The Big Bear...

Today is my good friend Bear's birthday. So, in accordance with good birthday celebration, we took him to lunch @ La Bamba's. Now when I say we I mean a bunch of us. It was a great time! We conversed, laughed, ate and most of all, celebrated Bear.

This is not the first time I've been out with friends celebrating their birthdays. However, it was special and quite memorable for at least 2 reasons.

First, Bear is a superb friend! He is the kind of friend that I know I can count on no matter what. We've been through some interesting things together here in ministry. Yet, whatever the situation or circumstance, our friendship has maintained and even grown. Bear's gentle and kind heart coupled with his intense passion for God and His church are, for me, both refreshing and encouraging. He has become one of my most trusted and insightful confidants and companion. He quickly reminds me of the Proverb (27:9) that says "the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel."

This brings me to my second reason. Friends, good and close friends are extremely important in this life. One of the most intriguing and powerful things about my father is his keeping of close friends. My dad's best friends (the ones all us kids call "uncle" so and so) are friends that he has had since middle school! I have grown up with many of these friends and consider them family. As such, the older I get the more I consider my friendships. Especially now that Amy and I are going to be parents, I want my kid(s) to grow up with my friends kids. I hope to maintain some dear friendships that are really more like extended families. It is becoming more apparent to me that this life cannot be rightly lived in family isolation. We need community; we need close, endearing friendships that will rejoice when we rejoice and weep when we weep.

As I looked around the table this afternoon at all the friends that gathered to celebrate Bear and his birthday I couldn't help but feel excited about the community that God is growing and nurturing here. It was such a sweet time both b/c of the person we were celebrating and b/c of the friends we were celebrating with! I am certainly blessed by the people that God has brought into my life. I just hope that we will be friends, even family well into eternity.

So, Bear - Happy Birthday my friend!

For His Kingdom...

Spring Break(fast)

Imagine yourself in the following situation:

You're a middle school student who has just begun your Spring Break. You begin to day dream about the endless possibilities that await during this much needed break from the grind of school. You fantasize about many hours spent at the beach or at friends houses doing whatever your little heart desires. It is going to be a week filled with late nights and even later mornings. Thus, you lay your little head on your pillow at night, thinking to yourself, "tomorrow I'm gonna wake up around noon and grace the world with my very presence." It is with that thought that you drift off into a peaceful and quiet sleep, tucked all cozy in your own bed.

Next thing you know, it is 6:00 am and there are strangers in your room, shaking you, squirting you with water guns, sounding sirens and yelling at you through a megaphone. You are near the point of having a heart attack, or at least tears.

"What is going on?"

Well, this was somewhat the general reaction of 9 middle school students yesterday. Dylan, Ali and myself set out on an excursion to snatch some students right out of their own bed and in their pj's and take them to breakfast. It was a truly awesome time! We snagged these students - Andrew, 3 Rachel's, Zack, Alex, Zoey, Brock and Susanna - an took them all to Ihop, the beach and Starbucks. We had a great time laughing, playing, talking about Jesus and just goofing off.

I have to say, though it was wicked early, I really enjoyed spending that time with the students.

So, until next time...

For His Kingdom...

Reading a great book...

Right now I'm reading "The Trellis and The Vine" by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.

It's a wonderful book so far on the nature of Christian ministry. The premise is that in ministry there are people and programs (please forgive my blanket and vague categories). In the analogy, people are represented by the vine and programs by the trellis. The authors set out to make the case that in Christian ministry there is a need for both the trellis and the vine. In other words, they go hand in hand. However, they note that too often in ministry it is the trellis that gets all the attention and begins to overshadow the vine. They propose that though this focus on programs creates a sense of accomplishment and growth in ministry, it is actually a less than adequate way of accomplishing ministry. It is their proposition that genuine Christian ministry needs to be more vine focused. It is people that matter most in the end.

This book has been marvelous at reminding me what my focus and vision should be for the Student Ministries. Though we utilize programs in ministry, they should be for nothing more than supporting real Christian discipleship and evangelism. We must never let the trellis replace the vine, lest we end up with an inanimate ornament that will only fade in the end.

For His Kingdom...