Jesus Wants the Rose

It's All About Jesus!

I borrowed this image and the series title from Mars Hill Church, but found it an appropriate truth to proclaim and prayer to renew my mind. In addition, I am preaching through the book of John on Sundays in our youth group. The truth is, in Orange County, we make it ALL ABOUT US! It is clearly NOT, for one day "Every knee will bow on heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tounge will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!" (Philippians 2:10-11).

Tomorrow, I will preach on John 1:6-9:

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

A couple of things stand out to me:

1. John the Baptist had a specific MISSION and MESSAGE: He was sent by God to testify concerning the light (Jesus) so that all men might be saved.
2. John understands that he was NOT the light...it was not about him!
3. He is pointing people to the light, because it's ALL ABOUT JESUS!

We should take a lesson from John and carry out the same MISSION and MESSAGE. It's clearly not about us, but ALL ABOUT JESUS! Pray that the true light that gives light to every man would shine brightly in Orange County so that God may receive all the glory!

For more on the Gospel and Orange County, visit The Gospel for OC and follow them on Twitter!

Discipleship and the Gospel

I lay on a mattress on the floor in Texas. I have just spent an incredible night of food, sharing, jokes, stories of mission trips to Thailand, and church life with our host family.

Our pastoral staff is attending a conference called "How Church Works" by Harold Bullock. Harold intentionally sought out my senior pastor, Seth, about 29 years ago while he was in seminary. Harold discipled him and a couple others and started Hope Church. Hope Church is now around 1000 people and has planted more than 70 churches around the world and sent out over 50 missionaries-- all from their own congregation.

Before Seth left Texas for California, he got his hands dirty and poured into peoples lives with the same intentional discipleship that Harold taught him. He taught the Gospel and spiritual disciplines. He then felt called to plant a church in Orange County, so 24 years ago he did.

We came to Texas this week to hear Harold teach on how church works. I have learned so much about how to shepherd people from the consumer mindset in Christianity to the comando soldier mindset.

Not only that, I have seen the power if the Gospel through generational discipleship and how the efforts of other men have impacted me personally.

First, I have gained so much knowledge and wisdom on pastoral care, godly life, and church leadership directly from Seth, but indirectly from Harold. Seth says to me always daily, "Harold always said.." or "From Harold I learned that..." and continue on explaining some biblical truth of Christ's character that must be lived out in my life. Meeting Harold was like meeting a spiritual grandfather that I never knew but one who played a huge part in the life of a man now disciples me.

Secondly, I have met so many people in the kast day who have also been touched by Seth's life (usually over 25 years ago) and are now serving in radical ministry. We are staying with a man who is one of those people. He and his wife are wonderfully hospitable. What is crazy is that I now get to reap some of the reward of the hard labor and obedience of godly men before me. I am thankful for them. I got to see this further while hanging out with our host's teenaged boys and watching a DVD of one of their mission trips to Thailand.

The Gospel is making it's way around the world and we get to celebrate that with beleivers. I am convinced that discipleship plays a HUGE role in that now. I always knew the great commission was true and that we should do it (...make disciples...) but now I have seen that it is real.

Please take the great commission seriously and make disciples. It is a long and difficult process, but through it the Gospel is preached, learned, and passes on...and God is glorified!!!

Working out of Rest

A couple months ago I was completely drained from life, relationships, and ministry. I got to a place where I forgot the heart of why I was in ministry to begin with. At times it can still be difficult not to slip into that same mindset, however, I learned something during that time that keeps me mindful of a healthy rhythm I need in order to keep sane.

WORK OUT OF REST!

Yep. Work out of rest. I need to be filled in order to serve, fill, and minister to others. If not, I'm done.

This is biblical, too. You see, we tend to work in order to rest, sleep, tak vacations, have personal time. God seemed to have set it up I'm a different way. When he created the world, each creation act ends with this phrase: "and there was evening, and there was morning-- the first (or second, third, etc.) day." (Genesis 1: 5,8,13,19,23,31)

Night was the first part of the day, then daylight. We were created to rest in order to work! This should be the way we opperate. I know that if I don't, I run myself to the ground.

God, help me remember that I need to rest in order to work. Keep me filled with your Word, godly relationships, and prayer in order to be an effective worker for your Kingdom!

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I joined the club/cult!

Well it is official: I joined the iPhone club/cult. My wid bought me one for Christmas and today I picked it up from the apple store. I am very excited about the diferenr ways I can stay organized, connected to students, and hopefully not addicted/antisocial! I know this will be a challenge, but I'm up for it! I'll let you know how it goes...


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The Blind Side

It was such a good movie! I could write a deep post about it, but I don't think I would do it justice. It was seriously one of my favorite movies I have seen. Sandra Bullock is amazing in this movie. Plus, it is all based on a true story, which is rad! It made for a wonderful date night with Kaitlin. You should go see it!

Please Allow Me to Verbally Vomit...

I have not blogged in such a long time. I somehow feel more excited to blog when I am excited about the things on my plate. It's not that I wasn't excited recently...well, maybe I wasn't. I don't know. You see, I kind of have an ADD personality when it comes to my life. I am fueled by change and get SOOOOO excited when there are new and exciting things. After our youth group All-Nighter (which was AWESOME....100 kids and 12 crazy hours!), I got into a funk and found it hard to pick up the pieces of my life. It was as if I was living for the All-Nighter, and after it was done, I was left with nothing. In the last week or so, I have started to "heal" from my ultra-low as Kaitlin and I have spent some amazing time together and plans are underway for a Jr. High group launch next year. I am pumped and ready for EVERYTHING! Only a couple more week of Kaitlin's semester, then CHRISTMAS!!! I'm so excited! Also, I love my cat. He's cool. Umm, I think that's it. Bye for now.

Mess

You know your life is a mess when...

• You can't see the floor of your bedroom
• You can't see the floor of your car
• Your eating habits include fast food and diet coke at most meals
• Your wife has been sick for a week
• Your sleeping patterns are still thrown off from an all-nighter a week ago

I'm in the process of cleaning up. the car. the room. the eating habits. the sleep patterns. my lady's health.

I have come to terms...

I have finally come to terms with my BOOK A.D.D. I no longer have to feel guilty for putting down a book to start another book. Instead, I read 5-6 at a time. I have a schedule (based on the things I want to learn about) and a designated day to read the book that falls under that category. Here is my schedule and the books I am currently reading:

• SUNDAY- "Marriage" (Currently reading Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas)
• MONDAY- "Creativity" (Currently reading The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharpe)
• TUESDAY- "Leadership" (Currently reading Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders)
• WEDNESDAY- "Youth Ministry" (Currently reading Speaking to Teenagers by Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins)
• THURSDAY- "Theology" (Currently reading Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll)
• FRIDAY- "Current Events" (Currently reading a variety of online news articles)
• SATURDAY- "Fiction/Poetry" (Currently reading Untune the Sky by Douglas Wilson)

Youth Sunday: LIVE!

Last Sunday, I preached for Youth Sunday.  We wrapped up our summer series: LIVE!  You can listen to the recording here.  The first part is a drama by two of our students (Benny and Alex), playing Nichodemus and the Samaritan Woman.  The sound cuts out in the intro, but none of the important stuff is lost.  Enjoy!