jonknapp.net

Trail Running and Photography in Central Oregon

2010-08-06T19:10:00.001-07:00

This last week, Lynsey and I got to go to Central Oregon for a few days on vacation. While there we did 3 trail runs. The First along the Metolious river, the second along the Dechutes river, and the third around Smith Rock. Today we topped it off with about a 10 mile trail run along the banks to Vernonia rails to trails. So 4 trail runs in a week . . . good vacation. While in Central Oregon there was a fire forest fire burning near sisters. For some whose homes were in danger it is scary, and a tragedy. But for me as a photographer, it was about as good as it gets. The picture above is one of about 1000 images I took over the last few days. On top of pictures at sunset, after our trail run at Smith Rock, the beauty of the place inspired me to get up at 4:30 in the morning to go get some sunrise pictures of Smith Rock.

I would like to invite you to view 18 of my favorite images from this last week . . . just click here.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these images on canvas or as framed art, just let me know.

If you would like to see our family vacation photos (almost all unedited snap shots), which includes some pictures of our trail runs. Just click here.

Enjoy Summer!

Spring Burst 10K

2010-04-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today I ran the Spring Burst 10K to support the Micah Project, in Honduras, and to test out my training. It was my best race I have ran so far. Everything was working right for me. I ran it in 52:43 which was a PR for me (my last one was 58:23), and I hit my goal pace for the race to the second (8:30 min/mile)!

I placed 16th overall, out of 88 runners in the 10K.

Thanks Darin and Trisha for the great race! It was a blast!

My First Biathlon - The Aluminum Man

2010-02-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

No, not the winter version combining cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. This is the Maui version which combines swimming and running. Lynsey and I had plans to come to Maui to celebrate our 8th anniversary, so I set out to see if I could find a race while we were here. What I found was the Aluminum Man. A 1/2 mile swim, 1/2 mile beach run, and a 3 mile road run. Here is the "run" down on the race.

First of all, big props to the race organizers. They did an amazing job, everything was clearly marked, and they carried the spirit of Aloha into the race.

First Leg . . . the 1/2 mile swim.
We had an ocean start at the race . . . which was a little challenging as the surf was high, and waves were crashing into the beach. In addition, there were rocks every where and as I was making my way out I smashed my foot on a rock. But I got over it quick as I put on my fins and snorkel mask. (Yes, this was a not so serious race, so they let you do whatever you want . . . as I have never swam competitively, I thought I would use fins for a little help). =)

They said "go", and we were off. This was a tough portion of the race. We swam down the length of the beach. There were several currents and strong waves really made you work for your half mile. It was hard for me to know exactly how to pace myself as I have never done anything like this. But before too long I fell into a rhythm and it felt strong.

The highlight of this section was passing a large green sea turtle in the water.

My time for the swim portion was 16:57.

The 1/2 mile beach run.
As I was getting out of the ocean I was looking forward to this next section. Running. Something I have a little more practice at. But it wasn't more than a few steps before I realized this section was going to be harder than I thought.

Everyone had to make a choice here. Do you run where the sand is hard, which was at a very steep angle, and every couple seconds a huge wave would crash in trying to drag you into the ocean, or do you run up on top of the slant where the sand was very soft, and it was hard to get any forward motion.

I went back and forth, but finally opted for the hard sand, trying to fight it out with the waves. I pasts a few people in this section, but was moving rather slow as I was recovering from the swim. It has never taken me so long to run a 1/2 mile before. But oh well . . . i am in Maui!

Beach run . . . 6:20

Transition
From the beach you had to run to your shoes, they had a baby pool full of water to get the sand off and your running shoes on.

My transition time was 1:33.

The 3 Miler
After the beach run, it felt so good to be in running shoes! It took me about a mile to find my stride, but then I was off. The course had some gentle hills, and of course it was beautiful. I was able to pass a few more people in this section.

After the two previous sections, I didn't have a lot in reserve to rock this leg. But I gave it everything I had left.

My time on this portion was 26:37.

Total Time: 51:29

As a reward for running a race on vacation . . . Valentine's day of all things, I took Lynsey to brunch at what used to be the Maui Prince (they have a new name as they are going through foreclosure), and we ate sooooo much incredible food, it gave me the food sweats while I was eating.

It was amazing!
Oh yeah . . . I almost forgot. For dinner we had my favorite Hawaiian treat Shave Ice.

Maui . . . On a Budget

2010-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

While most tourist are paying top dollars ($$$) to ride on a crowed boat, be forced to go where ever the captain wills it, and are left fighting to get a view from the side of the boat: there is a well kept secret on Maui. With a little muscle and only $60 you can rent a two person Kayak, come along side the same whales, snorkel the same waters, and even pack your own PB & J in the dry bag they provide for you. Not only are you being eco-friendly and burning calories, you also don't have to deal with the crowds, and can see God's creation the way it was meant to be seen peacefully.

So today we rented a Kayak, and headed out to see some whales and snorkel the south coast of Maui. It was incredible.

Below you can see 3 videos I took today on our trip, as well as a few pictures. I am sure at some time in the future, there is a good chance I will post more photos.

I am looking forward to what tomorrow will hold . . . as it is Lynsey and my 8th Anniversary!

A Few Pictures

2010-01-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

Things have been going great in Honduras. So many God stories along the way, and we are beginning to see the pathway coming together to take us into the future. To see pictures from the last few days . . .

Click here.

Sight in Honduras

2010-01-20T15:54:00.001-08:00

There is a story in the bible where Jesus gave sight to a blind man, and he saw for the first time. I saw Jesus do the same thing in people's lives today . . . giving sight to the blind.

For many of us it is easy to have a vision for the future. To be able to see what it could be . . . what it might be one day if we give ourselves to something today. For some, it is difficult to envision what the future looks like.

For a couple years I have had a shared vision with others about our church sending the Wiggs family to launch a vocational school in Honduras so that street kids who are addicted to glue, and have no hope for a future might be able to be trained for a vocation, find a new life in Christ, become self sustaining, and make a difference for others in Honduras.

For those who share this vision, it is easy to see, and know what a street kids will become if they are willing to leave the glue bottle behind and start a new life. But while inhaling the toxic fumes the street child has no vision or hope for the future. Their mind is numbed by the glue and they are blind.

For the Micah Boys, they are not street kids any longer . . . they have left the glue behind, and are beginning to see in new ways. For a while they have heard about a "vocational school" starting at the Micah project. Something distant and something they really didn't understand. But today it is becoming a reality.

the Vocational School is beginning with simplicity. A few wielding stations on the top of the roof at the Micah house (which by the way to enroll you have to start a discipleship program, and get involved in a local church). It is a humble beginning, yet it has launched . . . Brian just recently purchased the tools and materials to put it together.

As the tools came in a few of the Micah boys eyes got wide open, and they are beginning to see the school take shape. Our "future" vision is becoming a reality as Brian taught Eric to cut metal with a torch. Eric has had a rough past and has struggled with addiction. But today he saw with eyes wide open a clear pathway into the future as he made the first official cut with the vocational schools first tool.

As I sit here in Honduras on this warm evening, it is hard to describe how amazing it is to see a once future vision start to become reality.

On our journey today, not only did we make the first cut in metal in the Vocational School, but we got to go to the streets to play with and love on the street kids. Later we headed for the city dump where 1000+ adults live and work with their families . . . some 250+ children.

While we were there we handed out bread and water, and got to talk with them for a while. The AFE school (which was started by the Micah Project), is trying to give vision to the children of the dump. Loving on them, and teaching them so that they might have a future out side of the dump. A future outside of the dump is hard for them to see when they were born in the dump and have lived there their whole lives. They have no idea of what life for anyone is like outside of the dump. Yet some of them are beginning to see.

It is not only Hondurans that are gaining sight today though. My other two friends who traveled here with me and I are beginning to see as well. As Doug and I see the effort we have put into this project so far, and the difference it is only beginning to make we are reminded that those who want to keep their lives will lose it, but thought who want to give it will find it. I over heard Doug saying today "this has been the best day of my life." He has traveled the world, he has seen more things than most people dream of . . . I have also had my share of nice vacations and lived for self, yet nothing compares to the fullness of life that you feel when you put your life aside, and see what that one act does for so many others.

I wish everyone could see . . .

The Malibu Marathon

2009-11-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

It finally happened. After over 12 years of wanting to run a marathon I finally did it. This last year I have been on a journey of training my body to run the 26.2 miles. My year's journey lead me to run my first half marathon last June, log my 1000th mile of recorded running, and last Sunday run through the finish line of the Malibu International Marathon.

Race Day . . . Pre-race:
We (my wife and I) woke up at 4:00 Sunday morning, and started our day with a bowl of cereal, a banana, and a quick shower rushing out the door at 4:30 . . . to make it to the buses by 5:00. After sitting in the buses for a while, they took us from the finish line up to the starting line. It felt like the longest bus ride of my life (I think it took over 45 min.) and the realization hit home that I was going to have to run this entire way back. I settling into my seat, and tossed down half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to complete my breakfast.

Once the buses dropped us off we had to wait around in the cold for another 45 minutes or so until the race began.

Race Day . . . the first 10 miles.
The first ten miles of the race were great. We ran through farm land in Camarillo. We began the race doing everything right. We started with a slow pace that was going to take us through the race and help us finish strong. Running right at 11:00 minute miles.

The sun rose over the Malibu hills, and we felt strong. Our only complaint was that the first 9ish miles or so the porta-potties were lock. It wasn't so bad for me, but Lynsey was in need of one. She held it, but I can't say that for all the runners. Yeah . . . avoid eating this season tomatoes from Camarillo. =)

Race Day . . . miles 10-13.
Miles 10-13 we still felt strong but they were incredibly difficult. As we came around the point just past Fort Mugu, the wind started to pick up and developed into a head on wind that was extraordinarily strong. It was the type of wind that blasts sand into your legs, and feels like needles going in your skin.

