The LORD Hears

The Merge

2009-12-18T00:39:00.003-06:00

Sarah and I have been discussing whether or not to merge our blogs and we decided it would be better for everybody if we did...I know, what you're thinking: this is a big step in our cyberspace relationship but I believe that after five and a half years of marriage we are finally ready for this level of unity! :-D From now on you can find BOTH of us at www.stepsonthewater.com

See you over there!

Opportunities

2009-11-12T18:41:00.003-06:00

I'm very excited about where we're at right now and where God is leading us (me, my family, the church). There are great things going on on every level. I have already heard some great things from the Life Group times on Sunday mornings and about some awesome outreaches and servant times that have already taken place or are coming up soon! I believe that God wants us to be intentional about community and missional in our outreach. I think those two things even compliment each other. When we talk about being "a house of prayer for all nations" we MUST be a house for ALL People and one of the ways that we do that is through intentional community and missional outreach. As we are sharing life on every level (community/fellowship) we begin to position ourselves to share HIS life on every level (missional outreach). God is putting OPPORTUNITIES before each of us, let's continue to pray for the courage and obedience to make the most of every opportunity that He gives us.

One opportunity that I am VERY grateful for is my job with T-Mobile! I am enjoying it because of the technology (yes, I'm a nerd) and the problem solving involved, as well as getting to know my co-workers. I keep praying for God to help me see what He is doing in the lives of my co-workers and how I can help bring His life and joy to every situation through my actions and my words. I have been looking forward to the opportunity to serve in the church AND in the workplace for a couple of years now and am very thankful to have the opportunity. I pray that you will see the opportunities that God has for you as you look around where God has placed you as a representative of His Kingdom.
May His Kingdom justice, peace, joy, and power come and His perfect will be done IN and THROUGH our lives!

Identity

2009-10-26T22:00:00.003-05:00

This Sunday James Underwood from Bethel St. Paul shared in Minneapolis. It was a great word about our true identity. In life we all wear different kinds of hats and those things aren't what truly define us. He had an awesome way of illustrating that with a bunch of different literal hats that he wears as part of his life and what they represent, but how those things don't define him. He read from Ephesians 2:11-15 and pointed out that God has bought the naming rights to our lives...just like big companies pay big money for the right to put their name on a building or stadium, in the same way, God has bought the naming rights to your life as Creator & Redeemer!
1. He Created us! (Genesis 2:6)
- Very personally: Formed us with his hands & breathed into us!

2. He Redeemed Us!
- He purchased us with His life and has the right to name us (Revelation 2).

There are many voices trying to label you, but only one has the right to name you and be the source of your identity. At the time of Jesus there were many voices labeling Him, but He looked to the Father for His identity ("this is my son in whom I am well pleased"). It was as people saw who the Father said Jesus was that they truly knew Him. Jesus asked His disciples "who do you say that I am?" His disciples picked up on what God the Father said and answered that He was "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus asked them for their good not His. It really should have been them asking Jesus "who do YOU say that I am?" Because being who God says you are is more powerful and more important than trying to be who others say you are or should be.
What about you, are there old "names" or labels that someone else put on you, or you put on yourself, that you need to get rid of today? Take off those hats!

Boundaries

2009-10-20T08:20:00.002-05:00

Last year I read this GREAT book called "Boundaries with Kids." I wish I had read it before I started youth ministry because it makes the shaping process that kids need to go through so clear. It provides good ways to put boundaries in place for your kids no matter what age they are. I felt like I had learned some of those things along the way by trial and error (because nobody else was teaching this stuff) and other things I saw that I had totally missed (many "aha!" moments). Now that we have Abby I need to go back and read it and work on applying it to the stage she is at right now.

I want to read one book on parenting each year, but I also want to review this book each year because what it contains is so simple and powerful, yet easy to forget over time. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to ANY parent, no matter how long (or little) you have been parenting or grandparenting. You can take this and apply it to any stage of development in your kids' lives. You will probably have a few "aha!" moments along the way and be encouraged to keep pressing on as you train up your children in the way that they should go so that when they are old they will not depart from it!

Seven Practices of Effective Ministry

2009-10-13T08:08:00.003-05:00

Last year I was privileged to get my hands on an awesome book that summarizes a lot of what I learned in my Organizational Leadership studies: 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.

It takes some fairly complex concepts and puts them in ways that are easy to understand, communicate, and apply. This is something that we were working through in Breckenridge when I left and something that we have started working through with our leadership team at Bethel Minneapolis!
Here's a quick summary. I highly recommend this book to you if you are in leadership.

Practice #1 – Clarify the Win: Define what is important at every level of the organization.

As long as the win in unclear, you force your team to guess at what a win looks like.
If the win is unclear, you may force those in leadership roles to define winning in their own terms.
When you clarify the win on every level you help your team stay on the same page.
When you clarify the win you can manage your resources effectively.

Practice #2 – Think Steps, not Programs: Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.

Every step should be easy
Every step has to be obvious
Every step must be strategic

Practice #3 – Narrow the Focus: Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact.

Churches feel constant pressure to provide programs on the basis of needs.
Resist complexity and pursue simplicity.
Choose what potentially works best over what is presently working.
The more you focus the environment, the greater the relevance, the better the connection, the higher the quality, and the stronger the impact.

Practice #4 – Teach Less for More: Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it.

Decide what you are going to say
Decide to say one thing at a time
Decide how you are going to say it
Say it over and over again

Practice #5 – Listen to Outsiders: Focus on who you’re trying to reach, not who you’re trying to keep.
- (we really miss the boat the on this one sometimes)

Practice #6 – Replace Yourself: Learn to hand off what you do.

Prepare someone to do what you do and strategically replace yourself.

Practice #7 – Work On It: Take time to evaluate your work, and to celebrate your wins.

I highly reccomend you read this book if you would like to know some of the details involved in this process. You may also find it helpful to go through this with your leadership team and apply this to every level of leadership.

Goals Update

2009-10-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of the year I set some goals of what I felt God wanted me to do as a steward of what He has given me this year. I share them with you briefly. I hope to get better at dreaming God's dreams for the future and moving towards what God has.

- Read Through the Bible chronologically in the English Standard Version in a year.

This is going great, especially now that I switched to an RSS feed.

Get Back in Shape

I've lost 20 pounds so far this year and am hoping to lose 8 more by the end of the year.

Finish Graduate School

I was blessed to complete a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership AND Practical Ministry. By starting at Regent University and completing at Beacon University I was able to get a dual emphasis in practical ministry (specifically small groups and other ministry things) as well as Organizational Leadership.

Work on Book:

I put a basic outline together last year. Unfortunately I haven't done any work on this in 2009. I do want to work on refining the outline and beginning to put content into the right spots.

Transition:

Work on transitioning Valley Christian's worship and student ministries to continue strong after we leave. I was able to work with Dean and other staff members to setup some systems to keep things running smoothly and set the stage for MORE growth in those areas.

Work with a Church Plant that is an Intentional and Missional Community:

Sarah and I dreamed of doing this for a while, but it was a "some day" dream and god has blessed us to begin leading a church plant with Bethel Christian Fellowship.
The first thing I wanted to do was to work to clarify the "wins" and define our steps for implementing the vision and "win" in the ministry. And it's been awesome to begin this process.
One of the things we really wanted to make a part of our church life was to do small groups as part of the service after the message on Sundays and then to also meet outside of the church to DO ministry.

Message Series Prayer and Planning:

I have been working on praying and planning out the series of sermons for at least a year in advance; including concepts and images used in the messages. This is still a work in progress, but I am working towards it: I have sets of series plans, but need to work harder on filling in the message titles and contents farther ahead of time.

To Grow as an Effective Communicator:

By working on how I prepare and deliver messages using more than just words.

Lead My Family:

I decided a while back that I will not sacrifice my family on the altar of ministry! This is something that takes work and I have to move towards this intentionally (word of the week) by spending more time with my family by using the free evenings we have and by guarding my day off. I am a work in a progress, but I am looking for progress.

Reading:

My goal is to read all of the books I own that I have not read yet...this has been a problem as I have continued to add books to my collection.

These are the goals I have been working towards this year and as the year ends I will be looking at what God wants for next year!

Intentional

2009-10-08T17:08:00.001-05:00

I saw this as I was walking around Catalyst. The title jumps out to me :-) Here's what I firmly believe: I believe that the major problems & injustices of the world (hunger, AIDS, poverty, human trafficking, etc.) would be solved if the church as a whole cared about what God cares about as much as He cares about them! What if we united with others & with God in the advancement of His Kingdom, which is defined as justice (righteousness), peace (!), joy (in the Holy Spirit), & power!

I believe God has given us the power to do this with the Holy Spirit & the Body of Christ! May His Kingdom Come & His will be done in & through us!

Practical and Powerful

2009-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a powerful story of people in our church being intentional (word of the week) in meeting practical needs in powerful ways!

Bible in a Year

2009-10-06T08:19:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year I made a list of goals for the year. One of those was to read through the Bible chronologically in the English Standard Version. I have grown to enjoy doing that each year, although there have been years that I have focused on specific parts of the Bible and just read them over and over. There was one year I just read and studied the Gospels over and over while another year I just read the New Testament several times. Although I don't know how many times I have read through the Bible I DO know that the chronological way has been the best way for me to get the most out of it. It really helps me to get the bigger picture of God's work throughout the Bible and throughout history.
If you've ever tried a Bible reading plan or a chronological reading you have probably had some difficulties keeping track of where you were, losing your reading guide, losing your place as you jumped around in the chronological piece. Or falling too far behind that you felt like giving up. Well don't be troubled because everyone that has ever set out to learn more about God has faced similar difficulties UNTIL NOW (cue the "ShamWow" music): I just found an AWESOME way to do my Bible reading the other day. www.BibleGateway.com has an awesome reading plan system that allows you to choose between 5 different plans. You can currently add your plan to your RSS reader and it will appear each day as your other blog posts do (they are currently working on an email system too). Here are several reasons that I have found most helpful:

You don't have to carry around reading plans (I just read my Bible and Bible reading on my phone or laptop).
You don't have to wonder whether or not you already read something.
If you miss a day it will be there for you when you come back.
When you're doing a chronological reading you don't have to jump all over the place and you can really feel the flow of the greater story.
If you're a blog reader, it sets up a system for you where you will be reminded of reading every day...which when you think about it, it's kind of messed up that we would have time to read a blog and not God's story...

So, in making the switch between my chronological plan and BibleGateway's I missed some pieces of the Prophets, but the overall benefits of switching to something that helps me be more intentional (word of the week) far outweighs that.

Another really cool thing was you can choose from multiple versions. I'm finishing up the ESV this year, but next year I'm reading the Bible in The Message translation. Trying different translations has helped me continue to gain greater perspective as I grow, so I'm very excited about finishing this year in the ESV and doing next year in The Message!

Church Planting

2009-10-05T22:17:00.002-05:00

I'm at a meeting today and tomorrow where many things have been discussed and will be discussed, but the one that I was eagerly anticipating was the discussion on church planting. A group of pastors in our region (MN, IA, and Western WI/MI) worked on an intentional plan for starting churches in our area by working together that I am VERY excited about and today it was presented to the other regions. The plan is called Apostello (sent forth) and you can access the full version of it here. Today we talked about what role we need to play in church planting; locally, regionally, and nationally as the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies. The conclusion was that church planting is something that is already happening in our fellowship but that we can definitely grow more in that area by being more intentional. I'm excited that we're having this discussion about church planting and here's why:

I believe that we have to be intentional (my word of the week) about reaching people everywhere with the good news of Jesus Christ and one local church cannot do that.
I believe that churches should plant churches that plant churches that plant churches...I don't just say that because I am now working with a church plant, but because I firmly believe that healthy things grow and reproduce. Sarah and I talked about working with a church planting team "some day" for many years. I even had a vision for church planting 9 years ago. For doing many of the things we're doing as part of Bethel Christian Fellowship. Neither Sarah or I were expecting "some day" to come this soon, but we are blessed to be part of Bethel and be leading such an awesome group of people!
I believe that starting new churches creates opportunities for more people to get involved in ministering to other people.
I believe that churches that start new churches unleash leaders to serve in capacities in the new church and also creates opportunities for other leaders to take their place where they were. Many leaders also emerge from other areas of ministry in successful church plants and more leaders are raised up because there was a place for their giftings to be used in making a difference in people's lives.

