Old Friends...

Old friends tend to the best friends.

They know all your junk and still love you.  They go eat breakfast with you when you are back in your hometown and its never awkward.  You can sit with them and laugh.  They know where you live and they love to spend time with you!

(Conrad, Neal, Bobby and Peanut)

These are just a few thoughts that have been running in my mind since my last Big Bear trip a few weeks ago to celebrate the life of a dear friend.  While I was in town in was super tough to be there, under the circumstances, but really good to see a bunch of my old friends.  A handful of us went out to breakfast one day and it was so good, for me, to just spend time with these that I love!  There are a few other guys that I would have loved to have in this picture with us but I am so thankful for these guys in my life.

If you hear me preach a sermon and talk about the stupid things I did when I was younger it was probably with at least one of these guys!  We did a whole bunch of crazy things.  As I look back on life I can say that I regret a bunch of what I did but I would never change what I did.  My past has shaped me into the man I  currently am and for that I am thankful for Old Friends in my life!  I love you guys!

(Andy, Bobby, Conrad, Jason and Neal)

Foundations of the Christian Faith

Tonight I am starting my first class for adults.  For the last couple months I have been working with our Executive Pastor to help develop a lesson plan that we feel will be helpful to people in their walk with Christ.  I know that there are many things we can invest our time into that is why the goal for this class is to be helpful not smart.  


The Foundations class will be eight weeks long and meet upstairs in our church office on Wednesday Night from 7pm-8:30pm.  We will have round tables out so that people can discuss what we talk about in the class and pray with others before they leave.  We are hoping that this helps people find others in their life to connect with and allows for group knowledge to be shared.


If you are thinking about taking the class, or have already signed up, here is what you can basically expect to get out of the class (you can also expect me to throw some crazy twists):

Week One: Introduction to the class

This week we will intro the class and give an overview of everything that we will cover in the class.

Week Two: Understanding the Bible (Structure and History)

Goal: To give a basic understanding of the Bible.  We will cover the 66 books, 40 different authors, discuss locations of the writings and end with an overview of the original languages.

Week Three: Understanding the Old Testament (Structure and Theology)

Goal: To discuss the calling of Abraham, see the grace of God in the lives in Israel, discuss the nature of God and touch on some prophecies of Christ. 

Week Four: Understanding the New Testament (Structure and Theology)

Goal: Talk through the nature of Christ (fully God and fully human).  Look over different terms for the different literature that we find in the New Testament.

Week Five: Defining Biblical Terms

Goal: For people to leave with a basic understanding of Sanctification, Justification, Atonement and meaning of Baptism.

Week Six: Spiritual Formations

Goal: Now that we understand the text we need to teach people to interact with the text as they grow closer to Christ.  Teach about Lectio Divina, Fasting, Prayer, and create a personal growth plan.

Week Seven: Apologetics 

Goal: Teach people how to accurately defend their faith without getting angered.

Week Eight: Alliance Distinctive's

Goal: To help people understand what is different about South Hills Church Community in relation to other denominations and groups. 


If this sounds good to you go ahead and sign up for the class here!

Dealing with Death

It seems like this month I have experienced more death than I can remember in a month.  Now I know this can be a morbid topic to address and generally people would like to avoid the topic but it is also a very real topic to address.  It started earlier this month with the death of a very close friend and then on Sunday I found out that two more people I know had passed away.  I'm not really sure what I am trying to communicate here but to just share some of my feelings as I process what has happened around me.  I hope that these thoughts may be helpful to others who are dealing with death.

How do we process death:

Tears
When I found out my friend Rob passed away I shed a few tears that day.  When my wife told me I had to hold back the tears.  When I spoke with Conrad that day I let some of them fly. The thing that shocked me is when I broke down at his memorial service.  I knew that I had emotions in my life in regards to his passing that I had not dealt with but I was shocked at the pain inside.  As I think about the truth of Scripture I can only think about how Paul tells us to mourn with those who are mourning

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" Romans 12:15 

Conversations
I am so thankful for my wife this month.  I am so thankful that I have someone in my life who shares the same belief system as I do.  Charity has allowed me to mourn over these deaths but has been there with me to talk them through.  She has, graciously, listened to my ramblings and my questions as we have conversed over this topic this month.  Charity has been there to listen to me say: "I just don't get it" or "I don't understand" more times that I can count.  As you deal with death in your life I would invite you to find a faithful person that you can have honest conversations with.

Friends
During these times that we are dealing with death I think the best remedy is to have friends around.  I am not talking about acquaintance; I am talking about friends.  This is a time in life that we need to surround ourselves with people who know us, who we can be honest with and who can be ok with us crying.

If you had to add something to this list what it would be?

Connected

The last six months I have a been asking more questions about ministry than I have in a long time.  Now I am a question asker by nature (just ask my tattoo artist).  When I was asked to transition into working with adults it was a whole new game for me and that meant new contacts, new lessons, new books, new contacts and new clothes (ok, just kidding about the clothes).

The main thing I work on now is connecting people to the church and the more I am working in this role I am beginning to see how unconnected people are to the church.  To be honest I am kinda of shocked at how many adults are not connected in smaller groups of people.  I guess when I became a Christian that is just what was explained to me as normal so I did it but my experiences are not true for everyone and that is why I preached about being connected at my church the first two Sunday's of the year.

I could take more time to talk about being connected but if you have not listened to these messages I invite you to listen to them and see what God stirs in your heart about your life connections.

Connected Week One

Connected Week Two

Leaders are Learners: Part 2

Yesterday I started talking about how leaders are learners.  I am convinced that once you stop learning you will loose your ability to lead.  You may not loose it right away but over time you will loose any edge on leadership that you once had.  I'm sure that people will still come to you to ask questions but there will come a time when you cannot answer the newer questions because of your lack of understanding of the topic.

