now that I'm back from vacation, I'm back to the list ... so much to do, so little time ... here's the list ...
1) write an 8,000 word exegetical paper on Galatians 2) fertilize front and back yard 3) plant a Sunday morning Stirring church in 11 weeks 4) oh yeah, and build a 31 ft. by 29 ft. playground in my backyard
actually, this Saturday, project Kid's Kingdom begins ... I've got 6 ginormous boxes, a climbling wall and two 8 ft. double waves slides just sitting lonely in my garage ...
all I need is a couple friends and some tools ... I think I may have a jigsaw and a couple screwdrivers in my garage ... and maybe some masking tape ... anyways, let me know if you're free this Saturday to help ... my wife says she'll make some Iced Tea ...
we spent a week in San Clemente ... and then a couple of days in Sacramento with my folks ... great vacation ... I didn't realize how much I needed it ... I go and go and go and go ... and then crash, like that Dave Matthews song ...
Disneyland was epic ... we arrived early in the morning ... ran through Main Street to Star Tours (family tradition) ... Ava loved Star Tours ... she actually believes we flew in a spaceship to space ... amazing ...
then, of course, Space Mountain ... the biggest big kid ride at Disneyland ... I couldn't believe it, but Ava was actually tall enough ... 40 inches ... it's 8:30 am ... and we're in line for Space Mountain ... and Ava's never been on a roller coaster in her life, let alone in the dark ... she hated every minute of it ...
and Pirates of the Caribbean ... Ava freaked out ... she thought the Pirates were real ... Adiah and Asher loved it ... my brother Jeremy kept singing that old pirate song ... Asher thought Jeremy was a pirate ...
and then my girls dragged me into the Tiki Tiki Room ... awful ... my worst Disneyland experience ever ... crazy singing birds ... punch me in the Tiki ...
and then, as we were leaving the park ... yep, Tinkerbell comes flying down from the mountain over the Disney Castle ... I'll never forget the looks on the girls faces ... they adore Tinkerbell ... the perfect end to a happy Disney day ... Tinkerbell and fireworks and music and cheering and old men eating those chocolate covered bananas ...
hey all, there's a new game in town ... actually, it's more than just a game, it's a sport ... it's called Cornhole ...
a couple weeks ago, Patrick showed up at a BBQ with his very own Cornhole set ... 8 bags, and a couple holes ... that's it ... derrick fleck ... dan lance ... patrick hardy ... we played all night long ...
then tonight, Patrick shows up at Aaron Hayes BBQ ... yep, with his Cornhole set ... 8 bags, and a couple of holes ... we set up Cornhole in the alley behind Aaron's house ... good old times ... laughing and competing, and throwin' those bags into those holes ... one of the best nights of my life ... not to mention, I am the undefeated Cornhole champion ...
so, this blog is an ode to Patrick Hardy ... thanks for bringing Cornhole to town ... if you're a Cornhole playa, drop a comment on this blog ... life is short, but there's always Cornhole ...
every year, my parents would take us down to San Clemente ... because my father was the pastor of a mega-church, our vacations became super important for us as a family ... and probably my favorite memories growing up ...
one year, Jeremy and I spent hours every night in the San Clemente hot tub ... just hanging out and laughing and meeting new people every night ...
if you think about it, hot tubbing is kinda weird ... you're sitting in a circle in hot water with a bunch of people you've just met ... you're all facing each other ... bubbles are floating all around ... and there's some creepy guy with too much hair on his back ... and a young couple making out and touching under the water ... and old people just sit there glaring and silently judging ... and everyone's making small talk ... jets massaging your lower back ... just weird, and yet we love it ... who doesn't love a good hot tubbing with complete and creepy strangers ...
and so Jeremy and I lived in the hot tub ... and one night, we discovered something ... that you could go under water and 'suck air bubbles' from these small holes on the floor of the hot tub ... so we did it ... in fact, we could stay under water 'sucking air bubbles' for almost 10 minutes straight ...
so we played a joke on people ... late at night, Jeremy and I would disappear under the dark water 'sucking air bubbles' until we heard someone stepping into the hot tub ... once they were in the tub and settled, we would jump out of the water together ... screaming and flailing our arms ... like sea monsters emerging from a dark creepy lagoon ... you get the picture ... and people were just terrified ... and then we'd all laugh and talk about nothing and everything ... hot tub style ...
4 days left ... and we'll be on vacation in San Clemente ... Jeremy and I back in that hot tub ... 'sucking on bubbles' under water and teaching Ava and Adiah to 'suck on bubbles' under water ... I love vacation ...
so, I've been reading Ephesians this morning ... that passage where it talks about wine and the Holy Spirit and Christian music in your heart ... Be very careful, then, how you live ... not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit ...
