PSP 2006

Yesterday was the 2006 PSP kickoff. A program run by my "Home" church in Portland. It is about a month and a half Bible day camp for kids in north Portland. PSP is very dear to my heart. Having worked at PSP for two summers, it still feels a little like my baby I had to push out of the nest.

I hope all is well friends, I am praying for you. You will change some kids lives this summer when you show those kids that Jesus is looking for them. Thank you PUMP staff, PSP directors, and PSP interns for giving up your summer fun to work for the kingdom. I know it is hard, but come August you will wish there was just one more week! God bless!

The Brick Testament

On a lighter note, check out this link. This guy is an atheist, his father is a pastor, and that = rebellion!

Patriotism: The Sin No One Wants to Notice

Yes - I am thankful that I live in America where we have an abundance of freedom.

Yes - I am concerned and pray for the soldiers who are fighting for America.

But - We have ventured into some dangerous territory with our worship of our country. I think our churches have encouraged this. Which is why most Americans think Christians are republican, gun totin'', country music lovin', 4x4 drivin', flag wavin'' people. To most we are, in a nutshell, Toby Keith. I don't like it.

And - I consider fighting for my country to be idolatry. I will not fight for any cause but that of the Gospel. And the Gospel calls me to be a peace maker, I will not fight.

At church today we had independence day service. This week is VBS so next Sunday is something specials related to VBS, so independence day fell to today. We sang America the Beautiful and had special music that was also patriotic. Then the sermon was from Deuteronomy 28 - "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth." We are dependent upon God for our liberty, prosperity, and freedom, was the message (3 point sermon - take note preacher wannabes). I felt sick to my stomach. We were not worshiping the almighty God, we were worshipping our selves, and what we have made.

Jesus commanded us to "Make disciples of all the nations." He said that the greatest command is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. He said the second greatest command is to love your neighbor as your self. So why are we worried about our own freedom? I am thankful to live in a place that allows me the freedom to worship, but that freedom was not born on the backs of early Americans, it was born on a cross long before this land was even discovered. Our freedom does not hinge on our physical surroundings, we are free in our souls because...
God loves us,
Jesus died for us,
And we can have hope in the resurrection!

Our hope does not lie on the well being of this country, or any other earthly thing for that matter. Only our egos do.

The Best Present I Ever Got Was...

a machete on fathers day 2006, thanks Sarah, Isaac, Andrew, and Hannah!

What is your favorite present?

The Amazing Sara Groves

A friend gave me a CD to listen to before I moved. It was Past the Wishing by Sara Groves. And now I can't stop listening to it. It is an absolute masterpiece. Not the most polished recording, but it doesn't matter. Sara has an incredible gift for lyrics. She uses fairly ordinary words, but creates incredible word paintings.

Most good music makes me break out in song, Sara Groves inspires deep, meaningful thought. I am shocked at this difference. I have never experienced music in this way. I can not sing for fear of disrupting the beautiful story that is being told, I must only reflect, I must only be.

Sara, if you are reading, please continue your ministry. Your words and music inspire me to go, be, and do. I thank you.

Discipleship Through Yugioh

Those of you who know Isaac know he loves yugioh cards. Not long ago I felt like I was loosing a relationship with him to his friends and his cards. So, I bought my own yugioh cards in hopes that I could regain hero status. It worked well. I was the talk of every 6-14 year old kid in our apartment complex. I was the dad you could brag to your friends about. It was great. The novelty has worn off a little, but we still play cards quite often. And now I am discovering a better side effect of yugioh than I imagined. I am teaching my son my life wisdom through the game, and he is teaching me humility.

Isaac beats me 3 out of every 4 games and it really hurts. I am way older and smarter than him. And I beat him 4 straight when I first got my cards, so it stings quite a bit. He is teaching me that winning isn't the whole picture.

Tonight, after Isaac stomped me, he commented that I should buy the new deluxe package of yugioh with stronger cards that would beat him (he could sense my defeated frustration). It was a great opportunity for us to talk about greed. I told him that I didn't need new, stronger cards to beat him. I just need to learn from my mistakes and try harder next time. I am teaching him character and integrity.

Yugioh is great!

Interruptions?

Here we are in Redmond, boxes and all. We are enjoying our new home and the wonderful weather (finally today it stopped raining)! But we are missing our church family greatly. We chose to go to a large Baptist church on Sunday, partially because it is only 4 blocks away. There were two services 8:15 and 11 with classes sandwiched in between. The early service is the "contemporary" service, while the 11 o'clock service is the "hymn" service. We wanted to sleep in, so we went at 11. My first observation was that we were the only people under 55 at the service, too late though we were already there. The service was not bad, old hymns I remember singing in church as a kid. We sang "Victory in Jesus" and "Footprints of Jesus" accompanied by a pipe organ. It was soooo Organ Grinder, I loved it, but it made me miss my Dad who would have loved it more than me (he always dreamed of playing at the Organ Grinder). Then Pastor Smart stood up to preach, I kid you not, Pastor Smart. And this is where service went all wrong. He is a descent preacher, very comfortable and funny, but he reached a bit.

He preached from Luke chapter 8, the story of Jairus and his dying daughter, and the unclean woman who wanted to touch Jesus' cloak. He compared Jairus, his daughter, and the unclean woman to flat tires, traffic tickets, and miscommunication calling all of them "interruptions!" INTERRUPTIONS!!! Come on Smart, what the hell are you thinking? His question was this: Jesus teaches us how to live, so what can we learn about how to deal with interruptions. I wanted to stand up and yell at him but Sarah wouldn't let me.

Here's my problem with Smart.

First of all, comparing hurting souls to car trouble and traffic tickets is absurd. They are not even in the same universe. It is a ridiculous example of how Starbucks/McDonald's like our churches have become, packaging spirituality in a way to make people happy, seeking the path of least resistance. Smart deliverd a message that was so pc it challenged his congregation to do nothing but feel good about shrugging off hurting souls in order to get back to your mission for the moment. A fastfood response to a complicated problem.

Second, hurting souls were not interruptions of Jesus' mission, they ARE his mission. The problem was Smart was asking the wrong question. Instead of asking how to deal with interruptions, we need to ask what attitude to have so that hurting souls become our mission and not interruptions. Jesus showed us EXPLICITLY, in this story from Luke 8, that interruptions are what he was all about. The unclean woman interrupted the effort to save Jairus' daughter, yet she was important enough for Jesus to give his attention even in a life or death situation like. Our everyday schedules and appointments are far less important than what Jesus was doing, so how much more should we be available to deal with interruptions. Nice job Smart, I won't be back.