Looking for Love...

My kids got a puppy for Christmas....well that's not exactly true.  My kids got a couple of puppy training books and the promise of a puppy for Christmas.  We didn't want to bring home a puppy and then leave it for four days when we went to Mexico.  So the day we returned from Mexico the girls began the search for their new love.  We've been all over Craigslist, visited shelters and looked on Petfinder.com for that allusive puppy.  This afternoon we're headed to a shelter in Lancaster, approximately an hour from our home.  What would possess us to do this?  Love!  Our love for our girls and their love for a puppy they haven't met yet.  Lancaster has puppies....and lots of them.  We may or may not come home with a puppy today, but the search is on!

Lost in the Twilight Zone

My day began at 3:30 a.m. when my trusty iPhone woke me and reminded me that it was Mexico time!  So we got the family up, showered packed the vehicle and headed to the church.  We met our team, received registrations, funds and plenty of coffee and bagels before we headed south.  About 11 a.m. we pulled into the Ensenada Outreach Center and removed our luggage......well everyone's luggage except for my lovely wife's.  Mimi's bag was no where to be found.

Building Lives & Homes in Ensenada

Each January for the past 12 years, we have joined friends, neighbors, and fellow church members to head south of the border for a home-building expedition.  Our next adventure begins this coming Friday!  While those who know me will agree that I am prone to hyperbole, this trip is truly transformational.  A few stories should suffice to illustrate this point.

Unexpected Winter Wonderland Hits Southern California

For most of my 41years, I have lived in Sunny Southern California.  I love the sunshine and the mild winters we experience living here.  But on occasion it's nice to embrace a change of pace.

Already on pace to have a record-breaking year of rain fall, the Santa Clarita Valley where I live had an unexpected snowstorm come through yesterday.  The SCV is known for the theme park, Magic Mountain as well as very hot summer weather, but not snow.  For the first time, in thirteen years of living here, we got snow.  My kids, wife and even our labrador retriever were frolicking in the falling flakes from heaven.  While not much of it actually accumulated, it was a delightful change of pace and a gift from God.

My Top 10 reads of 2010

Not in any particular order, the following are 10 of my favorite reads for the past year.  For the first time ever, I started the year with a list of books I wanted to read and added to it as the year went on.  While the list was beyond my grasp to complete, I did enjoy working my way through it.  Here are my top 10.

1.  Deep Church by Jim Belcher
2.  Life Entrepreneurs by Gergen & Vanourek
3.  Simply Christian by NT Wright
4.  The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle
5.  The Call by Os Guiness
6.  The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll
7.  Just Courage by Gary Haugee
8.  Remembering Our Future by Walker & Bretherton
9.  The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay
10.  Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

Evangelicalism in Post-Christian Society

Introduction & Methodology Outline:

Having come to faith in Jesus as a high school student in an energetic, evangelical youth ministry in the 1980s and having been involved in various aspects of evangelical church ministry over the past twenty years has led me to research the current situation as well as the future hope of this great movement.  NorthPark Community Church where I currently serve as Mission Pastor, is a prime example of an evangelical church and should benefit from these findings.  Over the past decade I have been influenced greatly by both the Emerging Church as well as the Organic/Missional movement.  Finding a way forward is a major theme of this research and as so often the case, we will explore the past in order to find our place in the future.  Many of the movements within Christianity are dabbling in the ancient practices of the Church as a means of renewal and participation in the larger Christian community. 

A Look Back

Today as I watch the Rose Parade, College Football, put a puzzle together with my kids and reflect on the beginning of another year, I want to celebrate some of the highlights from 2010.  While it has been a difficult year in many ways there is much to appreciate as well.

Family Highlights:

The year began with our annual mission to Mexico.  This year we were able to build two homes for migrant families outside of Ensenada.  The best part for me was when the family we built a home for the year before decided to help us complete one of the homes we were working on.  Seeing them pay it forward was especially rewarding for me.  I love that this is a tradition that my family participates in every year.  My kids look forward to it as much as Mimi and I do.