1 John 3, Father/Daughter Time and Brian Regan

Today was a good day.
This morning I preached on 1 John 3.


This series has been causing me such stress!







Each week I wrestle with the text,
trying to figure out what it is saying
and how to preach it to High School Students.
This week was no different. The chapter starts off with the good news
that those in Christ are "Children of God."
Then the passage goes into how Children of God should live.
Verses 6 and 9 seem to be saying that the Child of God will no longer continue to sin.
What does that mean?
Does it mean the true Child of God will never commit any sin, every again?
Or is it saying that the Child of God will never be comfortable or able to continue
living in sin?
After reading Spurgeon and John Piper's comments on the passage,
reading the actual passage about 30 times,
discussing it with friends over the week
and throwing up my hands last night and simply praying,
I believe 1 John 3 is saying this:
For those who are Born of God, a Child of God,
sin can no longer be tolerated.
This does not mean the Christian will never sin again.
Instead it is saying, God will give the Child of God the power to,
#1 - See sin for what it is,
#2 - Hate sin for what it is,
#3 - Confess sin to the Father
#4 - Fight sin.

I was so excited to share this message with students this morning.
The response?
Not much. Lots of blank stares...One guy falling asleep in the 4th row.
But oh, how I pray that the Spirit of God used this passage
to grow and mature and awaken (literally) students.

Lily and I spent the afternoon together as Marie went to a wedding shower.
We went to Soup Plantation
We Ran in the grass at Chapman University and soaked our feet in our backyard pool.
It was a great day.

My last thought is about Brian Regan. This well-known comedian has a cult-type following
among the Christians I know.
I think that is weird.
The guy is funny, but he is no Carrot-Top. I think some people like something just because others seem to as well.
(See U2 or the current fave of many, The Fray).
I am so puzzled by the Brian Regan phenonomen around me.
Does anyone have an answer to this?

Josh McDowell and a Student named Alex

Tonight we had author, Josh McDowell come to our church. I was really excited about the night because I know that Josh brings the truth with intellectual integrity and passion and because a particular student from El Modena High School named Alex told me he would be coming. Alex showed up to our youth group last Wednesday night for the very first time. I asked him if he was a Christian and he said no. He told me he was coming to our church to ask questions and try to understand the Christian faith. I was so excited to meet him and talk with him about Jesus and very excited when at the end of the night, he told me he would be coming back next week!

Perfect time for Alex to hear from Josh McDowell, right?!
Josh did a great job making a case for the validity of the New Testament scriptures.
(Wanna hear the talk for yourself? Click Here)

After the night was over, I asked Alex what he thought of it.
I was expecting this:
Great Speaker + Non-Christian with Questions
= 1 Brand New Christian


What Alex told me next surprised me.
He told me, "ya, it was interesting, but to be honest I kind of tuned in and out."
I was so bummed!
Here was this one time opportunity...which in my mind was exactly what Alex needed,
and it didn't really impact him.

It got me thinking as I was driving home tonight:
A transformed life...doesn't just happen through a talk.
Sure a person can change thru a sermon/lecture/talk
But the sermon or the person isn't what produces the change...
The change agent is the Holy Spirit.
This Friday, I meet with Alex at Starbucks,
to discuss why a Good God would allow anyone to experience bad things.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will be moving
and transform Alex into a follower of Jesus.

The Coolest Church Bus I Have Ever Seen

At the Planet Wisdom conference we hosted at our church this weekend,
we had a plethora of church vehicles in our parking lot.

This bus was by far the coolest.
I would be so proud to drive or ride in this bus.
The Freedom Flyer fears nothing...

Hosting a Conference

My church is hosting a conference this weekend for junior high and high school students called "Planet Wisdom."

I really love the guys who come in to put on this conference.

They seem to really love Jesus and love students.

This weekend's theme is "What Does God want from Us?"

The speakers, Mark Matlock and Sean McDowell and the "Skit Guys" are going through

Mark 12:30,

30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

The Worship thru Music is from a band I have never heard of but really like,

Addison Road.

The conference went last night from 7pm to 10:45pm

and is all day today, Saturday, 9am to 5pm.

I have 51 students from my group here this weekend, which is great

because normally it is really difficult to get our students to come and pay $30 to

be at their own church.

I am excited about what God is doing this weekend in these students lives.

Being the host of the conference is good and bad:

The Goods

1. We get to know the Planet Wisdom team and really partner with them

2. We get the opportunity to use our church buildings to encourage and be a blessing to other churches

3. Our students get a discount on the conference since we are hosting it
The Bads

1. We have to tell everyone where the bathrooms are, give directions to lunch places, find over 40 volunteers to help do security and product sales and keep our church campus clean for Sunday all at the expense of just hanging with our students

2. I am away from my family all day Friday and Saturday (which are normally days off)

Kickball

In a week of such sad news, I thought I would change gears and share a hilarious story that took place a few weeks ago to my good friends, Shane and Katie Dilisi. Enjoy!

