Ephesians 5:1-2

top 10 fears

2011-12-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Found an interesting website that lists the top 10 fears in America today. Here’s the list:

Speaking in public

Snakes

Confined spaces

Heights

Spiders

Tunnels & bridges

Crowds

Public transportation (especially planes)

Storms

Water (as in swimming & drowning, not drinking)

_____________

What I know about fear:

Fear paralyzes.

Fear often keeps you from doing what you are supposed to do and often makes you do things you are not supposed to do.

Some fear is healthy (For example, being afraid to tickle fight a grizzly bear is healthy.)

Let your fears be replaced by confidence in God’s plan for your life.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

How do I invite someone to church?

2011-11-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is a question posed to me by a student yesterday and I wanted to try and tackle it.

It’s a strange dilemma. I work at a church, and so it figures that it shouldn’t be too hard for me to invite people. But if I’m honest, I still feel a bit nervous when inviting people to church. It reminds me of what it felt like when asking someone to the big dance.

“What if they say no?” “What if they think I’m weird?” “What if they laugh at me?”

All those kinds of things run through my mind. And yet, the more I talk to Christians the more I find I’m not alone. Many of us struggle with that nervous tension. It would be easy to talk ourselves out of inviting people to church if it weren’t for this one truth: Everyone spends eternity somewhere. Yes, I’m one of those crazy people who still believes in Heaven and Hell. And yes, I also believe Jesus is the only way to God, because He is God.

All that said, I’ve learned some things over the years about how to invite people to church. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will accept your invitation but following these few suggestions can definitely help.

1. Have a place worthy of your invitation. If you aren’t excited about your church and desperately hoping your friend, neighbor, spouse and/or co-worker will attend this Sunday, why are you still there?

2. Be specific. The following rarely works: “You should come to church with me sometime.” It works about as much as, “We should do lunch sometime.”

You have to be specific. “Will you join me this Sunday for the 11 am service at our church? I can pick you up around 10:15, we’ll get some coffee along the way and then go to lunch afterwards. How’s that sound?”

3. Be an expert about the Family Ministry environments at your church. If you are inviting parents with kids, the single most important issue on their mind is, “Will my kids be safe and will they like it?” Do your homework and let them know you’re already thinking about their kids. Email them information about the kids programs. Tell them stories about how much your kids or your friends’ kids enjoy the church. (If you aren’t sure the kids enjoy your church’s family ministry environments, please see point #1.)

4. Leverage the church’s website. More and more churches are trying to help you invite your friends. Check out their website, Facebook page, etc.

5. Don’t give up. My experience is that I have to be persistent and keep inviting. I can’t tell you how many times friends of mine have said they were coming to church on Sunday only to cancel on Saturday night. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be defeated. Hang in there. Keep inviting them.

This isn’t about church attendance. It’s about eternity. And when eternity’s at stake, we can push through the awkward tension knowing that we’re simply doing what Jesus did – reaching out to those who are far from God.

So, who are you inviting to church this Sunday?

Outsmart the Enemy

2011-10-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here’s something I’ve observed about the cycle of temptation and sin:

When we are tempted to sin, Satan’s primary strategy is to convince us that it’s not a big deal, and that God won’t really care if we do it.

After we’ve given in to the temptation and committed the sin, Satan flips the script. Now his chief aim is to make us believe that what we’ve done is so bad, God no longer wants anything to do with us.
This is why your first inclination after a spiritual failure is to run and hide from God. The last thing you feel like doing after blowing it is approaching God through prayer, or through any other means, for that matter.

But a thorough confidence in the grace of God and the power of the cross can help you turn the tables, and beat the enemy at his own game.

Instead of allowing your sin to drive you away from God, let it drive you to Him in repentance.
Because it’s precisely in those moments of failure that you need God’s presence the most.

After a spiritual defeat, don’t wait for the feelings of guilt and shame to go away before you go to the Lord. Receive the guilt as a gift to remind you how deep your need for God’s mercy really is. After all, you’re no more worthy of His love on your best day than you are on your worst.

Steve-ism number 1

2011-09-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

You may be asking yourself, “What is a Steve-ism?” A Steve-ism is simply a thought on life that my brain has found to contain truth. You may not agree with every Steve-ism. If that is the case then you should develop your own (insert your name here)-ism. Enjoy.

STEVE-ISM #1: PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY WANT TO DO.

Yes, I truly believe that people will always end up doing what they want to do. This hypothesis has only come after lots of self-reflection and observation of human behavior. Since ole’ Adam and Eve messed up way back in Genesis 3, humanity has been infected with the disease known as selfishness. (By the way, Genesis 3 is on page 3 of my pocket Bible. Seriously, couldn’t humanity go a little longer without jacking up God’s plan?)

Let’s look at a simple scenario that might put some meat on the bones of this Steve-ism.

Say one night you want to go out for dinner. You jump in your car after making that decision and head towards town. You are by yourself so you think, “What do I want to eat?” The entire thought process is about you and your desires. You ultimately decide that you want to eat Taco Bell and you go get it. This is a basic example of somebody doing what they want to do.

I can hear the skeptics now, so let’s modify the scenario. One night you and your significant other decide to go out for dinner. You both jump in the car after making that decision and head towards town. After looking at all the options, you declare, “I want Taco Bell. That sounds good.” Your significant other responds, “No, not really. I really want Wendy’s.” You being the perfect significant other decide to selflessly eat at Wendy’s for the evening. Before you think I already proved my own theory wrong, let me explain. You did want to go to Taco Bell. However, you wanted to make that person happy MORE than you wanted to go to Taco Bell. You still did what you ultimately wanted to do the most. That is an example where pleasing people is what you want to do over your own selfish desires.

One more scenario: A teenage guy gets interrupted by his parents during his nightly four hour conversation with the girlfriend. The parents angrily threat grounding him from the phone, Ipod, car, computer, tv, and breathing if he doesn’t immediately hang up the phone and clean his room. He drudgingly gets off the phone and cleans his room. He obviously would rather want to stay on the phone with his girlfriend. His girlfriend would rather he stay on the phone. His parents want him to get off the phone. However, this rebellious punk obviously wasn’t motivated to do what his parents wanted simply because his parents wanted him to do it. His motivation to do what he did was to stay out of trouble. So what he ultimately wanted was to stay out of trouble more than his desire to do what he wanted or more than his desire to please somebody his girlfriend. Still another example of somebody ultimately doing what he wanted to do.

The cool thing is that as we grow in our relationship with God, God begins to change us. His desires and what He wants starts to become our desires and our wants. Through being transformed and renewing our minds (Romans 12:2), we start to slowly value, cherish, and desire what God wants more than what we want. Talk about a life change! That is good stuff.

There you go – Steve-ism #1. People do what they want to do.

Chew on that a while. Tell me what you think. I can handle it.

Are You Listening?

2011-09-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

I was reading Exodus 3 & 4 earlier this week. This is where Moses encounters the burning bush. For the longest time I have been intrigued by this moment. It has gone way beyond an entertaining VBS story in my life. It amazes me. It baffles me.

To be honest, I have struggled with this chunk of God’s Word – not with its reliability but with my personal encounters with God. For the longest time I would read this and get frustrated because I wanted God to communicate to me like that. I even prayed for it – to hear the audible voice of God. I wanted so bad to wake up one morning, stumble out of bed, and find a burning bush on my way to the bathroom where God would audible tell me what to do with my life and give me specific instructions. Have you ever wanted this?

As I have grown and matured more in my faith, I understand more why God did not answer my prayers. Do I believe it is possible? Absolutely, with God all things are possible. However, I believe God was calling me to have more faith and broaden my horizon of how I listened to Him.

I learned during that process that God does communicate to you and me on a consistent basis (probably more than we can ever realize). I have learned to listen better. I have learned that there are many “burning bushes” – instruments of God’s voice – in my life. Here are four ways that I now listen to God’s voice:

Through people – I hear God’s voice through mentors who I trust, through close friends who know me and love me, through the teens I work with, and even through strangers. Some of you reading this right now have probably been used by God to speak a God-given, truth-filled word to me.
Through doors opening & closing – God often communicates to us through Him opening and closing specific doors in my life. I know God has called me to be the youth minister in Fairfield. One of the reasons I know that is because He opened a door for me to do that. God has not called me to be the starting right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers because He has not opened that door in my life.
Through God’s Word- In my season of praying and being frustrated with not hearing God’s voice, I had a light-bulb moment where I finally understood that the book that too often sat on my bookshelf collecting dust had God-breathed words for me. The Bible is one major way God communicates to us today. It is not some old history book, but a divine book that gives light and speaks truth.
Through peace- I hear God’s voice through feeling peace – especially during times when I should not feel peace. It is like He is gently whispering, “thata boy!”

How about you? How do you listen to God’s voice? What are the “burning bushes” in your life right now? I would love to hear how you translate the voice of God in your life because I know I can learn from you. Finally, if you are struggling right now – like I did and like so many others do – with not hearing God’s voice in your life, do not be discouraged. He is there. Maybe the problem is not that God is not talking, but maybe we are not really listening…

The Bible

2011-08-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

The Bible…

Contains 66 different books

Has an Old Testament with 39 books

Has a New Testament with 27 books

There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible

There are 31,173 verses in the Bible

There are 807,361 words in the Bible

Knowing all these interesting facts may make you a baller in Biblical Trivial Pursuit, but are these facts life-changing? Do you look at the Bible as a history book full of interesting facts to memorize or do you look at the Bible as the perfect, infallible Word of God? How do you respond when you collide with the Bible?

Check out these two very different responses to the Bible:

Centuries ago the Prince of Granada was sentenced for life to solitary confinement in one of Madrid’s ancient prisons. Apparently, the authorities feared he might aspire to the throne. During his imprisonment he was given one book to read – the Bible. Over the next 33 years, the Prince apparently read the Bible hundreds of time and read it with painstaking care. But when he did after 33 years of imprisonment, and the authorities began going through his cell after his burial, what they found was striking. All over the walls of his cell, they found that he had etched in the soft stone notations such as these:

The eighth verse of the 97th Psalm is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter “J”; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest; no word or name of more than six syllables can be found in the Bible.

It is incredible that this man spent more than 33 years carefully studying this one book that has been described even by its critics as one of the most amazing pieces of literature ever written, and all he got from his study was a few isolated pieces of Bible trivia. (from The Ministry of Nurture by Duffy Robbins)

Compare the Prince with the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8…

In Acts 8:26-40 an Ethiopian man was traveling home in his chariot reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. The man needing help understanding what he was reading asked Philip to explain God’s Word. Through looking at the book of Isaiah, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Immediately he responded by pulling the chariot over, asked Philip to baptize him right then and there, and gave his life to Jesus. The eunuch’s life was forever changed after encountering the Word of God.

Two stories. Two different encounters with the Bible. Two very different responses.

______________

Which story do you relate more with?
Is the Bible just a history book filled with trivia answers and cool facts to you?

Is the Bible simply decoration on your coffee table or night stand collecting dust while making you look “spiritual”?

Or is the Bible the “sharper than any double-edge sword” Word of God that is your life guide that when you encounter it, it forever changes you?

Love in English vs Greek

2011-08-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

I get frustrated with the word “love.” It is too broad.

On one hand I love a Coffee with peppermint from Starbucks. On the other hand I love my family.

I love the Oregon Ducks. I love my amazing parents who brought me into this world and selflessly took care of me for many years.

I love the tv show the Office, the movie dumb and dumber, Spring, Christmas, traveling, writing, and my iPhone. I also love pouring my heart in worship, receiving fresh words from God through Scripture, having deep intimate friendships, having intellectual discussions, and my savior and rescuer – Jesus Christ.

The English language is very limited when it comes to “love.” We use it for everything. We often use the same descriptive word for how we feel about our sports teams, a juicy steak, our pets, and our families. If we were to be honest, there is no way that the love we have for our familes can be compared to the love we have for a juicy steak – they are not even in the same ballpark.

That’s what I love about the Greek language (even though I have forgotten so much of it since I took Greek for a semester in college). In Biblical Greek, there are three words that translate into the English word “love” and all three have very different meanings.

Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word “erotas” means “(romantic) love”. However, eros does not have to be sexual in nature. Eros can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philia love of friendship. It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself.

Philia (φιλία philía), which means friendship love in Greek, a dispassionate virtuous love. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, philia denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers. This is the only other word for “love” used in the ancient text of the New Testament besides agape, but even then it is used substantially less frequently.

Agapē (ἀγάπη agápē) means a divine, godly love. The verb appears in the New Testament describing, amongst other things, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. In biblical literature, its meaning and usage is illustrated by self-sacrificing, giving love to all – both friend and enemy. It is used in Matthew 22:39, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” and in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,” and in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” This love is selfless, it is willing to sacrifice, it is unconditional, and it is the love that God has for you.

It’s true, sometimes I get frustrated the limits and lack of creativity for the English word “love.” I think it would be incredible to have 3-5 words that fully breakdown and define all the different ways we use the word “love”, much like in Greek. (Anybody want to make up some words and try to make them stick?)

I rest in the fact that I am unconditionally loved (agape) by the Creator of the universe. He loves me enough to think that I am worth saving and worth redeeming. While I am frustrated with the English word “love”, I can’t get enough of God’s never-ending love for me.

He loves you too. Maybe you need reminding of that today.

shhhhhhhhhhhh

2011-08-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” - Acts 17:24 (NIV)

Turns out God doesn’t live at the church after all. By the very logic of His immensity. He refuses to be contained by any temple or structure.

What a shame. I guess we have to say good-bye to the admonition we often give kids who get too rowdy at church – “SHHHhhhhhh! You’re in God’s house.” Do we really believe that, or is it just a clever threat, a last resort after we’ve long since counted to three and still can’t get the kids to settle down?

It does make for a nice image, though. Can you see Him at the door after the service, greeting everyone? “Thanks for coming, appreciate you coming, thanks for being here, glad you made it, hope you enjoyed it. Was everything okay? God bless. Oh yeah, I’m God – so, just…bless! Come back to see Me! Have a nice week!”

Is that God? Watching all the cars drive away, turning the church lights off, settling in for a long and quiet week, maybe playing a little on the organ, only to fling wide the doors again in seven days. “Hey! Glad you’re back. Good to see you. Come on in!”

I don’t think so. God doesn’t have a church fetish. He probably cares less about the carpet color there than we think. Why? Because He’s huge. Creator, Initiator of all things. Way too vast to be stuck in some building all week. Far too interested in our lives to simply watch us drive away from Him. Much more worthy of our time than just one hour of just one day.

25 fearless NFL predictions

2011-08-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

1. Brett Favre will stay retired!
2. Pittsburgh wins the north
3. Pats win the east
4. Texans finally win the south
5. chargers win the west
6. eagles win the east
7. packers win the north
8. saints win the south
9. cardinals win the west
10. afc wild card teams- colts and baltimore
11. nfc wild card teams- atlanta and tampa bay
12. worst record: carolina panthers 2-14
13. best record: Pittsburgh Steelers 13-3
14. defensive rookie of the year- Von Miller
15. Offensive rookie of the year- Blaine Gabbert
16. offensive MVP- Peyton Manning
17. Defensive MVP- Troy Polamalu
18. alex smith will only start 9 games for the 49ers before being pulled for bad play
19. Hines ward lays a crushing hit on ray lewis ending his season in week 9
20. Matt Ryan lead the league in passing
21. the three california teams have a combined 18 wins: 10 by san diego, 3 by SF and 5 by oak
22. 3 coaches will be fired this season
23. Andrew Luck will be the second pick in the NFL draft.
24. I will win my fantasy football league
25. superbowl- Pittsburgh vs Atlanta 31-24

freedom!

2011-08-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

There are certain things in life that don’t mix. Oil & Water, Shaq & Kobe, Good hair day & Rain, Gasoline & Fire, Mac and PC, etc. The list can go on and on.

Another example that most people think do not go together is God & Freedom. In John 8:32 Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But wait a second. God cannot possibly be talking about freedom, can he? Because he is all about rules and regulations, right?

I don’t know about you, but I grew up thinking that God loved rules. I would go to church and hear about the Bible simply to hear a bunch of do’s and don’ts. After a while, I assumed that he got a kick out of saying “no”.

