My Worship Revolution

Heading to Tahoe with our Village this weekend to get away and just hang together.  Looking forward to getting to spend some time with everyone.  I’ve actually been in a bit of a funk this week and I’m glad I’m pulling out of it in time to enhoy the weekend.

Part of pulling out of it has been doing some more reading the past several days which has been inspiring me.  Hoping in addition to swimming, cycling, running, tennis, games, food, talking and playing music that I’ll have some time to read and reflect as well.
Here’s the 3 books I picked up on my Kindle App for the iPod touch last week:

Jesus Manifesto and Hidden Power of the Gospels came highly recommended.
AND is basically the next installment after The Tangible Kingdom.  Didn’t think I was gonna wanna read this one, but after reading the description I decided to grab it.  Glad I did.  It’s the first one I started and parts of it resonate even more the TK for me right now.  It’s kinda right where we’re living.

So these books go on top of the pile of all the other books I still haven’t read but want to.  Although I have a theory that I’ll actually read these quicker with them on my iPod.  So far, that’s proving to be accurate.
So what books are you reading these days?
What’s really good?
Anything at all.
Well, anything except for Twilight.

Overall, had a good time in Yosemite.
However, we did wake up to this on Sunday morning…

SNOW!?

Is it really 2 weeks away from June?
You gotta be kiddin me.
Not gonna lie.  The tent was freezing every night.  A good portion of Sunday afternoon we just got snow and sleet.
But it made for a great time just hangin in the tent trailer and playing games together.

Luckily we did get Saturday morning at Yosemite and a good hike nearby on Sunday morning.
With the cold stickin around as ling as it has the falls at Yosemite were pretty awesome.
Yosemite in general was just stinking awesome.
My first time there.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures, but seeing half dome in the distance with towering trees and mountains on each side of you doesn’t even compare.
One day I will hike that thing!
Here are a few pics from our camera and my phone.

Amazing how all of that just “happened”.
Oh, wait…

God is an incredible artist.

This weekend…well, good luck trying to reach me.
I left yesterday.
No power.
No computer.
No phone.

Just Yosemite.
First time there.
Camping.
I’m probably taking in a view something like this right now:

Have a great weekend.
Catch ya on the flip side.

In case you didn’t catch the news on Facebook already…we have a house to move into!
6th year of marriage, 6th home, we’re getting pretty good at this.  Maybe we should start our own moving company.  Rachel could help you box everything up something fierce!

It’s not perfect, but it’s got some pretty sweet features.

PROS

• Extra room that can be an office, playroom, or third bedroom.
• Small garage, not for parking but for storage.
• A pretty sweet party backyard.
• Vegetable box in the backyard, it is on!
• Washer/dryer
• It’s a house.  I guess it’ll be nice with loud kiddos to again not have to share a wall.
• Oh yeah, it’s .3 miles from the ocean.

CONS

• All the rooms are pretty small.  Living room, bedrooms.  Smaller than they look in the pictures.  Might be time for some possible downsizing.
• No bathtub.  Hope Caleb can make the switch to showers!
• No dishwasher.  And no, I won’t make my wife do all the dishes.
• It’s on a pretty busy street.  But at least the front yard is fenced in.  The back’s a lot nicer for using though.
• A smidge over our budget, so we’ll have to pull a few bucks from other line items.

The owner lives right behind us.  That could be a pro or a con.  Haven’t met him yet.
Was stoked to meet our next door neighbors yesterday.  They have a 5 and 2 year old boy and were hoping for a family to move in.

I’m trusting that God brought us to this house for a reason, and I’m looking forward to what he has in store for this next season.
Here’s some pics to leave you with.
And by the way…we’re moving on May 29th.
Feel free to be there.
Thanks!

Almost another month has past with no posts.
What a slacker I am.
Remember back when blogging was less popular, more rogue, and I could just blog when I felt like it and didn’t feel like I had to? The good ole days.
Also, still figuring out the rhythms of working 30 hours plus working on Missio Dei stuff and finding time for blogging, family, and…oh yeah, sleep.
Yeah, yeah, yeah… you want some cheese with your whine? Welcome to the real world.
Neither Facebook or my recent addiction to playing Settlers of Catan online to unwind are helping either.

Anywho…just a quick post to let you know I started the blog over on the Missio Dei site now where I’ll post some stuff more relevant to our community and what’s happening. Still need to get it set up better, but click here to swing by and check out the first post, and expect plenty more to come.

Some other big news for us that you may have already caught on Facebook or Twitter.
But if you didn’t, you’ll have to wait till tomorrow to see it here…with pictures.
Ooooooh.

Books without pictures make me kinda sad.
That’s all for now.

Has it really been almost a month since I posted last?
April has been pretty crazy.
Some quick updates and recap for you.

