CHRISTMAS SOUNDTRACK.

I thought I would share with you the three discs that I appreciate most during the Christmas season. Here they are:

1. The Jackson 5 Christmas Album, Jackson 5. This album was the soundtrack of every Christmas of my childhood. Christmas officially began when we got our tree home, set it up in our living room, and started hanging the plethora of Christmas ornaments from my mom's bountiful collection to the sounds of the Jackson 5 singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." This is actually a really good Christmas album, and the arrangements and vocals are really well done.

2. Acoustic Christmas, Brian E. This is an album that I happened upon by chance. My buddy Dan was going to a church where one of the guys who plays on this album attended, and they were selling these at the church. This isn't available on iTunes or Amazon or anything like that, but the music is beautiful - the arrangements are rich with violin, acoustic guitar, piano, and vocal textures, and the song "You Became Nothing" has become one of my favorite Christmas songs.

3. Christmas Songs, Jars of Clay. I just came upon this disc in the last week (I'm listening to it right now), and I've listened to it over and over again. It is definitely not your "normal" Christmas album. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is in a minor key, and all of the songs employ some very unique and eclectic instrumentation and production. But I've fallen in love with it. It paints a beautiful picture of the Christmas season in sound that is sublime, humble, and full of wonder and thankfulness.

See you soon.

WOW - PT. IV

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THE PASSING OF THE TORCH.

[This post is a long time in coming, but I wanted it to be known.]

When I got my permit, my parents let me drive them around in our automatic 4runner. The week after I turned 16, I went to the Pleasanton DMV to get my driver's license. When my dad got home, he handed me the keys to what would be my car for the next 6 years of my life - a silver 1992 Ford Escort that he had driven off the lot brand-new - with a manual transmission. After I informed my dad that I didn't really know how to drive a stick, he took my out for a lesson or two, and then I was left to sweat over getting the car rolling and stopping on hills.

I drove that car everywhere - to school every day, through blistering heat (with the windows down because of the absent air conditioning), through snow, to Davis and back countless times, to Southern California and back numerous times. I drove it on camping trips, I drove it to Yosemite, I drove it to Lake Alpine. I drove it in the wee hours of the morning, and across silent streets on many dark nights. It heard many a prayer, many tearful sobs, many loud and boisterous conversations as it carried my friends and I anywhere and everywhere. The car was a part of me.

This last August, I was blessed to be the recipient of a new car - the first "new" car my family had purchased since 1996. The new car was [and is] a blast to drive, but I knew that a familiar and treasured chapter of my life was to come to a close at last.

One of my favorite movies growing up [and still one of my all-time favorites] was Herbie the Love Bug. The movie had a special affinity for me because my dad raced Volkswagen bugs on dirt tracks around California, and I would sit in my dad's bug and pretend that I was racing in Herbie. But what I loved most about the story was the gratefulness that the main character felt for Herbie - a car that was more than a car.

My car got 35 miles to the gallon, and in all the years that I drove it, it never pooped out on my or overheated. But beyond the mechanics, it was more to me than a chunk of metal - it was a gift from GOD, and it's trustworthiness and dependability was a reminder to me of the surety of GOD's providence. What a joy it is when creation is redeemed in the little things of life, to do what they are created to do: a sturdy pair of shoes, a good walking stick, a worn hammer, a tattered hat, a jacket passed down from father to son. Then these things are no longer a piece of cloth, metal, or wood, but a whisper in our ears from GOD himself - "I'm watching over you. I'm with you. This is my creation doing what it was supposed to do."

Thanks for the ride, Jesus - every good and perfect gift comes from you. See you soon.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing a lot about the movie The Golden Compass, a movie that is based on the first of a series of books by Phillip Pullman. There has been a lot of controversy about the movie in the Christian community because although this movie doesn't really deal with it, Pullman's later books espouse his antagonistic views of what he perceives as the oppressive and power-hungry nature of the Christian Church and the delusion of Yahweh being the creator-god of the universe. I've been told that it is really imaginative and clever fantasy writing, but as his atheistic views become more and more prevalent in the development of the story, the story loses its luster and beauty.

I got that observation, and a lot of other helpful ones, from a christianitytoday.com article that came into my email inbox today. I found it to be a balanced, loving, and truthful piece on how we as Christians should be thinking about this movie and the ideas that it presents. Here's a quote I liked:

"Essentially, don't behave in ways that the Magisterium [Pullman's straw-man, negative representation of the Church] in Pullman's books would behave. You'll just make his stories more persuasive, by confirming for the culture around us that Christians only really get excited when they're condemning something. Instead, respond with grace and love. And truth."

See you soon.

Fear Not The Compass

EVERLASTING GOD.