I'm not saying everything will be easy for any church that decides to plant a church (or for us for that matter), but I do believe that working together towards what God has for us is better than working alone. I am eagerly looking forward to what God has in store for us in Minneapolis and throughout the churches of the FCA!

The Sound of Silence

2009-09-19T00:09:00.005-05:00

Sarah, Abby & I made a trip up to Breck-Wahp the other night for a ONE24 Board Meeting. On the way there the muffler began to go out. By that night the broken piece had fallen off and we ended up driving it without the muffler for about 70 miles...that little thing was LOUD! I got that fixed the next morning and then we headed back to the cities. Sarah and Abby in the Civic and me on my 1979 Suzuki 750GS (which is for sale BTW). Much like the Civic the night before, my bike doesn't have baffles so it was also very loud as I cruised down the highway at 70 mph (I wore earplugs because I knew it would be a long ride).

By the time we got to our apartment I had been exposed to so much noise for so long that I felt that the absence of it was eerily quiet. It was almost as though silence had a sound. Which made me think of how rarely we spend time in silence and enjoy it. Silence is one of the reasons I like working on things at night (although it tends to make the next mornings miserable). I feel like I can think better in silence. When I pray I like to spend time in silence asking God to speak to me, this is hard because of all the other noise in my life. In 1 Kings 19:12 God speaks to Elijah in a "gentle whisper" and not in a loud way. If God spoke to you in a gentle whisper right now, would you be able to hear Him? Or, would there be too much noise?

I want to encourage you to take some time and sit in silence with God today. See what happens. See what He speaks to your heart as you wait.

On a slightly related note, I'm sorry for the "sound of silence" here on the blog. There has been a ton going on in my life and in my thoughts that hasn't made it to the blog. :-(
You have probably wondered if I would ever post again. That was a sound of silence I don't want to practice. I switched to the Palm Pre a couple of months ago and discovered I don't really need a computer anymore :-) Consequently a lot of thoughts have been jotted down on my phone and haven't made it to the blog yet. Tonight I had a little time and figured out an easy system that I could use to get those thoughts from my head - to the Pre - to the blog quickly. Soooo...hopefully you will be hearing more then silence on this blog in the near future!

Abby's Friends

2009-08-05T16:35:00.005-05:00

I got some pictures of some of Abby's friends before we moved and I thought I'd post them. Here they are, Abby's monkeys:
Monkey Fa, Monkey Sol, Monkey La, Monkey Si...Abby is Monkey Do...
She seems to like Monkey Si the most...I guess they're meant to be together as Monkey Si and Monkey Do...
I'm still missing Monkeys Re and Mi :-(

Here they are all together having a very harmonious time (in case you didn't get it):

ONE Summer Night

2009-07-22T12:22:00.003-05:00

Are you ready for one summer night to remember? This year we're featuring Children 18:3, Kaboose, Senseless Beauty, Solace, and Sarah O'neal!

Ticket Costs:
$8.00 [in advance]
$10.00 [at the door]

*Ticket are available in Fargo and Moorhead at Family Christian Stores, Rainbow Shop and Melberg's...for other means of purchase, please call (701) 219-0918.

This show is going down rain or shine! We have an indoor auditorium available on site in case it rains.

Come early for some outdoor fun in the sun like volleyball, ultimate frisbee, etc.

For all of us who get hungry rockin' out, concessions will be available!

And, if you think you might need it, consider bringing a lawn chair along.

way, Way...WAY More!

2009-06-17T23:06:00.005-05:00

Sarah and I are very excited to be joining an awesome group that has launched out from Bethel Christian Fellowship in St. Paul to start a church in Minneapolis. We are currently commuting from Breckenridge on the weekends. The whole thing of launching out from this place of safety to start a church goes back to a clear impression I had of God calling us to step out of the boat, our place of safety, and take a step into the unknown where we would have to keep our eyes focused on Him. In the last several months leading up to this there have been several verses that God has used to strengthen and encourage me for the task ahead.

2 Peter 1:3 HIS divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God's power has given us EVERYTHING we need to live for Him! Everything we need for the move. Everything we need to start a church. EVERYTHING we need for what He has called us to do!!!
One of the other passages is Ephesians 3:16-21 that says,

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do Immeasurably More than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to HIM be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Immeasurably More = exceeding abundantly above = way, Way...WAY More!

Our God is Powerful...He is Awesome! If you're facing something that seems like more than you can do in your own strength, remember that it is in our weakness that we see Him move in power! In Him we have EVERYTHING we need for life! We have been allowed to participate in God's divine Presence, Power and Purpose! We need to make sure we are tapping into His power that He has for us. I know I can get distracted easily, but these verses inspire me to pursue Him passionately!!!
He wants to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine IN and THROUGH our lives!

Last Day

2009-06-03T23:43:00.003-05:00

Today was my last day at Valley Christian Church. I've been on staff here for over 6 years! Wow, time flies when you're having fun! It was a privilege to serve at this church and with these students! I will miss everyone very much...Don't hesitate to come visit us!
Tonight Stephen Bjorlin, who will be leading the Student and Worship Ministries for the summer, opened up the mic and let students share after I had said my final words of encouragement to the group. It was a great time, sad, but nice to go out this way then the other ways Stephen mentioned he has seen happen. I was also surprised to see that Stephen had taken some group shots from over the years and framed them for Sarah and I. Then they went beyone that and the students wrote notes on a poster for us as well. I even got an awesome cookie gift from Tiffany and her mom (the cross and the Bible one in the pic)! It was a good way to say goodbye. Stephen mentioned closure, but hopefully no one gets so much closure that they don't come help us load up the truck when we find a house! :-D

Mixed Feelings

2009-04-29T00:38:00.002-05:00

There have been lots of changes in the last several weeks and with those changes come mixed emotions. We've announced that we are moving to Minneapolis to lead a church planting team sent out from one of our sister churches. There's sadness and then anticipation as I think about leaving here (sadness) and I think about moving to Minneapolis (anticipation). In the weeks since the announcement we've looked at houses and have found really good deals only to find out they had been sold and the system wasn't updated right away. So there's anticipation and then sadness.
Here's another one for you, this week we dropped off my favorite dog in the world (Mocha) with some friends of ours. They're checking her out for a week and if they like her they will get to keep her. They're a great family and I know they will take care of her and she'll even have a buddy named Moses to play with, but the mixed emotions come into play when I am sad that she won't be a part of our lives, yet I'm happy that she will have a good family to be a part of.
Wouldn't it be easier if things were just good or just bad? :-) I know that all of that is part of the the experience that we call life, but I thought I would share what's going on in my head at 12:50 in the morning: I have sadness as I begin the process of saying goodbye to what has been our life for the last 6 years, but I also look forward with anticipation to what God "has prepared for those who love Him!"

Life

2009-04-12T19:45:00.002-05:00

This Resurrection Sunday Dean shared about the facts that support the resurrection and the difference that the Resurrected Jesus can make in our lives. One phrase that jumped out at me as Dean was talking about the crucifixion, he said that "Death makes us think about life." It really stuck with me because it has been the loss of our three children that have really changed my perspective on life. Death became very real to me after that and it has transformed how I approach life now. Viewing their deaths, and my own mortality, in light of the the resurrection of Jesus brings me hope and joy for this life and for eternity!

The Road Goes Ever On And On...

2009-04-08T13:26:00.003-05:00

“The Road goes ever on and on - Down from the door where it began - Now far ahead the Road has gone - And I must follow, if I can - Pursuing it with eager feet - Until it joins some larger way - Where many paths and errands meet - And whither then? I cannot say.”
– Bilbo Baggins –

Over the past several months God has been showing Sarah and I that our time at Valley Christian Church was coming to an end. It has been an awesome several years here since I came as an Intern in the Winter of 2003. This year's graduation will be the 7^th one that I attend here...that's a lot of cake and mints! We have been blessed to see kids in our church and community become teenagers and teenagers become adults. We have poured all we've had into this community and have been blessed to see lives touched during our time here. We have been blessed to serve alongside awesome ministry teams and leaders. Hopefully we never forget the many lessons that we've learned while serving here!

Sarah and I weren't looking to leave when the call came to join a church planting team in Minneapolis. Our first reaction was that we were honored, but weren't really looking to leave, we liked it here...it was comfortable. At that point God began to make it clear that he actually thought we were a little too comfortable and we needed to take a step towards trusting Him more deeply. He was, in effect, asking us to "Step Out of the Boat." As Sarah and I prayed about it we realized that, even if we didn't understand how everything would fit together, it was the right time for us to take a step towards church planting that we had always wanted to do "some day."

This Sunday we took the final push off the edge of the boat and announced that we would be moving to Minneapolis this Summer to join a church planting team out of our sister church Bethel Christian Fellowship in St. Paul. We were sad to be saying goodbye, but we had a peace in our hearts and a still small voice that reassured us "this is the way, keep walking in it."

In the coming years we look forward to being a part of the lives of the students we have worked with...thanks in a great part to Facebook! We also look forward to working with the ONE24 team of leaders to see the doors open this Summer!

I believe that God is doing great things in Breck-Wahp and that He is also doing great things in Minneapolis! I am blessed to be able to participate with God in advancing His Kingdom here and now and there in the future!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Tasty Fundraiser!

2009-04-07T22:09:00.001-05:00

I'm very excited to team up with Schwan's to help raise the money need to open ONE24. It doesn't matter where you live...YOU can help with this fundraiser AND enjoy delicious food!
Click on the image to read the details of how you can order to benefit ONE24!

I Hate Bacon

2009-04-04T21:28:00.002-05:00

I love breakfast. It's my favorite meal. It's also the only meal of the day I know how to cook different types of food for, I think I could make pretty much any typical breakfast meal, except for bacon...I despise it! Don't get me wrong, I love eating it. It's just that I can never cook it right! It's either dried out or burnt! This morning I was making eggs and bacon for myself and managed to fill the house with smoke with the first batch of bacon...so cleaned up the mess and started over...then I dropped an egg on the floor, so Mocha was volunteering to clean it up, but I got to it before her. By the time I cleaned up my mess and made my breakfast it had taken me like 40 minutes! Cereal is soo much easier :-)

PB & J

2009-04-02T16:49:00.001-05:00

I just thought I'd share that this last week I have gotten re-acquainted with Peanut Butter and Jelly...FASCINATING!
I'm not a big sandwich kind of guy, I prefer tacos or quesadillas, but before I was married I would eat 2 or 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day. Since getting married I haven't really been one to grab bread and make myself a PB&J, but this last week I've gone through about a loaf of bread by myself :-D Good stuff...I also realized that we had Apple Butter in the pantry THIS WHOLE TIME!!!
Ah the simple things in life. I like.

Listening

2009-04-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight I'm talking about the spiritual discipline of listening to God. Many times we pray TO God, but don't take time to get to know the ways in which He speaks to us and wait to hear what He would say.

Do you find it hard to spend time in silence in the presence of God? Why?
If you have found something that has helped you, what is it?

