My Worship Revolution

On December 27th-January 3rd, we will be taking a group from our church to Baja with Baja Bound ministries.  We will be building a home for a single mom of 4 daughters as well as hosting a vacation Bible school for children in the migrant camp.

This past Monday I had the chance to roll south of the border with John Rose, who also happens to be my youth pastor from high school, to see the area we would be working and approve the house we would be building.  Here are some random pictures from the day of the area and of the people I met there.

I am way stoked on the opportunities we have to do ministry down there.  More to come in the next few weeks.  A little here, but mostly at the CLC blog.

For several months now, God has been laying on my heart the importance of prayer for me and my family.  I truly believe that God wants to use us in big ways.  As I think about someday planting a church, I believe God will use us far beyond our abilities.  As I look at where we are right now, I believe God wants to use us to create and transform culture right here in Santa Cruz.  And I am recognizing how much prayer is needed to do the things we’re called to do.

So I’ve had it on my heart to gather a team of people to partner in ministry with us by praying for us.  It’s something I originally remember Eric sharing with me that he did as he was helping plant at Life Church.  I want to find people who pray.  People who could really be intercessors on our behalf.
At first I felt a bit prideful in a way in asking this, but a friend pointed out that even Paul requested prayer from his partners in ministry, as shown in the verse above.

So this post is an unashamed request for those of you who would be willing to, to commit to praying for us and our ministry.  Ideally I’d like to gather at least 31 people to commit to pray for us.  Why 31?  I’d like to ask each of those people to commit to one day a month to pray over and with us.
That’s the plan.  It would be amazing to know that literally everyday there is someone praying for the work we are doing.  I have the first of each month covered already…only 30 more to go!

Then, each month I will send out an email to all of those people with specific prayer requests that we have for our lives and ministry.  And I’d also love to hear from those people as God reveals things to them as they work alongside us in that way.

So there you have it.  If you are a person who would be willing to pray with us and partner with us, I would be honored.  Please feel free to email me or to leave a comment, and then I will be sure to get back to you.
I believe God could use this in huge ways for us.  Thank you all so much for being a part of our lives.  I really believe God has great things in store for all of us.  You guys rock!

I was able to iChat last night with my family who has been down in the Temecula area for the past 5 days.
Rachel showed me the new skill Caleb has learned.  Check it out for yourself.

I miss my family.
Can’t wait to pick em up from the airport this afternoon!

One more reason I need to keep my head shaved…
this is what my hair looks like after a long bike ride:

Random, I know.
But while we’re on random, but relalted to triathlon training, here’s some fun pics from the first tri back in July that I never did get posted here:

And yes, I absolutely saw the cameraman and got down on the Tri bars for the photo.

Anywho, that being said, I know I never put the play by play from the Tri up here, but oh well.  It’s old news now.  Next one’s in less than 2 weeks, and if the sprint made me aware of anything, it was how much more I was gonna need to train for this one.

Yesterday I ran 7.65 miles.  As I was running I realized I’ve pretty much hit that point I didn’t used to believe existed.  It actually wasn’t as painful as it used to be and I actually kinda enjoyed it!  (Don’t get me wrong, I did feel it this morning, especially trying to bike today!)  Anyway here is my Nike+ graph from that run and several others before it.

Random Tri thoughts over.
Hope you all had a great Labor Day!

Well, friends, it’s been a few since I’ve updated you on the weight situation, not to mention the triathlon training.  So, here ya go.
Enjoy.

Alright, time for a participatory post.  Get ready to comment.

This past week at the Democratic National Convention, there were two prayers given from the stage by prominent Christian personalities.  First in the opening by Donald Miller, and then at the closing, by Joel Hunter.  Take a few minutes to watch both prayers below:

Now I definitely have some thoughts and opinions on the content and delivery of both, however that is not what this post is about.  Rather, it is about the idea of the prayer itself at the convention.  I am WAY behind on reading all your blogs out there right now, so I don't know how much this is being discussed at the moment, with the exception of a few posts on one fairly prominent blog (you get three guesses which one and the first two don't count).

On the one hand, I love both their hearts in the issue, and have lots of respect for both these guys.  In a nutshell, it's the not gonna turn down an opportunity to pray anywhere concept.  I get it.  A great opportunity to be a light.  While I can honestly say that I would vote for a non-Christian candidate, I can't deny that faith, and more specifically faith in Christ, is a big positive in my book.  Of course I want a leader of our nation who I believe is seeking to follow after God, so that's great to see them praying on this platform.

But at the same time, I can honestly say that something just didn't sit right with me when I watched those prayers.  Even outside of what was prayed, I wonder if it's the idea of having the "benediction" at the convention at all.  Several questions come to mind. 
Are politicians using those of faith just for the sake of votes?
Even if they are, do we say fine, have your agenda and we'll take advantage of the opportunity and have ours? 
Many Christians champion the idea that prayer should still be allowed in schools.  I'm not one of those.  Faith isn't something I want the government having any say or authority over.  So does this marriage of faith and politics blur that line too much? 
Then again, you can't deny, as Rick Warren stated in front of a national audience a few weeks ago, that our faith does affect our politics.

Those are a lot of thoughts, without a lot of answers.  I'm curious what you think.
Was this a great opportunity, or a mistake?
Regardless of party affiliation, as Christ-followers, do these guys represent you well?
People without faith, does this irritate you, or do you welcome the opportunity to invite faith into politics?

I'm honestly pretty torn on the issues.
So let me know what you think!

