Tuesday evening, October 30th at 9:54pm,
Marie and I were blessed with the arrival of
Samuel Calvin Doan.
Wakeling girls, future theologians and summer olympians of 2024
beware, baby Doan is on the scene:
Tim and the 700 Club
Images from the Fires and Churches Getting Involved
(Church Member visits Malibu Presbyterian Church, which burned down on Monday)courtesy Barb Davidson, LA Times
( The Santiago Canyon Fires burns on as of Wednesday night...the smoke clouds are pretty thick from this fire, even at my house about 10 miles away) courtesy Al Seib, LA Times
(Fire Crews battle a fire on Palomar Mtn. in San Diego County. We are planning to hold our Church's Men's retreat up the mountain from this picture, next April.) courtesy Wally Skalis, LA Times
It has been quite a week here in Orange County.
Most people I know, have been glued
to the TV, watching the fires rage on.
My friend Eric Marsh, an Pastor at Grace Brethren in Long Beach, Ca
sent this e-mail today,
detailing some of the ways, churches are getting
involved in the recovery efforts...
"Brothers and sisters in Christ, Several of you have been rallying resources
for the fire and/or are looking for places to help people give.
Northcoast Church in Vista has been given tremendous opportunities to assist throughout
north SD county. NorthCoast pastor Casey Yorman will be recruiting teams to help
clean and serve communities in the next 7-10 days. Until then, he would love to
have churches in LA/OC help them get grocery and Walmart gift cards into the
hands of the tens of thousands that are in shelters around their church.
If you are interested, encourage those who would like to participate to
include a (simple) note with the gift card. Casey said it would be a tremendous
encouragement for those in the shelters to know that families to the north are
praying for them.
If you want to help in this way, RockHarbor's REACH department and Hope for
Long Beach will be coordinating the effort.
We will plan for drop-offs Friday,
Sunday after church, and early next week.
Feel free to contact me via e-mail (fastest way).
Other good options:
- Revolution took a truck of water/supplies down to San Diego today.
Their website is http://www.revolutionfamily.com/
- Saddleback has current serve ops on their website, http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/
- Vicki Barilla from Grace Seal Beach did some great research. The e-mail
sent to their congregation is
attached.
- As of tomorrow, the ServeDay website will updated with current
needs.Thanks for rallying the troops.
http://www.serveday.org/
In Christ,Eric Marsh
http://www.gracelb.org/http://www.hflb.org/
I am excited to see how Souther California churches
step up to help people in this tragedy.
Interesting New Sermon Series
Mark Driscoll and the fine folks
of Mars Hill in Seattle have an interesting
sermon series they are preparing
for 2008.
You have to check this out for yourself.
click on this...Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington
It feels a little American Idolish (which is not cool),
but the intention of the series
to model
the give and take answers between Paul and
the church in Corinth of
1 Corinthians is really cool (and more importantly theologically interesting).
of Mars Hill in Seattle have an interesting
sermon series they are preparing
for 2008.
You have to check this out for yourself.
click on this...Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington
It feels a little American Idolish (which is not cool),
but the intention of the series
to model
the give and take answers between Paul and
the church in Corinth of
1 Corinthians is really cool (and more importantly theologically interesting).
San Diego Fires hit close to home
(Firefighters look on in Rancho Bernardo, Ca - Lenny Agnelzi, AP - MSNBC.COM)I was awoken this morning in my hotel room in San Diego,
to my boss and friend Eric Wakeling, telling me
he has just talked to our former co-worker and
friend, Tim Nellis.
Tim and his wife Natalie
are two of Marie and my's closest friends
and were enjoying the YS conference
with us all weekend at the Town and Country Covention Center
and then communting back home at night to their home
in Rancho Bernardo, while our team from Calvary Church
stayed at the DoubleTree near the convention center.
Tim called Eric this morning with terrible news.
His church was on fire.
