I've been refraining from doing any new posting since Tblog has been hosed up... all week!  I am now in the process of developing a new blog. The reason I went with Tblog originally is because you don't need to know any html to set it up so it was easy. I'll be switching to blogger and will post a link to my new blog soon.

In other news:
Jess and I were walking around Old Town last weekend when across the plaza a smooth brotha approached. He had a flat hat, nice duds, a well groomed chin strap beard, and an old skool boom box on a strap over one shoulder. As he passed by I heard not hip-hop tunes, nor break beats but the smooth R&B voice of Marvin Gaye. Staring in awe I asked Jess what I should do because I felt like I had to respond to the coolness that had just passed by. Unfortunately she had no advice because she was just as awe struck as me.

26 years ago on September 24th a miracle happened...my future wife was born. Happy Birthday baby I love you like crazy!!

Well it's nothing big and I'm not totally stoked on how it was edited but Relevant Magazine published a small piece that I wrote on their website.

Check it here.

Having grown up in the Church and Christian Culture something I’ve found to be extremely important is constantly evaluating why I do what I do in my spiritual life. Why do I pray? Why do I sing worship songs? Why do I go to church? Every so often I realize that I’m just going through the motions of Christian life and that passion has slowly turned to duty. So the question is - Why do we go to church?

When you look at the early church in the book of Acts you see that the church was focused on community (Acts 2:42). There was an excitement born out of the revelation of what Christ had done and believers came together to be taught further, to hang out, eat with each other, and just enjoy God. The sense of community was so strong that no one was in need, others were put in front of self, and God worked powerfully. The struggle in our busy lives today is to remember that being a part of church means being a part of a community of believers that are all headed in the same direction. Unfortunately there are times when that’s not the case and the reason for going to church on Sunday is based on obligation instead of passion. When this happens Church becomes nothing more than a tick on our Christian life checklist and we are happy when it’s out of the way so we can move on to the rest of the day.

If you feel obligated to go to Church or if going to Church on Sunday is nothing more than a check on your list of being a “good” Christian, then it’s time for a heart examination. How you view being a part of the local church can be a reflection of how you view your relationship with God. A dangerous prayer I prayed years ago was that God would never let me get so comfortable in my Christian walk that I become stagnant. I prayed this prayer at a time in my life where I was stagnant and realized that my Christian life was based on a checklist of activities that made me look good on the outside. On the inside I was about as in love with Jesus as I am with doing the dishes. God has held me to that prayer and every so often I get a little reminder that wakes me up and causes me to ask why I do what I do. When I ask that question I always come back to his amazing love for me and it stokes my passion and kills obligation.
Why do you go to church?

Verses to check out:
Acts 2:42-49
Acts 4:32-37
Hebrews 10:25
Romans 12:3-8

Last week we cruised up north to Seattle for the very awesome wedding of Dan and Alisha. It was a great time at the wedding and spending time with Jess' friends and family. Unfortunately I took some of the most atrocious pictures ever so I don't have much to show hence a "cute" impromptu pic.

Some people have asked me how I can stand living in a place where an earthquake can hit any time. I'll tell you what...I'll take a little shake every once in a while over what the people in Lousiana are dealing with right now. It looks like a war zone!
Check out Time Magazine's photo essay here.

3 years ago when I filled up my car it cost me $24. Today I hit $40 for the first time. I'm now looking for a good horse to trade my car in for.

We had a short but fun visit with Adam and Delvyn a couple days ago. The first night they were here someone tried to steal my bike off the back porch. I'd like to say we caught them in the act and went all Kung Fu on them but we didn't. I found it hanging off the hooks still locked on to Jessica's purple huffy.

On Monday Delvyn found out that it takes nary a step to give away a sandwich in Arcata as we perused the plaza.

Night dos involved a city league softball game and an Indian Gaming Casino. Need I say more? I think not.
Good chillin with you guys!

Just a typical night in Humboldt County:
First we went to the fair and found Super Sheep...then jumped to The Church for a sweet worship time (no we didn't worship super sheep).

I'd like to make a "pie in the sky" comment about how God is stirring the church, or that something big is about to happen in my area. Unfortunatley I can't. I can however, say that God is stirring something in the heart of a church kid who has become increasingly bored with what is offered on Sunday morning and at most Christian events.

I recently heard Mark Driscoll who is a pastor and author speak here in Humboldt. That, along with a quote by Phillip Yancy (who has a sweet fro) in a recent interview has got me thinking a lot.
Here's the quote: "We need to recover the excitement that you see in the book of Acts, where people flock to the Way not because someone is browbeating them but because there’s nothing else even comparable."

