This morning as I was reading the bible I came across this proverb, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." This verse, found in Proverbs 29 immediately struck a chord in me. As I have embarked on a journey of healing over the past 15 months, one of the recurring themes I tend to wrestle with is a people pleasing nature, a tendency to place the values and opinions of others over anything else, often at the expense of my own self worth. I do this in just about every area of my life. Yet through the process, it has become more and more clear to me that healing will not happen until I am able to firmly establish my value in Christ as "an unrepeatable miracle of God" as a friend of mine says. I have become a master at self analyzing and contempt, yet I find no basis for this in scripture.
So, that being said, I may still struggle with this tendency, but I consciously strive to reprioritize my value system, finding my identity in Christ, believing in my inherent value as one created in the image of God, and learning how to stand firm in that truth amidst all the voices, opinions, and believes of others.

The time has come! We are on the verge of the new "Third Format" service at Central. This is a new weekend worship service at Central that I have been working on for months, really years now. The last 6 months have probably been the hardest, most personally stretching time of my life, and yet I feel like God is working in amazing ways through this time...as difficult as it has been.
Aug. 20 is our second test run of this service. We had our first on the July 23, and it went very well, though there is still much to work on, but that was the purpose of the test run. I am excited though. We will begin running weekly starting on Sept. 10. If any of you are in the area on a Sunday night at 6 pm, come check it out.
More to come!

I have become a fan of firefox. I love it. If you have not checked it out, you need to. The tabbed pages, the add-on (adblocker plus; flashblocker; Foxytunes), and everything else makes it great. You can even add an IE engine to look at pages with an IE interface if it doesn't look right in Firefox. Just some very cool stuff!

Definitely a happy fathers day!

We showed this video at the beginning of our Jr. High and High School programs this morning...I just had to pass it along...too funny! Click Here

Happy Memorial day!

My Kids.

Ben recently got some clay from Grammy and decided to create a dinosaur. This is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, complete with eyes and a volcano. We were very impressed, because this was all on his own and entirely from memory. We have a little artist going here!

He also decided to make a Brontosaurus as well...

Kate got a new hat from some friends of ours. Showing it off!

Karen and I recently went to a viewing of "A Closer Walk" which is a documentary about AIDS in the world. I have to admit, I have stayed pretty oblivious to this issue in my life. I was aware of it, but tended to insulate myself from it. However, one of the things I have been trying to do is become more aware of world issues and to expose myself to them. This is a very moving and challenging documentary. It is filled with both personal stories and facts about the disease, many of which are very disturbing. I would invite anyone to find out more, or try to attend a viewing of this. Whether or not you are moved to take an active role or not is one thing, but to be uninformed is another. Who knows what God will move us to do out of this, but I can say that my heart is beginning to be more open to the needs of a world that not only needs Jesus, but also needs people to respond like Jesus.

Here is a picture of Ben with the family we built a home for. Juan Carlos and his wife Maria, and their four kids, Leticia, Carla, Estefani, and Carlos. I love this photo! According to the bio, he is a bricklayer who makes $80 a week, but when I was down there, he had been out of work for three months because of an operation, but hoped to be going back to work soon.

Definitely gives you perspective.

I just got back from a mission trip to Mexico through Baja Christian Ministries with our Student Ministry. I have done a trip like this every spring break for the past 11 years, and it is by far my favorite trip that I do. This year, I had the opportunity to take Ben with me. What an awesome trip! It was so cool to watch Ben interact with the local kids (the universal language of fun and games) and to share his toys (they are playing with a football that he brought and left with them). He also helped out pounding nails and helping the dad of one of the houses dig a hole for a fence, entirely on his own. I am very proud. The kids we took loved him as well. The group that went was great, worked hard, and we built 2 homes for 2 families. In addition, they did several VBS groups, and blew me away at their generosity in house warming gifts. It was a great trip. If you ever have the opportunity to do a missions trip, I highly recommend it. It will change your life. I always come back humbled a bit more.

I just finished Andy Stanley's book "Louder than Words" which was given to me by my brother in law at Christmas time. I am a fan of Andy Stanley and really enjoyed and was challenged by this book. It is a book about character, and the need to pursue it in our lives.

Two particular things I liked about it were the chapters connected to renewal that spoke of putting off the old self and putting on the new. In particular, it was his point of challenging the lies that you tell yourself all the time. I really resonated with that because I am often very guilty of listening to the lies in my head, the personal attacks that I deliver on myself quite easily and frequently. But when considering Stanley's words, I tried to begin to really process what I was saying to myself and asking the question, "is this true, or is it a lie?" and then working on identifying the lie. It has been helpful.

The second chapter was about the new self, and basically reinforcing the truths of God's word in regards to my life. Though I have spoken of this often, especially as a pastor, to be challenged with those words on a personal level has been difficult, but beneficial. But as I have taken to reading God's word more lately, truth really is hopeful. It is a life long process, which is clearly reinforced in the book, and is common sense, though many times we want to read a book, apply the principles, and in a flash be fixed, but obviously, that is not reality.

It is a book worth reading, because as a close friend once told me, God honors character development. I believe it is true, but the process of it can be very painful, but so was the cross. Thanks be to God, that my righteousness is not by my works, but by his work. May my life reflect his character in the embrace of his grace!

Someone recently sent me the link for this...move over Age of Empires! It's a funny concept, but definitely speaks to peoples poor and somewhat cynical perceptions of the church, particularly the mega church. Got a laugh out of it though! 

A good friend recently sent me this article by Donald Miller about the gospel and Jesus. My friend and I talked about this concept a while back, about the pursuit of a relationship with Jesus versus the knowledge of what it means to be a Christian. I feel like I know what it means to be a "good Christian" yet so often lack the relational sensitivity of what it means to be in love and in relationship with Jesus Christ, of being a follower of Jesus.

Out of our meeting, he gave me a reading plan for reading through the entire gospel letters (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in a year. Not a difficult task as far as the amount of dialy reading, but one that has been beneficial in trying to get a better grasp of the God/man/savior Jesus. I still know what it means to be a "good Christian", but slowly I feel like my heart is turning towards being a follower and lover of Jesus. I want to honor him, and I want to know him, and be known by him. And as I do that, I feel like I really am beginning to be changed. It has been said so many times, by many people, even me that the goal is a relationship, not religion, yet to practice that is so much better. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Phil 3:10-11 (italics mine)

Grace and Peace

Growth is difficult, but beneficial. I feel like I am in the middle of a growth season, one that has stretched me for some time, and will continue to stretch me for some time. However, I am comforted by this truth...That "he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)

I was recently meditating on Acts 1 & 2 and thought about this idea...That Jesus chose people who were not the best and brightest. I know that this is not a new thought, Rob Bell has spoken of this quite a bit, but I found comfort in the idea that I am not the best and the brightest either, but Jesus chose me as well to do his work. How cool to consider that Jesus, son of God, the "coolest" person of all time, liked oddballs and rejects, and did great things through them, because they knew He was real, and trusted in him for it. So that is the challenge...If Jesus really chose me, and in choosing me, believes in my ability to carry out his will, do I trust and believe him that he is going to work through me and do what he promised. It is one thing to say I do, it is another thing to act on it, to step out and trust, to follow where he leads. That is what I desire to do!

Introducing Kate Elizabeth...born Jan. 26...she is beautiful! You got to love the cheeks! 

No particular reason for a blog...just did it. Maybe I'll post, and maybe I won't, but I have now at least entered the blogging world.