What A Ride

Life has been very crazy for me lately, but it has been a good kind of crazy. My daughter graduated from 6th grade, which means she is now a part of the youth ministry at our church. I have waited for this day since she was born. People told me that I was nuts to be excited about my kids becoming teenagers, but when that is the age group you work with it makes perfect sense because you know how to relate with them.

So her first big youth trip was Rockpointe’s annual trip to America’s Roller Coast known as Cedar Point. We had so much fun together and I loved seeing her hanging out with the teens. As you can tell by the picture she pushed herself and rode one of the big coasters with her dad called the Millenium Force. It was a really great day.

During some of this time I went down to a church near Cincinnati, OH to interview for their open youth pastor position. Most of you know that I have been looking for a full-time youth pastor position since I graduated from Bible college in 1999. And have been looking to get back into some form of a paid youth pastor position since I left the church I was a part-time youth pastor at in March of 2005. It has been a long journey only to be added to when I got laid off in the middle of January from the factory job I had. So going for an interview was a very nice thing, but I really didn’t expect to get the job, because we had been on interviews for youth pastor positions a couple of times before.

I was really shocked when they called us back down for a second interview and was even more shocked when I was told that I was the only on being invited back down. So we made arrangements to go back down the last weekend in June, which threw a wrench into our annual 4th of July trip up to Manistee, MI. We adjusted our arrival dates with the campground and figured we would just take a day off to rest in between driving 4 hours south to Cincy and then 4 hours north to Manistee.

While we were down for the interview we fell more and more in love with the church and the people there. And they seemed to like us as well. We came back home with a good feeling about this one, but we had good feelings about other ones as well so we were cautiously optimistic.

The pastor had said that we would probably hear something back before he left for his trip to Haiti, which was Friday (July 3rd). However, I told people that we wouldn’t hear back until he came back on July 14th so we didn’t have to hear the constant barrage of questions if we “had heard anything yet”.

Yesterday I heard back from them and accepted to be the youth pastor at The River Church in Liberty Township, OH. I am very excited to be finally getting back into “the game” and can not wait to get down there.

We do not know exactly when we will be heading down there, but hope to be down there either the first or second week of August. The schools down there start a lot earlier than schools here in Michigan, so we want to get down there and get the kids settled in before school starts.

There are only two sad things in all of this. One is leaving all of our family, friends and loved ones here in Michigan. But we are only 4 hours south and we will be real close to Kings Island, so you are welcome to come visit. However, we will be home from time to time visiting family. The other sad thing is that I will be living in enemy territory with all of those Buckeyes, but they need Jesus too!

Lastly, I want to leave you with this video of Mike Yaconelli. I think it speaks perfectly to what I am getting into. Watch out River Church! It is going to be a fun ride! I can’t wait!!!

Apple had the Worldwide Developers Conference this week and made some pretty sweet announcements. On Monday, I watched some of the live blog coverage on MacRumorsLive.com and then that evening I watched the video of it that Apple posted. I guess that makes me a geek.

Anyway, I was excited by a couple of their announcements. The first one was about the release of Snow Leopard. Apple is taking what is already one of the best operating systems out there and making it even better. Not only that but they are going to do it for only a $29 upgrade cost ($49 for a family pack). It doesn’t stop there, this is sounding like an infomercial, because when you upgrade to Snow Leopard from Leopard you will also gain 6GB of hard drive space! That is really unusual for an OS upgrade. I would love to see Microsoft even come close to doing either of those things with Windows 7. However, I doubt they will because they just seem to keep sliding further and further away from producing a quality OS.

Then I was really excited about the new MacBook Pro lineup. Especially with them making the 13″ MacBook into the Pro lineup and lowering the price. Apple is really doing a great job of lowering their price point so that they can grab an even bigger market share.

