Leadership In Judges

So this may be a rambling but its something that has been stirring in my mind and I need to get it out (that means it may be crazy talk).

I've been reading the book of Judges and noticing two things that are consistent in the book:
1. Godly Leaders rise up at a needed time
2. People do what they want when they feel God is not present

Right away Judges starts out and I get excited! I see this dude Caleb (Judges 3) rises up and lead Israel and I think; its all going to be ok. Then when he dies the people turn their back on God but this dude Othniel rises up to lead Israel. Once Othniel is dead Israel goes back to their ways and just does what they want but then this dude Ehud rises up to lead Israel and take charge. Well you are going to guess it that after he dies Israel goes back to doing the dirty and seeking out other gods but hope comes again in this guy Shamgar. I don't think I need to say it but once Shamgar dies Israel falls away again. Did I mention all this happens in just one chapter!

The reason this has been stirring in my heart and mind is I keep wondering if God has called me to step up and lead. Then I come to reality and realize that God has already asked me to step up and that is why I lead in our High School Ministry. See the truth is that God has called all of us to step up. The end result I see is: that without Godly leaders to step up the people will just do as they please and dishonor God. That thought breaks my heart and that is why I will constantly step up to help people find God in a generation that desires Him not.

Leah Joy Benson

So this post is much overdue!

The short story goes like this:
On Wednesday March 10th 2010 we took Charity to the doc to get checked out at like 1:30pm. Everything was good and then around 4pm she started having crazy contractions! At 6:45pm we decided that I should go to explode and help teach because we were having a Q & A night for the sex series (my wife is rad!).

I left Explode at 8:30pm came home, changed my shirt and then we were off to the hospital. We got there at 9:02pm and just waited... literally. We did some laps to make the contractions increase and finally at 2:00am we were admitted into our room. We had the best nurse that night; thanks Janet!

At around 3:30am I took a nap (hahahaha) and woke up at 5:30am when Charity's mom and sister arrived. Things progressed and then Charity started pushing and on March 11th 2010 at 7:06am Leah Joy Benson was born.
She was 9 pounds 1 ounce and 22 inches long
She stole my heart from the first minute I saw her and just like when her sister was born I cried.

My life will never be the same...

I want to be healthy!

I'm currently writing a final paper for my class "Personal Health and Growth in Ministry". Here is an excerpt from it on a topic that has helped me to see myself in a new light.

During this class we were presented with the (w)holistic model of the pastor[1]. Another way that this model can be described is a “Biblical Model of Wholeness”. The desire of the (w)holistic model is to enlighten the person on their entire being; stating that we are more than just one or two dimensional beings. The five dimensions that Harbaugh writes about are the pastor as a: physical person, mental person, social person, emotional person and then wraps up the model with overlaying our choices on top because our choices describe who we are. For our study it is essential to add being a spiritual leader to this equation and with that you come up with the entire person we are describing: a pastor. Dr. Peisner used the following diagram to bring a visual aid to the entire person that we are illustrating here:

The (w)holistic model helps to bring light to the many areas of our life; when one area is neglected other areas begin to suffer. When one area is not addressed other areas can overwork in an attempt to bring balance to the pastors life. Healthy relationships help us become a whole person; the difficulty with this is that we live in a broken world and every one of us has struggles we are dealing with. When you see this model, with this illustration, it helps to clarify and understand how complex we are.

The Hebrew word Shalom brings together the personal, interpersonal, and theological significance of the whole person in an attempt to point to different areas of “peace” in ones life[2]. Jesus commanded us to love the Lord our God first and then love our neighbor as we love ourself (Matthew 22:37-39). Therefore we need to focus on loving God, figuring out areas in our life that need special attention and working on right relationships with others. When we apply the (w)holistic model to Shalom, and Matthew 22:37-39, it brings to light the Biblical view of personhood described here.

When there is no peace in the life of the pastor it would be prudent to assess ones life and figure out what has gotten out of sync in the model. A major contributing factor for the lack of health in ministry is the pastor not correcting seeing himself how God sees him; many times the pastor does not view himself as a complete person how Harbaugh describes. The body is more than just a physical shell that contains organs, blood, muscles and bones: our life is dictated by our choices and those choices have shaped who we are.

