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Join me in reading the entire Bible this Summer! (beginning June 1)

Last summer I was challenged to do something that impacted me greatly.  Last summer, I read through the entire Bible in chronological order.  It was an amazing experience and one that I would like to repeat this summer.  It definitely takes discipline and sacrifice but it is worth it!  I found that it caused me to crave God's Word.  So, I'm wondering if you would be interested in joining me this summer?! From June 1st to August 31st, will you join me in reading the most important book?

One of the easiest ways to do this with the technology that is at our disposal is through YouVersion.com 

Reading plan instructions:

1. Go to YouVersion.com
2. Click on “explore reading plans” (or click the banner above)
3. Scroll down to Chronological and hit the link under it “start this plan”
4. If you don’t have a YouVersion account click the “sign up now” on the right side of the page or if you do have an account sign in.
5. After creating a username and password, check your email for the confirmation email.  Once signed in to YouVersion.
6. On the top click on “reading plans”
7. The chronological plan should pop up.  Under it click plan overview.
8. Scroll down to “your start date, your end date” and click edit dates.
9. Make your start date June 1, 2011 and your end date August 31, 2011 and then hit save.
10. Now your plan is all set up!  Go back to the top and click view today’s reading to see what the reading is for each day.
11. Join the YouVersion group at: http://youversion.com/groups/gracechurchep
12. Find me and become my friend on YouVersion my username is: Jacinto22

Trust me when I tell you that you can do this and it will make a huge impact on your life.  The Bible isn't an old book, "it is living and active. Sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

So, are you in?!  If so, leave a comment...

Pass this idea around and let's see how many people we can get to join us.

Update on June 1st at 5:48 p.m.: Download Bible Reading Plan in order to put the reading plan into your calendar.

What we do the Wednesday Night of Holy Week

For the past two years on the week of Holy Week, the Crave Senior High has participated in an Biblical exercise.  Instead of having someone share the events of what took place the week of Easter, we think that it is better for all of us to hear this directly from God himself.  In order to do this, we provide an environment by which the students can spend time (typically 30-45 minutes) reading through the gospel accounts of the week leading up to Jesus death and resurrection.  This is a stretching night for some of our students (and leaders).  Plus, there usually is a number of first time visitors and I often wonder what their first impression of Crave is as a result of this night.  All of this doesn't matter because what is most important is the hope that everyone (including myself) leaves with a greater appreciation and understanding of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for each of us.  There's no better place to find that than his Word.

 

The following is the text from the handout that we provide on this night:

This week is significant!

This week we remember the most important life-changing event in history.  Our hope tonight is that you will leave here with a God-given understanding of what He did for you on the cross.  Instead of us telling you about it we thought that it would be best if He told you himself through His Word.  Tonight we are going to dwell in his Word and read the story of Jesus taking our sins to the cross.  This piece of paper’s purpose is to lead you to the areas of Scripture that describe this story.  Prayerfully, read through it at your own pace – please don’t rush.   You might not finish during our time together.  That’s alright, take it home and continue to read it.  Our prayer is that you will take this seriously and will leave here with a better sense of gratitude and understanding of what Jesus did on your behalf.  If for some reason you are unable to participate in this time of worship, you are free to leave.  Please be respectful to the others around you.

The Triumphal Entry- John 12:12-19

                Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-40

The Plot to Kill Jesus- Luke 22:1-6

                Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16, Mark 14:1-2, 10-11, John 13:21-30

The Passover and Last Supper with the Disciples- Matthew 26:17-30

                Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-23, John 13:1-20

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane- Mark 14:32-42

                Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46, John 17

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus- Matthew 26:47-56

                Mark 14:43-50, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:1-11

Jesus before the Council- Mark 14:53-65

                Matthew 26:57-68, John 18:19-24, Luke 22:66-71

Jesus before Pilate- Luke 23:1-25

                Matthew 27:11-26, Mark 15:1-15, John 18:28-40

Jesus Delivered to be Crucified- John 19:1-16

                Matthew 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20

The Crucifixion- Luke 23:26-43

                Matthew 27:32-44, Mark 15:21-32, John 19:17-27

The Death of Jesus- Mark 15:33-41

                Matthew 27:45-56, Luke 23:44-49, John 19:28-30

Jesus’ Side is Pierced- John 19:31-37  

Jesus is Buried- Luke 23:50-56

                Mark 15:42-47, Matthew 27:57-61, John 19:38-42

The Resurrection- Matthew 28:1-10

                Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24: 1-12, John 20:1-10

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene- John 20:11-18

                Mark 16:9-11

Jesus Appears to the Disciples- Luke 24:36-49

                Mark 16:12-13, John 20:19-23

The Great Commission- Matthew 28:16-20

                Mark 16:14-20

The Ascension- Luke 24:50-53

 

 

Responses from "What is a Man of God?" Question

I asked some leaders, pastors and elders what it means to be "A Man of God".  I thought that I would share the inspiring responses that I received:

a man of God is confident not in himself, but in the Christ within him, and his interactions with others first and foremost lead them closer to Christ, not the world.

the one thing that characterizes a man of God is He knows whose he is. Your identity in Christ is the most important aspect of manhood.