It was unknown it was going to be like this the rest of the race. Should we walk through the wind to conserve our energy or should we go for it? With idealistic determination we muscled through the wind. I have never ran so hard to travel so little distance. My heart rate was up over 200 as I fought through the wind. Lynsey got some water at one of the aid stations, by the time she lifted the cup to her lips the water was blown all over her. Big props to the volunteers who manned that aid station all day. You guys are the real heroes!

Race Day . . . miles 14-18.
Miles 14-18 were really nice. We were into the heart of the Pacific Coast Highway with beautiful views of the Ocean to our right and canyon mountains to our left. The wind had died down, and so did our pace to help our bodies recover a little from the previous miles with the wind. We thought we would bring it down a little in hopes to still finish strong. For the most part we were still feeling good and enjoying the run.

Race Day . . . miles 19-26
Mile 19 . . . the hardest mile I have ever run in my life!!! Several things converged all at once. Here they are. 1) The sun . . . I don't do well in heat. It was only 75 degrees out, perfect right? Not so much. After my heart rate being up my body was working too hard to cool, and the heat was starting to get me . . . I think I was developing a mild case of heat stroke. 2) I hit the wall hard and my body didn't want to go on. 3) Mile 19 was were the course started to climb in elevation, I was staring at a big hill in front of me. 4) My body stopped processing the electrolytes I was taking, and the water wasn't getting where it needed to. The result? My leg cramped . . . actually locked up and knocked me off my feet into the guard rail on the side of the road! As my calf muscle balled up near my knee, and my quads followed the example, I was sitting on the guard rail unable to unlock them. Finally I stood up anyway, and used my weight to free them.

So what do you do? You only have two options . . . continue on or drop out, and there was no way I trained for a year to drop out of the race. I would finish if I had to crawl the last 7 miles!

For the rest of the race my legs were cramping off and on. At times it was cause me to stumble a little, while other times it just hurt. About mile 21-22 I caught a bit of a second wind, and running became a little easier.

As we made our way through the 6ish miles of hills we decided to walk up the hills and run down them. This helped, as I had a had a chance to rest a bit on the up hills.

By mile 23, I was quite nauseous, stopped sweating, and was turning into a pillar of salt.

Eventually, I saw the 26 mile marker, and I have never been so glad to see the number 26 in my life. (By the way, I would like to take a moment to thank the boys and girls club of Malibu for making all the mile markers! Great job!)

The last couple miles were down hill so we coasted on through the finish line to finish in 5:37:31 (with an average heart rate of 184 for the course. yikes.). Not really a good time for a Marathon. I was hoping for something more like 4:45. But hey, I finished! And I had over come a difficult course and didn't stop even when my body wanted to.

Highlights . . .
1) My wife! She ran the whole course with me even though she could have smoked me (as heat doesn't bother her). This race was a testament of her love for me, and she kept me going! Love you honey (incase you are reading my blog).
2) Though difficult, the course was amazingly beautiful, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Even through the pain, I was able to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. I guess like life it is what you choose to focus on as you journey through it. In my case, should I focus on the the trashed quads or the gorgeous beauty all around me? I tried to choose the beauty.
3) Playing leap frog with Barefoot Ken Bob. Not only was he in a recent addition of Runner's World Magazine, he actually runs marathons barefoot! Nice guy. We passed each other enough times, that I finally stopped the race to ask if I could get my picture with him.

4) Our friends the Swanson's, came down to run the race, and cheer us on in our first marathon. It was so good to see them smiling at us at the finish line. Hanging out with our very own post run at In and Out burger. Then off to the hot tub at our hotel.
5) Speaking of hotel . . . our $54 a night hotel was the best place we have stayed when comparing value for your dollar. Thanks Good Nite Inn.

In Conclusion . . .
Though we could hardly walk the next two days, by now, the pain as all worn off and is a distant memory. But the accomplishment sticks with me, and will for the rest of my life.

I now turn my sights to my next race the 10K give and gobble in Sherwood on Thanksgiving morning. I ran the route today in preparation, and did it faster than my race time last year. It felt good to get out there, and run a shorter distance faster!

Much love to all who prayed and supported me on this journey (especially Lynsey) . . . I couldn't have done it with out you!

To see more pictures of our vacation and race, click here.

Westside Christian HS Senior Discount

2009-09-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

If you are a student at Westside Christian High School, and you get your senior photos taken in the month of October with Jon Knapp Photography LLC, you are eligible for 10% off the price of the digital images should you decide to purchase them.

Here is more information on Pricing and Contact.

Wedding Photography

2009-08-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

It wasn't too long ago that I officially photographed my first wedding. I am pretty familiar with the wedding scene as I grew up playing guitar in weddings, being ushers, and candle lighters. As I got older I began to be a groomsman, then best man, while still playing guitar in weddings. Then I became the groom!!! (My favorite wedding ever!) More recently I began officiating weddings as the pastor (in fact I am doing that later today over on the coast), and this year marked the year I took my photography business to the wedding scene.

I love weddings, and it is fun to be able to see weddings now from the photographers stand point. Trying to capture the amazing moments, and create a few as well.

Here are some of the images that I got from the wedding. I will also put a link at the bottom of the page with a few more pictures to view.

http://photography.jonknapp.net/photography/geist/

Laughlin Family Pictures

2009-08-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

I was recently able to do a photo shoot with the Laughlin Family. The family is very photogenic, so my time with them was fun, and I am pleased with the images we got.

It was especially meaningful as their oldest Stephen was home for a little over a week from the Navy. So we were able to take pictures of him while he was in uniform. You can view more photos of the family here.

Now is a great time to get family pictures done as the weather is nice, you can use the pictures in a couple months for your Christmas cards, or even Christmas gifts!

East Coast Trip

2009-07-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

This month was the first time that I have gotten to visit the East Coast. We packed our bags, Lynsey's parents and grandma, and headed East to visit Family in Connecticut. While there we took a couple of day trips. The first to New York. We left at 4:30 am to catch a train into the city. While there we got to visit Liberty and Ellis Islands, see ground zero, times square, Rockefeller plaza, and central park. The city skyline is impressive to see, and I was doing my best to capture a couple of worthy photographs of them.

Our next day trip was to Boston.

While in Boston, I was excited to see the rich history the city has to offer, so I drug the family along the freedom trail, which is a line that goes through the city leading you to sites of historical significance in Boston. On the left you can see a picture of the Old North Church where Paul Revere road his horse into town to light the lantern warning of the invasion by the British (though at that point we were all British, a technicality they like to point out on the trail).

The picture to the right is said to be the oldest pulpit still in use in the United States. Made in 1717. You can find it at the King's Chapel in Boston. Being a pastor that sort of thing interests me.

And of course no trip to Boston would be complete (if you are a runner) without a picture of the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Maybe someday, I will run across that legitimately (without blocking traffic with my camera!).

If you are interested in seeing more of my picture from the trip, I have broken them up into 4 different links.

For my favorite pictures for Boston and New York click here.

While there I also took some nice pictures of Lynsey's family. On this site you will also see Ashley's (Lynsey's 27 year old Cousin who past away last February) graveside. To see the family pictures click here.

The rest of the pictures I will link are more of snap shots to document our travels. If you are not already board to tears looking at pictures (or if you have nothing better to do.) you can see more family pictures here, and a bunch of miscellaneous pictures here.

New Equipment

2009-07-02T19:52:00.001-07:00

I purchased some new equipment for my photography business recently to take my indoor photography up a notch. I decided on a couple of Vivtar 285HV flashes and a back drop.

I was excited to put them to work right away to capture a profile shot for a client. I had a great time with the shoot, and we got several images that I was really happy with. Here is one of them.

I also recently photographed a wedding. I will try to get pictures of that up soon.

Family Camp-Out

2009-07-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

A tradition that has lasted over 20 years . . . our family camp-out. We camp at Lake Siskyou, which is beautiful and has a wonderful view of Mt. Shasta. Every year is a bit of a different crowds as some years members of the family are unable to come. Last year I missed as I was in Honduras. But I was excited to go this year.

Here is a photo of the family right before we took a hike.

Lynsey and I went on a 12 mile run while down there, to try to keep our miles up. It was hot, and had a little less oxygen as we were about 3500 ft. But all things considered we did surprisingly well.

Below is a couple of pictures I took of Stellar Jay's who were looking for a hand out.

While I didn't get to many pictures of the Mountain this year, I did get one as night was falling. It is hard to see on this page as the picture is so small. But if you click on it, you can see the stars shining over the mountain. I have always been fascinated by stars. It was fun to be able to capture their light next to a mountain I love.

Runner's Prayer

2009-05-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

I have been a jogger most of my adult life, but this past year I have grown in my love for running. I am currently training for the Helvetia Half Marathon, and my goal is to run the enjoyable 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. We will see how close I come.

One of my inspirations for running (rather than just jogging) is my friend Darin Swanson who is also a race organizer. I had the privilege of doing an opening prayer at the first race he and his wife put on earlier this spring.

Just for fun I thought I would post the prayer I wrote for his event here in case anyone else gets inspiration from it.

Our Father,

We thank you for this day and the beauty of the world you have created.

As we begin today’s journey, may we remember Your presence with us.

As we see Your creation, may we remember that it was You who created us and know us perfectly.

As we run beside another, may we remember Your call to love each other, and honor the uniqueness of each individual.

As we breathe deeply the life giving spring air, may we remember that you are the giver of life.

We pray for the courage, determination, and strength to not only finish our race today, but overcome the challenges we face.

We thank you for the ability to run, to be able run together, and to have a Reason to Run.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Booking Now for 2009

2009-02-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

I am just now starting to book my 2009 calendar for Photography. Need senior pictures? Family pictures (any family members coming to town)? Pictures of kids? Wedding? Give me a call or e-mail to book a time slot for this spring or summer. Pricing and contact info here.

Black Butte

2009-02-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

This February Lynsey and I celebrated our 7th anniversary! We always like to take some vacation time around our anniversary to get away and make some memories. This year we had the opportunity to go to Black Butte Ranch.

It was beautiful. The first few days were clear, and you could see the mountains, then it turned to snow which made everything peaceful.

If you want to see more pictures from our Black Butte 2009 trip, click here.
You can also see that I updated the pictures of Lynsey and I from this last year here.