The new iPhone OS 3.0 is exciting as well. There isn’t a ton of extra features for the iPod Touch (Note: it is NOT an iTouch), but it will still be a very nice upgrade. I would love to be able to one day get an iPhone. However, I will probably wait until they are free from AT&T and available on the Verizon network. I love U-verse but I have not really been a fan of AT&T’s wireless service, so I will be excited to see what happens next year when Apple’s contract with AT&T ends.

I am looking forward to checking out some of these new tings that Apple is going to be introducing in the next week and coming months.

It was 20 years ago that this event took place and I think we all have something to learn from this man. He was willing to sacrifice all he had for something he believed in. Would you be willing to stand in front of a tank, because of something you believed in?

I think this person’s example shows us what the power of one person can do. We have no idea who this person is. He is simply known as tank man. He didn’t do this for notoriety. He did it because he wanted to make a difference. Though he is unknown he still made a difference and changed his world. So can you.

With the murder of Dr. Tiller on Sunday I have become saddened at the reaction that many Christians and pro-life supporters have had to his death. If you are not familiar with the story you can read about it here.

Let me first of all state that I believe that abortion is wrong. I believe that it is something that we who are Americans and Christ followers need to change in our country. And I feel that the best way to do that is by changing the hearts of people more so than through legislation. I also believe that the issue of pro-life needs to go beyond just abortion and into other areas of life as well. You can read my thoughts on that here.

Back to Dr. Tiller… I have seen Christians call him a maggot and many of them say that they do not grieve the loss of his life at all. I just don’t get that. I believe that the loss of any human life, which is a creation of God made in His very image, is a very sad day and something to be mourned. I was sad on the day that Saddam Hussein was executed for his crimes, because he was a person made in the image of God and I believe even God grieved about it. I believe the same thing about Dr. Tiller. I think God is up in heaven grieving the loss of one of His creations. Why someone would find joy in something like that is beyond me.

When I was in Bible college our class voted for our verse to be Micah 6:8. And all these years later it still rings true for me and I believe how we as Christ followers are supposed to act in situations like this.

He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

There are three things that we need to get right. We need to act with justice. We need to love (and show) mercy. Finally, we need to walk with humility. I believe it can all be summed up into one simple phrase….

I have said it before and will say it again, if there is one thing that we as Christ followers need to get right it is love. Love God and love others.

Here’s what you’re supposed to do… and please don’t spoil the fun… copy and paste, delete my answers, type in your answers and send it to a bunch of people (tag) -including me…

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:30a (eyes opened to alarm) 8:00a (physically got out of bed)

2. How do you like your steak? medium rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Night at the Museum 2

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Biggest Loser

5. What did you have for breakfast? scrambled eggs, toast & hash browns

6. What is your middle name? Douglas

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Thai, Chinese and Mexican

8. What foods do you dislike? mushrooms and beets

10. Favorite dressing? bleu cheese

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Honda Accord or Toyota Camry

12. What are your favorite clothes? shorts, tank top and flip flops

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? Hawaii or Australia

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? full

15. Where would you want to retire? FL, TX, AZ or CA

16. Favorite time of day? Evening

17. Where were you born? Warren, MI

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? University of Michigan (anything) and Detroit Red Wings

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? no clue

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? no idea

21. Pepsi or Coke? Pepsi Throwback

22. Bird watcher? sometimes, but I prefer people watching

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? night

24. Do you have any pets? yes, a dog and a bird

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? nothing at the moment

26. Who did you want to be when you were little? Mack truck driver

27. What is your best childhood memory? going to Manistee, MI every year for the 4th of July Forest Festival

28. Are you a cat person or a dog person? dog (cat’s are the spawn of Satan)

29. Beer or Margarita? both

30. Always wear your seat belt? yep

31. Been in a car accident? yes

32. Favorite Restaurant? Taco Loco, Pizza Rustica, and Bangkok Cuisine

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? the stuff on the Rustica at Pizza Rustica

