You're free of the thoughts that crush so many comebacks — the assortment of self-involved, self-inflicted self doubts.

"So much of this business is 'Me, me me,'" Warner told Boeck. "... My faith has allowed me to step back from that and say, 'Hey, this isn't about me.'"

There are too many examples in too many sports to ignore, from 2007 Masters winner, Zach Johnson (who, interestingly enough, went to the same high school as Warner), to the soccer player, Kaka (that a religious name? I wonder), an evangelical Christian who'd been badly injured in a pool accident, to Josh Hamilton, a recovering drug addict who may yet become a perennial major league All-Star. But, as usual, the best examples come from boxing. Muhammad Ali believed he was chosen by Allah, and looking back, who's to say he wasn't? Evander Holyfield, born with a cruiserweight's frame, believed it was a Christian God's will for him to reign as the heavyweight champ. (It occurs that perhaps it's time for God to have a heart-to-heart with Evander on the subject of retirement.) Mike Tyson, for his part, believed in nothing. And it showed.

Perhaps you recall Tyson's sudden and short-lived stint as a Muslim. Of course it didn't do him any good. Pious proclamations for the sake of PR or damage control don't do an athlete any good, unless he can con himself along with the sportswriters.

Warner's not conning anyone, least of all himself. The Cardinals were 9-7 in the dreadful NFC West. The Eagles were 9-6-1 against a much more formidable schedule. The teams met in Philadelphia, not two months ago, and the Eagles won by 28. A change of venue shouldn't make too much of a difference, though the oddsmakers have Arizona as mere four-point underdogs.

A guy like Warner, though, isn't working off the betting line. He doesn't care what circumstances appear to be. He's got faith. If not for that, he'd still be bagging groceries.

Hae-Jung, you are a man of God. Julee Seo, you are an awesome woman of God.

요한복음 3
1바리새인 중에 니고데모라 하는 사람이 있으니 유대인의 관원이라

2그가 밤에 예수께 와서 가로되 랍비여 우리가 당신은 하나님께로서 오신 선생인줄 아나이다 하나님이 함께 하시지 아니하시면 당신의 행하시는 이 표적을 아무라도 할 수 없음이니이다

