Grace, Grace, Grace

Francis Chan, the teaching pastor at Cornerstone Church
in Simi Valley, CA is preaching such powerful messages these days.

You owe it to yourself to find his messages on i-tunes
and dump them into your i-pod for your next road trip,
morning jog or yard work day.

As I drove around town this week,
I listened to a message given on November 11th called Grace, Grace, Grace.
You can find this message here.

In this message, Chan attempts to answer the question on
all of our minds.

How can there be just one way, one path to God?
And why does this path to God have to go through Jesus?

The answers to these questions can be found when looking
into the Bible.

Chan's message takes you throughout the Bible,
and helps you find real-life, practical answers, to these questions.

I loved it. You will too. Go download it now.

The Next 2 Weeks are...

Crunch Time.

I have to live and breath Hebrew over the next 14 days

if I hope to have any chance of passing my Hebrew Class

at Talbot Seminary.

(Psalm 25 in Hebrew)

Sadly all I want to do right now is this...

I Love Football

Out of all the team sports out there,
I believe the best one to watch is football.

I have to seriously monitor myself this time
of year or I could easily fall into just watching football
all day Saturday and Sunday afternoons...

I wonder if my 3 week old son, Samuel will love Football?
What is he hates it and likes to draw or something?

Not that there is anything wrong with drawing,
but come on, Football is so, so, so awesome.

This Saturday, my Dad and I will venture up to the Rose Bowl
to watch the UCLA Bruins take on Oregon.


One of the former students in our High School group,
Matthew Slater



plays for UCLA and Saturday is his last home game.
So not only will it be cool to watch a football game live
at the Rose Bowl with my Dad,


we also will get to watch one my old students.

UCLA's Fight Song

"Sons of Westwood"(played after a good play)

We are Sons of Westwood

And we hail to Blue and GoldTrue to thee our hearts

will beOur love will not grow old,

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Bruins roam the hills of Westwood

By the blue Pacific shores

And if we chance to seeA man from USC

Every Bruin starts to roar

.U...C...L...A...UCLA, fight, fight, fight!

(repeat verse)

Teaching Plan for '08

It is hard to believe 2007 is nearing its conclusion.

This week is a mellow week for me and my High School leadership team

as we have Wednesday night off because of Thanksgiving

and Sunday because of a One service family Sunday,

we don't have a High School gathering at church.

So today, Melissa, Matt G, Peter and I bunkered down

in the coldest office at Calvary,

and began to dream and plan about what we want to teach

the High School Students of Calvary Church in 2008.

I used to think, planning more than 2 weeks ahead was a sin.

Seriously.

It felt strange to me to plan so far ahead, without

knowing how I or the students would feel months down the road.

I felt like I was leaving the Holy Spirit and

His leading out of the equation or something.

But over the last few years, I began to change my thinking in this area.

I went to a Rob Bell speaking seminar in Anaheim, where he told a group

of about 500 Pastors,
"you have got to marinade your messages."

What he meant was,

in order to speak with conviction, passion and authority,

you as the messenger need to have had time to let the truths

of the particular Bible passage you are teaching on

"soak" into your life.

I really took this to heart and began changing the way we in the High School Ministry

planned our teaching schedules.

Anyways, here are some of ideas of what to teach the High School Students of Calvary Church in 2008...

Jan/Feb Sunday's - The Book of James, "A letter from the Brother" (Jesus brothers' incredible challenge of how to live as a follower of Jesus)

March-June Sunday's - The Gospel of John, "EveryDayLife with Jesus"

Sunday's are designated as our book study gatherings.
We teach on a book of the Bible and then break up into small groups

to allow students to interact with the passage in a personal way.

We really want students to fall in love with the Bible this coming year.

Our goal is to get every student in our Sunday morning gatherings

to have a Bible and actually bring it to church.

We want to do away with posting the passages on the screen

and actually get students to use their Bibles and read it for themselves.

Jan/Feb Wednesday's - "Reveal -Where are You At?" (rip-off from Willow Creek)

March Wednesday's -"What to You want to be when you grow up?" (seeing your life's work as a calling from God)

April Wednesday's - "Freakin' Friends Hooking Up Benefits" (How to Honor God in Dating and in your future Marriage while living in a really, really messed up world)

May Wednesday's - "Ask Anything" (Open Forum Apologetics...rip off from Mark Driscoll)

June Wednesday's - "Senior Shout-Outs" (Senior Class leads Wednesday nights)

Wednesday's are high energy, fun loving, worshipful nights

where we take a issue relating to high school student's everydaylife

and show them what God has to say about it.