In my life here are two areas that I plan on learning about so I can be a better leader:

LEADING MY FAMILY
I am a firm believer that my second responsibility in life is to lead my family (my first being to lead myself).  One of my New Years goals is to be a better leader in my family.  That is going to require me to take classes, read book, talk with friends and be extremely honest with others.  One of the first steps that I am taking to lead my family is to be a part of a marriage group this year.  I know that being a part of this marriage group is going to stretch me in life (especially because I am the facilitator of the group).

I want to learn to be a better husband

I also want to learn to be a better dad.  I have realized that in the last couple years of being a dad I have not been as present as I would like to be.  I share that because its true and I want to be better.  See I have taken the time to invest my time, and energy, into seminary for the last six years.  Seminary is getting ready to come to an end so this year I want to focus on being a better dad.  I want to keep taking my little girls to doughnuts.  I want to keep spending time with them and telling them they are beautiful.  I want to spend time with them where the TV is off and my iPhone is out of reach.

LEADING IN THE CHURCH
I feel there is some great leaders in the church (global) right now but I also feel like there is a leadership void.  I feel like the church, and the world, are ready for the church to step up and take her true place of leadership.  As we have leaders begin to learn more about pastoral ministry, empowering members and making disciples I think we will see the void begin to fill but that will take time.

I think a main aspect of leadership in the church is going to come from spiritual mothers and fathers taking the time to invest in the younger generation.  I know I fall in the "younger generation" category but I want to help develop those younger than I am.  I want to be a resource for those who are curious about spiritual matters.  I want to help people understand how to study the Bible.  I want to not just say it and really do it.  That is why I will be teaching a Foundations of Christianity Class at our church starting next week.

As you think about your life: Where do you see God opening doors of for you to learn in your life?  Are you committed to being a person who learns in life or are you just settled with the place you are?  I want to encourage you to take the time to focus on self leadership, leading your family and then being a leader in the church.  The world is looking for people to lead; will you be one of them?

Leaders are Learners

One of my first classes in Bible college I remember the dean of the school teaching and during the class he said something to the effect of: "Leaders are learners."  After that he made sure to clarify that just because someone is a learner it does not mean they are a leader.  I have pondered those words for the last ten years of my life.

See I am in a leadership position at my church and I have done my best to be a leader that is constantly learning.  As I look at most people in the world we tend to lead in some area or another.  Maybe you find yourself leading in your job or on the sports team you are a part of.  Some people are leaders in the church and others are leaders in the home.  Men we are called to be leaders in our marriage and leaders of our family.

Today I want to focus on two areas of leadership that I see needing more leadership:

LEADING IN YOUR JOB
Most people that I meet with are leaders in their job.  I think they are leaders, in their job, for two main reasons.  The first reason is they took the time to learn the position.  They may have attended school to learn the necessary skills to manage others in their work place.  They may have grown up in the industry and therefore it was just natural for them to lead because they know more than others.  Other people find themselves in a leadership role because they chose to learn the position and rose up as the the best candidate.

Secondly, I think that people are leaders in their job because God has gifted them to love on others and be compassionate for people.  In a book called "Good to Great" they survey all these top companies across North America and found out that the best leaders always pointed their success to the team around them.  When something went bad they took a long look in the mirror to see if the problem was them.  These people are true leaders, that are learning, to lead better in their job.  These are the kind of leaders we need leading today.

LEADING ON YOUR SPORTS TEAM
I have worked with students for over ten years and I love it when I see a student lead on their sports team. These are the students that take the time to learn about their teammates.  They learn what the people on their team are good at.  They learn about them off the field and make a real connection with them.  For leaders this is not something that is difficult for them to do; it is something that comes naturally.  I think for real leaders this is something they want to do!  They want to learn about others so they can connect with them and help them become better people.

These are the kind of students that are comfortable moving across boundaries in the social order.  These students are the ones who do their best to get other connected and feel a sense of unity.  I think they are the students that are saving other students from committing suicide and making horrible choices in their life.  They care so much about others that they are willing to look like a fool to help someone else connect and feel secure.  These are the kind of students that we need leading in schools to help others feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

Tomorrow I want to talk more about the subject of leadership but today I will leave you with a question: "If you a leader (in any capacity) how are you learning to help better those around you?"

New Years Goals

I really wanted to title this post "New Years Thoughts" but what I am about to share are not only thoughts  but some goals I have given myself this year.  Now I know this post is 14 days late but I am pretty sure that most people have already failed at their resolutions or are struggling to maintain them.  I say that because I think we generally choose resolutions that are: (1) Very tough to achieve and (2) Unrealistic.

On our anniversary this year Charity and I talked about some of these things so I figured I would share some of my goals for this year:

GRADUATE SEMINARY
When I told Charity this was my main goal for the year she laughed at me; and rightfully so.  See I only have one class left until I graduate with my Masters degree.  I am super excited to be done with the degree but I am more excited about what my education has done for me.  Education has helped me worked through past issues, helped me grow as a person and has increased my effectiveness as a leader.  Seminary has been so good for me so this will be a huge chapter closing in my life.

BE A BETTER DAD
My next two goals have to do with a transition in my life.  See when I graduate seminary I am going to have some more time on my hands.  My personality is such that I like to stay busy and I like to see results.  I am committed to what I put my mind to and this year I am putting my mind to being a better dad.  I told Charity that with my responsibly in seminary coming to an end I want to take more time to focus on our family.  Obviously seminary has taken time, and money, for me to complete.  I would like to give that time, and money, back to our family in being a better dad.

BE A BETTER HUSBAND
I think that I could have probably put this one before being a better dad, and in my mind it comes first, but it flows better this way.  See I have given a whole bunch to our church in the last seven years.  I love my church.  I love seeing people find Jesus.  I love seeing students grow in their relationship with Christ.  I love hearing about people who find groups to get connected in.  This year though I am going to shut my phone off more to give more to my wife.  Charity has been such a huge support in my pastoral role and this year I want to give the church less and give my wife more (some of you are going to think I'm crazy for writing this).