Isn't that so true? I mean we call it the Good News don't we? The good news is that the sin (addictions, despair, lust, hopelessness, etc.) that has it's grip on our lives can be overcome because of what Jesus did. Jesus said himself that he didn't come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17). You can see in His ministry that he pointed sin out to people, like the woman at the well, (John 4:17) but in a way that wasn't condemning but freeing. So it's time for Christians to do the same. To live in a way that impacts, engages, and loves instead of condemns. Jesus did it, so can we.

Some more music to check out that's pretty good. I went to school with Sara Bareilles and she apparently has toured with Maroon 5 and just signed a deal with Epic Records.

Our church is running a basketball camp this week and because we live in a small town it's being covered by local media. I was interviewed by a newspaper and local TV station which is airing the segment tonight.

UPDATE: You can check out the small article here.
    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;We'll be showing the TV spot at church on Sunday. 

There's been a shift in how the church does evangelism and our purpose for running these camps has been evangelistic. The reality is that God wants to use your giftings and passions to be His hands and feet to the world. Old Skool Christianity has painted a one sided picture of what it looks like to be an evangelist and fortunately those old boxes are being shredded. What is it you are passionate about? Use those things to connect with people and live your life in an intentional way.

I got turned onto these guys when their lead guitar player came up and played with Anthony Skinner. Check out The Daylights, I guarantee you'll be hearing them soon. You can listen to some samples off of their EP here.

My brother Ben is in need of some cash. He's planning on going to Cambodia on a 4 month outreach but is short several thousand dollars. More than half his money is due on August 11th and the rest is due September 8th. If you would like to support him you can drop me a line and I can give you more information.

Issues I'm hoping to tackle in an upcoming series (starting Aug. 11th) I think I'm going to call something like "The Jesus Culture":
• The balance between engaging culture and being influenced by it.
• The difference between becoming like Christ and becoming a middle class, white, robotic Christian that uses 2000 year old Hebrew/Greek words to communicate.
• Universal truth of the Bible vs. made up traditions of man disguise d as truth.
• True 'minis try' and what it looks like as lived by Jesus.

And some questions to ask:
• Are you influenced by culture, influencing culture, or removed from culture? And to what degree?
• How many non-Christian friends do you have?
• What culture (or sub-culture) do you avoid at all costs?
• Do you feel at home in today's Christian culture?

Camp last week was dope. About 25 kids gave their lives to Christ and about that same amount made recommitments. It was a physically exhausting week but a spiritually refreshing one as well. We had over 130 8th and 9th graders so it was a mission to keep everything in order but the staff was tremendous and it was a really frutiful time.  
This month is going to be really, really busy!

- Jess graduates next week and the In-Laws will be in town
- Pastor Rick is taking 3 weeks of vacation and I will be preaching a series called "The Jesus Culture"
- Oasis (our college/career group) is starting back up and we will be attempting to remodel a new room to meet in
- Meeting #2 of local college/career ministers is happening
...and a whole lot of other stuff that I won't bore you with.

Well, with prescription drug costs soaring Pizza Hut launches it's new campaign (I snapped this on my way home the other day).



Have a snappy caption? Post it.

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It's funny, Jess was commenting yesterday how it feels like we've actually had less time to get together with friends this summer. Every night there is something going on. It's been a busy, but great summer so far, and it's time for a life update which I don't give enough of on this here blog.
 
Work/School: Jess has 4 weeks left until she is a bon-a-fide nurse! It's funny how a hypochondriac like myself married a soon to be nurse. Work for me has been outstanding and stretching. I'm learning a ton in my position here at the church and God is my main teacher. I've also begun to write a bit more, some of which I may start posting. Recently our Senior Pastor was away so I found myself leading worship and teaching for a couple Sunday's. Also I'm heavily involved with developing a vision for the way we disciple/evangelize in our church. There are a lot of exciting thi ngs happening, too many to write - your prayers are appreciated!
Family: My brother and sister in law are pregnant with a girl. He's stationed in N.C. so we're hoping to scrape together some money to fly over and see them next year.
My Dad just turned the ripe old age of 60.
Ben is in the middle of his DTS but is in need of some more money so that he can go on outreach. It's a miracle in itself that he's where he is. If you're interested in supporting him drop me a line.
Us: As you can see two posts down, we just celebrated our 2nd anniversary. You know you made the right decision when your more in love 2 years later then you were when you got married, and let me tell you we were pretty in love.
Fun: Well summer got here late, but the weather has been outstanding lately so we've been enjoying BBQing, hiking, and chillin at the beach. I've also been playing on our church softball team which is currently undefeated.
Even though we haven't been able to leave town much this summer we've had the privelege to have some friends we haven't seen in a while come stay with us. Casa de Fouché is always open if you're up for a visit!