On Thursday night we were playing kickball with our HS youth group, and it
wasn't just your ordinary game of kickball. There was a twist...when you get the
ball, you throw it at the runner to get them out. I was playing in the infield
and it was Shane's turn up to kick. He kicks a line drive right at me...I scoop
it up, aim and throw the ball as hard as I could at Shane, my target. "Got Him!"
I had nailed him right at his ankles, he trips on his feet and then smack, right
down to the pavement he falls. I was mixed with emotion. Everyone was
laughing...I felt so bad, yet it was so funny at the same time. He couldn't
believe it, that his nine month pregnant wife could take him out like that. The
kids definitely had some fun with him that night. He was a good sport...Love you
Honey!

Blognerd

I am a Blognerd. Here are the six steps I took to achieve this status:
#1 - Making the observation that my good friends Eric Wakeling and Victor Estrada were enjoying blogging

#2 - On a quiet Thursday night back in Feb. 2007, innocently creating a blog

#3 - Within the first 3 days of my Blog's existence, realizing I had 108 people visit the site

#4 - With initial success, a passion began within me to someday build a Blogempire

#5 - I began visiting other people's blog and posting comments in the hope that they would visit my blog and post a comment

#6 - Yesterday, sinking to a new low, I engaged in a theological blog debate with a "street musician" who calls himself a Pastor-Writer. We wrote e-mails back and forth arguing about the emerging church movement and what 1 Peter 3:15-16 is really saying.

I am a blognerd.


And I love it.

Aisle 9

I was at Home Depot yesterday when something interesting happened in Aisle 9.

I was staring at boxes and boxes of staples trying to find the right size I needed for a project I am doing on our bedroom shutters. A Home Depot employee obviously observing my ignorance, asked me, "Can I help you find anything?"I told him my situation and what he said next really surprised me.

He said, "to be honest, what we have here is too expensive for what you need. A box of staples costs $15 here, but if you go down the corner of Meats and Glassel, you can get 10 or 12 individual staples for free from the Shutter store."I couldn't believe my ears, He was telling me to go to another store where I could find this item cheaper!

Now I bring all of this up not to bore you with the exciting details of my day. But rather to share with you, what this made me think of next...

As Pastors, why do we insist on having people attend our churches, when there might be a better Bible believing church for their uinique situation and needs? Let me explain:

A few days ago, I went to a powerful memorial service at Trinity Pres. for the Dad of one of our small group leaders at church.

The Pastor gave such a solid and convincing sermon on who Jesus is and what he has done (The Gospel), it was so powerful. Trinity is a conservative Presbryterian church, which conducts far more formal services than we have at Calvary. The music consists mostly of Hymns, the Pastor wears a Robe, the choir sings every Sunday. They even have a handbell group!!!

The day after the memorial, I ran into a friend from my church who would fit in just perfectly at Trinity. My friend is always wanting our church to sing more hymns. My friend is always frustrated that more people do not "dress up" for church and that the Pastors don't tuck their shirts in or wear ties. As I talked to my friend, I couldn't help but think, that he would love attending Trinity Pres!

But for some reason as Pastors, it feels awkward to recommend another church to someone.

But why shouldn't we? What if another church in our community would fit a person's style better and therefore allow them to grow in spiritual maturity and wisdom?

I wish that we as Pastor's would let go of our territorial feelings about our people and truly release them to find the Bible teaching church that best fits them and their family. This is not some board game

where the person with the most land or people wins...We are involved in kingdom work, which transcends churches and cities and nations!

Just some thoughts from Aisle 9 at Home Depot. What is your take?

I Love Easter

Easter is the seriously the best event of the whole year
and I will fight you ninja style if you disagree.
I love Easter so much. Christmas is filled with the stresses of shopping and parties.
Thanksgiving comes and goes so quickly. Halloween is plain weird. New Year's Eve is always more hype than substance and Mother's Day and Father's Days are cool but can come no where near the importance and meaning of Easter.

Why is Easter so great?
Because in the celebrating Easter, we have the opportunity to celebrate the greatest, most powerful, incredible, awe-inspiring, life changing event in the history of the world:
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
I love what 1 Corinthians 15 has to say about the events of Easter:
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he
appeared to Peter,[b]
and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of
the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have
fallen asleep.