------------------------

A Man of God

Loves righteousness

Hates sin

• Need to be a man under authority (Luke 7:1-10)
• Does hard things
• Doesn’t live for themselves (Phil 2:4)
• Self-control (not just sexually, but anger, etc.)

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“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”

If the focus is on Him and His immensity and what He has for us and who we become in Him then the “drudgery” of the obedience part becomes an enjoyable act because we expect the greater reward….

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Micah 6:8:  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

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A man of God pleas for vision from God.

A man of God is always working to displace the love of the world with a far greater affection for the Gospel. 

The Bible in 50 Words

This morning Pastor Troy Dobbs preached a sermon on Luke 2:11 - "Today in the town of David a Savior has ben born to you; He is Christ the Lord."  He shared that verse pretty much sums it all up.  He shared that the account of Jesus is significant and simple.  One thing that he shared that he had come across in his study was the Bible or Gospel in 50 words:

God made,

Adam bit,

Noah arked,

Abraham split,

Joseph ruled,

Jacob fooled,

Bush talked,

Moses balked,

Pharaoh plagued,

People walked,

Sea divided,

Tablets guided,

Promise landed

Saul freaked,

David peeked,

Prophets warned,

JESUS born,

God walked,

Love talked,

Anger crucified,

Hope died,

Love rose,

Spirit flamed,

Word spread,

God remained.

God sent His Son so that YOU could become His child.

 
Our student ministry team decked out for the parties (please forgive me if you were the one who made this vest)

Yesterday we had our Christmas party (view pictures here) for the Crave Senior High.  This happened to be the last Wednesday night meeting of 2010.  I gave a brief "Christmas" talk from Galatians 4:4-7.  The following are my notes from that talk:

 Big Idea:  God sent his Son so that YOU could become his child - Galatians 4:4-7

“But when the time had fully come

 What an incredible "Time" that was.  History – Jesus was there for it all – imagine angels waiting for this exact moment in time!

God sent his Son, born of a woman

Fully human, Fully divine.  Jesus humbled himself as a human with human needs – Baby needs

Born under law, to redeem those under law,

The law was established to show us our sin.  The law is the standard by which we are to live but here’s the catch none of us are able to live up to the standards of the law.  Jesus humbled himself to live under the law of which He was a greater authority.  He did this so that we – who can’t EVER measure up can be saved from the sin we are slaves to.

That we might receive the full rights of sons.

He did this so that we can have access to the Father, not just access but so that we can be adopted as his son’s and daughters.  And by being a son (or daughter), he has given us ALL of the rights as his children. –> His favor, eternal life, father’s love…

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

Those who have accepted Christ as their savior have become part of his family and have received his Holy Spirit who takes up 24/7 residence in our lives to guide, comfort, convict and equip us!  Jesus said that it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit in our lives than for he himself to be with us.  Wow

The Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’

This very Holy Spirit helps us realize our standing with God the Father.  Because of Jesus we are no longer distant from God, we are also no longer reliant on a priest to intercede on our behalf.  Jesus has done this and we are the beneficiaries. 

So you are no longer a slave, but a son;

The result is that we are no longer a slave to sin, rather we are part of the family of God.  That’s what happens when we combine the results of both Christmas & Easter!

and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir”

What does it mean that we are an heir to God?  We received the inheritance that he has reserved for his children.  We receive the blessing of being at the table he has prepared for us.  We receive the Father’s love that is unlike any other love we could ever understand on earth. 

God sent his Son so that YOU could become his child 

 

Entitlement

Last Wednesday night I wrapped up a two-week teaching series for our Senior High students where we focused on what God's Word has to say about obedience.  The first week we talked about our need to submit to the authorities that God has placed over us (Romans 13:1-2 & I Peter 2:13-15).  We need to be asking the question "who" is asking us to do something rather than "what" they are asking.  We followed this up by taking a good look at Jesus' call for us to abide in Him through obedience as seen in John 15.  

As often is the case, I learned a valuable lesson about obedience and authority a few weeks before this series started.  God tends to make sure I know my own weaknesses with a given subject, topic or command in Scripture before I try to teach on it!

