Orange County Pastor: February 2009

A Week of Prayer

This was a very cool week for me as I found myself
in the middle of several really moving times of prayer.

Monday
Last Monday, KidWorks, a local non-profit in the heart of Santa Ana
hosted a prayer walk around their facility. It was sobering to see foreclosure signs,
gang activity and a school that looks like a prison. In the midst of these sad scenes, I had the honor to join fellow pastors and KidWorks staff and pray for the neighborhood as we walked around it. I am so proud of KidWorks and what they mean to the community in Santa Ana. It is an honor to be a small support through prayer to these guys.

Monday evening, Marie and I hosted a prayer night at the Crisis Pregnancy Clinic where she works. Fourteen of us prayed through each of the rooms of the clinic, praying for the girls and guys who would step into the clinic in the coming days, praying for the staff to be protected from discouragement and weariness and praying for the funds that small non-profits such as this one are in desperate need of in this sketchy economy.

Tuesday
Tuesday morning, the staff at Calvary spent time praying in and throughout the main worship center of the Church. There is something so cool about praying for a space/room and for the people that will inhabit it, in advance of them coming. Even though the people of Calvary will never know of our prayer time, I pray that God uses the prayers of Tuesday, to work in and among the people of our Church.

Tuesday Night, a group of us met up early before the Young Adult Gathering at Calvary at prayed for each other, the group and for our upcoming events. I came into the prayer time, so anxious and weary after a long day. This time of prayer was so gripping as I felt God just take a weight off my shoulders and replace my anxiousness with peace and joy. That night, I believe we had one of the best Young Adult Gatherings in a long time. How prayer changes things!

Wednesday
Wednesday, I was part of a community coalition put together by Focus on the Family. This Colorado based organization is looking at ways to help strengthen families in Orange County and brought together several leaders in the Christian community to dialogue with and learn about what is needed in Orange County. I had the opportunity to sit next to the spokesperson for Prop 8, the famous definition of marriage proposition from last November's election. He has faced a fire storm in this past year for defending the definition of marriage between a man and women, and I found myself simply praying for him as we sat in the meeting, knowing that he must be exhausted from the past year of elections and now lawsuits.

Thursday
Thursday, was our monthly "brainstorm" for Calvary's Elevation service. We try to prayerfully prepare the worship services 6 to 8 weeks out, in order to allow for creativity, teamwork, organization and excellence. Today, Eric Wakeling, our Executive Pastor at Calvary unveiled our sermon series for the rest of 2009 and for all of 2010! I am praying that God uses this new sermon series (Genesis) to radically challenge and transform our Church in the coming year.

The Humbling Truth
Despite my many opportunities to pray publicly and privately this week,
I remain such a rookie when it comes to prayer. I am lazy and undisciplined in my prayer life with Jesus. I had an entire class on Prayer at Talbot Seminary and wrote a 40 page paper on prayer last year and yet I still admit my weakeness of being a man of prayer.

"Lord help me!

May your power transform me from being a weak, lazy Christian,

to becoming a man who chases after you as a prayer warrior."

Help Me With My Sermon!

I am speaking next month in our Elevation Service at Calvary.
I have been assigned the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16...
I love this passage, it has been fun to wrestle with it in preparation for teaching.

Here is how you can help me:

Read the parable below for yourself.
Then post 2-3 questions you have about the text.
Your questions will help me get an idea of how to teach this passage clearly!

Matthew 20- The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Okay, go to the comments and post me some questions,

I need your help!

Are Miracles for Today?

I think every New Jersey Nets Basketball Fan would say "yes" after tonight's game.
Watch this:

Answered Prayer, 6 Years Later

Yesterday, I ran into an old high school student who was part
of the youth group I led in the early part of this decade.

This student has had a rough life since high school graduation,
hooked on drugs, in and out of trouble, kicked out of his home.
My heart has grieved for him whenever I have received updates about his life over the years.

Yesterday, I ran into this former student and he was clean and sober, a huge smile on his face and a new commitment to follow Jesus with his life.
Talk about a day maker!

Today, I was cleaning out some old files in my office after Church and interestingly enough, I found a prayer that this same student had written 6 years ago while in High School. To be honest, I had completely forgotten that I had held onto this written prayer.
6 years later, it looks like God has answered this simple prayer of a high school student.

Here is this high school student's prayer from 6 years ago:

"Dear God,

Help me to walk in your foot steps.

Let me understand what is right and wrong.

