How Was Your Sabbatical?

As my Sabbatical comes to an end this week I anticipate being asked about how it went. Here are a couple of highlights. To recharge my batteries I had a lot of fun, did some learning, and took some time to rest and reflect. I can't wait to get back to church on Sunday, August 2nd though because I miss so many of the people in our church family.

Here's a list of some of the great experiences I had on my Sabbatical...

1. My Sabbatical started out with a few days in Tahoe. I was able to ride my bike a couple of times and it was great being outside and seeing God's creation. I rode from Stateline, through Camp Richardson, and up to Inspiration Point overlooking Emerald Bay and then up Fall Leaf Lake Road. The scenery was incredible and it gave me a chance to rest. I also spent a lot of time praying and reading the Bible near the waterfalls at Emerald Bay. I couldn't have asked for a better place to be alone with God!

2. A second highlight was the Wednesday night Generate service at Crossroads Church in Corona. Generate is Crossroads youth/young adult group and it blew me away. There were about 3,000 people in the auditorium and the worship was incredible. Tony Wood, the pastor, spoke on baptism and described it like a wedding ring in our relationship with Jesus. At the end of the message they had three baptisteries set up in the front and Tony invited anyone who wanted to get baptized to come up. They hadn't announced ahead of time that they were going to have baptistries, but for the next 40 minutes they baptized 3-4 people at a time.

We sang in worship and a crowd of people moved to the front to get baptized. They estimate that about 300 people got baptized that night. It was like a traditional altar call where people come forward to pray and receive Christ, except this time they all got baptized on the spot in whatever they wore to church that night. I was blown away and reminded again how incredible it is to watch people publicly commit their lives to Jesus by getting baptized! It was a really inspiring moment.

3. I was away from Susan and the kids for about three weeks of the Sabbatical, but while I was home we had some great moments together. We celebrated both mine and Meg's birthday. I turned 40 and she turned 4! We had a fun time at both parties. We also attended a family camp in Yucaipa together where we had fun playing and learning. I was also able to visit the Folsom Aquatic Center with the kids and we swam and played there one afternoon. While in Southern California we visited our families in Murrieta and Cerritos and spent a few days at Legoland again this summer. As many of you know, Legoland is our favorite spot for the kids because they are tall enough to go on most of the rides and it's never crowded. Our family tradition at Legoland is to get a swirled ice cream and take fun pictures (you'll see them on our refrigerator). This last week, Susan and I were also able to get a chance to clean our garage. Cleaning our garage is annual project (that we missed last year), but now I am the proud owner of an organized and spotless garage. Maybe I should called HGTV so they can put us on one of their organizing shows.

4. While I was in Southern California I was also able to visit with some friends from Crossroads Church in Corona. I had a great lunch with Chuck Booher (Crossroad's Senior Pastor). Chuck gave me some great insights and encouragement. I was also able to go to Miguel's Jr. with the Husens. I spent several hours hanging out with Doug and Maureen catching up and hearing about their experiences in Corona. Kai, Keanu, and Kanaan, Doug's and Maureen's sons, also joined us at Miguel's and it was amazing to see them growing up. Kanaan is as tall as me now and still growing. I really had a great time laughing and enjoying time with Doug and Maureen.

5. One weekend I was able to go to an event called, Boundaries Boot Camp, in Huntington Beach. It was a very small conference put on by John Cloud and Henry Townsend. They are the best selling authors of the book, Boundaries. The conference was designed to be a boot camp in that the focus was on applying the concept of boundaries in the various relationships that we all have (family, coworkers, church, etc.). I learned a lot at the conference about myself and how to relate to others in a healthier way.

6. I visited about eight churches and had lunch with several pastors on my Sabbatical in order to gather new ideas and get some wisdom. I had a great lunch with Barry Smith the Senior Pastor at Impact Church in Elk Grove and heard about their journey as a church. God also opened a door for both Susan and I to meet John and Ann Hansen from Lamb's Fellowship church in Murrieta. I had a great time with John while I was in Murrieta and I was able to visit their Saturday night service. I also had a great time visiting churches like Mariner's Church and New Song in Irvine.

7. I got to ride PCH! Each Sunday afternoon after church I ride my bike for a couple of hours to decompress and reflect on the day. While I was in LA I was able to do two Sunday afternoon rides up and down Pacific Coast Highway. I had a blast riding through Seal, Huntington, and Newport Beach. I grew up going to those beaches every summer and it brought back a lot of fun memories. The weather was perfect!

Those are just a few of the highlights of my Sabbatical. I am anxious to come back to New Song next week (I'll be in the Ministry Center on Monday 7/27). I miss seeing so many people from our church and I am really looking forward to what God is going to do next at New Song. With our C2 focus, I feel like we are in a better place than ever to reach people for Jesus!

C2 - Moving Forward

As some of you probably sensed, I have been worn down by the events of the last few years. The good news (actually great news) is that my Sabbatical has been a gift of encouragement and refreshment as I was able to relfect and just focus on Jesus.

