Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Thursday Thinkback

Here are a few random thoughts from the last week or upcoming week:

• This last Sunday was my last day serving in regular ministry.


• It made me sad.


• I am also very excited about what God has planned.


• Women's Retreat is this weekend.


• That means I have a whole weekend alone with my boys.


• That means I have to watch the boys the whole weekend...


• I already miss Autumn


• It is weekends like this that help to remind me how much I truly appreciate all my wife does for me and our family.


• This series on the Ten Commandments has been really fun.


• Pastor Jon knocked it out with his approach on using God's name in vein. A great new approach.


• I hope Pastor Dave had a great weekend away.


• I can't wait to hear what he has to say about the Sabbath.


• The Sabbath is VERY important to me in this season of my life.


• I hope that the women have a great weekend of refreshment and renewal.


• I wonder what me and the boys will do this weekend....

See ya all on Sunday!

This morning I had my annual physical. I am pretty lucky that my job provides insurance for this at no cost to me.

As I was waiting for the Doctor to come in to see me, I was thinking about all the things that may come up during his examination or through the rigorous amounts of blood work. How is my weight? Is my blood sugar high? Where is my cholesterol going to be? Should I worry about my blood pressure? Did I excercise enough since last year? So on and so on.

For the last 3 weeks since I made the appointment, I have been very careful about what I was eatting. I have been extra good about taking my fish oils. I have been trying to exercise more. As if all of this last minute changes to my life style are going to fix the bad habits from the prior 11 months since my last physical.

The reality is that the work it is going to take to correct all of the bad habits from my past is going to be much harder and much greater than the original acts. The 5 minutes it took to eat those 5 cookies... it will take an hour to recover. You add to that 15 years of bad health habits and maybe I can recover with ALOT of hard work and effort.

However, there is something that is way easier to fix than the original act. You want to know what that is? Jesus Christ.

It doesn't matter how much or for how long you have lived a life of sin, regardless of the sins you have committed, in just 1 brief sentence combined with a hear of surrendered repentance it will all go away. God doesn't need for you to go fix all your problems first, he wants to do that for you... you simply need to trust in him.

Don't wait, find Jesus today! You don't know what life has in store for you tomorrow.

Big Secret!

Well, it isn't that much of a secret any more. In fact, some of you already know. I am going to share it with you, but promise not to tell anyone. Can you do that for me? Just keep it to yourself.

Recently Autumn and I made some major changes in our life. They were changes that had a major impact on our family, but also had an impact on those around us. We decided to step completely out of ministry. (ok not completely, I am filling in on occasion)

What does that mean? That means on Sunday mornings you will not see me running around the church making sure things are running smoothly so that everyone who walks in those doors has a positive experience and will hopefully find God. That means I won't be leading the Welcome Ministries to the next level. That means I won't be part of the creative process at church.

Why would we do that? Do we no longer care? Of Course we care. In fact, this is the hardest decision we have had to make in a long time. Later this week I will explain the process behind our decision and why we made the decision we made.

For now, know that we are ridiculously excited about what is happening at New Life and we are so glad to be a part of our church. Lastly, we believe completely in Pastor Dave and feel blessed to be able to follow his teachings and guidance, as well as, to have him as a friend.

We can't wait to see you at church on Sunday... maybe we can sit together?

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

How do I get so busy?

Well, today I am refereeing all day at the Turlock Soccer Complex. There are 5 games being played. I am managing the field, so I will probably only referee 2-3 games throughout the day.

It is amazing sometimes how quickly my schedule fills up. In fact, sometimes the schedule will fill up quicker than I would like.

I say that as a reminder. It is important that you schedule your family time. It is important that you protect that part of your schedule as best as possible. When you make that time may differ than me because of schedules, but the important thing is making the time and sticking to it.

One of the things I am working on scheduling is weekly "man time" with the boys. Each week taking one of the boys out for some time together. I am also trying to figure out how to schedule a WEEKLY date with Autumn, so that we have time alone with each other every week. Let me encourage you to do something today!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Thursday Thinkback

Here are a few random thoughts from this week:

• I hope that my schedule will be somewhat normal for the next few months.
• I miss my church and can't wait to be back.
• I didn't get any sleep while in Florida (the time change thing).
• I think I am just now starting to get caught up on my sleep.
• Did I mention that we are doing a really cool Easter series?
• I had to miss the creative meeting on Monday...just WAY to much to do after being gone.
• I got to spend quite a bit of time watching people this weekend at the airports and hotel.
• I like watching people interact in a public environment.
• People behave very funny when they don't know someone is actually watching them.
• Who have you invited to church lately?
• It looks like over the next year I will have a chance to visit the Carolinas. That may mean visiting this place or this place.
• I had to be at the airport WAY to early on Sunday morning.
• Maybe one of these days I will make a list of 100 things about me for you to read, like this guy did.
  