There can be multiple factors that contribute to the life of the pastor spinning out of control. The major problem occurs when the pastor forgets to view himself as a person who is susceptible to failure and begins to think of himself as someone who cannot be stopped and is invincible. Harbaugh states:

“As we become more free from those limitations, we become more free for personal and pastoral response to others.”[3]

A simple analogy is that when a pastor overlooks their physical being and allows himself/herself to become obese the obesity can, and typically will, affect the other areas in the person’s life. The choice to eat could be a result of a deeper emotional issue that has not been address and instead of facing the issue the pastor chooses to eat in a response mechanism to deal with the pain of the unaddressed life situation. The obesity could also be a cover up because the pastor has failed to take care of his/her physical body resulting in the weight gain: the areas of our life are tightly connected.

---

[1] Harbaugh, Gary L. Pastor as Person (Augsburg Publishing House, 1984) P. 20

[2] Ibid. P. 20

[3] Ibid. P. 29

Chicas y Muchachos

We are currently doing a series in our High School Ministry called "Chicas y Muchachos". The point of this series to talk about sex. Yep, you read it right; sex. We want to teach our high school about sex and how to wait. See I have worked with students now for almost eight years and the reoccurring theme I hear is the pain and hurt from unwise sexual decisions. The series has been a home run so far (I never played baseball but have always wanted to say that).

The great thing about doing a series on purity is we get the chance to radically be involved in the lives of the students we work with. The adverse side of this is that stuff comes out. I think there are times that I avoid teaching on a topic because I know stuff is going to come out. Like when the hurricane happen in Louisiana the water filled the sewers and stuff came out that no one wanted to deal with; well we have some rad leaders who are prepared to deal with the stuff that comes out!

Here's how the series breaks out:
Week 1: Sex and Love, Love > Sex (Intro week)
Week 2: R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (you gotta respect yourself)
Week 3: The Difference between Pink and Blue
Week 4: Dealing with Lives Hurts
Week 5: I got a Question
Week 6: The Choice of Purity

See the first three weeks of this series we have just talked about sex and how that impacts us and the world we live in (we live in Sin City) and the last three weeks we are going to talk about healing and how to make right choices to avoid the pain of unwise sexual decisions.

A Place Few Marriages Make

On January 7th 2005 Charity and I got married in Encinitas, CA. The day was not exactly what we had planned but the end goal was for us to be married to each other. We were supposed to have our ceremony on Ponto Beach just north of Encinitas. It hadn't raided in San Diego for about six months and of course the day we were supposed to get married it started raining (not just rain, but torrential downpour).

Well we got the crew together and changed the reception place into the ceremony/reception place. We had some great help from some wonderful friends! The night was so much fun getting to have all our families together for the special night.

Now fast forward five years

Charity and I have been married for five years. We have spent all of those married years in Las Vegas, NV serving in Student Ministries as South Hills Church Community. Well more than just working; Charity finished her Bachelor's degree, we went to Africa, met some great friends, had a beautiful daughter and much more!

We had always joked about doing an Elvis Wedding down on the strip. Well on our five year we did it! We headed to the strip along to Graceland Wedding Chapel with some great friends that we met here (you know who you are). This picture is a bit different (Sophie made it here) and Elvis is in the background. The night was so much fun. Maybe it would be better to say that the night was super funny and full of laughs.

We had a great time. I love doing life with Charity and all the enjoyable moments that we have together. One thing that just makes the story is that Charity is 8 months pregnant with our next daughter!

Winter Camp 2010 Recap

This years winter camp was amazing! I think that every year our team gets better and better at this trip! When I say "better" I mean more effective. We have been able to extend the trip and keep the cost down. We had two amazing leaders who go up the day before and stock the homes with food so that the students don't starve. We have established a great relationship with Town Hall in Brian Head and are able to rent it out for our meetings. I have noticed that our team (adult leaders) love the trip; it gives them a chance to connect with students over the weekend without missing too much work.

This year we had Brian Berry come and speak and he nailed it. The cabin discussion was wonderful in my cabin, and the leaders shared the same. Christian Calvo came and lead us in worship through music. There is something cool about worshiping in a small room with little amplification and just students voices. This year camp was great: I loved it! Don't believe me? Watch for yourself then!

Personal Health and Growth

This week I was up in Redding, CA taking a course at Tozer Seminary. I have been working on Seminary for about 5 years now and this last course falls in my top 5 of favorites. I've been in ministry over 7 years now and have been a pastor for over 6 of those years and this material was new to me.
So many times as pastors we go through life almost driven by the craziness of the rush instead of the pace of God. We allow unhealthy boundaries to decide our future instead of planned out, prayerful, decisions. This week helped me to identify areas in my life where I have allowed unhealthy patterns to form and not keep them in check. I wanted to take some time in this blog to just point out some areas we discussed that especially stuck out to me and how I want to change because of them.

