Multnomah Blogosphere

It's Really Happening

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

We are out of house..technically. There is much going on with our stuff and living situation. We are having a Yard Sale this weekend, we'll be asking church members this Sunday to mail some of our boxes for us (to cut our cost), our hired movers are packing 3 cubic meters next week, and we will mail or give away the rest.

Right now we are staying at some friends' place while they are away. They get back on the 23rd, the same day we go on our 4 day final junior high retreat. Then we'll be staying with other friends for a week...then a different set of friends for the next week until we fly out. Whew, lots of transition! We really look forward to being stationary for a while.

Speaking of which, we have been apartment hunting in Olympia (from the web of course). Pray we can get a deal where the apartment managers can work with our 1 year situation. We'll be staying with our parents for a bit upon arrival, but would like to be into our own place in July.

As for ministry? Although we only have a couple weeks of ministry left, we are really in the fast lane. I was just comparing it in my head to running the two-mile in track...you are totally exhausted, but with one lap to go you give it all you got. Dead legs and all. I'm writing scholarship references, preparing for a sermon this Sunday, we are organizing for our garage sale, planning our final retreat in a week and a half, attending all the final sporting events, taking guys out lunch, planning all our travel and transition stuff, packing, participating in my last military meetings, packing up my office, and just a few things more.

Needless to say, THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!

Journey 5-14-08

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Matt. 26:39

Jesus prayed a dangerous prayer: a prayer that cost him his life. He prayed a prayer of surrender.

Recently I heard a song with the lyrics: “Take me through the desert places for the chance to see your face.” This stirred my heart with two very opposite thoughts. The first was “Yes Lord! I NEED to see you.” But the other thought, instantaneous with the first was “Do I have to go through the desert to see your face?”

The cry of my heart to surrender self and become like Christ, seeking God’s will above my own, is always at war with the weakness of my flesh. Jesus expressed his preference for how things would turn out, but He still surrendered, even unto death. So even while I am praying that dangerous prayer, asking for God’s will above my own, I still struggle with keeping my will on the alter of surrender when things ahead appear difficult.

The sum of the matter is that God is on the other side of my surrender and He himself is more than enough of a reward. So if the way I see Him clearer, if the way I know Him better, if the way I can enter fully into His joy is the way of the cross (the way of surrender) then that is that path that I choose to tread. For the joy of knowing him is a joy beyond all else. This is the paradox: The Way of the Cross is the Way of Joy.

Before bedtime last night…

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

…the family sang some worship tunes with me playing the guitar.

Ian: Goodnight Joshua.
Joshua (2): Nah-nite ‘tar hero.

A Little Bite of Wednesday...

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

As usual, Benson woke up first. So we headed off to see "brother" and get him up. Josiah loves to have Benson get in his crib with him so they can sit next to each other and laugh. This morning Benson wasn't feeling it as much as Josiah was. He cried and fussed. Josiah ever wanting to make his brother happy did all he could to get him to stop crying. Singing, clapping, giving him toys and finally a quick kiss.

Like most boys getting naked was the only option left that might make Benson happy, so we enjoyed our time getting dressed and spent some extra minutes lying on the floor playing with our belly buttons.

The morning went well and now I sit here eating the most amazing sandwich ever. I made one yesterday, wanted to tell you about it, but ate it too fast. So today I made sure to document the yumminess of this lunch. Apples, carrots, Ritz crackers, two cookies, a glass of water AND a turkey and avocado sandwich. I have just 20 minutes to enjoy this delightful little guy before Benson is ready for his lunch. So, off I go. Oh my goodness I can hardly wait!

It really is SO good.

Hip 2 B Square

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

The best form of Time Travel I've ever seen: A woman dancing with her four year old self...twenty years later

Understanding and Parenting Your Teen Pt. 2

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Last night was the conclusion of our Understanding and Parenting Your Teen workshop. Aaron did a great job of guiding parents through the often confusing and foreign world of the internet.

Last week we spoke about "The World Beneath" the world that our teens retreat to due to the overwhelming since of abandonment they feel from the adult world. A major part of that world is the world of the internet.

In this session we discussed how the internet is the hangout of choice for today's adolescents, and helped parents understand why, and how they can best respond to the potenital dangers and needs that this presents.

Hear the message here.
Download the notes here. (.pdf format)
Download the Powerpoint presentation here. (.pdf format)

Message is also available on my Podcast.

How We Became Catholic

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Making a conscious decision to join the Catholic Church seems to many people a very odd thing to do. Converts are a curiosity. They're also too often treated like heroes. Just because I chose the Catholic Church and you were born into it does not make me a better or more knowledgeable Catholic. All it means is that I'm out of the loop on many things and have a lot of catching up to do.

As for how I got here, I think it was fate. I think God was guiding me here all along. Looking back I can see little signposts along the way. I'm sure it will seem silly to some, but this is my story. It is what it is.

I was baptized as an infant in the Episcopal church. My maternal grandparents had left the Presbyterian church and become Episcopalian after a devastating church split, the result of numerous scandals and misunderstandings. My Papa had this little leather fish necklace that I would play with when I visited him. One time I asked him what it was for and he said that it was a guard against Presbyterians. After my Grammie died he never went back to church. He said he was "all churched out."

Months before my third birthday my mother married and we moved to a very small town in south-eastern Virginia. Our neighbors were fields apart and mostly older folks. We went to the local Baptist church a few times to meet people. I went to Vacation Bible School in the summer. At Christmas we would fly back to California to visit family. My Grammie would take me to church with her and I would have tea with her friends. She died when I was six and I never saw her friends again.

