There Must Be More

The Jungle

I had a meeting today with my co-chaperon for my upcoming Japan trip (in a week and a half).  I went to his school site where he gave me a tour of the school garden he pretty much had planted and grown on his own.  It was pretty cool.  Flowers, peas, cabbage, chickens, eggs, etc.  He's retiring this year and the question was raised about a successor that would continue to tend the garden. 

Dan said he'd been trying to find one...mentor one...disciple one for the past eight years to no avail.  He's still hoping he can find someone before he retires.  Otherwise, he said, "It wouldn't take too long before the garden would overrun itself." ...become a jungle.

Such is the plight the church finds itself in...the garden has turned into a jungle.  People can no longer find their way in the church.  Oh, yes, there are those who started in the garden and didn't notice it turning into a jungle so they have their ways set of how to get in and out of the jungle, but for any newcomer many times they're afraid of entering the jungle and those that find their way in get lost and never come out.  Both are tragic. 

All because there was no mentoring, no discipling, no investing of heart.  No direction...no leadership...no relationship.

Is it because there's no one to disciple and bring to maturity?  Or is it because we're so focused on now, self, and the beauty of our labor that we're afraid to focus on the future, on others, and the beauty their labor can bring to the garden?

Jesse

Gift

I was asked to present one of our secretaries with a gift for Secretary's Day.  I quickly gathered my thoughts and prepared myself to honor our secretary.  What could I say that would be meaningful, heartfelt, personal, and relationally relevant? 

"Thank you for always giving me a smile whenever I enter the office."  I said.  She smiled and everyone nodded and "awww'd" in agreement. 

Sometimes the gift of a smile can leave a lasting impression!

(I also said, "If I were a woman, I would know exactly how I should dress!"...everyone clapped and  "ah ha'd in agreement to her keen fashion sense...she left with an even bigger SMILE:)

There is more to life...and a smile definately adds to it!

Jesse

Wearing "church clothes"

I was at an orientation meeting last week for my trip to Japan.  A question of dress code arose from one of the students.  What is appropriate to wear on the trip and what isn't?  The response was interesting to say the least.  The speaker informed the students that the Japanese culture is very conservative.  "Dress like you would go to church.  Wear your church clothes," she responded.

Hmmm.  That really caught my attention.  It spoke volumes to me and I suppose it spoke volumes to the students that asked the question and the parents sitting with them. 

"Wear your church clothes."  Well, for me, church clothes are relaxed fit jeans, a button up untucked shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and some brown Adidas shoes.  That's my style.  That's the way I roll.  I'm sure that's not what the speaker had in mind.  I think the students knew what she meant and that's what got me thinking. 

What do people think about "church clothes"?  Do church clothes hold a negative connotation when used in conversation (especially when discussing dress codes).  Are church clothes only worn to church?  Are church clothes a label of people's tastes, ideologies, party alignments, or denomination?   Do church clothes get washed often or once a week?  Are church clothes about position, money, vanity, or identity?  Do church clothes really have anything to do with church?

I wear the same clothes I wear at school (my work) to church gatherings.  I wear the same clothes I wear to our church gatherings to school (my work).  My wife washes them everyday because I wear them everyday.  The point is if we're going to label our clothes "church clothes", shouldn't we be wearing them everyday...not just on Sundays?

Let's put it this way:  "church clothes" are religious dress code traditions seeking to adhere to a system of conservative values.  "Church clothes" (capital "C") are what we are adorned with as the Bride of Christ: compassion, humility, love, forgiveness.  This covering of "The Body" is what distinguishes us as followers of Jesus not the clothes we wear to church.

Jesse

Worship

We had a full house today!  Kelly, the kids, Yisdra, and her kids.  Kelly worshiped with the kids in Kids Club and Ysidra and I worshiped in service.  Worship was good.  Not because of the songs.  (although they were pretty tight!)  Not because of the ambiance.  (although it was pretty sweet!).  Not even because of my preaching.  (although it was pretty relevant!)  No, service was good because we didn't withhold our heart's worship from God.  That's all He really seeks!  That's why we gather.

If you want to see what I'm talking about read Luke 7:36-50

Nothing withheld...beautiful!

Jesse

Death Through Immaturity

I remember watching a 20/20 episode years back that focused on the delinquent behavior of relocated orphaned African elephants.  Rangers started finding dead rhinos in their park.  The culprits?  These young orphaned elephants.  Turns out they were demonstrating delinquent behavior.  They were aggressively engaging these rhinos (gorging them) and ultimately killing them.  These young elephants were immature and causing an imbalance in the "circle of life".  I actually found an article that talks about the situation back in 1999 in which the elephants' behavior was called "abnormal". 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/642731.stm

The killings stopped when rangers decided to bring in 6 adult elephant bulls which caused the young orphaned elephants' behavior patterns to return to normal because of their influence.  They taught them how to become mature elephants.  I couldn't help but see a parallel with the church.  Scripture speaks over and over again about becoming mature in Christ.