But think about Adam and Eve in Genesis 2. Adam and Eve were the freest people in the history of the planet. Why? Because they lived in a “one-rule” world and were only given one “Do not…” God said they could do whatever they wanted except eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They took care of the garden, named animals, multiply, but just don’t touch that tree.

In God’s ideal world – a world that was just the way he wanted it – he only instituted one rule. Adam & Eve were happy in God’s one-rule world until Satan came along and convinced them that they were not absolutely free. Ultimately, in an attempt to reach for absolute freedom, they chose to disobey and rebel against God’s authority. The idea of their decision was that REBELLION brings FREEDOM. What they soon realized was that they LOST their freedom because of their rebellion.

Something happens to us when we become teenagers and it bleeds into adulthood. Somewhere along life’s journey, we begin to believe that freedom is a world without authority. A world without somebody over us. A world without somebody telling us what to do. That is a lie straight from Satan’s lips that will actually rob you of your freedom.

Have you ever known a rebellious teenager? All of sudden, the boundaries and authority that Mom and Dad set up no longer fly. The teenager starts to believe he/she wants freedom. Their desire for freedom causes them to rebel against Mom and Dad’s authority. Does the choice to rebel result in freedom? No, the exact opposite is true. The rebellion leads towards less freedom, not more freedom. A teenager’s most freedom can be found under his/her parent’s authority.

In the same way, God beautifully sets up boundaries and the way life was intended to be lived not to give us a bunch of do’s and don’ts but to help us experience freedom. When we rebel, it leads towards less freedom, not more freedom. When we submit to his authority, we experience freedom.

Maximum freedom is only found under God’s authority.

Say this with me today...I AM SECOND!

my top ten reasons youth ministry is a priority.

2011-08-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

1. Hormones + Energy Drinks + Jesus = the rapid spread of the gospel!
2. Teenagers can take the gospel further than adults (100+ online and face-to-face friends each!)
3. Youth leaders tends to be underestimated and underfunded, perfect candidates to be used by God.
4. Teens can spread the gospel faster than adults (they have already built relational bridges with the lost!)
5. Text messaging makes teen fingers nimble for finding verses in their Bibles quickly as they evangelize.
6. Jesus did (there is strong Scriptural evidence that most of the disciples were teenagers!)
7. There are 67,342 mini-mission fields in America that we call middle schools and high schools.
8. Youth leaders are unrealistic dreamers who want to make a difference and can if we let them!
9. Teens are not the church of tomorrow but are the potential church transformers of today.
10. God has used teens to win victories (David), save nations (Esther) and can use them to spark revivals!

New series at Rev

2011-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

What’s the big deal with dropping bombs? AKA…swearing, cursing, having a potty mouth, using fowl language, etc.

I mean…they’re just words, right? One day somebody somewhere just made them up. What possible damage could they cause others or myself?

To be honest, this is kind of a tricky subject to tackle because the Bible doesn’t really give us a list of words to say and words to not say. Although the Bible doesn’t say to stay away from a specific list of words, the Bible does say a lot about what comes out of our mouths – our words.

So…what’s the big deal with our words?

1. YOUR WORDS REFLECT YOUR HEART.
Whatever is in your heart (on the inside) will come out in your speech. The question isn’t “Are you full of it?” The question is “What are you full of?” If you are full of bad things like anger, pride, perversion, and disrespect, then your words will be full of those things. If you are full of good things like love, joy, peace, purity, kindness, God’s Word, and holiness, then your words will reflect that.

Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 12:34-37…”For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

2. YOUR WORDS AFFECT YOUR INFLUENCE.
Influence is everything. We all have influence. The questions isn’t if we have influence; the question is what we do with our influence. Everything we say effects our influence either positively or negatively. Every word you say either adds or subtracts your influence. Every Facebook status update, every tweet can affect your influence.

As a Christian, your influence can lead to other people getting saved. Your influence can lead to more people spending eternity in heaven. And every single soul is a big deal. Our goal should be to see as many people saved and having the hope & life that can only come through a relationship with Jesus.

3. YOUR WORDS BRING EITHER LIFE OR DEATH.
The very words you speak have the power to immediately bring life or bring death into whatever situation you are in. Your words can literally change the atmosphere. Proverbs 18:21 says…”The tongue can bring death or life.”

Q: How do we make sure we are bringing life with our words and not death?

A: We T-H-I-N-K before we speak.

Truth of God’s Word – Is what I say going to line up with the Bible?
Helpful – Is what I say going to help someone or a situation?
Inspire – Is what I say going to inspire people?
Needed – Is what I say needed or necessary?
Kind – Is what I say kind?

If the answer to anyone of these questions is “NO”, then you have no business opening your mouth.

Ephesians 4:29-5:2 puts it this way…”Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them…Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

Trust me. Your words are a big deal.

God is a dude, you know?

2011-07-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

“Is worship a priority to you?” a pastor asked a man over breakfast.
“I think it is. I don’t quite understand it to be honest with you. In fact, I’m a little uncomfortable at times. If you are talking about the time in the service where we stand and sing and some people raise their hands and move around a bit, that…um…freaks me out a little,” the man replied in an incredibly insecure, unconfident, and confused way.

The pastor, seeing the man’s confusion over what worship truly is, decided to ask another question to help clarify the first question, “Have you ever been in love?”

Knowing where the pastor was going, the man quickly responded, “Yes, I have been in love…but not with a guy! You’re telling me that I need to fall in love with God. In worship, they sing about intimacy with a guy, and that just freaks me out. God is a dude, you know? I don’t know how to respond to that.”
_______________

I think most of us – especially men – can relate to these feelings. Falling in love with God is a totally foreign concept to us. It scares us. It intimidates us. It may even freak us out.

When you fell in love, did that change your priorities at all? What happens is that our lives and schedules get as busy as possible. Life is happening. At that point of our lives, we are not ready for a relationship. We do not have time for much more. During those times, “IT” happens. That special guy/girl comes along and you fall in love. All of a sudden in a crowded schedule, you find room for that special guy/girl. You find time. You find ways to express your love to that special guy/girl. Has that ever happened to you?

Worship at its simplest form is expressing love towards God.
_______________

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” – Mark 12:30 (NIV)

Jump In

2011-06-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

There are certain things that you just have to jump into.

With those things, there is no preparing for it. No warming up. No practice runs. Simply jump into it.

For example, take alligator wrestling. There is not a whole lot of practicing with that profession. Sure, one could practice on a 70 pound, 5 feet long, alligator-shaped basset hound, but that does not exactly count as a good warmup for an 800 pound, 13 feet long, alligator.

Take this guy…

How do you practice for something like this? You don’t. You simply jump in. (Please notice his gnarled, apparently chewed-up-by-an-alligator left hand.)

Alligator wrestling, base jumping, olympic highdiving, etc…

All these things you have to just jump into.

We can put “FOLLOWING JESUS” on the same list of things you just jump into. There is no halfway in/halfway out with following Jesus. There is no preparing, no warming up, no practice runs, and no figuring it out. You simply jump in.

In Luke 5, Jesus calls a group of men to follow him. In both instances, Scripture says that the men got up, left everything, and follow him. There was no warmup, no practice runs, and no taking care of some details. They left everything – their money, jobs, families, stability, hobbies, possessions, status, etc – to follow Jesus. They jumped right in to following Jesus.

In the same way, Jesus is calling you and I to follow him.

Are you ready and willing to JUMP in?

Its time...

2011-06-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Its time for the dodgers management to go all hiroshima on this team. Time to trade valuable pieces(which arent many). My plan to fix this mess and get maximum value for the tradable pieces...

Trade Andre Ethier- You dont think he has value to a team like detroit, new york, philly, or boston? boston is the most likely landing place, a team that is using a right field of drew, cameron and whoever else they find needs a steady person in right field.

Trade Hiroki Kuroda- one of the most valuable dodgers we have in a trade option. With Bartolo Colon going down the yankees could be in the market for him.

trade or release barajas and navarro- aj ellis and hector jiminez could definantly do much, much better.

trade loney for a living breathing person, whoever they might be able to find.

get rid of thames, gwynn, lilly(hard to do with that 3 year contract), uribe, and everyone in our bullpen.

the team would look like this under my scenario.

c- ellis
1b- blake
2b- carroll
ss- gordon
3b- miles
Lf- sands
CF- kemp
RF- Oeltjen

SP1- kershaw
sp2- bills
sp3- garland
sp4- dela rosa
sp5- ely/someone from AAA

it could work. this would give us a young team with good upside and alot of good farm kids.

Bethany University

2011-06-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

My heart is heavy as I write this because the place I spent 4 years of my life is gone. Bethany University was closed yesterday. Bethany U means a lot of things to a lot of people but for me it was a place where I grew, was stretched, learned life lessons and many other things. Bethany is a place where I met people I'll be freinds with for the rest of my life. I fell in love there, fell out of love, had my greatest struggles, had my greatest victories, but most of all got closer to my creator.

my memories of Bethany:

- monday night worship chapels that lasted till midnight.
- flushing my cell down the toilet then leaving for the weekend.
- video game nights in moon and matts room
- the awkward moment asking mack if I could be his roommate.
- seeing Nate Moon wear some dodgers closes after he lost a bet with me.
- "get legit", "build the kingdom brothers"- all dennis patton
- midnight buffet with panda express
- cheetah chase
- all the times at the beach.
- the thousands of life lessons I learned in class
- Dr. Powell calling us all dirt bags
- Dr. Smiths jokes that werent that funny
- CLC santa cruz
- handing out food to the homeless in santa cruz
- Taco bell 5 nights a week
- midnight safeway runs
- the tons of cups of coffee
- Sue telling me I cant move in yet only to have dennis tell me its ok to move in.
- staying in the cafe well after meals were over talking and laughing
- coffee in the rain with matt
- all the torture we gave to matt johnson
- 5 guys in 1 bed... (its not what you think)
- feb fundies
- all the roommates I had -jesse huro, jones andre, peter osuna, aaron pippen, dan, titus, wyatt, justin parrish, Mack Harrold, stephen dela cruz, farris tyab, chris douglas.
- bribing the RA to pass my room on room checks with monsters.
- the craziness of the baseball team
- the great mentorship I recieved
- getting licensed with the A/G
- getting paid to watch sports while talking sports with nate moon
- NSO
- staying up all night cause you procrastinated and now a paper is due by 8am
- going crazy at the sporting games
- all the laughs of working in the library
- mexican food every night in the cafe
- monday is vegetarian chili, tuesday is meat chili.
- guitar pick plates with no ridges so you spill everything
- cheeps? crunchy? yellow?
- monday night live
- prayer in someone room for hours
- redwood bowl adventures
- santa cruz diner
- farrells donuts
- OC night in the lobby
- halo tournaments
- first class revolution

I know im missing so many more memories but this is a good start...

The local church

2011-06-09T16:01:00.007-07:00

The local church is the hope of the world.

There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.

Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.

~ from Bill Hybels’ Courageous Leadership

the world is ending... no really it is?

2011-05-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Just to keep poking fun at harold camping I thought I would post my top 10 favorite end of the world movies...

10. 2012
9. Left behind
8. Planet of the apes
7. war of the worlds
6. I am legend
5. zombieland
4. wall-e
3. Independence day
2. Armageddon
1. The day after tomorrow

ummm... DUH

2011-05-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

An expression I love is “Captain Obvious”. Captain Obvious is used when somebody says something that is incredibly obvious about a certain situation.

For example, let’s say that I were to have a huge bruise across my entire face. You walk up to me, point at my face, and say, “Man, I bet that hurts!” That is a Captain Obvious statement.

You can find Captain Obvious statements lots of places, including the Bible. I am trying to make a list of Captain Obvious Bible Verses and I need your help finding more. Here is an example of a C.O. verse:

MATTHEW 4:2 – “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Can you help me find more?

_________________

By the way, I say all this with a ton of respect, awe, and reverence for God’s Word. I am not writing this to be disrespectful of Scripture at all. Just having a little fun.

For My Mom

2011-05-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

Mom,

I thought you deserved your own personal post on the blog (If you are reading this and you are not my mom, that’s ok, but the intention is for my mom.) You may have heard these words before, but they are still 100% true.

I just wanted to thank you for being such an incredible mom. Your unconditional love and support means more than you will ever know. There are a few things in this world that I have never been able to doubt and my mom loving me was one of those things I could never doubt.

Before I end this letter, I want to thank you for…

•Changing my diapers when I was a baby.

•Tucking me in at night.

•Leaving the door cracked or the nightlight on when I was scared.

•Buying me Dinosaur and baseball sheets.

•Reading Bible stories to me before bed.

•Letting Dad buy all those baseball cards.

•Letting me get my big brothers in trouble.

•Watching all those soap operas so that I had to go outside, play sports, and be active.

•Making incredible food for every little event.

•Christmas stockings!

•Being sure that we are always together for every holiday.

•Believing in me when it seemed that no one else did.

•Cleaning up my messes.

•Letting me use you as the reason I couldn’t do something when I really didn’t want to anyways but didn’t have the guts to say that. You never minded taking blame in that situation.

•Not letting me have a TV in my room.

•Our Thanksgiving trips to see family

•Always getting me what I needed and most of what I wanted.

•Not making church optional growing up.

•Showing me what it is like to be a hardcore baseball fan.

•Most importantly, thanks for leading and pushing me towards to God. By far the most important thing you have done for me is laying the foundation of faith that has completely transformed my life.

I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Lessons from Noah's arc

2011-04-18T15:51:00.001-07:00

All I need to know I learned from Noah’s Ark, and it is quite amazing.

One, don’t miss the boat.

Two, remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three, plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

Four, stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five, don’t listen to critics, just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six, build your future on high ground.

Seven, for safety’s sake, travel in pairs.

Eight, speed isn’t always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine, when you’re stressed, float awhile.

Ten, remember the ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by
professionals.

Eleven, no matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting

update on life

2011-04-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Dang, I was so good last year about updating this thing. Well the ministry is getting stronger so Im having less and less free time to do things like this. This is just an update on life and whats been going on in my life.

God provided me with a new computer.

I have also been praying for an iPad for a while now and God provided me with one of those too.

Last sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my church. Message title was "Jesus ruined my life." here is the art I used.

At the Student Revolution we just finished a six week series on faith called (WTF) where the faith?

This week we are starting a new series called "Thats What She Said" where we are looking at the women of the bible and how God used them in a mighty way.

We are raising a ton of money for speed the light, the student revolution has raised over 800 dollars in the last month! praise the Lord!

and finally here is the current student revolution mission statement! become part of the Revolution!

the dodgers...

2011-03-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

As the current roster becomes more and more clear its a real distinct possibility that this team is a second place team at best. I think Colorado is the team to beat and SF is a third place team but Ill discuss that tomorrow.

Hitters (14)
C Rod Barajas R/R
C Hector Gimenez S/R
1B James Loney L/L
2B Ivan DeJesus, Jr. R/R
SS Rafael Furcal S/R
3B Juan Uribe R/R
IF Jamey Carroll R/R
IF Aaron Miles S/R
LF/OF Tony Gwynn, Jr L/R
LF/1B Jay Gibbons L/L
LF/PH Marcus Thames R/R
LF/OF Xavier Paul L/L
CF Matt Kemp R/R
RF Andre Ethier L/L

Pitchers (11)
SP Clayton Kershaw L
SP Chad Billingsley R
SP Ted Lilly L
SP Hiroki Kuroda R
CL Jonathan Broxton R
RP Hong-Chih Kuo L
RP Kenley Jansen R
RP Matt Guerrier R
RP Blake Hawksworth R
RP Mike MacDougal R
RP Lance Cormier R (now added)

Disabled List (4)
SP Jon Garland R
RP Vicente Padilla R
C Dioner Navarro S/R
3B Casey Blake R/R

How would this team be a first place team?

1. keep Ivan DeJesus JR as the second baseman unless he hits worse than Mario Mendoza, which would push Uribe to third where his strong arm and lack of movement would be more suited.

2. Pray that X. Paul goes crazy with his defense and bat to keep management from unloading him, I would put money on it that he is better than Thames and Gwynn.

