Make Sure You Read the Directions on your Christmas Gifts

I received a wonderful state of the art
hairclipper system for Christmas.
I would now be able to cut my hair
in the comfort of my home without having to pay $20 for a simple cut.

Everything was going well on my first attempt...
Until I reached the "touch-up phase, "
and forgot I had taken
the clip off the clipper when I briefly put it down.

I am so going to hear it when I return to work next week.

Besides shaving my head completely, does anyone have any suggestions?

December's Bestest

Today, I start a new montly tradition:

My top current top picks in a variety of fields.

Hope you enjoy and discover some new bests of your own.

Best Blog of December: Corey Mann, Youth Pastor, Indiana

Corey Mann's blog is a must read for anyone in youth ministry who is interested in becoming more creative.

Go here to see the blog.

Best New Song Discovery of December: (Tie) Phil Wickham - "Your Beautiful"; Josh Kramon - "Lily"

Wickham's new album, Cannons is a masterpiece. Josh Kramon is a Hollywood guy who writes scores for TV shows and has come out with some great new music this past year.

Best Office gift I received in December: Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy on DVD

Eric, you may be our Michael, but you are a great gift giver.

Best TV Show of December: None...Boo writer's strike...Boo re-runs.

Best Podcast of December: The Rebel's Guide to Joy (Philippians series) by Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA.

Best Restaurant of December: Chronic Taco, Orange, California. The local version of Chipotle, absolute best carne asade known to man. If you live within 30 minutes of Orange, go jump in your car and go there now. I am serious, right now.


Best Book I read in December: "Reveal - Where are You?" by Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson
An honest look at Willow Creek's effectiveness as a church. I have been changed by the book. If you are a Pastor, you need to read this book today.


Best Christmas Parade: Newport Beach Boat Parade, December 13-16.
This 99 year old tradition is a must see in Orange County. This year did not disappoint.

Best News Story of December: Student Sues teacher for bashing Christianity in class.
Very interesting story unfolding in Mission Viejo, Ca. I am curious how this will turn out.
Read the article here.


Best Interview of December: Katie Couric of all people interviewing New York Yankees star Alex Rodriquez. Click here to see the video.

Best Starbucks Drink of December: Peppermint Mocha...hmmm...$3.95

Best Quote by a 2 year old in December: "Mommy, your Mary and I am Elizabeth and I have John the Baptist in my belly." - Lily Doan, my brillant 2 year old daughter

Best Photo of December: (thanks Marco)
Best NBA team in December: Golden State Warriors. BARON!!

Best Christmas Carol in December: (tie) "Star of Wonder" by Sufjan Stevens and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by The Brothers Cazimero

A Story for me and my youth ministry friends

Imagine,
if you will, you visit a new bagel shop. You love going there because the chief baker has created a new recipe for breads pastries and cinnamon rolls that are better than any you've tasted in your life!

Soon, word gets out about this bagel
shop. Crowds start forming lines each day, waiting for the new confections to come from this baker's marvelous kitchen.

The baker doesn't have enough help,
and ends up trying to serve all the customers himself.... What's
worse, as you watch him for weeks, you see a change.

The man is getting
thin. Very thin. It almost seems like he is shriveling up.

What's the deal? You decide to just sit
down and observe for a few hours. Suddenly, the
problem becomes obvious. This
man never stops to eat. The irony is, he is
busy serving bread to everyone else,
but never stops long enought to feed
himself. With food all around him, he is
starving.

(Tim Elmore From Habitudes Volume 1...Thanks to Indiana Youth Pastor Derry Prenkert for introducing me to this)

Saturday Morning Visitors

This morning we received a knock on our door around 10am.

I went to the door and standing in front of me, where 2 nicely dressed people

with Bibles in their hands.

We greeted each other

and then they randomly began to talk about compassion

and the Christmas season.

I knew right away that these visitors

were Jehovah Witnesses.