God give me the wisdom and obedience to do the right things.

Help me to thing through the consequences of my actions.

I know how much I mean to you Lord

and I want to grow closer to you.

Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding Lord.

In your name, Amen.

October 21, 2003

Our God is Amazing.

Calvary ChurchLocal Outreach Summary for 2008

Recently, I was asked to write a brief summary of some of the ways
God worked in the area of Local Outreach at Calvary Church last year (2008).
I feel so humbled and grateful to look back and see how God used this new little
ministry at Calvary to reveal Himself to our community...

Copy of the summary:
2008, saw the creation of a new official ministry here at Calvary Church
called Local Outreach. This new ministry fits under the "Reach" section
of the newly developed "Connect, Grow and Reach" purpose statement of Calvary Church.Local Outreach works closely with Global Missions to fulfill the purpose of Calvary Church to be a church that "reaches Orange County and the world with the love of Jesus Christ."The Local Outreach ministry is overseen by Pastor Matt Doan and supported administratively by Calvary Church staff member, Janice Fitzgerald.

The 3 C's of Partnerships
Local Outreach highlights in year #1 included the forming of partnerships with community non-profit organizations. These partnerships met the criteria of Pastor David Mitchell's, "3 C's" of partnering. The organzations are Close in proximity to the church, offer Consistent opportunities for Calvary Church Volunteers and allow Christ to be proclaimed. Local Outreach partners in year 1 included:
KidWorks (Mentoring, After-School Programs for kids)
Birth Choice (Pro-Life Crisis Pregnancy Centers)
Release Time Christian Education (teaching elementary school kids the Bible)
Orange County Rescue Mission (serving homeless)
Olive Crest (serving orphans and kids in social services)
Cabrillo Park Ongoing Renewal Project (park clean-up and maintance at Calvary's neighborhood park)
Project Hangout (mentoring and evangelism to teens)
Young Life (mentoring and evangelism to teens)
Sheepfold ( serving abused and neglected Mothers and Children)
Angel Tree (Prison Ministry)
Open Arms (Calvary volunteer led adoption/orphan care support ministry)

Projects
Other Highlights included Calvary's participation along with 40+ other Orange County Churches in Serve Day. This was a day in July set aside to serve our community. Calvary sent teams to Cabrillo Park, Released Time Christian Education, Birth Choice and a Tustin Mobile Home Park. In January of 2008, the Open Arms Orphan Care Ministry of Calvary collected over 5,000 pairs of shoes to send to orphanages in Ethiopa through the ministry of Shoes for Orphans Souls. In August of 2008, the Open Arms Orphan Care Team was up to it again collecting over 300 new backpacks from Calvary members for orphanages in South Africa and group homes here in Orange County.

In October of 2008, over 100 Calvary members spent a Saturday at our neighborhood park, Cabrillo Park, rebuilding the wall and painting benches, walls, bleachers and buildings. In December of 2008, over 161 children of Prisoners were given clothes and toys by Calvary members thru project Angel Tree.

The Goal: The Name of Jesus is Glorified in Orange County
Year #1 of Local Outreach was a year where God used the people of Calvary Church to reach out in practical ways to show the love of Jesus Christ to our neighbors and community. We pray that through these projects and partnerships, the name of Jesus Christ will be made great in Santa Ana, Tustin, Orange and throughout Orange County!

Fire Update...

I am so proud of people from our church who
havc stepped up to help the Sherman Family...

Here is an article from the OC Register talking about it....

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fire-house-sherman-2310073-home-santa

Pray For My Fellow Orange County Pastor

My friend, neighbor and fellow Pastor at Calvary Church,

John Sherman had his house catch on fire tonight.

Please pray for his family (John, Leslie, Joshua, Amy, Lindsey, Katelyn and Micah) as they deal with the aftermath of whatever is lost. May God somehow be glorified through this.

Here are some photos of the house tonight.

Click Here to read the Orange County Register Article describing the fire:

Here is a video on the scene:

Busy and Fruitful Week (but not because it was busy)

I often find myself buying into the lie that the more busy I am (meeting with people, taking on projects, etc)
the more fruitful I am in ministry, my relationship with Jesus and in life. This is not true.

Busyness Does Not = Godliness or Fruitfulness

This week was a week however,
where I was super busy yet by God's grace
I believe some fruit was cultivated.