I am now looking forward more than ever to what God is going to do at New Song. I believe that God wants us to reach more people for Jesus than ever before as we focus on our C2 goal of growing complete in Christ. In the spring of this year, we were in a neutral gear as God healed and transformed us.

Now, I believe that God is calling us to move forward in a BIG WAY. The key verse that I mediated on while I was in Southern California is Isaiah 43:18-19, which says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

In this verse, God is describing his desire for Israel to stop going over their history in their minds. God wants them to be alert and present because he is about to do something brand new. God is telling them to forget the past, because it is nothing compared to what he is about to do in their future. In a sense, God is calling them to have hope!

In recent months, I have dwelled a lot on painful memories of the past. I have thought a lot about how things used to be at our church. I was hurt by the response of some to our struggles in 2008 and also felt a spirit of discouragement. As this verse describes, I believe that God is calling me (and our church) to set aside the past and let him do a new thing. If I continue to dwell on the past I'll miss the good thing that God wants to do today. In a sense, this is how hope works. We take our focus off of the past and put it on God who wants to do a new and better work in our future.

Because of this passage I have stopped dweling on some painful memories and I am now moving forward. Now, I am moving forward as I believe God is making a way in the wilderness and a stream in the desert for us.

What about you? Do you have a painful memory that God is calling you to stop dwelling on so that you can see him work in your life today? Maybe a friendship at New Song that is gone or an expectation of how things are supposed to be? Maybe a wound from your past that is keeping you from seeing the miraculous thing that God wants to do in your life today.

On Sunday, August 2nd, I'll be returning to New Song and I look forward to sharing with you some of the exciting ways we are moving forward as a church. We'll be starting our new series, "Disciple: No Christians Allowed." I guarantee that you will be challenged and equipped to grow in your faith and personal relationship with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you then!

Turn Around Churches

Over the last few weeks I've got to participate in a couple of great and encouraging experiences. First, our family attended a Family Camp at Oak Glen Christian Conference center in Yucaipa. It was a conference for the whole family put on by the Free Methodist Church. Susan's family has friends who invited us to join them even though we aren't a part of their denomination. We had fun swimming, climbing the ropes course, and worshipping together.

At family camp we also met a great couple from Murrieta. John and Ann Hansen minister at a church in Murrieta called "Lamb's Fellowship." John became the pastor of the church five years ago when it was about to shut it's doors. The church had declined from about 500 to 50 people when John and Ann first came to the church. In the past five years though the church has experienced a complete turn around. They were able to build their first permanent building and had over 1000 people in attendance for the first time in May. Meeting John and Ann was a big encouragement to Susan and I. We thought of it as a God thing because their church is about 1/2 mile from my sister's home in Murrieta. I'll be staying in Murrieta all next week for some solitude time so I'll be connecting with John and his church again soon.

Susan and I also visited Crossroads Church in Corona for their Sunday night service on Sunday, 6/28. Chuck Booher, the senior pastor, is an old friend of mine (When I was in Junior High School I delivered his newspaper every morning. Yes, I was once a "paper boy"). Crossroads is also the church were I became a Christian, so it was great to be there to worship and hear Chuck speak. Crossroads is also going through a turn around. Chuck came to Crossroads in 2007 when the church was going through a huge financial collapse. At the time, the church had huge financial problems and they were unable to meet their debt obligations. Chuck shared with Susan and I that when he first became the pastor of the church, they were less than three weeks away from going bankrupt and having to close the doors. In the last two years, they have seen an amazing turn around. God took their huge problem and turned it into a huge miracle. They are seeing many people come to Christ and grow in their faith. Since January 1st of this year they have already baptized over 1,000 people into Christ. Susan and I were once again amazed by what God is doing.

This last Sunday, 7/5, I heard from many that Bryce Jessup delivered an incredible message. If you missed it, make sure to check it out on the media page of our church web site. I visited Bayside Church in Granite Bay and heard a great message on the life of Abraham and discipleship by Neil Josephson. Neil shared three stages of discipleship in our relationship with God. I'll be describing them in detail on Sunday, August 3rd, when we start our next series "Disciple (No Christians Allowed)."

This week I am back in Folsom until Thursday when I am headed to Huntington Beach for a conference called, "Boundaries Bootcamp" with Henry Cloud. I am looking forward to it. To prep for the conference I have been reading "Boundaries" by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It's a classic book that I believe all Christians should read for two reasons: 1) It addresses emotional and spiritual maturity in a way that breaks us free from sinful patterns many of us learned from our families growing up. Whether you grew up in a Christian home or not you may have picked up some immature ways of relating to people that aren't compatible with following Jesus. Boundaries addresses some of these deeper issues and has given me a lot to think about. 2) It's a great book on parenting. I think every parent should read the chapter in this book called, "Parenting and Boundaries." Trust me, if you apply 10% of what they describe in the book as a parent you'll save yourself a lot of headache and heartache. If you've never read Boundaries I'd really recommend it!

FYI - Photos are 1) Our family photo at Family Camp; 2) Liam on the ropes course at Family Camp; 3) Meg at Seal Beach where we played for a day.