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2009-02-03T21:17:00.001-08:00

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JOHN RAMBO

2007-06-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here it is folks... a sneak peek at the next and last Rambo Movie. You should be able to see the trailor from the Rambo link. He apparently dives in and saves a group of missionaries. I heard an interesting interview with "Sly" about his faith, and he seemed pretty sincere. Anyway, Rocky made a recent return..now Rambo...i'm hoping Ralph Macchio comes out of the woodwork soon and takes on Jean Claude Van Damme or Chuck Norris in "The Last Karate Kid" Here's to hoping...

On to 25

2007-06-01T10:31:00.001-07:00

25 years is upon me as of tomorrow June 2nd. In some ways it's hard to believe, in other ways it's not. At least now that I'm 25 I won't get screwed with having to buy the extra insurance when I need to use a rental car. Maybe I won't get carded as much when I try to order a drink when I'm out with people. Then again, maybe I'll have to wait until I'm in my 30's to get that kind of treatment. A couple weeks ago, I was at one of the guy's in my youth groups high school volleyball game. I walked into school during the last period and had a teacher or guidance counselor or something stop me in the hall and ask what period I should be in...ya..it was fun getting out of that one. "Um ...I actually don't go to school here sir"....then he says "I've heard that one before"...so as we're dialogging the kids dad comes out to meet me in the hallway outside the gym and verifies my identity. So although 25 "seems" old in my head, I guess I'll have to try to do better to try to look the part. One philosophy to take into account as you get older : Aging is inevitable...maturity..is optional. = )

It Has Begun

2007-05-09T06:55:00.001-07:00

Well it's official. As of Monday May 8th, the madness has begun to start training for the
Philadelphia Marathon. Running is something I always hated growing up, and something I never thought I'd enjoy. However I'm slowly beginning to realize that as the things that I think i'll never do..keep happening...like ..going to Geneva..after going to high school 5 min from there, enjoying running, getting married after knowing somebody for less then a year, moving to...NJ...um..I told myself many times in college I wanted to be out of the country soon after...yea..don't see that happening in the near future..not with plans of kids, and now entertaining the idea of something else I never thought I'd want to do ever again..yes..going back to school...not just that..but possibly going back to school for something in the "Health Science field" ...also an area of study that I swore I would never get into after taking a BIO class at Geneva, but now my eyes have been open anew to it. However looking back on the things I said I'd "never do", and seeing the outcome of those things really makes me love the fact that the Lord is in control and not me. Had those things not have happened how they did, I wouldn't have the friends I have now, probably wouldn't have worked at camp that one last summer.....where I met my wife..the list goes on...you know the deal, probably with experiences from your own life.

Well sorry to get off track, let me get back to this marathon business. It wasn't until the summer after my Jr. Yr in college when I realized I had packed on too much college weight that running regularly became a reality. It started with 1 mile, that I barely finished..and little by little it increased. Since then I have done small races and even a half marathon, but before my knees give out and before I'm in the hospital every other week getting my back fixed, I figure I should try to tackle this beast in my 20's.

There are 26.2 reasons why running a marathon is going to be hard, — as in 26.2 miles from start to finish. When you run a marathon, you run..of course.. on hard streets. A friend was telling me how the impact of each stride is three to four times a runner's body weight, transferred from ankles to knees to hip. ( I'll deal with those ramifications in my 40's). With all the possible reasons I can come up with to not do this, I could come up with just as many positives...like increased discipline, more quality time outdoors...and how could I forget.. great-looking legs...riiight. I tried to tackle this once, but failed miserably in my training..and gave up. However this time, i'm hoping things are different. I have a nice long boardwalk that follows the ocean for many many miles, hopefully that will help. For me it's also a way of challenging myself to be a part of something a little bigger than myself, and to push myself physically and mentally in a way I never have. My knees have never been kind to me, and this won't help but my body will give up on me long before my mind ever will, and I am going to finish this, and soon will set a time that I want to finish in.

So my next deal is to find somebody to RUN IT WITH ME!. Yes..cmon you know you want to. It's in November, in the city that prides itself on Rocky Balboa. If you're a runner and you've ruled out a marathon..now's the time to join me and rule it back in. I'll be waiting to hear from one of you...I HOPE. And yes..I'll try to find us those red tutu's that are in the above pic to run in.

Time is flying

2007-05-04T08:15:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's almost June again. I feel like life has been a huge blur this past year and half or so. I guess I should get used to it. Our church is gearing up to go to Mexico through the organization Back2Back ministries. We'll be heading out the last week in June. We'll be in Monterrey Mexico working with children's homes by doing service projects and spending quality time with the kids. One of the interesting facts I recently learned about Mexico was that there is no public assistance, and as a result, struggling single mothers end up abandoning their children to a children's home out of necessity. Also, most of these kids cannot be adopted. This is the churches fist time to go on a mission trip like this so we're all pretty excited. I'm excited because we have a good intergenerational group going. It's a good mix of Sr. High, College/young adult, and older adults.

On the summer front, this summer will be filled with VBS, events for youth here at the church, a couple weddings ( one being my sister), and some vacation time to see our parents. Then around August the little one will be on his/her way...!....ok that was a joke..just wanted to see if anybody read that far.

Recently I've been going back and reading parts of some of my favorite books. One of them by Brennen Manning is called The Ragamuffin Gospel. It's main theme is GRACE. Isn't that just a beautiful word? Here's a great quote from it that pretty much speaks for itself.