I learned this song a few weeks ago, and I can't get it out of my head - I love it. Here's a clip of the songwriter, Brenton Brown, talking a little about it and teaching you how to play it. See you soon.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer

You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
(Everlasting God, Brenton Brown)

BÜX: PRAYER: FINDING THE HEART'S TRUE HOME

I just finished up this book tonight. In short, this book is the Celebration of Discipline of prayer. I've read a lot of his work, including the aforementioned Celebration of Discipline and The Freedom of Simplicity, and I just picked up his book Money, Sex, and Power: The Challenge of the Disciplined Life from the thrift store over Thanksgiving break - awesome!

As I've read his work, I've been deeply moved and convicted by the compassionate warmth of his writings, as well as his ability to deal with his subjects comprehensively and compellingly, while maintaining a prophetic edge that makes you uncomfortable, but in a way that draws you closer into life with God. My experience with this book was no different - he dealt with the subject of prayer from a variety of angles, organizing them intuitively and sprinkling them personal anecdotes that both convict and comfort. Looking back on the book's scope in the final chapter, Foster reveals his thesis for the book:

We saw some of the ways God's loving friendship draws us inward into the transformation we need: changing us, molding us, forming us. We were invited upward into the intimacy we need: adoring God, resting in God, listening to God. We heard the call outward into the ministry we need: healing the sick, suffering with the broken, interceding for the world. (p. 255)

If your prayer life feels shallow, meaningless, or devoid of life, as mine often does, I'd recommend this book to you; I hope the joy that Foster reveals in the privilege that we each have to come confidently before God in prayer will put a smile on your face and breathe life into your prayer life. If you've read this book, let me know what you thought in the comments. See you soon.

HONEYMOON PICTURES UP.

I uploaded the pictures from our honeymoon to my Picasa page. Check 'em out. See you soon.

WOW - PT. III.

Saudi Prince Buying "Flying Palace" Jet

Reading through the news this morning, I came across an article that reveals that Prince Alaweed bin Tabal of Saudi Arabia is purchasing an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane just recently unveiled. It holds 853 passengers in an economy setting, but the prince is having the seats stripped to customize it according to his desires, which may include a movie theater and a gym. The price of with plane, with customization, could be close to half a billion dollars. Here's a quote from the article:

"'It's like buying a new car or a new TV,' Velupillai told The Associated Press. 'One wants something bigger and better.'"

The prince is already the only private owner of a Boeing 747, the "world's most spacious plane" prior to the A380. Wow. May we be weary of the grip that the love of money can have on our lives, and see the opportunity and call upon each of us to give with reckless compassion to those who have nothing. See you soon.

WOW - PT. II.

Britney's Mom to Write Parenting Book

Out of curiosity, I clicked through to Britney's website, which is currently just a picture of her covering herself with white gloves. Oh, how sad. One thing I did notice in this article is that this book is going to be published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian publishing house. See you soon.

BÜX: THE YOUNGER EVANGELICALS.

Over the past few years, I've become more educated on what is being called the "emerging" Church. I want to say off the bat that I'm woefully ignorant of what is really going on in "emerging" churches around the world, but from what I have read in a few books and experienced through conversations with good friends and visiting churches that label themselves as emerging (like my buddy Trevor's church, Risen), I have found myself drawn to the honesty, authenticity, and commitment to living and loving in the way of Jesus exhibited in them. A few years ago, I read A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren, and although I really appreciated his honesty, transparency, and his heart for the purity and mission of the church in the world, his bitter criticism made it hard for me to take him seriously. In contrast, I found Robert Webber's The Younger Evangelicals to be a winsome and hopeful picture of how the Holy Spirit is moving across continents and denominations to call the Church to a renewal of heart in our world.

To avoid butchering Webber's analysis of how "The Younger Evangelicals" are making their own unique contribution to Christ's Church, I'll let him speak for himself:

"...the leadership of the younger evangelical will be distinctly different than that of the twentieth-century evangelical. It will be biblically informed by the Missio Dei to rescue the entire created order; it will be theological, rooted in the trinitarian and christological consciousness of the ancient creed; it will be spiritual, reflecting the purposes of God to restore the fullness of his image in us and to bring all creation to its redemption and reconciliation to God; and it will be conscious in its action in and to the world of the new cultural situation in which we live, taking into consideration the new realities of the twenty-first century." (p. 243)

If that was a bunch of gibberish for you, then ignore this post. But if you know a few of those longer words, you'll see that Webber has the ability and the desire to portray clearly how younger evangelicals are different from the predecessors, including Pragmatic and Traditional evangelicals, which he sucessfully does in a way that both encourages and challenges.

If you've got a little time and you want to have a better understanding of some of the hopeful and exciting strands that are emerging in the evangelical church, I found Webber's work to be academic but approachable. He incorporates a lot of interviews with "younger evangelicals," he looks at a few examples of churches which exemplify his findings, and there's even an essay by Rob Bell on preaching inside. His words on the value of the arts in the emerging church has struck a chord in me, being a musician, and having read his overview of the world of the "younger evangelicals," I feel more hopeful and expectant of the amazing work that God is continuing to do in our radically broken world through us, his people. See you soon.