3. The bullpen really needs to be fixed, I mean one lefty? and that guy being dominant when healthy, but do we really expect Kuo to be healthy as the only lefty? Elbert isnt the answer, we need to go out of the organization for this one. Or bring an old friend in Joe Biemel back. say it with me, mullet, mullet...

4. The team needs a real catcher, that carlos santana for casey blake to save money is looking worse and worse by the minute...

Its not all doom and gloom for this team, just think this time last year we were looking at russ and ramon ortiz making this team... now thats a scary thought.

5 ways to jack up your life

2011-03-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

I NEED YOUR HELP:

REVOLUTION is starting a new series “5 HOT WAYS TO JACK UP YOUR LIFE”. In this series, we will be taking an honest look at 5 different issues - worry, bitterness, control, anger, and lust – and how those things can seriously jack up your life.

This Wednesday, we are talking about worry. Jesus speaks some truth in Matthew 6 on worry…

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Despite this awesome Jesus-truth, we still worry…a lot.

Here’s how I need your help:

You can help me with my research for my message on worry. Answer this question…

WHAT DO TEENAGERS WORRY ABOUT?

(Thanks in advance for your help.)

fantasy baseball team.

2011-03-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

meet I deserve 30 Million-

Catcher- Joe Mauer
First Base- Joey Votto
Second Base- Martin Prado
Third Base- Jose Bautista
Shortstop- Stephen drew
Left field- Josh Hamilton
Center field- Vernon Wells
Right Field- Nick Swisher
Utility- Delmon Young
Utility- Ricky Weeks
Bench- Casey McGeHee
Bench- Michael Borne

Starting pitchers-
Felix Hernandez
Clayton Kershaw
Zach Grienke
Cark Pavano
Jered Weaver
Chad Billingsley
Derek Lowe
Ervin Santana
Hiroki Kuroda
Bronson Arroyo
Clay Buchholz

Relief Pitchers-
Joakim Soria
Kevin Gregg

The measure of a man

2011-03-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Am I a real man? That is the comical question I am bringing up for you to ponder. The online urban dictionary defines a real man as “a true man can be best described as rugged and that does not have any fears. A man has a good deal amount of knowledge about tools, cars, the outdoors, knows how to act around women by being a gentleman, but is not always serious and can have fun with them. Men financially provide for others and themselves and are overall responsible. Men are clean, well groomed, and can have a very short beard to portray that image of ruggedness. True men do not think about themselves. They do not always think about sex. They stand up for what they believe, take responsibility for their actions, help others, they are self confident, physically strong and in shape, have a sense of humor, generous, honest, and are considerate. They provide a sense of security. Men are brave and do not need to show off for their friends nor do they sway their opinions because of their friends. Now even if you are biologically a man, this does not mean you fit my definition of all the components of what a real man is.”

It follows that hilarious definition by saying, “A ‘Real Man’ would be like the Brawny paper towel mascot. He has that image of outdoors, strength, confidence, and ruggedness, but what about his character?”

Hilarious. Nothing screams strength, confidence, and ruggedness like a cartoon man plastered all over paper towels. Honestly what man can live up to “cartoon-paper towel-guy”? Well, here are some reasons why my manhood would be in question and then some reasons why my manhood is completely intact:

REASONS FOR ME NOT BEING A “REAL” MAN:

- My lack of tools. If you looked around my house for tools, you would be lucky to find a tiny screwdriver, a pathetic hammer, and well…that’s pretty much it. I do have a power drill, but I think it is still in its original box. Every tool I own was bought for me by my dad when he was fixing something at my house and I obviously didn’t have what they needed.

- I know nothing about cars. I don’t change my own oil. I don’t rotate my own tires. I couldn’t fix anything on my car if it broke. My check engine light is on right now in my car and I have no clue why. I basically know how to put gas in, take it somewhere for oil changes and repairs, and how to use my iPod hook up.

- I don’t do the outdoors well. I’ll be honest, I am kind of a divo (the guy equivalent of a girl who is a diva). I don’t like to camp. I like to shower and be clean. I like to sleep in beds. I don’t like getting bit by bugs.

- I shave my armpits. There is great logic to this though: it keeps me from having an obscene amount of underarm sweat. Think about this, guys in the summer shave their heads to stay cool. The same principle applies to your armpits. You will have less sweat and heat bald rather than an afro down there. No lady wants to feel a swamp whenever you put your arm around them. Underarm hair is gross anyways.

- I enjoy watching chick flicks more than other movies. say what you want but they are great movies. and I cry sometimes at the end.

- I use a loofah. I got hooked on using them a few years ago.

REASONS FOR ME BEING A “REAL” MAN:

- I can grow a good beard. Yes, currently I am growing a mean beard. That’s manly right?

- I know a lot and can figure out most technology. Where I can’t fix cars and house stuff, I do know technology. I can now work on both PCs and Macs. I’ve got lots of toys.

- Good at sports video games. Enough said on this one

- I know a lot about sports. ESPN can be found on my televisions a good percentage of the day. I can tell you too much about most every sport. It’s pathetic really. I also have played a lot of sports in my life too, including making an actual 3 pointer in a basketball game and hitting a homerun.

- I treat women right. I’ve got to really because my dad taught us well.

- I carry a wallet. No murse, man-purse or (for those Seinfeld fans) European Carry-all.

- I have a “man-room” in my house. This room includes a border of framed memorable such as a sandy koufax autographed lineup card, a manny Ramirez autographed photo, old news paper clippings of great moments in sports, and sports teams flags.

- I can belch really loud. I used to embarrass my mom even when nobody was around.

- I use Brawny paper towels.

So what do you think? Real man or not?

(By the way, this was entirely written for entertainment. I am not questioning my manhood. I am have enough self confidence to laugh at myself. Please don’t take this too seriously. It was purely fun. However, all the contents of this post are completely – and sadly – true.)

13 keys for developing your core

2011-03-04T13:14:00.001-08:00

1.Remember that what you do when no one is watching matters.
2.The means matter as much as the ends, if not more.
3.Hang in there. Character is revealed through adversity.
4.Often we grow as much through the little things as we do through the big ones.
5.Truth is critical. Being truthful is too.
6.Don’t rationalize your way around honesty.
7.Don’t blow your own horn.
8.Don’t be falsely modest; you have amazing gifts. Just recognize that others do too.
9.You are important, but not indispensable. The same goes for others. See yourself as a significant part of the process.
10.Be careful what you do with your resources, gifts, time, and talents. You’ve been entrusted with them.
11.Some of the most rewarding times in life are when you have to stand alone, even if you are uncomfortable doing so.
12.Life is hard. Courage is essential.
13.Never give up. Never.

(From “Uncommon” by Tony Dungy)

day 4

2011-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

a picture of a habit you wish you didnt have...

why am I doing this? I have nothing else to blog about.

Skipping Church If You Catch Even a Whiff of a Guest Speaker

2011-02-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a small exert from Stuff Christians Like, a Seinfeld-ish observational Christian comedy book by Jonathan Acuff.

Unless I know there’s going to be some sort of animal show involved – maybe called Noah’s Bark, with a group of traveling dogs that reenact Bible stories – I’m probably going to skip the guest speaker at church.

I know I’m not the only one who does this because the parking lot and the sanctuary are significantly emptier when the senior pastor isn’t there. I think my church is started to catch on though, because they’re getting pretty tricky about telling us when the senior pastor is actually going to be in the building. Using video sermons and live feeds and satellite campuses, they’re shuffling him all over the place like the president during a terrorist threat. You never actually know where he is until you get there.

And sometimes you’ll even get there, see him do the announcements, and then voila, a guest speaker magically materializes on stage. Clearly they’re on to us.

That being said…I’m going to be the guest speaker Sunday, April 10, 2011 at First AG fairfield

Day Two

2011-02-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

a picture of you and the person you have been close with for a while.

30 day pictoral blog

2011-02-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

Day one is a Picture of yourself and 15 facts about me.

1. I hate being 27, I have an OCD thing with even numbers.
2. I went to Bethany U for 4 years and have a degree from Northcentral U.
3. I live in CA but my first love is MN.
4. Steelers, ducks, dodgers, sharks, clippers. (not in that order though)
5. I drink more coffee in a day than most do in a week.
6. I grew up non-denom but decided AG is was best for me in college.
7. I wasnt a fan of apple until I got an iPhone, now I want everything apple.
8. I can type in the upwards of 80 words per minute.
9. I get excited for the little things, like coffee in the morning, tv shows.
10. I have youth pastored for 17 months but been in youth ministry for 9 years.
11. I think angry birds is the best game for a phone.
12. I buy a new dodger hat every year on march 7th.
13. I love awkward situations, they make me happy.
14. Ive never riden a bycicle ever, ever, ever.
15. I want to reach 1 million people for God before my life is done.

xes, a revolution series

2011-02-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

The world is selling us a backwards view of sex (XES). We are constantly bombarded with this backwards view through TV, movies, music, advertising, and the Internet.

During the REVOLUTION February series, XES, you will hear about God’s plan for purity, dating, relationships, sexuality, and God’s view of sex. We will be answering questions like “What’s the Purpose of Sex?” and “Is there a reason to pursue purity or are we just supposed to run from impurity?”

Wednesday nights at 7!

The Sun

2011-02-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system. It has the diameter of about 1,392,000 km, about 109 times that of Earth. About three quarters of the Sun’s mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is mostly helium. Less than 2% consists of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, iron, and others.

The Sun is approximately 149.6 million kilometers from the Earth. At this distance, light travels from the Sun to Earth in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds. The energy of this sunlight supports almost all life on Earth, driving Earth’s climate and weather.

I am amazed by the Sun.

I remember when I was living in Minnesota and a massive snow storm came in leaving 6 inches of snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. To be nice I thought I would try shoveling snow for the first time ever. I checked the weather before going outside and saw that the temperature was a cool 15 degrees, so I bundled up and went out to brave the cold.

As I was shoveling the snow off my driveway, something caught my eye. Despite the 15 degree weather (well below freezing), the Sun was actually melting the snow. As insignificant as that may sound, I was amazed that the Sun was stronger than the surrounding circumstances.

I was reminded of a simple, yet profound truth…

In the same way, Jesus (the Son) is stronger than my surrounding circumstances…even if it seems improbable or impossible. I know it is a bit cheesy and cliche, but truth is truth. And this truth hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday.

If you happen to be reading this and you are going through a difficult season, know that Jesus is stronger than your surrounding circumstances. No matter what you are going through, the Son is stronger.

the difference between a group and a ministry

2011-02-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

The difference between a youth group and a youth ministry is:
• A youth group sings; a youth ministry worships.
• A youth group spends; a youth ministry gives.
• A youth group cares about “us four and no more;” a youth ministry cares about reaching the lost.
• A youth group baby-sits; a youth ministry trains and equips.

superbowl thoughts.

2011-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

- you cannot win a game with 3 turnovers. crazy thing is we had a chance to win.
- Ben looked off the first quarter and a half. found himself late in the second quarter but it was to late.
- Mendenhalls fumble was what turned the game around. If Pittsburgh had scored a TD its 24-21 if a FG its 20-21, that was a 10-14 point swing.
- Green Bay looked like they wanted it more.
- Experience didnt play a role in this game at all.
- I was happy the refs didnt play a big role in this game.
- This game reminded me alot of the Jets-Steelers game from 2 weeks previous.
- Ben is human we cant always expect him to come through all the time.
- for Ben being out the first 4 games of the season and nobody expecting Pittsburgh to even go to the playoffs we had a good season.
- No superbowl means a failed season.
- 8 days till pitchers and catcher report.

here we go!

2011-02-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl
Here we go

Cheer the Steelers, Black and the Gold
Here we go
Town of Pittsburgh's, Heart and Soul
Here we go
With tomlin power, will get the job done
This is the year will get 2 more than anyone one

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl

Here we go
Roethlisberger hes ready to throw
Here we go
To Ward, Antwaan, and wallace
Here we go
Will go to rashard when we need a touchdown
and if you get his way hes goin to knock you around

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl

Here we go
Now the offense is ready to score
Here we go
And theres one thing we know for sure
Here we go
If we dont get it in the endzone
Will get 3 points off of suishams toe

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl

Here we go
We got woodley, hampton, and harrison
Here we go
Polamalu, Ike, and townsend
Here we go
The other team aint going to gain any ground
Becuase the defense is going to bring the steel curtain down

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl

Here we go
Here we go
Here we go
Steelers, Here we go
Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl

HERE WE GO!!

Top 15 Pittsburgh steelers of all time.

2011-02-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

Why 15? because 10 wasnt enough for this franchise.

15. James Harrison- he came out of nowhere to live forever in superbowl greatness, 100 yard interception return in SB43 changed the game, the reason Pitt won.
14. Mike webster- center for all those suberbowl teams
13. John Stalworth- won 4 sb's, great hands
12. Rod Woodson- Shut down corner, nobody threw to him
11. Jack Ham- one of only 9 players to have more than 20 sacks (25) and 20 interceptions (32)
10. Troy Polamalu- biggest game changer in the NFL today
9. Jerome Bettis- The bus, first ballot hall of famer
8. Hines ward- Toughest WR ever, hold all steeler reception records
7. Lynn Swall- best wr of the 70's crew
6. Mel Blundt- Changed how defense is played
5. jack Lambert- 9 straight probowls, major clog of the steel curtain
4. Terry Bradshaw- for someone who cant spell cat he sure is a great QB
3. Franco Harris- retired as the 2nd leading rusher in the NFL
2. Ben Roethlisberger- 2 time superbowl winner, still only 28
1. Mean Joe Greene- The anchor of the greatest defense ever

superbowl thoughts.

2011-02-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

While I wont say Pittsburgh will destroy Green Bay(it would be nice, but not likely), I do think Pittsburgh will win the game. In my opinion the teams are decently evenly matched. Both have great defenses and pretty good offenses.

Heres are my reasons I think Pittsburgh is better.

- quarterback- although rodgers is a great qb, experience in this game is huge, Ben has it aaron doesnt. advantage Pitt

- Running back- Mendenhall is running well right now at the right time, and I honestly couldnt tell you who the GB running back is. advantage Pitt

- Wide recievers- Both crews are great. ward, wallace, sanders, randle el vs driver, jennings, jones, nelson. Push

- Tight ends- this position will be the key to winning, who can get the ball to the TE- its miller, spaeth vs crabtree and lee- slight advantage GB

- offensive line- no brainer advantage GB

- Defensive line- Im saying its a push

- Linebackers- This one is tough, bishop, hawk and matthews are good, but I would take farrior, foote, harrison, timmons, and woodly- advantage Pitt

- defensive backs- polamalu, taylor, clark, gay, mcfadden and allen vs woodson, underwood, lee and shields- advantage Pitt- the only reason I say this is because of number 43.

- Special teams- who are we kidding Pittsburgh's special teams is terrible- no matter how bad green bays is its advantage green bay.

This game is going to come down to who can get the ball to the tight ends and who's defense can make more big plays. I like Pittsburghs experience in this one so Im saying Pittsburgh 30 Green bay 24.

20 billion hours

2011-01-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

Recently I read a sentence that grabbed my heart and I have not been able to shake it.

“IN A GIVEN YEAR IT’S ESTIMATED THAT AMERICAN ADULTS VOLUNTEER ROUGHLY 20 BILLION HOURS OF THEIR TIME.” (from Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels)

20 billion hours! That’s 20,000,000,000 hours!

My only response to this unbelievable sentence is…

Wow, Thank you.

To all the people that so selflessly give their time to churches, hospitals, ministry programs, nonprofit groups, schools, charities, and all other volunteer positions – THANK YOU. The world is better because of what you do. You are appreciated.

Thank you.

connecting with the right mentor

2011-01-24T13:07:00.001-08:00

Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous.” – Proverbs 2:20 NLT

You need to connect with the right mentor. It is extremely important. Why? You NEED a mentor in your life to help get you where you cannot get alone.

A mentor is not a babysitter. A mentor is not a best friend. A mentor is someone worth following.

I encourage you to begin to establish relationships that will help you get to the next level in your relationship with God, in your marriage, in your profession, etc.

I encourage you to look for 5 things in a mentor…

A person who loves and follows God.
A person who makes right choices.
A person who is where you want to be in life.
A person who will push you to be a better person.
A person who will pray for you.
_____________________

DO YOU HAVE A MENTOR?

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A MENTOR?