READ MY BIBLE THIS YEAR
For the last eight, maybe nine, years I have made a commitment to read my Bible from cover to cover.  This year I plan on doing the same thing but I want to take some people along for the ride.  See God's word is extremely interesting.  The Bible is full of stories that capture the imagination and reveal truth in a relevant way.  This year I am committing to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with a group of people so we can share the knowledge with each other.

Now that I have shared my goals, what are some of your goals?  What is motivating you this year and what will you focus on?  Much of what I am sharing here comes from a conversation with a great friend in ministry.  One day, on the phone, he said this to me:

"Being a better pastor will not make me a better Christian, husband or dad but being a better dad, husband and Christian may make me a better pastor."

Seven Years of Marriage

This Saturday was my seven year wedding anniversary.  Now I am not going to even pretend that this blog post contains the secrets of marriage but I just want to share some lessons I have learned.  This time Charity and I shared our anniversary up at Mount Charleston which is about 45 minutes from our house.  We had a sweet deal and were able to get away (thanks to Charity's mom) and just spend some time with each other.

On our way home we stopped at Maggiano's for lunch and some more time to talk.  It was crazy not having our little girls around us for over 24 hours but it was also great to spend some time with just my wife.  I get away for work and seminary quite frequently but this was a huge blessing being with Charity.

As I reflect on the last seven years of my life here are some thoughts:

I AM A BETTER MAN BECAUSE OF MY WIFE
Charity makes me want to be a better man.  I come from a rough past and I think there are many times that I would revert to those ways if it weren't for Charity in my life.  Charity is sweet, Charity is caring, Charity is understanding and Charity supports me in life.  Charity brings out the best in me. For those of you who are not married look for someone that brings out the best in your life.

I HAVE A SUPPORTIVE WIFE
I know most people think that we pastors really only work one day a week but that is not true.  Being a pastor means being on call... all the time.  Over the years we have created some systems in our life to buffer the craziness but that there are still times I head to the hospital on my day off.  See what many people don't know is that in four months I will graduate with my Masters in Divinity.  The M.Div program is much more intense than your normal Masters Degree.  I will have put over six years into this 84 unit degree.  I would not have been able to (almost) accomplish this task without the help of my wife and how supportive she is.

LIFE CHANGES OVER TIME
I am sure that this doesn't come as a shocker to anyone but many times we fail to examine life.  Charity and I took some time to reflect on our lives over the last couple of years and oh how life has changed.  We had some good talks about how much fun we had in San Diego when we met; going to the zoo and hanging out at the beach but life has changed.  I have more responsibilities now in my role at church and that means less time having fun.  Although we have experienced much change over the last seven years I know that I always want to be married to this woman and live out those changes with her.

Star of Wonder

Last month Sophie starred in her first play at church.  Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but she did practice a whole bunch for her one song that she sang with a bunch of other little kids.  It was super cool to have Sophie take the time to practice for her play but I have to admit that I am glad we are done singing this song every time we get into the car!
Gramps and Lola came out for her play which was a special treat.  If you have a few minutes to laugh then watch the video and check out my little girl.

Park Day

Yesterday I had a great morning (the rest of the day sucked) and was able to spend some time with my family in the morning.  We went to breakfast with some friends that Charity has known since high school and then headed over to the park.  I didn't realize how long it had been since I went to the park with my family and was able to just be with them (life has been pretty hectic lately).

Here are some things that we did:
We went over to the trees and shook all the leaves off
We rode the swings together
We went on the slide
We climbed the rock wall
We ran around and smiled

Then came one of the best parts when Sophie started singing this song and just totally made me laugh

A Fist Full of Quarters

About 10 days ago I was able to be a part of something amazing...

My buddy Jason Sowell leads a super cool non-profit organization called Current.  Part of what he does is something called the Laundry Love Project.  Now he has been doing these for years and has even taken it so far as to come to Vegas for the last three years and wash people's laundry for them.  Now I have to be honest that when he first told me about it I was a bit skeptical.  I really thought: "You are going to do laundry for people?"  It didn't register to me.

He finally got me to come and check it out (and help) for the last laundry project that he led in Vegas and I was in awe at what he does.  I think that Jason is meeting a social need for people.  It never hit me that there are people in the world, in my own city, that cannot afford to wash their clothes.  I have taken that fact for granted for the last 32 years of my life.  It was great to see the expressions on the face of the people when we told them that we would pay to do their laundry.

Now it wasn't free.  Jason raised a bunch of money to make it happen.  Jason took time to find money to bring it Vegas so that he could pay to do someone's laundry who he has never met.  Think about that real quick.  I saw it with my own eyes.  I was able to grab a fist full of quarters, put them in my pocket and sock them away in laundry machines so people could have clean clothes.

Jason plans on returning to Vegas in May and I told him that I would get a team of 15 people together to go down to the Laundry Mat and help out.  We only had six people while I was there and that wasn't enough people to help out.  We need your help to help out others for something it is needed!  Before you write it off, just watch some of the videos listed on his site.

one more scar

About five months ago I went to my dermatologist to get a final check up on my skin.  As she examined my skin I really thought I was out of the woods with her.  See in the last five years she has removed two moles that precancerous from my back.  At this appointment I thought I was done until she asked me to turn around and look at the back of my legs.  She pulled out her pen and circled a spot on my leg... I was bummed.

That day she cut the mole off and I was out.  I got a call back and just assumed that the mole was fine just like the rest but this time I was wrong.  I was called again to get an appointment to get in as soon as I could so she could cut the mole off a little deeper because she didn't get the entire precancerous matter out.  I went in early on a Wednesday morning and got prepped to get the mole removed.  It was extremely weird being awake as she was cutting my leg open.  She informed me that she would need to cut out the mole and then cut my leg in a diamond shape so that she could stitch it up properly for healing.  This is a picture of my leg after 24 hours of it being removed.  I saw my leg after the first day and I was pretty nervous that it would be jacked up but I knew that I would rather have a nasty scar on my leg then no leg.

