Kingdom Healing Confernce

Just got back from 3 days at Risen King...conference was amazing.
I saw a guy that I prayed for at the last conference a year ago. He's a church planter in New York. Last year he came forward for prayer from chronic pain he had in his left knee that he had for years. I prayed for him and God completely took the pain away. Year later...still no pain! God is awesome.
God spoke some pretty significant things over the time. I was really encouraged and refreshed. The whole Randall crew (minus Whitney) were there. So good to hang with Andrew and Caleb. So proud of the men they've become.
Felt like I received a ton of faith and a new desperation and expectation for God.
Looking forward to this next season!

How does a church keep its street cred?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
There are so many things that I'm thinking through operationally as a church coming into our new space that it makes my head hurt. And with every policy and procedure and system and staff position and line item I wonder how you keep that thing that keeps you real and raw.
As a church...how do we keep our street cred?

Is this what Death Cab felt like as they were poised to release Plans on Atlantic?
Four albums on Barsuk and all the street cred the world had to offer...indie status up for grabs...no more ep's...no more individually signed vinyl...no more shows without ticket master.
Plans was an amazing album but now everyone knew about their indie darlings.
They lost something even though they gained so much.
All the die hard turned their collective noses up.

Ultimately I'm not worried. We're not selling records. We're trying to follow Jesus as a community in Redding. We're committed to loving and making disciples...that's not gonna change.
Don't worry...I'm not planning on purchasing a tie or shaving or covering up tattoos :)
I just wonder all the implications on moving into a space and growing.
Growing is healthy. Putting out albums that the whole world can enjoy is awesome.
But everything comes at a cost.

Maybe I'll have to plant a church out of a bar and call it the Postal Service :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts...be nice!

Here's to never selling out...

Sacred moments

As a pastor you're brought into the best and worst of peoples journeys at key points in their story.

Marriage crisis
God moments
Death
Birth
Sin
Baptism
Testimony
Spirit filling
Tears
Healing
Sickness
Decisions
Dreams
Vision
Discouragement
Breakthrough

It's new every day. But I consider all of them to be sacred moments. Opportunities to bring God into everyday situations. I love what I do.

I'm back

Got in at 5:30pm from our conference.
Added an hour to our trip home because I missed the 505...good times.
Listened to some insane Kris Vallotton message in the car...need more brain band-aids.
Our friends Jason and Kim Day are staying with us for a couple days...they're out from New York.
My wife went to bed at 9:30pm...something about taking care of three kids for a few days all by herself...doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me :)
Thinkin' about going to Lynk tomorrow and Jesus Culture this weekend.
Anyone else gonna be there?

the curse of the keys

remember the post where I was talking about the simplicity of keys?
Yeah...I'm not that guy any more.
Now I have keys to:
Bechelli campus
2 keys to Eureka campus
new house
old house
mail
vespa
echo
vue
bike lock
church office
what happened?
Keys come with responsibility.
When you plant a church and don't have a lot of money and have the keys you:
Drive to the Naz with Nate on Saturday night at 8pm...
grab painting, mics, keyboard, drums, monitor, and mic stand...
take it to Eureka campus...
repeat next week!
We're trying to figure something out...
Anyone want my key? I'm willing to give it up :)
What do your keys say about you?

Last day

Can't believe we have our first gathering at our new campus tomorrow!
Nate and I met with Bill Randall yesterday at Sue's...it's a monthly meeting that I really look forward to...Bill is amazing.
He told us that he was proud of us and encouraged us.
I think he feels like a grandpa that played a huge role in giving birth to the Stirring and is now seeing the first Stirring offspring.
He said you can't ever be fully prepared for something new...there are things that will come up that you can't predict until you're in it...we were sharing our extreme level of freakoutness...I found some comfort in that.
I have no idea what to expect.
Sean and Rebecca, Nate, me and the launch team?
300 people from other churches with issues that will probably have the same issues with us?
100 people that don't know God yet?
The anticipation is killing me.
I've been praying for tomorrow and the new people that will be coming into our Life Groups...can't wait.
If you don't have a church that you call home come hang with us tomorrow at 10am.

IKEA, Guitar Center, and the Apple Store

All in one day.
Heaven on earth.
Why the heck do you have to drive three hours to get there?
Church plant is almost ready!
3 days left...I just threw up a little in my mouth!

I told you we'd watch both sides

Sof is from Kyrgyzstan so I think she was impressed with McCain's resume abroad. Zeke was a little bored with gramps. Man...could these guys be any different?
There's things I like in both guys and things that really bug me about both.
The only thing I know is that my allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a dude in an oval office. I long for the day that the church will start acting like the church and get its voice back! Husbands and wives start fighting to stay together, we love our neighbors, we pray for our enemies, and we look out for the least among us.
Politics intrigue me but I put no hope in political parties.
I try not to paint with too broad of a brush.
I just hope one of these dudes can keep college tuition from reaching $200,000 a year by the time my 3 kids are old enough!

Pastor superhero's

This guys blog is awesome. He pairs up some well known pastors as superhero's. Thought it was fitting with the conversations we've been having at the Stirring.

Teamwork

We need to get walkie talkies!

