January 2012
2 posts
Rebells.Are.Really.Artists
My introduction to youth ministry started long before I ever became a youth pastor as my friends and I set out to play music to a generation of kids who were sick and tired of the church. Exhausted by sermons preached from the gospel of fun and games these kids were seeking to be apart of something real and authentic and music was that out let for them. We traveled the country playing shows...
Few.Interesting.Observations
Soren Kierkegaard once said that life can only be lived forward and understood backwards. In other words things happen and as they happen I am able to, in some small way, make sense of them. So as I attempt to make sense of 2011 a few observations…
First…
- I can’t seem to shake the thing that makes me me.
- I can’t seem to break away, break apart or break free.
- I am...
December 2011
2 posts
This.Is.Christmas
Your love is like a flash mob. It arrives unannounced and before anyone can put words to it, it vanishes leaving a puzzled crowd feeling gratitude and worship. As your people try to put words to the event the meaning slowly slips through our finger tips as we wait expectant for it to return. The religious and academic elite record the accounts and do their best to squeeze it void of meaning but...
Wish.Upon.Wishes
I would like to congratulate the stars
For the songs they have sung and continue to sing to Venus, Neptune and Mars
Their lips burn bright from telling stories of eons past as they serenade the Milky Way, they serenade them everyday, they sing of ways to stay
Yet as they flicker to the beat of their own melodies their time has come to shoot shoot shoot across the sky
To shoot past you and I as we...
July 2011
3 posts
I think...
I just started to write a book… I think…
May 2011
0 posts
Meaningful.Meaningful.Meaningful
As I sit here in this coffee shop the sun is shinning bright through the windows and its warm kiss lights up the room. It allows me to see the faces of those, whom if only for a moment, are sharing an afternoon with one another as strangers. This warm kiss breathes life into colors that words could never describe, casts shadows across the tiled floor, and provides for all of us warmth, joy and...
March 2011
1 post
The.Rain.Still.Falls.Up
Head back pressed up against this wall, as I look out the window, today the rain falls up. Stories of men and women paint this week the color hope as some worlds are flipped on their heads. Twenty songs arrived this week but they will be singing a different tune all the way home. Songs in the key of blood spilt from the Mission. Songs in the key of pride from the Castro. Songs in the key of...
January 2011
1 post
Outtray.Full.Of.Stories
Assumption: I think its safe to assume that if you believe in Jesus Christ that you would agree with me when I say that he was the best teacher to have ever lived and his model of teaching is an example in which we should all follow.
Observation: We’ve settled for something less and what’s even worse is we are convinced that our way is far more effective.
The West has adopted the Academy...
December 2010
1 post
His.Kingdom.Will.Be.Bigger
I met a man in this coffee shop the other day.
Frazzled silver kissed hair. Eyes that shone blue in his youth but now tell the story of a decade of loneliness.
His hands were callused with years of maintenance work. Maintenance that paid the bills. Maintenance that helped his father. Maintenance that made penning his poetry that much sweeter.
This man’s name is Michael and I met him at a...
November 2010
1 post
Need.Your.Help
It’s three in the morning when a man is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Instantly his response is to call for the hospital Chaplin. The Chaplin is woken by the midnight phone call as the nurse explains this cancer patient’s urgency in wanting to speak with God. Half asleep the Chaplin gets out of bed and makes his way over to the hospital that the patients request. Upon arrival the...
October 2010
1 post
Deli.Down.The.Street
Every week I go to the same grocery store. Every week I check out in the same lane. The same cashier greets me, scans my items, and asks how I’m doing every single week. This sweet old woman’s hair is always tied up in a ponytail, which slips through the back of her hat. She wears a green apron over her white button down shirt, which is tucked into her tan slacks. She always wears a smile,...
July 2010
1 post
East.Of.Eden
In the beginning God bara’
In the beginning God created
In the beginning God made everything needed to form or shape everything we see out of nothing.
Then God made light and darkness.
The waters and skies.
The seas and the land.
The days and the nights.
The creatures of the seas and the birds of the air.
The animals of the land and finally He bara’ man.
He created man in his own image, in the...
Praise.Your.Name
I stumbled across this prayer I wrote in my journal on December 27 2009. I enjoyed it as I read it and felt it was worth sharing
Missions isn’t seasonal, its moment to moment. Missions isn’t a mind set but it’s a life style. Missions isn’t optional but it’s natural as we seek the face of the Christ whom we serve. Living missionally will cause fear and worry....
May 2010
2 posts
Pharisee’s.And.Institutions
Another glimpse into a chapter I’ve been working on for the book. Thank you Darren Rouanzoin for the great analogy!