JW's are a cult of Christianity. A cult is defined as

any belief system that is birthed out an existing belief system,

yet adds or takes from the original belief system therby becoming a separate

belief system.

Jehovah Witnesses take scriptures such as Proverbs 8 and read things into the passage that simply are not there and reads John 1 and take away things that are plainly in the text.

Most Scholars do not take Jehovah Witness Biblical scholarship very seriously. Their methods of intrepretation do not follow basic rules of literature higher criticism. To read about what JW's believe and how it differs from Christianity go here.

Anyways saying all of that, I had a nice pleasant conversation with the the Jehovah Witnesses, where we looked at Proverbs 8 together, agreeing that we had different interpretations of the passage. While I was doing this, something so cool happened. I felt this tug on my pant leg.

It was Lily, my little 2 1/2 year old, standing next to me with her little Bible in her hand!

At a particular intense moment in our conversation the Jehovah Witnesses looked down at Lily and noticed her holdimg her Bible! They broke out in grins and commented at how impressed they were with her. I thought Marie had probably put her up to it, but later after the people had left, Marie told me that it was all Lily's doing. She watched me at the door holding my Bible and went to her room to get hers, so she could provide some backup.

I love my daughter.

The Big Ugly

I am so fascinated by people
who push the limits of adventure.
Maybe this is because I am such a cautious person,
who would never do such things!

One of my favorite things to do while growing up,
in Santa Cruz, Ca
was to go down to the beach in the wintertime
on really big surf days and watch guys
test their limits.

A week ago today, some of the bravest
(or craziest) guys in the world
experienced what is now being called, "The Big Ugly."

The location was Maverick's, one of the most famous
big wave surf spots in the world.

Mavericks is located here:

Growing up in Santa Cruz, about an hour from Mavericks, I visited Maverick's a couple of times to watch guys tackle the monster waves. The place has sorta of an eery feel to it,

you can literally feel the energy in the air when the waves are big.

Well, last Tuesday, the waves were big.

Some say it is the biggest Mavericks has ever been.

A legenday surfer from Santa Cruz named, "Flea"

experienced what some witnesses are saying

was the worst wipeout they have ever seen.

Here is what Flea said,

"All I remember is taking a big breath, then seeing the sky fall. I don't even know what happened after that. It was bad." (Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle)

Check out these photos captured Frank Quirarte:

Check out some incredible video from this day here (You have to watch this.)

Shootings in Colorado

You may have caught this on the news already,

but 2 shooting tradegies occurred in Colorado today,

both involving Christians.

Haven't heard about this news story? Click here for more info

The first was a shooting by a random gunmen

at Youth A Mission training base near Denver.

The shooting killed 2 people in their 20's who were

career missionaries with YWAM. (Click here to read the news story)

The second shooting by another random gunmen

occurred in Colorado Springs at New Life Church.

My wonderful sister, brother, sister-in-law and niece

all attend New Life Church in Colorado Springs and were

exiting the 11am service at the church as the shootings occurred.

They were shaken up, but are all okay.

Many emotions are running through me at this time.

One, I am so thankful no one in my family was injured.

Two, I feel so sad for the families who have lost one of their own.

I pray that God's supernatural comfort overwhelms the families that were involved in today's senseless shootings.

Three, why would someone be driven to commit such evil acts?

We may never know the answer to this questions other than to say

evil exists because sin exists. Jesus Christ is the only way peace can exist

on this earth. Jesus Christ is the solution to the prevalence of evil and suffering

we see all around us every day.

My Prayer

"Lord, this world is filled with so many angry and bitter people.

People who have no peace with you

and therefore have no peace with others.

In pain and suffering and in the midst of evil,

Father bring us Hope where there is despair

Clarity where there is confusion,

Peace and Comfort where there is suffering.

May our tradegies be used by you,

to bring many to repentance and healing.

Amen."

How Boba Fett and CS Lewis impacted me today

2 powerful characters from my childhood,

one real, one make believe

converged into my thoughts today.

