Mike McClenahan

Becoming a Grandfather

2012-02-03T22:20:00.001-08:00

I changed my blog tagline tonight. No longer "almost grandfather" to "grandfather."

We got the phone call Thursday morning at 2:30 from Connor: water broke, at the hospital, three weeks early… So we packed a few things and drove up to Verdugo Hills Hospital and met Connor in the same labor and delivery floor where he and Brendan were born June 26, 1987. We met a nurse who has worked there since the mid-70s and she remembered Dr. Smith who delivered them.

The doctor told us to settle in because this is going to be a long wait. First child... he's early... everyone knows... We went to Starbucks across the street to get some work done, cancel appointments, and send out emails. Amy and I tried to nap in the waiting room, making up for the lost sleep and biding our time in the "long wait." It turned out to be a short wait. At 11:30 the doctor rushed past the waiting room: "It's showtime!" Fifteen minutes later Aidan was born.

Six pounds three ounces, nineteen inches and was born at week 38. He's beautiful. As we held him he didn't make a peep. No crying, no fussing. His eyes were open, just taking everything in. What was it like for him to be in the womb (in Chinese, I found out tonight, the word means "baby's palace") one minute, experience a little pushing and then there's light, no more muffled sounds, the familiar voices of your mom and dad now crystal clear.

But what's it like for a dad to see his son holding his grandson? Pride. Joy. Awe. What's it like to just get used to the idea that your son is married, and married to a wonderful woman, now daughter, and realize he's a man, he's got what it takes, he's on the adventure, he's willing to take on this great responsibility and experience of being a dad.

In the New Testament John writes, "No one has ever seen God…" I like that phrase because it means people are looking for God, but we just can't see him. "But when we love one another…" Love takes so many forms in our lives from friendship to the intimacy of marriage, to the love of a mother and child. "God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

There is a connection between God's love for us, our love for one another and the completion of love or the expression of love. What a great thing to see the beautiful, wonderful, awesome miracle of a newborn child and the love that surrounds him--great-grandparents, grandparents and parents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors all celebrating this child. God is present.

Hearing God's Word

2012-01-12T08:46:00.001-08:00

But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, "You are the beloved and on you my favour rests."... I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life starts - by claiming the voice that calls us the beloved. Henri Nouwen

Christmas Celebration

2011-12-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Friday Amy and I rode our bikes to Del Mar, then walked on the beach. The sky was clear, the tide was out, and people were walking along as if it were the fourth of July.

As we walked we saw our long shadows on the sand. As if were on stilts, our images were stretched in front of us.

It's a great picture of Christmas time: sometimes we are stretched too thin, not enough of us to go around. But our worship celebrations were awesome; worship band, children's choirs, candle readers, chancel choir, carol singing, and messages in song and word of Jesus' birth. I love this time of year. It's worth the effort to provide a time of celebration for the church family, their friends and family and our community.

It's also a great picture of the New Year: thinking of how our lives reach into 2012, anticipating the birth of our grandchild, having two married sons, continuing to grow and experience ministry and life here in Solana Beach.

This prayer from Northumbria ties together both Christmas and the New Year.

A Prayer for the New Year

This day is a new day

that has never been before.

This year is a new year,

The opening door.

Enter, Lord Christ –

We have joy in Your coming.

You have given us life;

And we welcome Your coming.

I turn now to face You,

I lift up my eyes.

Be blessing my face, Lord:

Be blessing my eyes.

May all my eye looks on

Be blessed and be bright,

My neighbors, my loved ones

Be blessed in Your sight.

You have given us life

And we welcome Your coming.

Be with us, Lord,

We have joy, we have joy.

This year is a new year,

The opening door.

Be with us, Lord,

We have joy, we have joy.

Waiting and Watching

2011-12-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Advent is a time of watching and waiting. Paying attention and being patient help us to see the beauty of a moment that otherwise would have been missed.

Yesterday Amy and I walked on the beach and saw a dark, stormy sky. As we walked the sky changed: just a hint of color below the clouds, a flicker of light on the horizon, then a fiery ball, and then a full blown firestorm of light. We stood there amazed along with others along the beach.

If Advent is a time of watching and waiting, what might we see if we stop and look? If we pay attention to what God was doing in the midst of our ordinary walking, celebrating, decorating, or worshipping during the season?

Below is a prayer that asks for God's blessing as we watch and wait for the coming of Jesus, the light of the world.

--

God of the watching ones,

give us your benediction.

God of the waiting ones,

give us Your good word for our souls.

God of the watching ones,

the waiting ones,

the slow and suffering ones,

give us your benediction,

Your good word for our souls,

that we might rest.