(This is Tim's church...Above is the main sanctuary, not pictured to the left is the youth room...courtesy Lenny Agnelzi, AP - MSNBC.COM)Throughout the day, I have been getting updates from Tim
on the situation, but as of 4:30pm Pacific Standard Time,
the best we can understand at this point, is that the sanctuary
of Tim's church has burnt down.
It is so interesting in this life,
how one minute we can be at a conference
how one minute we can be at a conference
learning new ways to creatively pastor
students and then in the span of a few hours
have your life and priorities completely
turned upside down.
There aren't any conference seminars at YS
about what to do when a fire destroys the homes
of your students or how to pastor when
your church goes up in flames.
Yet, I believe God will show up in mighty ways
through this tragedy.
In fact, in a weird way, don't take this wrong...
but I am excited about
how God will use this to bring Glory and Honor
to His name. I am excited about
how God will use Tim and Natalie in awesome
ways to minister to others in their church
and community.
If you want to help in some way,
simply send a check or goods made
to me at my church in Santa Ana
and I will make sure it gets to Tim and Natalie
and their church.
My address at church:
1010 North Tustin Ave.
Santa Ana, Ca 92705
I met a celebrity!
This weekend, I find myself at the Youth Specialties
I love Y.S. because it makes being a youth pastor feel
1. Loving Jesus
One of the highlights of my weekend in San Diego,
In the Christian community, David Crowder
The reason the photo is blank, is because the guy who took our photo
never pressed down on the button. Arrgh.....
But I think it is for the best.
It is kind of weird to have Christian celebrities.
In 1st Corinthians 11, Paul tells us we should
imitate him and his faith in Jesus.
So it is not wrong to look up to other Christians
and want to be like them.
But when it all comes down to it,
we all look to Jesus,
who is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Jesus is the ultimate one we admire and want to be like
in our everydaylives.
conference in San Diego, Ca.
Y.S. conference is a place filled with 3,500 youth workers
from all over California and beyond, who come together
for 4 days of speakers, training, concerts and the like.
I love Y.S. because it makes being a youth pastor feel
valuable and it always refocuses me on what is important
mainly...
1. Loving Jesus
2. Loving my wife and family
3. Loving the High School Students, God has entrusted me to Pastor
One of the highlights of my weekend in San Diego,
was meeting David Crowder.
This is Crowder....
In the Christian community, David Crowderis one of the most influential Christians of the last decade.
He has written many of the songs, my church and churches
throughout the U.S. and world sing, every Sunday.
Crowder and his band played at the YS conference
here in San Diego this weekend.
It was incredible.
Victor Estrada, the worship leader at our church
and my blogfather, were like little school girls
rushing the stage to get an upfront
view of the experience.
After Crowder and the fellas played, we waited and waited
to meet David and get a picture with him.
Here is the picture to verify our experience...
The reason the photo is blank, is because the guy who took our photo
never pressed down on the button. Arrgh.....
But I think it is for the best.
It is kind of weird to have Christian celebrities.
In 1st Corinthians 11, Paul tells us we should
imitate him and his faith in Jesus.
So it is not wrong to look up to other Christians
and want to be like them.
But when it all comes down to it,
we all look to Jesus,
who is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Jesus is the ultimate one we admire and want to be like
in our everydaylives.
My Soapbox: The Strange Popularity of Axe
I walked into the Junior High Boys Bathroom at our church
the other day, only to be hit with the putrid smell
of Axe deodorant.
Axe is the foulest smelling deodorant I have ever had the
priviledge of inhaling.
Haven't ever smelt Axe?
Just imagine, windex cleaner, a can of lemon lysol spray
and wet wipes all colliding at once, and you basically
have the deodorant, Axe.
Yet, for some crazy reason, the majority
of the High School and Junior High Guys at our church
wear it.
As a Youth Pastor, I spend a tremendous amount
of time studying youth culture in order to understand
the students I work with.
For the life of me,
I haven't ever been able to understand the popularity
of Axe, until...
for this blog posting, I went on the Axe website.
It was sad.
The axe marketing campaign is,
wear Axe, get girls, lots of girls.