Generosity

2009-03-25T23:34:00.002-05:00

Have you ever been to a small group where you're asked the question: what do you want people to say at your funeral? I think one of the things I would like to be known for is a generous heart towards others. Not just financially, which is the first thing we think of when we hear generosity, but in every area of life. I believe that if we have received freely we should give freely and God will bless that because when we do that we are bearing His image in a way that honors Him.
This week we have been going through a terrible time here in the Red River Valley. The snow was melting and the process was accelerated by unusually warm days and then rain. So, we almost flooded here. We're not past the danger yet, but it has been a lot better then many feared. We prayed for a miracle and we saw it.
One of the things that has stood out to me and affirmed to me that we are all God's image-bearers whether we know it or not, was the generosity with which the people in this community gave of their time, effort, and resources to help others in need. I'm sure there are mixed reasons why everyone helped fight the flood, but ultimately I think the compassion and heroic effort that rises up within each person can be traced back to God's heart for humanity. I was very encouraged to see how the Body of Christ and the rest of this community came together to serve for the common good! The areas North of us are not past the danger yet, so they need our prayer and support too and I know that they will get it because, whether aware of unaware, we all bear the image of God to some degree. So, if you know you do, then let your light shine during these dark times with your good works so that others can see that and praise your Father in heaven!

Survey Says...

2009-03-12T23:02:00.003-05:00

In the last couple of days I did a survey using everything from Facebook to text messages to live conversations to help me see what everyone struggles with when reading or studying the Bible. The 3 things that seemed to emerge from my unofficial survey are that people struggle with:

Making the Time
Staying Focused
Not understanding It

Thank you ALL for your honesty and cooperation in this. It turns out I'm not alone in my struggle!The good news here is that most everyone that shared a struggle also shared some things that have helped them overcome it, so here are some of the responses:

How to get more out of studying the Bible:

Pray before you start (and some said after too so that it sticks with you)

MAKE the Time - Setting a specific time of day was helpful to stay consistent (morning, before bed, etc.).

Set the Tone - It may be candles or it may simply be going to a room away from your TV, computer and cell phone so they don't distract you...or at least closing Facebook down ("gasp!") :-)

Read it Like a Book - You wouldn't read your favorite novel one page at a time, why do that to the Bible? It's harder to follow the storyline if you break it up into such tiny pieces. One very helpful thing here is to check and make sure your version reads easy enough for you! If you can't understand the wording look for a different version. Another thing that may help you stay focused and keep reading is to listen to it while you read, there are even dramatized versions like The Bible Experience that can really help you enter the story.

Dig Deeper - Those who found themselves getting confused or bored were helped by taking the time to dig deeper on the passages that confused them. Take the time to read good introductions to each book so you know the context and background. Don't be afraid to use a Bible Dictionary or Commentary to help you figure it out. There are some amazing truths waiting for you if you take the time to uncover the mystery of what is perplexing you! Another thing you can do as you dig deeper is to highlight what stands out to you and then go back over it to meditate on it. You can always go to the Blue Letter Bible or to Bible Gateway to search things you are trying to understand. Then if you have questions that come up about faith you can also read some stuff here to help you find answers.

Switch it Up - If you're already in the habit of studying the Bible you may just need to switch things up a little to give you a fresh perspective on it. Maybe you switch where or when you spend time with God. Or maybe you switch your version for a year. Personally, I'm looking forward to reading through The Message translation next year. This year I'm on the English Standard Version.

Work with Others - Another great insight you all had was to work with others to help you stay motivated and also to help you gain insight that you wouldn't have on your own. Some ideas were to read with others or to be reading at the same pace as others so you had the same things to talk about and encourage each other in (like you might need someone to encourage you to make it through Leviticus or Job). Another idea was to discuss the Bible in a small group of friends to help you keep growing.

Thank you all for your help in discovering ways to GROW in our relationship with God through studying the Bible.

My next question I would like your input on:
Do you find it hard to spend time in silence in the presence of God? Why/Why not?
What have you found has helped you?

Bible Reading

2009-03-10T19:11:00.002-05:00

Sarah and I are both reading our Bibles in chronological order this year. It's not really that hard if you stay on task...We both fell behind when Abby was born and we have been trying to catch up ever since!
I've tried different things over the years, but it has turned out that I have read through the Bible one year and then I have focused on a specific part of it the next year (like the New Testament or the Gospels, etc.). I try to switch versions in order to get a fresh view of what it is saying. Last year I focused on studying through the NT in the New Living Translation. This year I am reading through the whole Bible in the English Standard Version and I am enjoying it the nuances it has over the NIV. I think that next year I might try reading The Message translation.

Here's are my questions:

What is the hardest thing for you about reading and studying the Bible? What do you struffle the most with?
What are some things that you have tried that have helped you in that area or in others areas of Bible study?

Greater Things

2009-03-09T00:29:00.006-05:00

God has blessed me so much! I have a wonderful family, an amazingly awesome wife, and a beautiful miracle of a daughter. God has done exceedingly above all that I could have asked or imagined! I find myself randomly smiling throughout the day when I think of Abby. She really is the meaning of her name, "a father's joy" or another way to look at it "the joy of the Father." Even though I could not have imagined this stage of life a couple of years ago when we were going through losses...God was preparing us for Abby. There is a tremendous joy and appreciation in my heart for the privilege it is to have Abby in our lives because of everything that we went through. God was preparing us for what He had for us. Now I am filled with Joy and it makes me think of the fact that we cannot fully appreciate joy if we do not endure suffering.

The song and the phrase "Greater Things" has been stuck in my mind for the last several weeks. Here's where that's coming from: 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 and John 14:12-14. There are two things that have just stuck with me from those verses:

The first is that, and you can quote me on this one, "God will prepare you for what He has prepared for you."
The second, is that we have NO idea what God has prepared for those who LOVE Him! There's so much more in these two passages, but for now suffice it to say that I truly believe that God has GREATER THINGS for each of us than what we have experienced (in terms of relationship to Him, to others, and His overall plan for us) IF we LOVE Him.

I recognize that this is where we struggle...Loving Him. It's easy to get excited about the things that God has for us to do and His plan for our lives, but those greater things flow from a loving relationship and not from striving...from being and not from doing.

I am persuaded that God will do exceedingly above all that we can ask or imagine when we make it our goal to pursue Him! My desire is to seek His Face and not His Hand...His Presence, not His Power.

I want to share a song with you that has been in my heart since early October when I first heard it:

Rated R

2009-02-19T00:17:00.006-06:00

We just finished our 5 part series at Radiate (our Wednesday night student ministry)

(Thanks to friends from DC Metro for the graphic!)

We established that Relationships are very important to God and He is very interested in a friendship with us and cares deeply about how we relate to those around us (1 John 4:11)...He actually wants us to have GOOD relationships! (go figure!)

1st we talked about MAKING friends and how you need to ACCEPT others (Romans 15:7)...you can do that because "God accepts...it doesn't matter if other people reject you!" So go out there and accept other people, even if they're different then you!

On the 2nd week we talked about MAINTAINING Relationships and how one of the biggest reasons people lose relationships is because of selfishness, so the solution is to be SELFLESS, you can do this by choosing to SERVE others (Philippians 2:3-5)!

The 3rd week we talked about MENDING Relationships. What can you do to mend a relationship that has been hurt? We talked about the common problem is that we never address the issue and instead we end the friendship and tell everyone else about it. A starting place for Mending relationships is to FORGIVE the other person (we can forgive because Christ forgave us!)...and if you are the one that did something wrong, go seek THEIR forgiveness by apologizing sincerely. Once you have Forgiven you are more able to go to the other person and talk out the problem instead of telling everyone else about it (Ephesians 4:25-32).

Spiderman gave us 2 lessons about how bitterness will consume you and how revenge is in our hearts and messes up our lives if we leave it there.

Our 4th week was perfectly timed to coincide with Valentines day :-) and we talked about finding a Matching Relationship. The truth is that God has an awesome plan for your life and he cares deeply about who you end up with (Jeremiah 29:11-13). That is the 2nd most important decision you will make in your life!!! I think He'll make sure you know when it's the right time and right person! The key here is to TRUST that in fact He does have a good plan for you and that His ways are better then yours (Proverbs 3:5-6)! When looking for that "Matchless Match" you want to make sure you stay aligned with God's standards (some of which would be purity and unity in belief, values, and direction).

We got to watch the CLASSIC clip from Fiddler on the Roof, "Matchmaker"
The Skit Guys helped us remember not to lower our standards with their hilarious video called "Need Harmony"

Finally, tonight we talked about Maturing Relationships...By continuing to practice the principles from before with those in our lives (Accepting, Serving, Forgiving, and Trusting God) and then BUILDING OTHERS UP. We took some time along to look at these verses and what they say about Growing Up in our relationships to others (you can click on the link to read the verses for yourself)

James 4:11-12 – Don't speak evil. James 5:9 – Don't grumble against each other. 1 Peter 1:22 – Show sincere love and love each other deeply from the heart. 1 Peter 3:8 – Be of like mind, sympathize with one another. Be humble. Tenderhearted. Love like family. 1 Peter 4:9-10 Be hospitable (food and housing). Use gifts we have to serve others. 1 Peter 5:5 Serve others. Submit to elders. James 5:16 Confess to each other. Pray for each other. 1 Thessalonians 3:12 Love others abundantly. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Encourage and build each other up. Hebrews 10:24 Help motivate others to love and good works. Hebrews 10:25 Meet together and encourage others to come. 1 John 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11-12 Love one another! 2 John 1:5-6 Love one another! Galatians 5:13 Use your freedom to serve others. Galatians 5:26 Don't be conceited, provoking, or jealous. Galatians 6:2 Help others with their life's burdens. Philippians 2:3-4 DON'T be selfish or try to impress others. DO: humbly think of others and their needs. Romans 12:10 Make it a point to honor each other. Romans 12:15 Be sympathetic with what others are going through! Romans 12:16 Don't be proud: accept others, even if they're different! Romans 13:8 Don't be in debt to your friends! Show them love instead! Romans 14:13 Don't condemn others! Watch how you walk so you don't cause them to fall! Romans 14:19 Aim for harmony! Try to build each other up! Romans 15:5 Ask God for help in living in harmony with each other! Romans 15:7 Accept each other as Christ accepts you! Ephesians 4:2-3 Be humble, gentle, patient. Make EVERY effort to remain united through peace! Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another. Colossians 3:9-10 Don't lie! Become like Christ! Colossians 3:12-13 Be merciful, kind, forgiving, patient, gentle, and humble. Colossians 3:15-16 Live in peace. Be thankful. Teach and counsel each other with God's wisdom!

Thank You ALL for a great series and for the ways you help make Wednesday and Sundays possible!

I'm looking forward to learning more with y'all as we take this year to GROW in wisdom, stature and in favor with God and all people (Luke 2:52)!

New Baby = Shifts

2009-02-09T22:43:00.006-06:00

As you may already know, it's hard to get some sleep when there's a newborn in the house. I find myself looking up and realizing the day is already gone! I guess that's how the infant stage is: trying to keep up with all that's going on. Which kind of reminds me that it's that way at anything you start or launch, you spend that first stage filled with joy and adrenaline that carries you through the long days and nights involved in launching a new stage of life, work, or ministry.

In order to remain sane a few natural shifts emerged. So far I've taken every first part of the night, like 9 or 10 until 1:30 or 3...hopefully sooner tonight, I'm exhausted! Then if Abigail woke up Bonnie Jean would watch her for the rest of the night. And during the day Jerry and the rest of us would watch her as needed.

Night Shift

Day Shift

Guy Shift

(Playing Wii Mario Kart AND keeping Abby asleep at the same time! We sure can multi-task!)

It's such a joy to have Abby in our lives!!! We've waited so long for this...even for the late nights! :-) The Lord Hears! Even as God miraculously brought us this child in answer to prayer and in alignment with His desires, I believe that God is about to "birth" other areas of ministry that have been several years in preparation for this time of our lives which will lead to more shifts in the way we live life! The Lord Hears.

First Family Portrait!

2009-02-04T14:43:00.002-06:00

Happy Parents!

"What are YOU lookin' at?!"

AWESOME DAY!

2009-02-03T23:32:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a long several days...longer for Sarah then for me though...but it's been an AWESOME day! Today at 2:53 PM Sarah and I became parents of a beautiful little girl that weighed in at 8 lbs and 13 oz. named Abigail Hope. We've just met her and already she has brought joy and a fulfillment of hope to our lives. Thank you God! Words can't express the gratitude in my heart!