Humming Birds

2009-01-03T18:32:00.001-08:00

As a Photographer, I have this unofficial (undeveloped) list of things that I want to take pictures of that I haven't yet. A humming bird was on the list. Humming birds are pretty awesome because they flap their wings so fast that they can hover in one place for a long time (without wind). Something not to many birds can boast. After Christmas I was at my Dad's in Rocklin California for a few days visiting. He has a humming bird feeder, so I figured I should get the shot I have been after.

The Shot

The Info
To get this shot I used my fastest lens, the Canon 85 mm 1.8. I set the ISO at 200 to make the senor a little more sensitive to light/speed, and picked a wide aperture of 2.2 all in an effort to bring the most important element of shutter speed in this picture to 1/3200th of a second (so I could stop the wings). I picked this as my favorite shot as he is still in flight, is in sharp focus (thank you canon lens), and has his focus on that sweet nectar inside the fake red flower. I also like that his landing gear is out and ready.

The Outtakes
Just for fun I thought I would post some of the outtakes as well. Pictures that I liked but that didn't quite make the cut. Here they are.

While I really liked this guys wings, but he wasn't in as sharp of focus (hard to do with such a narrow depth of field with how quickly they move), you couldn't see his feet, and the sky in the background was all blown out.

I liked the shape of his wings, but he wasn't as interested in the fake red flower.

This little guy was very cute, and flapping his wings, but was not in flight.

Oh yet . . .
One more thing. While we were there, there were wild turkey's walking down my Dad's street. Thanksgiving, anyone?

Alaska in Oregon

2008-12-21T10:23:00.001-08:00

Alaska shared some of it's cold air with Oregon, combined with our constant moisture this time of year it was a recipe for over a foot of snow at my house. I haven't gotten pictures of the full extent of the snow yet, but yesterday I did take some pictures of our Dog enjoying it. You can see some of the images here.

Her favorite toys are flower pots. She will spend hours chasing them around the yard. Some times she will put them on her head and run around so that you can't even see her head. You can see some pictures of her playing with one on the above link.

While the snow has been a lot of fun, it has also been a little disappointing. We have been putting a lot of work into our Christmas services at church. We had to cancel our Christmas Sunday service this morning. I am really hoping that things improve enough so that everyone can make it to our Christmas eve services on Wednesday. We have lots of great special music planned.

Enjoy the snow, and the slower pace of life that it is forcing us into this Christmas. It is a great time to remember that Christmas isn't about business, but the simplicity and of what happened 2000 years ago.

Merry Christmas!

Give and Gobble

2008-11-26T10:28:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody (a day early). One of the ways that Lynsey and I are going to make our Thanksgiving Day happy is by running Sherwood's 10K Give and Gobble race! Profits go the the Oregon food bank, and we get to feel better about eating lots of food because we ran just over 6 miles! It's a win-win.

Later that day we are having 14 people and 3 LARGE dogs over to celebrate the day together, and be thankful for family.

May your Thanksgiving day be blessed.

New Photos

2008-10-07T19:28:00.001-07:00

This last week Lynsey and I got to escape to the Oregon coast for a few days of vacation. It was a great time of relaxation. While I was there I read through 6 books on photography focusing on lighting and portraits. I also got to "make" (as one of the books called it) lots of pictures. This picture I made of the lighthouse is one of my favorites from last week.

You can see the other ones I took from the trip here.

Also if you are new reader to my website, make sure you browse the links on the right hand side of the page. Feel free to look through both my business and personal photography.

Senior Season

2008-09-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying this fall. In addition to the joys that normally come with fall . . . cool crisp mornings combine with warm afternoon sun . . . trees turning beautiful colors and beginning to shed their leaves . . . this fall I have also gotten to spend some of my time doing something that I love. Taking pictures.

This is my first year as a weekend warrior. A lovely term I picked up from my friend Chris Pierce which refers to the type of professional photographer that has a separate day job, but spends his free time on the weekends making a little money doing what he loves . . . photography.

As this is peak season for Senior Pictures I have been getting quite a few senior picture sessions lined up. Each session I have is different and wonderful at the same. Take for example my most recent shoot. It involved a very large horse and it's very cute senior. It was the first time I have tried to do a photo shoot with a horse. I learned a lot for next time, and still got some pretty good pictures along the way. Here is one of them.

Here are a few other Seniors I have taken pictures for.

If you want to see more pictures . . . on the right hand column there are links to pictures I have taken for people, as well as pricing and contact information.

I am continually putting more pictures up there along the way, so check back often.

My African Safari

2008-09-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day, Lynsey and I had a zoo day! It had been a couple of years since we had been to the zoo, and ever since I got my 70-300 IS canon zoom lens I have been itching to go, and see if I could get any good pictures of animals.

The "kitty's" are my favorite. This picture of the tiger is probably my favorite picture I took of the day, but if you want to see the other pictures as well. Just click on this link.

August Sale

2008-08-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't noticed the new link under my photography business, I have updated my prices for 2008 Senior Pictures.

Check it out. But in addition I thought I would run a sale this August for Senior Pictures. If you book a sitting with me this August, instead of the normal $125 to purchase the digital images, I will be knocking off $50! So for rest of the month you can purchase the images for $75. All you have to do is e-mail or call me book an appointment and mention you saw the add on my website.

Senior Pictures

2008-08-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have recently been expanding my photography business from only focusing on scenic and nature shots, to now working with portrait photography.

This week I did senior pictures for Brittnie, and I was very pleased with how they turned out. You can take a tour of the pictures here.

In addition to senior pictures, I have also started taking family pictures. This weekend I also photographed Brittnie's family . . . I will post images soon. Stay tuned.

My Dog: Lottie

2008-08-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today I took pictures of my big slobbery dog. Her name is Lottie. It you want to see more picture, check them out.

My Grandma

2008-07-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

My Grandparents have been a big part of my life. My grandma taught me how to play the organ, and help me develop my gift of music, and my grandpa help me learn how to fix things and use tools. They both taught me a lot about the bible, and how to live a life worthy of the calling we have received.

This year they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary. It goes without saying that they modeled a healthy marriage for me (though I wanted to say it anyway).

On June 17th, 2008 my Grandma's life on earth came to an end. I think most of us are in a type of denial that we will ever really die (at least we sometimes live like we are). Yet getting old, and dieing is a natural part of this life, and it happens to everyone. We can't escape it. We can try to run, but we won't succeed.

The hope I have is that though her earthly life gave way, today she is in the presence of Jesus and has found a new life that is truly wonderful.

I like this picture of my Grandparents, my mom, Lynsey and I. It was taken Oct. 14, 2006 and is one of my favorite pictures of them in recent year.

Audio and Powerpoint for our Honduras Report

2008-07-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

For everyone who wants to hear the report from the Honduras Team, but you were unable to be at our church this last Sunday I thought I would make it available on my blog.

First, here is the audio file of our report.
Also, here is the power point presentation of our report (lots of pictures included) . . . feel free to click along through it as you listen to the audio.
And if you don't have the 2007 version of power point, you can download a free viewer here.

This of course is not quite the same as being there, but hopefully it is still impactful.

Honduras Report

2008-07-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

This Sunday in church is our report back from the Honduras Trip. As I am preparing pictures, and thoughts about the trip. The verse that is stuck in my head is Isaiah 58:9-10.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

Honduras Pictures

2008-07-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

I finally was able to put my pictures together from my mission trip to Honduras.
You can click here to see the pictures, or also click on the Honduras 2008 link on the right side of the blog.

While I took most of these pictures, the last 27 pictures were taken by other team members. I still posted them here as I felt they were important pictures, that I wasn't able to get.

Enjoy.

We're Home

2008-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

The team is safely back from Honduras. Today I started in on my e-mail back home. Already it was full with lots of encouraging e-mails. Here are a few highlights.

1) A couple months ago Juan Carlos was breaking into the Micah project and stealing from them. Once the boys found out who did it, they started to minister to him. During our time their, our team got to talk with him quite a bit, and ended up leading him to the Lord, and baptizing him. We just got a report back that he was in church on Sunday and is beginning to get plugged into discipleship. The commitment was the real deal, and we are excited to see what God has for him.

2) We are getting lots of reports back from the pastors about how much the conference meant to them. We hear that they came home renewed, motivated, and changed. I know at least one of the youth wants to go into ministry as well specifically because of this conference. This conference is something that they would really like to do again.

3) I got quite a few e-mail from the team, still basking in the glow of all the the Lord did, and what they are coming away from the experience with.
I am in the process of beginning to sort through pictures. I will get some up here on my site in the near future.

Things have been busy. Once I got back, I went down to Eugene to co-officiate at my grandma's memorial service. It went really well. I will try to put another post about that with a picture sometime in the near future.

Reflections

2008-06-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well the trip is nearing completion. Yesterday I got the chance to go to the city dump and minister to street kids.

There are probably 2000 people that live in the city dump. All day long they fight with the birds and others to pick over the trash as dump truck unload their loads. It is a scene that tears at the hearts. We handed out water, and led a couple people to the Lord while we were there. When I get back I will upload pictures. To expereince it for a few minutes is tough, and to think that this is life for so many. I am greatful for the Micah Project who has launch a ministry to these folks, and built a school so that the children could at least get an education and some day get out of the dump.

Then that afternoon we went to minister to the street kids, which for me as even harder than being at the dumb. There are probably about 1500 street kids in Teguc, most of which are addicted to yellow Glue. The effects of the glue make cocanine and heroine look like very minor drugs. They have coke bottles or baby jars with the glue in it that they breath all day long to stay perpetually high.

So Brian Wiggs led us into the heart of the city where the street kids hang out, and we started our own little Bridgetown ministry. We brought food, clothes, and washed their feet. While down their you experience almost every emotion possible . . . love, anger, fear, compassion, patience, hurt, mercy . . . and all the while just the ambient fumes from their bottles makes the head light. It is incredibly raw, primal, and you wonder if there is any hope.

Then you remember Marvin . . . the young boy that only the night before celebrated his one year anniversary in the Micah house. Just a year earlier he was one of these homeless kids on yellow glue . . . now he is a well behaved, wonderful, loving, growing boy who was rescued off the streets by Michael Miller (Micah Project) and now he has a hope and a future.

