An amazing passage from the Bible

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament
is one of my favorite books in the Bible.


It is so focused on Jesus Christ,
who He is (God!)
what He has done for us (forgives sins!)
and what our response should be (run to Him as our Lord and Savior).


Here is one my favorite passages from the book: Hebrews 4:14-16 (New Living Translation)

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

What are your thoughts on this passage?

This Seriously Scares Me

My local newspaper the Orange County Register
ran an article today about this group
in Laguna Beach, Ca (about 20 minutes from us)
that meets 7 days a week at the beach to practice
"laugh" yoga.

They gather together (no jokes or performing allowed)
and simply laugh together.

Here is a self-description from the group:
"What is Hasya Yoga? This is a systematic method devised by a physician and a yoga teacher integrating unconditional laughter techniques, breathing practices, stretches suitable for all levels and yoga postures. In Hasya Yoga, we don't use jokes or humor. At first the laughter may seem fake, but it quickly becomes genuine because laughter is joyfully contagious when done in a group. The use of laughter has been medically proven to relieve stress and enhance the immune system, and is followed by a beneficial relaxation response. Hasya Yoga brings these benefits and also enhances traditional yoga practice by deepening the relaxation at the end of class. It also offers a joyful social bonding between participants - unpre.cedented in traditional yoga practice. "(c) 2008 The Laughter Yoga Institute, Jeffrey Briar.

Seems relatively harmless, even interesting right?

Um...watch this: It is so scary!!!

Hot and Cold

My affection for Jesus Christ and my energy to serve others

in His name can be so hot and cold.

One day, I am so fired up about loving and worshipping God

by loving and caring for others.

The very next day, I can feel so apathetic and numb about

serving God by serving others.

A perfect example of this came in the form of 2 inner city projects

I got to be a part of this week.

One project was a street fair last Saturday on Townsend St. in Santa Ana.

There are over 2,000 residents who call one particular 600 block

of Townsend St. home.

The street struggles with gangs, school drop-outs, immigration,

and all kinds of related things.

Yet this is also a street with hope.

KidWorks, a non-profit organization lead by some wonderful Christians

has come into the neighborhood,

and done so many incredible things to transform the neighborhood.

Last Saturday, a few of us from Calvary, got to be part of the street fair

hosting a carnival style booth for the kids of Townsend St.

It was awesome!

I felt so good to serve the least of these in our city and in doing so serving Jesus.

Then today, Friday, only 6 days later,

I had the opportunity to be part of another

service project only a few blocks away from Townsend St.

with another great organization.

I felt so tired, unmotivated, uninspired

and couldn't wait to leave and go home.

How can this be?

Both projects were great.

Both served the same neighborhood.

But my desire to serve God

and my compassion to serve others

was at an all-time low.

I long for a day, when my affection for Jesus Christ

and my heart to worship him by serving others in His name

will be a consistent, never wavering pattern of my every day life!

Until that day,

I return to the Lord each day in my weakness

and ask him to renew me.

The theme of our K-8 school at Calvary Church for this upcoming school year

is a great passage out of Psalm 51.

It reads,

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast Spirit within me."

-Psalm 51:10

This is my prayer today.

Cool Prayer at the Democratic National Covention

Donald Miller, one of the most profound authors
of our generation gave this prayer on Monday night
at the DNC...I thought it was such a great prayer...watch it for yourself:

Summer in the Psalms Series Closes Tonight

graphic by emberblue.deviantart.com

I have really enjoyed our Summer in the Psalms series

on Tuesday nights in our Young Adult group at Calvary Church.

We have gone over Psalms 1, 15, 22, 30, 53, 92, 103, 130 and finally tonight the last Psalm

in the Bible, Psalm 150.

Psalm 150 is an incredible Psalm.

It is actually the crescendo to the book in my opinion.

The last 5 Psalms (146-150) are called the "Hallelujah" Psalms

because of their tone of worship and praise to God.

Psalm 150 is the highpoint of these praises to God:

"1 Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD."

The Psalms are filled with so many human emotions.

Anger, gladness, hope, despair, joy, forgiveness, bitterness.

Pretty much every human emotion can be seen in the Psalms.

That is why this book is so powerful.

We can easily identify with one or all the Psalms at different points in our life.

I love that the Psalms end in Psalm 150 on this note of thanksgiving and praise to God.

A practical step I am taking this week is to end each of my days in this same way,

with giving praise and thanks to God.

Last night as our kids and Marie slept, I walked around our house and simply thanked God

for my family, for our house, for the mission he has given us to pastor and care for people in Orange County and specifically at Calvary. I walked around the house thanking God for who He is, a God of compassion and mercy, a God who doesn't treat me like my sins deserve, a God who created our world and made us in His image.

