car salesmen ...

we spent the entire day with car salesmen ...

we threw our kids in the car (huge mistake) ... and drove into Sacramento ... we've spent the last 9 hours car shopping all over the city ...

the Honda Pilot ...
the Hyundai Entourage ...
the Kia Borrego ...
the Toyota Sienna ...

actually, it's the first time in 10 years we've shopped for a car ... punch me in the neck ... anyways, we almost bought 19 different cars ... so many options ... the sun roof, DVD players, 6 disc changers, electric windows, tinted windows, hydraulics ... pimped out mini-vans ... fortunately, we fought the urge to cave in ...

tomorrow, we set out again into the land of family cars ... I think we'll leave the kids with my parents ...

Stirring Anniversary ...

this coming Sunday, we celebrate our two year Stirring Anniversary ...

we planted the Stirring church in January 2007 ... two years later, God has surrounded us with such amazing families and couples and students ... men and women who are so hungry for God ... we are so blessed and grateful for our church and how God has spoken and led us this past year ...

when God dreams ...
we are family ...
becoming who we are ...
face to face ...
we love, we make disciples ...
the elephant in the church ...
simple ...

one year ago, Dan and Alyssa Lance moved with their family from Riverside to join our staff ... we love these guys ...

four months ago, Emily Branca came on staff with a passion for the Stirring kids ... she is such a great leader with such a genuine heart for children ...

four months ago, Jenna Barney joined our staff as our worship leader ... Jenna chases after God ... there are few worship leaders with such a bold and focused passion for God ...

this year, T.J. Macke came on board to pastor and lead our Jr. High movement ... I enjoy his relational and creative approach to reaching the next generation ... we are grateful to see our Jr. High students learning how to follow Jesus ...

three months ago, Sean and Rebecca Gafner joined our staff to help plant the Sunday morning campus ... what an amazing team ... I can see God in their lives ... we are so blessed by our friendship with the Gafners ... and Sean's jambalaya ...

oh yeah ... and October 12th, we planted our Sunday morning Eureka Way campus ... we did it ... props to the launch team and everyone else threw down to make this happen ... once again, our team is the bomb ... they are servants ... and they are so in love with Jesus ...

it's been one amazing year ... period ... don't miss our two year Anniversary this Sunday morning and night ... worship and stories and vision and food ...

One Gathering ...

hey everyone, this coming Sunday, December 28th, we're having an all Stirring gathering at the Eureka Way Campus at 10 am ... we're calling it the One Gathering ...

yep, the entire Stirring packed into the Adventist Church ... filling every pew and the balcony ... it's gonna be sweet ...

remember, NO Sunday evening Stirring ... No 5 pm gathering and NO 7 pm gathering ... One Gathering at 10 am ... everyone's invited ... coffee and donuts and muffins and pews ... bring your mom and your children and your friends ...

this Sunday, we're wrapping up the Simple Series ... it's been such an amazing few weeks ... live simple, love loud ...

and then next Sunday, January 4th, we'll celebrate our 2 year Anniversary as a church ... we'll be reflecting on where God has brought us as a church and where God is taking us this coming year ... you're all invited ...

merry Christmas and a happy new year ... stay away from creepy Santa ...

creepy Santa ...

the other night, we were walking downtown and we came across Santa Claus, just sitting there bored ... yep ... no crazy long line of kids ... no elves ... no cameras ... no Santa sign ... no hype ... plain old Santa ... just sitting there all by himself ... bored ...

when Ava saw him sitting there, she ran up to sit on his lap ... creepy ... some old man in a Santa costume downtown ... passing out candy canes ... talking to my daughter about Barbie and roller skates ... what am I supposed to do? ... it's Santa ... I felt like tackling him on the ground and ripping off that fake beard ... and shouting, "you're not the real Santa because I saw the real Santa in the Mt. Shasta mall!" ... and then I'd run off with his beard ... but I didn't ...

at this point, my youngest daughter Adiah is terrified ... she refuses to sit on Santa's lap ... thank God ... instead, she runs up and grabs a candy cane and runs away ... amazing ...

yep, Christmas Eve at the Cascade ... Wednesday night ... 5 pm and 7 pm ...

