This is My Big Day!!!!

Question of the Week

Some friends of mine and yours truly and answering some questions this week. If you are reading this then feel free to blog on this same question and let me know so I can read it. This is a question i got from a cheesy youth ministry book and I asked my volunteers in front of the high school students and I have not stopped thinking about the answer yet. Here is the questions...

Where do you feel closest to God?

This is a big question but I choose to answer in a general sense. On a general level I feel closest to God when I experience great community. What i mean by that is that I feel like God is nearest to me when I am doing life with people in a genuine honest way. When I can be real with my friends and when they are being real with me. That is community.

I remember a specific moment when I was with a group of friends and we were all hanging at my house after a Wilco concert at the old mill. We ordered chinese food and sat around my table talking. I had 3 sets of friends from 3 periods of my life. it was just a cool moment when I was able to experience community with so many areas of my life.

That was just one of many times but in a nut shell I feel closest to God when I can have true fellow.

Great Book

I was reminded today of something while I was driving by myself from Orange County to Sacramento. I love CS Lewis. Even though he wrote his books a few years ago God has really used him to speak to me while I was listening to the Screw Tape Letters. If you haven't read this book you should. The whole premise of the book is a Demon is writing letters to a Demon in training. The senior demon name "Uncle Screwtape" is giving advice on how to trip up humans and how to cause humans to sin. It is some really good insight on ways that the enemy may think about our temptation.

If you have not read this book you should. It will change the way you view your everyday activities.

Thats my 2 cents.

The Game Plan

Like any tactical mission you need a plan. You don't go into war with out a strategy, like you don't enter Costco hungry, and especially you don't battle a mouse with no idea as to how. I thought I would do you all a favor by posting my game plan on this blog. Make sure not to leak this out. If you do just make sure not to resell for profit without giving me a cut. So enjoy and I await the call from the History Channel asking me to narrate a documentary on how to battle mice.

A little game of cat and mouse

Tonight I feel like Arnold Swartenheggerherzergeerds... in Predator when he covered himself in mud, set a trap for the predator and waited. I have a a trap, 3 to be exact and now I wait. My buddy Marc came over to help me make a game plan and then help me also set the traps. In keeping with the predator theme Marc would be my Carl Weathers only I am hoping he doesnt get his arm blown off like ol Carl does in the movie. Any way my enemy is not an alien from outer space bent on hunting the galaxies finest prey but rather a mouse. This mouse came into my home uninvited and has been pooping in my pantry. This will be the last night that he enjoys taking a poo in kitchen though. I have set 3 sweet traps that has his name on them (what his or her name may be). Here is a break down of what I used.

• Under the Oven
• We have an old school metal spring trap with refried bean and Christmas cookie sprinkles on them. This is our first line of defense
• Along the wall
• I got standard Peanut butter with a dusting of baby formula. Maybe this is an infant mouse and loves the taste of formula.
• Finally in the pantry I have peanut butter with sprinkles..
• if this doesn't work then nothing will.

So tonight I wait and tomorrow I laugh because I will be victorious. I have attached some great picture of various mouse traps. Even though these are not the actual traps they really help with my story. Good night everyone and I hope to bring you good news in the morning.

PESM

I began my first day of school yesterday. I bought a new note bad and headed over to Portland for a little sip from the fire hose (metaphorically speaking of course). I started on my journey to get my masters degree. The first step is entering the Pacific Evangelical School of Ministry or PESM. This so far has been a pretty cool experience so far. I have been given about 10 books to read and multiple papers to write. I am excited to begin my learning again. I am always trying to learn but this is fun to learn in a classroom setting. Tonight I have a class from 7 to 10:30 tonight. Pretty crazy but I am excited because it is all about church history. Even though I am having a great time I still miss my family and I am missing the kick off night for Glow.

Anyway I cannot wait to become an expert on something becuase right now I am an expert only in lame things that dont matter. Like xbox 360 or collecting old computers.

I hope to have good things to say when i get back but I thought I would just post an update. Peace out dawgs

The B.S. (Blogging Society) Q of the Week

Posed by Keith Kirkpatrick

Jesus said, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matt 16:24) He also says, "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33)

Most (American) Christians do not look any different from those who do not follow Christ. How do we follow Christ whole heartedly, a life surrendered to Jesus, giving up everything, and as Jesus says in Matt 16:25 we must "lose our life" to "find it"?

To shorten it: How do we look different from the world according to our faith in Jesus Christ?

This is a big question. I know how to answer this giving a church answer but since I dont like doing that and I dont know everything I will answer and probably have some questions of my own.

here is what I do know.

Eph 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Matthew 5-7 the Sermon on the mount is pretty counter cultural.

2Co 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

What I see here is a distinction between motives that then turn into action. I see that by setting my mind to that which God has, my life will be forever changed. I guess the question that has been posed is one of practicality and what that looks like in our day to day.

I have always had a hard time with this. Here is what I will say in a bullet style way.