Sarah did amazing during the whole thing (she's my hero!) putting up with 72 hours of regular contractions and no sleep and finally having to go through a C-Section to get the baby out (she was looking up instead of down so she would never have made it out!) and now we have a precious baby girl that God has given to us. The Bible says that He who promised is faithful and He will do what He promises! There's an awesome story behind that, but you'll have to wait to hear it later on here and on Sarah's blog...speaking of which, you can also go there to see some pictures of Abigail Hope Snyder and more: www.samandsarahsnyder.blogspot.com

CompassionArt

2009-01-11T23:49:00.003-06:00

Now we're talking! "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

Thank you Stew Carson for the link to this video.

Sleepless

2009-01-02T00:56:00.002-06:00

Tonight I am staying up as late as I can so that tomorrow I can sleep in as late as possible because at 3 p.m. we are taking a van load of students across the state of MN to Duluth for a 12 hour Blitz with about 300 others students. There will be a rally, bowling, snow tubing, movies, basketball, and an indoor rock climbing wall! Then at 7 a.m. we will turn around and drive back. Fortunately Pastor Dean will be helping us drive back after spending the night in his warm and comfy bed. I sure hope I can make it through Saturday with whatever sleep I get in the passenger seat!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:01:00.008-06:00

Happy New Year!
Tonight we were able to celebrate the conclusion of 2008 with some friends. Tomorrow we will be celebrating the New Year with my Grandparents, Dean, and some out of town friends that are stopping by in the afternoon.

As I look back over 2008 I see some pretty amazing things where God has shown his miraculous provision and faithfulness. Here are some of the things that come to mind right away:

We are expecting a child!
We were able to visit all of our family members this year!
We had awesome experiences with Radiate Student Ministries and have seen lives changed by God and that makes it all worth it.
I was blessed to help speak or lead worship at a variety of events.
I was able to work with many awesome people who have been doing construction on ONE24 and we continue to get closer...It looks nothing like it did at this time last year!
Together with Justin, I was able to share the vision of unified ministry (ONE Alliance Developments) with multiple churches in our community (every time I was either preaching or leading worship the same Sunday at my church too so tag-team preaching worked very well for us!)
Our church sadly saw our Pastor of 9 years move on to help with a church plant...there was joy in seeing them go do what God has called them to do, but sadness in their moving 3 hours away. But God places His people in His Church as HE sees fit and HE knows what He's building.
I was the only pastor at our church for 4 months (and survived juggling school, summer camps, and all of my other church and para-church responsibilities only by the Grace of God!)
Our church successfully navigated a healthy pastoral transition! We are looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2009.
Ate at Qdoba & Chipotle more times than any other year (praise God!) :-)
Shot 2 hole-in-ones playing frisbee golf (2 different courses...real significat and life-changing, I know :-)
Helped shingle a roof with my Dad, Mom, and Sister...that was a VERY crazy week!
Had a wonderful weekend hanging out on the North Shore with my wife.
I lost all of the data from my laptop right after I had organized all of my files just the way I wanted them and was a couple days from backing everything up on DVDs...which caused me to buy an external harddrive to make complete backups easier so I would do them regularly...great choice!
Was diagnosed as having "the lungs of a 70 year old"...I guess that explains the wheezing! That was followed by much prayer and medication. I feel as though I'm breathing easier now then I ever have in my life!
Helped Sarah with decorating ideas for our baby ?????'s room (don't try to figure out the name based on the characters, it was random). Lots of sanding on my part and a lot MORE painting from Sarah.
Tried for the first time in 2008: played cribbage, Trivial Pursuit, and Wii Mario Kart (and loved it). Bought a motorcycle (good times) and an Ebow (still learning to use it). Saw Toby Mac in concert (AMAZING), met the great Tom Netherton of Lawrence Welk fame, and went to an amazing Whintley Phipps concert with my wife and grandparents. I went ice skating, and survived! Finally, I attempted to lead some worship songs while playing the guitar, bass drum, snare drum, and singing (that was fun, but definitely "interesting"...I probably would say that leading from the bass is still harder than that though),

Looking Ahead: I believe that 2009 will be a year of INCREASE! I'm expecting a great year...maybe a year of Multiplication? Or maybe the word is growth or fruitfulness? I don't know...maybe that's just because we're having a baby :-) I'll be working on some resolutions that I feel God might set as challenges for me, my family, and our ministries tomorrow morning. I'll update when I have some of it.

A Day of Surprises

2008-12-31T10:00:00.002-06:00

Tuesday didn't start out very well. I spent 2 1/2 hours shoveling snow between Monday night and Tuesday morning! My back was killing me...not soreness in the muscles, just joint pain. I digress. So Tuesday evening, before going home to clear the driveway for the 5th time in 18 hrs, I got a call informing me that 2 of my neighbors were clearing my driveway with their snowblowers! I was elated & relieved, especially my lower back :-) Thank you my kind neighbors! I should take them some cookies or something for their unsolicited kindness. Add to my appreciative back the fact that I also found out that 6 more of my Regent University credits will be transferred into my degree at Beacon, so I just have 6 credits left to complete it by May! HALLELUJAH!!!

Ice Sk8ing

2008-12-29T22:21:00.001-06:00

Last night we went Ice skating with some of the students Radiate Student Ministries. There were only a handful in town, but we had a blast. It was also my first time ice skating. Fortunately I didn't fall or run into anybody. Probably because it felt a lot like rollerblading. My wife Sarah wrote more about it on her blog.
Afterwards we went over to the Russell's house for some hot chocolate and witnessed the biggest hot chocolate domino spill I've ever seen. One person bumped something that spilled chocolate on the coffee table which led to another person jerking their arm because they were startled and spilling it on another person who knocked over another drink (so on and so forth) until half of the students their had been affected by the spill. Unfortunate...memorable...but unfortunate. Thank God for carpet cleaner and towels...oh, and microfiber furniture!

Communicating for a Change

2008-12-26T08:01:00.004-06:00

There are certain things in life that when I do them I feel as though I come alive...as if God called me to do them. One of those things is preaching or speaking. I love being able to communicate truth that results in transformation! In an effort to grow in that calling, I recently begin reading Andy Stanley's book, Communicating for a Change with my friend Chris. In it Andy proposes a plan for communicating that makes so much sense it's ridiculous. I won't summarize the book here, you'll just have to get it and read it. All I can say is that this Sunday I am going to preach my first message using what I learned in the book to guide my preparation and presentation. This Sunday I'll be talking about Giving More...and no, it's not a message about giving money :-)

What Andy suggests seems very simple, but I would DEFINITELY suggest this book to anyone doing public speaking. I did Ken Davis' Dynamic Communicators Workshop, and that was very helpful, but this gives you a strategy for becoming that better communicator from preparation through presentation.

Sledding

2008-12-25T13:00:00.000-06:00

This Christmas some of our good friends from Valley Christian, Chuck & Laurie Bigwood, gave my nephew a sled. I can't say that it brings back Christmas memories of sledding down hills, but it kind of reminded me of those warm Christmas days at the BEACH body boarding waves...happy thoughts. Well, I just got in from sledding, so I'm gonna go get warm and think of my warm happy memories of WARM Christmases of long ago.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:01:00.002-06:00

I'm still sick so I'm awake waiting for my cough medicine to knock me out. I figured, since I'm still up, I'd be one of the first to officially wish my two or three readers a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I know others may have already said that to you, but they probably wished that to you THE DAY BEFORE! Not me, no, I waited until it really was Christmas so I could be hacking my lungs out while I wished you happiness and merriment! :-)

This Christmas I will be spending some quality time with my family...a little bit of sledding, snow shoveling (what, you don't do that for fun with your family?), hanging out with Mocha, FOOD, The Nutcracker Story...then a good NAP, and finally some games with some friends from Valley Christian and probably more FOOD.

ONE24 Progress & Video!

2008-12-24T23:20:00.008-06:00

Recently ONE24 hosted a funraising concert with Marcoux Corner that was sponsored by our local Bremer Bank. That night was a huge success, we aimed to raise $10,000 because of the concert, but we ended up raising $13,669.23 by the end of the week because of the concert!!! That was a huge help in getting us one step closer to completing this coffee house that will help connect our community relationally and spiritually.

At that concert we showed a video that a friend from Fargo helped us put together! We are very thankful for his expertise!

(click here if video doesn't load)

One24 Promo from Sam Snyder on Vimeo.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

2008-12-24T21:55:00.005-06:00

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even...

...a Bassett Hound wearing a funny sweater???

Last night when we were doing our, very late, last minute Christmas shopping we saw this dog sweater and decided it was time for Mocha to start celebrating the holidays in style. It doesn't seem to faze her and we all think she looks cute in it, so she may be wearing it the whole Christmas season!

"Let's Pack Up & Move to California...

2008-12-15T15:33:00.005-06:00

...she's got lot's of friends out there. We'll never get bored 'cause we can go boarding! We'll let the sunshine take us there!" So go the lyrics to Hawk Nelson's "California" which was going through my head at 6:30 this morning as I shoveled out one side of the driveway that varied from 3 to 4 feet deep (the other driveway was only 2 feet at its deepest)! Oh, and it was -15* and the windhill was almost -40*. All to get Sarah to work on time, only to show up and see that none of the 5 a.m. employees were even there yet! Later on I got some help finishing the other side when Pastor Dean came over with a riding snowblower we had borrowed to clear the other driveway. A driveway and a half in less time then it took me to do half a driveway with a shovel!

(notice the mailbox)

It's at times like these that I wonder why we willfully put ourselves through this weather. I mean, what exactly were the first settlers of this area thinking? The first settlers in Breckenridge settled here in the WINTER! Now that is good planning right there! And they managed to settle on a small ISLAND in between where two rivers meet...that must have been an interesting discovery when the snow melted in the spring! So what exactly WERE they thinking?
..."let's pack up and move to California..." :-)

Kick

2008-10-19T22:51:00.003-05:00

Last night was a pretty significant day for me! For the first time I was able to feel the baby moving. Every time the baby would be moving and I'd go to feel Sarah's stomach the baby would stop moving! So yesterday she finally decided to cooperate. It was pretty cool because it helped to make it more real. I'm looking forward to her growing more in there and being able to see her move more, and then in February finally being able to meet our cute little girl!

Tagged

2008-10-12T22:39:00.006-05:00

I came up with some random facts about Sarah, so I thought it was only fair for her to reciprocate when she tagged me. So here you have some random facts that she came up with about me.

Sam:

Is bilingual.
Doesn't like popcorn.
Doesn't like trimming the (Sam inserted "evil") hedge in our backyard.
Likes to wear a dress shirt/sweater, dress shoes, and JEANS on Sundays.
Reads a lot: to fall asleep, to do schoolwork, to learn, for pleasure...he reads a lot.
Makes me drive on long trips so that he can do his schoolwork and read in the car.
Is very rhythmic...he always has a beat in his head or his feet, hands, fingers, toes, etc.

Green Eggs & Ham

2008-09-26T11:23:00.003-05:00

I DO like Green Eggs & Ham! Sarah & I just ate @ the Vanilla Bean in Two Harbors, MN. I thought the oven baked "Green Eggs and Ham" omelet sounded good, but it was beyond good, it was delicious! It had pesto in it which gave it a very unique flavor. Besides that, it was HUGE! The size of my plate! I could only finish like half of it.

Good Day

2008-09-25T00:11:00.004-05:00

See You At The Pole this morning was great! I got up before 6 a.m. to make hot chocolate for everyone and then picked up the freshly made donuts. I met half of the crew at the W. Middle School and then drove over to the B. Middle School where I met John who was taking care of getting the goodies to the BHS students. Between the 5 campuses there were around 70 students plus some adults that came with their kids...my numbers for the BMS were kind of shaky because there were well over 26 students there (about half of them were from the Elementary school!), so I just basically stopped counting when I realized I would definitely not have enough to go around...miraculously there was enough for everyone to get a cup of hot cocoa and a snack!

ONE, the inter-church High School and Middle School gathering was tonight. It was great to see the students from other churches I had not seen in a long time!