Hebrews 5:11-14: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 

These orphaned elephants didn't know how to distinguish good from evil because they were unacquainted with "mature modeled behavior".  (I know...they're just elephants) 

The Bible encourages us to break bread together, to spur each other on to good works, to embrace the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, to pursue becoming like Jesus not only in His life but also in His death.  The challenge is to pursue this TOGETHER.  We need the Mature to influence maturity in our immature lives.  If we separate ourselves or become separated from those who can influence maturity in our lives (because they themselves are mature) we can end up behaving "abnormally" as a follower of Christ.  Hurting people instead of loving them.  Bullying them instead of embracing them....unable to "distinguish good from evil because we're unacquainted with the teaching about righteousness" and because of separation (or orphan-ism...I think I just made that word up) all we hear are the delinquent words of those other orphans we have joined ourselves with and modeled our lives after.  How long before our immaturity in Christ will lead to another's spiritual death?  Or have we already become murderers?

Jesse. 

How Long?

I set up for service yesterday morning.  The kids were sick so they stayed home with Kelly.  I found myself worshiping alone...again.  I wasn't upset.  I wasn't even discouraged.  I found myself interceding in prayer for myself, Yuba City, and people I had on my heart. 

Things go different for a church planter that sets up alone, leads worship alone, preaches alone, and tears down the service alone.  I don't feel sorry for myself.  Just...the dynamics of ministry are a bit more demanding.  Yet, recently, it's all I know.  (except for the week Sergio and Ronnie came up and joined me in service). 

I guess I'm just wondering (prayerfully) "how long?"  How long until God sends us laborers for the harvest?  Will I be blind-sided when God does what He intends on doing with this church?  Will I actually see it developing?  I mean I see my personal relationships developing.  That's all good...maybe...ah, I don't know! 

Maybe the reason I don't feel as discouraged as I could be is because I see most of my ministry happening everyday outside of Sunday.  Everyday I'm impacting lives.  Everyday I desire to reach out in love to those God's puts in my path.  Everyday I'm reading God's word.  Everyday I'm seeking His face.  Everyday is an opportunity to pour out what God has poured in.  Still...I desire corporate worship and I believe that's also God's desire.  Although, that doesn't necessarily mean it has to happen on Sunday; but it would be nice since I'm already there.

Jesse

Pulse

I was cleaning up Thanael's vomit at 2:00 this morning, took Scar for a walk at 10:00, was third base coach for Tash's softball team, ran alongside Izzy as she rode her bike to the park, and hooked up the trailer on my truck with the help of my wife!  Marriage and fatherhood...what an adventure!!

Greg Baird (former state youth director in Cali.) used to have a saying.  "We can sleep when we're dead!" 

Pardon me while I check my pulse.

Jesse

Gentleness

I had snack shack duty today for Natasha's Softball team.  I was serving snacks for two and a half hours.  Good times...then I came home.  I noticed my dog was in my house.  I was a little surprised since we don't usually let him in the house anymore, and I'm the one that usually let's him in.  Well, as always, there was a story behind it. 

Turns out my back door neighbor decided to express himself again.  Scar was tangled amongst the patio chairs (we have him tied up now since he jumps the fence) and was whimpering and barking.  Kelly sent Nathanael (my son) out to check on him and heard someone yelling.  When she went out to see what was going on, she found our back door neighbor looking over our fence and yelling at Thanael.  Kelly told Thanael to go inside and untangled Scar and brought him inside as well.

When Kelly told me that he was yelling at my son something inside my gut started to turn.  I felt the need to express myself to my neighbor.  I felt a need to protect my son and ultimately my family.  I was pretty ticked.  I asked the kids what happened and all they new was that the man was yelling over the fence.  I knew then I needed to do something.  It's one thing for an adult to yell at another adult (he yelled at my wife a little over a week ago--I blogged about it), but it's a whole other thing when a senior citizen is screaming at a kid.  I walked to the door and told Kelly and the kids I'd be right back.  Everyone seemed a bit anxious.  I know I was.

As I walked around the block to my neighbors house, I prayed, "Lord help me to speak to this man."  I asked for His guidance.  I recognized that I was anxious and that's not the way I wanted to enter into conversation.  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."-Philipians 4:6.  I knew I didn't want to attack this man but humble myelf before God and allow Him to work in the situation.

I rung the door bell.  His indoor dog started barking.  Moments passed and finally the door opened. 

"Hi, Carl.  I hear my dog has distrupted you again."  He looked nervous and a bit anxious.

"Yeah,...he's been barking out there," he replied with uneasiness.

"Well, I came over to apologize.  I wanted to let you know that we don't want any riffs between us.  We care about our neighbors and we don't want to lose our relationship."  His wife came to the door with a warm smile and a kind hello.  I greeted her back.

I let him know the situation with Kelly's surgery and asked for his understanding.  I assured him we were working with Scar and asked that he would trust us that we weren't angry with him and we really wanted to protect our relationship as neighbors.  (He had made a comment to Kelly when he was yelling along the lines of, "Okay you want a war!")

"Also, yelling over my fence at my kids trips them out, so if you please wouldn't do that," I said.   

After making excuses for his "talking" over the fence, I continued, "Well, I just wanted you to know that we care about you guys, and if you have any more problems or concerns please feel free to talk to me.  You can come over any time."  I shook his hand again and we said goodbye.

