The video is done! Thanks to Aaron for the gret job. Enjoy!
Becoming The Poor
Over the last year God has really been growing my interest in and compassion for the poor. He has shown me that it is the poor that are closest to His heart, and should be ours as well.
In Mexico we had many thought provoking and challenging conversations about the poor. I am sure I will be posting some of my thoughts in the days ahead.
Below is a great video of Michael Frost offering his thoughts on Jesus, the poor, and the church. Very compelling.
HT to Rodney Olsen for the video.
Mexico Pictures
Most all our Mexico Outreach pictures are now online. Click here to see them. Watch for the video coming soon to a post near you!
Just The Beginning
Yesterday we returned from our Mexico outreach. To say that I am proud of our team would be an understatement. It was such a joy to see each of them emptying themselves and serving with such enthusiasm. Each of us came away from the experience with a deeper faith, and with a greater love and compassion for the poor.
During our time there we discussed how Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. As we were obedient to God's call in our lives to go and bless the people of Mexico, we took up our cross and followed. We discussed how easy it would be to leave our crosses in the community we were ministering in, or leave our crosses at the border as we left Mexico. Some may even be tempted to leave their crosses at home when we returned. It would be easy to think our mission has been accomplished. Instead it is our desire to see it as just the beginning. God desires that each of us live our lives daily on mission for Him. He drove that home to our team in so many ways over the course of our time. It is our desire to live such lives. Our mission has not ended, it has only begun.
A highlight of our time was constructing a house for a very wonderful and needy family. What a blessing it was to be a part of giving such an incredible gift. The family of five is posing with us in this picture.
I'm sure I will have much more to share in the days to ahead. In the meantime I and the family our now on vacation in San Clemente. We will be spending some much needed time together on the beach and in the surf. If you click here you just might see us.
Southbound
I along with 18 others leave for Ensenada Mexico tomorrow. We will be there from July 24 to August 4 and are anxious to see what God has in store!
While in Ensenada we will be partnering with missionaries Tim and Kathy Johnston to build a house for a needy family, lead children's ministries, assist in worship services at their new church plant, distribute clothing, food, and a lot of love.
We have set up a web site to help acquaint you with who our team is, and what we hope to accomplish. You will find it at www.180students.com/mexico07. There you will find our Trip Itinerary and Prayer Guide. We would be honored to have you regularly praying for us.
If you would like to see exactly where we will be click here to be taken to be taken to Google Maps. There you will see several links on the left that you may click on and be taken to the exact locations in which we will be, or have been to in the past. If you have the Google Earth, application on your computer, download this file by right-clicking or control-clicking and selecting "Save link as" to fly around our Ensenada locations.
Here is how our trip looked in '06.
Random Facts Meme
I’ve been tagged by Doug Jones who was tagged by Len Evans who was tagged by Marko to participate in the following deal.
Here are the rules:
1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.
My 8 Random Facts:1. I have been doing youth ministry for 22 years in 6 different churches and in 2 states. I have been at my current ministry for 9 years and love it.
2. I was a roadie for the Altar Boys and appeared in their "When You're A Rebel" music video.
3. I am a relative to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
4. I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back out in one day and I was also only 11 years old when I did it.
5. I had a pretty sweet looking mullet in the early 90s. Ok it wasn't so sweet, but I had one none the less.
6. I used to be a cook at this place.
7. I'll take Coke over Pepsi, Peets over Starbucks, paper over plastic.
8. I had a real interesting conversation about Jesus with this guy.
So now I tag:
Aaron
Darin
Darin
Rodney
Tim
Mike
Tony
KC
And because I can ... Dan.
Affluenza
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100
In one week I leave with our Mexico Outreach Team for 11 days in Ensenada, Mexico. This will be my 11th mission trip to Mexico. I love the experience for so many reasons. One of those reasons is that it seems to have a recalibrating effect on my life. To be with the wonderful people of Mexico is to see God. God is at work there. God speaks to me through the people. God speaks to me through the culture. I see people that have so little in life, as compared to what I have. I see those same people with smiles on their faces and hands wide open desiring to give and to bless. I see the struggles they face each day just to meet their basic needs, and it causes me to look a little closer at my life and consider what really is important. It causes me to recalibrate my life and bring it in closer to what I believe God desires for me.
I recently came across this video on Rodney Olsen's blog. It's a promo video for World Vision's Australian 40 Hour Famine event. It really helps put these things into perspective. Watch it and you may see the need for recalibration in your life as well. On a side note, what does it say about us in America that also do this same event, but rather than being a 40 hour famine it is only a 30 Hour Famine?
Back from Vacation
We returned today from Black Butte Ranch. What a great week! We swam, we biked, we swam, we read, we swam, we ate, we swam, we slept, we swam. Wonderful time! It was hard to come home.
Now it is back to it! I leave in 12 days for a two week mission trip to Mexico, with a nice 12 day California vacation tacked on. There are 19 on our team this year and we're real excited about getting down to Ensenada, Mexico again. To learn more about our trip, our team, and how you can pray please visit our Mexico Outreach web site. I will be sharing more as our departure date approaches.
Missional
This week I have begun reading Dan Kimball's recent book, "They Like Jesus But Not The Church." A great read that I think all followers of Christ, and church leaders with a heart for reaching emerging generations ought to read.
At the beginning of the book he gives a great definition to what has become quite the buzz word recently within the Church. The word...missional. It is such a new word that my computer's spell checker does not even recognize it. What does missional mean? He sums it up like this...
-Being missional means that the church sees itself as being missionaries, rather than having a missions department, and that we see ourselves as missionaries right where we live.
-Being missional means that we see ourselves as representatives of Jesus "sent" into our communities, and that the church aligns everything it does with the missio dei (mission of God).
-Being missional means we see the church not as a place we go only on Sunday, but as something we are throughout the week.
-Being missional means that we understand we don't "bring Jesus" to people but that we realize Jesus is active in culture and we join him in what he is doing.
-Being missional means we are very much in the world and engaged in culture but are not conforming to the world.
-Being missional means we serve our communities, and that we build relationships with the people in them, rather than seeing them as evangelistic targets.
-Being missional means being all the more dependent on Jesus and the Spirit through prayer, the Scriptures, and each other in community.
I believe that if we, Christ's Church, begin to embody these very concepts we will begin to see great change in our culture and in the hearts of those within it.
Beauty of Creation
I'm at a beautiful resort in Central Oregon right now called Black Butte Ranch. I am in awe of the beauty that surrounds me. God's creative qualities are incredible.
"The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God.'" says Psalm 53:1. Fools they are. How can any man say, there is no God?
God is real. God is amazing!
Water Sliding
Took my little daredevil Benny out for his first experience with water slides on Thursday. We along with Robin's cousins, spent a few hours out at Immigrant Lake in Ashland, enjoying the slides, volleyball, and lots of sunshine.
He loved it!
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