One thing I noticed was that we were noticed. We walked with our things right those the market place, and people noticed the way the Americans with the Micah boys came down to wash the feet off the people that the society casts aside. We got many smiles, and waves, and police officers who paid attentions.

As a team we as still processing all that we have experienced, and we are listening to what God has for us as a result.

One a side note I must mention it has been cool to have so many people gifted in evangelism on our trip, it was fun to watch. At one point a piece of luggage fell out of a truck, while I jumped out of the following van to pick up the luggage Mary Hunter jump out of the Van to share Christ with a girl on the side of the road. While I was filling the truck with gas Mary was leading another child to Christ.

I have no idea how many people came to Christ, but our team has truly made the most of every oppurtuntiy. This was a remarkable trip.

Tonight we go one last night to the Micah Project to share testimonies, then tomorrow we bus back to San Pedro so we can fly out the next day.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We truly felt them every step of the way. And God did excedingly beyond my expectations every step of the way.

Micah

2008-06-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Most of the team is feeling better, and words can not describe all that we are experiencing.

The Micah Project is way better than I imagined, and Brian Wiggs is so right for this place!

I am about to leave for breakfast, so I must go, but I at least wanted to put something up.

Update

2008-06-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been moving fast so I have not had any time to post in the last couple of days. Here are a few updates.

1. The pastors conference was wonderful in everyway. I was so proud of the team. We had about 120 come to the conference. The conference was a combination of our team leading sessions as well as key Honduras Pastors presenting. So the conference had a good Honduran feel to it. This was the first time a conference like this was put on for the whole family, so consequently not only pastors and their wifes were encouraged, but their children were ministered to as well. For example this was the first time the youth had never gotten to talk about the pressures of being pastors kids with their peers, and we had two people on our team working with the youth who were pastors kids so they could relate to them. In the shortness of this post I cant discribe all that God did, but we had a testimony time at the end of the conference where the pastors talked about what the conference meant to them. Some of them that shared were in tears discribing how this is the first time in 9 years that they had been married that they were able to go anywhere as a whole family. The conference was good beyond our expectations. God did all the heavy lifting we just showed up with servants hearts. I feel the churches will be strengthen as a result of this.

2. We are safely inTeguc tonight, and we begin ministry with the Micah Project tomorrow. We had a nice dinner with all the micah boys in their home tonight, and are excited to start the ministry with them tomorrow.

3. You can pray for the health of our team. There are about 4 or 5 of us that are struggling with our health (stomachs), including myself. So your prayers are greatly appreciated. Other than that things are going great. There is a good unity on the team, and we are in good spirits.

The Lord is sustaining us, and I believe using us for his purposes. We are blessed.

Outreach

2008-06-19T20:32:00.001-07:00

Tonight was a night of outreach. We split the team up into two groups, and headed off to two different locations. One team to a young church plant, and the other a ministry sight for a YWAM missionary couple. We put on a dinner for the community at both sights.

I was at the YWAM location. It was an awesome night. After dinner the our guys played basketball with the Honduran guys. We took a half time and Brad Butcher shared the gospel, and several guys prayed to receive Christ. We connected the guys with the local missionaries for follow up but need to be praying for them, and they would continue to connect with the missionaries.

While that was going on, in the house the gospel was being shared by the missionary and a couple of Honduran mother´s gave their hearts to Jesus and were prayed for. This was exciting as the missionaries have been working with the ladies, and we got to see some of the fruit of their labors.

Amy Neilson also got to have a great talk with a young lady for quite a while one on one, and she gave her heart to the Lord in tears tonight as well. It was an amazing night.

I have yet to hear about the other teams location.

Tomorrow we begin the pastor´s conference. Please stand with us in prayer for that. Pray that this would be a huge weekend for the pastor´s and their families. We get the sense that there are a lot of things that God wants to do in their lives and hearts, and we want to be used by Him to accomplish God´s purpose.

The team remains healthy and in good spirits. We are anxious to start the conference tomorrow.

Thank you for the continued prayers.

The Kingdom

2008-06-18T21:32:00.001-07:00

We got a good sleep last night, and the whole team is healthy.

Today really had a great day. The first part of the day we spent time organizing everything to receive about 140 people for the pastor's conference that starts on Friday. Our plans are really coming along and we are excited.

The second half of the day, we exposed the team to 3 different orphanage ministries, ran by 3 different missionaries. Each one was unique, and wonderful. They all showed the creativity of God, how God uses different types of people in different ways, to accomplish his purposes. In the case of these three ministries, taking care of orphans.

The three places we visited were www.providenceworldministries.org, www.destinodelreino.org, www.jesuslovesthelittlechildren.org.

Today had a large impact on the team. As we debriefed the day tonight the was much conversation about how God wants to use each of us for his Kingdom. Everyone of us has a unique call on our lives (Eph 2:10) . . . God waits for us to say yes to whatever it is, and the plans God has are beyond what we could hope or even dream of.

There is much more to write, but it is about 11:00, and I need to get some rest. We feel prayed for!

We're Here!

2008-06-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

God has blessed our Honduras Team with safe travel. All our flights were on time, and it was pretty uneventful which is great when traveling. The team is tired . . . I got about 2 hours of sleep last night on our flight to Houston.

We had a team meeting tonight and talked about Mary and Martha. How Martha was consumed by task, and Mary soaked up the relationship with Jesus. Our prayer is that we would be like Mary. That we would not be only consumed by the task before us, but that we would look for relationship with others, and relationship with God. A relationship that is constantly seeking God in prayer.

We can't tell you how much all of your prayers mean to us, and we are dependent upon God each step of the way.

Please pray we get a good night sleep tonight so we can hit the ground running tomorrow.

Honduras

2008-06-12T15:36:00.001-07:00

I am about to leave on a mission trip to Honduras with 21 other people. While in Honduras the first week we will be putting on a Pastor's conference for pastor's and their families in Siguatepeque. The maximum number of people we can accommodate has signed up for the conference, so we are excited about the turnout.

The second half of the trip will will be ministering at the Micah Project where we will be working with families who live in the city dump, and plan to build a home for a poor family.

Whenever I have access to the internet I will be posting updates here about our experiences. I will also be taking my camera and hoping to get some great photographs.

Canvas

2008-06-07T13:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was an exciting day for me, as I finally printed one of my images on Canvas. I was amazed with how well it turned out.

I printed my sunset toast picture in a 16X20 format. I am pricing it at $225 if anyone is interested.

Here are a couple pictures of the finished product.

The Wedding Weekend

2008-06-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the wedding weekend. I went to two weddings this weekend. The first one I officiated: LeAnne Ramirez vowing her life to Brennan John Hidde. It was beautiful and wonderful. As I was the pastor at that wedding I was not able to take any pictures.

The second wedding I went to was Michelle Sandilands marrying Kevin. This was also a beautiful wedding. As I was not the photographer at the wedding my ability to take pictures was limited. All but 2 off these pictures were taken from my seat as I was trying to dodge peoples heads to get the shot. But I got some that turned out pretty good. Check them out.

Both Couples are so great and I wish them a lifetime of happiness together.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I preached at church (I will upload the mp3 soon), I preached on freedom as it seemed like a timely topic for memorial weekend. Today is the day we observe memorial day. Memorial day has taken on new meaning for me in the last few years. A couple years ago I lost a friend in the Iraq war. His name was Eric. Today I am remembering him, as well as the other 105 Oregon soldiers who have died while serving over in this most recent conflict. Not to mention all the soldier who have died over the last 200+ years protecting our freedom. We owe a debt to them we could not possible repay.

Wallowa Lake

2008-05-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

A week ago I was in Eastern Oregon at Wallowa Lake with Lynsey. My camera had a great time. Just about everything over there was pushing it's way in to the composition in my view finder. All I had to do was press a button. Oh yeah, Lynsey and I had a great time also.

I took about 600 pictures over 5 days. Here are about 60 pictures to give you an idea of what it is like in the Wallowas . . . the little Swiss Alps of Oregon.

Loyalties Aside

2008-05-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

I think one of my better qualities is that I am a pretty loyal person. I am a loyal husband, loyal employee, loyal friend, etc. But this last Saturday I had to put my loyalties aside . . .

You see Lynsey had a jewelry show at OSU this past Saturday. Growing up in Eugene, I happen to be a loyal Duck fan. I bleed green and yellow (maybe that is a bit of an overstatement). Anyway, the whole day I found myself selling Jewelry to Beavers.

It actually turned out to be a good day. The more I thought about it the more I liked taking money from those who wear orange and black.

That same day after the show, I was driving up to Lynsey's parents house on Bald Peak, as they were watching our dog for the day, and I snapped this shot.

Prints for Sale

2008-05-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

I finally finished getting up some of the prints that I am currently selling. You can view them by clicking on the Prints for Sale link on the right side of my blog. If you see a print you want to buy from me just let me know. Otherwise, I just hope you enjoy looking at them.

Face Lift

2008-04-29T22:06:00.001-07:00

My blog has needed attention for some time. I thought giving it a face lift might help a little. I hope you enjoy the new look.

Firsts

2008-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am hoping to have a "first" under my belt. I am hoping to sell my first picture. While just recently I have put some of my prints in a great store, this weekend I am also donating a print to my churches annual missions fund raiser (the chili cook-off) for their silent auction. If that print ends up selling it will be my first image I've sold. Everyone photographer has to have a first sale, and what better to do with the money than to support the mission of my church.

Here is a link to some of the pictures I have taken in the last few months that are currently for sale. I am planning on donating the Mount Hood image for the cook-off!

Enjoy.

2008-04-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

It has almost been a month since Lynsey and I got back from Maui. So I figured now would be a good time to post my favorite picture of us that I took over there. If we don't look like we are in Maui in this picture, that is because we woke up at 3:00 AM to drive 10,000 feet up Haleakala to get some pictures of the sun rising at the top of the Volcano. It was in the 30's up there.