I love my ducks

2011-01-17T15:17:00.001-08:00

Its been a week since Oregon lost and although it still sucks I still love my ducks! They will be back next season better than ever!

Tear the roof off friends

2011-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Friends are extremely important. In fact, your friends and relationships will determine the direction and quality of your life. Connecting with the right friends and making wise choices in your relationships is crucial.

The Bible speaks a lot about the importance of connecting with the right friends.

Check out Mark 2: 1-5 (NLT)…

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

Let’s focus on the phrase “dug a hole through the roof”. Other translations say “made an opening”, “removed part of the roof”, and “uncovered the roof”.

It’s very easy to pass over this simple phrase. We often think the roof was some ancient, primitive, thatch roof. But that was not the case.

If you study 1st Century architecture, you will find that this specific roof was more than likely a mud clay (a lot like cement) roof with tiles. To lower the paralyzed man through the roof, they literally had to do major construction and demolition to the roof.

Can you imagine this picture? You’re in this packed house – wall to wall people – trying to listen to Jesus. All of a sudden you start to hear some banging on the roof. Then the roof begins to fall in on you. These friends literally tore the tiles off the roof, tore a hole in the roof, and lowered the paralyzed man by a rope into the house.

Imagine the people’s responses. I’d guess anger because they are there to listen to Jesus. They earned their spot. They got there early. He could have been in the middle of a life-changing sermon and they missed part of it because of the whole roof being torn open situation. What about that person who owned the house? That’s not a quick fix. That’s not a minor, cosmetic problem. That’s a huge hole in your roof.

Now look at Jesus’ response. “Seeing their faith…” Did you get that? The Bible does not say “seeing his faith”. No, the Bible says “seeing their faith”. Jesus didn’t rebuke them and say “Don’t you know how much a roof costs?” He didn’t say “Have you ever heard of a door?” No, he saw their faith and their lives were never the same.

Here’s the truth: the paralyzed man would have never gotten to Jesus or been healed without his friends.

DO YOU HAVE FRIENDS IN YOUR LIFE WHO WOULD TEAR OFF A ROOF FOR YOU?

From Week 2 of the REVOLUTION series CONNECT 4 entitled “Connecting with the Right Friends”.

Jesus first?

2011-01-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

The worst thing you can do as a Christian is to try and put Jesus first in your life.
I know it sounds good, and Lord knows, I’ve said it plenty:
Put Jesus first, your family second, your job third…
But it’s a flawed paradigm.

Jesus doesn’t want to be first on your list. He doesn’t need your shout out.
He’s not content to be first in your life.
He insists on being the center of your life.

Putting Jesus first in my life means I kind of segregate Him from my other priorities.
Making Him the center of my life means I integrate Him into every priority.

It’s not Jesus, then my family, then my job…
It’s Jesus: in my family, in my job…

It’s not Jesus, then anything…
It’s Jesus in everything!

Just my thoughts...

Tonight! Connect 4.

2011-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

REVOLUTION is starting a brand new 4-week series tonight called CONNECT 4.

In February 1974, Milton Bradley started selling the now popular board game “Connect Four”. The object of the game was simple: to connect four of one’s own discs of the same color next to each other vertically, horizontally, or diagonally before one’s opponent can do so. If you lined up four pieces in a row, you win.

In the series CONNECT 4 we will be discussing that if you want to win at the game of life, you need to be connected four specific ways: (1) connected to God, (2) connected with the right friends, (3) connected with the right mentors, and (4) connected to someone you have yet to meet.

CONNECT 4 is going to be an amazing series that will be filled with relevant/Biblical teaching, big surprises, a whole lot of fun, and much more.

_______________________

REVOLUTION

More Impressive... Ripkin or Favre

2011-01-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well…it’s official…again.

After 20 seasons, 41-year old Brett Favre is retiring from professional football. Assuming this is the end (he has retired two other times, only to come back the next season), Favre departs as the National Football League career leader in victories (186), yards passing (71,838), touchdown passes (508), attempts (10,169), completions (6,300) and interceptions (336).

While those records are undoubtedly impressive, I am most impressed with Favre’s NFL-best streak of 297 straight starts. From September 1992 to December 2010, he never missed a start. He showed up to play quarterback every week for 18+ years.

That got me to thinking…

Who has the more impressive streak? Brett Favre or Cal Ripken Jr?

Cal Ripken Jr has the Major League Baseball record for most consecutive games played. From from May 30, 1982 to September 20, 1998, Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games. Everyday for 17+ seasons, he played shortstop or third base for the Baltimore Orioles.

Both streaks are extremely impressive. Both took guts. Both required a ton of toughness. Both took consistently showing up.

If I had to choose, I would go have to go with Cal Ripken Jr’s streak.

I understand how violent NFL football can be. Anybody who ever turns on their TV on a Sunday can see that. I know how Favre played through multiple injuries and personal tragedies. In no way am I disrespecting or downplaying his amazing streak.

Personally, it all comes down to the incredible daily grind of baseball. MLB teams play a 162 game schedule. NFL teams play a 16 game schedule. MLB teams also play much more often. For example, in april-may 2011 the Los Angeles Dodgers are scheduled to play 57 games in 61 days with only 4 off days. NFL teams play once a week often having 7 days between games. There have been many times where Brett Favre has missed a full week of practice due to injury only to play in that week’s game. Cal Ripken Jr never had that luxury.

That’s me.

What about you? What do you think?

What is the more impressive streak – Brett Favre’s 297 straight NFL starts or Cal Ripken Jr’s 2,632 MLB consecutive games played?

top 10 blogs of 2010

2010-12-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

10. Jesus ruined my life
9. preaching breakrfast
8. that gym guy
7. how are you?
6. the B-I-B-L-E
5. Do something people: sacrifice
4. we are Revolution
3. confessions of an OCD pastor part 2
2. difference between joy and happiness

finally my favorite Blog of 2010.

1. Lessons from my first year in ministry

Calling and Giftedness

2010-12-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

Now I understand God calls us all to certain things. God calls us all to have a relationship with Him. God calls us all to love Him and other people. However, I believe there are times where God calls us individually to something specific.

There was a reason Jesus chose 12 men to be His disciples during His ministry. Was He calling everybody to love Him and love other people? Yes, but Jesus only called 12 specific men to have the job of His disciples.

There have been a couple of times in my life where I knew God was calling me to something specific. I knew way back in high school that God was calling me into ministry. Also, about 15 months ago I knew that God was calling me specifically to be the youth minister at fairfield first Assembly. For you, God’s calling might be why you have chosen to work as a teacher, a doctor, or a stay-at-home mom.

I have come to believe that there is a direct relationship between God’s calling and giftedness. That essentially boils down to the fact that when God calls you to something specific, God will equip you with the gifts to do that. Why? Because His name is on the line. If you tell everybody “God called me to be a ________” and you bomb miserably at ________, God is the one who looks like He doesn’t know what He’s doing. Whether it is through gifts that you naturally have or through gifts that God supernaturally equips you with, God will gift you to do what He has called you to do.

The biggest problem that can come in the way of this process is you and I. The biggest way you and I can get in the way and mess this process up manifests itself through our selfishness. Often times I have to question myself on my motives. Remember to always put everything through the Strainer.

I have seen way too many examples of people getting into something because of their own desire and calling it God’s calling. Let’s take ministry for example: someone declares to the world that God has called them into youth ministry. Diving a little deeper you see somebody who experienced love and acceptance for the first time as a member of their youth group. You see someone who was loved and rescued by his/her youth minister. Now that person selfishly desires to continue those feelings of love and acceptance and also wants to be the hero youth minister to other lost, lonely kids. That person is not good with people, has a hard time connecting with people, gets terribly nervous in front of people, and likes to go to bed at 9:30pm. I’m sorry but that is not God’s calling, that is a selfish desire.

It is the same way why God is not calling me to be a professional hockey player. I don’t know the rules. I could not put the equipment on the right way. I don’t know how to properly handle the puck. I can’t even ice skate! God’s calling and giftedness goes hand-in-hand.

Let me encourage you today to listen to God’s specific calling for your life. He has a plan for you. He has hard-wired you and gifted you to do something great for the Kingdom.

Bad Judgement

2010-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today I was on the road when another car passed me. As the car passed beside me the gentleman driving the vehicle turned his head my direction as to communicate driving superiority. As we made eye contact, I noticed that the gentleman had some tattoos scattered across his face. During that moment I had a realization:

IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO ON YOUR FACE, YOU HAVE BAD JUDGEMENT.

Can you think of any other human features or actions that automatically brings “that person has bad judgment” thoughts to your mind?

For example, possibly a mullet, drinking/smoking while pregnant, or people who continually put themeselves in bad situations.

2010 year in review

2010-12-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

- Officially moved to fairfield!
- turned 26
- had an amazing birthday with my church family and friends
- set out to write 126 blogs this year(this is 123)
- saw great growth in the ministry
- broke a bone in my left leg
- had surgery on left leg
- finally got to wear a youth pastor badge at a district event
- got cable
- started working out and lost 72 lbs
- grew a grizzly beard
- got to go up on stage during youth convention(Ive always wanted to do that)
- finished Pathway and started getting paid to do ministry
- finally watched the Oregon Ducks complete a perfect season

Cant wait till 2011!!!!

Most Useless Things in My House

2010-12-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought of all the useless things that you have in your house? While eating my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and looking around my house this morning, I realized that I have some useless things that I have in my house. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, here are some examples of the most useless things in my house…

A VCR. I have One. Do I use it? No. Is it actually hooked up to a TV? No. Since getting a TV in jauary, I finally unhooked the VCR in the house. For the longest time, the VCR was only used for a clock in the living room. I did not even have it hooked up to the TV.

MY PLAYSTATION 2. In the last 6 months I maybe have used it 5 times, its outdated and is a great dust collector. Truth is I just want to buy games for it.

THE KITCHEN TABLE. Unless it is a special occasion, my kitchen table does not get used. I like using TV trays in the living room or at the stools at the kitchen counter. Im sure when I have a family this will change. Until then, TV trays work just fine.

THE FOLLOWING DVDs: THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?, CLASH OF THE TITANS, & THE DAVINCI CODE.

MY ALARM CLOCKS WHEN THEY ARE SET BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP. Can you say snooze?

________________

What about you? What are some of the most useless things in your house?

Give Me Your Eyes

2010-12-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

This is an incredible song, I heard it last week and its totally what I was feeling. I feel sometimes I become to involved with ministry to see others as Jesus would. I think its human nature to do this, but this song has become my new prayers, hope you enjoy!

best service opener ever...

2010-12-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here is the video of the service opener for North Point Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia from December 19, 2010 called “Santa Went Down to Georgia.”

One of the coolest, most creative openers that I have ever seen.

Enjoy…

Top 10 TV show theme songs of all time.

2010-12-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

10. M.A.S.H.
9. Saved By The Bell
8. Friends
7. Monday Night Football
6. Chuck
5. Fresh Prince of Bell Air
4. House
3. The OC
2. The Office
1. The Wonder Years

More on why I chose these 10 coming soon.

5K for Speed The Light

2010-12-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

I love running, love, love, love it. So I thought to myself why not run for a good cause? April 9th 2011, I am running a 5K in fairfield, now the payment of the race goes to a teen center I thought it would be cool to get sponsors for this event. By sponsoring me all procedes would go towards Speed The Light. So I ask you to please be in prayer for me and if you would like to contribute to speed the light, that would be awesome and just email me or let me know.

I have 3 months to raise as much money as we can! please support me in this with prayer first but secondly if you can financially.

Also if you would like to run this with me I encourage you to. A 5K is only 3.1 miles! Think about how much help a missionary would get for our 3.1 miles.

Messy Spirituality

2010-12-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Walking by a pet shop on his way back to school, a young boy stopped and stared through the window. Inside were four black puppies playing together. After school he ran home and pleaded with his mother to let him have one of the puppies. “I’ll take care of it, Mom, I will. If you can just give me an advance on my allowance, I’ll have enough money to buy one with my own money. Please, Mom, please.”

The mother, knowing full well the complications having a new puppy would bring to a busy household, could not resist her son. “Okay, you can get the puppy, but I will expect you to take care of it.”

“Yes, Mom, I will.” Filled with excitement, the little boy ran to the pet shop to buy his new puppy.

After determining that the boy had enough money, the pet shop owner brought him to the window to choose his puppy. After a few minutes, the young boy said, “Um…I’ll take the one in the corner.”

“Oh no,” said the shop owner, “not that one; he’s crippled. Notice how he just sits there; something is wrong with one of his legs, so he can’t run and play like the rest of the puppies. Choose another one.”

Without saying a word, the boy reached down, lifted his pant leg to expose a chrome leg brace to the owner.

“No,” he said firmly, “I think I’ll take the puppy in the corner.”

It turned out that what disqualified the puppy from being chosen by others is what most qualified him to be chosen by the little boy.

It’s amazing how few of us believe in the unqualified grace of God. Oh, yes, God loves us, as long as we’re clean and whole and fixed. But it turns out that what disqualifies you and me from “spirituality” – the mess of our lives and our crippledness – is what most qualifies us to be chosen by Jesus.

~ from Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli

Difference between Joy and Happiness

2010-12-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

This year I have been studying and thinking through the Old Testament book of Job. Last night I had an amazing discussion about the difference between joy and happiness.

Frequently these two words are used as one and the same. While they do share some characteristics, they are actually different. Happiness is an emotion usually directly related to circumstances that are currently happening. So when the circumstances are good and going our way, we feel happy. On the other hand, when things break, get old, disappoint, when we do not get what we want, or when things do not go our way, we feel sad and are not happy.

One exercise I went through to help me get this concept was to write down specific things that make me happy. Here was my list in no particular order:

Seeing things set to record on my TIVO. Not things recorded, but things scheduled to record.
Watching Troy Polamalu play football.
Pushing through a hard rep (known as a wall) while working out.
Listening to 90s music.
Getting comments on my blog.
Drinking a perfectly temperatured peppermint brewed coffee.
Having a secret $100 in my wallet (very rarely happens).
Putting on jogging pants & a soft tshirt, then taking a nap on a cold, rainy day.
Hearing The Office theme song.
Seeing the kids of revolution experience God.
Serving food to the homeless every month.
Eating amazing Sushi

If I had more time to think, I could have filled up pages of specific things that bring me happiness. You could too. Think about all the things in this world that makes you happy. It could be small things or big things. Anything from a good cheeseburger to when a baby wraps their tiny hang around your finger. All these are temporary and bring temporary emotional happiness.

Joy is something entirely different from happiness. Joy, in the Biblical context, is not an emotion. Joy is attitude of the heart. It is not necessarily based on something positive happening. Joy is something that lasts; happiness is something that is temporary. When happiness fades away, joy remains. Joy is something that is bigger than you and I and our current circumstances. Joy brings us peace in the middle of a storm. Joy is something that God deposits into us through the Holy Spirit. The enemy tries everything in his power to steal your joy because it is that important. On the other hand, the enemy will tempt you with things that will temporarily give you happiness but at the same time drift you away from God.

There is a big difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is an emotion and temporary; joy is an attitude of the heart. Hold on tight to your joy.

BIBLE VERSES THAT TALK ABOUT JOY YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

Habakkuk 3:17-18, James 1:2, Philippians 4:4, 1 Thessalonians 5:16, John 16:19-24, Galatians 5:22, Hebrews 12:2, and much more (joy is mentioned 242 times in the Bible).

Disturb us, Lord

2010-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

Disturb us, lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

- Sir Francis Drake

Top 10 Fictional Characters of all time.

2010-12-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

There have been so many incredible fictional characters in pop culture. Here is a list that I made up for the top 10 fictional characters of all-time in movies and television. It was really tough trimming down this list.

JUST MISSED THE CUT ~ Kosmo Kramer (Seinfeld), Creed Bratton (The Office), Kevin Arnold (The Wonder Years), Michael Scofield (Prison Break), Ricky Bobby (Talladega Nights).