God of the watching ones,

the waiting ones,

the slow and suffering ones,

and of all the angels in heaven,

and of the child in the womb,

give us your benediction,

Your good word for our souls,

that we might rest and rise

in the kindness of Your Company.

"An evening prayer for blessing during Advent" from Celtic Daily Prayer

Becoming Neighbors

2011-11-29T10:36:00.001-08:00

This is a letter from a couple in our church who had a "life changing experience" during our ten week message series I preached through Luke 10:1-12 entitled Sent Together.

"Steve and I have been in a place of transition in our housing situation since 2005. It has been a long, drawn out painful period of time. After being homeowners for over 30 years, we found it necessary to rent for the past 3 years since coming to the San Diego area and have been anxiously awaiting the time when we could feel settled again and find and purchase a home again and stay put and to leave the feeling of things being "temporary" behind once and for all.

We are currently living in a very small condo/apartment and thought originally that we would be here for only 4 months. Four months turned into 18 months very quickly. Apartment living has it's challenges and I must admit that we had not connected with anyone living around us and have done like everyone else here. We'd come and go, keeping to ourselves. Everyone around us has moved. The turn over rate is frequent except for the couple that lives across from us. While we keep our blinds open, there's are shut tight. I would wave to the young beautiful and frail appearing Japanese woman who lives there when she walked her two little puppies, only seeing her on rare occasion, she seemed to avoid conversation. Since I care for our two year old granddaughter at our place all week. I began to wonder why she stayed so isolated. After our small group sharing one evening, I knew the Lord was nudging me to be intentional about encountering her in some way.

The next day, I was leaving with our grand daughter in my arms and she was coming up the walkway. We began to talk and I asked about her puppies, she said in her broken English, "Oh, I want baby, but I have dogs." She beamed a big smile at our granddaughter, Averi. We smiled and waved and parted ways. I was struck by her statement, but even more by the look in her eyes and I sensed both desire and loss--perhaps the loss of the ability to have a child. For the next several days, I prayed about how to go about befriending her being sensitive to her apparent need for privacy and her culture. I am sure the Lord planted the idea that followed because it seemed obvious that part of her openness to me was because of our granddaughter being present. Maybe she could still know the love of a child, I kept thinking. It was the week of Halloween and Averi and I got to work on making my neighbor a spider from an egg carton with googly eyes and spindly pipe cleaner legs--pretty cute when it was all done and painted by a two year old. I let Averi pick out a small plant from the store earlier that day and we went and knocked on my neighbors door so that Averi (with arms full of her gifts) could give her the spider and plant to our neighbor.

She was hesitant to open the door at first, but when she did, and saw what we had come to offer her, she was so delighted and almost couldn't believe what was happening I felt. She kept apologizing for repeatedly asking our names and finally excused herself and went for a piece of paper and pen to write them down. It was then that she told me that she had experienced a "brain stroke" eight years ago when she was in her early 30's. Having a medical background, I could imagine how this young woman's life had been turned upside down and what she might have endured, that she came close to death, what the recovery involved, and her high risk for reoccurrence.

I asked her,"Do you have family close by?"

"No, she answered they are all in Japan."

"Friends?" I asked (hoping).

"Some," and she gestured toward me and kind of hunched her shoulder.

I can't even describe how the Spirit of God so convicted my heart in that moment. Here I had been living next to her for 18 months, a person so obviously isolated and I had the ability to understand and care for her like no one else in our complex given my life experiences and training. It was our first real encounter and I fought back the tears walking away from her door.

The following day she brought her husband to our door with a bag of Japanese Halloween candy for Averi. Steve and her husband had a warm encounter and a share a similar work history--her husband speaks English confidently and travels out of the country often for weeks at a time. He wanted to thank me for meeting his wife. He told us about her Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and told us that he traveled to Asia often. We both sensed his concern for her just by his tone. It was then that I told them I was a nurse and I understood what had happened to her. She looked surprised and so happy and clasped her hands together like she was praying and said, "Oh, I just thank God that He came here." Again, one of those moments when I couldn't believe the words that fell off her lips and definitely one of those moments when I knew God was making a point to my heart. Let's just say it was more than the usual nudge, it was more like an audible "Are you getting this?!" Her husband then shared he would be leaving on a 10 day trip to China in two days. We offered to them both that we would watch out for her as well as our phone numbers and told her that should she need anything at all we would be available. I saw a relief come over both their faces and they expressed gratitude.

During the 10 days her husband was away for the first time I noticed her blinds where opened slightly in our direction and so I left ours open all the time so she would see either us or the lights on and know we were here. I believe she was feeling peace, from knowing we were present and that we had connection. Averi and I made several visits to her door during her husband’s absence, once to leave something on her doormat and twice to share more two year old art work. If Averi had her way, we would be visiting my neighbor every day. We can't go to any store now without her picking up something with the suggestion that I buy it for my neighbor and she anticipates and plans for times when she can run with joy to our neighbors place to give her a gift of love--her little handmade treasures.