Today is an exciting day, not only because it will be 75 degrees today but it is also the first day that the one of my favorite restaurants opens for the season in Portland . . . the Island Cafe. Right next to the cafe is a great shop on the dock called Point of Sail. Lynsey sells her Jewelry out of the shop, and it looks like Point of Sail might be the first store to sell my photography. Over the last couple of years I have begun trying to capture images I think people might like to buy. This is my first attempt at organizing myself and trying to get into a store, so we will see how it goes.

Moon

2008-02-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

This Last week we had a lunar eclipse. Here is a picture I got of it.

Photography

2008-02-17T16:57:00.001-08:00

I have been a terrible blogger this last year, several things have contributed to that . . . time, lack of blog purpose, etc.

Anyway, I got a new lens for my camera recently and it has inspired me to get out and take more pictures!

My friends ask to see them, so I thought I would start trying to post pictures on my blog on a more regular basis. We will start with this one.

A week ago Saturday Lynsey and I celebrated our 6th anniversary! We went out to the wild life refuge in Sherwood, where a pair of bald eagles live. They were quite a ways off, but I managed to get this picture.

My Friend

2008-01-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

You might want to check out my friend's blog. Aaron cares about my blogging so much he wrote code to count how many days it has been since my last post right next to the link to my blog. Let's see if it works. Who knows, maybe it will inspire me to blog more.

8 Months

2007-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Wow. About 8 months since my last post.

Anyway, One Oct. 31 Lynsey and I hung out with Brian and Robin and went trick or treat-ing with their son Ben. Lynsey was a little cold, so I told Brian if he took this picture I would put it up on my blog. I think Brian has missed me blogging.

lynseyrichelle.com

2007-02-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know, Lynsey is a jewelery designer. She just recently got her website up (though it is not totally finished). Check it out lynseyrichelle.com.

Photo in Need of a Caption

2007-02-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

Lynsey and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary. We took some time away in our favorite vacation spot (Maui). While we were there, we did lots of fun thing. Here's one of them . . . a picture of me boogie boarding . . . kind of. I thought this was a photo in need of a caption. Feel free to offer a suggestion.

Poverty

2006-12-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a the Link to a must watch video. The person behind this foundation was the Nobel Peace Prize winner for this year because of his innovative way to help people pull themselves out of poverty!

Peace

2006-11-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine gave me this verse today . . . I have been thinking on it today.

Isaiah 32:17, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace: the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever."

God's Story is Bigger Than Our Story

2006-10-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Just recently a person that our church helped to get into a rehab program for alcohol, had a major set back. Today I found out what apartment he is in and thought I would just walk across the street and visit him.

It turns out that the apartment number they told me was the wrong one, and that in addition this man just went into a new program so he was no longer living there.

BUT, to my shock the person who opened the door when I was looking for this man was Kimberly!!!!! (No connection at all to this guy I was looking for).

For those of you who do not know who I am talking about you can catch up by clicking on these links of previous posts.
What are you giving your live to?
Update on Kimberly
Update on Kimberly 2

My only connection with Kimberly was for a couple of days back in March in a very difficult season of her life, and I haven't had any communication with her since.

Until today when God has me standing at her door looking for someone else. She opened the door and said, "I know you." She just moved into the apartment I think a couple days ago. I helped her move a couch in and was able to come in and talk to her for a while, give her a bible, and they are planning on coming to our church this Sunday!!! I prayed a blessing on their lives, and left.

Following Jesus is an exciting adventure where you never know what story God is weaving together behind the scene. You just live the part you are handed each day!

A Franciscan Blessing

2006-10-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

This has been one of my favorite blessings for a while now. Thought I would post it. Bless someone you know today!

"May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim."

Calvary Love

2006-10-19T14:50:00.001-07:00

I ran across this quote from Amy Carmichael that I thought was sooo good: A prophetic voice to the church I believe (really a prophetic voice to me).

"If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou has not recieved?" then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love."

New Post

2006-10-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am. I guess I fell off the blogging wagon pretty hard (over a month). I have some of my friends telling me that if I don't post soon they are going to unlink my blog from theirs. Hmmmm. Not to name any names (Brian and Aaron), but I guess I will just take it as a compliment as they want to hear what I have to say.

I plan to post more about Becoming a missional church. Much more is going on here, but I have spent so much time trying to form one, it has limited my time writing about it.

OK, having said that, here is the whole reason for this post (besides to getting Aaron and Brian off my back). Brian McLaren has traveled to about 20 countries this last year and has encountered Christians from other parts of the world who would like to speak to Christians in the US. My ears automatically perk up as I was to learn from the body of Christ around the world, and see how we are perceived.

I would encourage you to listening to these brothers and sisters trying to speak to us in love.

You might read Proverbs 12:15, before you read the letters.

A Missional Church -- Part 2

2006-08-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

How does that saying go?
"You can not lead where you will not go, and you can not teach what you do not know."

That for me sums up what part 2 is all about in my journey. In a sense my disillusionment with the church was really disillusionment with myself. Questions came flooding in . . . you can't just point the finger at what the church is not doing you have to first look at yourself. How many significant relationship do I have with people outside of the church? How much does my life resemble how Jesus walked (remember 1 John 2:3-6)? What have I done for the hungry? The poor? The prisoner? The naked? The sinner? (Remember Matt 25:31ff) Who have I brought into the Kingdom recently? How have I transformed the culture with the Gospel? How well do I really understand the Kingdom of God? (Granted it is ultimately God doing those things, but he is trying to do them through me . . . )

Sure I can parse Greek verbs, or tell you what a hortatory subjunctive is in Greek grammar . . . I could describe the difference between supralapsarianism and sublapsarianism (though I can't spell them) . . . but unfortunately those things aren't on the list of things that pleases God.

As Anne Lamott once told me (in an audio book on my ipod), "In order to get in to heaven, you need a reference letter from the poor." Though clearly a reference letter won't save you, God does that in Jesus, however, there is some truth to those words. James 2 talks about a faith that results in good works, in feeding the hungry, and Matthew 25 isn't too off from that.

What difference has my faith made? Am I bringing about God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven?

So in the last couple of years (and I am still on this journey--probably always will be) these questions have led me to try to form my life around the mission of God.

Here is a couple things that changed:
1) I began a study on the kingdom of God and the gospel studying the life of Jesus in the gospels, so that I would have a better picture of how I am to live. (If you are really bored you can read the last year of my blog to gain some of the fruit from my study.)
2) In trying to live out these things I stumbled across Bridgetown ministries, and serve there with the homeless. Feeding them, clothing them, washing feet, cutting hair, and just loving them. This experience helped to form my view of the world, more with the eyes of Jesus.
3) I began looking to develop new relationship with neighbors, friends, and anyone who I could find who were not following Jesus, just to love them and maybe inspire them to seek to follow Jesus as well.

There were some other things as well. But the point is I began to change. My perspective on life began to change, and my perspective towards the church began to change.

So the things I was learning, I thought maybe I could teach . . . the things I was doing I thought, maybe others could join me. And I set out on a journey to not only live a missional life, but to actually help form a missional church.

To be continued . . .

A Missional Church -- Part 1

2006-08-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

One of my biggest passions both personally and professionally (as a pastor) is to help to form a truly missional community/church that transforms a culture with the gospel: the good news of the kingdom of God, and of the King who gave his life, was raised again, and rules with goodness, mercy, love, and justice.

So I thought I would start a new series of posts on my blog to tell a story . . . my story, but not mine alone, it is a story about my church . . . better yet it is a story about God. Some of this story has already been written, some is yet to come about, but I hope and I dream.

Allow me the freedom to begin telling my story with the analogy of falling in love. For those of you who have been in a lasting relationship you know what it is like to fall in love. When you first start a relationship you enter what I call the cloud 9 phase, where you see only the best in the person. Life could not be any better, you think about that person all day long, your life is consumed with them: they have no faults. This phase can last months and for some even years. But one day you hit the second stage, and disillusionment sets in . . . You begin to see the faults of the other person. The newness of your love has worn off, and you finally see that person for who they are: messed up (let's be honest, we are all messed up). This then brings us to the 3rd stage of a relationship if you make it . . . Recommitment. This is when love that lasts finally begins forming. When you love a person despite their weaknesses.

This is my story. Not about a relationship with a person but with the church. For about the first 27 years of my life I had largely been in a cloud 9 relationship with the church. At the age of 12 I wanted to be a pastor, and I pursued that with my life. I went to school, got a bachelor's in Ministry, a master in divinity (whatever that means), and even got a job as a pastor (which I still have an am very thankful for).

But a few years ago I began reading some books, taking some doctorate classes, noticing things in the Bible, and I came to some simple conclusions. 1) The church exists to reconcile the world back to God. 2) The Church (at least the Western Church) is doing a terrible job in this. Not only are we not gaining ground we are losing ground. 3) A question: What I am giving my life to? Is it worth it? Can I say I actually pleased God with all of this? This is all meaningless if we are not the church God wants us to be.

It was at this point that disillusionment set in for me. Though I personally attended (pastored) what I would consider to be a great church, but we had so few stories of making a difference in our community (BTW, I use the past tense, only because I believe we are a different church now then we were a few years ago). When asked the question, "If your church were to just disappear, would your community cry, would they miss you?" I did not know how to answer that. If this was all there was, I was done.

I hear of so many stories of disillusionment with pastors, and with Christians over the church (universal) now days. But different people react differently to disillusionment. Some leave and only talk about what the church is doing wrong, others leave and are actually hostile to the church, still others leave and just try to start over and plant other churches but at least are gracious about it, and yet others recommit. They recognize that the church is the bride of Christ, that He loves her, has not neglected her, and deserves His best, so they stay and love and try to turn the ship.

This is what happened to me. My disillusionment turned into a recommitment: a deeper love, a deeper devotion, a deeper passion to become, and help form the church into what it is support to be. A church focused on Jesus which lives out His mission in the world, and actually transforms the world. In a word a Missional Church.

This was where my passion was born . . .

Honduras Video

2006-08-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the video I put together from our Honduras Trip.

Enjoy.

