storm coming

"He knows there is a little storm coming, but as long as I am here, he's happy."

- Tracy Bayley, referring to her 4-year-old son who has been told about Gustav.

Getting Fired for the Glory of God

Cracking this one open tonight:

{update}

I deleted this post and a few of the comments because it was turning into a witch hunt. There are plenty of places to gripe and gossip on the internet, but I'd rather not have it take place here on my blog. I received some great advice and encouragement- but a couple of the comments frustrated me so I did some erasing. I'm at peace with the situation I originally wrote about- trusting that God is plenty capable of shining light where it needs to shine.

chris gniffke

Our 5/6 pastor has got some serious skills... watch out Chris Tomlin.

planning

I'm spending the next couple of weeks planning/finalizing the calendar for the 08/09 school year! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders this year. I finally get to be in a place that cares about the things I care about, and embraces the style and philosophy of ministry that I do. I was getting tired of striving for goals that weren't my goals, and feeling like my pink slip was right around the corner if I missed my mark (little did I know that it WAS, haha, heh, eh...).

I get so frustrated with routines, pointless programs, and sacred cows. Thank God that the leadership at Calvary does too! I'm excited for this new school year. And I'm especially excited to have such a fantastic team at my side to tackle it with!

Feel free to chime in if there's anything you'd like to add to the planning conversation! What needs to come back? What needs to go away?

clueless

I'm getting ready to speak at an event here in Santa Ana, and I decided to look through some of my notes from when I first started teaching and sharing my story. I opened up the notes from one of the first times I shared my testimony in church. The first thing I noticed is how wretched my speaking notes were eight years ago! How did I ever teach using these? They are scattered and sloppy and WORDY (sorta like ME sometimes).

I see in my notes the line, "I don't know what's happening to me!"

I said that on September 1st, 2001 at Forest Home, after a long weekend of God wreaking havoc on my life. I was a Christian at that point, but I couldn't explain the way I was thinking and seeing the world any more. It had all just changed so rapidly. I sat there in front of the crew I had come with and babbled for a minute, trying to come up with words, and then I just sat there silently for a while and soaked it in as much as I could.

I had no idea what I was in for.

seminary shmeminary

I've spent about a jillion hours on the computer comparing Talbot and Fuller seminaries. I'd like to get started on my Masters Degree in the Spring of '09, so I'm trying to get registered this month!

Right now I'm leaning towards Fuller, but the biggest obstacle is that its about an hour drive each way. They have an Irvine extension campus, but it's in a boring office building, and they primarily use adjunct faculty from other universities and churches nearby. I'm sure they're great teachers, but I'm worried about getting a second-rate experience being away from the main campus. Talbot, on the other hand, is right down the street from me (on the Biola campus). Hmm.

My lead pastor is on "the board" at Talbot (not sure which board that is), so that makes Talbot a bit more appealing. Oh and like ten of our pastors have their Masters or Mdiv from Talbot too, so they're always wearing their t-shirts and trying to convince me. Both schools have some pretty impressive alumni to brag about. Rob Bell and Rick Warren went to Fuller, which is a pretty well-rounded pair when it comes to philosophy and doctrinal stuff.

I think this might be a win-win decision either way I go, despite what criticisms and opinions the zealous alumni on both sides have to say about the other school. If Fuller can offer me a top-notch experience (without forcing me to drive two hours once a week for three years) then... I'll probably land there.

What would YOU do if you were ME?

concert for a cause

This Sunday you're invited to come to a sweet concert at Calvary (and for a good cause)!

Bring a beach chair and a picnic dinner- we move the show out to the patio!

I'm a big fan of Trevor Davis, and I've heard nothing but good stuff about Project Hangout, so Linds and I will definitely be out there!

praise the Loooooooooord

Modesty is cool?

It's on CNN, so it must be true... right?

jet lag

I've been wide awake since 3:45 this morning. I woke up and was sure it was at least 7:00 or 8:00... but nope. I tried to wake Lindsay up by rolling around over and over, but to no avail. She's still in there sleeping like a baby.

So, I did some reading, had some cereal, and now I'm trying to ignore the worldwide worship of Michael Phelps on NBC.

Now I think I'll try to figure out where to spend my next $30,000.

back from Boracay

Just got back from spending two weeks in Boracay with 16 students and 3 leaders. We partnered up with a local church in the community that is building a four-story community center (which should really just be called a church). The center will open up as a school, hospital, dental office, and church! We were able to put in the second floor, after tying a thousand pieces of rebar together, and pouring a few tons of concrete! My students did a fantastic job in less than ideal weather conditions. We also got to spend some
time visiting children in local neighborhoods- singing some songs, sharing some food, laughing a ton, and even playing a few games of basketball!

I have never sweated as much as I did over the past two weeks, which is saying a LOT. Right now it is 7pm here in California, but 10am tomorrow morning in my head... so I'm all messed up. I'm so grateful that I got to play a part in constructing this building, which will open the door to SO MUCH ministry in a year or two when they open it up! There is just nothing like this community center on the island, but there is so much need.

The people of Boracay were wonderful. They made us feel like celebrities, and they were so grateful for everything! I feel like they blessed us more than we blessed them.