BACK FROM THE SOUTH.

Monica and I are back from San Diego - we had a great time hanging out at the Youth Specialties conference. Some highlights:

• Running through the Halo 3 campaign with Danny
• Hearing an awesome message from Francis Chan
• Watching TJ's soccer game with the Berry family
• Going to a bunch of sweet seminars, and spending time being encouraged by people I love

The conference was a welcome rest, and Monica and I come back excited for new things and getting settled into our new home. I'll be posting about some of my learnings over the next week or two. See you soon.

THE FIRST SUPPER.

We haven't gotten around to picking up a kitchen table yet, so we've been eating off of our desk. Actually, since this picture was taken, we've plopped this in our office and now we're eating off of our coffee table. We've heading to San Diego for the National Youthworker's Convention this weekend - we're looking forward to an awesome time of hanging out with friends (we're staying with Dan and Brian, and hanging out with a gang of other folks), spending time together as newlyweds, and being equipped and encouraged to faithful to our calling to youth ministry. See you soon.

BÜX: BEYOND BUMPER STICKER ETHICS

One of the books that I had a chance to finish off while Monica and I were down in Carmel was Beyond Bumper Sticker Ethics, by Steve Wilkens. I found it in my office, and it seemed like it would be an interesting read. Wilkens is a professor of religion and philosophy at Azusa Pacific University (Peter is taking a class from him right now), and I think that this book is probably what is used as the textbook for his Ethics class. Wilkens defines ethics as "the process of how we work through moral issues." I find this issue to be extremely significant, because it answers the question, "What do we as Christians do?" For those of us committed to living out our faith in Jesus today, the issue of how we decide upon the actions we choose is incredibly significant, and so I was really excited to be challenged and stimulated in my own journey towards developing a better foundation for the way that I make decisions in the Way of Jesus.

I really enjoyed the book - Wilkens writes in a way that is academic and thorough, but very readable. The format of the book centers around a series of what he calls "Bumper Stickers": short little catchphrases that he uses as jumping-off points to examine different ethical systems. He uses the phrase, "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do" to describe and critique the ethical system of Cultural Relativism, and "All You Need is Love" to describe Virtue Ethics. He gives a summary of each ethical system, describes the positive elements, and then offers some critiques of each.

Wilkens does not conclude this book with a cut-and-dried description of a comprehensive Christian ethical system - I see the wisdom in this, because the truth is that the convictions that govern our actions cannot be neatly wrapped up and applied in every situation. But Wilkens does say that the point is not necessarily to come to a finite end at which all ethical decisions will solve themselves, but to strive with compassion, wisdom, and truth to do that which brings Glory to GOD, whether it's deciding whether or not it's OK to download TV episodes off of YouTube or giving money to a homeless man who might use it to buy a sandwich or buy drugs. Wilkens says it this way: "Truthfulness, goodness and rightness need to characterize not only our conclusions but also the means by which we get to our conclusions." I came away from this book with a better understanding of how to think critically about how I make decisions, but also with a heart to pursue GOD's heart for my hands, my feet, and my money, and to place my trust in the Holy Spirit to guide me and the grace of GOD to cover me as I make decisions as a steward, a friend, a husband, a pastor, a giver, and a Child of GOD.
May you and I be the hands and feet of Jesus with greater wisdom, discernment, compassion, love, and truth tomorrow than we were today. See you soon.

Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)

PSALM 130.

I'm almost done with Foster's Prayer, which talks about the beauty of praying and singing the Psalms. I was blessed enough to find it in the thrift store - I'm not quite finished yet, but I am moved again by his great warmth, the depth of his passion and devotion, and the eloquent simplicity with which he deals with his subject. This morning as I was reading the scripture, I read through Psalm 130. I was struck by how lyrical it was, so I was moved to put it to some music.

So through the techno-wizardry of my wife's brand new MacBook, I recorded this setting of Psalm 130 on GarageBand, converted it to mp3, and posted it on my church's website. This is a rough cut - you can hear the metronome in the background, but I was so excited about it I wanted to put it up. I'll replace it with a more final cut later. I hope you're blessed by the singing of GOD's word. See you soon. The link below leads to the final cut.

[Psalm 130]

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

THE BEGINNING AND THE END.

It's official - I'm (we're) hitched. Our wedding was amazing - there was a sense of holy expectancy in the air as GOD brought about a miracle between us that was so beautiful and joyous. It rained during the exact time of our ceremony, but numerous people told us that rain on your wedding day is a good omen. Whether this is true or simply meant to make us feel better was irrelevant - the rain made it all the more intimate and significant. As we stood before our family and friends, our thought and hope is that that was a little slice of what heaven would be like - filled with joy, surrounded by dear family, treasured and invaluable friends, trusted and beloved fellow travelers walking beside us on the journey of faith. We are blessed to be so dearly loved and supported by so many, and to share with you, if not the joy of our wedding day, the surpassing joy of our lives lived for GOD's glory.