Here's what happened.  My wife, Greta, was away on a much deserved retreat away with the other Pastor's wives at Grace Church and I was doing my best to manage our three kids.  It was a Thursday evening so our oldest had Tae-Kwon-Do at the Community Center.  Instead of carting all of our kids into the community center, we decided to (for the first time) drop him off at the front door and then pick him up afterwards.  When it was time to pick him up, I parked in front  of the main entrance so that there would be no way for him to miss where I was since it was dark (and cold).  Several Tae-Kwon-Do students exited the front doors and finally my son came out to get into our van.  At the same time a police officer decided to pull up and tell me that I can't just park at the entrance of the Community Center because it is a fire lane.  The officer wasn't rude or pushy but for some reason a real frustration and anger swelled over me.  At that moment I couldn't believe that this officer had the audacity to tell me that I couldn't do that.  Couldn't he see that I had young kids in the car, couldn't he realize that my son needed me to be parked directly in front of the entrance so that he would see me.  After I cooled off (which took longer than I would care to admit) I realized that this police officer didn't do anything unjust.  He wasn't rude, or forceful.  In fact he could've done far more to make sure I understand and follow the rules.  I realized that I felt a strong sense of entitlement for what I believed at the moment was my "right" to do my own thing because of my unique circumstances.  I often find students and adults treat authorities in their life in the same way.  We often feel like our circumstances are different and require a different set of rules than everyone else.  When an authority draws clear boundaries and doesn't cater to unique situations, we tend to get upset and vocalize or rebel against these authorities.  Honestly, I don't think this is what God had in mind when he inspired Paul to write the following:

Romans 13:1-2 - Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Conviction via Twitter about our love for Cell Phones

Like my recent post on profiling facebook friends, I have a pretty eclectic group of people who I follow on Twitter.  About 3 months ago I downloaded Sara Groves latest album "Fireflies and Songs" and instantly enjoyed it.  I really liked doing work at my desk with it in the background.  As a result, I started to follow Sara Groves on Twitter.  Throughout the day I read through my twitter feed on my Palm Pre and its amazing how entertaining and informative this is.  There are numerous times when I find out breaking national or personal news from the people I follow on Twitter.

This statement that I read on my phone last week while at home with the kids playing around me really hit me:

Sara Groves was quoting the author and speaker Don Miller. I imagine that she was at an event where he was speaking.  Regardless, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I couldn't help but realize how tied I am to my phone even when I don't need to be.  I am saddened by my own behavior of modeling to my children that Dad's smartphone is REALLY important.  This made me think back to a series I taught on a few weeks ago to the High School students I minister to about idols.  I defined idols as those things that take the place of first in our lives.  The things that we are constantly thinking about, constantly doing, the thing that we think about when we go to bed and the thing we think about when we wake up. We are created and wired to worship.  If we don't put God in the rightful place of priority in our lives, we will put something in His place.

I am trying to wean myself off the habit of constantly being on my phone which at times means leaving it in the car, another room or off.  This is pretty hard to do.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not going cold turkey.  I don't think I could do that until they create a cell phone patch that I could apply.  This exercise is heightening my awareness that I am not alone.  The next time you are at the mall or a restaurant notice how many people are on their cell phone. 

Inspiration via Francis Chan

I like many others am inspired by the ministry of Francis Chan.  I am constantly giving students who need a boost spiritually his book Crazy Love.  I'm currently in a study of his book Forgotten God with one of my volunteer leaders.  One of the things that I like about Francis Chan is his high view of Scripture and God.  There is no doubt that Francis Chan understands that God is far bigger than anything that we can comprehend and that He is far more in love with us than we can know.  I am challenged when Francis Chan exhorts his audience to consider the Church or the Holy Spirit (or whatever he is talking about) in light of what ONLY Scripture tells us about it.  It's astonishing how so many other voices influence our views and convictions about these things!

Recently, I ran across this video clip and I think that it will do a better job illustrating what is inspiring, challenging and refreshing about what God is doing through Francis Chan:

Ice Dams

The past few weeks I have been wrestling with the accumulation of snow on my roof which can result in a pretty serious and costly problem of ice dams.  I have an older roof which is far down on the list of things to replace on our home.  As a result the crazy snow that has stayed on the ground (and my roof) since Christmas has been on my mind - especially when I lay down to go to sleep.

Here are a few things that I have been doing to remedy the problem:

- I've been spreading salt on the problem areas like it's birdseed.  I don't know if this does anything but provide peace of mind. 

- After watching this newscast I got my name on the waiting list at the hardware store and have the ice melt hockey pucks to throw up on the roof.