"Yet God gives us his grace willingly, no matter what we've done. We come to Him as ragamuffins, dirty, bedraggled, & beat up. And when we sit at his feet, He smiles upon us, the chosen objects of His furious love".

I just love that quote. I used to be in this funk back in the day. Trying real hard to keep my regimented schedule of devotions, prayer, and when I missed a day, I'd think back on what I did or didn't do and feel like lesser of a person if I was more on the "didn't do" end. It's easy for us to see God as a score keeper tallying our success & failures. That can get dangerous because it turns to what "we" do instead of God. The idea that personal discipline will mold a perfect us is wrong. Although personal discipline is good, and we have to make time to be with the Lord everyday, it still won't mold a perfect us. We'll get on these great patterns, and then we can fail and think we can pull ourselves up again, and when we can't it's easy to feel inadequate. I would get into these "highs and lows" over and over again. It was leading to a joyless Christianity for me.

I still remember part of a talk that one of my youth pastors in high school (Kent) gave back in the day. It was 6 or 7 yrs ago, so i don't remember much but one thing that he said that has stuck with me ever since is "When we try and try and try we can deny the gospel of grace".
It was at that point I remember thinking that I needed to stop denying this grace.

After all...none of us have done ANYTHING to deserve it. What a great God we serve huh? A God who in knowing our sin...still delights in us..that's pretty awesome. Let us all continue to take time and get to know the heart of God.

Easter Pics

2007-04-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Spent some time this easter with family and friends in PA. Got to go to opening day as well, even though the buccos lost, it was well worth the madness. Here's some pics of the weekend

Posing for a quick pic with Ashley
Ashley with her sister

She's hooked

The best park in all of MLB (as stated by the baseball writers of America)..and me...these seats were great.
Dodd and I.. .Bucco fans for life
Part of the skyline you can see at PNC..and best city in the world!

Shalom

2007-03-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

I was moved by this in a quiet time I had recently, thus I want to blog about it.

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” —Mark 5:34

Could you even imagine it?

Twelve years.

For twelve years, this woman had been in a constant state of suffering. For twelve years, she had been suffering not only physically from her issue of blood, but also financially and socially. She had spent everything she had in a desperate hope that something, anything, might bring relief to the life she knew. Her relationship with others, even her relationship with God, was defined by her physical ailment. She could not come into contact with those around her for fear of their ritual purity. She was unable to go to the Temple in order to connect with her God. Alone. Afraid. Broken.

Twelve years.

Then one day she hears about Jesus. “Could he be the one? Could he really be who people whisper him to be? If only I could get close enough to touch the fringe of his garment and I’ll be healed, as the tradition says.”

Pushing her way through the crowd, she saw him. As she drew near to the man she had heard people speak of, she saw the fringe of his robe. Reaching out, fear mixed with faith, she felt the knots of his fringe between her fingers. “God, you’ve been faithful. I need you now.”

Immediately... she was healed. Physically, healed. Emotionally, healed. Socially, healed. Everything made new again through the touch.

Now the fascinating thing about this story is Jesus’ response. Apparently, Jesus was not intentionally involved in this miraculous scene, as He was as unaware of the event as those around him. “Who touched my clothes?” Knowing that something extraordinary occurred, He questions to find the person who initiated the event. “Someone here has faith. Someone here believes who I am.”

The woman, realizing what had happened and that Jesus was looking for her, comes and falls at His feet in fear. Trembling, she pours out the tragic story of her past twelve years.

“Go in peace. You are free.”

Now often when we think about peace, we think about a lack of conflict don’t we? We even talk about praying for “peace” in the Middle East. But when Jesus is talking about “peace” He is talking about something much larger.

The peace, or the shalom, of God is so much larger than merely a lack of conflict. Shalom is about wholeness. Shalom is about freedom. Shalom is living in holistic restoration, every part of you made whole and new again in God. To have the shalom of God rest on you was to experience the life God intended all humanity to live in – one that was whole, and free, redeemed and restored.

So this woman walked away from Jesus with much more than just her bleeding cured. She walked away with her entire life given back to her, every aspect made whole and free, just as it should be.

So i've asked myself, and I ask you the reader....Where do you need the shalom of God to invade your life? Where do you need your life restored to you? What broken places do you need made whole again?

Jet Blue...and more

2007-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

So last night on the news there were a lot of ticked off New Yorkers who took off for a plane in Aruba only to get stuck on the runway for 9 hours at JFK airport.. via JetBlue. Way to go JetBlue Hopefully they'll compensate the "wish I could be on vacation now instead of stuck on this screwed up airline" vacationers. I shouldn't forget to mention that JetBlue also had the worst on time arrival rate in January. Maybe it's just a little resentment from a little mishap I had with JetBlue in the past. Bottom line is they're cheap, and you get what you pay for. Sometimes it's a cheaper flight, other times it's a 9 hour runway delay, sometimes you might show up 1 hr later than scheduled. I was at the Philly airport last week with a lady who lost luggage via JetBlue and it took them over a month to find it. I'm done ranting about JetBlue, just needed to get the monkey off my back.

I recently was out in Indy, for the National Youth Ministry Conference. All together I'd give it a B. It was very helpful in a lot of ways, and it lacked in others.