It's great to be part of a team ministry that crosses denominational lines! Jesus' prayer is that "they will know we are Christians by our love!" and that we would "be one" as the Father and He are one. What a privilege to be part of unifying the Body of Christ to more effectively connect this generation to God by working together!
Will I be able to sleep?

Pandora

2008-09-02T23:35:00.002-05:00

Last week Justin M. introduced me to Pandora...my life is forever changed. I have had it playing out of our laptop into the radios around the house whenever I'm at home...it's great. You put in a couple of artists you like and it will make a "radio station" of those and similar artists...how cool is that? I'm hooked.

Concert

2008-08-11T20:50:00.004-05:00

Last night Sarah and I took my grandparents out to a Wintley Phipps concert that was AMAZING! I was able to hear Wintley at Catalyst last year, so when I got the invitation in the mail I knew right away that it would be an awesome concert. The power of God is very evident when he sings. The youtube video doesn't do it justice, but it will give you an idea of what it's like.

The Making of a Leader

2008-08-09T21:02:00.005-05:00

The topic of leadership is very popular today. There are many books that trumpet the latest leadership principles that are sure to make a business succeed, but in “The Making of a Leader” Frank Damazio writes about what we can learn from Biblical history about the formation of a leader. Frank Damazio pastors City Bible Church in Portland, Oregon. He has been teaching and pastoring since 1976. He wrote his book as a textbook for a class on leadership when he was teaching at Portland Bible College and therefore the format of the book is very much like a textbook. Because it was written for a leadership class its intended audience is young and aspiring leaders that need help discovering their God-given callings and identifying the shaping processes that they are or will be going through as God molds them into leaders. Damazio challenges some popular leadership notions with Biblical principles and shows how God desires leaders to be called, formed, and live. He does a very good job of identifying the shaping processes that different leaders in the Bible went through and relating them to the formation of every godly leader. It is a very good book for any leader to read, no matter what stage of development they are in.
If you haven't read it yet and you think you might be going through a shaping time, or if you are planning on being in ministry leadership of some kind: read it. If nothing else you'll walk out with some other incredible nuggets hidden in the pages.

Painful Preparation

2008-08-08T23:52:00.004-05:00

If you've ever been around Pastors you know that they like to make up phrases or sermon points that start with the same letter. Sometimes I wonder how much time they spend thinking about it. This last week I came up with one as I was preparing the message for last Sunday, but it wasn't on purpose (just so you know). I was talking about the Problem of Preparation, Pain, and the Purpose it can have in our lives. Sarah and I have gone through some painful times in the last couple of years, so I felt it fitting to share a little bit of what God has done in us and also just some insight into the process that we all go through.

2 Corinthians 4:7- But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us (Paul), but life is at work in you.

13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Painful Preparation Produces: Purity, Productivity, Passion, Power, and New Perspectives.

I've seen it in my life and I would encourage you no matter where you're at in this process: "...that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!" Don't give up!

New Leadership

2008-07-11T22:26:00.003-05:00

Have you ever noticed how they keep writing books on leadership? If you've read more then 10 good ones you'll know that they have a lot of the same things to say. Here and there you see a creative approach, but in a lot of ways they're using different phraseology or simply have a different emphasis. Have you ever noticed how it seems that the newest leadership books are the ones that finally have it all figured out? Or, how each book seems to offer THE solution?
I'm finding, like the author of Ecclesiastes, that “nothing changes under the sun.” People are still people and God is still God. He set the perfect example of TRUE leadership in His Son and that is the first place we should look when wanting to define what good leadership is. Lately I have been studying His word with an eye for leadership and I keep seeing that people are writing and rewriting the same principles in the new books that get released, but they've been in the Bible for thousands of years!
Another really cool thing is that the Bible doesn't just show us the life of the perfect leader, but also gives us glimpses of good leaders who made mistakes and of bad leaders who were redeemed in the end (as well as bad leaders that just stayed bad) and we can learn about leadership FROM THEM TOO! Isn't it great when we can learn from those that have gone before us? That's one reason I am really liking Frank Damazio's book "The Making of a Leader." In it he examines the lives of Jesus, Joshua, Samuel, Paul, Elisha, David, Timothy, etc. to find out what God has to tell us about leadership from their lives...very interesting...could it really be that there is nothing new under the sun, but that old principles are simply applied to new contexts?

Ice

2008-07-06T23:20:00.002-05:00

Today Sarah and I went with our friends Matt and Zach Bigwood to See Wall-E. The movie was alright, but before going in Sarah decided to buy some snacks. As she's paying for her stuff she decides to ask for some water and found out that apparently Cinema 6 can't give away a cup of water...here's the funny part, their response was: "but I can give you a cup of ice." Seriously, what am I going to do with a cup FULL of ice? Am I going to shake it until it melts and then slurp it in very small increments as I watch the movie? Or am I going to crunch on it in between handfuls of popcorn? Anyway, I decided those were bad ideas and I took the cup of ice and went and filled it with water from the faucet. Not realizing what I had done Sarah thought she would be nice and pour some of her pop into my cup. As soon as she started pouring she started spilling and thought to herself, "wow, he really did fill this cup with ice" and proceeded to take a sip. The whole time I was watching the screen and didn't notice what she was doing. As I reach for my cup she whispers "It's really watery" and I'm thinking "that's cuz it's water!" :-) Then I took a drink of this disgusting tasting 95% water/5% coke combination and realized what had happened and subsequently had to finish my cup of nasty flavored ICE water. :-) All this because they couldn't give away WATER! :-)

For Frequent Flyers

2008-06-27T19:11:00.002-05:00

Thoughts on Leadership and Management

2008-06-27T01:32:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and unlike my wife I got no phone calls asking me if I was ok, so it must be fine with everybody that I focused on my schooling in my free time. Anyway, here are some thoughts on leadership versus management: It is possible to be a leader without being a manager and, unfortunately, it is possible to be a manager without being a leader. The difference between leadership and management lies in what they do.

Leadership is about taking people or organizations places and management is about handling things (literally mana = hand, anyway). Management is necessary for good leadership because it is what makes possible the execution of the things that move the people or organization forward. In other words, leaders create vision and managers apply it. It could be said that leadership is the process of pointing the direction and management is the process of taking care of the details to arrive at the destination. Jesus challenged His followers to be leaders and not simply administrators with the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:21-30). He expected leadership (vision to see the possibilities of what to do with the talent) and management (the ability to carry the vision out successfully) to be combined from those given the Talents in His story, but one of the servants thought that he could be safe by simply managing or maintaining the asset he was given and was called wicked for doing so.
Management many times requires a title, but leadership can be done without titles. Leadership can be exerted whether or not there is a title or a managerial position, like David: Even when he was out in the wilderness escaping from Saul and without any earthly authority or title, people came and followed him (1 Samuel 22:1-2). He didn't get the title of king until long after they began following him. On the other side of that there are people wanting the title, or management position, but are not leading people anywhere. Solomon's son Rehoboam, who was not much of a leader, had a title but was led by his group of friends (1 Kings 12:8-11).

So be encouraged and press on to be the leader that God has called you to be, in whatever area of life you are in! If that means learning to manage better then go for it! If it means being willing to lead without a title or formal recognition for the greater good then go for it!

We're all learning here! Let's not be like the wicked servant or like Rehoboam!

Appearances

2008-06-09T23:21:00.005-05:00

It's been a great trip so far! Today we got to do all sorts of work around the campground and there are places that look totally different because of all the work that was done. There was a section we were working on today that looked like a nice big tree, so we were busy weeding and and removing vines from the fence next to it and not paying much attention to it. Upon closer inspection we realized that what we thought was a tree was really a support pole for the electrical wires that came into the campground that had gotten so filled with vines that it had the appearance of a tree, but in reality it was just a big dead pole with a bunch of flimsy, yet incredibly stubborn and annoying, vines wrapped all around it to make it look like a thriving tree!
Tonight we had an awesome time: 2 and a half hours of worship and teaching and then some more worship! God was really working in our hearts. Pat (our local contact), shared a word out of Isaiah 58 (the whole chapter) about appearances...just reading through it is pretty powerful (go ahead click on the link and read it for yourself...this will be here when you come back...you're still here!?! Go read it, it won't take that long...seriously, why are you still reading this and not clicking on the link? :-) ).
OK, now that you read it, you know that God is speaking to the people of Israel there telling them that there APPEARANCE of rightness was not what He was looking for (funny how fitting that is for us today, huh).

Here are 3 points from his message for us to move into the challenge at the end of the chapter (check out the IF'S at the end and the rewards for them!)

1. We need to move from knowing God with our head to also knowing Him with our heart.
2. We need to move from selfish to supernatural lives.
3. We need to go from the EXAMPLE of the Father to the EXPERIENCE of the Father.

Verses 6-14 really get me...hopefully it makes you think too.

On another note: God has already healed a couple of people physically and there have been some amazing conversations and "coincidences" (keep praying for God to move supernaturally through our team)!

Birthday

2008-06-06T00:54:00.004-05:00

Our new helmets came today (the other ones were too tight...I couldn't close my mouth because the sides were so tight!)

Mine:Sarah's:

Great Birthday so far, thank you to all who called, sent cards, left messages on Facebook. or stopped by to say hi: God has really blessed me with some great friends!!!

Today the Community VBS ended and I tore down our sound system and instruments and put them back up at the church. It was an awesome VBS for the 350+ kids and 150+ volunteers! A lot of very creative people out there doing using all the senses to communicate God's POWER.
Tomorrow I leave for Kansas City with Chris K. and the Montevideo and Fosston churches. I will try to post some thoughts on Russ' message tomorrow before I leave for Kansas City.

Random Jots

2008-06-01T22:44:00.007-05:00

It's been a bit crazy since the last post. So far I put new mirrors on the bike, delayed having to fix the muffler on the bike until the winter by making a little more noise (I won't rev it in the neighborhood...I promise), changed the spark plugs, and have been practicing technique for u-turns, cornering, swerving, and emergency stopping for the test I am planning on taking Tuesday...Oh and a guy gave me an extra riding jacket he had that has protective padding and breathes like a t-shirt!
We had a guys' lock-in on Thursday night that Chris planned and that went very well...I didn't sleep but and hour or so on Friday, so that was weird. Then I watched Lost with the Hardies on that little bit of sleep (that probably added to the confusion of the series)...Now we have to wait 'till January for the story to continue unfolding. Fortunately only 2 more seasons.
Today Russ gave his last message on the letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation. It was very good. I'll post some thoughts on that this week. After that we went to Alyssa's graduation ceremony and then I "practiced" on the bike a while, and then Sarah and I hung out...We played Scrabble and she beat me by 1 point! ONE POINT!!! AGH! Anyway, I got some school work done and now I'm getting ready for bed.
I have over 1300 pages to read for the 2 leadership classes I'm taking this summer (now that I think about it that's without the research for the papers...I think I might be leadershiped out by May next year! :-) ), which brings me to the comic that made me think of writing a post...

(click on the image to view larger)
Isn't this true? :-)

Tomorrow I'll be working at ONE24 getting ready for some windows to be put in, then I'll be setting up a sound system in a gym for our band to play at the Community VBS that night! Good times!

2008-05-29T01:14:00.005-05:00

So the cool thing that happened, that I was twittering about (the thing on the top left of this blog...above my profile) was that I got a motorcycle on Monday! It's a 1979 Suzuki GS750L. It was a sweet deal. I have a couple of things to touch up on it, like the brakes, tune up, replace mirrors, change the oil, speedometer, tighten the chain, muffler (the neighbors will appreciate that), new seat, and a paint job and it will be like new. So I'll start with the first six this weekend...the rest aren't a real hurry. Thanks to Don for selling it and to Tim and Kate for helping me do what was necessary to get it down here.

Fun Blog

2008-05-25T00:29:00.003-05:00

I just had a discussion with Sarah about why I write about what I'm thinking and reading as opposed to fun things. We concluded that hers is the fun blog.
As soon as I stop staying up late reading deep books on pain and suffering these blogs will stop...then I'll post about Human Resource Management and Leadership Principles :-) j/k (the 2 classes I'm taking this summer).