Destino del Reino

2006-08-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I mentioned that I might tell a little of the story of one of the children's homes we visited that was amazing. It is Destino del Reino or "destiny in the Kingdom." Rhonda Jackson (picture on the left) is one of the founders and the whole story of the children's home/school is truly a God story.

Here are a few of the highlights (I hope I don't mess this up too bad):
God called Rhonda to Honduras and she went not even knowing exactly what see would be doing. She spent a couple years learning in Honduras learning the language and seeking God before she got the vision for this home. During that time she lived in a terrible part of Honduras where the Honduran would not even go. She did not know it, However, because she was living with a family who had killed more people than anyone else so no one messed with her. One day she was reading the bible and realized how many babies where abandoned in scripture that God used as leaders in the kingdom (Jospeph, Moses, Daniel, Ester, and Samuel . . . to name a few) and she realized God was asking her to start a home for abandoned kids who would grow up to be leaders in the Kingdom of God.

Once she had the vision land was given to her . . . as much land as she could every use, but the experts told her there was no water there. In reading scripture she believed God promised her "abundant water" and spent thousands drilling against everyone's advise . . . 600 ft. down. "Well," she hit water so deep and so plentiful that it is one of the only places in Honduras you can drink out of the tap.

As time went on and they started to pray for electricity, and Houston power and light donated $27,000 in material and the man power to get it done (they had never done anything like that before).

They started a school that has the best education around, and they only let the poor in. A school that is bi-lingual and helps kids learn trades.

The other picture on your left is Brian holding a baby that was left to die in a field shortly after birth. Rhonda stumbled on to her, brought her home, and now this child will grow up to be a leader in the Kingdom of God.

God's name is lifted up and so highly glorified by this ministry that I have no doubt God will continue to supply all their needs. It was a night and day difference between the government ran orphanage where there was no hope and the kids grow up as if they were in prison with no love.

We have people from our church now thinking about giving their lives to this place and moving there, but only God know the future.

Honduras Pictures

2006-08-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am just starting to go through my pictures. While I was there I took almost 600 pictures, I thought I would put my favorite 111 on the web for you all to see.

Just click on this link, or under Blog Map on the side click on Pictures I've Taken, then on Honduras.

Enjoy.

Back in the Office

2006-08-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my first day back in the office since I got back from Honduras. In looking back I am amazed at how things when better than I expected in every category. From our ability to bless the church and hear about their work, to our relationship with our missionaries, to the unity of the team and how God modeled our hearts. Everything went so well because of the Lord . . . All Glory to Him.

The team is coming back with a desire to continue ministry in hospitals and with the fatherless (orphans) and the elderly here in our community. What we learned and how God spiritually formed us just can't stop with Honduras.

Jessica . . . Since you commented that the story of the home visits blessed you, I will tell the follow-up story to that.

The last day we were with the church we printed off the picture that we took of the lady who accepted the Lord with the team, and grabbed a bible and went back to follow up and give it to here. This time just with Brian W., Tyson, Sara, and I.

When we got to the house her husband came out and told us she was not there. So we gave him the stuff, asked if he would give it to his wife, and walked away. We didn't get more than a half a block before Brian stopped and asked, "Why didn't we ask if Christ was in his heart?" Fear over came my heart as I knew where that question was leading.

So we all got our nerves up and turned around back to the house and got invited in. Brian told him the story of what happened with his wife, and asked if he knew Jesus. He said he went to church a long time ago, but hasn't in a long time.

I told the story of the prodigal son to him, and that the Father is God, and that he wants you back. You can take many steps away from God, but it just takes one step to come back to him. He wanted prayer, so we pray for him.

It was awesome to see how God ordained that visit. Had the wife had been there we would never have talked to the husband. Now they are able to share together their visits with us and there desire to follow the Lord. The pastor will be following up on them soon as well.

So the story continues . . .

One Last Quick Post

2006-08-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

We are currently at Patrick and Debbie's house for lunch, and are about to leave for Teguc. We had a great time with the church saying good-bye last night, and today got to go to a children's home that was amazing . . . might save that for another post when I have more time.

Anyway, I have to make this quick, but just wanted to put one last post up.
Lynsey has not been feeling well the last couple days, so you could pray for her. But we got her some medicine today, and it looks like she is doing better.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Prayer Request

2006-08-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Today will be our last day with the church, then tomorrow we drive North.

You can be praying for the health of our team, several have become mildly sick.

Thank you.

Update

2006-08-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

The last couple days has been amazing.
Yesterday we spent the day in our second day of construction. The relationships with the people are going deeper, and the church is slowly getting built.

Today was a blessing from the Lord. We spent the morning at a hospital, and split up into 3 teams. One to minister to the men, one to minister to the women, and one to minister to the children and parents of the children. I went to the children´s ward in the hospital. We were able to pray with the moms of babies who were sick, read scripture to them, and tell them of Jesus love. We printed off pictures of them with their children, some this will likely be the only photo they will ever get. They treasured the pictures so much, some cried tears of joy as we gave them the pictures. We also handed out bibles to the adults and stuffed animals to the children. We came with the love of Jesus and the joy of the Lord, and brought smiles to those who had none. There were difficult moments as we encountered suffering, but over all the experience was amazing.

In the afternoon we got the team WAY out of their comfort zone (and mine too) and went door to door sharing the gospel. Though this does not work well in America, but with the Honduran culture it was very well recieved. One young mom with 2 little kids was very touched by what my team had to share. Lynsey opened it up, Tyson M. shared his testimony, I brought in some scripture, Brain W. brought in his thoughts, Pastor Arnold took it from there, but mostly the Holy Spirit moved in her heart to where she was very touched by what was shared and she wanted to recieve Christ. She had never heard the gospel before today. We are having the pastor follow up with her.

This evening we spent in homes of people from the church. They prepared us dinner, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement in the Lord. This will be one of the MANY highlights of the trip.

I am seeing tremendous growth in the team here. Tremendous unity of the spirit. The church has been VERY encouraged by our presense as has the Oconnors. The Holy Spirit is bringing about God´s will which continues to be beyond our hope or what we can imagine.

Thank you for your continued prayers. The team remains healthy, but we are tired. Our days have been very full with a combination of phsyical labor (in a place where you sweat standing still in the shade) and emotional situations where we encounter experiences we are not use to seeing. We are very thankful that tomorrow will be a day of rest for our team so that we are able to finish strong.

Others are waiting for the internet so I must keep it short.

With love,
Pastor Jon

Faces

2006-08-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today was so different from yesterday. Yesterday we worked hard doing construction, today was hard on our hearts. We when to an home for the elderly, as well as to a childrens home. Though I don´t think that the word home is a good description. It was more like a prison. Children basically from birth through the ages of elementry school all live in this cement building never able to leave. There parents either brought them there because they were too poor to care for them, or because they are in prision, and in some cases maybe haved died.

We held babies in our arms . . .

. . . babies, maybe 18 in a room, ages birth through maybe 2. Crib after Crib all lined up . . .

. . . babies desparate for love.

We are still processing all of these things. I don´t even know what to write after looking into these children´s faces and wondering what the future will be like for these precious children that God created and loves.

We had one day . . . but it is something you could give your life too.

The team is still all in good health, though I think we are getting tired, and the emotions ran deep today. So we could use prayer that at this time our hearts would continue to be knit together in love, and that we would live and walk in the Spirit.

Tomorrow we are back at the church for another day of construction. Thank you for your prayers.

Heroes

2006-08-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that words can´t quite capture. Especially on a blog with a limited time limit on the internet. So I thought I would just tell you a couple stories of some heroes in the kingdom of God that I got the priveledge of spending time with today.

Pastor Aronold is the pastor of the mother church in San Pedro Sula where we are ministering. In this area when he began the church there were 8 major gangs in the area an people were getting killed all the time. His church began a ministry to the gangs. He began soccor leagues, and got the gang members to play soccor and come to the church. Over the last 9 years or so, Pastor Arnold in working with these gangs, and bring the kingdom of God into this area has brought it down to where there are just 2 gangs, and the killings have gone way down. He has a prision ministry in the prision where the gang leaders are. He ministers to them, earns there trust, and they tell the gang members it is OK to trust him and be apart of the church, and play soccor. Well the outpost where we are building this church. The vision was to plant a church there because the gang in that part of the town could not get to the location of the other church as they had to go through rival gang area. In addition this new location is in a rapidly growing area, so the church we are helping to build will become (and is) a base for amazing ministry and future. I am amazed with Pastor Arnold. He is a hero in the Kingdom of God. God has him here at just the right place at the right time, and he as risen to his call.

Another hero I spent time with today was Victor Almederez. He is a church planter in Western Honduras. He has planted around 35 churches. He has a gift to find the right guy to pastor a church, disciple him, and equip him to grow a church. He is discipling all the pastors in the churches he has planted. Many of those church have intern planted daughter churches, and grand daughter churches. So hundred of churches, a whole movement of the kingdom of God has come through this man.

The Oconnors are also Heroes for the kingdom. They are the one who have been discipling Victor, the ones disicpling pastor Arnold, and so many more. The Oconnors are really the catalyst for this movement of God in many ways.

Ok . . . others are waiting to get on the computer but just a couple stories from today. Construction was awesome, tiring but awesome. At one point the dump truck that was delivering dirt for us broke down blocks from the church. Our resident hero Brian Wiggs, started getting greasy for God in Honduras. We walked to the site where the truck broke down, the neighbors next to there just happened to have a cresent wrench, and Brian got the truck working with one wrench and a spare bolt laying around. It was awesome.

The Lord held the rain until we were on our way home, and then it started pouring. God´s timing was perfect!

So I apologize for all the mispelling and grammar errors, I spent all of my time writing instead of proof reading. But the team is all heathy and doing great. Tomorrow we get to go to a childrens home and an old folks home. Thanks for your prayers. And much love!

We´re Here

2006-08-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!
Thanks for checking in. We made it to Honduras last night and got settled around midnight, central time. The flights went well, and we got a good night sleep.

This are going great. Today we went out to the church where we will be doing construction, but for the first day instead of working on the building, we put on a festival to get to know the people a little.

Patrick estimates that we had 300 kids there! Wow! Yeah. More than we had expected. We made snow cones, and balloon animals, did face painting, fishing games, soccor games, crafts, shared the wordless book in the form of the savaltion braclet and were able to share the gospel.

The people were all so warm and loving, and really melted our hearts. We could feel the presence of Jesus in that place. It went so well for having so many people!

After the festival, we brought everyone together and sang a song, shared the story of David and Goliath, and talked about faith. Brian Wiggs also got to share his testimony.

Tomorrow we will begin the construction project, and it´s a big one. Be praying that we would be able to accomplish a lot of work on it while we are here. It is a big building, but there is a big vision for the area. You can imagine the potential if we roll in and there are 300 kids!

Also tomorrow we will send a VBS team into a school, so you can be praying for that team as well, as they could have a lot of children there as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers. So far everyone is healthy and doing great, but it´s hot. Really hot. You work up a sweat just standing still.

Thanks for all your prayers, and support. It is exciting to have a moment in the story that God is writing in Honduras.

Honduras

2006-08-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

I am leading a team of 16 people (ages from about 12-70) from our church to Honduras. We are going over there to link arms with our friends Patrick and Debbie O'Connor who have lived in Honduras for many years, and have done a great job at helping the nationals to plant and grow churches (hundreds).

We are so thankful for this opportunity to go and encourage them and hopefully the Honduran in the Lord.

While we are there we will be:
1) Working on a construction project side by side with the church members to help them build their church building.
2) Do some children's ministry.
3) Love and bless people at a senior citizen's home, a couple orphanages, a poor hospital, as well as just having special times with the local church.
4) We will also take a vision trip the last day to possible catch a vision for the next trip that we would like to take.

You can pray for 3 main things:
1) That God would use us to encourage and bless the Honduran church to become the church God wants it to be.
2) That God would use this experience to help form us who are going that we might be able to become the church that God desires us to be.
3) That the Honduran and the Oconnors would just feel the love of Jesus, and that we would truly be a blessing to them.

I am hoping to post some updates on my Blog while I am in Honduras if there is internet access.

Stay tuned.

Deep in Thought

2006-07-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just started reading "The Challenge of Jesus," by N.T. Wright. Beginning with the first chapter he has me deep in thought.

If N.T. Wright is on to something here, it has huge implications for how we present the gospel . . . Huge implications for how we lead someone to repentance . . . And huge implications for how we disciple followers of Jesus. I don't think the significance of this understanding of repentance could be overstated. It could . . . Well . . . Change everything . . . Even the world.

"Martin Luther rightly reacted against the medieval translation of metanoeite as paenitentiam agere ("do penance") and insisted that the word referred originally to the "repentance" that takes place deep within the human heart, not in the outward actions prescribed as a quasi-punishment. He could not know that his reading would be used, in turn, to support an individualistic and pietistic reading of Jesus' command to repent, which does no justice at all to the meaning of the word in the first century. Jesus was summoning his hearers to give up their whole way of life, their national and social agendas, and to trust him for a different agenda, a different set of goals. This of course included a change of heart, but went far beyond it." (p.27)

Thoughts?

Listening

2006-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today I read an article from Christianity Today by Martin Accad who is the academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon. He was teaching at Fuller Seminary when the bombing started and is now unable to return home to his family.

This article presents a different view on what is happening in the Middle East than we are use to hearing: Which is why it is worth the read.

Revelation

2006-07-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

I am reading Revelation, and I find it interesting. In the first few chapters Jesus is judging 7 churches. All of them focus on what the church has done. Several times he says, I know your deeds, other times he talks about their deeds. It made me think of Matt. 25 where Jesus judges based on how people interacted with the poor, the stranger, the prisoner, etc.

I know in our theology we say that good works can not save you. It is only by the grace of God. I believe that, however, we might also say that you will not enter into salvation without them because they are the true test of your love for God.

"If you love me, you will obey my commands."

How Crazy is This?

2006-07-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is amazing. Look at these to pictures while sitting close to your monitor. You see angry man on the left, and calm man on the right. Now back up about 12ft from your monitor. Calm man is on the left and angry man on the right. How weird is that. I have no idea where this came from it was just forwarded to me.

Finishing a Chapter . . . Well several

2006-06-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today I finish a journey I set out on almost a year ago. I blogged my way through the gospels and the book of Acts, asking two questions. What is the Gospel? What is the Kingdom of God/Heaven?

I entered into the study with the humility to recognize that I may not completely know what the Gospel and the Kingdom is despite a Bachlors in Biblical Studies, a Masters of Divinity, and a few Doctorate of Ministry courses under my belt. Amazing huh?

In hind sight I understood a piece of the Gospel well, and I understood aspects of the Kingdom, but there were too many verses that my understanding did not know what to do with.

Not that I have it all figured out, but I understand enough that I know what God would have me do (rather than just what God would have me believe). I think if those who claim to be followers of Jesus where crystal clear on those two questions, our world would be a different place.

Those three days

2006-06-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Nearing the end of John's gospel and reading about the crucifixion makes me wonder how the disciples felt. Here they have put everything on the line for Jesus: They left their homes, jobs, lives, and followed Jesus all over the country side. When they were hoping to see the kingdom of heaven come, all they saw was the death of the King. The person they placed there hopes in gone. Dreams shattered, hopes gone, I wonder if they resented following Jesus.

It makes me think that some of our lives are lived in those 3 days. The days the disciples had where Jesus was dead, hope was gone, and they did not understand the mind of God. They did not understand God's bigger plan.

When the bottom falls out of our lives, and we can't see the bigger plan, we can't see what God has up his sleeves, may we remember the disciples during those three days. And may we wait trusting and hoping in the character of God to make things right, to have a plan that is better than we could have foreseen.

Golf Ball Picture

2006-06-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

So by now you have noticed I have a new picture (header)on my blog. I thought I would explain it's significance a little.

I took this picture on a round of Golf I was playing with my Dad (that is actually my Dad's ball if he hasn't lost it yet.) I thought it was significant as it was not a new ball. It had just finished the hole before, and was resting as it was about to be sent on another journey. I liked the imagery of an open fairway, with a ball ready to be hit . . . Again.

That is a little how I feel about my blog. Moments of rest where I can reflect on the journey I have been on, and a as I reflect there is a feeling of being ready to be sent on a new journey. The ball is far from perfect, but it will fly (especially if my Dad is hitting it).

Anyway, that is the idea, and no he doesn't have a jonknapp.net golf ball, that was thanks to a little Gimp magic.

Faith

2006-06-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Only 5 more chapters in the quest I set out on a long time ago. Blogging through the Gospels and Acts asking the question what is the kingdom of God? What is the Gospel? I feel like this one study has been the best most life changing study I have been a part of.

But getting back to today's reading, all looking at the theme of belief. All throughout the book of John the disciples have believed. Here in John 17, the disciples respond to Jesus' words, "This makes us believe that you came from God." Three years of following Jesus, seeing miracles, living with him, listening to him, and now this comment?

Jesus responds, "You believe at last!" But a time has come and is here when you will be scattered.

Faith is a tricky thing, isn't it? I think the Gospel of John is showing us that faith isn't just a you have or don't have . . . Period. It is a process, a journey, or pursuing something you believe in. It has steps forward, and set backs, but I guess that makes it living . . . A living faith.

hmmm. "The righteous shall live by faith."

Faith is not static, it is dynamic. Faith in Jesus is life . . . life to the full.

Creative Pictures

2006-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of a light post in Sherwood. I took them on Sunday using a long shutter speed and moving the camera so that it would write out my name.

I thought they were creative, but then I remembered the words of poet Odgen Nash, "Here's a good rule of thumb, too creative is dumb."

I guess I will let you decide.

Love

2006-06-12T08:08:00.001-07:00

In John 14 Jesus develops the theme that if you love him you will obey him. Just as Jesus was about to follow his Father's desires in going to the cross, out of love for his Father, so to are we to follow Jesus desire and in doing so show our love for him.

It is amazing how backwards we get things sometimes. Love for Jesus is demonstrated through obedience. Period. That is it. But part of the problem is that we always want to make sure somebody else is obeying Jesus, so we can avoid our own lives.

It is easy to obey when it is convenient, but what about when it isn't? What about when following Jesus starts to mess up our lives? It is then that our love for the Lord is truly tested.

My Dog

2006-06-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

I just got up some new pictures of my dog. To see them, you can click on Pictures I have Taken on the left, then click on My Pets.

Can't believe how big my dog is getting! She is almost 6 months old.

Photography

2006-06-08T16:13:00.002-07:00

Recently I have been getting into photography. I have just added a new section to my blog called. Pictures I've Taken. You can see the link on the left. I am beginning to post some of my best work.

It is definately a work in progress, but it is a start.

Check it out.

Our King

2006-06-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

The Gospels are astounding to me. What king throughout history would do the things that the lowest servant in the house would do? King's have a set way of ruling, a way that makes them look powerful and in control. That there is something different about them that should invoke awe and distance.

But here (John 13) Jesus, the king of the universe, rather than adding to his glory, he takes on the job of the lowest servant in the house (washing the feet of his guests). Now back then when you walked everywhere on dusty roads wearing sandals, that meant something.

So he washes there feet and says these words, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

To be in the kingdom, to follow the example of the king, means to humble yourself. To serve each other in the ways that no one else wants to. This is our king. Who wouldn't want to serve a king like that?

Moving from heaven to earth and taking the form of humanity was a huge step in humility. But that wasn't enough, he also took the place of the lowest of human (the lowest servant).

What's Wrong Part 2

2006-06-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

The fact that you can buy Rev. Jerry Falwell's shoes on ebay.

What's Wrong?

2006-06-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

I hear people talking frequently about how bad the culture has gotten. About the evils of America, and we begin pointing fingers at the groups we feel are responsible for this.

But what has gone wrong with the world? Who is responsible?

I am . . . We are . . . Us . . . The Church.

John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

Jesus said this just before he as about to die. It contains the nature of the kingdom. How does the kingdom spread? When one person says I am willing to give my life for it (it began with the King being willing). When they die to themselves, only then does their seed begin to multiply.