Well it has been almost three weeks now since the surgery and my leg is looking much better.  I am thankful to share that my doctor is amazing and was able to remove everything that precancerous.  I have a great doctor who did a great job on my leg and it is looking so much better!

In 12 Days

About two weeks I received and email from an amazing lady named Suzanne.  Suzanne has a really cool story that prompted her to start her company called In 12 Days.  The connection happened because of the guys on our staff wanted to propose to his girlfriend.  In 12 Days wanted to help him out by blessing him with an amazing way to propose and hook up a free engagement ring from a local jeweler that was announced on the local Christian Radio Station.

The more and more I think about what Suzanne does and the impact she is having on Las Vegas I just help but think what a special lady she is.  I think about the time that she has taken to help bless these families in our community.  I think about the time she has taken to think about creative ways to bless people.  I think about the hours she has invested in getting people to help her out to bless others.  I start thinking that this lady is really fulfilling her purpose in life by being a blessing to others.  Then I finally think: "What if everyone acted the way she does?"

Check out the video of Evan asking Amy to be his bride

Broken Heart

This morning I received an email from Africa talking about a country that broke my heart five years ago.  Five years ago I was able to go to Burkina Faso, in West Africa, with a team of twelve people.  I was fortunate enough to go with my wife on this trip which made the mission trip so much more beneficial for me (The picture of us on the alligator is the best one I have of just us and I can't find one of the team).

I don't want this blog post today to turn into a discussion about alligator riding but to focus on the need of Burkina now.  See ever since we went to Burkina our heart has broken for the country.  I actually tried to lead another trip there about a year later with some students but it didn't pan out (it was a good thing we didn't go).  Our church has since sent two more teams to Burkina and every time they leave I wish I was going with them.

The children in Burkina broke my heart.  They were so much fun to play with, hang out with, laugh with and joke with.  I would love to bring my little girls over there (soon) to experience the country and the people.  See the main reason I wanted to blog about Burkina today is due to the email that I received this morning talking about clean water.  I am not a fan of watching videos longer than 2-3 minutes but this six minute video is well worth the time.  Watch the video here and start to think about what you could do to help people who do not have clean water!

Sherlock Holmes- A Game of Shadows

On Saturday Charity and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie; A Game of Shadows.  We both totally loved the first one so when the second one came out there was no question if we would see it or not.  Now I am not a movie review kind of person but I did want to share some thoughts about the movie with you.   I am not going to give anything away about the plot of the movie so don't worry about protecting your eyes as you read this.

First of all I love the movie!  I love the action in the movie.  It is a movie that keeps you thinking.  If you saw the first Sherlock Holmes then you know what I am talking about.  Every little detail in the movie seems to come back and play into the whole of the movie later on.  I love how creative the writers of the movie are (I am not sure who they are but the did good on this one).  The attention to detail in these movies has always impressed me as someone who likes to think about what is going to happen next.

Now I have to admit there are some behaviors in the movie that I would consider questionable.  Doctor Watson is portrayed as a drunk who can barely stand on the way to his wedding and he also has a pretty intense gambling problem.  There is one point where Sherlock Holmes disguises himself as a female to help save his friend.  I didn't sense there was a drag theme at all but that Sherlock was considering the best way to help his friend out.

Finally the best part about the movie was that I was able to see it with my wife on our date day.  We love to create a time, each week, where we just spend time with each other.  The movie is not the ideal place for this but this time we had to make it happen.  See Charity and I have committed to never stop dating each other and times like this allow me to hold my wife's hand, eat popcorn with her, laugh with her and talk about the movie afterward.

More is Caught then Taught

About four months ago I received a transition in our church.  I had served in our student ministry department for almost seven years and was asked to transition over to adult ministries.  My new role is completely different than my old role.  My new role is more daily organization, my phone calls and more different than I ever expected.

When change happens in our life we tend to examine things around us.  I began to examine my leadership in student ministry and really started thinking about how I would change if I had a change to do it again.  I also started to think about what I would do more of and take more time and energy to invest in.  One thing that keeps sticking out to me is that: "More is Caught then Taught" in ministry.  I say this because I constantly hear young adults in our church, that graduated from our high school ministry, say things like: "Neal I remember when you said this to me or took the time to talk to me about this."

Last night I was talking with one of these young men and he told me about a conversation that we had and how I was encouraging him in relationships.  Yesterday afternoon I spent some time with one of the guys who was in my small group and now is a junior in high school.  We have kids, students and people in our church that are watching what I do.  You have kids, students and adults in your church that are watching how you act.

I believe that more is caught in ministry than taught.  I believe that people forget most of the messages that we speak from stage but remember what they see us doing in our community, office, trucks, backyard and soccer field.  People are watching what we do and that is why this verse is so important as we live our lives.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (NIV)

I think that people are going to remember the time we invest into their lives more than our actions on a stage, or leadership position, the degrees on my wall and the things the world thinks are important.

Financial Peace University Wrap Up

For the last thirteen weeks I have been taking a class with about 250+ other people in our church called Financial Peace University.  After taking the class I wanted to share some thoughts that really stuck out to me about the class, the material and what I learned.  I think something very important to note about this class is that people in our church paid off almost 2 million dollars during the thirteen weeks of this course!

CONVERSATION
This class has provoked conversation in our church that probably would have never occurred without the class.  I wish I had counted how many couples told me this has improved their personal conversation.  There were people in our church that just never spoke about money and this class has helped people to talk about a topic that was such a taboo.  Its funny to hear about how a class that is so focused on money has helped save marriages in our church just by opening up conversation.

CREDIT CARDS
Before I took this class I really could have cared less about credit cards.  I thought they were actually really cool.  I could buy stuff that I wanted today and then pay for it later down the road.  Then I got this credit card that actually gave me free air flights for just spending money on it.  We were getting about four free flights a year with this card and that was pretty cool.  We would use this credit card like a debit card and then pay it off at the end of the month... so I thought.  When Charity and I really started examining our spending on this card we realized that we owed it about $1500.  We made a goal to pay that off and cut the card up.

CASH
Cash is pretty fun but when I spend it I get bummed sometimes.  See I learned, when we moved from credit to cash, that it actually makes me think more about the purchase when I use cash to buy it.  We have moved to a strictly cash based system in our family because of this course.  It may be a little more difficult then using a card but we know where our money is going and we are no longer in debt.

CONNECTED
Though this course I have seen people get connected to our church.  I have spoken with families who are meeting people and doing life with them now on a weekly basis.  People in our church are getting connected to others in our church through this class.  We had people sit at tables and have discussion about the weekly lesson.  It has been fun seeing people get connected through this course.

If you are going to be in Vegas and want to take this course make sure to check out our next session that begins January 17th 2011

Desensitized

I am desensitized.
You are desensitized.

The world we live in desensitizes us to the things around us that normally would bother us.  I remember when I first moved to Vegas and how awful I thought the billboards where.  I could not stand seeing the advertisements that were on the back of the taxi cabs here in town.  Now, seven years late, I realize how desensitized I am to that.

See over time we become desensitized to the things that once bothered us.  This can happen in your work place, your home life, your school, and in your Christianity.  I am sure there are things around you that once made your stomach turn (even if it was just a little).  There were once things in your life that you could not stand to watch but now when you see them you ignore it because you have seen it so much.

Think about some of the things that middle school and high school students are seeing on a daily basis; things that would have never been accessible to me when I was younger.  Think about the things that are shown in movies now days.  Things that would have never been allowed on the "big screen" are now a regular occurrence.  The saddest thing is that I just sit there and do nothing about it.  Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I turn away but for the most part I do nothing.

I am more and more perplexed, bothered, and frustrated by this as a dad then I have ever been before.  The issue I struggle with is how to appropriately engage culture to see life change...  I want to be a part of life change in the world and I really think the more we desensitize the world the more clear we need to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are looking for purity in a world full of sludge.

Mastering Church Management: Book Review

I am currently take a course for Tozer Seminary called: "Politics, Legalities and Money".  The class has really been super helpful and has impressed me as to the content we have studied for the course.  I just emailed my final paper to a great friend who will edit it, make it bleed, and then help me correct my grammar.

For this course I sought more external resources than I ever have for a final paper because of the nature of the class.  Thanks to a classmate I was able to get a handful of helpful books from the Simpson University Library.  One of them is Mastering Church Management.  Now I am sure that most of you will not run off to Amazon to get the book but I think you may want to reconsider that.  This book has a some great information contained within the interesting looking cover and was considerably more helpful then I had imagined it would be!
The book was helpful with information on maintaining staff moral, encouraging staff members, staff transition and lots of other areas of staff leadership.  I was thinking to myself today about how cool it is that the principles laid out in this book are still applicable some 25+ years later.  If you are thinking about becoming an executive pastor, lead pastor or church planter I am going to recommend this book to you.
Favorite Quote: "Devoting time to nurturing staff members' competence and interpersonal relationships says we value them, not just their ministry output." page 148

What do you stand for?

This has been running around in my mind A LOT lately.  I think it all started when I really was evaluating what the city I live in really stands for.  Most cities have a name they are known for.  Before I moved to Las Vegas I lived in America's Finest City (San Diego).  There is the Motor City (Detroit) and we also have the Windy City (Chicago).  I am sure there are very creative names for many other cities across this globe but for some reason or another God has chosen to place me in Sin City.

When I look at these different city names they all seem to fit.  I was blessed to live in San Diego for just over five years and that place is truly America's Finest City.  It seems logical to me that Detroit would be called the Motor City understanding how the auto manufacture's cars there.  I have never been to Chicago before but I have heard that it is very windy.  I have lived in Vegas for over seven years now and it really is Sin City.

After thinking about these city names I got to thinking about what I stand for.  If someone had to give me a name for what my life was all about what would that name be?  If someone gave you a name for what your life stands for what would that name be?  Names are given to places because of what they have chosen to focus on and be known for.  In a world that has chosen to reject God on so many levels what are you willing to stand for and what will you be known for?

Thanksgiving Vacation

Last week we pulled out of Vegas for our annual trip to the in-laws house.  Basically ever since I met Charity we have gone to do Thanksgiving with her family and this year we did the same.  There were a few variations to the trip and one big one was that we stopped to see my dad on the way to Santa Maria.  We had a great time with my dad and while we were there we took some time to visit the property where my dads house that I basically grew up in.  In Oct 2007 my dads house was burned down in a fire so it is weird going there and not seeing his home but my girls loved running around the 10 acres of land that he has!

After that we jumped in the car and heading to Charity's parents house.  During the week we did some really cool things like head to Pismo beach where we played on the beach!  After taking a good walk on the beach we went over to Splash Cafe and had THE BEST clam chowder in the world!  If you go there you need to make sure you order it with the seafood topping on top; you will not regret the choice if you like seafood.

While we were there Sophie and I took up our favorite weekly tradition of going out to get doughnuts.  I really love these times of eating doughnuts with Sophie, talking with her and just hanging out.  I know there will be a day that she doesn't wake up at 6am and had no desire to get breakfast with me but on Saturday that was not the case.  Sophie and I went to a cool little doughnut shop that basically had a bunch of old men sitting around drinking coffee and me and her there.  We laughed, ate doughnuts, had chocolate milk and then brought doughnuts holes home.

The entire week was a great break to spend some time with my family, see our extended family and get to laugh with family.  Overall I am just so thankful for the family we have, how God has blessed us and how much we get to do!

Reference Time

Every year, around this time, I end up having the cool opportunity to write some references for people who are wrestling with their faith.  Right now we have high school students that are trying to figure out the rest of their life right now (that is scary, read it again) and I have a cool chance to help be a spiritual guide in that process.  Generally I am not the person that likes to sit down and work on paper work but I feel like it is an honor to be able to write these references for students and share what God is doing in their life.  I get to be a cool help to someone on the other end that is trying to help this student figure out their life path.

It goes deeper than that because this las week I was able to write a third reference for one of my first small group guys as he is getting ready to graduate with his bachelors.  I love to look and see what God is doing in his life.  He is such a great young man that I couldn't imagine not being a part of all that is happening in his life.

Finally, I have another guy in my life who I just was able to write a reference for him to attend seminary!  I am so proud of all that God is doing in his life.  I was able to lead in Middle School ministry here with him at South Hills Church.  Then I was able to be a part of him and his wife falling in love.  After that I was able to preform his wedding ceremony (which was so cool).  Now I get to see, first hand, the plans that God has for his life coming to bloom.

Basically what I am saying is that there is something cool about being involved in people's lives for a long period!

Seven Years Later

Seven years ago, tonight, I was finishing my first night of Ignite Junior High Ministry at South Hills Church Community.  I am pretty sure that this was the night that I just was able to sit in and watch what was taking place in our Middle School Ministry.  I remember the next week I was off for Thanksgiving and the following week it was my turn to lead; we had eight students show up and twelve leaders.  I was ready to change the world with that group of people.  

See about two months earlier I had sent in this picture to South Hills, with my resume, when I applied for the job.  Most people encouraged me NOT to send in this picture but I was convinced that I wanted to be in a place that would allow me to be who I am; and this picture captured that.  The crazy thing is how quick it happened.  Charity and I were not even married at the time but after we visited I knew we were moving to Vegas (a bittersweet event for two So Cal kids).

In the last seven years practically everything has changed in my life.  I went from being our Middle School Pastor to the Discipleship Pastor and everything in between.  When I moved out here I was not even married!  While here I have begun, and completed, my ordination with The Alliance (our denomination).  While doing that I have almost completed seminary.  I also got a few more tattoos while out here, gained a few pounds, lost my plugs and started getting a real haircut (sometimes).

In the last seven years I have learned a whole bunch but here are some things I was thinking about today that have stuck out to me:

MY CHURCH WATCHED ME GROW UP
This may seem like something weird to start off with but its so true.  When I moved out here I was so green in ministry it's not even funny.  My church was there to support me when I was ordained (here are pics to show it).  When I was getting restless in Middle School Ministry they added my responsibilities and helped me learn some more.  They supported me when I was leading mission trips, encouraged me when I taught from stage and sat me down when I messed up.  They were there when my kids were born and now are watching them grow up!  I am thankful to have had such a supportive place to do ministry.


MINISTRY IS TOUGH
I know I'm not supposed to write this but I am going to: ministry is tough!  I have seen students walk away from Jesus, seen adults walk away from our church and had friends who loved Jesus stopped talking to me.  I have come home from camps and wanted to quit, been on the mission field and seen hungry kids who have never had a shower and met homeless guys who seem insane.  The best part of all of this is that I had a church support me through it all because when I was growing up they never gave up on me.

LONGEVITY MATTERS
When I came to South Hills I said I wanted to come somewhere and do ministry for ten years.  Now I knew the average youth pastor was only lasting for 9-18 months but I wanted to change that.  I have been fortunate to have some great pastors in my life who modeled longevity in ministry and they encouraged me to do the same.  I guess you could say that longevity has been breed into my ministry DNA.  That helped me commit when times got tough.  Now I can look back on students I met in the seventh grade who I am doing ministry alongside.  I have families that I am the only youth pastor their kids knew!  Longevity matters for influence, character and people know when I mess up I am not leaving because I have a church that has watched me grow up.

South Hills Church, I really want to thank you for everything and everyone over the last seven years.  I could not imagine where I would be without you.  It has been a privilege to serve here.  I came alone but have been so blessed out here in the desert! 

$23 in the mason jar

I have grown up having a dog in my home ever since I can really remember.  When Charity and I first got married we waited about a year and got our first dog Rosie.  Rosie was a good little dog but once Sophie became mobile we realized that is wasn't going to work out to keep Rosie around and made the tough choice to give her away.

For the last year I have really wanted to get another dog in our home but it just hasn't been the right timing.  I have looked at many different breeds of dogs and have narrowed my list down to certain breeds I like better than others.  Then once we started taking Financial Peace University (FPU) I realized this was a cool chance to get my daughters in the habit of saving for what we want.  See Sophie and Leah both love dogs and I'm sure they can't wait until we get one in our home but FPU taught me that I can't just use my credit card to buy a dog and think that everything will be ok.

Starting about ten weeks ago Sophie, Leah and I began to save my extra allowance money in a mason jar in our house.  It started out with a few bucks here and there and then I started having to swap out the ones in there for fives and tens.  Right now we have $24 saved up to buy our dog.  The goal is to have enough money  to be able to head to the pound (or Craigslist) and find a dog that really needs a good home.  We have decided that there are enough dogs in the world that need a good home and I think we can provide that home but not until we have enough saved up.  Some of the cool parts of this saving is it provides an opportunity for me to teach my girls the value of saving and allows them to see the growth as we pack dollars into the jar.  Something even better is the other night we saw our friend and shared with her what we are doing.  After Sophie told her our plan she reached into her pocket and pulled out a dollar for Sophie to stuff in the jar.  I'm very excited for the day we get to head to the pound and rescue a dog! 

Financial Peace University- Week Ten

Charity and I have been taking Financial Peace University, along with 250+ other people in our church, for the last ten weeks.  Over the last ten weeks my thinking about money has been radically changed.  I would consider myself to have always been pretty good with money but this course has helped me really understand more of what my responsibility is with the resources that God has put me in charge of.  

Now I have taken some time off from blogging about the course but this week made me think and really encouraged me to start sharing again.  I want to share about this course, not in intense detail, but just vague enough to make you want to take the course.  This week we talked about investing for retirement and what we talked about rocked my thinking!  

Charity and I currently invest about 13% of our income into a retirement fund.  Most people would say: "That is great Neal!"  The sad thing is that I have allowed someone else to dictate where my retirement fund goes and due to that I have made a -16% return on my money this year.  In other words I would have been better to put my money under our bed!  

With that said the question I leave you with: "Do you have a plan for retirement or are you just hoping you have enough?"

Bring Your Daughter to Work Day

For the last couple months (maybe weeks) Sophie has been asking if she could come to work with me.  Now I would love to bring my three year old to work with me but lets be honest: she would be bored!  Well this Sunday was the time change and that is a joke if you have kids but I decided this would be the day to bring Sophie with me.  We got all ready, we held hands on the way to the truck, Sophie sang about how excited she was to come help me out and we headed over to church.  Since it was the time change we showed up a bit early and got our FPU class ready.

When I needed to print some things Sophie decided that she would help me out and got on the computer.  Honestly I was a bit nervous bringing her t the office with me but she did great!  I brought her into our staff prayer time before service and I told her that we can't talk.  While we were talking through the service she looked at me and said: "How come they are talking?"  Sophie is very into being fair.  It was a great day with Sophie and I just knew that I needed to share this moment.  

Singing in the Truck

This week we had to drop Charity's car off at the mechanic so that meant we were using the truck for the day.  I pulled the truck in the garage; something that has never happened before and the girls loved it!  We took some time to play in the truck while I was putting in another car seat.  Sophie was having fun playing around in the truck (turning all the knobs to something different and eating my altoids).  Then I brought Leah into the truck and they were being so cute with each other.

I let them play together for a little while and then Sophie asked me to turn the truck on and roll up the windows.  I was not about to roll up the windows and leave them in there but I did want to film them and show the world how cute it is when my kids sings to Justin Beiber!

Halloween Fun

We did our traditional halloween and went over to our friends the Yurek's home for a little party.   Charity dressed up as a Chargers fan and in the pic to the left I don't have my costume on yet.  Sophie was dressed up as Tiana, from Princes and The Frog, which also doubled as Justin Beaver's (that what Sophie calls him) girlfriend.  Little Leah dressed up as Tinkerbell and was the cutest fairy ever!

Last night I had so much fun with my family!  We started off by watching the Chargers game and then took our party to the streets to get some candy! Sophie rode her tricycle around (that means I pushed it) and Leah was in her braught braught (her little car that Charity pushed).  We went house to house, got some candy and really just had a great night with our friends laughing, eating food and just hanging out.

I dressed up as Jesus; which brought quite the few comments.  I was very interested in the amount of people who took note of me being Jesus.  One guy said something to the effect of: "Hey Jesus, I got a lot to talk to you about." Being a pastor I kindly replied: "Let me know when you're ready, I have time for you."  It may have been a quick comment but hopefully I was able to remind him that Jesus always has time for us.  All in all I had a great halloween with my family.

"More is Caught Than Taught Ministry"

This line was shared with me early when I got into ministry: "More is Caught Than Taught".  For the last couple years I have thought about how true this statement is.  I have invested the last eight and a half years of my life into spreading the Gospel; mainly to students.  Over these years I have seen hundreds of students come and go through the doors of our church.  As I think back to my internship and the hundreds of students at Eastlake Church that we ministered to there is only one student I keep in contact with.

After Eastlake Church I helped out with a church plant just north is a cool city called Encinitas.  I have to say that I have loosely kept in contact with one family from that church.  Being at South Hills Church for the last, almost, seven years I have had a chance to share the truth of the Bible with lots of people.  I think about these last seven years and I have a hard time believing that any of them can remember more than ten messages that I have shared.  Ok, lets be honest, I think we would be hard pressed to find someone who remembers more than five of the messages I have preached here.  To be honest, I would be stoked if there were a handful of people that remember one of the messages I have preached at our church.

(Indoor Skydiving with Spencer, Travis and Nick)

If there are a few people that remember one of the messages that I have preached and have acted on that truth of God I would be very excited.  I would more excited to hear about students who have changed the direction of their life because we have spent time with them.  I really do think that preaching on Sunday is super important but I think that people are more prone to remember the things we do off the stage.  See I think that if you spoke with some of the students in our church they would share that they learned more from me on a road trip to snowboard or out on the lake.  They could probably tell you how I acted at Hume Lake when we played paintball or a conversation we had at the lunch table.

I guess what I am trying to say is our lives are an example for Christ and people are watching our every move.  I want to be known for how I lived my life off stage.  I want people to remember how I acted in tough situations because I chose the high road.

The "Almost Done" Letter

Earlier this month I spent a week in Redding, CA working on a week of seminary.  While I was up there I was handed this letter:

Now this letter isn't the easiest thing in the world to read but it says a key line in there:

"If you successfully complete the above courses as scheduled, you will finish the requirements for the Masters of Divinity program as listed above."

This is something that I have been working on for over five years now and to be handed this letter was crazy emotional.  There are a few things this letter means to me that some people may not understand:

1) Less Time Away From Home
I have spent a good deal of time away from my family over the last five years, six when I finish, and this letter means that I can have more time with my family after graduation.

2) Accomplishment
Many of you know that I dropped out of high school my junior year.  I ended up going back and finishing at a continuation school.  I didn't drop out because I was stupid I dropped out because I had a bunch going on in my family life and I was bored at school.  Studying the Bible is something that I love to do!

3) Education
I started this MDiv program because felt that God was calling me to but during the process He taught me that it is more about the education I have received than a piece of paper that will sit on my wall.

These are just a few things this letter means to my life.  It will always be a reminded to me of all the hard work I put in, studying the word of God, to help others know Christ.

My Yellow Watch

Even since I was a wee little kid I have always wanted a Shark watch.  I know... some people want a Rolex but I want a watch with a rubber wristband.  So for my 30th birthday my amazing wife found me a Shark watch in my favorite color (see picture).  This is me wearing my watch the first day I got it as we are heading to watch a movie for my birthday.

This summer we went to Hume Lake and I was so stoked to wear my watch and actually have the time on my wrist!  On Tuesday some of the Senior guys invited me to go kayaking with them.  Once we were on the lake I realized that none of them have ever been to Hume before and told them that we have to head down to the cove to play on the log roll.

We rowed to the other side of the lake, parked the boats and swam over to the log roll.  Now the log roll is an amazing experience that I could not let these guys miss out on.  After playing for a while I knew it was getting late so I looked at my wrist but my watch was gone.  I was so bummed.  I was beyond bummed.

That night, back at camp, I started thinking of how to get my watch back.  I had a pair of googles but I would need help.  Then it hit me; my alarm is going off at 6:23am to wake me up and my watch is waterproof.  That night I asked around and was able to get five guys to help me and four more pairs of googles.  The next morning we woke up before 6am, borrowed a car, drove to the cove and did this:

My watch spent the night at the bottom of Hume Lake but today it sits back on my left wrist as I type this.  The craziest thing about this is something that wasn't caught on video.  Before I jumped into the lake I stopped to pray that God would help me find my watch and sure enough I did!

Financial Peace University Week Six

This Sunday we had our sixth week of Financial Peace University.  This class has been pretty cool, for me personally, and seems to be very helpful for our church also.  My last post on FPU was a brief overview of what we are learning and was just a scratch of the surface.

Yesterday I was extremely tired during the class but I was also excited to hear what Dave Ramsey was saying.  See I finally felt like yesterday was something that Charity and I were already doing; the previous five weeks were things that we needed to adjust in our finances and that can be tough to hear and more difficult to actually make happen!

Here is a quick overview of what I am taking away from yesterdays FPU course:

1. Wait overnight before making a purchase
2. Carefully consider your buying motives.  No amount of stuff equals contenment of fulfillment
3. Never buying anything you do not understand.
4. Consider the "opprotuinty cost" of your money
5. Seeking the counsel of your spouse. 

I feel like Charity and I have done good with our money since being married but we want to do better as we move forward.  We are examining every aspect of what we have to make sure that we are using what God has given us to the best of our ability.  

Financial Peace University Debt Load

Our church just finished week five of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and we are getting ready to start week six.  This course has been super cool, for me, to see how many people have jumped in to get involved.  We have almost 40% of our church involved in this course which tells me two things:

1) The Las Vegas Economy has hit harder than I thought
2) People want to find financial freedom

One of the steps in the class is for the people involved to anonymously write down their debt load.  To be honest I had no what to expect to see with this number when it came in.  Now we have three different sessions of the class that we are offering to our church and from those different sessions we came up with one debt load number.  I am not going to share that exact number but I want to let you know that it is over four million dollars.

I have been hesitant to put up that number because I think it can bring up emotions in peoples lives and to be honest I have a part of that number.  In yesterdays blog I shared my personal learnings and personal debt load that Charity and I are carrying.  The reason I chose to end up sharing that number is because I am excited to share with you in December the new number.  See FPU is designed to help people get back on their feet financially and take control of their finances.

If you are in our church and you are reading this I want you to know that I am praying for everyone in our church to find financial freedom.  I am praying for people to be able to take control of their finances and not let their finances take control of them.  I am praying for people to find new connections with people in our church that they may have never met because of this course.  I love my church and I am so proud of everyone taking the course and making the steps to get financial freedom!

Financial Peace University: Week Five

This week we hit week five in our Financial Peace University (FPU) Course that our church has been doing.  I am one of 260 people in our church that is taking the course in one of the three different times we are offering it.  Last night I started thinking about FPU and what this has done for our family already.

Charity and I moved about two months ago and well... to be honest, moving cost us more than we had bargained for.  We didn't have to rent a moving truck (thanks to a friend) and we didn't have to pay movers (thanks to many friends).  When we were planning the move we knew we would need some more furniture to help fill the new house; we went from 1050 square feet to over 1700 square feet.

Secondly we have used our credit card like a debt card for the last five years.  We would put all our family expenses on the card and then pay it off monthly.  Well with the addition of two children in the last three years expenses have increased and we found out that we owed our credit card $1500.  That may not be too huge a number for the average American family but we don't want to be the average American family.

Finally FPU has been great to share with the young adults at our church.  Charity really took this as her personal goal this summer to get as many college students in this course to help them make wise choices financially right away in life.  I love getting to spend time with the people at our table, on a weekly basis, and see how they are getting this lesson before they make the unwise choices.

These are some random thoughts from FPU at our church but I really think this course has changed the way I am thinking about money.  I want to make sure that I make the best choices with the resources that God has put in my possession.

A Major Accomplishment

The other day I was looking at my wall and noticed something super cool.  See when I arrived at South Hills almost seven years ago I made an agreement to work on my ordination as a pastor.  Within four months I had accomplished my licensing with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.  From there it was supposed to be a two year process to get my Ordination completed.  After two (and a half) years of working on my Ordination I finally took the flight to Sacramento to have my final Ordination interview.

The interview could cover over 280 questions and it was all oral.  I sat in a room with five men who most had been pastoring longer than I had been alive.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous sitting in that room with those men but I also had a confidence sitting there with them.  I knew that these men wanted me to succeed; they had been rooting for me the last couple years and now it was time to culminate all my work.

After a two hour interview I was asked to leave the room and allow the men deliberate from our time.  I was called back in about 15 minutes later.  The leader of the interview said some great things about our time together, complimented me on my understanding of Theology and there was a cool sense in the room that day.  There is one line that sticks out to me from that time when Doug (our district supervisior) said this: "Neal it is the recommendation of this board to approve your ordination with no reservation and nothing further to work on."

I'm not sure if you have ever had anyone say that to you but I was told later that basically I nailed it.  My life was in line, I was correct on scripture and that interview affirmed my calling into life-long pastoral ministry.  Now I don't share all of this to brag but to just share my excitement of call on my life from where I started my life to where God has brought me.

(This is Roy Price officiating my Ordination Service)

(A group of our pastors and elders praying for Charity and me)