3예수께서 대답하여 가라사대 진실로 진실로 네게 이르노니 사람이 거듭나지 아니하면 하나님 나라를 볼수 없느니라

4니고데모가 가로되 사람이 늙으면 어떻게 날 수 있삽나이까 두번째 모태에 들어갔다가 날 수 있삽나이까

5예수께서 대답하시되 진실로 진실로 네게 이르노니 사람이 물과 성령으로 나지 아니하면 하나님 나라에 들어갈 수 없느니라

6육으로 난 것은 육이요 성령으로 난 것은 영이니

7내가 네게 거듭나야 하겠다 하는 말을 기이히 여기지 말라

8바람이 임의로 불매 네가 그 소리를 들어도 어디서 오며 어디로 가는지 알지 못하나니 성령으로 난 사람은 다 이러하니라

9니고데모가 대답하여 가로되 어찌 이러한 일이 있을 수 있나이까

10예수께서 가라사대 너는 이스라엘의 선생으로서 이러한 일을 알지 못하느냐

11진실로 진실로 네게 이르노니 우리 아는 것을 말하고 본 것을 증거하노라 그러나 너희가 우리 증거를 받지 아니하는도다

12내가 땅의 일을 말하여도 너희가 믿지 아니하거든 하물며 하늘 일을 말하면 어떻게 믿겠느냐

13하늘에서 내려온 자 곧 인자 외에는 하늘에 올라간 자가 없느니라

14모세가 광야에서 뱀을 든것 같이 인자도 들려야 하리니

15이는 저를 믿는 자마다 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이니라

16하나님이 세상을 이처럼 사랑하사 독생자를 주셨으니 이는 저를 믿는 자마다 멸망치 않고 영생을 얻게 하려 하심이니라

17하나님이 그 아들을 세상에 보내신 것은 세상을 심판하려 하심이 아니요 저로 말미암아 세상이 구원을 받게하려 하심이라

18저를 믿는 자는 심판을 받지 아니하는 것이요 믿지 아니하는 자는 하나님의 독생자의 이름을 믿지 아니하므로 벌써 심판을 받은 것이니라

19그 정죄는 이것이니 곧 빛이 세상에 왔으되 사람들이 자기 행위가 악하므로 빛보다 어두움을 더 사랑한 것이니라

20악을 행하는 자마다 빛을 미워하여 빛으로 오지 아니하나니 이는 그 행위가 드러날까 함이요

21진리를 좇는 자는 빛으로 오나니 이는 그 행위가 하나님 안에서 행한 것임을 나타내려 함이라 하시니라

22이 후에 예수께서 제자들과 유대 땅으로 가서 거기 함께 유하시며 세례를 주시더라

23요한도 살렘 가까운 애논에서 세례를 주니 거기 물들이 많음이라 사람들이 와서 세례를 받더라

24요한이 아직 옥에 갇히지 아니하였더라

25이에 요한의 제자 중에서 한 유대인으로 더불어 결례에 대하여 변론이 되었더니

26저희가 요한에게 와서 가로되 랍비여 선생님과 함께 요단강 저편에 있던 자 곧 선생님이 증거하시던 자가 세례를 주매 사람이 다 그에게로 가더이다

27요한이 대답하여 가로되 만일 하늘에서 주신바 아니면 사람이 아무 것도 받을 수 없느니라

28나의 말한바 나는 그리스도가 아니요 그의 앞에 보내심을 받은 자라고 한 것을 증거할 자는 너희니라

29신부를 취하는 자는 신랑이나 서서 신랑의 음성을 듣는 친구가 크게 기뻐하나니 나는 이러한 기쁨이 충만하였노라

30그는 흥하여야 하겠고 나는 쇠하여야 하리라 하니라

31위로부터 오시는 이는 만물 위에 계시고 땅에서 난 이는 땅에 속하여 땅에 속한 것을 말하느니라 하늘로서 오시는 이는 만물 위에 계시나니

32그가 그 보고 들은 것을 증거하되 그의 증거를 받는 이가 없도다

33그의 증거를 받는 이는 하나님을 참되시다 하여 인쳤느니라

34하나님의 보내신 이는 하나님의 말씀을 하나니 이는 하나님이 성령을 한량 없이 주심이니라

35아버지께서 아들을 사랑하사 만물을 다 그 손에 주셨으니

36아들을 믿는 자는 영생이 있고 아들을 순종치 아니하는 자는 영생을 보지 못하고 도리어 하나님의 진노가 그 위에 머물러 있느니라

I recently sat in the staff mtg of the Vineyard church in Redding & was asked a great question: "How do people make there way to your church, what type of signage do you have to direct people to your church?" I mentioned that, "We don't put out any signs," which brought up other questions, namely "how do people here about your church?"

This brings up a core value for our church: We (the community of Antioch Church of Santa Cruz) are the signs that direct people to Jesus & our church. So,thus far, 90% of the people who are now a part of our church are a result of friendships created in & throughout Santa Cruz. This is a very intentional thing. We believe that evangelism is the response of each believer to the Great Commandment & the abdication of this task to the church machine (the impersonal comglomerate of services, logos, events, etc.) is effective in creating a crowd, but less-effective in helping the community take responsibility for their faith (discipleship). Getting a post-card in the mail is a good, but Jesus' means of evangelism was, & still is, believers engaging him daily & then taking their personal relationship & the power therein to the communities they live in & inviting them into a relationship with God. Post-cards & events get a message out, but at the expense of helping each person within the church "love their neighbor" as a normative result of their relationship to a loving God.

Jesus was asked: "What is the greatest commandment?" He responded: "Love God, Love People." I believe that a natural response to loving God is an eventual reorientation of one's entire life to the person & purposes of Jesus. Because we love him, we will slowly but surely love what he loves & he without a shadow of a doubt he loves people. Therefore, the more we love him, the more we will love people & will want to include them into a relationship with the one whom we have found life within: The triune God. I know this isn't a simple A to B transition, since all sorts of things come up in between, however to love God & not love people only shows our lack of knowing the one who loves us so dearly. So, by our not relying upon the "church machine" to do the work that should be the natural response of the Great Commandment within each believer brings about The Great Question: "To what degree do you know the love of God & in what ways can we deepen that love together?" Too, this helps me, albeit a frustrating & revealing adventure at times, to gauge how well people are being transformed by the gospel & not just taking part in a "cool" service each week. I have heard of numerous churches that first off aren't communities but crowds, & two exist namely for themselves & take no joy in the responsibility of being "the light & salt of the earth," which leads to the leadership of the church vamping up the "signage, events, etc." in order to reach the lost. These are not bad things, however, the church (a people, not a place or event) is God's means of revealing himself. Therefore, our lack of "signage" hopefully results in empowering people to reveal the true depth of God's love in their life.