Tomorrow, or today I guess, I'll be having a worship practice at VCA, then tag-team preaching with Justin for a ONE24 vision service at Inspiration Church, then buzzing back to my church to lead worship at the end of our service. Catching lunch with the Doeblers and the Spooners, sans Dave :-( and then heading to a friend's Grad Party and off to Fosston, MN to spend Memorial Day with the Tim and Kate (and Grace and Jude)! I should go get some sleep so I can stay awake for it all!

Pain, Perplexity & Promotion

2008-05-24T23:50:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of pain in our lives. When Sarah and I went on our East Coast trip we heard more then 7 sermons on testing, trials, and suffering. After that I was kind of wondering if God was trying to say something to us. God had really spoken to me from the book of James during our third miscarriage about faith and perseverance in trials. As some of you know that miscarriage happened around the time we faced a bunch of other problems in the ministry that we had never faced...things that hurt in more ways than there's time to write. So During the last month I've decided to see what might be happening here. I got a book from my Bro-In-Law, David G., called Pain, Perplexity and Promotion that examines the book of Job (I thought it fitting given the melee of sermons on the topic). So far I had heard about the Israelite's testing in the wilderness, Jesus' testing in the wilderness and on the cross, and the testing of the church in James and Revelation. After finishing PP&P last night I decided to read one of C.S. Lewis' books I'd been meaning to get around to: A Grief Observed (it chronicles his grief over the loss of his wife to cancer).
Here are some of the interesting things I've learned from both:

A different look at Suffering in the Bible:

The Bible begins with suffering (Job was the first book in the Bible to be written).

The New Testament begins with suffering (James was the first book in the NT to be written)

The Bible ends with suffering and then VICTORY in the book of Revelation.
...this isn't the goosebumps kind of thing we all think of when we read "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you not to harm you." Maybe He prospers us by making us better???

God tests us BECAUSE He loves us (Job had it going on, yet God wanted to take him deeper and there was a deep part of him that needed to change in the process of suffering.)

It said He was pleased with Job...it was God's idea!

Sounds sick unless you think of the example of a good doctor who wants to make you better through surgery...which is what happens when we persevere through testing.

A lot of times you don't realize you're grieving until you've been in it for a while (it took me several months to realize that I was grieving a family and ministry loss)
Grief clouds your understanding when you're in it.
Pain and Suffering are part of God's plan of promotion...We all want to be part of the five-fold ministry, but do we really want to go through the fire?
The test from God and temptation from the enemy are the same event (each of them has a different end in mind...the devil wants to make you BITTER, but God wants to make you BETTER).

Actually the devil wants to kill you, but if he can get you to give up or avoid the test then he's neutralized you and he won.

God does amazing things through suffering in our lives that wouldn't be possible without it...it's like a pressure cooker that speeds up the readiness process.
Until you've suffered, it's really easy to look at outward appearances and judge the cause of others' sufferings (like Jobs friends)
There's a supernatural release that happens when you bless those who judged or accused you in your testing (like Job at the end).
I experienced pain, but I have not experienced persecution...

It's too late for more, but I'd like to read C.S. Lewis' "The Problem of Pain" one of these days...I also read his Screwtape Proposes a Toast. I bought his greatest works in one book...cool way to get them all at a good price. He definitely makes you think.

Good to Great

2008-05-23T00:01:00.003-05:00

One of the best books I read last semester was Good to Great by Jim Collins. They took a team and analyzed what made certain companies great while others remained mediocre with the same opportunities. They found that the type of leadership was key, a humble/servant leader (among other traits). They also found that one of the most important things was that those business got the right people on board and the wrong people off. They also took the time to move people around that might be the right people just doing the wrong job before figuring out where they were taking the company. These companies had disciplined people, with disciplined thought, that carried out disciplined action. In their disciplined thought, they were willing to be real about their strengths and their weaknesses and truly confront what they were best at and what they weren't the best at, what they were passionate about and where their companies financial survival came from. From that place they were able to make discipled decisions to guide the rest of their journey because they focused their energies on the intersection of their passion, ability, and what drove their economic engine. Once they discovered where those things intersected that's where they invested themselves. Great book that provides some "how to's" and questions to help discover what that is in your context.
I really enjoyed the book and I learned a ton. I would definitely recommend it if you're leading a business, ministry, or other organization.

Knowing More

2008-05-20T22:35:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking about how the church approaches Christianity sometimes. It's like we think there's going to be some kind of quiz when we die (and we would probably fail that anyway). The more I think about it I realize that following Jesus isn't about knowing more about Jesus, but about knowing Jesus more. The difference lies in personally knowing and experiencing versus simply learning facts. I love to study about God, but the more time I spend doing what I do I realize that the basics of Christianity don't require years of learning information. I think the basic info you need to get going is pretty straight forward and shouldn't take that long...learning how to apply it take us longer.
How many years will people come to church or youth group and hear about how important it is to know God and then go home and not spend time getting to know God? It's like there's this system where you're graded based on how much you know about God and you could be winning in it without ever spending time with Him! That's MESSED UP! I just think of the story where Jesus told those who had even done miracles in His name: "depart from me I never knew you." Notice He didn't say you never went to enough Sunday schools or went to enough church services. He didn't even say you didn't know enough about me or do enough good things for me! Not only do we need to know Him, we need to be known BY Him! And that takes time in His presence. So you can't really say you're a Christ-Follower if you don't even know which direction He's going...That's HUGE!
Christianity is not about knowing more about God, but about knowing God MORE and being known by HIM MORE...a constant pursuit, like in a loving relationship, to ever be knowing that person more and being known more. I never think to myself: "I know everything there is to know about Sarah, so I don't need to spend time with her." Or, "I spent time with Sarah the other day, so I should be alright if we don't hang out for a couple of days." That's nonsense! When you love someone and you are aware of how much they love you, you want to be with them as much as possible!
How many of us will be shocked to find out that the lives we thought were Christian were merely religious (like the Pharisees) because we missed the WHOLE POINT!?! God bring us to a place to cry out like Paul: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead!" Know him even to the point of suffering and death? I think we get to that place when we're into knowing him more and not simply knowing more about him.

Paintball

2008-05-11T20:46:00.002-05:00

After church today one of the guys from Radiate, Adam, got a group together to go paintballing. It was lots of fun, but I'm definitely going to be feeling it tomorrow. I came home with a really nice shot right on my knee that is blistered and makes my whole knee hurt...but it was tons of fun. There were 7 of us, hopefully next time we can have even more people. I'd say the best game we played was an "every man for himself" paintball version of halo...yeah, you had to walk back to where the gear was to come back in after you got hit.
Spring is like the best time to PaintBall because it's cool and there aren't any mosquitoes :-) That's it for now.

Convention

2008-04-24T15:25:00.002-05:00

The Fellowship of Christian Assemblies Convention is going great. God has really been confirming some stuff in my perspective on life and church that has been changing in the last years. Strangely Ephesians 4 and Revelation 1 have been central to the different messages so far...I've been ruminating on these verses for a long time because I would like to write a book that launches out of a universal and local understanding of the church from those passages...weird.
Joel Holm and Graham Fletcher have had great words about God's plan for each city. God has a word for each CITY...for the church of the CITY! It's an exciting time to be hearing what "God is saying to the church..." like we are reminded to do in Revelation.
God has also been challenging me on other perspectives of life and ministry that I have had or am changing and it has been a very confirming thing about areas that I am seeing need to change in my life and ministry.

I am eager to continue downloading what God is saying to Breck/Wahp AND dare I say...the nations?

Clothes

2008-04-19T21:56:00.003-05:00

You thought I'd write about the cool shirts I got for like $5 each at Kohls? Well, I won't :-)

I'm doing a research project on the book of Ephesians and I just saw something I thought I'd share. Several years ago I had noticed the similarities between Colossians and Ephesians, but thought nothing of it and didn't realize there was a huge scholarly debate about them, I just thought Paul had similar things to say to a different church :-) (which seems to be the conclusion I've reached after reading a ton about the debate!)

I thought it was interesting that we are told in Colossians 3 to "put to death" and to "put off" our "old man" and then later it tells us to "put on" or "clothe" ourselves with the "new man" (also in Ephesians 4:24). I just thought it was interesting that in Romans Paul also uses a similar picture to tells us to "clothe" ourselves with "the Lord Jesus Christ." Each of those times there's an exhortation connected with the "new clothes" being different than the old and that we should "put on" the new and "remove" the old..."stop dressing like trash!" Just a reminder for us all, I guess, to stop living like we're wearing the old clothes (or take them off if we're still wearing them) and put on Christ and in so doing put on our new "man" which was created to be like God (Ephesians 4:24)!

Energy

2008-04-16T23:54:00.003-05:00

I wish I had this much energy!

Magazines

2008-04-03T00:24:00.003-05:00

There are four magazine that I read Reader's Digest, Time, Plugged In, and Fast Company. For some reason I am driven to read them as soon as I can when I get them. I usually won't read every single article, but I'll familiarize myself with the articles I don't read.
Tonight I got back from Radiate and Reader's Digest was sitting on the counter...Well, I finished it, now I can go to bed...last night I read Time :-) I think 4 magazines is all I can keep up with with everything else going on, but it helps me gain from diversified streams of information. I've said it before, I'm not sure who was the first to state this, but "readers are leaders and leaders are readers"...so in working on a degree in leadership and ministry I'm also working on creating the habits necessary to being a lifelong learner...hopefully they stick ;-)

Two Down

2008-04-01T23:46:00.003-05:00

Two classes down and only one to go! Well, at least in terms of having viewed all of the lectures :-) There's still homework to do, but it feels good to have tangible things like lectures finished! I have 10 more lectures in Principles of Management and then I'll be done with all of my lectures and can focus my energies on my research paper, leadership paper, forum discussions, and finals...I think that's it...Wow! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Yeah, so remind me that 9 credits is a lot next time I consider doing this...which might be next January, so you can remind me in December if you want :-)

If I take 6 credits in the summer, 6 in the fall and 9 in January I'll be done by May 2009!!! ...now that I think of it, that's kind of depressing. I started in 2004 and took the 2005 school year off and I'll end up with about 49 credits for a 42 credit degree...well, I've learned a lot...and I've forgotten a lot too :-0 It's like the new information pushes the old out!

Productive

2008-04-01T22:01:00.003-05:00

Tonight was a good night. I've gotten 3 video sessions for my New Testament class watched and I have 2 more I'd like to do before I go to bed to be done with the videos for that class!

I'm learning a lot, but more than that it's making me want to take classes where that professor taught the video series! There are so many nuggets in his teaching. It's great.

In the last several months I've read some books and I may post summaries later, but here they are in case you're curious to go to amazon and look them up for fun:

The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb, and Williams
An Introduction to the New Testament by D.A. Carson and D.J. Moo (which interestingly enough is at least twice as long as the New Testament...Funny that an introduction would be longer than what it introduces)
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications by Robbins and DeCenzo
An Introduction to Theological Research by Cyril Barber and Robert Krauss

I've also done some reading for a research paper on the fascinating book of Ephesians, but I'll spare you the details until the project is finished.

Now back to my classes.

Another thought

2008-03-27T15:24:00.002-05:00

Here's another thought piggy-backing off of the previous that Pastor Russ has mentioned a couple of times:
"How can we say we're willing to die for Jesus (as most Christians do) if we're not even willing to be INCONVENIENCED for Him?"

Random Thought

2008-03-26T10:59:00.003-05:00

I'm back from a frenzied several weeks of homework and all sorts of activity. Sarah kept you all up to date, so that's good.
I just wanted to post something I thought of a while back and you can mull over it, it's simply this: You won't find something worth living for until you find something worth dying for...or maybe it goes both ways...Just a thought.

Cold!