It was a really cool experience to end my day with the same attitude that the Psalms end in.

Why do these thing always happen in the South?

ELKIN, N.C. - David Hayes' granddaughter just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce.

Alyssa's father had bought the pink Barbie fishing rod for Christmas and she had caught a few bluegill before her grandfather hauled in the catfish.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported the catch Aug. 5 in eastern Wilkes County has been certified as a record by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Hayes said his granddaughter worried he would break her rod. He landed the 21-pound fish on a 6-pound test line. It was 32 inches long, 2 inches longer than the rod.

Link Love

I am going to update, re-arrange and edit my Links over the next couple of days...

Who wants their blog or site linked?

A Site to Bookmark

My sister Michelle told me yesterday
about this amazing website
called, "Yearbook Yourself."

You simply upload a picture of yourself onto the site
and it magically shows what you would have looked like
hair, clothes, everything,
in a 1965 yearbook, a 1977 yearbook, a 1999 yearbook and so on.

Hours and Hours of fun....

A Pastoral Moment

There are moments in life

when being a Pastor has to be the coolest, best vocation in the world.

I experienced one of these moments this past Sunday

at our Beach Baptism at Corona Del Mar State Beach,

Here is a shot of myself and our college associate, Laura Copeland

Baptizing college student, Jordan Forester.

33 Years Old

"Today, you are 33 years old."
-Jefe to El Guapo in the 1986 classic movie, 3 Amigos

I have reached my Jesus year.
33.
This is the age Jesus was when he went to the cross at Calvary.

I pray I become a more passionate, growing follower of Jesus Christ
in year 3-3.

Olympics and the Civil Forum

The Olympics have been so fun to watch over the last 2 weeks.

I am glad the Olympics only last for 16 days, because this schedule

is killing me...

Our normal evening has been:

6:30pm - Eat Dinner

7:30pm - Get the Kids Ready for Bed

8:30pm - Kids Alseep (hopefully)
8:30pm to Midnight - Watch the Olympics

2am - Wake-up in a state of confusion in the living room with the TV still on and all the lights still on

2:01am - Realize we have fallen asleep once again in the Living Room watching the Olympics

2:02am - Stumble around the house turning off all the lights, go to bed

This past Saturday night, our schedule was adjusted to watch the historic "Civil Forum" between John McCain and Barack Obama at Saddleback with Rick Warren.

I watched 95% of the forum and here are a few of my observations:

#1 - Rick Warren should lay off the make-up

#2 - The crowd seemed very pro-McCain

#3 - I thought Warren's questions were good

#4 - Obama seemed less comfortable than I thought he would

#5 - McCain seemed way more comfortable that I thought he would

#6 - Obama seemed humble in his answers

#7 - McCain seemed arrogant in his ("I will defeat evil")

#8 - Obama mentioned the name Jesus 4 times

#9 - McCain mentioned the name Jesus 0 times

#10 -McCain seemed more "Presidential" to me

#11 - Obama's stance on Abortion (Pro-choice) seems strange in light of his seemingly authentic relationship with Jesus and his statement that he is a person of empathy

#12 - McCain is a pretty funny guy

#13 - McCain's boast that he would hunt down Bin Laden seems like a foolish statement

#14 - Obama's answer to why he wants to be President seemed weak

#15 - Both men seemed to agree that marriage is a union between a man and a woman...Obama seemed to say the opposite on the TV Show "Ellen" a few months ago (yes, I admit, I watched Ellen one afternoon when I was sick...)

#16 - I thought Warren would ask more detailed questions on styles of leadership and character

#17 - I am glad Warren didn't ask any questions on the Economy and Healthcare (2 areas the President of the United States doesn't have tons of leadership in or control of)

#18 - The Supreme Court Judges Question was very interesting

#19 - The Question of what your greatest personal moral failure was even more interesting

#20 - I will be curious to observe Rick Warren's involvement in Politics from this point on (potential candidate for President in 2012?)

Remembering Psalm 103

Last night I taught on Psalm 103 in our Young Adult
group as part of our "Summer in the Psalms" series.

Psalm 103 is an incredible Psalm.
In verse 2, it calls on the reader to
"not forget the benefits, God gives."

I don't now about you, but I am a pretty forgetful person.
I forget where I put my car keys,
I forget to call people back,
I forget to buy milk on the way home from work when I told Marie I would.
I am constantly forgettting!