I do know that loving God is easier than loving people. However, finding out the difficulty of loving people should only lead to a deeper dependency upon God, relying upon him even more, & allowing him to heal the brokeness in our lives in order to live out the Great Commission (make disciples). So when I present the question to the leadership of our church: "who are you spending time with this week & why are you investing into that person?" is in a roundabout way asking about their relationship with God & their willingness to grow into the likeness of Christ (not a simple thing by any means, but it's the best!).

Now needless to say "branding" & other culturally contextual things of this sort are important to us & the culture we live in. I do like our logo. However, in order to reach the 95% of Santa Cruz county who don't know Jesus our lives need to shine with God's love. Santa Cruz has many "cool" (& wonderful churches). That said, the percentage of people who don't know Jesus is the result of many things, yet one thing is certain, however you slice it the believers in Santa Cruz aren't living a life fueled with the love with God. If they were, the percentages would be different; 95% is a clear reflection upon the depth of the churches within our county; including ours. Too, what is the key component to sending church plants out all over the world? Not signage, but people whose lives are daily fueled by God's love for them, which then results in...

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: A community devoted to the person (Great Commandment) & purposes (Great Commission) of Jesus.

Blogging about it & living it are two very different things, but aiming high is always fun!

As of late I've been thinking a little bit more about movies. Entertainment is a fascinating thing. I am often amazed at people's devotion & discipline to find time in order to sit for 2hrs in a state of self-satiational bliss whereas they often can’t find time to do other things (this is a post in itself). My thoughts on movies have definitely changed over the years; most of all, I generally have much better things to invest myself & my time into. However, I do enjoy an occasional movie, especially those with some redeemable worth like a documentary (Reverend Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping is amusing education at its best.) Our culture is an entertainment engrossed nation; yet are there any spiritual ramifications from watching the things you watch (or listen to for that matter)? For those of us in the Western world our dualistic approach to life renders certain things as spiritual & other things secular. I don't believe this is true & believe everything has some spiritual significance. Too, movies (& music) are especially powerful in that they influence a person's soul (via. intelligence, emotions, etc...).

What is your theology on movies? Would Jesus be watching what you watch? Why or why not?

Here I am at work standing next to one of the most prolific ultra-runners ever. This guy just did 50 marathons in 50 days. After doing that he was burned out on the media hype it created & needed to get back to his first love, so he started running back home from New York to San Francisco!

Things are going well. I must admit God just took us through an interesting place in time, but we're on the other side. Our house is cool, my new job at Fleet Feet (a specialty running shoe shop) is chill & I get many new pairs of shoes. No complaints.

I was talking with a pastor friend of mine yesterday & we are both humbled that the Kingdom of God advances with suffering included. Why this is I don't totally know, but that's how it is. A utopia is not God's plan for this side of eternity.

Hebrews 5:8

Eat turkey!

Yesterday at our area pastors mtg a couple of things stood out to me:

40% of all Vineyard church plants fail within the first 5yrs.

In order to keep up with the population growth within the Bay Area over the past 10yrs there would need to be 250 new churches planted; over a ten year period there have been roughly 80 new churches started.

I wore a long sleeve shirt, boardshorts, & sandals (all in nice condition) to our mtg & was told, "Sean, I can see you got dressed up for the mtg." Uh...am I missing something? I am the only person there under 45yrs old. (I started going to the Vineyard 'cuz I could wear shorts...I still go to the Vineyard 'cuz I can wear shorts!! Most of the time ;-).

Vision is important, but ways to measure & keep accountable to that vision are equally important.

We just bought our World Mandate plane tickets.

One of the things God has put upon my heart is to send out leadership thoughts to the core of our church. Here we go!

Lately I’ve noticed many movies based on people who overcame great odds. How many times have you watched one of these movies & been inspired by the main character’s determination, discipline, hope, expectation, faith, & dreams? We all agree that these stories are incredible & we desire to be like the heroes in these stories. Well, we can be. The ability to overcome great challenges is a daily choice & being mediocre takes just as much energy as being excellent. We should realize our lives are stories too. What’s the story of your life going to be?