It is a really stupid and sophomoric campaign,
but it seems to be working with high school guys.
This makes me sad, but it also makes me mad.
I am so tired of companies like Carl's Jr, Sports Illustrated and
Axe going after the temptation button of our High School guys
in order to sell burgers, magazines and smelly deodorants.
When will it stop?
When will we as men,
stand up and speak...no demand,
that our culture stop throwing sexual images
at our adolescent guys?
The pressures of being a high school guy have never been greater.
the other day, only to be hit with the putrid smell
of Axe deodorant.
Axe is the foulest smelling deodorant I have ever had the
priviledge of inhaling.
Haven't ever smelt Axe?
Just imagine, windex cleaner, a can of lemon lysol spray
and wet wipes all colliding at once, and you basically
have the deodorant, Axe.
Yet, for some crazy reason, the majority
of the High School and Junior High Guys at our church
wear it.
As a Youth Pastor, I spend a tremendous amount
of time studying youth culture in order to understand
the students I work with.
For the life of me,
I haven't ever been able to understand the popularity
of Axe, until...
for this blog posting, I went on the Axe website.
It was sad.
The axe marketing campaign is,
wear Axe, get girls, lots of girls.
It is a really stupid and sophomoric campaign,
but it seems to be working with high school guys.
This makes me sad, but it also makes me mad.
I am so tired of companies like Carl's Jr, Sports Illustrated and
Axe going after the temptation button of our High School guys
in order to sell burgers, magazines and smelly deodorants.
When will it stop?
When will we as men,
stand up and speak...no demand,
that our culture stop throwing sexual images
at our adolescent guys?
The pressures of being a high school guy have never been greater.
My Prayer
"Father, protect our high school guys.
Give them strength to be young men of purity who follow Jesus.
Give us older guys, courage and wisdom
to protect our young men
from being picked off by the monster
of sexual temptation."
Hospitals and On-Deck Circles
My family spent a lot of time in the hospital this weekend.
Hospitals are places of great contrasts.
On one floor, the miracle of life and birth is taking place
to excited parents and families.
On another floor, or perhaps just down the hall,
extreme tradegy is taking place as people suffer in pain
and families say goodbye to the people they love the most.
As a Christian and as a pastor, there is something about this contrast
that totally intrigues me and makes me wonder, how our Church
could be more pro-active in hospital ministries throughout Orange County.
We were in the hospital this weekend for joyous reasons.
My brother Nathan and his wife delivered their first child,
a girl named Sophia on Friday night.
Just a few hours later, my brother in-law and sister in-law
gave birth to a boy, Paul.
It was a wonderful and exciting weekend for us.
Marie, my wife is on-deck.
We are scheduled to complete the baby trifecta
with the birth of our son in November.
Being on-deck is a nerve racking , yet exhilarating experience...
Willie Mays, the Greatest Baseball Player of All-Time...kneeling on-deck
awaiting to bat
in the 1960's...
Warning: This post includes a recipe
Today is October 11th and the Fall season is well underway.
Here in Orange County this means it is 71 degrees outside
instead of 72 degrees outside.
5 Reasons I love the Fall...
#5 - Playoff Baseball (mlb.com)
#4 - College Football (click here to see one of my former youth group student's, now playing at UCLA; Matthew Slater's season stats)
#3 - Oak Glen/Apple Picking (want directions?...click here)
#2 - New episodes of "The Office" arrive (click here to see this week's episode)
#1 - 3 Words: Pumpkin. Spice. Latte.
Here is a home recipe for making a PSL
Pumpkin Spice Latte
1 heaping T. canned pumpkin
2 T. Vanilla syrup1 t. Ginger Spice syrup (or sub 1/4 t. ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup milk
1-2 shots espresso (1/4 C. espresso or 1/2 C. strong brewed coffee)
To make a pumpkin latte at home: In a small saucepan, stir pumpkin puree into milk.
Add syrup and cinnamon. Heat gently until steaming, stirring occasionally.