For a long time I’ve mentioned our heart and desire to one day plant a church.  In a way, that could be a good way off still.  So don’t worry CLC peeps, this post doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere TOO soon.
On the same note, we also feel that day rapidly approaching in the grand scheme of things.  My desire is to be fully devoted to all that God has called me to do through CLC in Santa Cruz, and also to be preparing myself for the day that opportunity arises.

That being the case, A few weeks ago I spent a full day with a great church planter named J.R. Woodward being assessed in my ability to plant in the future based on my current skill sets and experiences.  Great guy, and was fun to sped the day getting to know him as well and getting a glimpse into his world.  Thanks a ton to Rick Mysse who provided the opportunity.

*Sidenote: for those who have no clue what I’m talking about because you luckily don’t speak churchianity in your everyday life, church planting means we feel called to start a new church in a community with the desire to see a greater impact in being missional and reaching a community fwith the message of Jesus.  I guess there was still a lot of Christianese in there, but hopefully you get the point, at least.

Anyway, I debated in my head whether or not to share this part on the blog, but in a way it feels like the first big step in moving that direction, and I really do want to share as much of the journey as possible with our community here.  The assessment itself is 7 pages, and besides boring you to tears, I’m not about to show everyone all of it anyway.  Sorry!  However there is a graphical summary at the end that gives you an idea of what the assessment looks like.  The areas where J.R. and the material he used perceive as my strengths and non-strengths.  I’ll try to not just share the stuff that only makes me look good on the journey, but try to be somewhat vulnerable as well.

Anyway, enough of that.  Here’s a glimpse at what the outcome had to say.  Just a small chance for you to learn a little more about me and share in the journey!

The two lower scores had to do with (a) not having experienced building anything from complete scratch yet, even outside the context of an established church, and (b) a desire to see me rebound from hurts and dissappointments quicker.

Great stuff for me to process and think about what it means for the future.  Already has my head spinning with lots of thoughts and ideas!  Honestly, I love being stretched and challenged!  How about you?

So this past weekend, rather than lead worship I had the privilege of teaching on Sunday morning.  On the worship front, 3 of our worship team members, Lori Hazen, Whitney Stewart, and Cory Samuelson stepped up to lead worship, and I just played piano for them.  It was awesome to see them step up and lead!!  A new experience for all of them to some degree, and overall it went great!  Here was the set:

• Hosanna (led by Whitney)
• Unchanging (led by Lori)
• • MESSAGE
• All For Love (led by Whitney and Lori)
• Jesus Paid It All (led by Cory)
• I Give You My Heart (led by Whitney)
• Enough (led by Lori)
• Now That You're Near (led by Cory)

Unfortunately, with all the business I had going on that morning, I didn't get any video of it.  I have a feeling the three of them are cool with that though!  I do however have a confessional from last week that I need to just get edited and uploaded.  Maybe soon.

On the teaching front, I taught this week on our topic of money, and more specifically on the concept of tithing.  Touchy subject, but I actually loved teaching it cause I believe so strongly in the idea.  Teaching still stretches me out of my comfort zone quite a bit, which is another reason I love getting to do it.  It's a great way to learn and hopefully get a little better each time.

I'll embed the message below in case anyone wants to check it out.  We missed the beginning with me talking about Caleb and his new use of the word "mine", but it works out fine without it.  Most of the content is pulled from a mix of stuff from Craig Groschel and David Trotter when we went through the topic at Revolution a few years ago, and I think he pulled a bit from Ed Young. 

Anyway, that's it.  I also stretched myself by not reading a completely reading a
transcript of the message, but getting it into bullet point form and
trying to really get it in me. Overall, got some good feedback, and it was a good morning.  Now, on to next week!

Every so often I get inspired to read some new books.  The problem is, I have a bunch I still haven’t finished cause I just can’t get through them quickly, but then I decide I want to read new ones regardless.

That being said, I was inspired last week to order some new books, and the last of them arrived today.  Hopefully I’ll get through these ones eventually.  I’m most excited about the first on on the list.  It’s a brand new one by Andy Crouch.  Here’s the list:

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling
Andy Crouch

Paul And Empire: Religion And Power In Roman Imperial Society
Richard Horsley

Jesus And Empire: The Kingdom Of God And The New World Disorder
Richard Horsley

The Church In Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives
Leonard Sweet, Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Fredrica Mathews-Green, Brian McLaren, Ermin McManus

The Rise Of Christianity: How The Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became The Dominant Religious Force
Rodney Stark

There ya have it!  Time to get started…not to mention getting through the books I’m already reading.
ANyone read any of these?  Any suggestions on which one I should start with?

I know.  I've been kinda absent from the blogosphere lately.
You'd think that when there's a lot going on in my head, I'd blog more.  Not the case.  Life's been busy.  I've been thinking.  Moving on.

Back in May I wrote this post about Steven Curtis Chapman losing his 5 year old daughter.
One of the things that I pondered then was what it would look like for them to share their lives and grieving process with the world.
Then I saw this post the other day.
The Chapman family went on Larry King to share what has happened in their lives as a result.
I stayed up late watching it Saturday night.
It is powerful.
There are six parts.
Go watch them.

Here's the link for part 1.  Then just keep moving through them with the related videos on the right.
It's incredible to hear their story.
If you have kids, watch it.
If you've been through grief or tragedy, watch it.
If you haven't, watch it anyway, cause someday you will.
How amazing to see how this family has reacted to such a heartbreaking tragedy.

Oh.  And check out what Larry King had to say about it the next day.
Pretty amazing.