Charles Spurgeon the great 18th century Pastor once wrote,

"Memory is very treacherous about the best things;

by a strange perversity,

engendered by the fall,

it treasures up the refuse of the past and premits priceless treasures to lie neglected.

It is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely."

Like the Hebrew believers of David's time
I also forget about the great things God has done in my life.
I feel so dumb that I forget God so easily.

Psalm 103 is part of the solution to spiritual forgetfulness.
In its 22 verses it reminds us just who God is.
I love every verse in this passage...
Here it is for you to read for yourself,
with my personal favorite verses in bold.

Psalm 103 Of David.

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass,

he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting

the LORD's love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children's children-
18 with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

A Website You Need to Follow

I recently came across this quote from theologian RC Sproul:

"The whole idea of a nation under God has been challenged again and again,

and we have seen the exponential growth of government in our land,

particularly the federal government,

so that the government now virtually engulfs all of life.

Where education once was under the direction of local authorities,

it now is controlled and directed by federal legislation.

The economy that once was driven by natural forces of the market

has now come under the strict control of the federal government,

which not only regulates the economy, but considers itself responsible for

controlling it."

How do we get honest economic advice and truth in an age of such tight federal control?

The answer is here my friends...

FedFilter.com

Bookmark it, RSS it, do what you have to do to get FedFilter into your world.

An Idea for Huntington Beach?

Check out this article from Rueters Newswire:

ROME - Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers.
The 98 foot-long blow-up church — staffed by priests ready to take confession — will debut on Saturday on the Adriatic coast in the Molise region, an organizer said.

Yew Nork

We have returned from our first trip to New York.
Lily, our 3 year old daughter calls it "Yew Nork."
Here are some of the highlights:

The Pocono's in New Jersey/Pennsylvania Mtns.

We had a great day trip to the Pocono's.
We have never so many trees and farms.

The Wedding in New Jersey

It was a humid and hot day in 'Jersey
but I was so honored to officiate the wedding of Andrea and Chris.
I was able to present the Gospel during the ceremony which was a highlight for me.
East Coast weddings are pretty remarkable.
More food than we have ever seen in our lives!

A Stop in Princeton

Princeton University is an amazing place.
The lecture halls alone are older than anything we have in California.
Princeton Theological Seminary is right down the street from the
main campus.

Then we hit Manhattan

A Carriage Ride in Central Park
Riding the Subway for the first time

Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity's

Yankee Stadium!

We took a day and drove out to the Hamptons

This beach had a occupancy limit!
250 people max.
I guess that keeps all the people from Queens out
so Martha Stewart and Seinfeld have a beach to themselves

Here we are in front of "Barefoot Contessa's" East Hampton Office

Ina "Barefoot Contessa" Garten from the Food Network is a legend in our family.
We had to make the piligrimage to her former store and current office in the Hamptons

We had a great experience in New York.
The Lord protected us as we lugged around 2 strollers, 2 carseats, 5 suitcases and 6 people!
Thanks to the Pastiglione's for paying for our plane tickets and hotel
thank you to Mom and Dad Mittmann who graciously came with us
babysat the kids night after night,
took us to great restaurants and drove us around with the Navigator!

Retirement and #4

Even if you aren't into sports,

I am sure you have heard of the saga

revolving around Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Here is the deal:

Favre had an amazing season quaterbacking

the Packers last season.

After the season, he decided to retire.

The Packers have an good but unproven new quaterback named Aaron Rogers (Go Cal!)

Favre announces just a few weeks before training camp, he wants to return to football and to the Packers.

The Packers wanting to move on, and avoid a public relations nightmare offered
him a reportedly $20 million dollars over 10 years to stay retired.

Favre refuses and returned anyways.

Yesterday the Packers traded him to the New York Jets

and all of football is in an uproar about the Favre controversy.

I have never been a Brett Favre fan (he dominated my 49ers in the 90's)

but I strangely feel for him in this saga.

8 weeks ago, I "retired" from youth ministry.

I felt and still feel confident that the Lord orchestrated this move

and I feel very called to my new position and ministries at my church.

(so don't worry Calvary, I am not going anywhere)

But after 9 years of being in High School Ministry,

I miss it.

I missed going to Hume.

I miss having the best seat in the house watching God

radically transform High School students lives.

I miss being part of a team of 35 volunteers and paid staff

who pour their hearts into the lives of high school students.

So in a way, I can see why Favre changed his mind.

I sure he began to miss what he loves too.

So Go Favre. Go Jets.

I wonder what Yorba Linda Friends Church would trade

for the rights to have me?

Most likely a tub of licorice and a Nooma video,

if I was lucky.