We spent a week in Carmel, came back for my brother-from-another-mother Dan's wedding, and then headed off for a week in Kauai. We're silly blessed, and we had an awesome time. I'll be posting up the pictures to my Picasa page, which I mentioned in the last post. I'll put a link on the sidebar, and I'll let you know when they're up. I also had the chance to chew on a few good books - I'll post some of my thoughts later. See you soon!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17)

MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU.

This month has flown by - getting ministry responsibilities in perspective, moving into a new place, and getting married in two days has occupied most of my waking thoughts. Monica and I both use the same word to describe it - surreal. I don't have the mental tools to process just how profoundly my life has been and is changing, but it is exhilirating to begin to see the curtain rising on what Charles Spurgeon called, "my lifework."

I pray that GOD would make me worthy of the responsibilites that he has entrusted to me, and that I will not just "grow old," but grow up into the man that GOD desires me to be. I've taken some good shots over the past month with stories to go with them, but I left my camera in my buddy's car after my bachelor hangout day. Look forward to some sweet honeymoon shots as well. See you soon.

[ My Pictures on Picasaweb ]

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

UNDEFILED WORSHIP.

Yesterday, my pastor continued a series of sermons talking about the foundations of our church's ministry, and as he was discussing the different facets of the ministry of our church he made it a point to say that the church is not a building or a location, but it is God's people.

This afternoon, while I was reading through The Letters of James and Peter in The Daily Bible Study Series by William Barclay, his comment on James 1:26-27 really struck me:

"All through history men have tried to make ritual and liturgy a substitute for sacrifice and service. They have made religion splendid within the Church at the expense of neglecting it outside the Church. This is by no means to say that it is wrong to seek to offer the noblest and the most splendid worship within God's house; but it is to say that all such worship is empty and idle unless it sends a man out to love God by loving his fellow-men and to walk more purely in the tempting ways of the world." (p. 61-62, emphasis mine)

This is truth - I need to remember that "worship" extends beyond the corporate singing that we do on a Sunday morning, reaching into all of our time and all of who we are to being passionate for purity and justice in our lives and in the world that we live. These are the pursuits that James describes as "undefiled worship," and it is these things that are at the heart of you and me being the church today. See you soon.

"This is pure and undefiled worship, as God the Father sees it, to visit orphans and the widows, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27, Barclay's translation)

ON THE ROAD.

I was driving home two nights ago through Niles Canyon, and just after passing through Sunol and I came to a construction zone where a dude with a stop sign was stopping all the cars going in my direction. After a few minutes, a few cars passed by coming the other direction, and then a truck pulled out in front of us to guide us through the construction zone. Apparently, they had installed a rumble strip in the middle of the highway, but other than that I didn't really see any construction, and didn't see a reason as to why they had closed down the road to one lane. But after we had been driving a while, we passed a Caltrans truck, and I saw what all the hoopla was about.

The truck was driving along slowly, and there was a dude hanging off the back with a glue gun, squirting little puddles of glue periodically onto the rumble strip. And here's what blew me away - there were two other construction workers following the truck putting reflective dots into the puddles of glue in go-carts! I felt like I think I would feel if I got to look into Santa's workshop and see the elves putting all the toys together. That made me smile on the way home. See you soon.

WOW.

I'm getting married a month from yesterday. WOOHOO!!!!!!!

NEED TO KNOW.

This past week, I was studying Luke 12 in preparation for a message. One of the things that is really helpful for me is reading other people's thoughts on the scriptures, as these often help me to understand the meaning of GOD's word more clearly. One of the resources that I often use is bible.org, which has a wealth of studies and Godly wisdom covering a lot of the bible and other topics.

I was reading this article by Bob Deffinbaugh, and I came across a quote that I thought was very powerful. He was talking about the teaching methods of Jesus, and he said this:

"Good teaching does not tell others all that we know, but it conveys to them a few things that they desperately need to know."

For me, this is a hard principle to follow, because I like to pack all that I can into everything that I say, but I think that this statement illuminates one of the most effective and powerful elements of Jesus' teaching. When he spoke, he spoke relatively briefly and in simple language, but with a wealth of meaning and nuance that we are still in awe of 2,000 years later. He told simple stories of fishermen, mustard seeds, servants and their masters, and good neighbors to communicate GOD's eternal truth.

I think the question for me is this: What is it that we desperately need to know? And how can I say it? Jesus, I pray you would teach me to teach, and to communicate your truth in a way that people will know in their hearts the things you desperately want them to know. See you soon.