• Did I mention I have been tired?
• I hope to see you guys on Sunday... don't forget to invite someone!
  

Conformity

On my flight out to Florida last Thursday, I was sitting in the very back of the plane. One of the things that I got to do, was watch people coming back and forth to visit the restroom and stretch their legs. (I like watching people interact in public)

As I was watching people interact, one of the things that caught my eye was how people move up and down the aisles. It doesn't really matter if a person is a regular flier or someone on their first flight. There is a natural instinct that when you pass someone on a plane, most people naturally turn their backs to each other so they pass one another back to back. This is something that seems to be a learned response, instead of something that is an inherent trait... of course, that is my opinion. The children don't seem to follow this trait, and so it seems that as we mature and learn about people's private space, we adapt; much like when standing in an elevator and everyone faces the same direction. You can read more about elevators here.

As I watched, I began wondering if many of the things we do as Christians are inherent traits or learned traits. I think that sometimes it is really easy to take a learned trait and "Christianize" it, and we quickly begin thinking that this is something inherent of Christian... when in reality we are pushing our own habits on to God's Word.

I challenge you to begin looking at everything you do within your religion and begin asking yourself, why are you doing that? Is it what God wants or what you want?

Flat tire anyone?

The other day I received an email from Pastor Dave about a note card he received from someone in the church. In the note, the writer tells me about something one of our Welcome Team members did. I wanted to share it with you as I received it, so here you go:

"Special Thank You to "Scott" while attending the parking lot saw that I had a flat tire.
He told me to attend church and not worry! While I was in church he changed my tire!
This is God's work! Thank you Scott!"

When we have our Welcome Team meetings I try and encourage and remind people that our job is to show love to people, anyway we can. Our focus is to provide a warm loving environment so that people can find God where ever they are at.

This note is precisely what we are trying to do. The author of this note will not soon forget the love that she received while at our church. If this had been someone who showed up with no relationship with Jesus and preconceived notions of what a "christian" is...Scott shattered those beliefs.

Thank you Scott and thank you Welcome Ministries Team for each and every week doing some amazing things that allow people to feel loved and welcomed at New Life!

Traffic Jam

Last week I went to Modesto (a neighboring town for those of you not from around here) to pick up my Jeep from a guy that was doing some work on it.

As I was traveling home on the freeway, the traffic started backing up. It slowed to a crawl for about 2-3 miles, and then picked back up again. I kept waiting to find an accident, heavy on-ramp traffic, or anything else that may be causing the traffic slow down. Of course, what did I find? Absolutely nothing.

Who knows why the traffic slowed down. Did someone want to try and change lanes and so they hit their brakes? Was there a Sunday driver keeping traffic to a crawl? I may never know what caused it...it was 15 minutes of my life taken away for something.

So why should I bring this up?

Everyday we make decisions on how to move through life. Often times we are so focused on the decisions we make that move us where we are going, we forget to look back and see what "traffic jams" we may have caused. Yes, it is important to focus on going forward, however there are so many things we can learn from the mistakes and "traffic jams" we have left behind us.

So, as you move forward in the freeway of life...be sure and remember to look back at the traffic jams and learn something from them!

Flying Home!

Today, I fly home.

I leave Orlando at 7:00 AM local time. Please pray for my flight and for a safe return.

I can't wait to get home and hug Autumn and the boys. Thanks to Skype video for making the time away more bearable!

See everyone next week when I return!

Thanks!

Relaxing in the Sun

Today I am in Orlando, FL for a meeting. I know, it is Saturday...but it minimizes the time away from the office. It may seem that in a beautiful place like this we could move our meeting to the beach or something.

Maybe I will sneak off later today and do something kinda fun....

I must admit, I do miss my family and I can't wait until I go home tomorrow. It is only 4 days, but I sure do hate to be away from them to long. It is nice when I get to bring Autumn with me, but it doesn't happen that often. Lately, it doesn't happen at all with the price of flights still being a bit high.

Maybe she will be able to travel with me soon!

See ya soon family!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!



Cadbury Eyebrows from Nils-Petter Lovgren on Vimeo.

Thursday Thinkback

Random thoughts as I look back over the week and the week to come:

• I really miss church.
  