I am so excited about some of the topics we hope to cover this winter and spring.

We want it to be slightly edgy in a way where students will not know what to expect from week to week and where they will not be able to leave a Wednesday night gathering without being pushed out of their comfort zone.

I can't wait to begin a new year with our students.

Reflections on my Sunday Morning Sermon

I taught through Ezekiel 18 this morning to our High School Students.
I felt my message bombed.
Too bad, because the passage is AMAZING.
(Click here to read Ezekiel 18 for yourself.)

Ezekiel 18 talks about the consequences of sin
and the wonderful grace of God.

I think there were a few reasons, my message bombed...

#1 - I really got stuck in the length/details of the Chapter and wanting to present everything that the chapter included. I should have narrowed my focus to avoid being so scattered.

#2 - I struggled in creating a solid conclusion to the message. What could have been an effective ending, dragged on and I believe I lost the students in the last 5 minutes of the message.

#3 - I was so tired! I was on "Samuel watch" from 4am to 5:30am and then fell back asleep only to wake up at 6:15am!

#4 - I had the concept of the message in my head all week, but didn't sit down to write out my notes and practice the message out loud until 10pm Saturday night. Saturday night specials are no bueno, Sunday mornings.


Chapter Length+Rough Conclusion+Tired+Saturday Night Special = Disengaged Students!

However, I pray God's used my weaknesses for His purposes and glory.
I am speaking on Ezekiel 34 next and I am going to work so hard to avoid the pitfalls of what happened this morning.

This morning did have a highlight for me however...
Ezekiel Chapter 18, talks about God's grace.
To illustrate God's grace, we showed this video
Check this out, very powerful.

Pastor's and Politics

I believe every American citizen should vote whenever given
the opportunity.
I also believe that my beliefs as a follower of Jesus
should greatly impact how on vote on issues and political candidates.

Yet, I am uncomfortable when I see Pastor's spending
more time in their ministry endorsing a candidate
or an issue than they are endorsing and talking about Jesus.

There is a lightening rod of a personality in our Orange County area
who is named Wiley Drake.
He is a Pastor, and the second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Covention,
yet the only time I ever hear about him is when he is
making some over the top political statement.
I am uncomfortable with this.

That being said, who are you going to vote for President in '08?
Thanks to my East Coast blogfriend, Chris Goeppner, I came across
this quiz...Take it for yourself!

click here to take the Presidential Candidate Quiz

Abraham, Complete Blood Counts and Caravaggio

This morning we took Samuel into the Doctor's

for a C.B.C
(complete blood count for all you NON-Scrubs, ER, Grey's Anatomy, House fans).

Poor little guy had to give 5 vials of blood in order to fulfill the doctor's orders.

Marie stayed with our daughter Lily, as I carried Samuel into the lab to draw the samples.

The lab technician was really kind,

until she put on her rubber gloves and grabbed a lancer and said,

"bring the boy over to me!"

I nervously nodded my head, and took the 7-8 steps necessary

to carry Samuel over to the table.

Samuel looked up at me, as if to say, 'what are you doing to me?'

I felt like Abraham in the Old Testament taking Issac to the Mountains of Moriah!

Have you read that story lately?

To me, the story of Abraham and his near sacrifice of his son Issac,

is one of the most radical, crazy, amazing accounts in the entire Bible.

Click here to read it for yourself.

Often we reduce this story to a nice Sunday School tale.

In reality, I imagine Abraham's decision to obey God

and place his son on the altar, a gruesome, awful, gut-wrenching,

sorrowful moment.

An Italian criminal in the 1600's named Michaelangelo Caravaggio,

was ironically, one of the most brillant artists of the Italian Baroque period.

He is sometimes referred to as the "other Michaelangelo."

Check out Caravaggio's haunting, realistic rendition of Abraham and Issac on Mt. Moriah

High Schoool students often ask me,

what does the Old Testament have to do with the New Testament?

I answer, "Everything."

In the Old Testament, we get to know God and his character,

but we also wonderfully get to see Jesus,

in the foreshadowing of events

that take place in the Old Testament.

Some scholars say, Jesus died on the cross, at the very spot

on Mt. Moriah where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son.

The account of Abraham and Issac is a foreshadow

to the ultimate event in history.

