It takes time...

Today our family had some church planting friends over for a BBQ. Like most people, I want my house to look good when I have guests and since we were planning to BBQ, I knew the back patio needed some TLC. It just so happened that my wife mentioned the day before that my eight year old daughter, Alanna, was looking to make some extra money. So I decided to hire some help. Over the years I have always tried to involve the kids in outdoor chores like weeding, pruning, and sweeping with varying degrees of success. Most of the time it really wasn't worth the hassle. But today...was different. I pruned, she picked up. I used the blower, she swept. She watered the tree, the brown spots in the lawn, and put everything away herself! It really saved me time to have her involved.
In many ways, that's how many things in life work. Last night, we had the quarterly discipleship mentor's meeting at our home. I remember when we started the discipleship program (we really didn't even know we were starting something), sometimes it seemed like such a huge investment of time meeting with people 1 on 1. They would take one step forward and then two steps back. Sometimes people dropped out, moved away, or went through life changes that kept them from finishing. But slowly we gave birth to a new generation of leaders at MSC. Leaders that had my passion for discipleship, leaders that understood our values, leaders that "got it"! As we went around the room last night and shared our struggles, our worries, our heartaches, and our joys...it was worth it! The American Church has by and large become a spectator sport. We go, fill our seat on Sunday, give some money, and maybe even volunteer once or twice a month but by and large true life change doesn't happen on Sunday morning, it doesn't happen in a small group program, it doesn't happen quickly, and definitely doesn't happen alone. My experience has taught me that true life change happens as we get serious about sharing life with each other around the values of Jesus. We are willingly transparent and accountable, we willingly encourage and correct, and we willingly make time to be together. I'm so grateful for the community that God is creating at MSC. Thanks for being a part of the team!

Church In The Park...What A Blast!

Today we had our first ever Church in the Park! We cancelled both morning services and held one outdoor service at Newark Community Park. Our purpose was to provide another opportunity to take our church out in the community. Well...it turned out great. First I have to thank everyone who help make the day possible. Big thanks goes to Drew, Barb, Linda, and Carrie for their help in organizing all the setup, food, and clean up. Of course there were many volunteers who came early, cooked, and stayed late. I especially want to thank Greg since he was the first to arrive and the last to leave. The best part is that we connected with 6 new families that were invited by others in our church family! Here is one quick story that one of the guests shared with me. She said that about a week ago she was sitting at McDonalds thinking about God, the journey of her life, and some of the difficulty things she was currently going to...someone from our church took the time to introduce themselves and handed her an invitation to attend Church in the Park! She told me that she felt like that invitation was an answer to prayer. So to everyone who made the day possible, thanks again...you are awesome!

A Little Bit Of Everything

The last few months have been incredibly busy but also incredibly great! Where do I start??? I guess I will go in chronological order.

1) Took the family to Disneyland for the first time. I'm so glad we waited until the kids were older to go. They were able to ride all the rides and it was a great bonding time for us and the kids. Alanna made a really cool observation while we were riding Pirates of Caribbean. We were all sitting on the same row in the boat and she said, "I really like it when we are all together as family doing something fun." Big reminder for me...make time to have fun with your family.

2) Travelled to Orlando, FL with my wife for a church planting conference. The conference was decent but the best part was getting to see friends and enjoy time as a couple. We got to hang out with our good friends Greg and Denise Peters. Even though we live so far apart, Greg and Denise hold a really, really special place in our heart. Greg would faithfully check in on me in the early years of church planting when things were tough and lonely. I wish we lived closer because its always great to hang out. After the conference I visited with my Grandmother and Aunt in Tampa, FL. Then Cecil and I got an extended weekend near Ft. Myers.

3) Big, big thank you to our parents for watching the kids for the 10 days we were gone! We know how lucky we are to have such involved grandparents.

 4) The kids both participated in the Lutheran Schools Track Meet. Since I'm their Dad it's okay for me brag right??? Final standings: Alanna 50 meter dash – 1st place (it was so close they had to look at the photo finish – 8.67 seconds) Long jump – 2nd place (with a distance of 8 ft 11 in) Softball throw – 1st place (with a distance of 63 ft 4 in) 50 meter relay - 3rd place Ethan Baseball throw – 2nd place (with a distance of 79 ft 4 in) Long jump – 2nd place (with a distance of 7 ft 2 in)

Videos from Anniversary Sunday

The first video is a spoof that we created about 6 years ago. Everyone seemed to enjoy it last Sunday.

This video one is about 10 minutes long and is a collection of photos and video from the last 10 years.

Getting to talk about Jesus for 500+ time this morning

This morning our church is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary. As I sit in my office and think back over the years, it's cool to see how God is in control, how He leads us to the future He has for us, and how He always provides our needs. In just a few minutes I will get up to preach my 500+ Sunday morning sermon and I still can't think of a thing I would rather talk about than Jesus. I'm blessed to lead a community of people that are serious about following Christ. Jesus did not come to give us religion or a new set of rules to keep. He came to replace our self-centered existence with His values and ethics. He graciously invites us to share in His story. God's story is big, eternal, and redemptive and our story can be too if we join with Him! It's a lot of fun being a part of God's story at MSC.

10 Years...And Counting

It was 2002. My wife and I made the long drive across the United States, from Jacksonville, FL to Newark, CA. When we started Morning Star, I was 22. Wow...time has flown by. It will be Sunday, March 17 that we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the church. For friends and family that are in the area, we would love to have you come celebrate with us. All the details are below.

Slow, lazy day with my daughter

It's not too often that I get a slow, lazy Saturday. But today was one of those really nice, relaxing days. Ethan was at a birthday party with my wife (thank you babe) so it was just Alanna and me from 9:30am to about 3:30pm. We got some school and house projects done and then we curled up on the couch to watch a few PBS cooking shows. Then we were inspired to cook sticky buns. They're actually edible which is surpising since I totally forgot the measurements and eyeballed everything :)
Sometimes its hard having such cool family members to hang out with...you want to spend time with all of them but sometimes you don't get as much time as you want.

When you read this, I hope you...slow down...and enjoy your family!