Do you know what I have realized? That I did not consider this woman my neighbor because I didn't consider this place my home. In my mind and in my plan I was as transient as the rest of the residents that live here for a short time. And without being aware, I did not see that the Lord had given us this home in this place for His reasons in this season. All this time I could have been caring for someone who really needed a friend. I was someone who could understand her special needs had I not walled off my heart to this experience. Since all this has happened we have met several other great folks around us. We have been intentional to linger long enough to say hello, ask a name and be interested in the lives of those who live in our complex. God forgive me for not seeing what He wanted all along, to bring His Kingdom and His peace to this place. Hospitality and caring for people has been our thing and He knew we had what it took to love our neighbor. And now finally we are doing it, and what a joy it is!

Interesting too God's timing. It looks as if an offer we have (there have been many along the way) on a short sale and a home we are so excited about is coming thru. We may have only weeks left to live here. I never thought I would say this about this place, but, I will feel sad when we leave it and move away as happy as I am to find our new home after this long journey of disappointments and waiting. There is a new friend here in my home that I will not lose touch with even though we will not be next door neighbors for very long. We will still be stopping by with two year old art treasures and inviting them to dinner in our new home. I hope that I can offer her some kind of continued peace, love, and friendship.

Thank you Lord for my new friend and for teaching me about what is really important once again: people.

Thank you Mike for keeping us in Luke 10 long enough for the Lord to speak to my heart. Some of our long journey and the waiting has finally made sense."

Note: We have used lectio divina to dwell in this passage at PGF’s Moving Back Into the Neighborhood, session and staff meetings, but this was an experiment to see if we would be able to create an all church learning experience in worship and sermon based small groups. I began each message by reading the passage slowly, asking people to identify a word or phrase that surprised them, they were curious about or where their attention stopped. Then I asked each person to pair up with another, share the word or phrase and include a short explanation if possible. Each week I preached on themes in the text, giving some background to Luke’s writing, developing the themes within scripture and telling stories that had emerged in our church family through this passage. After a few weeks of this pattern it was getting dry, and some groups were getting stuck. We were all wondering if there was anything else to learn. I acknowledged the frustration and moved through the series, trusting God had something for us. On the second to last Sunday I asked each person to write down the word or phrase that had been impressed on them for the whole series or in the moment. I received 944 responses and about 300 explanations, all summarized in 22 different phrases. I was able to preach the last message reflecting what God might be saying to us as a whole congregation. I learned so much. God was faithful.

Benedictions

2011-11-23T09:31:00.001-08:00

fresco from the catacombs of
San Callisto, Rome (2nd-4th c)

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

May the Peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness and protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors. Northumbria Community Morning Prayer

The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace. Exodus 6:24-26

Receive the blessing of God the Father Almighty who created us in love, that we might be for the praise of his glory; the blessing of God the Son, who died for us and rose again that we might have life abundant and life eternal; and the blessing of God the Spirit who goes with us to encourage and equip us to live lives worthy of our calling. MM

Healing Presence

2011-11-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey

Community Serve Day

2011-10-12T08:47:00.001-07:00

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com.

Community Serve Day was a great Sunday of worship... worship by offering ourselves in service (Romans 12:1). How do you measure the day? By numbers: somewhere between 1300 and 1400 preschoolers, children, students, adults served in 80 locations all over San Diego County. By the stories: there are so many to tell. Those whose imaginations created the site as a place where the love of God could be tangibly demonstrated; the site leaders who prayed for workers, even till the last minute and saw people come together in new ways; the participants who "bought in" to the idea that we'd have no worship services in the sanctuary, only opportunities to serve; the organizations, people, families who welcomed us into their world; the bypassers who saw green shirts and asked questions.

I started out on our church campus hosting Steve Luke from KNSD. He worked with us two years ago on our first CSD. I love the opportunity to tell our story in words, but it's even better to see it in pictures. In the room where dolls were being assembled to be sent to orphans all over world we found an eleven year old girl's birthday/slumber party. The girls learned to sew clothes, braid hair, and put the final touches on dolls. One girl said it was the best birthday party she'd ever been to because it's "so fun to serve." We saw the rummage sale organized by Mothers of Preschoolers to benefit the Encinitas Women's Shelter. Piles of clothes and donated goods that yielded a few thousand dollars in donations. Teams packed food for Native Americans devastated by an earthquake and for wounded warriors. Those teams had 12 year olds and 80 year olds working together, smiling and laughing. Great intergenerational effort, they said.