TEN ~ Rocky Balboa, Rocky movies. The most motivating character of all time. The true underdog, rag-to-riches story where a no name boxer comes out of nowhere to be the heavy weight champion of the world. The Italian Stallion is known for training hard, being able to take multiple punches to the face without going down, and never quitting. He is a sensitive guy who is also a romantic. He loves his friends and family deeply and wears his heart on his sleeve. Hey, any fictitious character that has a real statue in a major US city has to be one of the top characters of all-time. Favorite Rocky quote, “Was ya ever punched in the face 500 times a night? It stings after a while, ya know

NINE ~ Jack Bauer, 24. This guy is a machine. He’s tough. He’s patriotic. He’s hard. He kills a lot of terrorists. He keeps his word. He operates well on no sleep. Two favorite Jack Bauer quotes, “I’m gonna need a hacksaw.” (After he out of the blue killed some guy and is going to cut his head off and put in a duffel bag.) And, “The only reason you’re still conscious is cause I don’t want to have to carry you.”

EIGHT ~ Ron Burgundy, Anchorman. One of the most quotable movie characters in history. The lead anchor and rock of the Channel 4 Action News team of San Diego possesses a voluptuous vocabulary and a magnificent mustache. Burgundy has a way with the ladies that is unlike any other. He oozes confidence. He has a great fondness for a good glass of scotch, poetry, his dog Baxter, and he also plays a mean jazz flute. Favorite Rob Burgundy quote, “I’m gonna punch you in the ovary, that’s what I’m gonna do. A straight shot. Right to the babymaker.”

SEVEN ~ George Costanza, Seinfeld. What an amazing character! He often referred to himself as a “short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man.” However, it makes sense that when he got fired, the Yankees shortly rattled off a run of world championships. Known for being a great liar, a slacker, a fake architect, a fake marine biologist, and being the butt of a lot of jokes. His relationship with his parents is hilarious

SIX ~ Dr. Evil, Austin Powers movies. Dr. Evil is the chief villain and the nemesis of Austin Powers. His character is supposedly a parody of different James Bond evil villains. He had the typical childhood being raised by Belgians. When he was insolent he was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. Turns out that he is the long-lost twin brother of Austin. He has a real son and a clone that is 1/8 his size. He is a good rapper. Dr. Evil is what makes those movies good.

FIVE ~ John McClane, Die Hard movies. This movie character has been around since 1988 when the first Die Hard hit theaters and was seen in theaters as recently as 2007 in Live Free or Die Hard. Total we have gotten to know John McClane through four different movies. The best way to describe him is a Jack Bauer-type with more humanity. He is tough, machine-like, and hard like Bauer. However, he also has a much lighter side that is very funny. My favorite thing about this character is his frequent audible inner monologues where he talks to himself in stressful situations.

FOUR ~ Optimus Prime, Transformers. I am talking about the cartoon that I loved so much as a kid, not the movie that came out recently. This character is incredible. He is the commander of the Autobots. One minute he is a semi-truck cruising down the road; the next minute he is a gun-firing, fighting machine. We can all learn about some leadership tips from Optimus Prime. He has changed my entire thought process about semi-trucks.

THREE ~ Dr. Gregory House, House. This tv doctor is unlike any other tv doctor on medical dramas. This medical genius thrives on solving medical puzzles. He leads his team of diagnosticians in really wierd cases that most doctors would give up on. He treats people like dirt. He makes fun of people. He is brilliant. One of his life mottos is that everybody lies. He seems to not have any filter on his speech. He is the guy that always seems to say what we all sometimes think but would never say. He has a sweet cane and has his own style. He rocks some awesome facial stubble at all times. Very complex, interesting character.

TWO ~ Dwight K. Schrute, The Office. One of the most quotable television characters in history. Multiple websites are dedicated to Dwight quotes. He’s intense. He has his own bobblehead. He has his own functioning beet farm. He operates his own agri-tourism place (similar to a bed and breakfast). He has his own crossbow range. He is a volunteer law enforcer. He can raise and lower his own cholesterol with his mind. He wants to be frozen when he dies, so he can come back stronger. He is a karate purple belt. What is there not to love? Favorite Dwight quote, “Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind – also, weak arms.”

ONE~ Sheldon Lee Cooper, The Big Bang Theory. My favorite Charater of all time, hes smart, wears super hero shirts, reads comic books, hard worker, forward thinker, obsesive compulsive, thinks hes the next stage in evolution. Hes not crazy, his mother had him checked. BAZINGA.

There you go. That’s my list. Who did I miss? Who’s on your list?

Lets Talk About Love...

2010-12-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

I get frustrated with the word “love.” It is too broad.

On one hand I love a caramel white mochas from Starbucks. On the other hand I love my family.

I love the Oregon Ducks. I love my amazing parents who brought me into this world and selflessly took care of me for many years.

I love the tv show the big band theory, the movie dumb and dumber, Spring, Christmas, traveling, writing, and my iPhone. I also love pouring my heart in worship, receiving fresh words from God through Scripture, having deep intimate friendships, having intellectual discussions, and my savior and rescuer – Jesus Christ.

The English language is very limited when it comes to “love.” We use it for everything. We often use the same descriptive word for how we feel about our sports teams, a juicy steak, our pets, and our families. If we were to be honest, there is no way that the love we have for our familes can be compared to the love we have for a juicy steak – they are not even in the same ballpark.

That’s what I love about the Greek language (even though I have forgotten so much of it since I took Greek for a semester in college). In Biblical Greek, there are three words that translate into the English word “love” and all three have very different meanings.

Eros (ἔρως érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word “erotas” means “(romantic) love”. However, eros does not have to be sexual in nature. Eros can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philia love of friendship. It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself.

Philia (φιλία philía), which means friendship love in Greek, a dispassionate virtuous love. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, philia denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers. This is the only other word for “love” used in the ancient text of the New Testament besides agape, but even then it is used substantially less frequently.

Agapē (ἀγάπη agápē) means a divine, godly love. The verb appears in the New Testament describing, amongst other things, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. In biblical literature, its meaning and usage is illustrated by self-sacrificing, giving love to all – both friend and enemy. It is used in Matthew 22:39, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” and in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,” and in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” This love is selfless, it is willing to sacrifice, it is unconditional, and it is the love that God has for you.

It’s true, sometimes I get frustrated the limits and lack of creativity for the English word “love.” I think it would be incredible to have 3-5 words that fully breakdown and define all the different ways we use the word “love”, much like in Greek. (Anybody want to make up some words and try to make them stick?)

I rest in the fact that I am unconditionally loved (agape) by the Creator of the universe. He loves me enough to think that I am worth saving and worth redeeming. While I am frustrated with the English word “love”, I can’t get enough of God’s never-ending love for me.

He loves you too. Maybe you need reminding of that today.

Help-Portrait 2010

2010-11-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

something I came across yesterday... remember in life we are second. He is first.

Confessions of an OCD Pastor part 2

2010-11-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I shared one of my OCD moments. In the interest of fun or ridicule i thought I would share another one of my OCD moments.

I have a weird fixation with everything being associated with even numbers. I dont know where this came from but I have to have everything be even. I sometimes count my steps in order to take even amounts. My brain cannot do odd numbers. You may think I am odd, thats ok.

for example, look at the blogs over the years, I have even number for how many I have posted every year(I know this post makes it odd but give me a day or two and it will be even).

More examples.

--when I hit fast forward on my dvr I either hit it 2 or 4 times, if I hit it 5 times I have to push it one more time.

-- I have two best friends, most people have one.

-- I have to read every book twice

-- I have two couches at my house, which is 10 pillows, they are the same size, but instead of having 5 on each I have 6 on one and 4 on another.

-- I use two blankets every night when I sleep.

-- when i buy stuff that is weighted I have to have the last number be even. (Ill even as the worker to put more in or take some out)

-- when I go to dinner I cannot order anything that says it comes with 3 or 5 pieces of something.

-- when eating shelled peanuts Ill only eat the ones that have two peanuts in it. If I take one that has one peanut in it ill dig down untill I find another that has one in it.

-- I have 8 bath towels, 6 wash clothes, 2 sponges, 12 hats, 2 cell phones(only one is active).

-- I must have an even number of freinds on facebook, if I have an odd number for more that 24 hours Ill delete someone.

-- it is 4662 steps from my house to my church... it really should have been 4659 but I took 3 more steps to make it an even number all around...

Ok thats enough looking into my brain...

IM NOT CRAZY... my mother had me checked.

favorites...

2010-11-18T13:56:00.001-08:00

This is a completely random post (just how I like it). I thought it would slightly entertaining, light, and fun. Here are a list of a lot of my favorites:

FAVORITE “FAST FOOD” RESTAURANT – subway
FAVORITE “SIT-DOWN” RESTAURANT(s) – anything sushi
FAVORITE MLB TEAM – LA Dodgers
FAVORITE NFL TEAM – Pittsburgh steelers
FAVORITE COLLEGE TEAM – Oregon ducks
FAVORITE NBA TEAM – LA Clippers
FAVORITE TV DRAMA – house
FAVORITE TV COMEDY – the king of queens and chuck
FAVORITE REALITY TV SHOW – biggest loser and the apprentice
FAVORITE NEWS PROGRAM – anything foxnews
FAVORITE MAGAZINE – mens health
FAVORITE BOOK – blue like jazz
FAVORITE “NON-CHRISTIAN” BOOK – talent is never enough
FAVORITE “CHRISTIAN” SONG – bring the rain- mercy me
FAVORITE “SECULAR” SONG – you give love a bad name- bon jovi
FAVORITE “ON MY IPOD WHILE WORKING OUT” SONG – anything fast and loud
FAVORITE “COUNTRY” SONG – life is a highway- rascal flatts
FAVORITE “WORSHIP” SONG – none but Jesus- hillsong
FAVORITE ALBUM – welcome to the freak show- dc talk
FAVORITE CHRISTIAN ARTIST/BAND – switchfoot
FAVORITE RAP ARTIST – dont listen to rap
FAVORITE ROCK ARTIST/BAND – offspring
FAVORITE COUNTRY ARTIST – rascal flatts
FAVORITE BOOK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – Luke
FAVORITE BOOK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT – Isaiah
FAVORITE FONT – comic scans ms
FAVORITE ICE CREAM – coffee
FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR – opening day
FAVORITE INSPIRATIONAL SPORTS MOVIE – radio
FAVORITE MOVIE TRILOGY – Lord of the rings
FAVORITE 80s ACTION MOVIE – topgun
FAVORITE COMEDY MOVIE – dumb and dumber
FAVORITE CHICK-ISH MOVIE – a walk to remember
FAVORITE ARTIST – dont have one
FAVORITE NAP TIME – anytime is a good time for a nap
FAVORITE SOUND – crack of a ball hitting a bat
FAVORITE GADGET – my iPhone
FAVORITE CONVENIENCE – DVR
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME SYSTEM – PS2
FAVORITE VACATION SPOT – Santa Cruz
Those are just a few of my many favorites...

Light Always Wins!

2010-11-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” – Ephesians 5:8

“You are the light of the world.” – Matthew 5:14

Nyctophobia is the fear of the dark or of night. Achluophobia is the fear of darkness. I remember as a child that I was a little scared of the dark – a minor case of Achluophobia if you will. For years after my parents had tucked me in for the night, I had to make sure that there either my door was cracked open or that my night light was turned on. For some reason that small amount of light always made me feel better.

I do not think I am alone in my fear of darkness. In fact, there are many companies and people that make a living off people being scared of the dark such as night light companies, hypnotists, and even a smart phone flashlight app.

Being in darkness can be scary. Being in the darkness makes you feel extremely uncomfortable. You feel unsure about yourself. You feel trapped. You feel paralyzed because if you move you might bump into something and hurt yourself.

So why do we feel so much better when a Winnie the Pooh night light is on? Because light always wins!

Try this sometime: go into a large room that you can make absolutely pitch black. Make it as dark as you can in that room. After you fill the room with darkness, take a tiny light – either a small flashlight or even the backlight on your cell phone – and turn it on. What happens? What immediately can you see? The light instantly defeats the darkness. You can be in a room full of darkness, but the smallest light will win everytime. Light can never be defeated by darkness. It just is not possible. Light always wins.

My life is affected by this realization in two ways:

First, Jesus is the light of the world. There are times when I feel like my life is full of darkness. There are times when I choose to be in darkness. However, the light of Jesus defeats that darkness everytime. He is undefeated. He does not lose. I will never hang out in the darkness again because Jesus is the light of my life. There is always hope.

Also, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become the little lights in the darkness of the world. We are able to bring the light into dark situations. Whenever there are people in darkness around me, I bring hope, truth, and light to the darkness. Why? Because I have the light and light always defeats darkness.

No matter how dark a situation you may be seems. Remember…

LIGHT ALWAYS WINS!

rear-view mirror living

2010-11-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

As I drove home today, I pulled behind a fairfield police officer. I was unusually calm considering how many times I have been humbled by this country’s fine police officers.

While driving around town, a police car turned onto the street I was driving and immediately pulled behind me. My heart rate started to elevate and I started to get anxious/nervous. I started to perspire and anticipate that something had to be wrong. I started going through the checklist knowing that something was terribly wrong. Do I have my license? Do I have my insurance card and is it current? Oh my goodness, is my vehicle registration current? Do I have my seatbelt on? I immediately looked down at my speedometer and started slowing down (even though I was not going over the speed limit).

I decided to take the next turn to see if the police car was tailing me. Sure enough, the police car turned too. I just knew that I was in trouble without knowing what specifically I was doing wrong. For the next five minutes, I was constantly checking my rear-view mirror praying not to see those dreaded police lights illuminate like exploding fireworks.

The police car finally turned a corner and left my driving record without incident. What a difference of reactions between when the police car was in front of me and when the police car was behind me!

Why did I react that way when the police car pulled behind me? I was doing nothing wrong, but I immediately started living a life like I was doing something wrong. Have you experienced that?

How often do we do the same thing in our spiritual life? Viewing God as the ever-present police car following behind you, judging your every move, can drastically effect your life. Just like my driving when being followed by a police car actually gets worse, my journey on life is drastically effected when viewing God as that constant judge looking over my shoulder.

Rear-view mirror living is no way to live life. That life is filled with paranoia, fear, and anxiety. That life always makes you feel defeated and that you are doing something wrong.

God loves you. He is your father who loves you unconditionally enough to pick you up when you fall and love you through your messes. He is not the police officer on your bumper analyzing your every move, waiting on you to mess up, and then punish you for breaking the rules.

God is for you. He is on your side. He wants you to succeed, not fail. He desires you to know him and live an abundant life with him. If you are struggling with accepting freedom and grace today, God wants you to stop living life looking through your rear-view mirror.

Live free today! Live forgiven!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteosness.” – Romans 6:18 (NIV)

I want to be free.

Lukewarm People

2010-11-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

LUKEWARM PEOPLE attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?

LUKEWARM PEOPLE tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside the church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them. Lukewarm people don’t really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the secular world. They feel satisfied that while they aren’t as hardcore for Jesus as so-and-so, they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. They would be quick to assume you that they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn’t really possible for the average person; it’s only for pastors and missionaries and radicals.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule, and next month’s vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out, “Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the love of money is.” Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel “called” to minister to the rich; very few feel “called” to minister to the poor.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from from feeling too guilty. They want to do the bare minimum, to be “good enough” without it requiring too much of them.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a “Christian nation.”

LUKEWARM PEOPLE do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens – they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them – they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live – they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis – their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

_______________

*From CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan, which is completely kicking my butt.

_______________

I normally don’t like to put chunks of other books on the blog; I would rather simply recommend a book and you read it. However, this was too good not to share.

I shared this description of lukewarm people to encourage you to take a searching, honest look at your life – not for you to use this description to judge fellow believers.

Confessions of an OCD Pastor

2010-11-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

If you are a newer reader of this blog, you should know that I do not take myself too seriously. I often will poke fun at myself. I think it is important to keep a sense of humility and to realize that we are all imperfect, jacked-up people who are unconditionally loved by a perfect God. That being said…

Hello, my name is Steve Moore and I am OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

I am walking a dangerous tightrope right now. On one side is more of a normal, balanced life. On the other side is a life fully submitted to my OCD. All that truly means is that I literally have a life full of strict, thought-out process for almost everything I do. I spend way too much time thinking about mundane details trying to figure out the most efficient way to do certain things. I have my biggest problems when variables in those processes change or are taken away. (I really see the unhealthy side of my OCD come out when I travel because all the variables change. Normally, I think all my processes in my normal environment are extremely efficient and somewhat clever.)

