Formally Winter

Winter Formal Charity Dinner

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.

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.

At the Vets Hall we're never totally sure what room we're going to meet in. We were informed that this week we can't get into a room until 11:45, which is 45min after everyone gets there. What to do? So we're going to have a collective preacher exercise. Break up into groups &...

God left us the Bible in order that we might know him. It helps us to understand who He is, who we are as His children, & how we are supposed to act in our relationships with Him & the world around us. So, reading, appreciating, & applying His word to our lives is a very important responsibility.

Today we, actually you, are going to read, contemplate, & understand how to apply God’s word to our everyday life. We are the collective preacher!
Assign:
Scribe (someone who will write down what you find)
Speaker (someone who will share what you found)

After reading your text:
First: What is the purpose, the heart, or the meaning of the text?
Second: Is there another example from Scripture or life to draw from?
Third: Think of a story, whether personal or not, that relates to this scripture.
Last: How can I apply the truth of the scripture to my life? What does this mean for my everyday life? How does this truth help me to be a disciple of Christ?

When we get together you are going to share what you found. You are going to tell us what this text is about, give us another example from scripture or everyday life, share a story that relates to the truth you discovered & help us recognize how we too can live out the purposes of God by applying His word to our lives.

Gospel of Matthew—Chapter 1
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

I try. Is that so bad?

I try to convince the blind they can't see; reassure the hungry they aren't full; remind the sick they aren't healthy; warn those with money they aren't rich; notify the lame they aren't walking; inform the successful they aren't important; let the educated know their education isn't informed; advise the dead that they aren't alive.

Such are the complications of my (& yours if you follow Christ) vocation. This vocation was given to my at my baptism; yours was too. It's not a terribly popular message, but...it's part of Christmas gift.

For all the: poor, sick, blind, ignorant, dead, lame, uneducated people in the world--I have good news.

For all the rest--Your good news is at 7pm tonight; & p.s--you've always been in recession.

Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're a lunatic?

Lily Tomlin

One of the things we've been struggling with in SC is that people think we are a cult. Hopefully this sign helps.

My Super-Hero

Psalm 127
A Pilgrim Song of Solomon
1-2 If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn't guard the city,
the night watchman might as well nap.
It's useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don't you know he enjoys
giving rest to those he loves?

3-5 Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.

This has been my prayer for many mornings. I can't really build the house & when I do, it doesn't turn out well!

Be thankful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHn83lm6UCY

"You do not even know a man until you have eaten forty pounds of salt with him."

Russian Proverb

What do you think about this:

I don't think it's sin that ultimately ruins us. We all deal with sin; actually right now you have sin you are dealing with & not dealing with; yet you can still function as a child of God & are able to share in God's Kingdom ministry in spite of our attitudes this morning or lustful thoughts this afternoon. Sin exists within you & won't be removed until we are resurrected with Christ. We are presently Saints who sin.

Sin isn't the issue that ruins us: Secrets are. Of course keeping secrets can be sin, but work with what I'm saying. Lusting after something is sin. However, I have lustful thoughts throughout the day: Nice wave! I wish I was more... Nice smile...etc. That said, when I don't tell anyone I'm wrestling with lust, lust grows & becomes a monster in my life. Keeping secrets is deadly. My daily sin is a spark; keeping my daily sin (constantly) secret (we know when we are) is gas & dry wood; then I have a problem.

My daily sin won't work me over. My daily sin, kept to myself, will grow into a beast I am unable to control, & will therefore ruin me.

I have nothing to gain; nothing to hide; nothing to prove; nothing to lose.

How I wish that were true!!

Secrets kill.

Distance or Speed?

If you want to travel fast...travel alone.
If you want to travel far...travel together.
African Proverb.

Are you built for distance or speed?

Is your life set up for distance or speed?

Just a thought: If you aren't content where you're at, doing what you're doing right now, than you won't ever be content. Is this true? Maybe a nugget of truth, but not totally true? What do you think?

BTW: I'm up at UCSC taking an astronomy class & then headed to the junior college for my Ultimate Frisbee class. Having a mobile office is...what Jesus did!!! "Bad church office, Bad!!" Where the people at?