*Boundaries are critical for your sanity

*How do pastors embrace emotions and not just "deal" with life situations that arise

*What happens in the Limbic System can effect Brain Stem function

*Teenagers don't have a fully developed Neo-Cortex (brain) and therefore cannot fully think through situations

*What are my personal expectations and who defines those?

*Not all stress is bad; but when you don't manage your stress it gets out of control and can consume you

*Listen to the rhythm of your body

*90% of relational conflict arises from the packaging of the communication and not the context

*Boundaries preserve us for the long haul and create space in our lives for what matter most

*Conflict can bring great health and growth in our life

This course has started some thinking in my life that has never been expressed to me. I am going to work with Charity about outlining healthy boundaries that will allow me to: Love God, Love my family, and be a great pastor. This will require me to say "no" to some great opportunities but it will establish a healthy pattern in my life so I can sustain in ministry and not burn out. Please pray for me to comprehend this material so I can last in ministry and see thousands of people come to Christ in my life!

My little girl is growing up...

So this post is just dedicated to my amazing family that is growing. Sophie Marie is going to be 17 months old tomorrow and Leah Joy has about 7 more weeks in Charity's tummy until we get to meet her! My girls are growing:

Sophie when we went on Family Date a few weeks ago




















It seems pretty undeniable that she is my daughter















Sophie has a different feeling about the snow than we had expected




















But a few weeks later I took her snowboarding and she changed her mind

Grandma Remembered

About three weeks ago I got this on my arm.
The tat is in memory of my grandma; Maria Hettler. I could add a better picture but that's not the point. The point is that my grandma was a huge influence in my life growing up. When my dad and mom split up she let us come live with her. From what I remember I shared a room with my grandma until I was five; she was an amazing woman.

Every day after school we would head to her house, after we moved out when I was six, to go have dinner with her. I can remember countless times that she picked me up from school because I was "sick". She was a huge help to us growing up and I can remember that we pretty much did everything with my grandma. I would shovel her walkway when it snowed, stacked wood for her, go in the creepy shed in the backyard and even pick her flowers from her front yard.

I know I will never forget my grandma but this is going to help others know about her. My grandma was Catholic so the praying hands with a rosary seemed appropriate. Her name is in there but hard to tell from this pic. So thanks Grandma for all you were for us; I wouldn't be the man I am without you being there for me!

My 30th

So the rumors are true... I turned 30 this year!
When I was growing up I never thought that I would live past my 18th birthday; it is evident that God has a different plan for my life than I thought. This year's birthday was so amazing. Charity totally surprised me with some of my favorite things and gave me some new adventures in life.

On my birthday we went to family dinner at my favorite restaurant, pretty much of all time, Bonefish. This place is amazing! If you have not been you have to go check it out; I love the food, the service is top notch and one of my friends owns it so that is always nice! Charity made plans for us to go on a family date; which I totally loved cause it is always a laugh having Sophie around!


Then for the big surprise... I drove a Nascar! That is me in the drivers seat of car #45! Charity and my mom went in and got this package deal where I drove the Nascar on the track here in Vegas. The deal is called the "Richard Petty Driving Experience" and it was totally worth it!





So I'd have to say that this was the best birthday ever! Not to mention; we finished it off on Sunday with the Chargers beating the Cowboys! Go Bolts!

Janna Shreds!

Here is a quick video of my friend Janna shredding up in Colorado! I love this video Janna so stoked for you!

Christmas Series

This year we are doing a Christmas series in our High School Ministry called: "Putting Christ back in Christmas". Lately I, as a pastor, have been extremely convicted by the way society has treated Christmas. This event that is supposed to be about Christ has turned into a consumer holiday that is all about gift giving. I am not against giving gifts, but I am discouraged about the lack of acknowledgment of Christ that has taken place in our society.

The first week of this series I challenged our students to make Christmas about Christ and not about gifts that we put under the tree. I want people to; give gifts, to show their appreciation of others, and to spend time with others this Christmas season but not at the cost of forgetting about God invading the world to save our lives.

This Christmas season will you think about where your priorities lie? What matters most to you this Christmas; are you concerned with getting the best gift, or are you worried about not having the financial resources to get the gifts that your children have asked for? Whatever your fear may be this Christmas will you take some time to really remember why we celebrate Christmas?

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matt 1:21 (NIV)

Cheesy Sweater Christmas Party

We don't have that many things have become traditional in our High School Ministry. The way we work is that we want to make sure God is calling us to do it; if it works well then we do it again, if it is not impactfull then we cancel it! About four years ago we had a leader who said something to the effect: "Lets do a cheesy Christmas sweater party this year Neal." I have to admit that I was hesitant, at first, but God has used this event to grab students hearts and change lives.

This year we are doing it again and Adena Rossiter (she runs our SL program) made this video with our SL's. I love it!

Build-a-bear

Before I was married I passed this store in the mail and thought: "Really? People do that?" Yes they do build their own bear and that is exactly what Sophie and I did (thanks for taking the pics wifey!)

So we got to the store and Sophie picked out the first bear she saw (I helped her choose)













Then after you choose your bear you get to fill it up: Sophie hated letting that bear go!













After that you pick out a heart to put in the bear: Sophie decided to throw it on the ground to make sure it was tough













Then we had a Teddy Bear













After that we named our bear; and Sophie wanted to call him "Teddy No No". Not to sure how that worked out but she stills looks for him when I call him "Teddy No No" and she loves that bear we made!

Not My Idol

Yahoo helps me out as my homepage because it shares with me some stories that I want to see; and some that I don't. Today a headline caught my attention so I decided to read some of the story. The story shares the girls side who is involved in the action so I thought I would add the video also; we all know a picture is worth a thousand words:



After watching the video I was shocked! I wanted to write the girl and tell her how horrible this is... but I waited... and thought... and remembered back to when I didn't know Christ. I used to play soccer and I got my team in some fights after our games. I am so competative and when I was growing up I had so much anger in my life; I would have done something like this in the heat of a game (not sure if I would have done it multiple times).

Lets fast-forward ten years now; I think of how different my life is right now but seriously I am not above doing this kind of action. I am just as susceptible to sin as the next person in the world. When Christ impacts your life things change; you don't do the same things you once did, your life transforms. I have had my share of fights and this clip reminds me how much I need Christ to help guide my actions and life.

Foolishness happens to us all

I'm taking a class on the writings of C.S. Lewis right now and looking at how that ties into Christian Appologetics. This week we read The Last Battle and this quote stuck out to me:

“He did not see at the moment how foolish it was for two of them to go on alone; nor did the King. They were too angry to think clearly. But much evil cam of their rashness in the end.”

I'm beginning to ponder how our foolish decisions can affect so much. About three weeks ago I spoke on James 3 and taming the tongue and that combined with this is really beginning to shape my heart and make me check my motives and how many of decisions are based/not based in prayer and the leading of The Holy Spirit.

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

Trade- Movie Review

I recently watched another movie for my Christian Perspectives class and this one rocked me more than Crash did. I watched Trade on Saturday night and about 10 min into the movie Charity got up and walked into our bedroom where she stayed the rest of the night.

The point of the movie (I think) that my professor wants me to get from this movie is the injustice that happens in this world right before our eyes. I am shocked watching this at how naive I am about child trafficing and the slave trade that goes on in the world and America.

The final quote of this move will stick with me for a while. It was in white letters with a black background:
"We don't see much child trafficing in America because we have chosen not to look for it".
This movie made me appreciate the ministry of International Justice Mission and what they are doing so much more!

Crash

Last night I watched Crash for one of my seminary classes this semester. I have to say that I am not really writing this post for anyone but myself: I want to remember this movie. Also, I feel it necessary to say, that I normally do not watch "R" rated movies. They are rated "R" for a reason and I am not watching them for that reason.

If you get a chance to watch this movie (and you can handle the language and racism) it is a good movie. I hope that it will help you understand the way you view the world and how that worldview impacts those around you. This movie really opened my eyes to the type of racism that we face on a daily basis. The racism that we see now does not involve physical slavery, but emotional and verbal slavery.

The impact that racism has on our society, and the fact that it is unaddressed on many levels, hurts my heart. About two years, maybe three now, we did a night on racism in our High School Ministry; I am starting to think that would not be a bad idea to talk about again. This movie has confronted my worldview and the way I live out my faith in Christ. I hope the impact this video has had on me (I cannot completely explain it yet) will not pass soon.