We moved back to California when I was eight. My Papa would pray over the meal when we had dinner with him. He had a carving of the Virgin and Child that he had made for me. I have that in my home now.

Once I reached high school I found myself involved with a pack of unsavory characters. I would sneak out of the house at night to see them, cross myself, and pray that God would keep me safe. He answered every one of those prayers.

Around this time I discovered a book on Celtic magic. My mother had always had an interest in astrology, tarot cards, and psychic fairs so I was already familiar with many things New Age. I read the book and decided I wanted to be Wiccan.

Three days into my sophomore year of high school I began receiving threats from some of the kids at school. I told my mother that I wanted to go to the local private Christian school to get away from these people. I had a friend at the Christian school and I thought it would be a safe haven. Unfortunately, my interest in Wicca and choice of a pentagram necklace made me a target for well-intentioned but little explained trips down for altar calls in chapel.

I spent one semester at the Christian school. In spite of required chapel attendance and Bible class and being surrounded by hundreds of Christians, no one ever took the time to explain to me what Christianity really was or why I might want to become one. A few acquaintances tried to get me saved by dragging me down for an altar call during especially emotionally charged chapel presentations. I never knew what it was I was supposed to be saved from or for. I only knew that it seemed like they had something I didn't.

The following semester I went back to my old school. I met a boy in Geometry. His name was Peter. He was a geek but he drew very well, wrote poetry, and told me what I needed to hear at the time. We became friends that year and started dating long-distance the next year after he moved away to Texas. He was a Christian, though in name only. He told me the parable of the lost sheep, that God loved me more than him because I was like that lost sheep. He told me that while there may be power in Wicca, we don't really know where that power is coming from. For the first time, someone actually took the time to explain to me what Christianity was all about. The next year I began looking for a church.

Junior and senior years were spent waffling back and forth between Wicca and Christianity. I knew the two weren't compatible but I found it difficult to decide between the two. I spent Easter at the church Peter had gone to. I prayed to Mary in a half-hearted attempt to find a comfortable middle ground and avoid making a decision. Some friends noted my indecision and spurred me on toward learning more.

Matt and I got together in the spring of our senior year. After graduation we started reading the Bible together and attending the church Peter went to. We were baptized that fall, though if I had known then what I know now about baptism, I wouldn't have gone through with it, having already been baptized as an infant.

A year later we heard about a Christian college fair. We attended, checked out some of the local Bible colleges, and decided to visit one in Portland, Oregon. Matt's mom drove us up to Multnomah Bible College and we took a tour of the campus. It was small, beautiful, and felt right. We began attending in the fall of 1997.

To be continued...

Last Minute Sermon Preparation

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

I have a personal principle on this issue. If I genuinely have had to prepare at the last minute, then I ask God for help and know that He understands. But then there is a second part to it too – if I have procrastinated and end up preparing at the last minute, then I confess that, ask for forgiveness and still ask God for help.

The first part of the principle has been forged in the relatively gentle furnace of family life and missions organization participation! Sometimes life happens and there is no way to prepare as you would like. God understands this. Last minute preparation is not ideal, but it is possible and it is still better to prepare as much as you can, rather than not prepare at all.

The second part of the principle is there because I am human. I admire people with perfect track records in the area of self-discipline (but I also doubt them!) Rather than make up excuses and try to convince myself that I genuinely could not prepare fully due to life circumstances, I would rather be honest and admit when I have allowed other things, often very good things, to distract me from what was needed as a ministry deadline loomed. I may have lacked self-discipline, I may even have succumbed to some tempting distraction, but I don’t want to succumb to another temptation and seek to justify my procrastination. Hence, I sometimes have to repent and ask for forgiveness and then prepare at the last minute.

May we all be Holy Spirit disciplined in our preparation for ministry and maximize every opportunity to preach the Word. But may we also accept the reality of the grace we preach to others when we sometimes fail to prepare as we should. Not an abuser of grace, nor a rejecter of grace!

In A Rut

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

I find it easy to get into ruts of doing the same thing all the time. I get this way with my school work, my relationship with Rose, and with my free time.

I also think this happens with worship teams at churches all the time, Sunset’s included. We play the same style of song, same style of music, with the same instruments every weekend (obviously I’m being a bit of a pessimist here). This is good for the congregation inviting friends and family because they know what to expect. The other side of that is that things can just get old, and the passion is lost.

On Friday night I was inspired to get out of the rut of doing worship music the same way every Sunday morning. As I posted about last weekend, I saw Phil Wickham in concert (thanks to Amos for the pictures). It was his voice and his acoustic guitar and it was powerful. He played for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The average worship cd that comes out and is emulated by every church in the world has a completely full band, but I think seeing Phil was a reminder that worshiping God through music isn’t about having a full band or emulating a cd.

Coming in the summer we’re going to try at least one weekend with a very simplified instrumentation. Probably a piano, acoustic guitar, maybe some light rhythm, and a couple vocals. I’m excited to see what God can do with us changing up the pace. I have a feeling changing it up will allow people to enter into worship in a fresh way.

Today's Soundtrack

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 PST

Besides being the National Mental Health awareness month, May is also Bluegrass month yo!

BlueGrass Top 20 Gospel Songs of the Century
the Grascals
Leeland: Opposite Way
Kirk Franklin: The Fight of My Life