• I missed 3 of the last 4 weeks.
• I will miss 1 more week and then back to normal.
• I am flying today to Orlando, FL.
• I think the weather is going to be better than home.
• I packed my I-pod full of messages to keep me going.
• Do you think Pastor Dave knows I am missing?
• Yeah, I think he does...he is good at stuff like that!
• I really miss the great worship.
• Our Welcome Team rocks....I am grateful to be a part of that team!
• Did you know I twitter? Check me out here!
• I dumped Facebook!
• I couldn't stand the invites from perfect strangers.
• I reactivated Facebook.
• I missed my true friends.
• Did I mention I miss my Church?
• I will be back soon!
• Pray for me as I travel to Florida this week.
  
• I will be home on Sunday afternoon.
• See you all on the 15th!
  

Wet Feet

"Hey, let's take our shoes off and play in the water"

Those were the first words that I heard that should have told me to think it through. My kids had a blast playing in the ocean on Saturday. They looked for sea shells, they looked for sand dollars, they chased the waves. A joyous time was had by all.

Until it was time to leave...

Once I was able to corral them up and over to a dead piece of drift wood, we began the process of cleaning their feet and legs to put their shoes back on. I began hearing complaints of the scratchy sand, the cold feet and the wet rolled up pants. No matter how sensitive Autumn and I were to their pain, we could not be easy enough on them, without "hurting" them. The main complaint was the scratchy sand.

I began to tell the boys that they should have thought it through. They should have realized that when they decided to take off their shoes, they would have to clean them to put their shoes back on.

It was then that God said to me (in my heart)..."Isn't that how sin is?"

He's right, of course. Most of the time we simply act/do what looks exciting or good in the moment. We don't think it through. It isn't until we have to clean up the "mess" of our sins do we truly realize what we got ourselves into. We decide what a mistake we made and that we are never going to do that again.

Like us, even though the boys say they will never play at the beach again... I am sure they will, and they probably won't think much about it before they do.

Wait until April

This last week we began preparing for the series that follows "Ten". I have to say I am really excited about it. It is going to be a short series, but I really like the approach we are using. It is the Easter series, so the focus is pretty obvious.

I can't imagine what it is like to have to prepare year after year for presenting the Easter messages, without being redundant. To come up with a new and creative way of sharing what Easter represents in a way that reaches people who don't know Christ, and may not come to our church any other time of the year, must be difficult.

This year, I think that Pastor Dave and the group came up with a pretty creative and fun way. I can't wait. I don't want to tell you the name of the series yet...mainly because it is not yet set in stone. So, I will say this:

Enjoy this great series we are in right now called Ten. I think that it will really stretch you in new ways. We have an amazing guest speaker coming in the 15Th that will challenge your paradigm of thinking.

As for the series coming in April. I guess you will just have to wait for the surprise!

Oh yeah, and make sure and invite a friend!

Bridging the Gap I fell off of!

How many of us have seen a picture like the one to the right, or heard it described to us when we were seeking God. How many of us have used this example to reach people lost?

It is an interesting image. However, once we have that bridge in place and we are using it regularly because of our relationship with Christ, what happens when we fall off the bridge?

What happens when we are not on "our" side or on "God's" side, but rather we are in the pit at the bottom of the gorge in the mud? Then what?

Well, you need a ladder. Being one who recently fell off the bridge, I had to figure out a way to climb out. Like every stubborn human, I tried climbing the walls. I tried using the rocks as a way up. What I needed was a ladder.

Would you believe I found one? It was called the Bible.

It doesn't matter where you are in your walk with God. You can be drifting off track slightly, you could have made a wrong turn, or you could have fallen off the bridge; it doesn't matter. By spending time in the Word and with God, He can quickly bring you back on track.

If you need a tug, God will provide. If you need a push, God will provide. If you need a ladder, God will provide.

So, where are you today? You need a little guidance, or big honkin' ladder? What ever it might be, God will provide! Find Him in His Word!

Mirounga Angustirostris

What?

That is the scientific name for the common Elephant Seal. As I mentioned yesterday, we are in Aptos visiting my Dad. One of the items on the agenda is to visit Ano Nuevo Island and Ano Nuevo point. This is one of the larger breading grounds for the elephant seals.

We have tickets (which can be hard to come by) for a guided tour out to the point and back. I am pretty excited to take the boys out there. The male seals can be as big as 16ft long and over 4000lbs. That is like a small car!

We spent part of the morning yesterday reading all about the seals in some great books. They are a very interesting mammal. They were almost completely extinct. There were less than 100 on 1 island in Baja California; today there are over 50,000 up and down the California coast.

Nonetheless, this is a wonderful opportunity for us all to experience a piece of God's wonder in action. I am really looking forward to it!