Jesus, the very Son of God,

being sacrificed for the sins of the world,

in a scene just as gruesome and somber

as Abraham's depiction by Caravaggio.

What love God has for us,

that he would sacrifice his son for us.

Today, I realized just a little better,

what this sacrifice must have felt like.

ps - Samuel's CBC came back all clear...He is one healthy lad!

Mr. Irrelevant

Tonight I experienced something very foreign to me.

I stayed at home on a Wednesday night.

I am taking this entire week off

to help our family adjust to the addition

of baby Samuel.

For the past 8 years, Wednesday nights have been

filled with attending and leading the High School

youth gathering at Calvary Church.

We only take 4 Wednesday's off a year,

so being home tonight felt wonderful...

but also kind of weird.

Marie was feeling like take-out tonight,

so around 6:30pm I cruised over to Panda Express.

I had completely forgotten that many of our HS Students

would be over at Panda and at the 'center' on their way to church.

It was so cool/strange to see students I love and shepherd day in and day out,

and know that as I was heading back home, they were heading to church.

As I was driving home, I prayed for the gathering and for Peter

who would be speaking and Matt Gargula who would be leading

worship and Melissa who would be doing all the extra things

to fill in the gaps while I am gone.

After praying for them and for the students,

a thought popped into my mind.

"They don't need me!"

I immediately considered turning the car around

and showing up at church,

I need to be needed!

But then I came to my senses and realized something so true

and so important.

It is okay to be irrevelant.

In fact I think I need to feel irreleveant at times

in order for me to realize that ministry, church and life do not revolve around me.

Irrevelancy is a key ingredient for humility.

My Prayer as a Pastor

"Lord keep me humble in this position.

May I sense my total need for you JESUS in every situation.

Help me to see that you, JESUS, are the relevent one.

You are the one,

we as a church are centered around

and dependent on."

Birth, Death and Life

Today, we celebrated as our little son

turned one week old.

We are so happy he has come

into our lives, we still cannot believe he is here!

Tonight, we grieved as Marie's grandmother passed away.

The Bible has a lot to say about birth and death...

I wrote down the following scriptures mostly for me and where I

am at in grieving/rejoicing...but your welcome to read them as well, pretty amazing stuff.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.."

-Solomon (Ecclesiastes 3/Old Testament)

"From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you."

-Psalm 71 (Old Testament)

"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

-Jesus (New Testament)

"...But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles..."

-Apostle Paul (New Testament)

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans, Chapter 8 (New Testament)

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

1 Corinthians, Chapter 15 (New Testament)

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

-Jesus (John 11:25/New Testament)

Perhaps the most famous passage speaking of birth, death and life comes from the New Testament, John chapter 3:

(Henry Ossawa Tanner's 1899 oil painting of this scene)

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"


Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked...

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

The Reformation and my Kid

For those of you that are asute observers,

you may have noticed that baby Samuel Calvin Doan

came into the world on October 30th at 9:54pm.

Yes, we were only 2 hours and 6 minutes from having

a Halloween baby.

This idea was on our minds

for most of the day as we watched Marie's contractions

go from 4 minutes apart to 5 minutes

to 6 minutes apart throughout the evening.

At 9pm, with Marie's water still intact and with the action seemingly

slowing down, we began to resign ourselves to sharing our child's

birthday with Halloween.

We joked that at least he would feel important,

when to his delight,

kids throughout the land knocked on our door

asking for candy in his honor of his birthday.

But that would last only a few years,

before he realized his special day got kicked aside

in honor of such a wacky holiday.

We began feeling down,

when suddenly Marie's Dad gave us an insightful comment,

"Wednesday, October 31st is also called 'Reformers Day.

It is the anniverary of Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses to a church door

in Wittenburg, Germany.

An event that changed the world and the church forever.'

(see my friend Kevin's blog, who ironically was thinking the same thing)

Suddenly, my attitude changed and I began rooting for

a 'Reformers Day' son.

Wouldn't it be cool, if Samuel had as great of an impact

on the world as Martin Luther did?

(although, I don't care if he is well-known or famous, we just want him to love Jesus, his family and his fellow neighbor).

Anyways, 54 minutes later, we didn't care if it was Halloween or Reformer's day or Tuesday,

as the arrival of baby Samuel beautifully came in God's perfect timing...

For those of you,

who are bored/frustrated/indifferent

to my mindless drivel,

and just wanted to see another picture of the baby, this is for you: