Easter Baptism 2009 ...

We baptized 48 Stirring peeps ... the best Easter ever! (I love peeps!)

late night ramblings ...

just got back from the Catalyst Conference ...

what a life changing few days ... more than anything, spending time with leaders and visionaries from all over the nation affirmed what God is already speaking to our church and where God is leading us in this next season ... whenever I hear Erwin McManus speak, I get infused with passion and creativity ... Francis Chan ruined me ... I was on my face on the ground underneath my chair ... awkward, but powerful ... coming back from the conference, I am more desperate for the raw power of the Spirit of God in my life ...

next week, we're beginning our new series through the book of Acts ... unleashing the power of everyone ... Acts is such a dangerous and threatening story ... I can't wait to see how God shapes us over this Summer ... my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would come upon us and fill us so that we can live the power of God in every way possible ...

we had an incredible day with the Stirring community ... we just wrapped up the Heaven series ... over this past year, the Stirring has become so much more than just a gathering or people ... we've really become a family ... God is healing and God is speaking and God is calling and God is shaping us to become a force of love in our city ...

may we be filled with Jesus ...
may we breath life into the dry bones all around us ...
may we live heaven now ...

Catalyst Conference ...

just wrapped up the first day of the Catalyst Conference in Irvine ...

we listened to Andy Stanley talk about leadership in the face of uncertainty ... Guy Kawasaki talked about innovation and convinced everyone to buy Macs ... Bryan Houston brought such a burning passion for the church and its great calling on earth ... and Hillsong United led worship ... those guys are money ...

we hung out with 3200 pastors and leaders, ate chicken sandwiches for lunch, drank 8 cups of coffee, waited in line for 15 minutes for the bathroom, and took a friendly ride in a hot air balloon ... we are filled with joy and God is speaking ... the perfect conference, except for the waiting in line bit ...

tonight, we went to the beach and saw dolphins ... we ate chicken nachos and jumped in a hot tub until wrinkled and ready for bed ... it's my life ...

Courage ...

I met with Banning today over lunch to share hearts and get ready for the 'Dreams Conference' this May ... it's going to be amazing ... as of now, we have over 15 different churches coming and so many creative leaders, pastors, church planters, business men, worship leaders, filmmakers, songwriters, and people just hungry to dream with God ... one of the themes this year is going to be courage ... more than anything, we need courage to dream with God ... there is a war for courage and an enemy who lives to discourage ... we need courage to rise up and chase after God's dreams with boldness and passion ...

Over the past few weeks, I've been reading the book of Acts to prepare for our Acts series this summer ... seriously, Acts is such a dangerous book ... it confronts us and threatens us ... it's impossible to read the story of Acts and not be filled with courage to follow Jesus ... it's a great time to be alive!

I've wanted to teach through this book for a long time ... in the first chapter, Jesus makes this amazing promise ... that the Holy Spirit would come up on us and that we would have power ... power to love and power to serve and power to forgive and power to cast out demons and power to prophecy and power to heal the sick and power to raise the dead ... is that your life?

Years ago, someone asked me this question? ... "If the Holy Spirit removed Himself from your life for a day, would anyone even notice?" ...

I want my life to be so filled with love and courage and so defined by the power of the Holy Spirit that people around me are drawn deeper into a life with God ... I can't wait to see what God does in our church this summer ...

My next few weeks ...

Wrapping up the Heaven series (two more weeks) ...
Attending the Catalyst Conference in Southern California ...
Watching Wolverine with my wife on opening night, May 1st ...
Launching a new 12 week series through the book of Acts ... unleashing the power of everyone ...
Hosting our first 'When God Dreams Conference' May 7th-9th ...
Celebrating my 9 year anniversary with my wife on May 20th ...

what's up with the rapture?

It's 10:24 pm ...

I'm wrapping up the last paper for my theology class ... It's about the second coming of Christ and the millennium and the rapture ...

so, what's up with the rapture? ... I'm not a fan of popular rapture theology ... that Jesus comes back and takes us Christians away and everyone else is left to wander the earth ... I don't buy it ... and most of the Scriptures used to argue that 'left behind' rapture theology are taken out of context ...

Yes, Jesus returns ... Yes, I do believe Jesus is coming back and when He comes back, He will throw Satan and his demons into the lake of fire, He will judge the living and the dead, He will reward the righteous, and ultimately, the new heaven comes down upon the new earth, where we live with God on the new earth forever ... Yes, we will be resurrected and given new sexy glorious bodies ...