I'm starting to see a common theme in the lives of people: How we deal with conflict really defines a large portion of our life. Too, how our parents dealt with conflict REALLY has an effect on our lives. As I continue to spend time with people I'm realizing many of their, or my, or our, problems revolve around how we deal with conflict. Therefore, to the degree we have healthy conflict we will have a healthy relationship; likewise, to the degree that we have unhealthy conflict we will have unhealthy relationships. How we deal with conflict defines a large portion of our lives.

Conflict can be huge--a fist fight. Conflict can be small--"What type of toppings do WE want on OUR pizza." No matter how big or small, people really aren't equipped to deal with conflict & therefore create a bunch of coping mechanisms: Work, denial, various drugs, booze, chocolate, hobbies, anger, sex, porn, Facebook, seclusion, crowds, laziness, etc. Instead of actually confronting the conflict we allow it to drive us into various habits & many of them self-destructive; which always means destructive relationships, since no one lives in a relational vacuum (no matter how hard we try). As in a recent sermon I gave: "You either speak out your frustrations or you act out your frustrations; these are the only options." Unresolved conflict doesn't go away until you deal with it.

I am often amazed by people’s ability to not DEAL with the actual problems! If only we applied similar discipline to helpful or Christ-like habits; the world would be a different place. Instead we allow unresolved conflict to run rampant in our souls & relationships. So we see repeated themes throughout our relationships. We literally get stuck on stupid, until we deal with it.

Conflicts almost always start small, like a match. However, if the match isn’t dealt with, “before the sun goes down…” it grows, & grows, & grows, until it is out of proportion & then you need helicopters, fire engines, & state financing in order to put out the fire started by the small, often meaningless match. Dealing with my hurt ASAP is very important: “Before the sun goes down.” If not, when the sun comes up, & the heat of the day presses on, the flames of the previous day's match are joined by the new matches of the new day.

Why is conflict bad? I have conflict with myself & others all day. This isn’t because I’m really picky or mean. It is a result of the Fall, but conflict is a normal part of life.

Healthy people have healthy conflicts. Healthy conflicts make healthy relationships. Unresolved conflicts require medication. Unresolved conflicts create unhealthy relationships. It’s great to have healthy conflict, because I’m creating a real, genuine, healthy friendship with someone. Healthy conflict is the beginning & not the END of a healthy relationship! Sadly, in most cultures, conflict is always bad, so we pretend it isn't there until: "Hey Linda the house is burning down. Wanna' talk?"

Proverbs 27:7
He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

This is one of the most difficult things to experience as you walk with others on the Jesus journey. Some people just aren't hungry; or they still believe other things can keep them full. Jesus is just another side-dish in their grand buffet.

However, when you meet someone who is hungry...

I love how Jesus helped people to realize what they hungered for.

The things you can do when you live in Surf City. Check out our new sandwich board signs!! You rock Dan.

Pastors are caught within a wonderful dynamic: On the one hand I need to be an example of what it means to be successful follower of Christ; on the other hand I am not, & never will be totally successful. What makes this more interesting is the neverending appeal of religion; Those who do good are--gooder & I am the gooderest of them all. Right? However, I'm not good.

What is the role of a pastor? To create the "That's it" image? I need to teach Saints & non-saints how to be: Broken, angry, forgive, sexually appropriate, depressed, frustrated, etc. However, do I teach them from the position of: "When I used to..." or "Last week when I..." Don't I have a pious image to uphold, since no one wants to follow a loser? Especially a pastor who wrestles with sin. No doubt there are limits to my involvement with any sin & it's ability to control me vs. my ability to yield to the Spirit. However, we can so easily create a theology of leadership, which says, "Follow me as I follow Christ" because, "I've arrived," vs. "I've been working on this for years, & I'm still walking."

Yesterday at a meeting of pastors I sat & listened for some time as one of our brothers spoke about the pressure of leadership. One of the things I kept hearing was his inability to share his failings. More importantly, share his feelings with this group of pastors who meet monthly & have traveled many miles together. Why?

Aren't the broken blessed? The poor in Spirit happy? The hungry full? We've replaced servant leadership with CEO leadership. We've replaced transparent friendship with church. We've replaced dependence with independence & call it discretion & then wonder why the volcano erupted; we had no warning. You always seemed like you were doing so well; we thought you had everything together; You created an image we all wanted. Sadly you created an image & not reality. You created an image God has never desired.