Our problem is that to many of us are in love with the world. To many of us like money. To many of us have our concern set on our own seed. Trying to baby our seed, and see how good we can look. We forget that we must die (get brown and ugly). And that is the secret to the kingdom.

If I could fully grasp this. If we all (the church) would fully live this, America would be a different country. It would be a place of goodness, and mercy, and joy.

Fear

2006-06-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, some of the people believed in Jesus, others went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
The Pharisees talked about what to do with Jesus, "If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

They decided to kill him.

I think one reason for unbelief is fear. Fear that we will lose something by following Jesus, whether it is something political, or position, or fear of just putting trust in something beyond yourself. You could get hurt. But perfect love casts out fear.

We see this love from Jesus in John 11, and many were willing to follow him.

Thoughts

2006-05-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

Dan Kimball recently posted on his blog about doctrine. You can read it here.

But it got me thinking, so I thought I would go ahead an post my comment to his blog here as well.

Your post got me thinking . . .
The church has latched on to doctrines rather than commands . . . hmmm.

If we have the "right doctrines," we no longer have to preserve the unity of the church (universal--Eph 4:3) . . . We have a license to be critical . . . We no longer have to walk in love (greatest and second greatest command).

What is the differences between doctrines and commands?
Doctrines are to be understood.
Commands are to be lived.

Both are important, but I would argue commands clearly have the emphasis of the scriptures.

In the name of "doctrine" I fear many have taken a pass on God's clear commands. I wonder which God thinks is more important?

(At the same time, Dan, you do a good job pointing out that one of God's commands is to watch our doctrine).

Know the Shepherd

2006-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

As I read John 10 this morning, a few things hit me.

1) I never noticed before that John 10 were words in response to John 9 where Jesus was getting into it with the Pharisees about their blindness after he healed the blind man. In that light, emphasis here is placed on knowing and recognizing the Shepherd (Jesus) who loves his flock.

2) Here Jesus says he came that they may have life, and have it to the full. One of these days I should start a list of all the ways knowing Jesus has brought life to the full.

3) Verse 38 is interesting, "even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father." Here we see avenues of belief about Jesus. Belief in his works, which leads to belief in who he is in relationship to the Father. I think you have to start with living out your faith no matter how small to find more faith.

Mud

2006-05-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I think it is interesting that Jesus uses mud to heal the blind man in John 9. He could do it any way he wants, and do it with nothing. Yet he smears mud on the guys eyes. Why mud? It wasn't the mud that healed the guy, it was God. Yet Jesus used mud?

Any thoughts?

A comment

2006-05-22T08:32:00.001-07:00

So I was responding to a comment by my friend Marta on my blog, and I ended up writing so much I thought I would just make it a post. Here is her question and my response. Maybe you are interested as well.

My question is: which Brian McLaren book is your favorite? In other words, if I only think I have time to read one, which one should I read? Also, did you like Velvet Elvis?

Thanks for helping out this non-speed reading, busy, blogging, mom. :-)

That is a hard question . . . I guess it depends on what you are looking for, let me recommend a few.

Read New Kind of Christian if you are interested in understanding the big picture shift from modernism to postmodernism and all that goes with it.

Read the Story We Find Ourselves In if you want to get a big picture view of the story of the Bible.

The Last Word and the Word After That (though this shouldn't be the first book you read of his) it might help if you are troubled by the way some Christians use "hell."

A Generous Othodoxy if you are interested in exploring Theology that tries to take the treasures from all sects of Christianity, and learn from them.

His newest book, Secret Message of Jesus focuses on the Kingdom of God.

More ready than you realize if you are interested in evangelism.

And there are several others, but those are my favorites. The first three books I mentioned are a trilogy, written with fictional characters. Those are a great read . . . So I guess a New Kind of Christian would be a good start.

You could also pick a topic you are interested in and start there. Do I want Chicken, do I want Steak, fish? They are all good, what am I in the mood for? I guess just order up and enjoy the meal. =)

I did like Velvet Elvis. If you have seen his nooma videos, you have already read part of the book. It is an easy read, but good. I think his opening analogy is really worth the price of the book.

He talks about the need to paint and repaint the Christian faith. Imagine a master painter finishing his master piece, would he call out to all artist everywhere, "Attention artists! It is done you may put your paint brushes down never to pick them up again because I have finished the master piece. No one every needs to paint again." absurd. There is a need to continue painting and repainting. With that thought, he says that he sees the need to continue to repaint the Christian faith. Not that he is saying anything new (in his book), but it is an important part of our faith. To paint and repaint, not settling on someone having the final word on matters of faith and God.

I thought that was a good analogy.

Hope that helps.

Upside Down

2006-05-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Jesus always seems to amaze me. In John 8 after showing great grace and love to a women caught in adultery (who the crowds wanted to stone), Jesus enters into a conversation with the Jews. In this conversation he basically says that this group of Jews are children of the devil. Those are pretty strong words. I guess what amazes me about Jesus (one thing) is how compassionate he is to "sinners," and how hard he is on the religious who have gone astray in there thinking and actions. He said enough that by the end of the conversation the Jews wanted to kill him.

Doing Good

2006-05-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

In John 7 Jesus is talking about just how crazy the pharisees are (my paraphrase). The people where angery with Jesus healing people on the sabbath, and Jesus rebuked them, showing how they are inconsistent in there approach to the law. When Jesus healed he was doing a greater good (and not actually breaking the law).

It seems like the higher calling that Jesus lived by was love.

It seems like living in the way of Jesus isn't as complicated as it might seem. We must simply love God and love others. I think sometimes we try to make things more complicated because we are not very good at those things.

With Just a Little

2006-05-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

John 6 talks about how Jesus fed five thousand people. There are lots of things I like about this chapter, but today one things sticks out. Jesus could have produced food out of thin air, but he used what a boy offered to him (five small loaves and two small fish). Why do I like this so much?
--Kids were looked down on . . . Jesus elevates those that the world casts aside.
--The boy didn't have much, but gave all he had to Jesus . . . Jesus used that to do a great work. I think this is what the kingdom is like, none of us possesses much, but if we give what we have to God He can do a great work out of it.

Again later in the chapter we see great focus on receiving eternal life. Only one thing, vs 40, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." That it is present tense. Eternal life is to be had and lived now, in fact the additional reference to the "last day" makes it sound like the emphasis of eternal life is now, not later. A state of living through belief in Christ. It doesn't seem like Jesus is talking about going on and on forever when you die here, but living in a way that brings life to the full.

Done

2006-05-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

So this spring I built a fence/gate/arbor so that my dog could have a dog run, and not destroy the rest of my yard, and so that my honeysuckle plants would have somewhere to grow.

I've got to admit I am pretty proud of it, since I made it all from scratch, and bought the exact right amount of wood, down to the last piece. I know it is not that impressive, but I like it.

Water

2006-05-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

What does Jesus have to offer (John 4)? A drink of water that will quench your thirst forever. This water becomes a spring inside of you that bubbles over giving "life to the full" forever (eternal life).

Why do I follow Jesus?

Because this has been true in my life. You don't need to find the Holy Grail to have life, you simply need to follow and live in the way of Jesus.

Life

2006-05-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

What a week! A week ago Sunday I had the honor of baptizing the newest addition to our church family. 2 Months ago they were homeless, living on the streets, with no money, and nothing but a car. In the last 2 months, through the Holy Spirit working through our church and Bridgetown ministries and their hearts, they gave their lives to Jesus, became a part of our church family, got an apartment, everything they need for the apartment was given to them, they both got jobs, they got baptized, last Wednesday they got married, they go back to Bridgetown to love, serve, and share their faith!

Last week I also got to attend a missions pastors retreat. I think the average age was about twice my age (no joke), but I really enjoyed it. Had some great conversations with people, built some great relationships, and got a deeper vision for what got can do through churches seeking to engage the world.

I drove straight from there to speak at the High School beach retreat, with 180 ministries where Brian Eberly is the pastor, and Aaron Geist is also in ministry. Had a great time. Left late Saturday night, got back home to lead worship, teach adult ed, and do college group that night. I am wiped.

Today is crazy though. It is my last day to live life in my 20's. Kind of a weird thought. Tomorrow I will be 30. The age that Jesus began his earthly ministry. That is another weird thought. Jesus did all that he did as a young man (I know my wife says I am old, but I am still young).

Anyway it has been a great week, and I am just preparing myself to step into the next decade of my life.

Nick

2006-05-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Something I never noticed before. In Jesus conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. The conversation about being "born again" (a metaphor for belief) revolves around seeing and entering into the kingdom.

So even in John's gospel with this well know passage about being "born again", and the passage that John 3:16 is written. The goal is seeing and entering into the kingdom of God. The way a person does that is through faith. Faith opens the door to the kingdom. Faith opens the door to eternal life (read life to the full . . . John uses this as something here and now in the world with implications throughout eternity). vs.15 "That everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

So I guess it would be pretty accurate to say that the goal isn't to be "born again," the goal is to see and enter the kingdom of God.

The Guild

2006-05-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Check out The Guild. A few of my friends have gotten together to write on different topics of interest. The current subject is mission(s). I just posted my thoughts if you are interested.

Wine

2006-05-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Jesus first miracle was to make wine out of water. Just a few observations from the text.

1) I think it is significant that Jesus first miracle was to make wine (apparently so did John). Jesus liked to party! He like to hang out at parties. There is some aspect of the kingdom of God that involves a party . . . At least the spirit of a party.

2) Jesus didn't just turn a little water into wine . . . It says he made approximately 150 gallons of wine!!! This is after the wine they had purchased ran out! Some party! Of course we know Jesus never got drunk, but I can understand how he got the reputation of being a "drunkard."

3) He made awesome wine! We at least know it was the best wine served that night.

4) Finally, John's gospel deals with belief. It is why he wrote the Gospel, "that you might believe." Belief is an important aspect of the kingdom of God. That we believe in Jesus. Up until this miracle the disciples must have had some faith in Jesus . . . At least enough to follow him. Just at the end of this party, it says, "He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." This was the beginning of a deeper faith that the disciples had in Jesus.