Who owns a Mac? If your face just lit up with joy, your arm extended into the air, and you cried out with a yes, it is safe to assume that you and I could be best friends. Who owns a PC? I’m praying for you. And if you don’t own a computer of any sorts then I apologize for...
Soon.To.Come
So once upon a time I made a promise on this blog that I was going to write a book. Then along came this thing called school and he stole all of my time. Here comes summer, here comes all my time back, and what do you know I’m writing again. Only this time much more confident with what I’ve got. I finished the bare bones to what is probably going to be a chapter. Here is a...
April 2010
1 post
Savior.Loves.Us
Have you ever met someone that just steps into your life and from that “Hi its nice to meet you my name is…” on, your life is forever changed? That someone that looking back or looking forward you simply can’t picture life being what it is, had you not met him or her?
I had that experience February 5th this year and the scary part of it is there are about a million reasons why it almost didn’t...
March 2010
2 posts
Destination.Unknown
I spent the week in San Francisco and serving the homeless this week. We were challenged to write our prayer for this trip as a poem… So here we go.
With pedal to the metal and rubber to the road We climb the coast, destination unknown.
Like blind leading the blind We stumble and trip down broken side walks in this foreign land.
The culture of these streets Emanates through shops and...
February 2010
2 posts
An.Unstoppable.Verb
Someone asked me today where God was in my list of priorities and it really got me thinking. Not about where he was on that list but more about the way we view God in this world. The way we view him through our lens of understanding. It’s not uncommon to hear advice like “Make sure God is your number one priority.” Or how about this, how many times has someone asked you about “your spiritual...
Will.Simply.Follow
Matthew 5:37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Convicting right? Anything short of this simple command comes from the evil one? Jesus really isn’t kidding around here. This portion of scripture comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He starts off his sermon by lowering...
January 2010
3 posts
Solved.By.Discipleship
65% of +60 year olds claim to follow Christ
35% of 45-59 year olds claim to follow Christ 15% of 25-44 year olds claim to follow Christ 4% of 18-24 year olds claim to follow Christ 85% - 96% of Christian churches in America are in plateau or decline. 80% -90% of high school students never get plugged into a church as they go off to college YET! 90% of youth today claims to want to know more...
December 2009
2 posts
We.Wouldn't.Have.Baby.Jesus
The Christmas story is an amazing story and it would be fitting for me to tell that one tonight. But instead I’m going to tell the story that took place right before Jesus was born. It’s the story of Mary. Luke 1:26-38 is where you can find this story.
It starts in verse 26 and 27 with this:
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin...
Hotter.Than.Lukewarm
LUKEWARM PEOPLE…
Attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go.
Give money to charity and to the church… as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver right?
Tend to choose...
November 2009
2 posts
Tis.The.Season.Right
Its Christmas! As soon as that Turkey digested in each our stomachs and we wake up from the nap it forced us to take we can smell Christmas in the air.
Tis the season for over priced greeting cards. The season for mall shoppers to show up early for the right deals. For those Red Starbucks cups.
Tis the season for radio stations to loop Santa’s favorite hits. The season for little kids to...
Your.Grace.Alone
I moved today. 22 years of living in the same town with the same people. And today I moved into a house with 5 other guys down in Long Beach. Today I started what looks like a new chapter in my life. God I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve this community when there are people over seas and in our back yard that are homeless. I don’t deserve these financial blessings when...
October 2009
5 posts
Hatred.Is.The.Absence.Of.God
“Gods not real,” Ian said.
“And how have you come to that conclusion?” I asked.
“Hatred.”
“Hatred?”
“Yes,” he replied, “There is so much hatred all around us and has been for centuries. Genocides happen all around the world. There is human trafficking that turns women and children into sex slaves. There’s no way God is...
Creator.Of.The.Cosmos
“Theology on the lawn is tonight!” my friend Tess said with glee. “Billy you’re coming right?”
“Well what is it?” I replied.
“Every Thursday night we go out on the lawn to discuss theology while making smores over the fire! Its so much fun you have to come with us!”
“The grass is pretty wet last I checked Tess.”
“We curl up in blankets silly. Come on it will be fun. You’re going to love it,”...
Green.As.Grass.Gets
When I was 16 I got a job working at a daycare down the street from my high school. Everyday at 3 o’clock I’d go down the hill to spend the afternoon with twenty 5th and 6th graders. I loved my job. I loved my co-workers. And I discovered that I loved kids. However, I think I loved saying goodbye to those kids every night as their parents came to pick them up even more. It was nice to know...
Wear.Jean.Jackets
I found myself in Birmingham Alabama while touring a few years ago on Easter. We had spent a few days off relaxing in our friend’s loft that over looked the city. It was a nice break from the tour we were on and a great opportunity to get to know the other band we were on the road with. It really felt as though we were becoming a family as we shared road stories and life experiences. But here we...