We create churches where people can't share the very things that would bring them freedom. Why? Because if they did they would be disqualified. From what? Being like the pastor? One of the greatest theological problems people have today about church is this: Church isn't for bad people it's for good people!?!? Go ask 20 people: "Is church filled with good or bad people." Why do they believe this? When's the last time you went to church & saw real people dealing with real stuff? Who starts this crap? I do.

Yesterday I asked a simple question: "After listening to you discuss all of this (transparency) I'm confused as to the reputation I'm trying to uphold & to whom?"

I understand Christians want to follow a leader with the gooderest reputation; however, many of those same Christians aren't cutting the cake. At least not in the Bay Area. Who do I want to relate to/attract: Christians or "He wrestles?"

Jesus didn't come to make bad people good into good people. I am redeemed. I am a saint. I wrestle with sin. I am a great example; of someone who follows Jesus. The scars on my knees prove I have fallen several times. My new shoes prove I want to walk some more. I don't have it all together; I am however walking & have walked for some time now & people can relate to that--at least broken people can.

24-HOUR PRAYER SIGN-UPS

Psalms 2:8 “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

6pm on Friday starts our 24-hour prayer. We want to be a praying church, so each month we pray for 24hrs as a community. It's a great time to learn how to pray & hear his voice. Here are the times:
FRIDAY Sept 4th
6pm – 7pm Sarah
7pm – 8pm Corinna
8pm – 9pm Yizenia & Stephen
9pm – 10pm Jacob & Grace
10pm – 11pm Taylor
11pm – 12midnight Karol
SATURDAY Sept 5th
12am – 1am Jayson
1am – 2am Nate
2am – 3am Rachel
3am – 4am Rachel
4am – 5am Laben
5am – 6am Laben
6am – 7am Alana
7am – 8am Jeff
8am – 9am Jeff
9am – 10am Hae Jong
10am – 11am Julee
11am – 12noon Emelia
12pm – 1pm Sarah
1pm – 2pm Daniel
2pm – 3pm Sean
3pm – 4pm Linda
4pm – 5pm Janine
5pm – 6pm Janine

Wow.

So we are starting to have family devotions several times a week. As you may have guessed it can be pretty comical. We read a scripture from Colossians today & the devotional we use had many questions to go along with it. However, one thing became evident as we started asking the questions. It seems as if every question we ask our children the answer is always Jesus. Now theologically this is kinda' true 'cuz he is pretty Alpha & Omega status in the cosmos. Too, it's funny to see Jonathan read his small Gideon bible out loud (he can't read), while he holds it upside down. Yet, the words are pretty contextual: "God thank you, Jesus, Heaven, thank you, Jesus goes there, thank you..."

"I got invited."

These are three wonderful words from our Sunday gathering. After worship I always ask, "Somebody share a God story." I ask this because God is always working in our lives, however, we often don't recognize God working in our lives because many of us don't ask: "Is this God?"

This last Sunday when I asked, "Somebody share a God story," a friend of a friend raised his hand & said, "I got invited to this today." When he said this I was somewhat stunned & I almost cried. I wasn't stunned because he got invited; I was stunned because I too easily forget to be thankful that I am invited. I forget that eleven years ago, when I was at a horrible place, God invited me. Since that time he has continued to invite me; in spite of the fact that I have taken up the attitude I am someone worth inviting! What this friend said was an: Out of the mouth of babes moment. He was just thankful to be invited. I'm tired of inviting. He's thankful to be a part. I'm tired of being here. He's thankful he got invited. I put my invitation away & forgot about it.

After he said this I laughed one of those laughs you make when your shocked or embarrassed. But God quickly filled my heart & reminded me of something. I then said to those gathered last Sunday: "We all got invited didn't we."

It's when we move into the realm of entitlement that we become disillusioned with who we are in Christ. We forget where we came from & then start to become ungrateful for who He is & who we are. We are not entitled to anything especially a place at the Wedding Feast; we forget that we WERE invited when we shouldn't have been. We forget we ARE invited even though we shouldn't be. When we start to feel pinched isn't because we feel entitled to something that we have no right to in the first place?

If we could remain in a posture of: "I got invited," I am certain we would enjoy God more & enjoy what He has for us.

Our God is the God of manna, not Urbana.