I wanted to be honest and share some of my biggest, quirkiest OCD habits that I have developed over the years (and they keep getting worse as I get older).

TOWELS – yes, towels are one of my biggest OCD processes. Specifically, how I use a towel to dry off after taking a shower.

My process is quite simple. I have designated different parts of the towel to dry off different body parts. It does not matter what towel I use, I can within seconds show you what part of the towel goes with what part of the body. However, the entire process starts with the TAG on the towel.

Now before you think I am completely insane, there is a perfectly logical, reasonable explanation for this process. The bottom line (no pun intended) is that I have no desire to dry off my face with the same part of the towel where I just dried off my – how can I put this tastefully – “bathing suit area.” Seriously, that is so disgusting to me. Call me crazy; laugh at me; but at least I am not wiping my face down with the part of the towel that was all up in my butt and man zone.

I freak out when I am using a towel with no tag. My solution to this problem is simple – I simply only use the towel once. There is no reusing of a tag-less towel.

Going back to my parents house where I grow up is always difficult when it comes to this OCD habit. I was reminded of this when I went to Merced a few weeks ago. I think my mom likes to mess with me and watch me freak out on this OCD habit. She is the only woman in the world who buys towels without a tag or will cut the tags of the towels she buys. This makes things very difficult for me and my drying off process.

One time a few years ago, I had finished my shower and was standing soaking wet trying to examine the towel I was using like Gil Grissom examines a crime scene. I could not find the tag. I could not even find the little tag-nub where my mom cut off the tag. I was starting to freak at the thought of having to air dry because of not being able to find the tag.

At that critical moment I was reminded of 2 Timothy 1:7 (the official verse of recovering OCDs), “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Did I go ahead and use the towel with reckless abandonment? No way! That’s gross! I used the spirit of power God gives me by taking a black sharpie and marking a huge “X” where I thought the tag should have been.

Problem solved.

Hello, my name is Steve Moore and I am OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Morning Run

2010-11-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

On my run this morning, I just was not feeling it. I did not run faster than normal. I did not run farther than normal. In fact, nothing was significantly different than most of my runs. It was just one of those days where my feet felt heavy from the first step and I knew it was going to be a struggle just to keep my feet moving. It was going to take all the discipline and will-power I had to get through the run. Nevertheless, I decided to tough it out, grit my teeth, and run.

You ever have those days?

Have you ever had those days spiritually?

You know those days. The days where nothing seems to be different than your normal routine. Those days where you begin to become tired and bored from the mundane, normalcy of life. Those days where nothing necessarily bad is happening, but nothing necessarily good is happening either. Maybe you are waking up after a night’s sleep and immediately feeling tired. Maybe you have no energy or drive to thrive and make a difference at your work/school. You know that getting through the day connected to your Heavenly Father is going to take all the discipline and will power you have inside you, but you do not know if you have it today. You feel tired, weary, burdened, and that you have heavy spiritual feet during these times.

Back to my run this morning…

I was struggling and pushing through the blah of the run this morning. During the final stretch of the run when everything inside of me told me to quit, I was reminded of who I was and whose I was. Through my iPod came a powerful song full of truth at just the right time, “Nothing Without You” by Bebo Norman. If you are tired, let the words of this powerful song minister to you and remind you of who you are and whose you are…

Take these hands and lift them up
For I have not the strength to praise You near enough
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You

Take my voice and pour it out
Let it sing the songs of mercy I have found
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You

All my soul needs
Is all Your love to cover me
So all the world will see
That I have nothing without You

Take my body and build it up
May it be broken as an offering of love
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You

All my soul needs
Is all Your love to cover me
So all the world will see
That I have nothing
But I love You

With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
With all the strength that I can find

Take my time here on this earth
And let it glorify all that You are worth
For I am nothing,
I am nothing without You

May you run and not grow faint today. Remember Jesus’ words today from Matthew 11:28,“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

___________________

The song that followed “Nothing Without You” was “I'm Lion-0” by Relient K, but I couldn’t find any deep, spiritual application from that song.

No Shave November 2010

2010-11-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is time for me to earn some more points to my man card. There is no better way to do that than by participating in “No Shave November” and growing a manly beard.

No Shave November is as simple as it sounds. All NSN consists of is picking a part of your body you normally shave and do not shave that area for the month of November. No Shave November is not gender biased. Women are encouraged as well as men in participating in this awesome month-long journey. It is not a competition. So if you know you have patchy, inconsistent facial hair that might be considered weak, you have nothing to worry about. Let it grow proudly. No Shave November is all about giving our Pro Glides, Mach 3s, Venuses, Fusions, Quattros, Norelcos, and Remingtons a well-deserved break for one month.

I participated in No Shave November for the first time in 2008 and it was awesome. It was my first time to sport a beard and I promised myself that it would not be my last time. I hope to grow a fuller, thicker, more manlier beard this year.

this year, I will be keeping a daily record of my No Shave November experiment (not on the blog because that would be super boring for you, thus guaranteeing the loss of all my consistent readers) but will post sporadic updates on how the beard is coming. My goal is to take a picture everyday at the same spot, mesh all the pictures together, and make a sweet animation video of my beard growing before your very eyes

So are you going to join me in participating in No Shave November 2010?

Men, are you going to join me in rocking the best beard you can grow in 30 days? Women, are you going to join me in letting your legs, your armpits, one leg/one armpit, or even a patch on your knees grow free for 30 days? Those of you that may have some rules and regulations about facial hair in your school or workplace, let me encourage you to grow something in the spirit of NSN. If you go to school where you can only have sideburns to your ears and hair above your upper lip, then I encourage you to rock the best sideburns and stache that you can for 30 days.

Can I count on you joining the No Shave November army starting TODAY?

Spiritual Coffee

2010-10-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I distinctly remember being told, “Steven, do not drink coffee because it will stunt your growth.”

It turns out that health tip is more fiction than fact. MSNBC.com says so. Teenhealthfx.com says so. Kidshealth.org says so. And we all know that the Internet never lies.

For years, I would not even touch the stuff out of fear of not growing and looking like a gnome. I had no clue if that saying is true. I did not research that advice before following it. (I did, however, end up 6’ without ever touching the stuff, so I thought it was true.) However, I cared enough to stay away from something that could potentially stunt my growth.

As I was thinking through this subject, I began to realize that people have been telling me for years to stay away from certain things that would stunt my spiritual growth – kind of like spiritual coffee. Sometimes I would listen to the advice. Other times I would ignore that advice and just try to get by on my own.

Have you been ever been there?

Let me share what I have found to be 3 spiritual coffees that will stunt your spiritual growth:

1. NOT COMMUNICATING WITH GOD. Would you ever be in a relationship with another person that you considered to be a strong relationship where you never talked or communicated with that person? Of course not! Realize that you are in a relationship with God – a real talking/listening relationship. A relationship requires communication to maintain health and stability. Talk to God. Read His Word. Communicate!

2. NOT BEING CONNECTED TO THE BODY. The church is often compared in the Bible to a body. The different people in the church are the body parts that work together in one unit. It is impossible for a part of the body to work and become what it should be apart from the body. You have something specific and unique to bring to the Body of Christ. Whether you are a arm, a nose, an eye, or toenail in the Body of Christ, the Body is not complete unless you are connected. However, the same applies with you. You cannot grow and become what God wants you to be unless you are connected to the Body. Connecting with people who share and encourage your faith is vital for growth. Get involved and stay connected!

3. BITTERNESS IN YOUR HEART. If you are unable to forgive other people or give second chances, you will stunt your own spiritual growth. Ephesians 4:31 (NIV) says to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Having a white-knuckled grip on bitterness, anger, and grudges limit our spiritual growth. We must get bitterness and anger out of our hearts and forgive others as Christ has forgive us.

What’s the spiritual coffee in your life that is stunting your spiritual growth?

May the Lord reveal those things to us today and give us the strength and the courage to initiate change in our lives today. Have a great day. Bless God!

The Rubik's Cube Gospel

2010-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have distinct memories as a child of watching my father working on rubik’s cubes. Now for those of you who are part of the XBOX 360/Nintendo Wii generation, a rubik’s cube is a toy that is a mental puzzle. The challenge and objective of the rubik’s cube is to twist and turn the blocks around till each side of the cube is a solid color. Only when each side is a solid color at the same time is the puzzle completed.

My dad was incredible at the rubik’s cube. It is unbelievable. He must have had a class during college called “Rubik’s Cube 101″. Of course like most little boys, I wanted to be just like my Dad, so I naturally wanted to conquer the rubik’s cube.

I found out quickly that I was biting off more than I could chew. I found out that the rubik’s cube is really difficult. I was terrible at it. At times, I was luckily able to get one of the colors aligned just right, but every other side would be completely jacked up. So to fix the other sides, I would have to mess up the side I actually got right. On the other hand, I would be absolutely amazed at how easy and seemingly effortlessly my dad could master a rubik’s cube.

As I starting thinking more about my rubik’s cube experience more, I started realizing that the rubik’s cube had a lot of similarities to my walk with God.

How many of you can say that you have this whole “life-with-God-thing” completely figured out? I know I can’t. At times I feel like I cannot get anything right, much less understand the full complexity of God. As I have grown in my relationship with God, I feel like sometimes I have actually figured something out about life with God (like getting one side of the rubik’s cube correct), but everything else still seems to be unclear (the rest of the rubik’s cube is still wrong). And it seems to figure those things out, I have to break down what I feel like I do have a grasp on.

Does that make sense?

I wish that there was just one answer to the question: What is life with God all about? That would look like a rubik’s cube with only one color, but God (and the rubik’s cube) is not that easy.

The Charlie Hall song “One Thing” beautifully states, “All of life comes down to just one thing…and that’s to know you, Oh Jesus, and make you known.” I always found that song ironic because all of life comes down to one thing which is actually two things. But it makes sense! You cannot have one without the other. They go hand-in-hand.

I wanted to encourage you today as your grow in your relationship with God to not give up. Keep searching. Keep seeking. Always push yourself to keep growing. Know that it is a process and a journey, not a moment.

Remember what I did when I got frustrated and could not figure out the rubik’s cube? I gave it to my father and he was able to fix it for me. During times where you are struggling in your relationship with God, struggling in your faith, or struggling to keep going, when you want to put the rubik’s cube down in frustration, remember that your Heavenly Father is a master at the rubik’s cube.

hands held high...

2010-10-24T17:59:00.001-07:00

“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses help up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat upon it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” – Exodus 17:10-13

This portion of God’s Word has been on my heart a lot lately. I have been trying to fully wrap my mind around these words and see how it applies to you and me. Here is what I came up with:

We use all type of metaphor’s to describe our daily relationship with God. Some call it a journey. Some call it their spiritual walk. Others call it a spiritual rollercoaster.

My relationship with God can probably be more accurately described as a constant battle. A battle to choose to do the right things. A battle to choose selflessness over selfishness. A battle to pursue holiness in a world that does not value holiness. A battle to not define God by the people that say they follow him. A battle to endure life and the distractions of this world while maintaining your focus on God.

Like Exodus 17, I see my life in a constant battle. A battle between two worlds – the selfless, holy, God-following world vs the selfish, sinful, world-following world. Like any true battle, winning requires effort.

Moses had to keep his hands raised to win his battle. That may not sound like much but holding your hands in the air gets pretty difficult after a while. If you do not believe me, go ahead and hold your hands as high as you can for as long as you can. It starts to burn after a while. I can see why how over the course of a battle, Moses would get tired, give into gravity, and let his hands fall. When his hands were raised, they would be winning the battle. When he would get tired and his hands would fall, they would be losing the battle. Only after his friends were there to help consistently hold his hands high, could Moses keep his hands up.

I see the same cycle happening in my life. When I have energy, focus, and things going my way, I have my hands stretched towards heavenly in victory. However, when I am tired, weary, and burdened I go through hands-down stretches of defeat. Yet, I still go through the same cycle…good, bad, good, bad, hands up in victory, hands down in defeat, etc.

There has to be a way to be more consistent. Sometimes I am not strong enough. Sometimes I cannot do it on my own. Sometimes I do not have the strength to keep going. How do we keep our hands raised in victory when we grow weary and tired? According to Exodus 17, other believers are there to help us. People in your life that support you and want to see you win those spiritual battles should come beside you, hold you hands high, and help take you to victory.

Some of you reading this right now know exactly what I am saying. You have spent years going through the cycle of hands raised of victory and hands lowered in defeat. It is almost as if you have spiritual multiple personalities. You are craving spiritual consistency and consistent victories.

Others of you maybe right at the point of feeling tired. You have tried to endure, but your shoulders are burning. Maybe you are frustrated with the church and want to give up. Maybe you are frustrated in relationships and want to give up. Maybe you are tired of simply being tired.

Let me encourage you to find people in your life that will help hold your victorious hands high. Find those in your life that you trust and share your life. Tell them the specific areas of your life you need help. Tell them you are not strong enough to get through the battle alone. WARNING – this will require you to take off your Sunday suit/dress, be honest, and get real.

Others of you should be helping others more by being hand-lifters in other’s lives. You know people who are struggling to retain consistency in their spiritual walk. You see them go through the vicious cycle of inconsistency. WIll you care enough about those with their hands down in defeat to do something about it?

Are you tired? Do you need somebody to come alongside you and help hold your hands high? I know I sure do.

Thanks for reading.

Last Meal

2010-10-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

I am wierd. I know it. I have accepted that fact.

To understand me better you must know that my mind is always going about any and everything. From the time I wake up to the time I enter a deep R.E.M. sleep, my mind is going one hundred miles per hour. Please do not misunderstand me, this does not mean that I am in a constant state of deep, important thought about pressing global issues and the theological mysteries of this world.

That being said, I was thinking this morning what it would like to be on death row. Now for the majority of the time, I think it would be an unpleasant experience. However, there I can think of a couple positives in the death row experience.

Being a pretty hardcore introvert (meaning I get my energy from times of being alone or with a small group of close friends, not that I do not like people), I think I would enjoy the time of quiet and solitude. I could probably some serious thinking and reading done during that time.

I also could see the LAST MEAL being an incredible experience. I think this is the one advantage death row people have over us non-death row people.

If you do not know what the death row last meal is, it is the last meal that inmates on death row get to pick everything they get to eat before they are executed. They get to hand pick everything without any rules or limitations. If they want breakfast food, they get it. A great steak from their favorite restaurant, they got it. Aside from the whole execution thing, not a bad way to go.

I started to think about what would be on the menu for my last meal. Here is what I came up with for my last meal:

1 bloomin onion from Outback steakhouse
2 tacos from Taquaria Los Gallos
pan seared pot stickers from costco (ling ling brand)
Caramel white mocha's from starbucks(notice the 's... more than one)
spider roll and spicy tuna roll from Yamamori sushi boat
fried catfish from texas roadhouse
couple pieces of my mothers meatloaf
2 scoups of watermelon sherbert from maryanns in santa cruz
IMPORTANT NOTE: this list is subject to change.

What about you? What would be on your last meal? Be specific. Meaning if you want Gatorade at your last meal, tell what specific flavor. If you want a nice steak, tell what restaurant or grill you want that steak to come from.

What would be on your last meal?

I Am Second Josh Hamilton

2010-10-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

another reason to love Josh Hamilton

We are... Revolution

2010-10-19T15:00:00.001-07:00

Rubbish

2010-10-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3: 7-11 (NIV)

I am fascinated by the word “rubbish” from this chunk of Scripture. Unless, you are British, you probably do not use that word in your day-to-day vocabulary. It is the Greek word “skubalon”. This is the only time in Scripture where that word is used. “Skubalon” literally translated means “$***” – a curse word that I probably should not use on my blog or in my regular vocabulary.

That’s a strong word used by one of the church’s greatest leaders in history. “Skubalon” is a word that would either perk you up and listen if you were zoning out the weekly sermon; it is a word that might cause you to blush if you heard it from your favorite preacher; and it is a word that could possibly offend you if your preacher used it from the pulpit.

I believe Paul is trying to prove a point by using such a strong word. I think he is yelling at the top of his lungs, “WAKE UP PEOPLE! GET SERIOUS! QUIT PLAYING AROUND! QUIT PLAYING CHURCH! AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT AND PRECIOUS THAN KNOWING JESUS. EVERYTHING ELSE IS (BEEP)!”