Here is what I mean:

Pre-Marital/Biblical Counseling Sessions
I met with 2 couples for pre-marital counseling this week.
Pretty intense yet fun sessions and by God's grace, some really good issues
to be worked on for both couples was discovered during these times.

Concubines in the Bible? Young Adult Gathering last Tuesday
We had a great discussion-teaching time this past Tuesday in week #2 of
our sexuality in the Bible series. We talked about Abraham and Sara's sin of not trusting God to provide a child in their old age and their foolishness to take matters into their own hands and bring a surrogate mother (concubine) into the picture. This mother gives birth to a son, Ishmael and Sara shortly after does indeed get pregnant and gives birth to a son as well, Isaac.
Abraham gives his birthright to the second son, Isaac and to this day, we are still feeling the effects of this decision and the decision by Abraham and Sara to take sex outside the context of their bed. Did you know Muslims trace their heritage through Ismael? And to you know Jews trace their heritage through Isaac? No wonder the Muslims have such anger towards the Jews, they believe Isaac stole Ishmael''s and their spot of blessing! Wow, sexual sin always effects more than we realize and in some cases the negative effects last 6,000 years! We wrapped up the night with a look at Grace and how God's work on the cross is enough to cover the sins of the sexual immoral. I thought it was an exciting and powerful night...But busy!

Reach Class, Part IV
We finished up our week 4 on Wednesday Night of our new "LifeLab" at Calvary training folkshow to reach out at Calvary, in the city and even globally. This week's session was capped off by each person from the class meeting with a Pastor or staff member and being encouraged about where to specifically reach out at Calvary, in the community and globally...Great conversations and some excitment about where folks might serve after completing this class. On the down side, this class meant I had to be away from home 2 nights in a row this week (Tuesday and Wednesday). This was my schedule last Spring for 6 months as I taught Tuesdays and Wednesdays at church and before that for 6 years while I went through Seminary. Not fun to revisit the feeling of being away from Marie and the kids for basically 48 hours. I am thankful this is the exception and not the norm anymore!

Staff City Prayer Tour
On Thursday, I was given the opportunity to design a city prayer tour
for our Church staff. I selected 6 of our community partner locations and a couple of strategic city landmarks to pray at in our 3 hour tour (insert your own Gilligan joke here).
On top of the prayer tour, each staff group of 4 was given a random $10 bill to use to meet a need of a stranger they would come across during there tour. It was so exciting to hear about these stories afterwards! Then we finished up our day reflecting on Matthew 25 and it's call to Christians to take care of the "least of these." Very powerful day, I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing me, as a simpleton knucklehead, to have the priviledge of working in such a fun and strategic area for the church, as the Local Reach Pastor.

Valentines Dinner with Marie and the Kids and a Spontaneous Trip up North
Marie makes this holiday so fun for us as the kids. We had heartshaped pancakes for dinner Thursday night, then gave gifts to the kids and had a special time as a family. For the record the coveted gift of our Valentine's family party was 2 goldfish (who cost 48 cents each and who Lily named "A" and "B") Then the next day, Marie set up a cookie making morning for Lily and 2 of her good friends. We decided half way through the week to take off for 2 days this weekend to go visit my parents in NorCal and my Grandmother visiting them from Seattle. Long drive, but so worth it to spend time with all of them.

Young Adults Retirement Party on Friday Night
Our group celebrated Valentine's weekend this year with a Retirement themed party.
Everyone dressed up as old people, we had "Good and Plenties " candy in small clear plastic cups, it looked just like medication! We had walker relays, Bingo and Bunco tournaments, peanut brittle and jello appetizers and free swing dance lessons. It was a night to build community within our group and also a night to connect guys and girls with each other! That is right, you heard me correctly, my goal is to marry off some of our single crew in our group. I am praying for 5 couples to meet, date and get married under my watch as the Young Adult Pastor! We shall see...I prayed for 10 kids from our youth group to become full-time missionaries under my sheperding as the High School Pastor and as of right now, we have 3 students out of that era who are already in full-time missions and several more who are considering it, so who knows, maybe God is giving me a number again, we shall see!

So those are some of the Highlights of a busy, but fruitful week.
I pray God's name is made great through the events of my life this week.

Chuck Norris Weighs In

Joshua Griffith over at morethandodgeball

pointed me to this opinion article by THE Chuck Norris

commenting on Rick Warren's inauguration prayer.

Norris blew me away in the article with his insights.

Read it for yourself here.