Here's what I mean. When the disciples asked Jesus, "Teach us how to pray..." He said amongst other things, "Give us our daily bread..." (I've really been thinking about the theological depth of the Lord's Prayer: It really is complete.) Now to a Jew daily bread would have conjured up thoughts of when God gave bread to Israel in Exodus: Manna. There, He provided daily for the physical needs of Israel; it may not have been flashy, terribly tasty, or what they wanted day in & day out, but He provided what they needed. He is the God of Manna; He is the God who gives us physically & spiritually what we need; day in & day out.

Now Urbana. Urbana is an outstanding missions conference. I have no problem with Urbana & hope to go one day. It only rhymes with Manna & represents, what I believe, many expect their devotional life to be like day in & day out: Huge & revelatory beyond belief. However, we serve the God of Manna; God gives us what we need. Manna is what we need; Urbana is what we want.

When we sit with God daily in an unrushed time with him He always delivers, He always provides Manna, what we need, our Daily Bread. However, to insist on Urbana when I sit with Him is to betray who He is. He always gives me what I need & even if I don't feel it when I sit at His feet, I receive the seed of the Kingdom & within that seed is the entire Kingdom DNA; & given the correct soil, it grows & grows into...well, Urbana!

God is not a dispensary of my wants. God knows what I need & in the end what I need is really what I wanted! Amazingly He knows the deepest desires of my heart. Sadly, I often confuse wants & needs. Daily bread is what I need.

Our God is the God of Manna, not Urbana. Get your Manna on.

While in Buffalo we drove past a building that was both huge & beautiful. I asked Steve what the building was for & he said, "It's Buffalo's abandoned mental asylum." Totally freaky!! Check out this site: http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/09/buffalo-state-hospital-h-h-richardson.html

What is freedom? Where do I find it? Everyone in one way or another is asking this question. Christ came to "set us free;" & "whom the son has set free is free indeed." However, God's definition of freedom & ours aren't the same. As we frantically try to control our lives we realize, or at least other people do, that we are out of control. What is freedom? Freedom comes from giving control of your entire being to God. What he says is right is right. What he says is wrong is wrong. His values are THE values you live your life by. As an American my definition of Freedom is: Doing what I want to do when I want to do it. This isn't God's heart or definition of freedom & only leads to confusion. Only submission to God through Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit leads to REAL freedom! Please read the Epistles with special care to the word: Slave. It is a favorite title for those who knew Christ. It's not very popular today either in title or in standing.

Bondage to Christ leads to freedom; freedom as you define it, & therefore live it, leads to bondage.

He came to set us free because we are bound. The blind cannot lead the blind. The blind cannot walk without assistance. We are blind & when you realize that you are blind he gives you sight. He came to save us because we are out of control; bound by sin & death.

Bondage to Christ leads to freedom; freedom as you define it, & therefore live it, leads to bondage.

Our trip to Buffalo was amazing. We weren't sure what to expect & didn't expect what we got. To say the least God showed up in so many ways. Janine said it best, "God showed that he Sovereign;" & he did. Eleven of us came from Santa Cruz to Buffalo & every single person had a transormational experience while in Buffalo. I've been to: Africa, Thailand, China, & India yet our trip to Buffalo was the most profitable. Why? First, our friends Steve, Tami, & Mary live & have started a church there. Although we are doing things a bit different in Santa Cruz our goal is the same: Total Devotion to the person & purposes of Jesus. So, we went to Buffalo & "did the stuff," but with our sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, & uncles. I feel bad for Christians who aren't a part of family. As is true for our time in Santa Cruz, we experienced real friendships, community. When our two groups got together it felt like it was one group. Secondly, everyone had questions answered in powerful ways. We all have questions we're asking God. On this trip God spoke to all of us. We'll see what happens.

We brought two girls who hadn't said yes to Jesus & his offer of life. Both of those girls committed their lives to Christ on this trip, which was incredible. Steve had mentioned, "It's cool to see Danielle & Marianna loving people in the name of Jesus before they have given their lives to Him." Marianna actually gave away her Bible to another woman who had questions before she had given her life to Jesus! Actually, Marianna gave her life to Christ on a car ride to hang out with Angela (a woman we met at at BBQ) who had questions about Jesus! As I dropped Marianna off she was in tears because she had just been born again & she said, "What do I do now? I don't want to overwhelm Angela." Wow. She was so convinced of Christ's love before she said yes to him that she was reaching out to others who were curious about him! Seriously, this is just one story amongst many.

