Kingdom of Comfort

I have really been enjoying the recent Delirious? release, "Kingdom of Comfort". Maybe enjoying is not quite the right word. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I have been convicted by their latest project, particularly by the title track, "Kingdom of Comfort"


"Save me, save me from the kingdom of comfort where I am king from my unhealthy lust of material things

I rob myself of innocence with the poison of indifference

I buy my stuff at any cost a couple of clicks and I pay the price cuz what I gain is someone else's loss

Save me, save me from the kingdom of comfort where I am king from my unhealthy lust of material things."


I wrote a while back of the disease of Affluenza that we in America tend to suffer from. Myself included. Read it here.

Just last night I found myself angry that I had inadvertently let my government issued TV Converter Box coupons expire. I missed the fact that they expire after 90 days. It was an $80 mistake. I was mad. I am ashamed! How could I possibly be mad about something like that when there is a Global Food Crisis taking place, that is right now plunging an additional 100 million people on every continent into hunger.

Save me, save me from the kingdom of comfort where I am king!

Hear the song here...

Crazy About You

Just came across this amazing video done by Francis Chan for his Just Stop and Think site.

If you can spare 15 minutes please watch this beautifully shot video. It will make you thankful for life. It will make you thankful for the God that loves you and gave you this life to enjoy.

"The God of the universe is crazy about you and screaming out for your attention!"

Life = Risk

Does risk scare you? Does the fear of failure stop you? If I have learned one thing from ministry, it is that failure is part of the journey toward success.

I have made many mistakes in life and have failed at many ventures. I am not ashamed of that. I am thankful. It is because of risking failure that I have learned. It is in risking failure that I have found success, success that has led to great ministry.

How about you? Are you a risk taker?



HT to Marko for video.

NOOMA 020 | Shells

As a big fan of the NOOMA series, I am pretty excited about this!

NOOMA will be premiering Rob Bell's most recent offering NOOMA 020 | Shells on Facebook this week from Monday, May 19th at 12 noon EDT to Wednesday, May 21st at 12 noon EST. It will be streamed in it's entirety.

Check it out here.

Understanding and Parenting Your Teen Pt. 2

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 sense 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 potential 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.

Mother's Day

Thank you Mom.

Understanding and Parenting Your Teen

Last night was the first part in a two part parenting workshop that I am leading entitled, "Understanding & Parenting Your Teen". This session deals with adolescent culture, how it came to be, what it looks like today, and how we as adults can best care for and lead students through the journey of adolescence.

Unfortunately the beginning is a little goofy due to my Powerpoint remote malfunctioning.

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

Message is also available on my Podcast.

Think On This

Why do we keep hiding our deepest feelings from each other? We suffer much, but we also have great gifts of healing for each other. By hiding our pain, we also hide our ability to heal ... We are called to confess to each other and to forgive each other, and thus discover the abundant mercy of God. But at the same time, we're so terribly afraid that we may be wounded even more deeply. This fear keeps us prisoners, even when the prison has no walls! How radical Jesus' message of love is! How difficult! And how necessary!
- Henri Nouwen

Proverbs 28:13

National Day of Prayer

I'm not much into politics. In fact, they pretty much make me crazy. The mean spirited divisiveness is tragic. In a time in which we need to be united, we are divided. How I wish it were not so.

In the midst of this volatile political season, today is the National Day of Prayer. It's my hope that you make each day a day of prayer. There is nothing better than walking in constant communion with God, and maintaining an open dialog of prayer through out the day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). I am encouraged though by the call for all in America to come together and pray.

Will you pray?

Cholesterol Beans

As much as I know my wife would love to see it, this is not a post about nutrition, green vegetables or the unwanted fatty little lipids that flow through our veins. Rather this is a post about how what is heard is not always what is said.

Yesterday morning in our middle school class we were doing a study on the book of Jude. Amy, one of our middle school leaders, was dong a great job leading the class, and helping them work their way through the small 25 verse long book. In verses 3 to 14 Jude writes about the sin and eventual doom of the ungodly. Where it got fun is when we hit verse 8. It reads,

"In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings."

Amy then had the for sight to ask the students if they understood what "celestial beings" were. Since most were unsure, she shared with them that they are angels. No sooner had she explained that, one of our 8th grade girls boldly declared,

"Oh! I thought you said, Cholesterol Beans!"