• Busy month as we entered our second month of raising support.
• Was actually out of town for 19 days since the beginning of April.
• Had a great time leading worship at Rancho Vista Church on Easter and getting to spend the holiday with my mom & sister.
• Unfortunately our family decided to get sick on Easter.  The day after, Caleb ralphed for the first time in his 3 1/2 years of life and was then kind enough to pass it on to Rachel and I who stayed up for hours on end in the bathroom that night.
• Got to share at Oasis church who also hosted a lunch for us to raise support.  Pretty cool for Rachel to stand in the building her dad led the church he planted in, 20 years after he started it, and get to share about God calling us to church plant.
• That night we had a support raising dessert with a group of core families from the Crosswinds days.  Again, so cool to have a bunch of special peeps who watched Rachel grow up since she was 6 years old lay hands on us and pray for us and Missio Dei Community.
• Had a fun trip to Portland where we got to hang with Kari and I got to connect with some really great friends there: Boomer, Lisa, Izak, Linzee, and Noah.
• Went to Catalyst West Coast with Rachel and Katie.  Great time of connecting with others and getting some good nuggets of wisdom to chew on as we all dream about and lead into the future of Missio Dei.
• Today I start training to work the next couple of months for the U.S. Census Bureau.  Perfect job to get us a little more distance while we keep on raising support.  Right now we are about 33% of the way to our initial support raising goal.
• We drove back home last night with Rachel’s little brother, Isaac, in the car with us.  He’s moving in with us for the month of May to help out with the kidlets while Rachel finishes up her tutoring job and I start the Census job.

There you go.
A really quick snapshot of the past month of our lives.

In the middle of all that, we’ve still been able to get together regularly in Santa Cruz with our starting crew for Missio Dei Community.
It’s been cool getting to worship together and ask God what he wants to do with us in this community.
Last week we got together for some planning of the summer, and tonight we gather again to worship, pray, and hang with one another.

It’s a very different season of life for us.
We’re still figuring out our rhythms and there are plenty of uncertainties, but I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible right now.
Even with all the uncertainties, it’s exciting to be right in the middle of seeing God work, guide, and provide for us and our family.

Now I’ll try and get better at working in the rhythm of blogging again so you can share the journey with us!
Feel free to throw out any questions about any of it in the comments and I’ll get back to sharing our life with you hear on the blog.
Now it’s off to work for “the man!”

If Jesus had a Facebook page, what would it look like on the Holy Week leading up to Easter morning?
You no longer have to wonder.

That’s a screen shot.
Click here to check out the whole thing.

Pretty funny, and pretty accurate, too.
You might even learn a thing or two reading it.
Thanks to Chris Gott for turning me on to that.
Good stuff.

HT: Eugene Cho

A few weeks ago I was in the living room putting together a set to lead worship at Rancho Vista Church.
Caleb was on the computer in our bedroom playing games.
As I was singing, he walked over and closed the door.  Apparently I was disturbing him.
A few minutes later I was singing his favorite worship song.

The door opens and Caleb has a big smirk on his face.
As I get to the chorus, he starts belting out, “Glory to God, Forever!” and dancing.
Micah is standing by the table and starts bouncing up and down doing his own dancing as well.
Before long, I stand up from the lazy boy, and I’m standing in front of the TV leading my 2 boys in worship.
One singing out the words and spinning around.  The other a huge smile on his face bouncing up and down.
And I was going for it.

I’ve led worship in front of hundreds of people at a time.
Never reached the thousands of people at one time level.
But I don’t think either could possibly compare to the joy of leading those two in worship in the living room of my house.

Until it all came to a screeching halt of course when Calebs spinning ended with a giant collision in the middle of the room with his walking younger brother.
Blessed.

Oh, and here’s a quick video of Caleb rocking Glory to God at the dinner table the week before.
Good to know I have a fill in if I ever get sick.
He’s even got the fist pump.
Just wait.  He’ll be schooling me in worship leading before you know it (if he isn’t already).
You’ll understand the post title when you watch the video.

I’ve fallen behind a little on the blogging.
Been traveling, leading worship, and raising support.
All good times…for the most part.

But today is St. Patrick’s Day.
Just to remind us who St. Patrick even is, I invite you to check out this post from last year.
And when you pinch someone cause they aren’t wearing green, remember it’s all because of the missionary endeavors of Patrick in Ireland. Natural connection, of course.

Speaking of, the other totally understandable way to celebrate the evangelization of an entire country is drinking beer.
So join me at The Catalyst tonight to listen to The Wild Rovers in the Atrium. 9pm. No cover.
And I’ve been told I have to try an Irish Car Bomb since they’re 6 bucks tonight and I’ve never had one.
Hope to see you there!

I read this tonight.
It’s the Shakertown Pledge.
Written in 1973.

Recognizing that Earth and the fullness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, and that we are called to cherish, nurture, and provide loving stewardship for Earth’s resources, and recognizing that life itself is a gift, and a call to responsibility, joy, and celebration, I make the following declarations:

1. I declare myself a world citizen
2. I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
3. I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world’s poor.
4. I commit myself to join with others in the reshaping of institutions in order to bring about a more just global society in which all people have full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
5. I commit myself to occupational accountability, and so doing I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
6. I affirm the gift of my body and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical wellbeing.
7. I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly to those around me.
8. I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, and study.
9. I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.

Wow.  What could the Kingdom impact look like if we all actually committed ourselves to such things?
Which commitment stands out to you the most?
Where do you need to begin?