River Romp is 20 Days away

Just got back from a week of camp

at Hume Lake and I am worn out.

But the time is now
to start preparing for our Lake trip
coming up in a few weeks.

We call our Lake trip.
River Romp, even though it is at the Lake.
Go figure.

Interestingly enough,
no student has ever asked me about this discrepancy.
We used to go to the river at River Romp,
but the Rivers out here in California are mostly
in the High Desert regions
and are freakish places of weather in the month of August.

Thus 5 years ago, I decided to move the trip
to the Lake, but did not have the heart to
change the name to Lake Romp.

Here is a photo of the the Lake we go to, Lake San Antonio

The name River Romp is kind of a sacred cow
around our youth ministry.

Fellow youth pastors,
are there any ridicolous sacred cows
like this in your ministry?

I would like to hear them
if you have one...

Here is our flyer for the trip

Here are my Pre-Trip Stats:

Dates: August 19-22

Students Going: 90+

Volunteer leaders: 25

Boat Drivers: 10

Degree of Difficulty in planning the trip (1-10 scale): 7

Best Part about the Trip: Worship under the stars/Wakeboarding

Theme: One Truth, One God, One People (part of our One Summer Series)

Most Interesting thing about this year's trip: We have 10 group home guys coming with us

Biggest Prayer: Safety...Boating trips stress me out in this area

Goal: Students hear from God while away from the OC and that students are challenged to live for One truth, as they follow the One God and live as One people as they head back to school

Bill Walsh and my surrender to GOD

Bill Walsh, the greatest football coach of all-time

died today...

Walsh is best known for coaching the

San Fransisco 49ers and creating

the West Coast Offense.

As a boy growing up in Northern California

in the 1980's,

the 49ers were everything to me.

I would wake on Sunday mornings at 7;30AM

to watch the 49er report with Wayne Walker from

KPIX, Channel 5.

Each week, Walker would interview

Coach Walsh and ask him about the

previous week's game as well

as this week's opponent.

I loved listenting to Walsh comment

on his players and the upcoming games

and his thoughts about football in general.

Walsh was a genius.

In those days, I would often

fake sick from Church

on Sunday's when the 49ers would

play an East Coast game that started

at 9;30am, so that my parents

would let me stay home from church

so I would be able to watch the
entire 49ers game.

Sunday's back then in my mind

were primarily for 49er football...

then to worship God.

All that changed

When I was a sophomore in High School,

I began to feel convicted of my love

of the 49ers and how it seriously

impacted my journey with Jesus.

I made a decision up at Hume Lake

that summer at the age of 15,

that I would surrender everything

in my life to God, even 49er football.

From that point on,

I still followed the Walsh, Montana, Rice

and the team, but made a commitment

to never skip an opportunity

to worship God on a Sunday

just to watch a football game.

All those memories came

flooding back to me when I heard

about Walsh passing away today.

Here is my all-time favorite photo of Bill Walsh talking strategy

with Quarterback, Joe Montana.

The Hume High

Where I spent last week

Hume Lake!

I Truimphantly returned home from

Hume Lake last night

along with 216 of our high school students

and 25 counselors.

Hume Lake is a Christian Camp, located in the

Sequioa National Forest, about 45 minutes from Fresno.

It is an amazing camp in a incredibly beautiful place

The High School camp is called Ponderosa

which always reminds me of one of the best

TV shows of all time, BONANZA

I believe the Pondersosa camp up at Hume

is the best camp for High School Students I have ever heard of.

The teaching is straight from the Bible and

focused towards a High School audience.

The times of Worship through music are incredible.

The activity options and

program of the camp are perfect for students.

I love Hume Lake!


Hume High

One thing that happens every year to the students

we bring up to Hume
is what some refer to as the "mountain top experience.''

students get away from the busyness, stress and temptations

of high school life

and are given 6 days to focus on God.

During the week of camp,

Students are given several opportunities

to make commitments to Jesus Christ.

It is awesome to watch as God breaks down walls

in students hearts and causes high school kids

to repent of sin and make a commitment to live

their high school years for Jesus Christ.

Thursday night, I watched as guys and girls from

our youth group, broke down in tears

as they prayed with leaders and made renewed

promises to follow Jesus.

The last night of camp, the entire group of

1,000 students gather together at a place called

Victory Circle.

We have a bonfire and some worship through music

and students are given the opportunity to share with their

peers about what God has done in their lives during the week

of camp.

The stories students share during this time
are powerful and inspiring.