Let me encourage you today…

Wake up! Get serious! Quit playing around! Quit playing church! And understand that there is nothing more important and precious than knowing Jesus. Everything else is…well…skubalon

thought-provoking quote

2010-10-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

Listening to a podcast recently, I heard this quote:

“What you make optional in life, you will eventually stop doing.”

I have not been able to shake this quote since hearing it. It has me thinking. Over and over again I have been asking myself, “Is this quote true?”

After thinking long and hard about that question, I have come to believe that the answer is yes. Let’s think about this…

For example, let’s take a look at the half marathon im planning on running being in, in june 2011. As of today, I have been training for 3 weeks for this race. Because training has been optional, there have been times when I have made excuses to cut corners or simply stop running – a tight hamstring, no energy, not enough sleep, bad weather, stomach problems, etc. It has been a weekly battle to keep waking up and pounding the pavement. However, something changed last Friday… I officially registered for the marathon. Now training is not optional. I have broken down and paid the entrance fee and there is no turning back. When the alarm goes off that june morning for the dreaded 13.1-mile run, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be ready to run. It does not matter what the situation, I will running because now it is not optional.

Let’s take a look at another example…

What about church? Is church optional for you and your family? Being involved and working full-time for a church, I have seen many people where church is optional. When something is not easy or convenient - staff member change, leadership disagreement, a shift in direction of a ministry, etc – I have seen way too many people walk away from the church. It became optional. If church is optional for you, you will eventually stop going.

I hope you chew on this quote like I have. Test it. See for yourself if it is true. Tell me if you think it is wrong. Tell me why you think it is wrong. I would love to hear your thoughts on this…

“What you make optional in life, you will eventually stop doing.”

lessons from my first year in ministry

2010-10-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

1. you will not please everyone, its nice to try but the reality is, someone will always complain.
2. people dont see what you do day in and day out so when they dont see results they think you are lazy, we are not.
3. getting into schools is alot harder than I ever thought it would be, you have to be creative to be able to walk on campus.
4. Always be ready to preach on sunday morning, you never know when your senior pastor might need you to do the morning message.
5. if your not growing spiritually you group will not either.
6. parents and leaders are your best asset and your worse asset. Use them the right way and your ministry will flourish.
7. Be organized, a youth pastor shuold be able to cast vision 3-6 months in advance, and plus it makes our jobs alot easier.
8. Preaching in series' is he best way to go, week to week makes for more work. A series gives you a direction of where you are going and helps your kids remember what they are learning.
9. sunday school is a great time to hang out with your students and just talk. Most Kids arent awake on sunday mornings so I found just talking to them and praying with them is the best use of time.
10. The best way to grow your ministry is by doing cheap monthly events.
11. Taking a sabbath is the best thing you can do. It not only rests your body but also your spirit. Taking a day where you do nothing seems crazy but in fact its worship to God. When you take a day and do nothing like God instructed you are telling God "I trust you, I trust that you will take care of me today".
12. Youth ministry is fun, hard work, rewarding, frustrating, crazy, and the greatest thing anyone can ever do. some nights you want to scream and quit, some night you want to jump and thank God... hopefully the latter happens more.
13. Music is the best way to invite the holy spirit into your ministry, students respond to music, more than anything, you need music to be successfull.
14. Be respectful but tell parents what you feel and the truth, sugar coating they have a demon for a child will do nothing for you, tell the parent but do it nicely.
15. Dont be afraid to discipline your youth, they will respect you for it after the fact, but it sucks when you have to do it.
16. energy, energy, energy.
17. Integrity of the ministry is way more important than numbers.
18. Your students will replicate who you are, if you are a worshipper they will be as well, what are you wanting your kids to replicate?
19. Caffiene is your best friend
20. 15 hour lock ins are the devil
21. serve your pastor like you want your leaders to serve you
22. time with your students outside of the midweek service is the most important time you have spend with them, and you grow with them
23. you may not always be right and you may make mistakes but be willing to learn from them.
24. Put a leadership team around you who is experienced, they will greatly help you when you make mistakes.
25. your youth ministry vision should help your pastors vision, if it isnt you need to go.

thoughts on steelers vs ravens

2010-10-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh 14 Baltimore 17.

- our Defense is probably the best in football, its certainly the best I have ever seen them play.
- Coach Tomlin should have trusted his Defense more, Pittsburgh was up by 4 with 1:20 left with a 4th and 10 on thier own 2. I would have taken the safety and kicked off, sure you set up a field goal to win it, but when your D is playing that well, its a gamble I would take.
- 3-1 going into the bye week is way more than any steelers fan much less football fan would have predicted without Ben Roethlisberger.
- with Ben coming back after the bye week this team is much more dangerous.
- cleveland and baltimore are non factors in this division, which means next games vs Baltimore is that much more important to the steelers division title hopes.

How I would fix the Dodgers

2010-10-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

so Ill start this out by stating who will be on the team next year:

Andre Ethier
Matt Kemp
Rafael Furcal
James Loney
Casey Blake
Chad Billingsley
Clayton Kershaw
Hong Chi Kuo
Jonathan Broxton
Jamey Carrol
Ronald Belisario
Kenley Jansen
Jay Gibbons
AJ Ellis

non tenders:
Russell Martin
Ryan Theriot
George Sherrill
Ramon Troncoso

Free agents:

Ted Lilly
Hiroki Kuroda
Vicente Padilla
Jeff Weaver
Brad Ausmus
Rod Barajas
Reed Johnson
Scott Podsednick

that being said I would resign Ted Lilly as long as its no longer than 3 years, you dont want to sign a guy who will be 35 to a long term contract, sign jeremy Bonderman to be the 4th starter. For the fifth starter I would open up a competition in spring training to John ely, Jon link and maybe somebody else.

Bing back Rod Barajas, AJ Ellis as back up. Sign George Cantu to play third, make casey blake a back-up third base and first baseman. Sign Carlos Pena and trade James loney and Jon broxton to the cardinals for Colby Rasmus

Sign Jason Kubel to play left field with Jay gibbons already the back up corner outfield.

sign some new bullpen guys, and make the new closer a mix of Kenley Jansen and Hong Chi Kuo.

here is what the team looks like now under my proposed plan:

C- Rod Barajas
1b- Carlos Pena
2b- Colby Rasmus
3b- George Cantu
SS- Rafael Furcal
LF- Jason Kubel
CF- Matt Kemp
RF- Andre Ethier

SP1- Clayton Kershaw
SP2- Chad Billingsley
SP3- Ted Lilly
SP4- Jeremy Bonderman
Sp5- Ely, Link, someone else

bench:

MI- Jamey carrol
CI- Casey Blake
OF- Jay Gibbons
C- AJ Ellis
OF- Reed Johnson

Bullpen:

RP- Ronald Belisario
RP- Chad durbin
RP- loser of link and ely competition
RP- matt Guirrer
RP- Ramon Troncoso
RP- Hong Chi Kuo
CP- Kenley Jansen

I still think this is a 3rd place team in the west, but this is a realistic evaluation of what the team could look like. the payroll in my proposed plan would be around 80-85 million. Then again with this team it will probaly keep broxton, theriot and podsednick...

SELL THE TEAM

Unstoppable

2010-09-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

my fantasy hockey draft just took place, thought I would share my team... going for the fourpeat...

Centers-

Sydney Crosby
Paval Datsyuk
Derek Roy
Travis Zajak
Patrick Elias

Left Winger-

Patrick Marleau
Zach Parise

Right winger-

Patric Hornqvist
Mike knuble

Defenseman-

Christian Ehrhoff
Chris Pronger
Lubimor Visnovsky

Goal Tenders-

Antti Niemi
Niklas Backstrom
Mikka Kiprusoff

Mathematically Eliminated: a Poem of Defeat

2010-09-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

I was sure that we'd conquer the National League west,
we should have won it all at our very, very best

Through loss after loss I did not give up hope
(though our hitters at times made it real tough to cope).

But last eve my dreams got officially crushed;
all hopes for October were miserably flushed.

When broxton allowed five whole runs in a save chance,
he smashed our last chance at the post-season dance.

In darkness I sat with my bon-bons and sorrow,
not having a reason to wake up tomorrow.

But then some hope rose from my gloomy abyss
that turned those dark thoughts into bittersweet bliss.

The thing that can turn my depression to glee?
Spoiling the chance of the lousy giants...

Meet Vicks dog house

2010-09-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

fantasy football league...

qb's
Peyton Manning
Tom Brady
Sam Bradford
Ben Roethlisberger

Wideouts
Marquez Colston
Dez Bryant
Jerricho Cotchery
Golden Tate
Steve Breaston

Running backs
Rashard Mendenhall
Thomas Jones

tight ends
Visanthe Shiancoe
Jeremy Shockey

Kicker
Sebastian Janikowski

Defense teams
Pittsburgh
Minnesota

Defensive players
Patrick Willis
James Harrison
Justin King
Robert Mathis

do something people sacrifice...

2010-09-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

REVOLUTION is currently in the middle of a series called “DO SOMETHING”. In this series, we are being challenged to put our faith into motion by choosing to do something for others. Becoming the very hands and feet of Jesus on this planet and ultimately changing the world.

But for many of us, we must first go to the doctor before becoming a DO SOMETHING person. Many of us are suffering from a serious, life-threatening disease called “ME-ITIS“. “ME-ITIS” people think they are the center of the universe. “ME-ITIS” people think the world actually revolves around them. When “ME-ITIS” people do not get what they want when they want it, they pout, complain, and blame others. “ME-ITIS” people rarely put other’s interests in front of their own. And the few times they do something for somebody else, it is usually for attention or so they can get something in return.

Simply put, “ME-ITIS” people are jerks.

Paul talks directly to people suffering from “ME-ITIS” in Philippians 2:3-8…

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

My challenge to you today is this…do not be a “ME-ITIS” person. Be a DO SOMETHING person.

Becoming a DO SOMETHING person will require sacrifice. It will not be easy. It will not be normal. It will not be comfortable.

DO SOMETHING people sacrifice…

1.TIME. Time is limited. Time is precious. Be a person that does something important for others with your time.

2.COMFORT. Doing something for God is not always comfortable. Changing the world is not always comfortable. Being bold with your faith is not always comfortable. Making a difference and taking a stand is not always comfortable. Being a leader is not always comfortable. Do Something people understand this.

3.MONEY. Do Something people are generous and put their money where their mouth is. Do Something people are not selfish with their money because they realize that money is a gift from God that can be used to Do Something.

4.TALENT. Do Something people realize that God gave them their talents. Do you want to do something big for God? Use your talents to bring him glory. Make God more famous by using the talents he has given you.

The B-I-B-L-E

2010-08-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

If prayer – at its simplest form – is talking to God, then reading the Bible – at its simplest form – is letting God talk to you.

When you really break it down, reading the Bible (like prayer) is communication. And communication is a crucial element in any intimate relationship…including a relationship with God. Without communication, relationships die.

Through the Bible, God speaks to the core issues of your life. He roots out the anger behind the depression many experience. He uncovers the insecurity behind your self-destructive habits. He tells you how deeply loved and accepted you are. He draws you to Himself by explaining the price He paid to know you and to be known by you.

For you to have consistency in your relationship with God, it is crucial for you to have consistent, intimate time with God through reading the Bible.

Here are five easy steps to allow God to rock your wold through the Bible…

GET A BIBLE. Sounds weird, but I meet people all the time who do not own a Bible. Invest in a Bible. Download a Bible app, its free and mobile.

FIND A TRANSLATION YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. There’s the NIV, NLT, Message, TNIV, ESV, NASV, King James, NKJV, CEV, Amplified, NCV, etc…Here’s the point: there are options. Don’t read a Bible you can’t understand. Find one you can understand.

CARVE OUT SPECIFIC TIME IN YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE TO READ THE BIBLE. Find a time that works with your schedule. I recommend either right when you wake up or right before you go to sleep. Be consistent with that time. Combine this time with your prayer time.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS WHEN YOU PRAY. When reading a specific passage, ask yourself these four questions: What does this passage say? Learn to summarize the Bible in your own words. Why is this important? Understand why you need to know this fact or principle. What should I do about it? Learn how to specifically apply Scripture to your life. How can I remember this? Learn how to not forget what you learned. Memorize a verse, write a verse on a card, share a verse with a friend, etc.

HAVE A PLAN. Don’t just blindly flip through the Bible. Have a plan. Know where you are going. I highly recommend 2 plans: Project345. The average time it takes a person to read a chapter of the Bible is 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Project345.com is a reading plan that gives you one New Testament chapter a day. If you stay consistent with Project345, you will read the entire New Testament in under a year. Proverb-a-Day. There are 31 chapters of Proverbs. The maximum numbers of days in a month is 31. In the Proverb-a-Day plan, match the day of the month with that chapter in Proverbs. Like I always say, “A Proverb-a-day keeps the devil away.”

Prayer

2010-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Prayer – at its simplest form – is talking to God.

When you really break it down, prayer is communication. And communication is a crucial element in any intimate relationship…including a relationship with God.

But what happens when we dont communicate with God? We pray a prayer, get dunked in baptistries, or make a one-time commitment to enter into an intimate relationship with God and then never talk to him after making that commitment. And we wonder why we are not close to God.

For you to have consistency in your relationship with God, it is crucial for you to have a consistent, intimate prayer life with God.

A consistent, intimate prayer life with God will…

KEEP YOU CLOSE TO GOD. It’s a proven fact that you are closest to the ones that you talk to the most. The same principle applies to God.

KEEP YOU FOCUSED ON A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, NOT RELIGION. If you do not have any intimate communication with God, he tends to get regulated to a church building and certain days of the week. He becomes a duty. This religious approach is why so many people go to church every week but their lives never change.

HELP YOU REALIZE THE URGENCY OF SPENDING TIME WITH GOD. Many times people do not spend time with God because there is no urgency to do so. Getting to work, school, or practice on time is urgent. After all, if you miss prayer time, there is no immediate consequence. You don’t get fired. You don’t get kicked off the team. You don’t have to repeat a class. You don’t get written up. But if you don’t realize the urgency of spending time with God, you will suffer a consequence eventually – you will not develop intimacy with God.

Here are five things that will help you have a better prayer life…

CARVE OUT SPECIFIC TIME IN YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE TO PRAY. Find a time that works with your schedule. I recommend either right when you wake up or right before you go to sleep. Be consistent with that time.

PRAY “TWITTER” PRAYERS. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray continually”. Other versions say “pray without ceasing”, “pray all the time”, and “never stop praying”. Twitter limits you to updates that are 140 characters of fewer. Pray throughout the day short prayers to stay connected throughout the day. Think texting with God throughout the day.

GET ALONE TO PRAY. Jesus consistently got alone to connect with God. Prayer is a private thing.

BE CREATIVE WITH PRAYER. Pray the Bible. Find prayers in Scripture and pray those. Pray through worship music. Pray through journaling.