• Sin: A christian should not be satisfied in their sin but Rather humbled and repentant. Christians recognize that they do sin but also make a conscious effort to correct any sin that is in their life. Jesus Christ is the only way to be forgiven but we have to act like we are repentant.
  
• Deeds: anyone can talk as if God has changed their life but we have got to act like He has. As Francis Chan said in a recent sermon on holiness, "we cannot keep prostituting ourselves out and then come to church like nothing happened." We have to recognize our sin and address it. Then try not to repeat the sin and learn from it.
• Speech: Sin is rebellion against God and we cannot speak as if we are proud of it. When someone is really repentant they dont brag about sin but rather are ashamed that they essentially spit in God's face and turned their back on God.

Simply put Christians that are following Christ need act like they care more about what God thinks then the world. This is the thrust of it all. I have to act like God is bigger then me making a lot of money, being ridiculed, being esteemed by peers, and that God is bigger then ME.

I cannot give a play by play about what this looks like in the everyday life sense because each of us is different and we all have different temperaments and demeanor's. I do know what what ever our personality type is, our minds need to be fixed on the same thing, God, His Word and His Creation.

A C.S. Lewis Easter Egg

If you have seen the movie Prince Caspian or better yet have read the book you may remember a conversation that Lucy and Aslan had. I love the dialog because there is a lot that we can learn about God's nature through it. The older and wiser I get (be it ever so slowly) I see how we CS Lewis weaves Biblical themes into his Narnia series. Here is the quote:

“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

As Lucy gets older and grows so does Aslan. I feel like that same is true in my own life. As I get older I see God and being bigger and bigger. When I was a kid God was protector from bad dreams and monsters in the closet. In high school God would guard me from embassement and ridicule. In college he was a guide for an unknown future. Now that I have a family and am totally on my own God has become increasingly larger. He is the Lord of all and the director of my life. He is the protector of my wife and kids, the provider of my financial needs, and the creator of everything. As I have grown so has my view of God. That is not to say the God never was those things that I now see but rather I am just beginning to see all that God is and I cant wait to see what aspects of God I have been missing now, when I am in my 60's.

Just thought I would share a little thought with you all today.

BS posting for last week

My Sincere apologies to my fellow BS brothers. Please excuse my tardiness.

This weeks question was posed by my friend Jack. The question was "Can you have absolute faith." for further explanation on the question you can read Jack's Blog which has a further clarification.

Here is my short answer for a long thought. Yes. I believe that you can have complete faith. I think where we can get into trouble is when our on sin mixes with our deeds. For instance when Peter jumps out of the boat to meet Jesus who is walking on water. I don't think Peter ever doubted that Jesus was God. if nothing else that moment probably gave him more courage than any other (at first) by seeing his savior walking on water. I think that Peters own insecurities and his fear over came him and then he sank.

Like I said this is a short answer to a longer thought but I figured I would just put it down just so I can get it our there.

Question of the Week

Here is my question for the week.

My question, dear friends, is twofold: can to much of a morally neutral thing be eternally bad; and are there morally neutral things in your personal life that Christ is asking you to get rid of, or remove - things he just wants out, even though there is nothing evil about it?

Yes.






I will explain myself. There are many things that I do that do not necessarily pull away from God. The problem is that they potential draw me away from the things I think I should do or really things that I know I need to do. If I were to read the Bible as much as I do other things like TV, movies or video games I may qualify for a PHD. I think America breeds distraction. My son has recently started to watch cartoons on TV and the commercials that they have for all sorts of kid stuff is mind blowing. At a young age we are programed to buy and to consume. All of the things that we end up with I believe take away from what our mission in life is.

I am not sure what the answer is though. There are aspects of my life that I can immediately control and things that I can get rid of but what is the balance of being in the world and not of the world. At what point have we crossed the line between understanding pop culture and being able to relate to people and being consumed by pop culture and consumerism. I still am searching for that answer. I want to live my life as close to Jesus as I can and at the same time I seek to find what that looks like during my life time at this point in history.

Verses that come to mind when wrestling with this issue:
1Jn 2:15
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

James 4:17
Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

1Co 6:12
“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

What does it look like when experinces and God's word collide

I asked this question and posed it also to some friends. Although I am not totally sure what it means here is a story of what it looked like in my own life.

March 2003

I was, for the first time in my life, an official pastor. I had just begun as a youth pastor at New Hope Church in Bend, OR. I was a little nervous to come into this role and all that it entails. I was inheriting about 30 volunteers and 2 different youth groups. This was a bit intimidating considering I was only 23 years old and fresh out of college. Now i had always been told the verse 1 Timothy 4:12 "don't let anyone look down on you because you are young but be an example" This was always in the context of being a kid and doing big things for God. Now that I am in a position of authority, with a wife and a big position, God's word came alive. That verse that was written thousands of years ago has now become a life style. I saw God work in my life in a way that I had not seen prior. I cant help the fact that I was young but I could decide to be an example in everything I did. I am not going to lie and say that everything worked out perfectly but I will say that God's word did work out perfectly. I wouldn't change anything that happened in that time because it molded me into who I am today.