2008-02-20T10:19:00.003-06:00

I've come to the conclusion that cars weren't made for -30* F. My car has been acting funny and it takes forever to warm up and then when it does the windows fog up because the defrost can't keep up :-) It's kind of funny really. Maybe. Anyway, The windchill was down to -60* below last night. Again. IT'S ABOVE FREEZING IN ANCHORAGE ALASKA! And -60* below here, I find that kind of funny. Anyway, that was my blog about how cold it is here: The end.

New Post

2008-02-18T21:04:00.002-06:00

Rachel this is for you: Thank you for reading my blog and commenting 3 times in one day! :-) Unfortunately I have no creative things to say, so here is the only other thing I could come up with :-)

Later, I hope y'all get a chuckle and don't ever do any of the things in the video.
Sam

MisSki Trip

2008-02-06T21:53:00.000-06:00

This year we're combining fun and serving by adding a missions element to our annual ski trip. We will be skiing and snowboarding, but we will also be fulfilling the Great Commission and Great Commandment by serving at Feed My Starving Children in Eagan, MN. We will be filling portions of food for starving children that will be distributed by relief organizations and missionaries! Talk about being relevant, I bet the church feed the community that is starving physically is pretty relevant...sounds like something Jesus would do. It's a lot easier to hear the message of Christ from people that actually care enough to help you survive!

It's interesting that in Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus tells His followers to GO...so what we should be asking God is whether we are the exception and we're called to stay...Just a thought. Another way that can be translated is "as you are going..." which, still puts the responsibility on all of us to live missional lives and not just send money to missionaries...we're all called to live Great Commission lifestyles! How cool is that!?! We get to be part of God's plan for the redemption and restoration of His creation! Now that's a life I want to live...living for the eternal and not the temporary. God help me remember that.

Relevant

2008-02-04T12:03:00.001-06:00

So, if you have to tell people you're relevant do you automatically cease being relevant?
:-) j/k...or am I?
One of my core values is relevance, I think it's very important to be culturally relevant (and relevant in other ways too). It may have something to do with my growing up in another cultural and studying cross-cultural ministry in school. It makes tons of sense to anyone for a missionary to be relevant to the culture they are ministering in, but the same applies to us wherever we are or else our message will not be understood.

Centered

2008-02-04T11:51:00.000-06:00

So I've been getting more centered lately. Centered, as you most likely know, comes from the latin centro which finds its origins in the greek ausum-fone...

:-)
You've gotta love the fact that Sprint finally made it so that you're eligible to receive all of the discounts as a returning customer after 22 months with your old phone...I know I do...And Sarah got my Treo 700p, so now she won't need a pen and paper ever again either!

Disagreements

2008-01-28T21:27:00.001-06:00

Have you ever stopped to think about how disagreements polarize and separate people? Or disagreements in general for that matter. When you take a step back from a discussion and observe it from the outside it's funny to watch: Each person could probably come up with a reason for why they believe what they do, and in theological discussion possibly even provide some "proof texts" that support it. I think it's funny because whenever I'm in a discussion with someone about anything I always think to myself: "they think they're right, and I think I'm right...one of us has to be wrong."

Just my thoughts about differences in opinion and how everyone thinks they're right and have reasons why the other person's view is wrong, but it's not possible for them both to be right...sometimes I think that it's more likely for them both to be wrong! :-) There are core truths that I will stand by and not budge, you can read them in Ephesians 4:1-16...if you look for it you can see some of the elements of the Apostles' Creed.

Now that you've taken the time to leave Sarah's more interesting blog and come over here, I might as well tell you that I finished reading God of the Possible, by Greg Boyd before school started. It was definitely an interesting look at Open Theism (as opposed to Calvinism or Arminianism). After reading it I realized that there were a lot of areas where I had caricatured and pigeon-holed the open view of God without hearing their side from one of their most renowned writers. Once again...they think they're right as do the calvinists and arminians! Chances are we're all wrong, so I'm going to go down in history as an Open Calvinian :-) j/k. It's unfair to say that I want to maintain a "Biblical" theology about this, because each one of those views is attempting to do that too. I DO think that God really is bigger than we can imagine and that as soon as anyone thinks they've got Him completely figured out, they're probably wrong because His ways are HIGHER than ours...He really is beyond our comprehension. C. S. Lewis wondered about the possibility and accuracy with which a creation could describe its creator...as created beings we only know what God has made, we can't even comprehend what existing eternally would mean because everything in our experience has had a beginning and an end...because we're created beings...
I wonder why we feel the need to be "right" about everything all the time...it's like it's built into us...could it be an effect of sin on the world? Is it pride? No answers, this time, just questions. I'm gonna go work on my school work :-)

School

2008-01-18T12:48:00.000-06:00

As some of you know I have this crazy idea that I should get a Master's degree in Practical Ministry, with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership...basically a combination of an Organizational Leadership and a Practical Ministry degree. That way I could pursue further education in either field.
Anyway, I spent all of last night setting up my school schedule for the next 4 months and I actually think I can do it :-) I'm doing a full time Graduate load so that I could get a scholarship for this semester and the summer. I'm taking: Graduate Research, Intro to the New Testament, and Management Principles. This will put me up to 28 graduate credits that I've taken, but to finish this degree at this school (Beacon University) I will need about another 18 credits...I guess I'm about half-way there.
So, I counted how many pages I have to read for these classes: over 1850! Anybody want to come over and read me to sleep at night? Anyway, I'll be doing a lot of reading, hopefully I can get faster too.
So, Sarah was giving me a hard time about not posting, it's been because I've been focused on getting stuff out of the way and lined up so that I can use my free time wisely (like with these studies)...if for some reason you don't hear from me or see me as much as before please understand that it's nothing against you...of course if you're involved with VCA or ONE24 you will be seeing me a lot with those projects still.
Well, I'm heading over to Beacon to introduce myself to my fellow students.
See Ya (is chair in Spanish)

Sunday

2007-12-31T18:36:00.000-06:00

I guess there's a first time for everything. I was at a church in Coacoyul, the first church my parents' planted, last night to speak. The church has grown over the last several years and they have 3 different services, a lot of people pick 2 and go to those that week. Anyway, I was asked to speak at their evening service and it was an honor to be able to speak again at the church where I spent my childhood years. So what was different was that, after giving an explanation of how I had grown up in the church and been mischivieous in kid's classes and how I am evidence that there is hope for rowdy children, the pastor's wife then asked me to come up and play drums for the offering...drums. I'm like, "what song are we playing?" She says, "just start playing anything that we can celebrate our giving to God with." Did I mention I'm on the drums? Anyway, I started playing some good ol' 2/4 drum beats and a few drum rolls and the musicians were just kind of making noise on their instruments. We did that twice because first they had the men come up with their offering and then the women with theirs. Like I said, there's a first time for everything.
I spoke about our call to persevere in following Jesus and how it's necessary to know how to rest, both physically and spiritually, in order to be able to be faithful to the end...So I basically shared some Sabbath principles that will bring renewal and refreshing to our lives if we trust God enough to rest.
Tonight we've got a 4 hour or so church service to bring in the New Year...then at midnight everyone and their cousin will be firing off their weapons and fire crackers...So we pretty much won't plan on going to sleep until well after midnight.
Tomorrow we'll be at the beach all day with the church! That'll be fun.
Later.

Fishing

2007-12-29T13:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went fishing and had a great time. You can read more about it on Sarah's blog, as she beat me to it.
On another note, I was able to finish reading Only Believe by Hannu Hauka. It tells the story of how he and his wife began came to know Jesus Christ and how they went on to lead one of the most powerful Radio and TV ministries into the USSR. That ministry has now grown and is doing many other things, you can read about them here.
I also finished reading The Dream Giver which is an allegory about pursuing the vision that God has given you. It was an interesting story and I walked away with a couple good things from it:
- God gives people visions, but not everyone pursues them.
- When you begin to follow the vision God has given you there will be difficulties and opposition.
- You'll find the vision God has given as you begin to move towards the fulfillment of the vision.

That's about it about vision. Pastor Russ had some great thoughts about the process a vision and visionary go through and I will try to post that sometime.
Well, Sarah and I are going to watch the Cat in the Hat and then later tonight the teenagers from the church down here will be coming over. Later.

Mexico Week 1 - Pictures

2007-12-27T23:10:00.000-06:00

It's been a great week of relaxing and spending time with my family.
I just uploaded some pictures. Check them out here!

On a completely unrelated note: I've been using Linux instead of Windows since Sunday and I'm wondering why it's taken me so long to consider switching...I like it!

Perfect

2007-12-24T09:40:00.000-06:00

Sarah and I have been in Mexico since Thursday afternoon. We were blessed to be able to spend our first 2 days at a hotel (the funny thing is that getting the 2 nights was a better deal than the ticket by itself, I like that kind of deal!). We've been at my parents' house since Saturday night. I spoke in church last night and it was a great 3 our service/Christmas program with an AMAZING potluck afterward.
Everything has been great so far and we will be spending some time at the beach today if we make it there after preparing the food for the Christmas Eve celebration tonight. Tomorrow we will more than likely stay home and play games and on New Year's day we will be at the beach with the whole church. Besides that, I'm not really sure what will be going on in the next week, I may just use the time to get a lot of reading done.
May God Bless you as you spend time with your family and friends in the next few days!

Party!

2007-12-19T15:34:00.000-06:00

Today is the Radiate Christmas Party! I'm really looking forward to it. Then I've gotta run home and pack everything I need for the next 2 weeks into suitcases 'cause we'll be leaving for Minneapolis around 3:30 in the morning! (yay for early mornings...ok so not really, but it'll be worth it when we get there).

Christmas @ VCA

2007-12-17T18:31:00.000-06:00

Last night was our annual Christmas Program. The children of the church did a skit about the night before Christmas that had some hilarious outfits that I unfortunately have no pictures of. There was an instrumental that everyone did very well on (Pat A Pan)...Then we followed with a skit called "Mark and Harold's Angel Swing." It was fun. And it was all wrapped up by a beautiful rendition of the song from the Prince of Egypt, "When You Believe."
On a sadder note the two fundraising concerts we were going to have today had to be postponed because of inclement weather in Chicago for Tom Netherton to travel. We're in the process of rescheduling for February.
Here is the only picture it's letting me load from last night:

Missions Addiction

2007-12-15T22:16:00.000-06:00

I finished reading The Missions Addiction this week...Wow! I would definitely recommend that book if: you've never been on a missions trip, you have been on a missions trip or think you may someday, you feel called to the mission field, you think that you're living in a mission field OR you don't want to have anything to do with missions because it makes you think of tasks or fields because it makes you think of work...if ANY of those describe you then you should take the time to read the book! :-) I've owned it for about 5 years and I kept putting it off because I "grew up on the mission field," what's more my emphasis at Elim was in MISSIONS! Why should I need to read a book about it!?! I was wrong. It will go into my list of AWESOME books about living the Christian life.
So if you just read all that and thought to yourself that it didn't apply to you, I can put it to you another way: it deals with what it does and what it should look like to live as a Christian in the 21st century...both here and around the world. Quite an exciting book as far as content...the chapters felt a little long, but what you were getting was powerful.

Cold!

2007-12-08T18:19:00.000-06:00

Man it's cold! It was colder than -18 this morning when I went to try to lay brick at ONE24...it was too cold for the bricks to stick because it was so cold outside!
As I type this it's -9 and should reach -10 tonight before it starts warming up for this next week...man, I sure am going to miss this cold when I'm in Mexico over Christmas :-)

College Christmas Party

2007-12-08T00:47:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics Suanne took on Tuesday night...you've gotta love ugly Christmas outfits!

Planet Wisdom

2007-12-07T23:38:00.001-06:00

ONE24, or more specifically students from some of the churches that are a part of ONE (Valley Christian, Faith Church, and Inspiration Church), went to Planet Wisdom in Minneapolis last week...here are some pics:

Most of the Crew

My Beautiful Bride & I

Here they are again

Ghostbusters! dada-dada-dada ---- dada dada da da da
(yeah, this is one of the cleaning pics, I'll post more on Facebook)

Pat, Chris, and Dan were awesome!

Deacon Christmas Party

2007-12-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

Every year Russ & Becky throw a Christmas party for the Deacons & their spouses at their house & Sarah & I help out. This year we thought it would be a good time to give them a goofy game so they could have some fun too (it's usually us doing the goofy things). Anyway, in this game they had to roll dice 'till they got a 7 and go put on mittens, a scarf and a hat before tearing through boxes upon boxes to get to a gift. Enjoy the video and pics. I videotaped the whole thing so I wouldn't miss anything...look for Dana's boxing moves :-)

Chuck (Worship Deacon) helping my Grandma (Adult Discipleship Deacon) with her hat

Yup, they're gamblers...come on SEVEN!

Kim (Children's Education Deacon) showing off her Snoopy gift card and sled ornament.

Hypocrisy

2007-12-06T17:10:00.000-06:00

Last night we talked about Hypocrisy. We looked at Matthew 23:1-31 where Jesus lays into the religiosity of the Pharisees with 7 different "woes." I came out of that thinking about how easy it is for us as followers of Jesus to become like the people Jesus opposed the most, the religious, by doing like they did and worrying more about the "outside of the cup" (our appearances) than the inside (our heart). It's so easy to get caught up in the game of acting like something you're not or worrying about your appearance (spiritually, physically, professionally, etc.) and completely overlook the true condition of that area.
I'm not sure if it's connected to this, but something God has been making very real to me lately, the phrase just came to my mind several months ago, is:

If you ignore the Spirit's correction you won't hear His direction.

Let's be real with God and with each other!

Ugly Sweater

2007-12-04T16:19:00.000-06:00

Tonight the college groups are having an Ugly Christmas Sweater party hosted by Josh and Sarah Hardie. I had to go out to the thrift shop to find one, but I'm ready now...I'll try to post a picture of our ugly outfits later...

I Miss Mowing The Lawn

2007-12-03T22:17:00.000-06:00

I never thought I'd think that, but after today I'll take lawn mowing ANY day over shoveling snow. There was like a foot of snow on the driveway and sidewalk. Sarah and I had kind of cleared out one side of the driveway on Saturday night, but then the plow decided it was a good idea to fill 1/5 of the driveway back up with snow...so that ended up packed down. Anyway, I definitely got my exercise for the day...they say there's supposed to be more snow tomorrow...on the plus side this just means that it's snowboarding time!

The End of the World As We Know It...

2007-12-03T11:49:00.000-06:00

Well, not exactly. But I did finish reading a book called "Till Jesus Comes," by Charles Holman. It's about the origins of the Christian apocalyptic expectation. It's about as deep as you would expect a book written by a Professor of the New Testament (he taught at Regent University until he passed away recently). You know it's going to be deep when you realize that it's an expansion of his doctoral thesis! Anyway, although it was written in a fairly complex way, the concepts were pretty straight-forward: The Israelites had an expectation of the coming reign of God that grew out of the reign of David and Solomon and took shape in the following thousand years. The Early Christians writings, including the Gospels were written during this time of expectation of God's Kingdom and they appear to expect an imminent return of Christ and for His Kingdom to come in its fullness during the lifetimes of the authors. The book concludes with different approaches we can take given the delay of the return of Christ...that's about it.
Since I last posted about books I've also finished reading "Jim and Casper go to Church," by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. This was a good book that helps you realize what goes through the mind of a guest as they enter your church...very insightful. I would strongly recommend it if you are working in a church or ministry as we have a tendency of getting sheltered from reality whether we like it or not. I also read "God's Blogs," by Lanny Donoho and interesting look at what God would write if He had a blog.
I think that being a life-long learner is HUGE because the world is constantly changing and we have to be prepared for the challenges of life in this ever changing environment...if you don't believe me, think about how different life with cell phones is now from 10 years ago...or how within the last 5 years social networking sites have changed the way teenagers and young adults live their lives.

We're Back

2007-12-01T22:51:00.000-06:00

We just got back from Planet Wisdom. We left a couple of hours early from the conference because of the weather. The conference was great, as usual. Mark Matlock had a lot of powerful things to say. Skit guys were great. All in all great.
Drive back was long, but we were brought safely home by Eric Seibold and fed deliciously by Carrie Guy & Carrin Seibold.
The end.
Goodnight.

Planet Wisdom

2007-11-30T12:14:00.000-06:00

Sarah & I (and a bunch of ONE leaders from other churches) are leaving for Planet Wisdom right now. We'll be back around 10 p.m. Saturday night, unless of course we get hit by a snowstorm...

Comfort

2007-11-29T07:03:00.000-06:00

I've discovered that sub-zero temperatures feel worse when your barefoot and not wearing a shirt. It's not very comfortable. But it sure did make me appreciate my 66 degree house. :-) Anyway, I've been having a lot of interesting discussions with people about life lately. Here are some thoughts that I'm coming away with about life.
In this life, God is preparing us for eternity. It's not about being babied or pampered, or even about having everything we want, but about eternity. The fact that God allows us to participate in His eternal Kingdom now, is huge, but more than that: what we do with and for His Kingdom NOW will determine what eternity will be like for us. Rick Joyner wrote about this by basically saying that how close we are to God here on earth will be how close we are around His throne...interesting thought.
So, if this life is about preparing us for eternity, how does that effect what we do now? I think that if we live with that perspective it should change every activity of our lives. What really matters in light of eternity? After all, God isn't going to be all excited that we were blessed while on the earth, but His concern will be if we were a blessing. It's not about being blessed, but about being a blessing. This even, or should I say especially (?), applies financially. God gives to us so that we can give to others...we're only administrators of what He has given us...maybe God has given us more so that we can give more (think in terms of the world population...not the United States average income)? Maybe giving really isn't godly giving until it brings us to the point of sacrifice? Maybe we're not giving, or living, to our full potential as blessings to others until it takes us out of our comfort? Maybe getting out of our comforts will allow us to really enjoy the blessings that God has given us? Maybe we don't truly enjoy the blessings until we learn to share them generously with others? (I think of those who haven't heard of Jesus or those who haven't been given the opportunity to know the love and hope of knowing Him...I think of those starving around the world while I eat three servings of thanksgiving meals over one weekend).
Just some thoughts...

Two Trees

2007-11-16T01:27:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading "There Were Two Trees in the Garden" by Rick Joyner. It was a very interesting book. It took me about six months to finish it because I had to be in the right mood to follow. There seemed to be a few main themes, but a lot of mini-sermons along the way.
Something that really cut deep to my heart was where it talked about God's dreams, visions and promises and how we can lean on our own understanding, like Abraham did, and create Ishmaels. How when it is a work of God it flows out of resting in God's presence and not striving to fulfill the promise in our own strength. It was an interesting reminder in looking at Abraham about the "son of the flesh" and the "son of the promise." Pastor Russ has said a lot that, "the line between the righteous works of the flesh and the unrighteous works of the flesh is hardly discernible!" Think about it, how often do we serve God with our own strength and don't rely on Him? It's interesting to think that even the right thing done at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, is the wrong thing...
I want the things I do to be a result of God's promises and not my flesh; His strength and not my strength; and His rest and not my striving!

Perspective - Perception - Paradigm

2007-11-16T01:05:00.000-06:00

This Wednesday I shared about one of the reasons why I think Christians have a hard time connecting with people who are not Christians. I think it has to do with faulty paradigms that we're functioning in. A comment I've gotten a lot is that people aren't interested in God, yet surveys show that the vast majority of people consider themselves "spiritual!" The problem isn't people not being interested in God, but maybe our paradigms for sharing the awesome news of God's Kingdom is wrong.
For clarification here's my oversimplified definitions of these words. Perspective being the view that you have of something/someone. Perception how you are interpreting the facts you see from your perspective. And paradgim, the pattern of rules and responses developed to address the perceptions.
So we looked at the Jew that Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to...you can check it out. Basically: Jesus knew that the Jewish man had Jewish perspective (obviously) and his perception of non-Jews was that he was better. His paradigm for dealing with non-Jews was to avoid them. And yet Jesus shatters that paradigm by saying that the Samaritan did better than the Jews (this guys paradigm of what a neighbor was was very limited and Jesus seriously challenged it) AND by telling him to love the way the Samaritan had...
I think a lot of our ministry and life paradigms may be messed up because deep down inside there is pride that says we are better than others, so our perspective is that of looking down on others. This loftiness in turn affects our perception of them and we interpret the data based on our "higher" viewpoint. We then develop sets of behaviors and habits of life and ministry that become part of us (paradigms)...many times we don't know why we do the stupid things we do...even scarier is that I think a lot of times we don't realize what we're doing!
Anyway, the whole point is: change your perspective in order to change your perception so that you can change your paradigms for life and ministry.
Jesus was numbered with the transgressors and was characterized by compassion...He had a perfect perspective and sinless perception before coming to earth, yet He chose to humble Himself and walk in our sandals! He changed His perspective from being above to being beside...maybe we need to change our perspective from above to beside and that will change our perception of those who don't yet serve Jesus Christ, which will in turn change the way we go about life...God forgive us for our pride.

Sabbath

2007-11-08T17:24:00.000-06:00

Praise God for Sabbaths! We spend a lot of time being tired and I think it's because we work in order to rest instead of resting to be able to work. I think the change in perspective is great. We are called to do stuff in life, even Adam served God before he sinned, work is not punishment (the wrong job may feel like it though). So I'm really learning to value my Sabbaths and I am trying more and more to make them true Sabbaths and not just days where "I don't go to work." Hebrews 3 and 4 talks about the Israelites failing to enter into God's rest because of their UNBELIEF, which is weird to think that, but when you realize that that unbelief is "anti-faith" or "anti-trust" that would explain it more. They never entered God's rest because they never truly practiced a life of Sabbath because they didn't trust Him enough to do what He said He would do...they were supposed to even go as far as giving the land a break on each seventh year and two years in a row on the fiftieth. There does not appear to be any evidence that that took place!
This Sabbath Rest there speaks of the rest that is available for God's people in eternity, but there is also rest available NOW! It's interesting that Revelation lists a punishment of those who reject Christ as never resting and a reward of those who serve Him as being able to rest in eternity. Sabbath is truly a gift from God and is meant to help us Trust Him. When we're in that place of Trust in Him as our source we begin to get the energy we need to do the work that He has called us to.
Tomorrow is my Sabbath and I will rest.
Saturday we will be grinding glue off of the floor at ONE24!!! (I've been waiting to do that for months!) The sprinkler system will be going in and the electrical, we'll also be putting up some walls soon! The work goes on, but amidst all there is to do we must continue to live a life that is at rest and that relies on God's Spirit for strength throughout the week.

Sectional

2007-11-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been a crazy week! Lots of stuff going on. I got to speak on Sunday and that was fun, I love talking about the presence of God, so it was cool to be able to talk about the importance of living a life that releases the power of God's presence.
After 3 and a half years of having futons in the living room we finally got a real couch! It was a really sweet deal we just happened upon, I'll let Sarah tell the rest on her blog:

Awning

2007-10-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

Today we did some more work on the ONE24 building! We took down an awning that was over the front entrance. Good times. I'll try to post some pics & video of the event. We ended up using the truck to pull the supports out of under the awning after using a massive saw to cut through the steel (BOOM)!
I've finished some interesting books lately: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team & Death By Meeting, both by Patrick Lencioni. I enjoyed these two books about teamwork and meetings: I definitely found some things I need to be putting into practice!
I also finished reading The Gospel According to Starbucks by Len Sweet which looks at the Starbucks experience to see what the church can and should learn from what they're doing as he exegetes culture and the Bible. I just started with the first few pages of The Missions Addiction by David Shibley.

Well, Sarah's been out of town since Friday afternoon helping a great-aunt of mine and she will be getting back tomorrow afternoon. Between now and then I will be getting some much needed sleep, then leading worship in the morning and finally going to play some paintball with the guys from the Radiate CORE group I lead.
Until next time: same bat time, same bat channel!