Needless to say this was a big push on the flywheel of two outstanding communities, on two different sides of the United States, doing one thing throughout the earth. Loving God, Loving People, Making Disciples.

Buffalo was more than amazing. Here's the first post.

Poison

Laben loves Jesus. Laben loves Jesus so much that he wants to go to Buffalo & tell people about Him.














Laben love Jesus so much that he did a work day to raise money for Buffalo & cut a path for his landlord: Through Poison Oak.


























Laben said he didn't get Poison Oak. Laben is a liar. This is what happens to liars named Laben who love Jesus when they work for their landlord cutting a path through Poison Oak.


















It's dangerous for liars to love Jesus.

One of my Grad teachers said, "Steal the best with pride," & I haven't hesitated to do so in many areas of my life. Here's a great example:

"Whenever we exist for ourselves, we are piling up horse manure into a pile (hold your nose!), but whenever we exist for others, we are spreading manure over the field causing things to grow; the difference between excrement and fertilizer is whether you pile it, or spread it..."

Well said; don't be excrement, be fertilizer.

Church is an interesting thing. Our church is an interesting thing. Your church is interesting. I often wrestle with the ideal & with the real. My ideal is what it all looks like when I write it on paper or picture it in my head; however, as many of you have figured out by now, ideal is not real. Not to say that we shouldn't have ideals. Having goals or pictures in your head of how you see God's plan for your community played out help you to work toward that goal; however, as many of you have figured out by now, ideal is not real. Real is real. How do I work with my real? The regional pastor for the Vineyard in our area said this, "Maturity is: The ability to deal with reality." I thought, & still think, this is great. How am I able to deal with the reality of what's really going on in order to guide myself, & others, toward the bigger goals God has for us? Here is where tension comes in. What's that next gracious step toward God's goal for me, & for us? Wrestle on.

Sucka' say what!??!?!

antiochsc.com

One step closer to a spiritual revolution.

We had a carwash today to help raise money for Buffalo. There were 12 people who gave up 4hrs to help us out today & 5 of those 12 who are discovering who Jesus is. As I was holding up one of our signs that read, "Clean Car?" I looked back & laughed as I saw the group of people devoted to raising money for a missions trip. It is the Father's heart that people would be able to belong as they are in the process of believing. Too, I am blessed to see the genuine friendships that are developing amongst people who otherwise have little to nothing in common. We aren't a clique; we are friends.

First, for both of you who follow this blog, I'm sorry I'm such a slacker!!

I guess when there's a lot going on blogging isn't a priority. However, I do read everyone's blogs to keep up to date. That said, my life is full; full of the right things for sure.

Our church is doing great. We are seeing new people plugging in & other people wrestling with discipleship unto Jesus. Janine mentioned the other day, "It's cool to see these gals wrestle with following Jesus." For us the wrestling match is a wonderful, painful, enjoyable process. The Kingdom of God isn't about you & that's a hard truth for a consumeristic American to swallow; yet at the same time, by becoming a "slave of Christ" (a favorite title amongst NT writers)that is where true self-fulfillment happens. If only our silly commercials brainwashed the masses in that direction! I'm amazed at the ability of pride & selfishness to morph & manifest into the most beautiful displays of piety & sin. Amazing. So we wrestle on; God being the goal & source of our total affection is a hill we're dead on.

We're going to Buffalo in 2 weeks, which will be amazing. We're bringing 5 new people, 2 of whom are just starting relationships with Jesus. Fun times.

I started coaching a church planter from Texas who will be planting a church in San Diego in the fall. My two questions I keep asking him: Are you spending unrushed, quality, alone time with God each day? Who have you shared the gospel with this week? Legalism for sure; I know. I keep trying to figure out how to find the American Idol of "Freedom" in the NT, but I'm having trouble finding it.

One of the things God is teaching me is: Pace. This includes getting my tank filled up by God; Rest; & organization. The last one is the hardest, but that's why someone smarter than me created the dayplanner. My personality (sin, etc) keep me fairly unorganized & help me become busy. Busy meaning internally frantic. This is a growth process for me, but it's great. Too, it's time to start running again. Carb loading on various treats isn't doing much for my spiritual or physical health!

Blessings,

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