I love middle schoolers! I love their honesty, and that they have no fear of sharing what is on their mind.

After we all got a really good laugh, I was reminded of how important of a job I have. It is easy to think that our students already know and understand much of what we do, yet they don't. I am reminded of the awesome responsibility we as teachers have, and why James tells us not many of us should presume to be teachers (James 3:1).

Oh, and I'm pretty sure beans do not have cholesterol!

The Church Connected

I have a growing and nagging concern for the Church. I love the Church. I believe in the Church. It is the bride of Christ and I have given my life to her, yet I feel there is something important missing.

We have done a great job of pulling off great programs and ministries. We know how to preach persuasive and compelling sermons, and we know how to produce great worship experiences. Yet as much as I enjoy all these things, I am left with the feeling that there is something missing. The element missing ... community. Vital to the health of the Church is a deep sense of Biblical community. We meet together on Sunday's and various other times, but I wonder, do we really know how to experience the depth of community that Paul describes in Acts 2:44-45? The kind of community that says, I am here for you, really. It's the kind of community that strips away pretense and calls us into a life of openenes, acceptance, and vulnerability. The kind of community that says, I want to do life with you.

While most churches, mine included, have encouraged and fostered small group ministries, I am still left with the thought that there is more to it. I love the small group that my wife and I are a part of. We are learning more and more what it means to connect with others on a more meaningful level. We have enjoyed the journey and look forward to much more, yet the more I experience this kind of community, and consider how God desires the Church to be lived out, the more I am left to believe that living in such a manner, is what the Church should be all about. It's not the programs, sermons, and music, but rather the community. What would it look like if small group community was where the Church placed it's emphasis and not on the Sunday experience? What if community was the big deal?

There are many books, seminars, and conferences espousing how to do Church. There is a plethora of plug and play, "church in a box" programs that are available, all promising a healthy growing church if implemented. If only it were that easy. Community is not. It takes time. It takes work, commitment, sacrifice, and is at times messy.

On his blog, Mark Oestreicher has posted his thoughts on a new book he is working on under the working title "Youth Ministry 3.0". He recently posted a portion of chapter 6 dealing with community. He uses the word communion.

• Communion is small. Communion rarely, if ever, occurs in a large setting.

• Communion is slow. It’s not rushed. It’s doesn’t happen overnight – in fact, it’s annoyingly patient. Communion doesn’t happen on our timetables at all, and will internally resist all forms of quantification.

• Communion is simple. Not simple to “create”, but simple in it’s DNA. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t flourish with booster shots of technology .

• Communion is fluid. It won’t be boxed and sold as a resource or presented as a 40-day plan. It shies away from being defined. It beautifully morphs into variant vibes, seasons and shapes.

• Communion is present. It demands face time. It hungers for listening. It salivates for shared experience. It lives in the hear-and-now.

• Communion is Jesus-y. It places high value on the expectation of God showing up. It notices Christ in our midst. It seeks to live out a shared experience of joining up with the redemptive work of Christ.

Larry Crabb in the forward of Randy Frazee's book, "The Connecting Church" says,

"The future of the church depends on whether it develops true community. We can get by for a while on size, skilled communication and programs to meet every need, but unless we sense that we belong to each other, with masks off, the vibrant church of today will become the powerless church of tomorrow Stale, irrelevant, a place of pretense where sufferers suffer alone, where pressure generates conformity rather than the Spirit creating life - that's where the church is headed unless it focuses on community."

What are your thoughts on community? What might the Church look like if we lived in such a manner? Join me in my journey of discovery. I welcome your thoughts and would love to delve deeper with you, in this conversation.

The Church United

Just got the pictures from The Burn, our Tigard area youth worship event last week. It was so great to see nearly 200 students from around our community come together to worship their Lord.

Yesterday we as youth pastors met together to discuss and dream about how we can continue to join together as a united community of people. We plan to continue to host these worship events at each others churches, and we are also dreaming about a large scale outreach event. Together it is our desire to be used of God to make sure that every student in our community has the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Christ.

If you are viewing this post via an RSS reader you will need to go directly to my blog to view the pictures.