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:15-18
So as I'm reading and soaking in this passage, I'm drinking my new drink ... the Starbucks Double Shot on ice ... which is actually a lie, because the Double Shot on ice is actually three shots on ice (but they don't tell you that) ... this drink is amazing ... it tastes awful, but I can't stop drinking it ... warning, do not drink without food in your body or else you'll shake for hours like a frightened Chihuahua ...
anyways, here's my point ... make the most of every opportunity, and stay away from debauchery ...
every year, Erica and I take the family down to the beach at San Clemente ... it's an hour from San Diego and an hour from Disneyland ... it's perfect ... the beach ... hot tubs ... margaritas (of course, virgin margaritas just in case my dad reads this blog, or anyone who struggles with hard core alcohol) ... and skunks ... our kids love skunks ... one year, one of the skunks attacked Ava ... so I stabbed it with a shovel ...
I can't wait to take the kids to Disneyland ... I get to 'relive' it all over again ... star tours and space mountain and the Tiki Tiki Room and the people mover ... Disneyland is the greatest place on earth, besides Maui and Switzerland and of course, the Bethel Prayer Chapel ...
my favorite ride has always been the Pirates of the Caribbean ... when I was a kid, we would go on the pirates ride again and again ... my dad and jeremy and benji and I ... just pretending we were pirates ...
in fact, I taught the pirate song to my daughters and we sing it at night ... yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me ... Ava and Adiah are excited to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, but I can tell they are a bit terrified ... they keep asking me, "are the pirates real?" ... to which I reply, "of course they're real! It's Disneyland" ... and I can see the excitement/terror in their eyes ...
so, I was thinking that I could play a little joke on them ... half way through the pirates ride, I'll begin screaming ... and I'll throw myself out of the boat into the water ... and I'll pretend that the Pirates are dragging me away to their ship ... and as the Pirates drag me away, I'll yell back to my daugthers, "take care of your mother and never forget how much I love you!" ...
crazy night at the Stirring ... actually, it's been a crazy few months ...
dan lance led worship ... it's ember 'style' with a bit of Jesus sprinkled on top ... kevin nichols on the drums ... like good old times ... jeremy coverdale on acoustic and Jamie White on vocals ... and I threw down on keys ... what a great night of worship ... Dan's new song rocks ...
tonight, we shared our passion and vision for planting a Sunday morning Stirring church in the Fall ... I know we're ready ... I'm somewhere on a scale between "totally freaked out" and "I may have just wet my pants" ... we just need a place to meet, an espresso machine and some couches ... good old fashioned 'church planting' ...
tonight, I spoke from Ephesians 4:17-5:7 ... I talked about holiness ... I begged the question, "shouldn't Christians look different?" ...
the word church means 'called out ones' ... we are God's children, called out of the world, filled with Jesus, calling the world back into a life with God ... we have the greatest call ever ... to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world ...
following Jesus isn't about keeping a list of rules ... it's about becoming a kind of person in the world ... moving and breathing and living with Jesus, we're showing the world a new way of life ...
in a world of lies, we're becoming honest ... in a world fueled by anger, we're getting angry about things that matter ... in a world bent on greed, we're becoming generous ... in a world of bitterness, we're forgiving ... in a world consumed with lust, we're becoming grateful ...
she drove a blue Geo Storm ... she studied psychology late into the night ... she ate at El Mariachi's ... she starred in one of my movies ... she wore a tight red sweater ... she laughed with me ... she listened to the counting crows ... she loved God ...
we met and fell in love ... we danced the night away ... we almost died one night on the railroad tracks ...
10 years later, we are still best friends ... happy birthday Erica ... I can't imagine life without you ...
I know you're not supposed to talk about your wife's age ... but I want the blog world to know how much I love her ... and that she's 31 ...
so, it's my day off ... I woke up at 9 o'clock ... ate a delicious piece of toast with crunchy peanut butter ...
I spent an hour at the gym ... normally, when I work out, I try to wear one of those tight shirts ... the tighter the shirt, the bigger I look in those gym mirrors ... but this morning I wore one of those baggy work out t-shirts ... it's just not the same ...
last night, my friend Kendall gave me this book 'the Shack' ... I told him I probably wouldn't ever read it ... I hardly ever read novels, except books like 'Lord of the Rings' and 'the Count of Monte Cristo' (which happens to be the best novel of all time and the worst movie based on a novel) ... to which Kendall replied, "you're a pastor, you must read the Shack" ... whatever that means ... and he loaned me his copy ...
so, after the gym, I busted out 'the Shack' ... I've read the first 8 chapters ... I was expecting some love story set in the late 1800's on a Missouri Ranch ... like every other Christian novel ... it's actually quite different ... it's not even set on a ranch ...
anyways, I'm not sure what I think about the book ... it's like a mix between the Matrix and the Wizard of Oz ... I must read on ... I'll let you know when I finish ...
last night at the Stirring, we talked about the KIND of church we want to become ...
it's so easy to become a Superman church, where the leaders become super pastors who do everything for everyone ... instead, we believe God is calling us to be an X-men church, where everyone shows up and lives their unique role as the church in the world ... not IN the church, but AS the church in the world ...
the word church means 'called out ones' ... so as a church, we are God's people, called out of the world to be God's hands and feet and voice to the world ... God fills us with Jesus so we can fill the world with Jesus ... in Ephesians 4, Paul describes this KIND of church ...