Blend on high for 20 second until foaming.
Pour flavored milk into a tall glass and pour coffee over.
Dust with ground pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg.
Serves 1
Here in Orange County this means it is 71 degrees outside
instead of 72 degrees outside.
5 Reasons I love the Fall...
#5 - Playoff Baseball (mlb.com)
#4 - College Football (click here to see one of my former youth group student's, now playing at UCLA; Matthew Slater's season stats)
#3 - Oak Glen/Apple Picking (want directions?...click here)
#2 - New episodes of "The Office" arrive (click here to see this week's episode)
#1 - 3 Words: Pumpkin. Spice. Latte.
Here is a home recipe for making a PSL
Pumpkin Spice Latte
1 heaping T. canned pumpkin
2 T. Vanilla syrup1 t. Ginger Spice syrup (or sub 1/4 t. ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup milk
1-2 shots espresso (1/4 C. espresso or 1/2 C. strong brewed coffee)
To make a pumpkin latte at home: In a small saucepan, stir pumpkin puree into milk.
Add syrup and cinnamon. Heat gently until steaming, stirring occasionally.
Blend on high for 20 second until foaming.
Pour flavored milk into a tall glass and pour coffee over.
Dust with ground pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg.
Serves 1
The Buzz and the Backlash
Today, I went to supercuts to get a haircut.
As as sat down in the chair,
a decent thought came into my head.
"Head, it is time for a buzz," I thought to myself.
So I instructed the nice haircut person
to show no mercy and bust out
the 2 inch clip.
I was feeling good about the new look
until I got home.
I had called Marie to tell her to prepare our 2 year old
for the new and improved daddy,
but even her advanced warning could not prepare
Lily for the absolute shock and fear that came over
her little self, the moment her daddy walked in
the front door.
As soon as she saw me, she started bawling.
I immediately went to the closet and got out on a hat.
(Cal Bears, by the way).
Several times, I tried to take off my hat
and show her my freshly cut head of hair,
but each time I tried,
she simply cried,
"hat daddy, hat."
I may be wearing this hat for the next few weeks.
For my sake, I sure hope CAL at least beats USC.
Who is the Bible really about?
(Painting by 18th century Spanish artist, Romito) Last month as Marie, Lily drove the 6 hour trek
to my parents house in Northern California,
we listened to a lecture by a Pastor from New York
named Tim Keller.
In this lecture, given at Trinity Evangelical Seminary,
Keller spoke on the need to make Jesus the central
part of every sermon.
Me and Marie were so inspired by Keller's thoughts.
Last week I was reminded of Keller's lecture
by my good friend Ryan Whieldon, a fellow OC Pastor.
The Following are some of Tim Keller's points from his lecture:
"There is a fundamental question we must ask...
What is the Bible really about?
Is the Bible basically about me and what I must do?
Or is the Bible basically about Jesus and what He has done?
Do you believe the Bible is basically about you or
basically about Him?
1. Is David and Goalith basically about you and how you can be like
David and Goalith?
Or basically about Him, the one who really
took on the only Giants who can really kill us.
Jesus' victory is imputed to us.
2. Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test
in the garden, his garden (Gethsemane), a much tougher garden
and whose obedience is imputed to us.
3. Jesus is the true and better Abel who through innocently slain
has blood that cries out not for our condemnation
but for our aquittal.
4. Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God
to leave all the comfortable and familiar to go into the void.
5. Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up
by his Father on the mount, but was truly sacrificed for us all.
While God said to Abraham, now I know you love me because you
did not withhold your son, your only son whom you loved from me...
Now we at the foot of the cross can say,
'now we know that you love me.
Because you did not withhold your son,
your only son whom you love, for me.'
6. Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled
and took the blow of Justice we deserve,
so that we like Jacob, only receive the wounds
of grace, that wake us up and discipline us.
7. Jesus is the true and better Joseph,
who is at the right hand of the King
and forgives those who betray Him
and uses His power to save them.