Sadly, many of the students who made commitments

to follow Jesus up at camp will have a difficult time

living out these commitments once they arrive back home.

This is what is called the "Hume High."

Students get all emotional and passionate for God

up at camp, where the focus is and purpose is on God,

and then when they arrive home, the high wears off

and they slowly return to mediocre Christian lives.

This morning, at our High School service at church

I spoke on this idea and warned students not to treat

God like a Monster Energy Drink

that effects you for a while but eventually fades away.

but instead to use the Hume High

to create an appetite for an everyday relationship

with God.

Is the "Hume High" a Bad Thing?

I don't think so.

Even if it does

fade away for some students

it is not necessarily

a bad thing.

Emotions play such a huge role in students lives

and if Hume was nothing more than a emotional

time with God that does not produce lasting effects,

I still believe that the camp had value in the life

of the student.

I know of several of our former students who are not

walking with the Lord,

but who love Hume Lake and the experience they

had there.

God can and will use temporary, emotional

highs in immature students to create a longing for

God, maybe even 10 or 2o years down the line.

My Hume Prayer

"Lord, use the Hume High that we experienced

this week to create an appetite

in our students to live in a daily relationship

with you where you are the Lord of life.

I especially pray for those students

who after the emotions have worn away,

will fall away. I pray that you Oh God,

will use Hume Lake and the emotions they

experienced there, 5, 10, 30 years

from now to draw wayward hearts to

yourself.

Thank you that even when I give up on

students, you never do."

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Albania and Airports

Today, I had the honor of taking a group

from our church to Los Angeles International Airport

as they prepared to fly to Albania for a two week

short-term missions trip.

It was exciting to talk with the team and hear their

thoughts as they embarked on the adventure.

Marie and I led a group to Albania 3 years ago.

Before going to Albania, to be honest, I had no idea

where the county was located.
Here is a photo of us in Albania in 2004.

Albania is located on the Adriatic Sea, across the sea from Italy

just above Greece and west of Macedonia.

Some scholars

believe the Apostle Paul may have traveled through the region

of Albania on one of his missionary journey's.

The country was once declared an "Atheist Nation"
by its government.

Today, about 18 years after this declaration,

Christianity is growing as people like my friends

The Dosti Family serve

and love the people of Albania

in the name of Jesus.

The group leaving for Albania today,

was especially close to my heart

because it contained 4 of my former high school students,

3 of which were returning to Albania

after originally going with us 3 years ago.

5 years ago, I began to pray the God would raise

up full-time cross-cultural missionaries out of our

youth group. I prayed that God would give us

at least 10 students out of my time as the High School Pastor

who would commit to full-time missions.

So far there are (2):

Ryan Borden

Paulina Johnson

Hopefully there are several more who will commit

to this noble calling over the next few years.

After dropping off the team,

and being alone with my thoughts

on the way home to Orange County,

I became bored, so

I began making a list in my head

of the top 5 best and worst

airports I have ever been to:

Best

5. San Jose, Ca (Clean, easy drop-off points, close and accesible parking)

4. Maui, HI (Airport is small, but who cares, you are in Maui!)

3. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (Crazy Huge, has the coolest walking sidewalk ever)

2. Damoteo, Ecuador (Dirt/Grass runway...scariest, most exciting take-off's anywhere)

1. John Wayne Airport, Orange County (Home sweet Home, clean, never crowded)

Worst

5. O'Hare, Chicago (Confusing, Crowded, too many Cubs Fans)

4. Honolulu, HI (Not a bad place to arrive, but departing means you are leaving Hawaii)

3. Catalina Island, Ca (Scariest Landing Ever...Worse than the Jungle)

2. LAX (Crowded, Stressful, Dirty)

1. San Francisco, Ca (Crazy Landing, Crowded, Stressful, No Parking)

Heroes

I have to tell you about 2 of my heroes.

#1 - Mark Roberts

Mark is the Senior Pastor at Irvine Pres. in Irvine, Ca.

He is an incredible thinker and has the best Blog

of any Pastor I know (that's right Vic and E).

You can view his blog here.

Mark also writes daily thoughts on a Psalm

and on a Gospel passage each day.

Lately I have been using this for my morning

time with God.

You can find these resources at

Pray the Psalms

Pray the Gospels

#2 - Matt Chandler

Matt is the teaching pastor

at The Village Church in

the Dallas, TX area.

Matt is an incredible communicator

who isn't afraid to bring it when it comes to preaching.