-I had a friend give me this as a gift which is way more fun to use than it probably should be.  It's like cutting cheese off the roof.  It probably works best if it were done soon after the snow has fallen. 

Last night, as I was thinking (and praying) about the ice on my roof, I started to compare ice dam emergencies to youth ministry.  Most leadership involves problem solving and youth ministry is no different.  Here's what I have so far:

• There are lots of times when youth ministry is lots of fun - sometimes more fun than any other ministry!  Imagine what I looked like using this!
• Sometimes we need to change our methods and keep a watchful eye.  I've lived in this house for 2 years and haven't had to worry about this because the accumulation of snow hasn't been as severe. 
• God's transformation needs to take place internally.  If we just change the external (the accumulation of snow) and neglect the internal (ice) we are only fooling ourselves and will soon have huge problems.  Our true character will show itself!
• One of the most difficult parts of ministry is that you don't get to see the finished product.  You can focus all your energy towards a student but if that student rejects or stiff-arms God they will have to learn the hard way.  Likewise the student who seems to get it, can go to college and throw it all away.
• It is better for us to be proactive in the lives of students.  If they can think about wise choices, Godly influences and a life of worship before they've damaged their relationships then there is so much we can spare them from.  Get the snow off before it ices up!
• You are never really finished.  I could get on my roof and remove all the snow but that doesn't guarantee that I'm done.  The next storm (Wednesday night, Sunday morning, retreat, family crisis) is coming...
• A key ingredient to youth ministry is TRUST  You can't guarantee that everything will be saved simply because of your effort.  Recently, I have found myself in situations where I have been up late at night asking God to do what only He can do because I am at a lost. 

Do you have any other connections of Ice Damming to Youth Ministry or leadership?

What in the World Happened? How I ended up losing my appendix.

I assume that most of the people who read my blog know already through twitter or other means that late on Tuesday night I had an appendectomy.  I thought I would return to writing on my blog after a month and a half by sharing the story of how I ended up on the operating room table.   

On Monday afternoon, I was taking a student out to lunch at Five Guys.  The student needed a ride so I was going to his home to pick him up.  For some strange reason, I got lost trying to find his house.  This was strange because I had been to his home at least two times beforehand.  While I was trying to find his home, I started to feel really sick to my stomach almost to the point where I second-guessed our decision to eat greasy cheeseburgers and shoestring fries.  I finally found his home and decided that it would be worth it to eat at Five Guys even though my chances of getting sick were high.  After we ate, I drove him home and my stomach continued to feel awful.  I asked him something I've never asked anyone.  I asked if he could check to see if he had any Tums to relieve some of the pain I was feeling.  He laughed at me and I told him that I was serious.  He got some and I thought that I was on the road to recovery.

I returned to the office and continued to feel sick to my stomach.  I felt so sick that I went home a little early and had very little to eat for the rest of the day.  I figured that whatever was inside of me would work its way out in its own creative awful way.  That night I felt really weak and I really wasn't able to do much.  I couldn't offer my regular evening wrestling match with my kids and I ended up going to bed early with this consistent ache in my lower abdomen. 

The next morning (Tuesday) I woke up with the same pain in my stomach.  It felt like it was on both the left and right side of me so I wondered if there was something wrong with my bladder or kidneys but I went to work regardless because I had a bunch of things on the calendar that couldn't wait.  I went home again feeling the same abdominal pain that I had the afternoon before.  I had a normal appetite with normal B.M.'s so I started to think that this had something different from a stomach virus.  I decided that it might be a good idea to go to the Urgent Clinic to get an antibiotic for the bladder or kidney infection that I had.  I wanted to get back on my feet as quickly as possible so that I can be back to myself both at home and at work.  At the Urgent Clinic they took blood and urine tests and also an X-ray.  With these tests they were able to rule out that it was not a bladder infection or something with my kidneys.  My white blood cell count was pretty high which gave the doctor an indicator that my body is fighting something and she said it looked like it might be my appendix.  I was shocked that it could be my appendix in that I felt like the pain was on both sides of my body and I didn't feel like the pain was as severe as what I thought appendicitis would be. 

I drove to the hospital and drank a nasty drink so that they could do a CT scan and see if it was in fact appendicitis.  After a couple of hours, the doctor confirmed that it was acute appendicitis.  I thought that since it wasn't extreme that I would be getting an antibiotic and going back home.  She quickly explained to me that with any type of appendicitis they remove the appendix.  I called my wife Greta to let her know what was happening and I barely was able to tell her the news before they were rushing me to surgery.