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz is the result of God’s dream for Santa Cruz. 97% of this county does not know Jesus, so God sent his very best to tell them: Us. We are an expression of God’s determination to reveal himself, so that all men & women in this area would have the opportunity to know the one who created them. This is why we are here; we are God’s living & tangible love letter to Santa Cruz.

As I dream & pray for our church I am often reminded that one of the keys to growth, both personally & corporately, is persistence. My faith is always inspired by the figures of the New Testament. Their unrelenting pursuit of God & his purposes is very motivating. When I look at our challenges in light of Scripture I am constantly reminded of these wonderful men & women who experienced similar challenges, yet they persevered under pressure. Moreover, by enduring trials of many kinds, what started as small communities in Ephesus, Philippi, or Colosse, (small churches like ours!) grew into thriving communities focused upon the person & purposes of Jesus. These small groups changed the world in spite of numerous challenges; & as we continue to seek the heart of God I know we will change the world as well.

I think we’d all agree starting a community devoted to the person & purposes of Jesus is challenging; however, we are seeing good fruit coming from our labor. That said, as we continue to grow we are always going to face adversity; therefore we must stay persistent, doing what we know leads to good fruit. Throughout good & bad times we must stay determined to do what needs to be done which will result in a good harvest. Dreaming with God will reveal our path; Prayer will result in changed lives & power to overcome spiritual darkness; Studying Scripture will result in a correct perspective on God & life; Inviting will encourage those who are far from God into a relationship with him; contacting those in our community on a regular basis will result in stronger friendships; & Mentoring will produce mature followers of Christ who can join God in His work. In all of this persistence is crucial.

When Linda & I think of who God has surrounded us with along this journey we are tremendously blessed. We are surrounded by awesome men & women of God. We are humbled by our companions in this journey & know God handpicked all of us to be together for this time & place. Each of you is irreplaceable, special, uniquely gifted, & appreciated. We couldn’t imagine doing this without you. I know that when God created this group he was dreaming a big dream; I’m blessed we get to dream with you all.

Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
Blessings,

A little nugget from my sermon this next week based upon Matthew 6, "Give us this day our daily bread."

“God helps those who help themselves” is not Biblical! You may believe that about God, but it isn’t the God who is represented by Scripture; it is an American ideal projected upon God! Rather, “God helps those who seek first the Kingdom of God.”

I've heard this statement so many times it makes me sick; it's pure self-reliance American dribble. Now don't get me wrong, I'm American & I love working hard. However, this statement is often used to describe how a person (1) doesn't need God, (2) is more blessed then "Them," (3) or, their success is evidence that their hard effort is a sign of God's blessing.

God helps those who help themselves is not bibllical.

God likes to help all sorts of people.

God has a mission, that's why he has a church.

In high school my first real girlfriend was, ironically, from Santa Cruz. This last week Abigail got sick & we had to take her to the hospital (she's doing great now). As I was leaving the hospital I recognized a man from Redding whom I hadn't seen in years; it was the younger brother of my old girlfriend. We laughed, talked, & he asked what I was doing in SC. I told him I came here to start a church & I was the pastor. We both laughed a little more & he said he & his girlfriend wanted to start going to church. I'm not sure where he's at in his relationship with God, but we both agreed God was the one who made our paths cross. So, he showed up on Sunday with his girlfriend & their new baby. As they walked in Laben walks up to him & says, "What's up!?" Evidently Laben & my friend hung out in Redding & Laben did some work on his house & bummed a couple of cigs off of him! My friend came back to Santa Cruz because a large part of his family & his girlfriend's family lives here. God is good & it's HIS passion & mission to expand his family tree through us.

We've been meeting at a public hall for about 1yr now. This last Sunday was incredible for many reasons, but one stands out to me. Our relationship with those who work or use the hall is deepening & it is our prayer that as they see our faith lived out before them their desire to know the one who loves us will grow. We are the light of the Yoga Center! It is fun & interesting.

Every Sunday the hall is overseen by a young Hispanic man who we have befriended. We have invited him to BBQ's, football games, roasted him his own coffee!, & listened to the wonderful story of his life. We have spoken to him several times about church, since that's what we are, & he has expressed his disdain for church & Christians for various & fairly typical reasons. Despite his objections we have continued to live our faith before him & continue to see him belong before he believes.