ShamWow.Is.Our.Answer
I for the life of me can’t fall asleep before 2 am now days. I sit on the couch and chat with friends while I flip through the channels. Despite my best efforts to keep the television the background music to my alone time, I always manage to get sucked into those stupid infomercials. Every time I sit there and laugh at how silly they are and every time I find myself convinced that this knife...
September 2009
9 posts
True.Stories.I.Made.Up
I started this blog the day I quit Confide to more or less write down what goes through my head. My ideas and views on the Christian faith. I wanted a place to put these thoughts on paper to remember them for a later date. Through all of your responses and encouragement and much prayer I’ve decided to turn this blog into a book!
Today was the first day of this new journey for me. I sat...
Shake.The.Grounds
5 years ago God put a passion for music in my heart.
5 years ago I helped create a band with four of my close friends.
5 years ago I began a chapter of my life that forever changed who I am.
2 months ago God put and end to that chapter
2 months ago God put a new passion in my heart.
2 months ago my world was rocked as I was forced to leave all that I’ve known for the past 5 years and...
Much.Bigger.Than.Buffet.Lines
Aren’t buffet lines the best? Everyone can agree on a good buffet because there are so many options. A little of this and a little of that. We pick only our favorites to go on our plates, and remember all the items we couldn’t fit for our next go around. I think what makes buffet lines so amazing is all the options, and as Americans we love options. I mean look at it for a...
The.Shallows.And.The.Deep
The other day I was sitting pool side with a couple friends chatting while I watched a mother and her baby getting into the water. Stepping into the shallow end with her new born in arms, the mother gently splashed the babies feet with water as the child laughed. After a while the mother ventured out deeper and deeper into the water.
3 feet.
4 feet.
5 feet.
The deeper the mom went the higher...
Making.Faith.A.Line.Item
If you know me then you know that I’m addicted to check lists! I love planning things out and organizing my life into one simple easy to follow daily planner. I will even go out of my way to write down the lamest of line items into my list because I feel so accomplished when I get to check them off.
I have check lists in my phone
In my iPod
In my computer
And in my walet
Did I...
Just.A.Little.Happier.Today
Have you ever noticed how most Disney movies have broken families? I grew up on Disney like most of my friends but this just hit me the other day. Think about it…
Peter pan was an orphan
We never hear about Snow White, Aladdin or Robin Hood’s parents.
Nemo, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid only have one parent.
And Simba, Bambi and Dumbo all loose a loved one in the movie.
...
Riding.Off.Into.Sunsets
I love going to the movies! I grew up going to them every single weekend with my dad for as long as I can remember. In my house movies were our religion and the Oscars was as close as we came to an Easter service.
All the lights are turned off.
All distractions are put aside.
Talking isn’t an option.
And if you weren’t as passionate about the movies as we are then you...
August 2009
13 posts
One.Small.Spark
As I rounded the corner on the freeway tonight heading home the smell of campfire was thick in the air. A few days ago a small fire started on top of the mountain that makes up the valley my town rests in. That small fire has quickly consumed over 35,000 acers of the mountain side, forced over 5,000 families out of their homes and shows no signs of stopping with 0% containment. With a thick...
Lets.Stop.Buying.Magazines
The other night I got to talking with a good friend about how fake the cover of magazines are these days. All these edited images making these girls “perfect”. All these celebrities and millionaires showing off their wealth and success. We both agreed it would be cool if someday the tables would turn. That they would stop editing these pictures to be perfect. And we would accept...
Super.Soccer.Mom
I was headed to a friends house the other day when i was stopped behind a woman’s large black SUV at a red light. The car’s bumper littered with her children’s achievements in the form of stickers. “Student of the Month” “MVP In Baseball 07” “Regional Spelling B Winner”. You name it this woman had nearly 25 stickers proudly displayed on the...
The.Street.I.Live.On
A few nights ago there was a supposed meteor shower where for one hour you could see hundreds of shooting stars in the night sky. Catching up with an old friend we ventured a few miles up the mountain to get front row seats to this event. Laying across the hood of her car I spotted 1 shooting star the whole night. And to be honest I’m not sure if it was real or my mind wanting to see one...
It's.Rather.Ironic
Matthew 27: 27-29
27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.
The story...
Not.Just.A.Building
Church -noun a building for public Christian worship
Its funny how over the course of 2000 years this word Church has gone from being an adjective to now more commonly known as a noun.
Adjective? Yes adjective. In the very founding blocks of Christianity the word church was used to describe a community of believers in Christ.
It wasn’t a building.
It wasn’t a noun.
It...