BE OPEN, HONEST, AND REAL. GOD CAN HANDLE IT. Share your heart with God. If you’re mad, tell him. If you’re frustrated, tell him. If you’re doubting, tell him. If you’re full of joy, tell him. Wherever you are, be open, honest, and real. God can handle it

20 predictions for the rest of the MLB year

2010-08-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

1. San Diego will win the NL west
2. St Louis wins the NL Central
3. Atlanta wins the NL East
4. Cincinnati wins the Wild card
5. The rays win the AL East
6. Minnesota wins the AL Central
7. Texas wins the AL West
8. New York wins the Wild Card
9. Texas beats Minnesota to go to the world series
10. Cincinnati beats San Diego to go to the world series
11. Texas wins the world series with Cliff lee winning the WSMVP
12. The divorce forces the McCourts to sell the dodgers which are purchased by Mark Cuban
13. Cliff Lee stays in Texas with a new 5 year contract
14. Matt kemp and two prospects are traded to Florida for Josh Johnson
15. New Manager of the Dodgers is Bobby Valentine
16. Trevor Hoffman saves 3 more games for 600 saves and retires as the best closer ever
17. Albert Pujols is given a new 8 year contract by the Cards 8 years 225 million
18. David price and Ubaldo Jiminez win the Cy young awards
19. Joey Votto and Miguel Cabrera win the MVP awards
20. I win my Fantasy baseball league… (I am in first place right now so its not far fetched)

25 predictions for the 2010 NFL football season

2010-08-08T22:53:00.001-07:00

1. Ben Roethlisberger only misses 4 games and leads the Steelers to a 11 win season
2. With new coaching and a new running back Kansas City wins 11 games and the AFC west
3. Houston beats the colts twice this season and wins the AFC South
4. The Dolphins win the AFC East over New England
5. The Jets win 7 games
6. Pittsburgh wins the AFC North over Baltimore
7. T O and Chad Johnson rip apart the Bengals and they win 6 games
8. Atlanta wins the NFC south
9. Brett Favre does not retire and Minnesota wins the NFC north
10. Washington wins the NFC East over Dallas by one game
11. Arizona and San Francisco both win 9 games tying for the division lead
12. Arizona wins the division because of a harder strength of schedule
13. new Orleans and Green bay win the wild card in the NFC
14. Indianapolis and San Diego win the wild card in the AFC
15. Brett Favre starts all 16 games again and beats green bay 2 more times
16. Andre Johnson wins the offensive MVP
17. Patrick Willis wins the Defensive MVP
18. Matt Shaub leads the league with passing yards
19. Ndamukong Suh wins rookie of the year
20. best team to not make the playoffs: 49ers
21. raiders win total 4
22. LT rushes for 1000 yards with the Jets
23. upset of the season: Detroit beats New England in week 12
24. Minnesota beats Pittsburgh in the Super bowl 35-31
25. I will win my fantasy football league for the first time ever

my favorite moment while in Minnesota

2010-08-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

A chapel service at Northcentral

good 2 minute sermon...

2010-08-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

saw this and wanted to share...

"To be a survivor in this amazing race with a need for speed you need God's grace. if your desperate like housewives watching days of our lives, you cant come with out hope and that not on a soap. If you look into Oprah or Dr. Phil you can shop non stop or pop a pill. but the void wont fill and the pain wont kill till you love the one who hung on a hill.

Kickin back in your lazy boy easy chair watchin who wants to be a millionaire, na your not going to find it there, no American idol or tribal council has a final answer that will satisfy ya, CSI ain't got a clue, SVU don't know what to do, not even ER, the OC, CD, DVD, or Mp3 can save you and me.

CNN's got no good news, here's a headline... you must choose, its not a simple life Paris Hilton, treading on thin ice, living in sin, you could be an apprentice for Donald Trump or eat fear factor garbage from a dump, you could be a heavy hitter or wheel of fortune winner, a fox news spin zone spinner or a flat out sinner, but you better check this life your livin and make sure your sins are forgiven.

I bet you 50 cent, Elvis done came and went and eventually black eyed peas, Gwen stefani, p diddy, britney and every wanna be on mtv with there icy bling, every dixy chick that sings, there all gonna see the king of kings.

I don't care if your j-lo, Leno or bono, one thing you gotta know is someday your gonna die bro, then where ya gonna go?

hey I'm not talking some punk junk that's irrelevant like your grandmas church from way back when, its not some preacher feature on tbn that you need to be like or listen, the real superstar is Jesus Christ. Hes the way the truth and light. One day hes gonna split the sky, hes the brightest light and the highest high.

So what I came to say and what I'm telling you is don't but that stupid stuff they be selling you. Its all designed to fill your head and waste your space till your dead.

here's the bottom line to this rhyme, Give your life to God while theres still time."

NCN Bay Area summer conference!

2010-07-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

We had a blast... here are some pictures of the week!

worried but content

2010-07-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

This week at my church I got the privilege of preaching, I talked about sabbath and rest and how to be content in God.

I prompted the congregants to write down everything that worries them... I wanted to share mine:

I worry about, and this list is not everything...
- Diabetes, it runs in my family
- my weight, I started losing weight and was doing good then broke my leg. need to get back on it.
- finances, I worry about not being hired at my church, but if I do, what will my finances look like?
-my leg, what if it doesn't heal properly

My plan to work on everything...
- while I cant yet run or do a full workout like I was doing before surgery, I can swim and walk, which will help my weight and control the diabetes warning...
- I cant really do anything about my finances other than put it in Gods hands.

I also had the congregants write down everything they are content with in God.

- my relationship with him is growing everyday
- I am closer to him now than I have ever been
- I have a growing, amazing youth ministry
- God has really shown me how faithful he is during my time at Pathway so far
- I have an amazing church
- God is meeting every one of my needs
- I still have health and a smile
- Amazing friends

what about you? what do you worry about? what can you do to fix it? what are you content with?

8 ways to fight the youth ministry stereotype

2010-07-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

1. Dont have a messy office- is it that hard to be neat and tidy?

2. leave your competitiveness at the door- do you really think its gonna make you cooler to whoop a jr higher at ping pong?

3. video games are fun, but not for hours upon hours- if your always tired because your going to bed late because of video games... you need help.

4. lead your teens, dont try to be like your teens- dont dress like them, dont try to be cool around them, they need a leader not a friend.

5. be responsible- dont let teens drive the church van, dont tell them to do stupid things, bring them home from events in one piece.

6. tardyness- nobody likes anyone who is late. If you say 7PM then be there 5 minutes early.

7. be prepared- I have seen youth pastors working on there sermons an hour before service starts, prepare better.

8. 12 hours a day on facebook- seriously you get paid to do youth ministry, facebook is not youth ministry for 12 hours a day.

Did I miss any? what are your thoughts?

How are you?

2010-07-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

If you will, think for a few seconds on how you would answer this question: WHAT IS THE MOST OVER-USED QUESTION IN TODAY’S SOCIETY?

“Huh?” ~ no

“Paper or plastic?” ~ nah

“Do you want fries with that?” ~ nope

In my opinion the most over-used question in today’s society is “HOW ARE YOU?” That question comes in many different forms such as “How are you doing?” or “How’s life?” or “How’s it going?” Think about it, our society throws around this question so frequently. In fact, we have thrown it around so much that it has lost its meaning and its importance.

Think about how much that question is thrown around on a daily basis. You can walk up and down the halls of your school, your office, your local mall, and even your church and hear this question over and over again. It has become synonymous with “hello” as a common greeting but it is so much more than just a greeting. How many times have people today asked you that question? How many times have you answered it with 100% honesty? How many times has your answer been “good” or “fine” and the last words to describe your life was “good” or “fine”?

“HOW ARE YOU?” is a hugely important question. It is loaded. It requires complete honesty. It requires more time than a simple pass in a hallway.

I came to this “HOW ARE YOU?” epiphany during my college days at Bethany University. I loved going to school there. However, there were times in that super-friendly, Christian environment where I felt that the community of students were content with being fake. Walking around campus I would constantly get bombarded with “How are you?” from friends, classmates, acquaintances, and strangers. Often times, they would pass by before I could even give an answer. Did they truly care? Would it be an inconvenience in their lives if I answered that question honestly because they would probably have to stop right there in their tracks?

I made a decision during that time that has absolutely changed my life. I decided to never ask the question, “HOW ARE YOU?” unless I truly wanted to hear the answer. As I think about the life of Jesus, was there ever a time he asked somebody “HOW ARE YOU?” and did not really want to heave the answer? Did He ever just want to be polite and act like He was interested to just not be rude?

Is our goal as followers of Christ to simply not be rude or to be real and to really care about others?

My daily challenge to myself is this: be real, be honest, and care about people enough to give them the time of the day to answer “HOW ARE YOU?” honestly. In my experience, people are really surprised when others truly mean that question. I have to sometimes slow somebody down and say “seriously, HOW ARE YOU DOING?” just so they can let the “I always answer with a smile and a ‘fine’ or ‘good’” wall down. I have found that people are dying for somebody to simply listen to them. Often times, that question has opened the Pandora’s box of a person’s soul because they had held it in for so long.

I dare you to try it for a week and see if you life is any different. Only ask “HOW ARE YOU?” when you really mean it and when you really want to know the answer. Make sure that people you ask know that you mean it. Look them in the eyes, take an extra 5 minutes, and care. You do not have to be a pastor or have a ministerial degree to do this.

Instead of “HOW ARE YOU?” being the most over-used question in our society, let’s make it the most life-changing question in our society.

what we are without God...

2010-07-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

DIRT!

Recently, I was reading through Genesis 2. This is the chapter where God creates Adam and Eve. As I was reading through the specific details of how God created people, God hit me square between the eyes with a profound truth.

Look at the process…

STEP 1 – God formed man out of the dirt from the ground.

STEP 2 – God breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life.

STEP 3 – The man became a living being.

Here’s what God spoke directly to my heart while reading about this process in Genesis 2…

WITHOUT GOD’S BREATH, WE ARE JUST DIRT.

Whether or not you know it or believe it, we are completely and desperately dependent on God. Without God breathing into life into Adam, he was simply just a pile of shaped dirt (like when you form shapes out of sand when you go to the beach).

Today, think about your dependency level on God. Are you desperate for Him? Are you dependent on Him?

Daily Disciplines

2010-06-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

How much of your day is consumed with disciplines?

Just to clarify, I am talking about those things in life that you intentionally do to make the quality of your life better, not the consequences from bad behavior.

When I start to think about it, day is full of disciplines. For example…

-When I wake up. The fact that I must use an alarm and not just allow my body to decide when it is ready to wake up takes some amount of discipline.

-Taking my 3 so-big-they-make-me-gag vitamins every morning.

-Consistently working out.

-Eating somewhat healthy.

-Being prepared and on time to daily meetings.

-Writing on this blog.

-Consistently updating social media.

-Setting my fantasy baseball lineup everyday.

-Keeping up with every detail of the LA Dodgers.

-Finding the perfect combination of preparing for the present and planning for the future of REVOLUTION.

-Daily connecting with God on a personal, one-on-one basis.

-Reading my Bible and keeping up with my current reading plan.

-Making wise, non-compulsive financial decisions daily.

-Being intentional about taking time to rest (take a Sabbath).

-Brushing my teeth at least three times a day.

-Going to bed at a decent hour (I’m really bad at this one).

I am not pointing these daily activities as one big pat on the back. Not at all.

Once I started thinking about how much of my time is spent doing something that requires discipline, I was pretty shocked. I realized that personal discipline is required from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. The realization that if I am not intentional about everything, a lot of things will fall through the cracks. The fact remains that no matter how disciplined I become, I still need to be working on getting better.

What about you?

How much of your day is consumed with disciplines?

Dear facebook...

2010-06-21T01:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Facebook,

What’s up? How’s life? Things are going pretty well in Steve-world, but there are a couple of things we need to talk about.

We have been friends now for a few years. I have seen you grow up and mature over the years. I have seen you overtake Myspace as the #1 social media website. I have been been there every step of the way as you’ve made changes – some good, some bad. But it’s time we have an honest, one-on-one conversation.

I’ve been patient through these changes. I’ve sat through numerous changes to my wall and my news feed. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that I can invite my 700+ friends to a weekend cookout using the new events section. I love the fact that I can tell people who I don’t really talk to “Happy Birthday”. However, you’ve crossed the line.

I’ve started hanging out with another social media website. Her name is Twitter. She is pretty cool. We are just friends. I have not totally abandoned you for Twitter, but you’re not making this easy. I feel like you are jealous of our new friendship. If you would just give her a chance, I think you would really like her. It doesn’t have to be a competition. I can be friends with you BOTH. You could even work together like the good ole’ days when I first introduced you to each other.

Remember back in the day when I could update my Twitter and my Facebook status at the same time? One status update on two different social media websites working together to make my life easier. It was beautiful. Now, I update my Twitter and it shows up on my Facebook News Feed but not as a status update. Therefore, people who only look at their friends status updates are not seeing the Internet goodness that I am trying to communicate. You have put Twitter on the same level as Farmville and the Twilight Quizes. What happened between you two? You were working together so well.

We need to get this problem fixed as soon as possible for 2 reasons: 1) To make my social media life easier and 2) People need to read my status updates because I am that important. (Kidding…but really…I am…)

Sincerely,

Steve Moore

24/7/36

2010-06-11T20:53:00.001-07:00

What would you prefer?

A spouse who tells you he/she loves you ten times a day…or one who’s faithful to you alone, consistently doing the things that show he/she cares?

A significant other who gives you homemade cards with “you’re-the-best-thing-in-my-life” messages…or one who respects you, honors you, and doesn’t date around on you?

Kids who tell you how much you mean to them…or kids who are trustworthy, caring enough to obey you because they believe you want their very best?

Friends who keep reminding you that you’re their best friend…or those who are there when you need them most, never stabbing you in the back when you’re not around?

If you’re like me, your answer is BOTH! I want the words AND the actions. Well. God is no different. God wants both your WORDS and ACTIONS.

In fact, there are two primary Greek words for worship in the New Testament:

1.PROSKUNEO, which literally means “to kiss the hand of a king” or “to bow down”. This is the word used in John’s snapshot of heaven in Revelation 5:11-14. This is where God’s people unite to corporately worship him in one voice. This is our WORDS.

2.LATREIA, which literally means “to serve”. This is the word Paul used in Romans 12:1. This is where worship becomes so much more than singing songs and becomes a way of life. This is our ACTIONS.

The true test of worship isn’t so much what we say, but how we live. Singing songs is not enough. God cares about what you say, but God isn’t honored by words alone. The total package matters – what you say, how you say it, whether you mean it, and whether you live it out in your daily life.

24/7/36

funniest commercial ever...

2010-06-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

you may think its annoying but I laugh so hard every time I see it... so funny

why im not a fan of interleague play...

2010-06-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

top 5 reasons im not a fan of interleague play...

- takes away from the world series
I dont want to see the dodgers vs yankees play this season than in the world series... it take intreage out of the game (this is an example, im not predicting a new york vs LA world series)

- It creates wanna be rivalries
Does anyone care about the indians vs the reds or baltimore vs washington or better yet seattle vs san diego? I mean come on really?

- Its not fair.
The Dodgers have to face detriot 3 times, anaheim 6 times, boston 3 times, and new york 3 times. While the padres have to face seattle 6 times, baltimore 3 times, toronto 3 times and tampa bay 3 times.
So the dodgers play teams that are bound for the playoffs and are really good while the padres play one team in tampa bay with a winning record.

- It takes away from the purity of the game. NL teams are built for bunting and small ball while AL teams are built for power. Its dumb to watch an NL team to have there best pinch hitter as a DH.

- Its a bud selig idea, the only thing that selig has done that I actually like is the wild card idea. other than that he has been one of the worst commissioners in baseball history. He should let Pete Rose in the hall of fame, overturn the call and give Gallaraga a perfect game, and let instant replay be used.

Meet Chris' Daddy update

2010-06-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about fantasy baseball is trades, picking up that rare gem of a player, getting that player who comes out of nowhere to be a viable fantasy guy and the bragging right with freinds. In march I posted my drafted team here, well things have changed greatly, so without further delay and a team name meet the new squad.

Matt has no sould pt3.

Catcher- Joe mauer- trade
First baseman- Miguel Cabrera- trade
Second baseman- Robinson Cano
Third Baseman- Adrian Beltre- pick up
Shortstop- Derek Jeter
Right fielder- Andre Ethier
Center fielder- Franklin Gutierrez
Left fielder- Denard span- pick up
Bench- Carlos Gonzalez
Bench- Curtis Granderson
Bench- Rafael Furcal

Pitcher- Roy Halladay- trade
Pitcher- Hiroki Kuroda- pick up
Pitcher- John Ely- Pick up
Pitcher- Cliff Lee
Pitcher- Carl Pavano
Pitcher- Colby Lewis- pick up
Pitcher- Jeff Francis- pick up
Pitcher- Nick Blackburn
Pitcher- Doug Fister- pick up
Pitcher- Carlos Silva- pick up
Pitcher- Anibal Sanchez- pick up
Pitcher- Kevin Correia- pick up
Pitcher- Jorge De La Rosa
Pitcher- Heath Bell
Pitcher- Octavio Dotel- pick up

Its crazy that I have changed my roster so much. most of the team that I had 2 months ago is gone but Im in such better shape now than I was when I started. I love fantasy baseball!