I thanked God for his presence.  I thanked God for his words.  I thanked God for the change He's made in me.  I thanked God for the opportunity to allow His light to shine in me at that moment.  I desired to protect my son, my wife, my family because I'm a dad, I'm a husband,...I'm a man; but that kind of reasoning is carnal.  That kind of reasoning is really more about "me" or what others would think of me if I sat by and did nothing. 

You see, I understand I have an obligation and a responsibility to watch out for and protect my family and I'm not afraid to "get in the middle of it" if it comes to "getting jiggy wid it", but having the mind of Christ forces us to consider love and wisdom:  Philipians 4:5-"Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near." 

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up."-Proverbs 12:25

Galatians 6:1-"Brothers if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."

As I went to go set my neighbor straight, I realized the temptation to treat him the way he treated my family.  I realized, I could easily justify my actions to my neighborhood (should anyone ask).  Yet, Paul exhorts us and warns us at the same time: "you who are spiritual (mature) should restore gently, but watch yourself, or you [may end up falling into the same sin (acting hateful toward your neighbor)].  We are to restore with gentleness knowing God is near!

Now I know every situation is different, but submitting self to Christ must always come first whenever God brings us the opportunity to love those that are so easy to hate. 

I came home in peace.  No anxiety whatsoever.  I've reached out to my neighbor and offered gentleness instead of wrath.  What my neighbor chooses to do now is up to him, but I'm more concerned with what God does in this saga not what man does.  If I could bring a smile to God's face...well, that's what makes this new life so wonderful!

Jesse 

It's The Little Things In Life

I fixed my truck today!!!!  It turned off on me three times before I got to school this morning and three times coming home.  I tried changing the fuel filter but nothing changed.  I decided to look under the hood again and lo and behold...I found it!  I  found the culprit that was the root of my anxiety!  It was a four inch long hose. 

Can you  believe it?  A four inch long hose!  My truck would not switch gears, puttered like Hardy from the comedic team of Laurel and Hardy, and toyed with the idea of death at every stop light.  All because of a four inch hose.  It could have cost me a lot of money to take it to my mechanic.  Thank God for giving me favor and the wisdom to figure out what was ailing my truck.

It does make you stop and think though...how something so small could cause such a breakdown in operations.  Something seemingly insignificant...turns out to be so important!  Kinda like what Paul talked about when speaking of "the body". 

I'd like to think of it this way.  A pinky finger doesn't seem like much until you need to poke your nose.   A pinky finger really gets overlooked until you get water in your ear.  Same thing with your big toe.  We take it for granted, but without it, we would lose balance.

Have you ever over-looked something seemingly insignificant to the detriment of your peace or the operating of God's power in your life?  Something that could have cost you a lot down the road (or maybe did cost you a lot down the road) if you didn't acknowledge it's value or importance in the operations of your daily life?  Friends?  Greetings?  Love?  Prayer?  A four inch hose?

In this life, it's usually not the big things that bring us worries but rather the small things.  It's not the big things we can easily identify.  It's the small hidden things that steal our peace, our laughter, our joy, and our sanity.

Jesse

Along For The Ride

My younger brother Sergio and his family, along with my good friend Ronnie and his wife, came up this weekend to hang out with us.  They cruised on up in their mobile unit.  It took them only five and a half hours to get here (normal time is approximately three and a half).  We had a great time. 

Sergio and Ronnie helped me set up Sunday morning.  Wow, it was great!  It's amazing how much faster things get done when it's not just me setting up.  Just their presence was more than I could ask for.  Kelly crammed all the kids and the ladies in the van and arrived with breakfast.  It really felt good.  Worshiping with friends and family was extra special.  I think the best part of the Sunday worship experience was not having to drive in my clunker truck alone.

I mean, we were cracking jokes and enjoying one another's company on the early morning drive to the building, and we did the same on the way home.  Driving my truck isn't the most pleasant experience, but I didn't mind it as much when I had others along for the ride.

Along for the ride...sometimes we think of that phrase with negative connotations.  We think of someone just tagging along, not really being productive, a burden, not pulling their weight, uninterested....but in planting this church and in seeking more to this life, I see "being along for the ride" in a different light.  "Along for the ride" means someone is with me on my journey.  "Along for the ride" means I've got someone who desires relationship simply by the act of being "in my truck".  I mean it's one thing to get into a brand new Nissan Titan hauling a 6x10 enclosed trailer.  It's another thing to get into a 1989 Mazda B2200 with major dents on both doors, grill and headllights.  The rear bumper is bent down and the towing ball is bent back towards the license plate.  The enclosed trailer can pop off any minute while going over any rolling hill, and the putt putting of the muffler gives one the impression they're about to see Mikey Teutul from American Chopper speed by with his curly locks and jean shorts!  Not to mention the drama of restarting the engine at an intersection because its glory days have long since past.

These guys were willing to experience my Sunday ride into worship.  I'm glad they came along.

I'll take someone being "along with me for the ride" over driving alone any day...knowing this is one heck of a ride!

Jesse