Boba Fett is hands down the coolest character

ever to come out of the Star Wars saga.

Today, I went to hang out with one of our students

from church, at the local Borders bookstore.

As we walked around the store,

checking out books, I came across an epic book on the making

the Star Wars movies.

In the book, the author suggests Boba Fett survived

the narly Sarlaac Pit from Return of the Jedi.

What is the Sarlaac?

Oh my ignorant friend,

the Sarlaac is only the most brutal, angry, awful pit ever known to mankind

Here is a photo of it from Return of the Jedi:

Anyways, reading this Super nerdy Star Wars book

rocked my world...

Could Boba Fett have seriously survived the horrors of Sarlaac?

I had never considered it before.

The author, in only the way a super nerd could,

gave a super plausiable explanation of how Fett could have escaped the

Sarlaac.

For the record, George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars,

neither confirms or denies that Fett survived.

But based on what I read today,

Fett lives!

Life is good.

Another childhood hero of mine, the brillant author and theologian CS LEWIS

said so many incredible things about God in his lifetime of writings.

I re-discovered one of my favorite CS Lewis quotes tonight

while researching a message I will give to our High School group

on, "Where is God when you suffer?"

Check this out:

"God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience,
but shouts in our pain;
it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Remembering Evel

Evel Knieval passed away on Friday.

He was the first extreme sport athlete our country

has ever known.

I had the chance to meet him one day

back in college when I worked as a valet parker

at the Anaheim Marriott and he was there for some
convention.

He looked really sad the day I ran into him.

I wonder if it was because of the constant pain

he was in from all his stunts,

or simply because life was tough.

Either way, I remember feeling sorry for him that day.

Upon hearing about his passing on Friday,

I naturally went to http://www.evelknievel.com/

and read this interesting note:

"He dearly loved his grandchildren and he always made it a point to stay in touch with the people he loved the most, his friends and family. And lastly, most important to him above all was his new-found faith in Jesus Christ. Just as he always took great care in surrounding himself with the best people he could depend upon to help him make his jumps during his motorcycle career, Knievel found his greatest friend of all in preparation for his final leap from life. He was profoundly happy that he gave his life to God, who comforted him and gave him the strength he needed to make it through the end."

Pretty cool to hear Evel Knieval surrended his life to Jesus!

Here is a list of some of Evel Knieval more famous jumps

(thanks to Joe Paskewich)

Jan. I, 1968 - Crashed in an attempt to clear the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
Sept. 20, 1970 - Successfully cleared 13 cars in Seattle, WA
Jan. 8, 1971 - Again clearing 13 cars he drew a then record crowd to the Houston Astrodome
Feb. 28, 1971 - Set World record at Ontario, CA by jumping 19 Dodge cars.
May 10, 1971 - Crashed in an attempt to clear 13 Pepsi Cola trucks in Yakima, WA
March 3, 1972 - Suffered serious injury in San Francisco's Cow Palace when his motorcycle crashed in a very difficult landing area.
Feb. 18, 1973 - Taking off from the highest ski-style jump ramp ever used he thrilled the crowd of 35,000 by flying over 50 cars stacked in the center of the Los Angeles Colliseum
August 20, 1974- In his last jump before the famous do-or-die Snake River Canyon attempt, he soared 135 feet over 13 eight foot wide Mack Trucks at the Canadian National Exposition.
Sept. 8, 1974 - After two unsuccessful unmanned test flights Evel decided to keep his word to his fans and risked his life in a specially constructed rocket powered "Skycycle" in an attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Even though he made it across the quarter mile wide chasm, strong winds blew the malfunctioning parachute back into the canyon, landing just a few feet from the swirling river in which he would have surely drowned.
May 31, 1975 - A record crowd of over 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in London, England watched as Evel crashed upon landing, breaking his pelvis after clearing 13 double-tiered buses.
October 25, 1975 - Defiant after the Wembley crash, Evel successfully jumped 14 Greyhound buses at King's Island in Ohio.