So when my experience at that time met God's word I saw life and a metamorphosis.

I just joined/created a bike club

It all started 3 years ago when Janna Paulson won a mountain bike at her high school graduation party. It was a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Scrambler mountain bike. She promised me that if she did not ride it within a year that I could have it. Fast forward 3 years and I am at her younger sisters grad party and I see it in their garage. A long story made short, it is now at my home and while sipping punch at Jaci's party I formed a bike club with Tom Perry and Matt Wright. We are awaiting a name. Right now we are called COBRA (central oregon bike riders association) the only problem is that that acronym is already taken in Bend (central oregon battery and rape alliance). We need help. please comment if you have a better name.

Blog Dictionary

When I set out to do something I want to learn about that activity or thing that I am doing. It doesn't mean that I learn before I do but rather while I am in the midst of it I want to learn. An example of this is my blogging adventure. I was researching blogging terms the other day and ran across some blogging terms. I will cut and paste some for you all. I hope this is educational for you.

Blog Dictionary:

Blargon
Blogging slang. What this glossary contains. (blog + jargon)

Blego
The self-worth of a blogger, as measured by the popularity of their blog

Blog voyeur
A reader of blogs who has no blog of his or her own. See also "blurker."

Blogathy
When a blogger ceases to care about posting on a blog.

Blogorhhea
Excessive and overly verbose posting on a blog, often unedited in a stream of consciousness style

Dooced
To have lost a job because of entries posted to a blog

Froglogs
French blogs. Derisive term, occasionally shortened to Frog

Kittyblogger
A blogger who writes about his or her cats. More generally used to deride a blog or post as banal or boring

Lurker
A reader of a blog who never comments or otherwise indicates his or her presence.

Newbie
Term, potentially derisive, applied to someone new to a discussion or blog, often after the person demonstrated unfamiliarity with a concept or standards of communication of the forum. Also called "noob" or "noobie."

Splog
A blog composed of spam, or, more widely, any blog whose creator doesn't add any written value of his or her own. Synonyms include spam blog and blam, though the latter is used infrequently.

Vlog
A vlog (or video blog) is a blog that contains video content. The small, but growing, segment of the blogosphere devoted to vlogs is sometimes referred to as the vlogosphere

All Terms were taken from www.whatsis.com

Cut and paste this link.

www.whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1186975,00.html

The Final Tally

Well my family has finally returned and my decent in bachelorism is finished. Even though I am no longer a bachelor I will always remember this week as a time of accomplishments. Here is my final stats.

Bachelor stats:

10 Strawberry pop tarts
16 cans of pepsi (all of them were in a cozy)
4 brauts
7 burgers
1 indiana jones meal at burger king
1 mid-night showing of Chronicles of Naria
32 rank increase on COD4 (I went prestige 1 and am currently level 26. Ask a nerd what that means)
10 movies
1 home made meal with Tom Perry (brauts)
4 times I stayed up til 4:00 am playing video games

These are all the stats that I can think of right now. Lets just say it is good to have the family back in town.

Life as a Bachelor Sucks

Picture this:

Monday afternoon at 2:30ish, me in my underwear (only), laying in bed, watching a movie and playing COD4 (that is call of duty 4 on the xbox 360 for you non nerds), eating pop tarts, drinking a soda (with a cozy). This is a pretty frightening sight. Just ask Tom Perry who walked in and was instantly in awe. I am not into making excuses as to why I have fallen so far this week but mainly it is because I am living the life of a bachelor for a total of 2 weeks. You see my wife with my two sons left me for a couple weeks in order to see Hannah (Sara's sister and my soon to be roomate) graduation from college. Since the graduation is in Chicago it is a long trip. Since their departure I have racked up a few stats. Here they are...

Bachelor Stats:
6 Strawberry pop tarts
10 cans of Pepsi
3 Brauts
5 Hamburgers
1 Indiana Jones Burger meal from Burger King (it was large and delicious)
7 Rank increase in COD4 (I am currently a level 54 4 star general)
6 movies
0 homemade meals

Things are looking pretty sad but soon and very soon my family will return and my life will have balance once more. Dont worry about me I will survive. As long as I have XBOX, soda, a beef stick, pop tarts, and clean underwear I will be ok.

Tuff Thoughts

Congratulations on reading my new blog. I desire for this blog is to be all about my unique perspective on life. I am not a genius or even that smart of a person but I do have a perspective on life that you do not. The same is true about you. Your perspective is one that I do not have but wouldn't mind hearing. I will update my blog and share as I experience life and I will share my perspective as man, husband, father, pastor, neighbor, friend, son, brother, lover of cheese, gamer, and nerd. I hope you find it unique and interesting.