Fantasy Football 2009

So last year I posted something about fantasy football and how I wasn't planning on playing. Last season I won our fantasy football league (and it felt good) but there was something about playing again. I have a very competitive personality and its hard for me to do something without putting my everything in it.

This year I made a decision that I would not play fantasy football and not becasue of anyone in my league, honestly I really love those guys. But this year I realized that I have more important things to do than think all week how I will win and then take the day on Sunday to make sure that I win. In short; fantasy football consumed me last year.

This year when it came time to start back up I gracefully bowed out and let someone else take my spot. Here are the three main reasons that I am not playing fantasy football this year:

1. I want to put more into my marriage
My marriage is going super good right now! Charity and I were talking about marriage the other day and the need to invest into it. I realized that if I said "yes" to fantasy football that meant I would be saying "no" to other things in life. Charity and I are getting ready to hit five years of marriage (by the way we are planning an Elvis re-wedding for Jan!) and that is more important to me than winning fantasy football again.

2. I want to spend more time with my daughter
Sophie is at the best age right now! Yesterday I was laying on the ground playing with her and she climbed on my chest and just started cuddling with me; I loved it! I want to invest in her and if I said "yes" to fantasy football that would mean I would have had to say "no" to some of these great moments with her; I'm not willing to miss out on her growing up.

3. I need to focus on school and finishing that up
Right now I am on track (taking two courses a semester and one course in the spring; when BB2 is due) to graduate Seminary in Summer 2011. I need to make that happen and I think that fantasy football would take away from that. I want to get school done before Sophie is too old; I want to have it done so that I can spend more time with my family and less time at the kitchen table (we don't have a home office) doing homework.

So that is why I'm not playing fantasy football this year; I just don't have time for it.

My truck and My Spirititual Life

So I hope the title confuses you some, or just catches your attention, because this is reality for me! I once heard Doug Fields mention this topic and it has always stuck with me.
The premise is that my truck can be, and for me mostly is, a direct representation of my Spiritual life. Let me elaberate on that a bit more. When my life gets crazy; my truck starts to get messy. I dont wash it, I leave the gas tank empty (the picture should speak for that), I have trash all over the floor and currently there are graham crackers crumbled on the backseat from my daughter.

When my truck looks like that I know that I need to clean up my life; its like a warning light for me. I know that I need some extended time with Jesus to get refreshed. I can often look at my calender and see how busy I have allowed myself to become without leaving margin in my life to get refueled by Jesus. When I filled up my truck on Tuesday morning I did it right after I had filled up my spirit.

The Bible talks about our spirit longing for Jesus and that is where I was Tuesday morning. I am thankful that I obeyed the logic in my life and looked at my truck. It may seem like a silly, and somewhat childish, analogy but its very true for me.

C.S. Lewis Quote #2

This is from "God in the Dock" by C.S. Lewis:

"A sense of sin is almost totally lacking. Our situation is thus very different from that of the Apostles. The Pagans to whom they preached were haunted by a sense of guilt and to them the Gospel was, therefore, ‘good news’. We address people who have been trained to believe that whatever goes wrong in the world is someone else’s fault—the Capitalists’, the Government’s, the Nazis’, the Generals’ etc. They approach God Himself as His judges. They want to know, not whether they can be acquitted for sin, but whether He can be acquitted for creating such a world."

Sounds like something I struggle with. I often want to blame others for my faults. I need to look in the mirror and handle the growth that needs to occur in my life.

What they dont teach in Bible College Part #1

Bible College was amazing for me! Seminary is going great right now! But yesterday, while I as at church, I realized that Bible College taught me a lot and helped me learn how to handle God's word but there were some things that Bible College didn't teach me. I'm writing this to help anyone in ministry, lay-leader or paid, with some stuff that I have had to learn on my own:

Counseling Someone in Need
I feel like people, in general, are very good at consoling their friends. It is easy to empathize with your friend who is in need or feels they have been slighted. But the Bible tells us there is a time to console and a time to counsel. I find that I am getting better at counseling but by no means will I be the best counseling in the world.
While in Bible College I was able to take a counseling class and it helped me out but now that I am actually counseling people; I don't think I remember anything that I read in that book seven years ago. Here is my advice for Biblical Counseling:

• Allow the person to share their story
• Listen to the person and be engaged while they share
• Have tissue handy for when they begin to cry
• Know the Bible so you can share scripture that is applicable to the situation
• If you are counseling with a person of the opposite sex do it in a well-lit open area, preferably where others are close (leave no room for question)
• If it is a person of opposite sex do your best to refer to them to someone you trust who is the same gender as they are
  
• Come up with tangible solutions to the problem
• Give the person no more than three things to work on
• End the time in prayer

I'm sure that in five years this list will change and my method will change but wanted to share this so that it may help someone. Finally I have to add that you need to be prayed up, connected with God and Spiritually ready for these situations. When you are all three I believe that God will use you to do amazing things in peoples lives.