I'll never forget what happened 8 years ago ... I met God while working at Red Robin ... God called me out ... everything changed ... but instead of getting stuck in some church pew, God began using me at Red Robin ... I remember God teaching me to pray for people and how to encourage people ... as God was changing my life, God was using me to change the lives of those around me ...
and during that season, I realized something ... church is NOT a group of Christians who meet on Sundays ... church is when we live out the call on our lives to run into the world and put God on display in our lives ... when we are so filled with Jesus, that Jesus fills the world around us ...
hanging out in Red Robin, eating a Banzai Burger and those hot piping fries, enjoying life and calling others into this amazing God life ... that's church ...
8 years ago, I surprised my wife with a little Chihuahua named Neo ... John Klein (yes, the John Klein) and I drove 45 minutes to a Chihuahua farm ... hundreds of little Chihuahua's running around ... barking and shaking and breeding ... and I chose Neo and took him home ... on the way home, he threw up in my lap ... John laughed ...
a year later, we decided to breed Chihuahua's ... awful idea ... actually, I think it was Erica's idea ... so we journeyed back out to the Chihuahua farm ... hundreds of little Chihuahua's running around ... barking and shaking and breeding ... we chose Trinity and took her home ... of course, to breed and make lots of $ ...
and yet, over the years, Trinity's become our good friend ... our protector and loyal dog companion ...
this week, we found out that Trinity is sick ... and we took her to the doggy hospital ... she's sick and needs surgery ... it's not looking good ...
I prayed for her last night ... if God doesn't touch her little Chihuahua body, we may need to put her down ... this makes me very sad ... I'm asking God for a miracle ... I know Trinity's just a dog, but God loves dogs ... and God spelled backwards is dog ...
my wife and I spent the evening with the Lance's at the Outback Steakhouse ... home of the bloomin' onion ...
now, here's my confession ... I hate the bloomin' onion ... but for some reason, every time we go to Outback, we order the bloomin' onion ... every time ... I hate it ... Erica hates it ... Dan hates it ... Alyssa hates it ... it's awful ... but of course, we ordered it ... and we nailed it ... every last little bloomin' onion pedal ... we practically licked the bowl ... I'm never eating bloomin' onion again ... it's evil ...
tonight, grandma took the girls for the evening ... amazing ... a night all alone with my wife (and Asher) and the bloomin' onion aftertaste ... so I went out and rented the perfect movie for our romantic night together ... Sweeney Todd ... I think it's a musical ... erica loves musicals ...
this has been a crazy week ... lots of huge decisions to make regarding the Stirring and our vision and planting churches in the future ... I feel like I'm carrying the weight of a school bus ... loaded with children and huge rocks ...
I am so grateful for the amazing Stirring team that God has brought alongside us ... a couple of years ago, we felt very alone ... but over the past year, God has surprised us with so many amazing friends ... I love our church ... I wish Jeff Yoder was still on the worship team ...
so, we finally did it ... this guy George Bush sent us a check in the mail and (of course), like every other impulsive American, we ran out and splurged ... God bless America ...
my wife and I just bought our children one of those ginormous Costco backyard playsets ... double wave slide ... twin lookout tower ... climbing wall ... triple swing ... picnic table ... tire swing ...
yep, of of those ridiculous Adventure playsets that every child dreams of, but no parents actually buy ... it just hangs there in Costco taunting every 5 year old ... and as they see it hanging there, every child cries, "daddy, can we buy one?" to which daddy replies, "maybe for Christmas" ... but of course, it's a lie ... because NO dad in his right mind would actually buy such a huge playset for his children ... except me ...
tonight, I measured off the backyard ... with some help (thanks eric and chris) ... we need 30 ft. by 30 ft. ... it's quite bigger than I thought ... it's almost bigger than my house ... we need to build a foundation with rocks and granite and bark and now I'm freaking out ... I thought I'd just read the instructions and tighten a few screws ... I'm way over my head ... it takes me an entire day to put together a desk ...
seriously, for the next 3 months I'm building 'kids kingdom' in my backyard ... if you want to help, we'll let your kids play on it ... all 50 of them ...