55"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"[h]
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Easter 2007 was a very powerful and fun time for me, my church and my
family. Here are my top 9 highlights of the weekend

9) Reading Hebrews 7 and 8, Friday Morning and thinking about Jesus as the great high priest mediating between sinful people and a Holy God

8) Having my Parents, Larry and Susan Doan stay with us for the weekend. (My
parents are my heroes)

7) Going to the Angels Game on Saturday Night with my Dad (Angels won...Boo)

6) Firing up the Jacuzzi when we got home from the Game and talking
theology, church and prayer with my Dad into the midnight hour

5) Going to Saturday morning brunch at the "Beachcomber" off the PCH in Crystal Cove with my Mom, Dad, Sister, Sister's boyfriend Ed McGlausson, and my family, Marie and Lily

4) Bringing a live goat into our High School/Junior High Worship Easter
Worship Gathering...to illustrate the point that Jesus was our ultimate
scapegoat for our sin (See Rob Bell's Message on this topic)

3) Watching my daughter Lily hunt for Easter Eggs on the front lawn

2) Leading a Passover Cedar for 21 of my family members Easter Sunday (cool
time to connect Jesus' death and resurrection to the traditions of the
passover)

1) Participating in the Good Friday service at Calvary "Famous Last Words"
(powerful and inspiring night)

I hope you had a great Easter Weekend as well!

Guest Speakers

I was away last Sunday on our High School Guys Retreat, which was incredible (see photos)
Since myself and the rest of our High School teaching team was away, we had a guest speaker fill in for us back at Calvary. Our guest speaker was one of our Senior class small group leaders, Mark Adair. He continued our verse by verse study of 1 John going though chapter 2:15-17 ("Do Not Love the World").

Everyone I have talked to, has told me that he did an amazing job teaching. After hearing such good reports it got me thinking about what makes a guest teacher successful. Here are a few of my thoughts after 7 years of finding guest speakers to fill in while I am gone on missions trips/camps and vacations:
#1 - It helps if the guest speaker is already a part of the church community
(They now what you have taught on lately, and know the audience they are speaking to)

#2 - It is so important to meet with the speaker ahead of time to go over expectations, hear what they will be teaching on and offer encouragement
(This has to be done everytime or else...problems will arise)

#3 - It is really important to communicate to your guest speaker how much time they can speak for (Usually guest speakers have no idea when the gathering begins or ends and needs direction in order to prepare an effective message)

#4 - I like getting guest speakers whose personality and speaking style is completely different from mine

#5 - Always ask the guest, what type of microphone and podium they prefer and feel comfortable with

#6 - If possible, call the guest speaker a few hours after the gathering is over to hear how it went, offer encouragement and thanks (This is a must and is such an encouragement to the speaker)

#7 - Encourage Guest Speakers to stick to one specific topic/passage
(Often this is a person's one shot at speaking and it becomes tempting to try to preach on everything theyhave ever wanted to say in one message)

#8 - Finally, If you can't find anyone to fill in for you while you are on a Missions trip to Mexico, drive back from Mexico and speak yourself and then drive back down to Mexico later that day
(Only losers would try this...)

Hoodlums in the Target Parking Lot

First of all, Target is a great store. Marie and I try to shop there at least once a week. Where else can you get landry detergent, an i-Pod cover and a $7 t-shirt?

Today, we made a run to Target and drove right into an interesting situation. Two teen males wearing gear that would indicate they were gang members were in the process of knocking a bike lock off of a bike attached to the bike racks. Marie looked at me and said, "let's do something!"

I looked at her and said and something to the effect, "Marie, this is not worth getting shot for."

One of the hoodlums was wearing a baggy sweatshirt that contained a bulge in the front pockets (a gun?!)

Anyways, we drove past the scene and parked the car. I got out of the car and stared down the guys, as they rode the stolen bike past me. (Okay, I didn't stare them down, I just walked past them, but when you read what my wife did next, I had to make it sound like I did something!)

My wife, Marie (a German), stayed in the car while I ran into the store. She couldn't stand to see such injustice take place and when the hoodlums rode past our car, one of the guys looked at her and said, "what's up"

Marie without missing a beat said, "nice bike." The hoodlums glared back at her and rode off.

I was upset when I heard how Marie had attempted to say something to the guys,

(she promised not to confront gang members again) but it got us both thinking about how people respond in different ways to injustice.

Some people try to just look away and not get involved like I did with the hoodlums. Sometimes this is for good reasons (we could get hurt), other times it is because we don't care or are too busy to stop our important tasks.

Other people try to take on injustice without a well thought out plan like my sweet wife tried to do in the parking lot with the hoodlums.

We agreed today, that we want to be people who take notice of injustices around us and appropriately get involved through a well organized and well thought out plan and then do something!

There are alot of injustices going on today in our world, from stolen bikes to civil wars.

As church leaders how will we respond to injustice?

#1 - Will we ignore injustice and not get involved? (after all, we might get hurt)

#2 - Will we react out of emotion without a well thought out plan? (like many well meaning churches)

or

#3 - Will we gather our resources and each other, make God directed plans and then do something! (like Nehemiah did in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem)

Good questions to ponder.

A lot can be learned at Target.