This Sunday was something new, yet expected. As we set up, he stayed to talk & watch. As we worshipped, he gave my children gifts & listened. As I spoke, he left, went up to the balcony to sit & hear what his friend "pastor Sean" had to say; all of which was a first. Needless to say throughout the entire service I watched from the corner of my eye knowing our friend, God’s child, took calculated step toward his creator.

The life of Desmond Doss is a hero without a gun. I watched a documentary on him & actually cried. His life reveals a friendship with God that is truly a thing of envy. Faith. Conviction.

Our life is unique. Right now our life is unique for real. Unique is cool.

So Siena sees a tour bus yesterday & says...






"Mom, look at the size of that house!"

I've been reading this & it's been great. I must admit I'm very fascinated by Judaism, especially since our faith is a continuation of this ancient faith. Reading history & finding out how & why Chrisianity left its Jewish roots, & the effect of this purposeful shift in both Christian orthodoxy & orthopraxy is really eye-opening to our current conditions. Another outstanding book is "Father Abraham: The Jewish Roots of our Christian Faith.

Abigail Kait McMasters was born Sept. 20, 2008.
Linda's water broke at 1:50 a.m. & Abigail was born @ 2:15 a.m. Needless to say it was a quick birth.

Well here is our new home: Motor home. We're not sure what ours is gonna' look like, but we're gonna' live in one come Sept 1. We have been unable to find a house, as of Thur, but keep looking. The funniest thing we've heard so far from a rental agency is, "We only except 2 people per room. Your family has 5 people." We know human rights is important & that infants are certainly people, but Abigail doesn't need her own room just yet. Anyways, we have a place to stay, which is a tremendous blessing. I think we're going to stay at a 7th Day Adventist Compound of sorts. We'll see how that goes!

My wife & I feel extremely fortunate to be in Santa Cruz for Jesus. 97% of Santa Cruz doesn't know Him. To what length are we willing to go in order to share His love with SC & initiate a community that represents the person of Christ to the world? To what degree is our commitment to Jesus & his purposes conditional? As I told my mom the other night, "Mom, this is the only Hell I'll ever know." Within the spectrum of what a life could be, my American dilemma is outstanding! Furthermore, I said that because on the spectrum of eternity I won't remember this. However, I will be reminded of our present decisions because there will be a great crowd of people in Heaven from Santa Cruz. I am often reminded of Jesus' words, "Where your treasure is there your heart will be also." If your treasure is God, than your treasure will be what & where? I want to constantly be reminded that my Hell is another persons Heaven & their Heaven is a bad deal. "How will they believe if a messenger doesn't go to tell them?"

Too, as with all interesting periods in life, this phase of our life has really served to help us dig deep into our faith, theology, & relationships with each other & our church. Circumstances are often cheap, but highly effective, seminaries.

I'm reading two incredible books: Jerusalem to Irian Jaya. This a biographical history of missions. If you want to read stories of personal sacrifice read this book. Throughout time men & women have given themselves to God's purposes, which has resulted in great fruit. However, the cost involved has been high. As Tertuillian said, "The blood of martyrs is the life-giving seed of church." This is a very inspiring book.

The other book is: Foolishness to the Greeks by Leslie Newbigen. This is a very heady book that deals with the gospel within the Western world. He deals with numerous aspects of Western thought including: Enlightenment, Neo-paganism, Science, etc... This book has been very illuminating for me within the context of Santa Cruz. (Steve this books deals with a lot of the issues raised by your latest post 8/28)




Send us your address & maybe we'll come live in your driveway for a few days!
Blessings,

Well, we need to be out of our house in 10 days & still don't have a place to live. One woman said, "a family of 5 is too many for a 2 bedroom place." If we don't get a house in 10 days my wife will be heading back to Redding & I will stay here to look for housing, etc, but I'm not sure where I'm going to stay. My unemployment runs out in 1 month & I've submitted at least 30 apps & got one response from a painter who is willing to pay me $17hr, if he had any work! Too, Abigail is coming in 3-4 weeks & there is a chance Linda will give birth up in Redding. Please pray for us as these situations are presenting unique opportunities for all sorts of things to happen in our life.

Well the time has arrived. Someone finally approached me with an invitation to join them in their journey with Jesus; it only took 1yr & 8 months, but my time of acceptance or rejection arrived. A wonderful young man named James approached me at Starbucks after ordering a coffee & told me about his church. Unwilling to let a good opportunity slip by he then asked, "Would you like to join us this Sunday? We're a new church & you can come with tattoos, piercings, or anything else." I asked him about his service & made his drink. Homeboy saw a glimmer of acceptance in my eyes & left some tracts at the end of the bar.