8. Jesus is the true and better Moses,
who stands in the gap between the people
and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
9. Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses
who struck with the rod of God's justice
and now gives us water in the dessert.
10. Jesus is the true and better Job,
He is the truly innocent sufferer who then
intercedes for and saves his stupid friends!
11. Jesus is the true and better David,
whose victory becomes his people's victory
although they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
12. Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn't
just risk losing an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate
heavenly one. Who didn't just risk his life, but gave his life.
Who didn't just say, 'If I perish, I perish'...but said,
'when I perish, I'll perish, to save my people.'
13. Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out
into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real passover lamb.
He is the true temple,
the true prophet,
the true priest,
the true King,
the true sacrifice,
the true lamb,
the true light,
the true bread.
The Bible, Old and New, is not about you or us...
It is about JESUS!"
-by Tim Keller; September 9, 2007
The Blues,Coldplay and Adoption
John Coltrane,
the best Jazz/Blues artist of alltime
I had the blues today.
Do you ever have a day like this?
You just walk around kind of feeling sorry for yourself.
This was my day.
Whenever I have one of these days,
I get in a mood to go to Barnes and Noble,
listen to Coldplay in the music section
while sitting on one of those strange wooden curved back chairs,
and read books on sports.
I know it sounds really weird,but somehow it sounds oh so comforting to me.
But today was Wednesday, the busiest day of my week,
so no time for moody book chain adventures.
I was broken out of my state of sadness
by 2 things.
The first was our HS Associate Peter Pizzuto's
message tonight, which was great.
He spoke from 1 Peter 2, about our adoption
as Christians into God's family.
The second thing that snapped me
out of the blues, was a talk I has tonight with
one of our students named Tyrone.
Tyrone is an African-American, who has grown up
in the toughest parts of Southern California.
He has been shot, stabbed at and abandoned.
He currently lives in a group home.
As I talked with him after our Wed Night gathering
I felt God's heart for him.
God loves Tyrone so much.
God is pursuing Tyrone in incredible ways.
I have been watching this pursuit over
the last 4 months.
There is this really great passage in the Bible,
that I have always thought is great,
but great in one of those nice, safe, half-smile, isn't that special
for us, type of ways.
It is this passage...Ephesians, Chapter 1,
4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
(click here to listen to a great sermon on Ephesians 1 from Mike Erre, Rock Harbor)
Tonight as I talked to Tyrone and heard him tell me more of his story and heard him explain how lucky most of the students are in our High School group to have families...
and as I reflected on Peter's message tonight, this passage from the Bible came to my mind.
And you know what?
It rocked me.
It took on new meaning for me.
It isn't just a nice, that is so true, half-smile type
of Bible passage.
The idea that this passage is communicating is amazing.
No better than that, it is life changing. It is incredible.
We once were orphans, separated from God,
lost without a family.
God picked us.
He bought our lives at a price.
He calls us, choses us to be connected to him.
We are adopted by the King.
Suddenly, today, a day of feeling sorry for myself
turned into a night of joy as I realized this reality
of how things really are.
We are adopted.
My prayer is that Tyrone will get this truth
in his everydaylife...right now as a a 16 year old.
My Prayer for Tyrone
Lord, thank you for protecting, sparing Tyrone's
life on so many occasions.
God may he feel your love.
Lord, use your people to show compassion to Tyrone
in tangible, real ways.
God, I pray for a miracle.
I pray for the impossible.
I pray that a Christian family would hear about
Tyrone and be moved by you to foster care for him
for the rest of the school year.
But most importantly, may Tyrone
know he is adopted by you, a son of the King.
My Prayer based on Ephesians 1
Lord, thank you for choosing me.
I don't get how or why you did this,
I don't really get all the theological implications that accompy such thoughts.
Lord, one thing I do get
one thing, I got a little better grasp on tonight is this,
how amazing it is to be adopted by you.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank for going through with it.
Thank you for being willing to associate with me.
Thank you for taking me, a lost spiritual orphan
and adopting me as one of your own.
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