Santa Maria Vacation

So this week the family took a trip to Santa Maria to see Charity's parents. We flew in on Thursday on Allegiant Air for a great deal! Thursday was Charity's dad's birthday so we just hung out with the family, ate some steak and then watched football.













Friday morning we just hung out as a family. In the morning we ate some food and then went to the park to feed the ducks.













Then at night we went up to Pismo Beach to walk on the beach and just have some family fun! We ate dinner at Splash Cafe (and had the best Clam Chowder!). Sophie hated the sand, but loved chasing the birds.
















Finally when we were shopping I saw this sign and it made me laugh so hard!!!

Burkina Faso Flooding 2009

Please pray for the country of Burkina Faso and the recent flooding that took place last week

What do I know of Holy?

There is song out right now by Addison Road. I have to be honest that I am not the most knowledgeable music type person. But there is one thing that I know right now: "This song is rocking me". There is something about the lyrics that I cant get over. It makes me feel very insignificant and I probably need that.

Flow Rider

So life has been pretty crazy but I gotta put these pics up. When we were in Bend, OR for vacation Conrad and I rode the flowrider. Here is how I did:

The "New" House

Well... Maybe the house isn't new but here are some pics of our house put back together. I'm pretty thankful for all our friends here in town that have taken care of us in this time. Thank you so much for all you did for us church! We love you.

So you can see that Sophie already made some messes here but we love her!













Here is the kitchen and dining room. The walls are put back together and we were able to make some changes














The living room, hallway and dining room used to Pergo (type) laminate flooring. The kitchen was tile but we decided to tear it all up to match the kitchen and dining room. We did carpet in the living room and hallway to make the house more kid friendly (I mean in March 2010 we are going to have two kids!).
So that is what is going on with the house!

Rosie is gone...

In January 2006, after being married for a year, Charity and I decided that we needed a dog. Actually, I may have been the one to decide that! Our friends The Rock's dog just had puppies and they gave us one! We wanted a girl and sure enough there was only one girl: we named her Rosarita or Rosie for short.
Rosie was kinda like our baby for a long time. We took her everywhere!

Well, almost everywhere. We took her to Utah with us on a trip one time, she went to So Cal but never made it anywhere overseas. She loved to sit on my lap in the car and put her head out the window. She didn't what to do when it rained because she was not a fan of the water and when it snowed her she was shocked! The Sophie came and Sophie loved Rosie! When we first brought Sophie home Rosie was a little protector of her and it was so rad!

About a month ago Rosie bite Sophie in the face. I was pretty bummed but told myself because she didn't break the skin that it was ok. I also tried to rationalize it that because we had been gone so much this summer she was just getting re-established in our home. Later that week Rosie tried to snip at Sophie again; I was super bummed. It was a Saturday and I just cried for about 3 minutes.

I was planning on taking Rosie to the pound but just couldn't do it. Then when our house had water damage I needed to take Rosie to our friends The Rock's house. While Rosie was there I asked Nancy if she would find Rosie a new home. So Rosie has a new home now. She has been there about two weeks and we miss her. I miss her eating everything that Sophie drops on the ground. I miss taking her for walks and I just miss my dog. I know I made the right choice but so many times in life the right choice is so hard to make!

The house was a mess

So Summer Camp was great and the bus ride home was not too shabby but when I came home that was a different story. We used to have Pergo flooring in our; dinning room, living room and hallway (key word is "used" to). When I came from camp I found out that our A/C condensate line was clogged and decided to leak on the floor. I was pretty bummed but we have rad friends with a construction company that totally took care of us. This is what our place looked like when they had to tear out the walls and all the flooring.

I really don't know what we would have done without our church; I am serious. Showcase came and did all the demo and fixed our house back to normal (we changed to carpet). Then our friends Mikey and Kristen let us stay with them; which was way better than the hotel. I am so stoked that we have friends who care. I really don't know how people do life without a church family.