1yr & 8 months. That's how long it took someone to invite me into anything remotely Christian let alone a relationship with Jesus. My assumption is that we are surrounded by people who aren't being invited.

One of the things we are realizing here in Santa Cruz is that we are saying no for people. What I mean is, instead of actually inviting them we assume they'll say no, so we never ask. In fact, we are inviting many people who are saying no, but rejection is a part of the gospel. However, 1 invite per year & eight months is not enough. We need communities who invite people into a relationship with Life. Too, what we're realizing is that most people are saying no to something that doesn't exist. They're saying no to a god who isn't GOD; they're saying no to a jesus that isn't anything like JESUS; they're saying no to a religion we're not a part of. People's "no's" stink of educated ignorance, which is our responsibility & joy to remedy.

The next day a woman approaches me saying, "Can we hang this sign up, we're starting a new service here in Scotts Valley." I tell her, "I'm sorry Starbucks won't allow religious material in the store." She becomes frustrated & walks away. I stand there thinking, "I'm right here, why not invite me?" The poster isn't important, but I am. Invite me; don't say no for me 'cuz I might say "Yes."

When's the last time someone invited you?

I haven't been invited to anything for 5 days.

Cut & paste to see some race pics!
http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_my_photos.cfm?RaceOID=27892008M1&LastName=MCMASTERS&BibNumber=2034&Language=en&Mailing=16254&BFI=sh4og9cbro&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=8&Height=800&Width=1280&Index2Home=true

Well I ran my marathon & it included many lessons. The race had pacers, who are people that run at a specific speed in order to get a specific time. I wanted to run a 3:10 marathon, so I started out with the guy who held the 3:10 sign. Well, in short, he was a liar! Everyone around me kept saying, “He’s running fast,” but I didn’t believe them. When you train for a marathon you can run faster at a shorter distance & I felt good. Anyways, between mile 4-5 somebody says, “We just ran a 6:40 mile.” That’s not good when you have 22.2 miles left to go. In order to run a 3:10 you need to run 7:15 a mile, which on a good day is doable for me. However, a big mistake is to waste too much energy early, when you feel good, & have little left when you feel like dying in the later miles. So, my guy was a liar, but I’m also my own enemy; I should have started out with a slower group—“In like a Lion, out like a Lamb,” is a favorite saying of mine that I still don’t listen to. So, at mile 13:1 I ran 1:35, which was perfect, but the pain is about to begin. About mile 17 I’m in serious pain, but this is nothing new & I’m still running fairly strong. Mile 21? Well my hamstring cramps so bad it literally stands me up & I have to stop to stretch it. Sadly, this continues on throughout the rest of the race. I’m pretty sure it was dehydration, which is another reoccurring theme in my ESPN highlight reel. I finished in 3:37, 8:18 per mile.
I shed some tears at the end of the race, which was odd for me. I cried because we still don’t have a place to live, we keep applying to 3 bedroom houses as a group of 4 adults-3 kids-1 dog & they look at us like we’re the one smoking dope, the church is growing SLOWLY (but surely), the job scene is stupid to say the least, we’re about to have another kid (Abigail Kait McMasters), we were all packing & everyone was moving that day, & I had been running runs by myself that were too long. So I cried because at least one of the weights that was keeping my resentful knees pinned to the ground before the feet of Jesus was gone. I find it easier to run than to kneel; sad, but true.
Blessings,

My buddy Juan Eddards from orangefloorstudio.com came up with this. What do you think?

We still don't have a place to live, but our landlords are letting us stay here until Sept. 1. Needless to say, we're having a great time right now. However, it's kinda' cool to have God as your only hope. I was reading Acts 7 today & in Stephen's speach he talked about Abraham who left his land & settled in another place, but didn't even get to see what God had promised to him. Wow; what was that like? Abraham wishes he had a Jeremiah 29:11 tattoo on his buttocks (esp. American style blessings ;-).

I'm running the S.F. Marathon this Sunday. It's exciting to know I can take all of my competitive aggression out on myself & people I don't know. A few years ago I was running a triathlon & was passed by a 65 year old man on the run; evidently he was a stud!. I hope I see him this Sunday 'cuz I'm gonna' break him off something special!
Love you all.