Also, I just got our church signed up for this sweet bike drive that you should look into if you live in NJ, PA, KS, CT, MA, OR VT. ( I say those states, b/c that's where they operate). The organization is called Pedals For Progress. They collect over 11,000 bicycles annually and give them away to the needy. They mainly go to developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. In these countries the bikes are reconditioned by partner agencies and distributed at low cost to poor working adults. The bikes provide them with reliable transportation for commuting to work, transporting produce to the market, or accessing health care and other services. As most of you are aware, steady employment for the adults in these countries is vital to the development and success for their economy. It cost $28 to collect, process, ship, rebuild and distribute each bicycle. They only ask for a $10.00 donation when you drop off the bike to help towards shipping costs. They also accept working portable sewing machines, and donations of wrenches for their overseas shops. They send you all the flyer's and news releases to put out in the community as well. It's pretty easy to set one up, and you only need about 8 people there the day of the event. It's a pretty sweet organization.

Other sweet news: I'll be back in the Burgh in April with one of my best buds to watch the Pirates on opening day, and in June we bought a block of 12 tickets in Yankee Stadium. A mad throng of peeps will be headed this way to watch the Pirates take on the Yankees. Being that it's the last yr of Yankee Stadium, every game there is kinda a big deal, so they'll be pretty mad when the Buccos come and put a whoopin on em. God Bless

Makes You Think

2007-01-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not that into Rob Bell, I just recently started looking at some of his stuff. However I came across this quote recently that really makes me stop and think. I thought it could do the same for others as well. So here it is...what do you think ?

Can you imagine what would happen if a group of people with untold resources, passion and energy started asking the question, "How do we hear the cry of the oppressed?". What if they were actually willing to wade into the cultural, economic, racial, global and personal issues involved without fear, with the confidence that no matter how painful, messy and volatile it got, Jesus would guide them the whole way?

You'd have some church on your hands.
- Rob Bell

WICKED

2007-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

My wife and I went to see this musical recently for her birthday. It was the first show on Broadway for both of us. I told her when she got up we were going to Broadway that night, and to pick a show . We were debating between this and the Lion King. However after asking around this was by far the one everybody recommended. It was awesome. Wicked is based on a book of the same name that tells the story of Elphaba ( The Wicked Witch of the West) and her early history in the land of Oz. It's not a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, although it eloquently weaves that story into the background of the show. This was arguably one of the best musicals I have ever seen (and I have seen quite a few..though not on Broadway), I loved the score, the cast were fabulous, staging and production values are exceptional.

I think that this show works on many levels, and different people can find different things in the show. A 10-year-old likes the twister and the story of how the Scarecrow becomes the Scarecrow. A 16-year-old might love the story of this green girl who becomes accepted, and the popular girl who becomes good. Young adults might get involved in the friendship between these two young women, and the choices and sacrifices we all make in our lives. Older adults might be interested in the story of how governments determine what's wicked and what's good based on how people look. Whatever the reason, the show touches them, and that's why it worked so well, and why I think many people go back to see it over and over. It was a great night, and a great show. If it's ever in your area..go check it out. Has anybody seen it, what did you think ?

IT'S OFFICIAL

2007-01-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

It's official..the Steelers have picked a new head coach. I trust the Rooney Family. I've only known 2 coaches in my lifetime and this will be of course the third. Other teams have gone through 3 or 4 coaches. I believe he will carry on the winning tradition we have in the Burgh. The last to head coaches were 37 and 34..one won 4 Superbowls, the other went to 6 AFC Championship games and 2 Superbowls. If anybody is questioning the Rooney's ability to hire a new head coach their either racist or stupid. The teams 1st African American coach and only the 3rd coach in 38 years. Here's to you Coach Tomlin...in other news..it's been a crazy ride since Christmas and New Years..more on that later. Peace

A Changed Perspective, A New Resolution

2007-01-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! The past year seems like it flew by so fast. I say that every year. Here's to a New Year with new resolutions!

Recently I've been listening to a lot of the Urbana 2007 Conference and it's been great. I was listening to a talk from an African preacher on The Global Church from Dec 28th and it was very interesting. Some interesting things that he mentioned were:

> At the beginning of the 20th Century there were 9 million Christian converts in Africa and at the end there were over 360 million. He pointed out that there were over 70 million world wide Anglican Episcopal Christians in the world, and that there were currently more Anglican Christians in Africa than in ALL of Europe and the USA together. I might also add that the Anglican Episcopals in Africa are more conservative than the ones Europe in the USA, espeically when you look at how we ordain homosexuals and approve civil unions in some of our churches here.

> He said in Kenya 80% of people claim to be Christian and that 34 % profess Christ and that equals all of Europe.

> There are more missionaries sent out of the "2/3 world" area then out of the West, and the same is happening in Asia and South America with growth and sending of missionaries.

> In 1900 there were 80% of Christians that lived in the West, today over 75% of Protestant Christians are found in the non western world, and 70% of evangelicals live in the non western world.

I've heard and read how scholars are saying that Christianity is dying, but it's because they are only looking at Western numbers and forgetting about Christianity in the Southern part of the world. The realization is that Christianity is no longer a Western religion. Africa is the FASTEST growing region in the world for church growth with over 23,000! converts a day, and over 8.5 million a year according to the national church growth dictionary. Compare this to the United States of America where we are said to LOSE about 6,000 members a day in our churches.