"I know...but what do you really do for a living?"

I've been asked this question about 30 times over the course of my time being a pastor. I think it's pretty funny. People ask me what I do for a living...I tell them I'm a pastor...then they say, "I know you're a pastor but what do you really do for your job?" Hilarious!
I think I'm gonna try this out on some people. I'm going to ask teachers what they really do for a job. Hey mr. electrician...I know you play around with those different colored wires all day but what do you really do for a living?
Being a pastor is a people job so when people are around they get our attention. So I guess it could be easy to assume that all we do is hang out all week. It probably doesn't help that I do all of my studying at Starbucks because I don't function too well in an office.

So here's your chance. There's a handful of you that read this blog everyday. I'd love to hear what you do for a living...even if people don't think it's work. Sometimes I feel like I'm spilling my guts out into an empty void so this would help me get a better picture of all of you when I'm writing. Lets hear what you do...I want to hear from all of you!

Church plants, sun, food, hot tub, 2:40am

Sat in the sun for 1/2 hour today. Don't know if you can tell but my forehead is on fire. The download of information today was out of hand. So much good stuff...so many good talks...my brain hurts. Had dinner with Nate, Bill, Jill and Tim and talked about great stuff. We laughed till my face hurt. Our hot tub at the hotel is 127 degrees...I no longer posses the first layer of my skin. Last night we went to bed at 2:40am...we planned out stuff for the Stirring for the next year...good times. I'm gonna try to get some sleep tonight.

Orlando here I come

I'm takin' off tonight after the Stirring. Nate and I are headed down to Sacramento to stay with his parents tonight. We get up early for a flight to Orlando. Four days out there for the Exponential Church Conference. It's focused on church planting and it should be really cool. I'm looking forward to hearing from Alan Hirsch. Some people hooked us up to go so I'm stoked. I will try to blog while I'm gone but I have no clue what my internet situation will be like. Have a great week!

Brought my cowboy hat to Texas

So Nate, Patrick, Nate's dad (Dale) and myself are in Texas for a few days at the creative church conference. Felt like we were traveling all stinkin' day. Up at 5am...took off at 7am...2.5 hour layover in Denver with delays...delays on the plane on the way to Dallas...get a rental car...get to the hotel...don't even get out...check in and drive for an hour looking for the church...find it...go through the first session...come home...drop off Nate who's felt like he's gonna puke all day...grab some Burger King...nasty...blog...bed. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.

Something to chew on today...

The church is the single, multi ethnic family promised by the creator God to Abraham. It was brought into being through Israel's Messiah, Jesus; it was energized by god's Spirit; and it was called to bring the transformative news of god's rescuing justice to the whole creation. pg. 200
N.T. Wright (Simply Christian)

District conference

Nate, Derrick, Meghan, Patrick and myself leave for District Conference today. We are a church plant of the C&MA. We are going to use the time away to have kind of a mini staff retreat. Talk about where we're going...pray for each other...should be cool. I've got other buddies from this district that are in our denomination so that should be fun too. I'm interested to see the differences in the northwest district.
I get back Thursday and my mom is coming up that night through Monday morning. I'm leading worship again this weekend and all our Life Groups start next week. So there are a couple things going on. Not sure how much internet or time I'll have to blog. We'll see...have a great week. Pray for Alyssa and the kids...Leaving for 2 days at this point won't be easy.

New office dynamics

Here's our two room office that I'm moving into. Meghan works in the front room (first 2 pics). I'm sitting on a love seat with my mac in that first pic. That's where I've been working lately. The last two pics is of Nate's office. The last picture is a shot of my books in boxes and a chair. That's where I will end up. Nate and I are working out office dynamics. It's going to be awesome. It's crazy moving to a 2 room office from a 50 room office. We use laptops and cell phones...no network...no pc's (yeah!!!)...no phone system. Just three people in an office trying to follow Jesus. I love it!

Tons to be thankful for

New life
New family
New church
New friends
New house
New food
New conversations
New opportunities
New struggles
New provision
New vision
New hope
New dreams
New songs
New heavens and new earth
Happy Thanksgiving

7 more work days...what the heck!!??!!?

I looked at the calendar today. I have 7 more days in the office till I'm off to Redding...crazy! I'm in Monday and Tuesday of this week then off to Redding to find a place to rent. I'll be back in the office Tuesday and Wednesday of the next week, then we're off for Thanksgiving. The week after I'm in three days and then I leave for Redding on the 30th of November. That's the day I drive the Uhaul up there with all our stuff. I'm flying back on the 17th of December to be home for the holidays and then we leave as a family on January 2nd. When I fly home for the holidays I won't be going back to work so that only leaves me 7 days in the office...It's starting to set in that things are winding down...it's pretty crazy!
I told the young married group today that we were going to be leaving. I've really enjoyed being a part of seeing that group become a reality.
Starting to process through the keyboard.

Already gettin' some love from the Stirring

We made the front page of The Stirring website. I think that's awesome. We can't wait to get up there and join the team.
Related news...We head up to Redding next week to find a house to rent. Please pray that we find the right place for our family. We also need to find a renter for our house here in Riverside. Anyone interested? Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.