The surgery was laproscopic, which means it was minimally invasive.  Three small incisions instead of one long "zipper".  I am extremely grateful for that.  It was successful and the surgeon told me that if I would've waited longer there was no doubt that the appendix would've ruptured and the pain would've been far worst.  He also shared that I will be back to my normal self in a week or so.

I am laying in bed now grateful for many things.  I am grateful for God's sovereignty.  He is in control of everything.  While this was a surprise for me, it didn't surprise Him.  I am grateful that my body is healthy and able to heal from this surgery.  I am grateful that the surgery wasn't as invasive as it used to be.  I am grateful for the friends that have helped Greta and I during this unplanned procedure.  I'm grateful that I didn't try to tough it out and wait for this pain to go away on its own.  I'm grateful for the family and friends who have prayed for me during this time.

One person's junk... (3 Stories)

This blog post is at least a month old.  The idea of it has been rattling around in my head for that long and I finally decided to sit down and let it spill out.   One weekend in late April early May, I was working in my yard trying to rid it of all the infestation of dandelion's.  I was using a new tool that I purchased at Home Depot called the Weed Hound.

In addition to this tool, we for the first time, hired a company to come and spray our lawn so that it might be healthier.  One afternoon while I was outside weed hounding, my daughter came outside and wanted to ride her bike, she needed me to walk alongside her for when she gets stuck and needs an extra push.  So, I put the "weed hound" down and walked with her.  She rode to the neighbor's house got off her bike and walked to their yard and started to collect as many "pretty yellow flowers" that her little hands could hold.  She brought her treasure inside so that they could be placed in a vase.  Here the thing that I had spent lots of time and money to remove from my yard was the very thing that brought my daughter joy.

A few days after the story mentioned above, my wife joined in the neighborhood garage sale to sell most of our boy clothes that we had kept over the years.  When our son was born he was the only grandson on both sides of our family and the result was he had warehouses full of clothes and toys.  My wife and mother spent several hours going through these items to prepare them for this sale.  Beyond the baby clothes, we are stumped by how we continually collect so much stuff!  This is our third garage sale in three years.  You would think that we would run out.  My wife was aggressive in advertising on Craigs List what was available for the sale.  As the sale was about to begin, there were several cars waiting for us to open our garage and haul our junk out for them to rifle through.  I gratefully had kid duty for the sale.  This means that I need to keep the kids occupied inside of our house, while mom sells our stuff in the garage.  I was amazed at the steady flow of people coming to purchase the stuff that we could do without.

And finally, our student ministries team a few weeks ago tackled the daunting task of thoroughly cleaning out our storage area.  We did the take everything out and put it all back in.  It took us the better part of two days and almost half a dumpster to contain all of the items that we threw away.  As I was going through this stuff and throwing most of it away, I couldn't help but think of all of the student ministry pastors who preceded me at Grace Church.  The stuff that I saw as trash or worthless at one time was an item that leader thought: "Hey, we might want to keep that we might use it again"  And one day someone will be tossing all of the stuff that I am holding onto.

The moral of the three stories is painfully obvious. 

Another reason I love my job

I love seeing God work to transform people's lives!  You don't have to be a pastor to see this happen but as a Pastor I feel like I get a front row seat to it sometimes.

A week and a half ago, a student stayed after on a Wednesday night to talk with me about the state of his mother and father.  This student painted a vivid picture of a husband and wife who live in the same home but do not act as if they are married.  He shared that he had never seen or heard them fight or argue but could tell that they were no longer “in love”.  He also shared that it seemed that they were going to be getting a divorce sooner than later.  He told me that he had been given a free ticket to the Family Life Conference from another student in his small group whose parents are involved in the leadership of Family Life and that he was going to go home and ask his mom and dad to attend the conference.  Honestly, from the picture he painted earlier in our conversation I thought that there was no way this couple was going to attend something like this.  That’s when it hit me, this is why we need to pray for God to do a miracle in this couple’s life.  This student and I prayed that night for God to do a miracle and have his parents accept the invitation and not only go but be transformed in their relationship. 

That Friday, we got the word that his parents were going to the conference!  I couldn’t believe it!  But I also knew that the time to pray was even more significant.  It was one thing for them to go.  It is a completely different thing for them to be open to change and transformation.  So, after a few phone calls the small group leader and I gathered as many guys from this students’ small group that we could on short notice to come to my home and pray for this husband and wife by name.  It was amazing to see this many guys on a Friday night coming to our home to lift up their friends’ parents up in prayer.  And Glory to God, He has done a work in this couple.  I got a text message from this student last Tuesday night that read: “I can’t believe it.  My parents have had a complete 180.  I’m so happy I can’t even explain it.”