The center of Christianity is shifting to the 2/3 world, especially in Africa. This isn't something I'm hypothesizing, it's happening. The Church is on the move.

The shift is changing, America is the 3RD largest mission field in the world. We are second only to India and China. We are unable to engage and evangelize our own people. The African church is in the forefront of sending missionaries to do church plants in the USA. This I think is awesome. There is something about our western models that isn't quite working. I'm not bashing every church in the west here..but I'm liking this shift. As we send missionaries from the West to other countries, we should also be accepting and bringing in other missionaries from these other Southern countries. Christ's body is interdependent. The West has a great strength in that we like to solve problems, but we can't go into other countries with the idea that we are going to "fix" them. We need to be listeners and learners, and eager to bring in missionaries from other countries to learn from them and let them fulfill the Great Commission here in the West.

Along with this shift has come a new shift in my thinking as a Christian living in the United States of America. Yes I believe the church is global, yes I believe we need to train pastors and teachers in 3rd world countries especially so false teaching doesn't trickle in, yes there is still ag great need for the Church in the West to use it's gifts overseas. However, take a good hard look and you'll see that it's not just the 10/40 window that needs evangelized, it's also the 3rd largest pagan nation in the world..the USA.

As I look ahead at resolutions for the new year, this year and in the years to come I am committing myself to engaging the culture I'm in and evangelizing the people I live and come in contact with more. We don't need to jump ship, live in a hut in the 10/40 window and see poverty to see broken people and lost souls. We just need to take a good hard look into the eyes of the people we come in contact with everyday and have a passion to share the love of Christ with them. I've asked for the Lords forgiveness recently in my neglect of doing this over the years, my eyes have been open and my calling is becoming more clear. My passion for the church around the world hasn't changed, but my passion for my own culture and people where I live has. Listening to this preacher from Africa and hearing his passion for his culture and his people is so encouraging. As easy as it is for us to hear others talk about their culture and get passionate about other cultures, I think we need to funnel that passion into our own culture where we live and eat everyday, while still keeping a global mindset. Are other parts of the world in need for USA missionaries to still, "GO"...yes, but the United States is still in great need for people to stay, and focus their efforts here. As I continue to live daily in my culture, I see myself leaning more towards this.

Maybe we need to ask ourselves, "If I were a missionary just plopped into the middle of the USA, how would I go about my business?
I would love and appreciate anyones comments on this whether you agree or disagree, or just any thoughts in general. I know the Lord speaks to different hearts in different ways. Have a blessed week.

Christmas Thoughts

2006-12-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, I've been focusing on preparing my heart for Christmas. Life has been very busy lately, and it's easy to get side tracked with other "stuff" that comes along this time of year. One thing I think that is good for all to be reminded of this Christmas and every Christmas is humility. Our creator, humbled himself, He could have came any way he wanted, but he chose to come as a baby. The One who ended the curse of sin humbly came to earth, died like a criminal, rose again and now sits with his Father. Only a few heard the noise when he arrived, however....when the lingering effects of the curse are finally and fully undone...the celebration will be deafening when He returns. I just love thinking about it. Come quickly Lord Jesus..come quickly. May the love of Christ dwell richly with you all this Christmas.

Learning and Learning

2006-12-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

Being in full time ministry has really opened my eyes. Working with Jr and Sr high kids is fun at times, but very challenging. I'm really starting to see myself as a cross-cultural missionary to teenagers who are living in and being shaped by a world and adolescent experience increasingly different from my own. So if your thinking you have to go to Bangladesh to be a cross-cultural missionary (nothing against that)..just ask to volunteer with the student ministry in your church. A lot of it is right here..the harvest is ripe!

25 warning signs that you might be obsessing about Calvinism:

2006-12-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

This is great..give it a click..ha

E. COLI SICKENS 22 IN NJ..THANK YOU TACO BELL

2006-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

yup..this is where i live..and yes E. Coli has just bust onto the scene via Taco Bell....if i don't post in awhile..i must have been eating at a Taco Bell in New Jersey...

Song

2006-11-27T23:42:00.001-08:00

I was goin through an old Derek Webb CD..and came across this song..it's really resonated with me recently

As you came to us so we come to you
fragile as a baby hopeful and new
but learning fast that to walk is to fall
soon we've done it all
chorus
we come broken and we come undone
we come trying hard to love everyone
but we come up short in all that we do
because we do
so we come to you
as you came to us so we come to you
dirty and hurting then dead in the tomb
but raised redeemed to show off the scars
cause youve brought us this far
chorus
tag
you came to show the way not around but through
so through it all we come to you

I really like a lot of his albums. His music has really spoken to me in a lot of ways. Hope everbody had a great Thanksgiving. Continue to remember how deep Christ's love is for us. Come to Him..and live. Peace

Night at Best Buy

2006-11-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well the Nintendo experience was quite interesting. We rolled up to Best Buy at around 3:30 AM. At this point I thought the store opened at 7:00...only to find it didn't open till..9:00. The line had already started..there were probably 2 tents...and a bunch of sleeping bags..and people sitting in lawn chairs playing poker and what not. They came out and gave each person a ticket that said "Wii" on it....up to 78 people. The rest were turned away..and offered $50 off an XBox 360...however I found out once we got in that they actually had 50 more systems..they were just saving them for Black Friday. It was kind of chaotic once we got inside. If you had a ticket you were golden..you just had to go wait in a long line to pay for it. So the plan was the guy's would go wait in the line, and I would make the mad dash to the game section. Now most of you know what a mosh pit is..well insert a mosh pit from a Deaf Tones concert into a small corner of Best Buy..and that's what you had. We were all on a mission and that was to GET ZELDA. These boys wanted Zelda! Being that i'm a bit lower to the ground then a good chunk of the population it was easy to kind of nudge my way into the line. I basically let the crowd of people push me to the front..and I used a good box out technique that I learned in Jr. High basketball..( props to Mr. Lester) Once they brought a new shipment of Zelda I grabbed two of them..turned around and pushed my way back out of line. For some reason this particular Best Buy was only putting out a certain amount of specific games that day. I went over to the boys..gave them their games..and we waited in line to finish off the morning. They are priced pretty well compared to the other systems...although I didn't buy one..it was a good time. I caught up on some sleep..now i'm ready to go back home and enjoy some Turkey with the folks in Beaver County...gotta love going back to the promised land...yee haww.

Counting The Cost

2006-11-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

As most of you probably know this is the year for the video game system outburst again. Sony is coming out with Playstation 3 ..and Nintendo is fighting back with their newest system...I can't remember the name. Anyway, last night I was hanging out with some students, and there were 2 in particular who happened to be talking about the Nintendo one and how they wanted to get it, but they didn't have a ride to go pick one up the day they came out. Apparently if you don't get them right away you have to wait for months. So I thought to myself..wow this could be a good time of being relational..and a good time to hang and talk with these guys a bit. So I offered to give them a ride to go get in on this madness. Well it turns out to have a realistic shot of getting one you have to be there when the stores open..( 6 AM). However that doesn't mean you can just "show up" at 6 and walk in and get one...no not the case at all. See you have to wait in line...a line that starts forming hours before the stores open...a line that my students think they need to be in at 2:00 AM!!!!!!!!!!!! So I thought about this for a minute..the main thought being "how am I going to explain this to my wife"..then I thought..this will definitely be a "memory making moment" for these guys...so I talked to Ashley..she laughed and gave me a "don't even think about waking me up stare"...and i'm gonna do it. So this Sunday..2:00 AM...I will be waiting outside Best Buy..then we'll head out to breakfast..and then to church. All I can say is..there better be 2 of those things left for my guys when we get to the front of the line...or you may just see me on the headlines of nightly news casts everywhere.

The Harvest is ripe

2006-11-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

So i've been having some great convos about faith and life with the people i'm in this community theatre with. The Lord is just opening my eyes to the ripe harvest right here where I am. I've been convicted more and more of it every day. I think my perspective was all messed up before, but now i'm seeing things in a new light. He's been showing me my selfishness in the area of "mission work". I've always had a burden and a heart to minister to other cultures, so much so that I think I tend to overlook the one I am currently in. I have been humbled recently. In a recent e-mail, I got this:

"Was Jesus a man or a myth? I don't know. I am unconvinced by both arguments. I find the constant Christian assertions that Jesus is as well attested to as any figure in history to be laughable. Nothing was recorded about Jesus the man until he was no longer a man, if he ever had been".

This person and I have been having great conversation recently. I'm not downplaying the role of international mission work. If it were not for that, the gospel would not be reaching areas of the world that would otherwise be untouched. I am just saying that I am realizing that God's call to love Him and love people transcends all cultures. I've been rethinking, how I go about ministering in the culture i'm in. The Lord has shaken me up, and has showed me my selfishness in areas I thought I had a grasp on. Sanctification is pretty cool as it plays itself out.

Good ole Lewis

2006-11-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

This quote speaks for itself..i like it..so i posted it.

"All that we call human history--money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery--is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."--Lewis

Football Pride

2006-11-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Having pride in your hometown football team can go a long way. For me, it may send me 8 hr's. In an effort to back my Pittsburgh Steelers 100% in this time of turmoil, I just laid the cards on the table with Samuel Wilsey. (An avid Denver fan). We got to talking during an afternoon IM chat, and as the smack talk and testosterone for football kept progressing, it led to our eventual bet. He insists that the Steelers won't make it to even the playoffs. Which as much as I hate to admit is a very strong possibility. However based on what happened last year with the Steelers, it can happen. Anyway, we agreed that if his team (Denver Broncos), who are 5-2 right now(5-3 after the Steelers beat them this week) make it to the AFC Championship, I will travel out to where he lives in Cleveland to watch the Broncos in the AFC championship. However if the Steelers make the playoffs, he will come out here to NJ to watch their first playoff game. If neither team makes the playoffs, we agreed to meet halfway for coffee and lament together. My risk is a lot higher in this bet I know, but my love for the Burgh runs deep, and until they are out of the playoff hunt in every way numerically possible, they are still in, and always will be tops in my book. No fickle fan here. And yes..next year is the year for the Pirates...count it.

Recent thoughts

2006-10-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anybody will respond to this, but I just have just been having some thoughts and observations that I wanted to put out there and see what others are thinking . I have been thinking more about "The Emerging Church", and "The Modern Church".
I recently observed a church out here that associates with the Emergent Church movement. I was astounded at the diversity of the people that came to worship. I realize being a youth director now that I am dealing with an "emerging" generation. As postmodernity influences our culture, I see the many challenges the church is facing. I see the challenge before me of communicating the unchanging message of Jesus to emerging generations...and it's tough. I have found myself asking the question a lot.. Should living in an increasingly post Christian culture, effect current and future ministry methodologies in our modern church? I can't help but recognize when I see what these churches are doing and that they are reaching a generation of people who otherwise would be turned off to the "modern church". Or am I missing something? I see more and more of an emerging generation out here that is being raised in a post Christian atmosphere, and it has me asking a lot of questions about reaching them effectively and engaging them. I'm seeing that as ministry continues to go on, this can't be ignored, which brings me to the realization that America is a missionary frontier. I think as pastors and youth leaders, it's important to realize that we are missionaries working with post Christian generations. I guess my big question is what do you think about reaching a post modern generation, who doesn't attend church ?

Sometimes I feel that church is more consumer and less missional. Basically I see people coming to be fed, and having their needs met by hired "professionals" who are going to teach their kids about God. The church almost becomes a dispenser of religious goods and services. I've always seen the church as a body of people who are on a mission and who gather together for community and worship and teaching IN ADDITION to what they are feeding themselves with spiritually throughout the week.

I can see that an Emerging Church and Modern Church definitely have different values. I'm not one to think there is a right or wrong or better between the two, but I see them as different values for different mindsets. Laying it out like that helps me to put it in perspective. It also puts me in a position to really think about how I do ministry to be effective.

I'm not ready to go and jump on the Emerging Church bandwagon, however this movement recently has me pondering a lot of different stuff, and I just wanted to put some of it out there and see what anybody thought.

PLAY

2006-10-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

So I got casted in this community theatre out here..they're doing the play "Harvey". It's based off of an old Jimmy Stewert movie...I play "Wilson"...the male nurse from Brooklyn..ish..should be interesting..

God's doin HIS THANG

2006-10-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Remember the old DC TALK CD.."NU THANG". I do..I liked it..still do, and it came to mind this past week as things start to materialize. Recently, an exciting opportunity has opened up with a group of students from the community and a new friend about twice my age named "Tony". Tony is looking to plug kids he is familiar with in the community into a church, and it looks like we're going to be working together. His kids will be joining mine and we are going to start a separate Saturday night gathering for Sr. High students. It's all in the process right now of starting, so I have no clue how it's going to look. We're going to get together a leadership team, I know that, and go from there. We'll see how things "flo".

In other news life on the shore is great....as soon as I get my nerd stick, I will put pictures up..( if anybody is still following this due to lack of posts and pictures).

Tim Keller from Redeemer PCA in NYC

2006-10-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

This guy is great...

Tim Keller on the Gospel

The gospel is: you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe yet you can be more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope at the same time because Jesus Christ lived and died in your place. . . .

“True faith saith not: ‘What have I done? . . . What do I deserve?’ But it saith: ‘what hath Christ done? What doth he deserve?’ . . . Therefore he that apprehendeth Christ by faith . . . may be bold to glory that he is righteous. How? Even by that precious jewel, Christ Jesus, which he possesseth by faith.” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians)

Irreligious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through irreligion, “worldly” pride. (“No one tells me how to live or what to do, so I determine what is right and wrong for me!”) But moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, “religious” pride. . . . Both irreligion and religion are forms of self salvation.
To “get the gospel” is to turn from self-justification and rely on Jesus’ record for a relationship with God. The irreligious don’t repent at all, and the religious only repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. That is the distinction between the three groups—Christians, moralists (religious), and pragmatists (irreligious).

“Lay your deadly doing down, down at Jesus’ feet.Stand in Him, in Him alone—gloriously complete.” (Unknown)

Confessing

2006-10-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

I've really been hit recently with my sin. Not that i've commited horrible acts of sin in the past few weeks, and i'm really feeling the brunt of that, but just "sin" in general, and how when we confess our sins to God, we see ourselves laid bare in the light of God's word. When we confess our sins, it involves viewing ourselves from the outside and seeing ourselves as we truly are. It involves examining ourselves, uncovering the hidden secrets in the deepest parts of our heart and then finding it stained with sin. That's what i've been dealing with. I'm a sinner, whoever reading this is a sinner, and knowing that, the next step before our Lord is confession.

I'm finding confession to be hard recently, but i'm daily realizing that only the grace of God can bring us to admit our true character. Confession is so hard, because it is so disgusting to the human heart. As finite humans, a lot of times i'm seeing how we'd rather focus on an ideal image of ourselves, and what we would LIKE to think we are. In doing so, we gloss over what we truly are.

When we are faced with our sin, or when somebody confronts us with it, we are so apt to deny it in some way. We either dismiss it and say to ourselves, "it won't happen next time", or we put it in our "Sins I know I have to confess and deal with, but I don't want to worry about it now" part of our brains. However, the teaching of scripture is so contrary to that. This is why John warns us in scripture not to deny that we have sinned. The more we deny parts of our sin nature, no matter how little the sin is we won't confess, the further we get from God. When we take a minute to examine who Jesus directed some of his hardest words to, it wasn't the prostitutes or tax collectors who were looked upon then as "real sinners of the world". That wasn't the case at all. His sharpest words were for those who considered themselves BETTER then the sinners, but who were really "greedy wolves" as he describes inside their hearts.

We don't have to dig around in the muck of society to find those without God. You'll find these people in your local country clubs and respectable churches as much as you'll find them in porn shops and gay bars. "Respectable" sins may be more disgusting to our Lord than those sins of social outcasts. Have you been confessing what you see as your "respectable" sins.?I havn't been as much as I need to. Those of us who call ourselves "righteous" will not make it into the kingdom of God. Only those who CONFESS their sins will be admitted. ( That may sound scary, but take it up with the Lord...I didn't come up with it.)

Another thing that has been made known to me recently is that instead of confessing our sins, we would rather talk about those of others. When we disgregard our sinfulness it only goes to show that we may think we have the truth, but we really dont. Who are we kidding ? John chapter 1 vs 8 says " If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us". We all have sinned and we all have fallen short of God's glory (Rom 3:23), when we really know this, we have the truth. We sin, and we fall short, but God's grace abounds to us that confess our sins.

I'm not calling anybody out in particular about this, i'm examining myself here, and sharing it with you the reader. I don't want to use this blog to spill the deepest longings of my heart. However in my relationship with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will tweek my heart sometimes, and spur me on to share what he's telling me with others who need encouragement. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. What i'm dealing with isn't really deep and personal, but I believe it is something every Christian can relate to. So if you are a Christian and you are reading this, hopefully you can relate to it, and what the Lord has laid on my heart will also touch yours as well. If you're not a Christian and you're reading this, it's my prayer that the Lord would speak to your heart and bring you into a relationship with Him.

It's one thing to be aware of our sin, it is another thing to DO SOMETHING about it. We can take pleasure in our sin, we can fret about it all we want...OR..we can CONFESS IT. And as we read in God's love story to His people "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness". ( 1 John 1:9) Which will you choose ?

If you are a Pirate fan..this will raise your blood pressure..

2006-09-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ran across this the other day online from an old Philadelphia newspaper....to bad we have the worst GM in baseball who even when his team is ALWAYS in or near last place he never takes any risks...note:..if your not a baseball fan this will bore you...if you are then you know Ryan Howard is the next Babe Ruth...sort of...nuff said.

ATLANTA - As the July 31 trade deadline gets closer, talk of deals involving the Phillies continue. A team source, however, believes general manager Ed Wade may do nothing significant because teams continue to ask for untouchable pitching prospects Gavin Floyd and Cole Hamels. By all accounts, the Phillies have been trying hard to land a starting pitcher and a center fielder, offering lesser prospects as well as second baseman Placido Polanco and pitcher Kevin Millwood. On Monday, The Sporting News reported the Phils offered Double-A first baseman Ryan Howard to Pittsburgh for righthanded starter Kris Benson, who is available due to his pending free agency. While Howard leads the minors with 35 homers, sources in Pittsburgh indicated the Phillies' offer wouldn't be enough. The Bucs prefer a major-league ready position player for Benson, who is 7-7 with a 4.26 ERA for the season and 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA over his last four starts. Meanwhile, a high-ranking American League official predicted the Phillies' pursuit of Arizona center fielder Steve Finley won't lead to anything. "Finley [has a no-trade clause and] will only go one place ... to San Diego," the source said.

whoops

2006-09-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

My bad...it's been awhile i know. I have a lot of stuff to get on here. There are many pics to come. I'm going to revamp this thing here. It's just been really hectic lately. Went to Williamsburg VA this past weekend to look at a "TIME SHARE". We got 3 free vacatinons and $150.00 on a Visa Gift Card which was nice. Maybe down the road we'll look back into it. If you are really into vacationing, it does save you money over the long haul. We've had our Youth Kick Off event and one youth group meeting so far. For both events we had around 12-14 kiddos. It's been good. We bought a new whip it's a 2002 Civic...it runs great, and gets killer gas mileage. This fits well being out here making tons of trips. We're only going to keep one car out here b/c of cost of insurance. Geico or not, it's just a lot more living out here. ok more to come, gtg...peace

Coming full circle

2006-09-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Now that the school year has begun, I'm starting to feel the weight of the program i'm trying to create....Programs to lead, plans to make, special events to prepare, budgets to submit, volunteers to find, counseling to do and dozens of other things to take care of. Above all that my relationship with the Lord and my wife come first, but it's all coming full tilt..i'm glad i'm not doing this on my own strength..

