Sophie feeding the ducks

Last weekend we took Sophie to Lake Mead to do one of my favorite things (yes it is one of my favorite things). We feed the carp and the ducks. The carp are nasty and the ducks are fun.
Sophie loved it!

C.S. Lewis talks about life

Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.
- Mere Christianity

When I said "Yes" to Seminary

When I said "Yes" to Seminary I didn't realize what that "Yes" would entail.

That "yes" meant I wasn't going to be able to spend as much time with my family. At the time I said yes to seminary, back in 2004, I was a single man who was engaged to be married. Back then I seemed to have all this extra time to: surf, work-out, sleep in, and things like that. I can't believe that I am still doing school! I am going to be 30 years old in December and I will still be in school. Actually I will be in school until summer 2011.

The truth about that is I started seminary in San Diego and then about 2 months later took our current position in Vegas. I figured I would get landed out here and then start back in about 6-9 months. I ended up getting a promotion and started back to seminary about about 16 months; so there was a break in there. There have been times I haven't taken classes but this last week really hit me on the impact seminary will have on my life.

I traveled to Olympia, WA and took a class called: "Christian Perspectives on Contemporary Culture. The class was on race, class and consumerism; all great topics to study. My yes means I am going to take time away from my family, miss out on TV shows that my wife will be able to watch, have to say no to riding dirtbikes with the guys (at times) and things like that.

But I believe that "yes" is going to impact the world. See I am an eternal optimist. My schooling is teaching me so much about the Bible and how to communicate the scriptures in a way that impacts others lives. I feel that I can handle scripture better than I was able to 5 years ago and knowing the Biblical Languages has been huge. Although saying "yes" means saying "no" to some immediate things I am glad that I said "yes" to going to seminary.

Sophie and Dad

So lately, while I am doing homework, Sophie comes and sits on my lap. She looks at the computer and I know just what she wants! So here is some of our fun that I am sharing with the world.
I love that smile!!!













Going in to give dada a kiss













I think she likes to see herself in the camera

believe

Right now our HS ministry in the middle of a series called "believe". The point of this series is to help High School students better understand the truths of the Bible and help them articulate what they believe in; there are so many things battling for their attention in life and we want to teach them the truth.
The graphic for this series helps explain it; our life is so busy that it becomes hard to see what we really believe. Our students are bombarded with everything in this world that is trying to tell them what to believe and we want to point them to truth that they can share with their friends on their campus.

Here is how the series breaks down:
Week 1: Faith
Week 2: One God in Three Persons
Week 3: Is Jesus is the Only answer?
Week 4: Is Heaven Real? Is Hell Real?
Week 5: Did Jesus Really Have to Die for Me?
Week 6: Is the Bible True?
Week 7: Is There a Thing as Absolute Truth?
Week 8: Why Suffering?

"What Would Jesus Buy?"

Another movie review for you all: "What Would Jesus Buy?" is the last movie that we watched in our household and this one brought up some good subject matter. I am so compelled by the movie that I am putting the trailer into this post:



"What Would Jesus Buy?" started out pretty good. The narrator shared some amazing stats about how much money we, American's, spend yearly on Christmas. The main character, and He is a character, is Rev Billy and he runs "The Church of Life After Shopping". Before I go on, I must make it clear that Rev Billy is not a Reverend. I think (personal thought) that he is dressing up like a Reverend so that when he is outlandish in his actions that people may, key word "may", take him serious.

I think that this movie has great point: we waste SO much money on consumerism! I was very convicted by the facts about shopping the message that his team is sharing. There is so much waste in the world. I wish they would have directed people to share what they could save to help others in need; but that didn't happen.
I did take a few key points from this movie:

• America has taught me that by getting gifts at Christmas, that are expensive, it means I am loved
• America has become a consumer nation therefore; I want to look for products that are made in America when my family is shopping
• I want to use my credit card less (not that we have massive cc debt; we use our cc like a debt card and get airline miles)

If you get an extra 90 min in life and want some laughs and some scenes to make you smile then rent this flick; but be ready to be a bit convicted.

Plan of Life

One thing that I learned about myself this summer is that I need structure in my life. I am very prone to just going haphazardly about my life and I am thankful for Bill Randall and his impact on my life this summer. He helped me focus on some things in my spiritual life that were pretty close to getting out of whack.
One of my assignments was to write a Personal Rule of Life. This is what I am trying to do to stay fresh in my walk with Christ:

Daily Plan of Life:
• 15 minutes of focused Bible Reading
• 20 minutes of Lectio
• 25 minutes of Prayer
• A conscious effort of prayer throughout the day
• Follow, and apply, the teachings of Jesus in my workplace
• Practice the Fruit of the Spirit
• Pray for my daughter
• Pray, before bed, with my wife

Weekly Plan of Life:
• Take a day of rest; Sabbath
• Have a date night with my wife
• Go to the gym twice
• Sleep in once
• Tithe to our church
• Meet with accountability partner: confess sin and share wins

Monthly Plan of Life:
• Use the first Friday of the month to fast to connect with God
• Spend time with my daughter; just the two of us (Ice Cream or something)
• Slot in a Spiritual Day to reconnect with God and evaluate where I am
• Give sacrificially to missionaries and Compassion International
• Have a couple from church over for dinner

Quarterly Plan of Life:
• Get away for a weekend with my family
• Worship with a different congregation
• Be involved in a local service project or outreach

Yearly Plan of Life:
• Take a week long vacation where I am unavailable to the office (including email)
• Go on a mission trip to follow the Great Commission
• Read the entire Bible

I hope this helps you as you figure out what works for you in your relationship with Christ.

Enemy-occupied territory

Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful kind has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery. I know someone will ask me, ‘Do you really mean, at this time of day, to re-introduce our old friend the devil—hoofs and horns and all?’ Well what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is ‘Yes, I do’. I do not claim to know anything about his personal appearance. If anybody really wants to know him better I would say to that person, ‘Don’t worry. If you really want to, you will. Whether you’ll like it when you do is another question.’

Mere Christianity. Page 46