34. Favorite Flower? lilac & hyacinth

35. Favorite ice cream? bubble gum at House of Flavors

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? never

38. From whom did you get your last email? a church in Texas telling me that I did not make their first cut

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Apple

40. Bedtime? 11:30p to midnight

41. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? everyone’s

42. Broccoli? No

43. What was your favorite vacation? Fort Walton Beach, FL with my wife and kids, and aboard the Pacific Catalyst around the San Juan Islands with my wife and some friends

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Kimmy and Caleb

45. What are you listening to right now? NASCAR

46. What is your favorite color? blue

47. How many tattoos do you have? 2

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? no idea, but more than one

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 5:02p

50. Coffee drinker? yes, but usually decaf lately (Caribou Coffee)

Last year I ran in my very first 5K. Since then I have run in a few other 5K’s. I have really grown to love running and enjoy it very much.

Lately I have been pushing my distances, because I want to run in a 10K now. So I have a 7.25 mile course that I have now run twice. During these runs I noticed something about how I run that made me reflect on my own personal spiritual journey.

When I run I only looking a few steps in front of me. I don’t focus far ahead on what is coming, but I mainly look at the next couple of steps I am going to make. For me it helps me to keep my focus and to not lose heart when I am on a long run. While I was running I thought of the verses in Hebrews 12.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

It is important to keep your focus on the right thing when you are running. Otherwise you might grow weary and lose heart. Instead if you focus on what is right in front of instead of the things that you don’t know, then you will endure and make it to the end.

I have been on a crazy, endurance journey these past 4+ years that I have been seeking a job as a youth pastor at a church. Yet during all of this even though there has been times that I wanted to just give up and throw in the towel I would stick with it and keep pressing on. All I knew was what was right in front of me, so I tried to focus on that and just keep running. Hopefully, I will see that finish line coming up soon but I am not worried. I will keep running because I know that just as Eric Liddell said in the movie “Chariots of Fire”, “And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

That is the reason why I keep pressing on. I keep doing it because I feel God’s pleasure. The reason that I do is because I know that I am doing what He created me to do. Just like when a tulip comes up in the Springtime and blooms, which is an act of worship to God because it is doing what He created it to do, I will keep pursuing Him.

When I go out and run I run, because it brings me pleasure and I believe that it helps me to bring pleasure to God as well. I know that I feel closer to Him. So I encourage you to keep running, don’t give up and keep your focus in the right place so that you don’t lose heart.

I was tagged by my friend, Adam, so here goes….

The 411:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool!

Opening Credits: How Do I Love Her — Steven Curtis Chapman

Waking Up: Seinfeld Theme Song — Seinfeld

First Day At School: It’s A Personal Thing — Steve Taylor

Falling In Love: Drift Away — Uncle Kracker

Fight Song: With Hope — Steven Curtis Chapman

Breaking Up: Jenni’s Face — Sarah Masen

Prom: Solamente Una Vez — Los Panchos (Napoleon Dynamite Soundtrack)

Life: You Are God — The Burning

Mental Breakdown: Merry-Go-Round — Motley Crue

Driving: Your Racist Friend — They Might Be Giants

Flashback: Memory — Back From Nowhere

Getting Back Together: It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas — Dionne Warwick

Wedding: Didn’t I Get This Last Year — Bob Rivers Comedy Corp

Birth of Child: Design — Fiction Company (Napoleon Dynamite Soundtrack)

Final Battle: We’re A Couple Of Misfits — The Silver and Gold Singers

Death Scene: Above All — Rebecca St. James

Funeral Song: Sapphire Bullets Of Love — They Might Be Giants

Remembrance Song: I’m No Superman — The Violet Burning

End Credits: Flow — Mars Hill Music

I am shocked that not one single Metallica song came up.

—————————
I tag Angie, Chris, Lisabeth, Dave and Barb.

We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine…
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – beer or pop in hand.
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.

Here comes the important part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine…
(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer or pop while he flips the meat.