WHOOPS

2006-09-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well I set off the church alarm tonight. I could just leave it like that and leave a big ? in all of your minds, but i'll tell. I came in, thought I turned it off, but apparently I didn't..do it the right way.. and some sensor went off that gives a little signal to mr "poe poe"...aka..the cops. I mean the thing stopped beeping and i thought I disarmed the thing..oh well..So the cops roll in and find my car pulled up on the sidewalk by the church door ( it's where i park at night so i don't have to walk all the way back to my car). So my car is pulled up on the sidewalk, next to the door as these cops roll up. I didn't think anything of it as I was sitting at my desk..i saw the lights pull up through my blinds.. but just figured that somebody was turning around in the parking lot. ( I'd like to add that I still don't have a New Jersey plate on my car so i'm sure that made it look a bit more fishy being that it wasn't parked in a parking spot and right next to the church) So..a few seconds roll on..then i hear..the door creep open...at this point I thought the person had turned around and left..so i had no clue what was going on with this door buisness...i hear it creep..and immediately stop typing on my computer and kinda freeze..my eyes dart quickly to the left and i'm like..hmmm..i start to think of all the Chuck Norris movies in my head and I come up with a few moves in case I need them..well then the door opens all the way and the cop walks in at a steady pace. My light is on so he turns his head and says can you please tell me what your doing here...and i just want to say.."oh sorry officer i broke into the church to use this here laptop i'll be done in a second" Well I go on and tell him i work for the church and he goes "oh you work here"....and i say yes sir..and he goes, "it's interesting you would make the commute all the way from PA according to your plate on your car to come to work"...and i'm like..well i just started here ( I could tell at this point he totally wanted to bust me..but I was so in the drivers seat)..so he was like do you have any ID..of course I didn't have my wallet with me that had my NJ liscense in it..but I showed him my car insurace which had the address of where I was living..and then i thought for a minute that since I didn't have photo ID, i was gonna be in doo doo..but then showed him my keys and all to the church and i talked to him a bit about what i did and all..and he was like "well you sound like a pretty nice guy, and being that you work for the church and all I believe you..i don't think you'd lie or anything...so I say well i'm not perfect, but i can tell you for sure i work here...then I look at him and yell real loud ( NOW GET THE HECK OUT OF MY OFFICE)..ok that part was a lie...but the rest of this was not.. So..after we chat the whole thing kinda calms down and I dip out and go back home..NUTS...oh well..here's to the next day...

PORK ROLL

2006-09-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

So today for the first time I had a "PORK ROLL". I guess it's a real big deal here in Jersey. I had never heard about them and people were shocked. I was out with a student and he asked me if i had ever had one, of course I said no..and he was stunned, so we went to a general store and got 2 pork rolls. Basically they are pork, egg, and cheese. It sure was no Primanti Bros sandwhich, but it wasn't too bad. So if your ever up here in Jersey, be sure to stop and get a pork roll. If any of you have had one and have had a good or bad experience with one..let me know. It was pretty tastey. Yay for pork.

MURDER OR NOT ?

2006-08-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

So today I walk out of the church like everyday, but this time..it was sad. Outside of my window near my office there are trees and a lot of the birds hover in them, around them..you name it. Each time I walk out of the church they all flap like mad and fly away. Well today when I walked out, it was the same routine...walk out ..look to the left...then it's flap city for like 30 seconds then no more birds. Well as one bird was taking off, he flapped right up to a branch above him, and then splat right back on the ground. DEAD..
So I thought to myself...what if I would have walked out the other door, what if i was more quiet...sniff. Did i kill it, should I be charged ? Should I bury it ? Should I throw it over the bush to give to the neighbors cat ? Let me know...click the little comment button and leave an idea for me...i'm lost..

Great Article

2006-08-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

I found this article from a blog of a Geneva grad, he had a link to it. I loved it and want to pass it on..check it out http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/D/doubts.html. Peace

Life...moving on

2006-08-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hello again...if anybody even reads this ha. I've tried to get as much information out to people as I can about this blog, i'll keep trying and eventually post some pictures. I was thinking today just how life is going by so fast. Just last year at this time, I wasn't even dating Ashley, now ...a year later..we are married. One of my good buddies from college has a kid, other friends are married or getting married, it's pretty cool looking back as Christians and seeing how the Lord perfectly orchestrates everything, to His purpose and glory. Things here at the church are going well, it's very slow right now. I'm trying to start a program out of nothing. Basically I am trying to pull together groups of students who have never ever really had any reason to hang out together before, most are from different school districts, they are all on very different levels in their lives as well. I've been convicted recently about the importance of friendships, and how vital that is to the rest of life. I don't want the friendships I've made to just go to the wayside just b/c I'm out of the state. I am driven by being relational, it's who I am and who the Lord created me to be, and I want to do all that I can to still be that type of person, and to be there for people when they need me. I'm going to stop there b/c I really feel like I can fill this blog with a bunch of stream of consciousness that will drive people nuts. I read this info today and was intrigued by it..any thoughts..

" Farm workers who pick tomatoes for McDonald's sandwiches earn 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in nearly 30 years. Workers who toil from dawn to dusk without the right to overtime pay or any benefits must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn $50 in one day. Worse yet, modern-day slavery has reemerged in Florida's fields; since 1997, the U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted five slavery rings, freeing more than 1,000 workers. As a major buyer of Florida tomatoes, McDonald's high-volume, low-cost purchasing practices place downward pressure on farm worker wages, putting corporate profits before human dignity. "

Numero Uno

2006-08-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got this thing up and running. I've been meaning to do this as a means to update the world about life out here in the Jerz. I have some pictures to post and such, i'll be getting those up as soon as possible. We'll try to keep up with this as much as we can to keep you all updated and informed. Life out east isn't so bad. The only thing that gets frustrating is THE DRIVING. They have "Circles", and "Jughandles"....grrr....I just don't understand why you have to make a right to eventually make a left, or try to weave your way into a circle to eventually get to your turn, and if you hesitate you die pretty much. I haven't died yet, as you probably know b/c you are reading this. Life has been going by pretty smoothly so far. I'll post some pictures of our apartment, but basically it's the top 2 floors of a house. There is a younger couple living in the basement who recently got married as well. The only real communication we've had with them however is a "thump thump", through the floor around 11:00 at night. We were hanging a few things on the walls..granted it was a bit late..so we probably won't try to hang at that hour again. Well I have to get back to doing a few things here. I'll try to post as daily as I can. HOLLA