I spent some time today reading through the Christmas Story and praying about the gathering tomorrow evening ... I'm stoked ... Garrett Viggers and Jamie White are leading worship ... we're showing a couple of our Stirring films ... and Bill Randall and I are reading the advent Scriptures ... sweet ...

this Christmas, may we know the peace and joy and love of God ... and whatever you do, don't sit on Santa's lap ... it's a trap ... grab a candy cane and run ...

the longest day of the week ...

it's late Sunday night ... I'm laying in bed wide awake ... it's been such a great day ... I'm convinced that Sunday is the longest day of the week ...

if you're wondering, this is my typical Sunday ...

wake up at 7:30 ...
get dressed and cruise downtown to the Eureka Way campus ...
I drop off the laptop computer ...
I cruise down to Starbucks for a doubleshot on ice ...
I speak at the 10 am gathering ...
We eat lunch at Burrito Bandito ...
I nap ...
I cruise to the Bechelli Campus ...
on the way, I buy two footlong turkey Subway sandwiches ...
I speak at the 5 pm gathering ...
I eat a Subway sandwich and drink iced tea ...
I speak at the 7 pm gathering ...
I pray for people, tear down a stage and cruise home at 10 pm ...
my wife and I watch a movie ...

tonight, my wife and I watched "Run, Fatboy, Run" ... amazing ... what a great film ... I hope I get it for Christmas ... once again, I am inspired to write and direct films ... since the first time I watched "Good Will Hunting" in the theater years ago, I have been fascinated with film writing ... actually, I wrote a film years ago, but I lost it ... bummer ...

anyways, I'm looking forward to Christmas Eve at the Cascade ... don't miss it ... enjoy God and drink protein shakes ...

vanilla protein shakes ...

I'm drinking two vanilla protein shakes a day ... with a banana ... I'm hooked ... and I'm working out a bit ... 4 times a week ... gluts and biceps and legs and chest and triceps ... unbelievable ... I'm that guy ... 'gym' guy ... drinking shakes and eating chicken and curling dumbbells and doing crunches on a huge pink ball ... yep ... crazy ...

my work out partner is a professional trainer ... I've put on 5 pounds ... my arms are huge ... I can bench almost 135 ... everyone at the gym knows my name ... last week, I got crazy on the weights and almost killed myself ... jacked up my neck ... just a reminder, I'm still a little guy ... drinking vanilla protein shakes with bananas ...

anyways, it's been such a great few weeks ... it's great to alive ... and ripped ...

simple ...

at the Stirring, we're in this series called simple ... in a world spilling into the margins, Jesus calls us back into a simple focused life ...

we've talked about money and time and relationships ... we live in a culture that devours margin ... margin is having space in your life ... space for God and space for relationships ... margin is running but not running as fast as you can ... margin is showing up somewhere early ... margin is not having to be somewhere in five minutes ... margin is getting to the end of the month and having money leftover because you spent less than you earned ... imagine that ... margin is rest ... margin is life ...

and when we live without margin, we get stressed out, we get self consumed and more than anything, relationships suffer ... because relationships happen in the margin ...

when it comes to our paychecks and our schedules and our time and our relationships, Jesus calls us to become a people of margin ... spend less than you earn ... learn how to rest ... enjoy God ... spend a Sabbath day with your family ... unclench your fists and let God be God ... stop trying to control every aspect of your life ... stop trying to cram 7 days work into 5 work days ... slow down ... take your shoes off ... chase what matters ... do you have margin in your life? ... this is what it means to follow Jesus ...

our prayer is simple ... teach us to live simple so we can live loud ...

90 days ...

90 days to go ... 4 kids ... what the heck?

We're stoked about this little girl ... a few weeks BEFORE we knew we were pregnant, an older lady prayed for me at the Stirring ... she encouraged me and then prayed for my family ... she asked, "how many children do you have?" ... to which I replied, "3" ... she smiled and responded, "you've got another child on the way, a little girl and she's a special one" ... I laughed to myself ... not another child, and for sure, not another girl ... a couple weeks later, we found out that we were pregnant ... and yep, a little girl ... tampons and periods and boyfriends and lipstick ... my future ...

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing wife and family ...

live simple, love loud ...

just wrapped up a week vacation with my family ... I feel rested and ready for the Christmas season ...

it's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas ... we just threw up Christmas lights around our house ... this year, I'm competing with my next door neighbor ... moving lights, moving reindeer, moving elves, whatever it takes ... it's on ...

we just got our family pictures back from Emily Faulknor ... amazing ... great shots of the family and the kids ... my wife is sexy and my kids are crazy ... I love it ... thanks emily ... you are so talented and we miss you so much ...

last Sunday, Dan kicked off our new series Simple ... I'm stoked about the next few weeks ... life gets so busy and hurried and empty ... Jesus confronts our cluttered lives ... Jesus confronts our busy schedules ... Jesus confronts our shallow relationships ... Jesus calls us back to one thing ... live simple, love loud ...

I'm reading three great books ... Margin, Simple Church and the Pressure's off ... great books calling us back to the simple life of Jesus ... if you get a chance, read Matthew 11:28-30 ... life changing ...