Every time I give a message

to the High School students

at church I think to myself,

"Would Chandler have taught like this?"

You can find Matt Chandler's messages here

Note: A Reminder to myself

It is good to have heroes.

People that I can look up to

and observe

qualities in that I want to have.

But I need to be careful.

Heroes can let me down.

Heroes are not above making mistakes.

Jesus is the one I should "fix my eyes on" as

Hebrews 12 says. My prayer is that I continue

to have men and women in my life that I can look to

for inspiration, but that ultimately my hero, my example,

the one I look to will be Jesus Christ.

Ode to Sunglasses

I lost my sunglasses.

They are no where to be found.

I've only had them for 6 months,

I got them for Christmas.

They are Von Zipper Glasses,

that look like this:

The easy thing to say is that someone stole them.

But the truth is, I more than likely set them down

somewhere and absent mindedly walked away.

The best, most amazing, insightful, intelligent, well-thought out,

helpful question that anyone

can ever ask you when you lost something is this one:

"Well, where was the last place you had them?"

Never once, have I have had anyone ask me this great question

and had my answer lead me to my lost item.

Last Sunday in our High School group,

I taught on one of the most incredible Bible passages

in the entire scriptures, Luke 19:10.

Jesus is speaking to the crowd

in the home of Zaccheus

when he says in Luke 19:10,

"The son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost."

What a powerful mission statement.

Jesus entering our world to seek those that are lost from God.

(Painting, 'The Lost Sheep' by Alfred Soord, 1868-1915)

Do you think term "lost" might somehow include my sunglasses?

Life Observations, Part III (Part 3 in a 3 Part Series)

I love 4th of July.

For followers of Jesus,

I believe it is the most strategic

holiday of the year.

I believe there are more

opportunities to share Jesus

and show Jesus

with Non-Believers on this day

than all other American holidays combined.

How can I say this?

Think about it,

Christmas is all about work parties,

Christmas Eve church services

and Christmas morning family traditions.

Rarely do we interact with our Unbelieving Neighbors

or friends on Christmas, were too busy.

Easter is a incredible time to tell others

about who Jesus is,

but again, it is not usually a time we hang out with

neighbors. It is either too cold outside or we

are again to busy running to Easter brunches or

family get-togethers.

The 4th of July is an incredible

time to be with our neighbors and friends who

don't know Jesus.

It is usually hot outside,

which brings everyone out of their houses

and onto front yards and parks and streets.

It is one of the few times in the year that everyone

seems to slow down for a day.

For many people, this is the one day

of the entire year that they walk around their

neighborhoods or invite their neighbors for a BBQ

or simply even converse with those they live around.

I am all for relational evangelism.

Christians building authentic, loving friendships with people

who do not acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord

and showing them Jesus through our loving, our lifestyle,

our choices, and our words.

The 4th of July is packed full of chances

to do this!!!

My 4th of July Prayer

May Christians on this day,

be a city on a hill to their friends and neighbors

refelecting the light of Jesus

in their loving,

in their living

in their speaking

in their listening.

Lord, use Christians in mighty ways on this day

whether around a fire pit,

or a parade route,

or just sitting in cheap, plastic lawn chairs.

Lord may you use Christians today

to reflect your Glory and your Grace.

Amen.

Life Observations, Part II (no offense Seth)

I have a 5 minute commute from the church where I work to my house.

This 5 minute drive covers about 3 miles
of stoplights and intersections.

In the last 6 months, these
stoplights and intersections
have become hot spots
for directional signs marketing.
In case your wondering,
this is a directional sign marketing


In my opinion, the rise of directional signs
in business marketing
is one of the most interesting phenomenons
of the 21 century.
As a public relations major in college
I took several marketing classes and never once
heard or even dreamed that the craze of the next
decade would be humans beings
twirling/holding signs on street corners
to promote the local
Subway deli or blowout sale at a furniture store.

Over the last few months, I have been wrestling
with how I feel about directional signs.
I narrowed down my feelings
to (2) objections.
#1 Objection
I realize people are getting paid to hold
the signs and are willingly taking the jobs,
but in some ways the job seems demeaning.
Human beings standing on busy, dangerous intersections
dancing and twirling and holding signs.

#2 Objection
It feels like ad pollution.
Do we really need more signs in Orange County?
Do we really have to forced to look at ads as
we sit at red lights going to and fro?

Your Thoughts
What are your thoughts on directional sign marketing?
Am I being overly sensitive to the idea that it is demeaning
or at best ad pollution?
Let me know!