Important again:
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine…
(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ‘ her night off ‘, and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.

Now don’t start getting all angry at me. A friend sent me this email and it was too good to not post. So just laugh.

I saw this video and it made my heart jump! I agree with this. Especially the line that says, “What if church was more of an out-of-church experience. An opportunity to prove what we say we believe with our lives. Then perhaps Sunday could be a day of rest and reflection on all that we have accomplished Monday through Saturday.”

I had posted a statement on my Facebook status that got quite a heated response from people and I think that this video speaks to it. The statement was…

“If Christians in the U.S. would be quiet for a year and only do good works, that would be evangelism. Our actions are way behind our words.” —Dieter Zander

It reminds me a lot of the quote by St. Francis of Assisi…

Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

It is really time for the church here in America to rethink how they do church and start thinking “outside the box”, and I believe that the box is a metaphor for the church’s building. Let’s make Sunday a day where we can rest, reflect and celebrate all that we did during the week to share the Gospel with people, even if we never used words.

What do you think?

HT to Adam McLane.

This past weekend I spent the night in a cardboard box and didn’t eat for 30 hours. Why would someone do something like this? I did it because we took the teens at my church through a program called the 30 Hour Famine. On Friday, 8 May 2009, at 10:00a we told all of the teens to stop eating and that on Saturday, 9 May 2009, at 4:00p we would have a feast together, and then we would stay the night at the church by sleeping in cardboard boxes on the front porch. We did this to give all of us a very small taste of what it is like to be homeless.

I had no problems with the 30 hour fast because I have done a 40 day fast twice before several years ago. The hard part for me was the idea of sleeping outside in a cardboard box. Friday night there was a chance of rain and the nighttime temps were expected to dip into the upper 40’s. People who know me, know that I hate cold weather, so this thought did not thrill me. However, I wanted to simulate homelessness the best I could so I refused to bring a sleeping bag or pillow. Instead I came with two jackets and a hoodie. One of the jackets served as my “pillow” and the other one I wore. I also came with an older, ratty tarp that I had in my garage in case it rained. That is my “home” for the night in the picture on the left.

Fortunately it did not rain but it was cold! I woke up a couple times in the night because I was cold and uncomfortable. All night long and the next day I thought about how hard it must be for homeless people to live like they do and I had it easy because it was for only one night and I had a bathroom nearby. Not to mention that I also had somewhat of a shelter and some homeless people don’t.

But what impacted me more than anything was the poverty simulation that we did on Saturday. The church had coordinated to do this program that Saturday with the teens doing the 30 Hour Famine. There was a sign up for two times, yet there wasn’t enough people to sign up for it to fill up one time slot so they had the teens go through it as well. I am glad they did!

It was really eye opening as to what a person who lives below poverty level has to go through just to survive. The entire program last about three hours with the simulation being only about 1 hour of it, which simulated one month in the life of a real person who lives below the poverty level. Yes, you read that right. Each of these people that we portrayed is a real person who lives in Missouri that the Missouri Association for Community Action has helped out.

I was an 85 year old widower, who owned his own home, but lived on Social Security and had to pay for my mortgage, utilities, groceries, medication and travel. The amount that this man gets in Social Security doesn’t even cover these basic needs, so I had to figure out what resources were out there that could help me. It was a lot harder than I thought! You only get one hour, which represents one month and breaks down to 15 minutes for each week, to try and get all of this done in. As the “weeks” rolled on I found myself getting frustrated by the fact that I had to do this all by myself and other people at least had someone to help them out. I made the mistake of not getting a receipt when I paid my utilities and so the person I paid must have pocketed the money and my utilities got shut off as a result. Otherwise, I was able to accomplish everything I needed to do. But when you have no electricity or heat, does it matter?

I would highly recommend every church to do this poverty simulation. It is really eye opening and will help people to understand in a greater way the poverty problem here in our country. But don’t just do the simulation. Get involved in helping people after you are done.