Yes, we will see Jesus face to face ... no more tears and no more pain and no more death and no more dirty diapers ... but I'm not sure what we mean by rapture? ... if Jesus is bringing the new heaven on the new earth in every way possible, then where are we being raptured to? ...

Anyone want to help me out? ... let's get some rapture discussion ... bring it!

Kicking it with my family ...

It's good Friday ...
Just kicking it with my family ...
Pulled my son around the neighborhood in a red wagon ...
My daughters are pure drama ...
We're about to eat Erica's famous enchiladas ...
I'm starving ...
Tonight is family video game night ...
I like Super Mario Kart, but the girls always choose Mario Smash Brothers ... it's a violent princess fighting game ... it's a crazy world!

I'm stoked about this weekend ...
the tomb is still empty ...
Dan Lance, Jamie White and my brother Jeremy are leading worship ...
We're baptizing over 40 people ...
We get to show a new video we've been working on ...
And I get to eat pink peeps all weekend long ... long live peeps!

Good Friday Gathering ...

hey everyone, I just found out that Risen King is hosting a Good Friday service this Friday at 7 p.m. at Mistletoe School ... if you're looking for a place to worship and celebrate Jesus and His journey to the Cross this weekend, join them this Friday night ...

for everyone else, I'll see you this Sunday ... we're celebrating the greatest day in history ... the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive ... and we're baptizing almost 40 people this weekend ... don't miss it and bring your mother ...

the Stirring tonight ...

just got back from the Stirring ... two campuses and three gatherings ... it's a long day, but I enjoy every minute of it (most of the time) ...

Dan spoke today in the Heaven series ... great word about living Heaven now ... so many times, we get saved and we sit around waiting for Heaven someday ... Dan used the analogy of a waiting room ... just waiting and waiting and waiting for Heaven someday, when Jesus comes and invites us to live Heaven today ...

worship was incredible at both campuses ... thanks Jacob and Jenna ... our worship leaders are so in love with God ... we are blessed ...

more than anything, I love seeing God change lives ... I'm looking forward to the baptism on Easter Sunday ... we're baptizing almost 30 people this coming weekend, and probably 20 others who get inspired and crazy and jump in the tank with their clothes on ... why not?

may His kingdom come and may His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven ... I think I've heard that somewhere before ...

Kings ...

just spent a few days with my family in Sacramento ...

my father got me officially hooked on the first 3 episodes of Kings ... a new television series based on the David and Saul story in the Bible ... it's incredible ... the story and the writing and the cinematography and the creativity ... and so far, it's fairly true to the actual story, with a few Hollywood differences, of course ... I won't ruin it for you ... if you're not watching it, go online and get caught up ...

the only bummer, it shows Sunday evenings at 8 a.m. ... I think I'm a bit tied up Sunday evenings ... but I'll catch up online ...

it's a great time to be alive ...

I'm stoked about the next few months ...

Easter and baptisms ... I get to baptize great friends ...

Catalyst Conference in Southern California ... it's gonna be sweet!

When God Dreams Conference ... our first Stirring Conference ... crazy!

Family vacation to San Clemente ... our favorite family vacation spot ... skunks and the beach!

Summer ... we love summer!

It's a great time to be alive ... and to have four kids and a mini-van!

200th post ...

please take this moment with me to celebrate my 200th post ... I'm making blog history ...

I want to take this special moment to thank all my blogging friends and fans ... this blog wouldn't be possible without you ... I thank my family and my amazing wife ... you give me the courage to blog in the face of such a dangerous world ...

a special shout out to all the Stirring bloggers ... you make me laugh and you make my cry and I will forever read your blogs ... thank you for your silly videos and your precious links and sharing all your beautiful stories with me ... you are truly an inspiration ...

and most of all, I want to thank Jesus ... without Jesus in my life, I am blogless ... period ... You are my hope and my blogging life ... may my blog bring You glory ... amen ...

almost finished ...

I just finished my master's paper on healing ... tomorrow morning, I have an online presentation for my class ...

in this theology class, I'm writing 6 papers on Jesus and the mission of the church ... even though I can't wait to be done with my master's, I am learning quite a bit ... these classes have forced me to wrestle and study and dig deeper into the Scriptures ... I've completed 21 classes and I have 7 to go ... yes, I'm counting ...

when I graduate, I want to throw a huge party with all my friends ... hot tubs and steak and corn hole ... it's my party ... everyone's invited, even President McKinney ... I hope he enjoys hot tubs ...