Thought on Leading Worship Thru Music

Interesting quote by John Stackhouse on church worship music:

"...No, the contrast with the Reformation is the modern-day insistence that a few people at the front be the center of attention. We do it by making six band members louder than a room full of people. But a church service isn't a concert at which an audience sings along with the real performers. Musicians—every one of them, including the singers—are accompanists to the congregation's praise. They should be mixed loudly enough only to do their job of leading and supporting the congregation."

Read Stackhouse's full article in Christianity Today here.

End of the Rainbow in Orange County

We have been hit with some massive rain storms

in Orange County over the weekend
(okay 2 inches...but according to Channel 4 News, this is StormWatch '09)

Yesterday, my little daughter and I were playing on the swings

at the local elementary school by our house when we spotted

a rainbow in the sky.

The Old Testament tells us that the rainbow is a visible sign

from God of what He promised Noah after the Great Flood.

In Genesis 9 we read:

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

Pretty cool to know that we can see today the very sign/symbol of God's covenant

with Noah.

Anyways, in Orange County yesterday, a guy named Jason Erdkamp of Lake Forest, took this photo

on the 241 tollroad...Do you think this is real or photo shopped?

The Orange County Register Newspaper believes it is a real photo and wrote this article about it.

Some Reflections and a Prayer

I have found myself becoming more and more concerned about
politics and public policy in the past year.
Some of my recent blog posts have reflected
this concern (pro-life, presidential decisions, prop 8 etc.).

I am not sure what God is up to in my life with such concerns.
Is He wanting me to run for office?...No
Is He wanting me to become the next James Dobson?...I don't think so.
Is He wanting me to become more courageous and outspoken towards
public issues and policies that the Bible offers clarity to? Possibly.

One thing I am sure of is that God has called me to be a Pastor,
a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who boldly and passionately
lives for Jesus and encourages others through the teaching of God's word, the Bible,
to look to Jesus Christ for hope, truth, love, grace and forgiveness.
This is the main thing I want my life to be about
and I pray that in my new interest in public policy and government,
I will remember to keep Jesus as my priority before anything else.

Saying this, I want you to join me in praying for the following folks.
Some of them know Jesus, some of them probably do not.
But all of them have influential seats at a table that will no doubt
impact the American church. These individuals are part of President Obama's
newly formed Faith Based-Neighborhood council which will have
influence nationwide on faith-based programs, grants and policy.
You can read more about it here.

Here are a few of the council members for us to pray for by name:

Judith N. Vredenburgh,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America Philadelphia, PA

Rabbi David N. Saperstein,
Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and noted church/state expert Washington, DC

Dr. Frank S. Page,
President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention Taylors, SC

Father Larry J. Snyder,
President, Catholic Charities USA Alexandria, VA

Rev. Otis Moss, Jr.,
Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church Cleveland, OH

Eboo S. Patel,
Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Corps Chicago, IL

Fred Davie, President,
Public / Private Ventures, a secular non-profit intermediary New York, NY

Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA Philadelphia, PA

Melissa Rogers,
Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs and expert on church/state issues Winston-Salem, NC

Pastor Joel C. Hunter,
Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed Lakeland, FL

Dr. Arturo Chavez, Ph.D.,
President & CEO, Mexican American Cultural Center San Antonio, TX

Rev. Jim Wallis,
President & Executive Director, Sojourners Washington, DC

Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie,
Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church Knoxville, TN

Diane Baillargeon,
President & CEO, Seedco, a secular national operating intermediary New York, NY

Richard Stearns,
President, World Vision Bellevue, WA

2 Corinthians 5:17

This was our theme passage for our "Brand New" Series in January at our Young Adult Gatherings
at Calvary. Although the series is over, I find myself continuing to reflect/celebrate/read/talk
about this passage from the Bible. Here it is in several different English translations:

NIV: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
NASB: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
NLT: "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
NKJV: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
ESV: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Twitter During the Super Bowl

My home church has been overrun by the craze of Twitter.
Honestly, not to sound out of touch, but I just don't get it.
Guys on are church staff are constantly looking down at their phones
and chuckling to themselves about someone's update.
How lame (is that still a word?).

Anyways, even though I hate Twitter with a passion,
I found this photo and link really interesting.
It tracks the top words across the nation that were being twittered at different points
during the Super Bowl. Here is what the East Coast looked like after the Halftime show:

Click here to see what were the top "twittered" words across the nation at different points in the game.
I wonder how we as Christians can take advantage of Twitter to introduce Jesus to our friends and networks?