At Fletcher Cove Community Center a team was tearing out ice plant, making room for a future picnic area. While the group finished their three hour task the deputy mayor showed up and thanked everyone for coming and partnering with the city of Solana Beach. He commented that this Community Center was special to him personally because his daughter was christened there. We reflected as well that this is where our congregation worshiped 65 years ago.

Grant is the supervising lifeguard and attends our church. He was happy to see a team of two families refurbishing the "butt-hut" that provides shelter in bad weather for the lifeguards. Mac was resetting a window that came from the original 1960s lifeguard tower at Tide Beach. Grant has been a lifeguard since 1979 and because of budget cuts has to work on Sunday mornings. I think he was blessed that the church came to him last Sunday.

We finished our tour of sites at High Country Villas. There were people spread out among homes where senior adults asked for help with window washing, gardening, simple repairs, picture hanging, etc. We stopped our car in front of a garage with two green shirts helping a resident. This woman knew our church because our neighbor invited her to the Christmas concert last year, which she loved. She and her husband owned a music store, he was classically trained and she sang in the church choir. Since her husband died her garage has been disorganized and she needed some help labeling and organizing boxes. Her face reflected her gratitude, surprise, and appreciation.

We had some time to just visit with a church member who is unable to come to worship because of respiratory challenges. She was waiting for her crew to return from Home Depot so we had time to just sit and chat about her life, pray together and enjoy the luxury of time on a Sunday afternoon.

The last house we visited was a woman who was on disability because of a torn meniscus. The team of six gardened, opened her dishwasher that was stuck for six weeks and hung some pictures. She was so grateful for the blessing.

This week lots of stories are being told and we'll celebrate in worship this Sunday. God gets the credit in every one for his vision, inspiration, creativity, joy, sacrificial love, energy and passion.
Thank you God!

The Church as a Living Bridge

2011-10-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

Each week in worship we bless our children. First through sixth graders sit with parents or a trusted adult for the first 25 minutes of worship, then are dismissed with a pastoral blessing. We raise a hand or place a hand of blessing on "our" children as a way of physically extending ourselves to them.

Last Sunday we baptized an infant. The couple professed their own faith in Jesus and committed themselves to raise their daughter in an environment where she might one day profess her own faith in Jesus. The congregation likewise committed ourselves to come alongside the parents and the child. I've said before, "'Their' children become 'our' children."

We want to be a place where children see their parents and other adults worship God, serve the world, meet together and love each other. We want them to have an experience of the church in organized and organic ways. Our hope is that one generation would "commend the works of God to the next" (Psalm 145) as a living bridge that lasts beyond the oldest generation.

This video is a beautiful example of one generation passing on knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. What does our living bridge look like?

911 Prayer

2011-09-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago on September 11^th terrorist attacks killed almost 3000:

· 246 people on the four planes that landed in Pennsylvania, The Pentagon, and the World Trade Center.

· 2606 in New York City in the Twin Towers and on the ground 125 at the Pentagon, 55 of which were military personnel and 411 emergency workers who responded to the scene, including 342 firefighters, 10 paramedics, 23 NYC police officers and 37 Port Authority officers. All American citizens except for 236 from more than 90 other countries.

These are the numbers of those who died on 9/11, but the impact of 9/11 goes on.

· -Families who lost loved ones

· -Military who have been service and many who have died serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan

· -We have all been affected by increased security and the underlying threat of future attacks.

· -The world has changed in so many ways.

We all have our stories and memories of 9/11. We remember where we were, and many of us lost loved ones or friends, or were impacted some way.

As followers of Jesus, scripture calls us called to

· -Love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with our God

· -Trust in the lord with all our heart

· -Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

· -Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

There are so many to pray for. There have been so many programs on television and articles written about the tenth anniversary. To prepare our hearts for a time of corporate prayer, I’d like you to share how you might pray for the world. I’d like you to stand, turn to one or two people near you and share one thing you’d pray for.

TIME FOR SHARING

Let’s pray.

God we praise you as the God of Creation who brought forth order out of chaos, light out of the darkness, life out of dust. We acknowledge that you are the sovereign God who holds the world in the palm of your hand. We also know that you are the God of all compassion who comforts, knows us, and gives us hope and a future. We thank you that you are the Saving God, that in Jesus Christ you have made the way for salvation and that through him we have new and eternal life. We thank you that you are the redeeming God, who is making all things new, has the power to heal and forgive and restore. In the midst of brokenness and heartache, mourning and recovery, in the midst of war and threats of terror, we acknowledge that you are God. So, God our father we come to you by faith, responding to your invitation to ask anything. We bring to your own prayer requests, now in a time of silence.

SILENCE

Thank you for hearing us God. We trust you. We praise you, we ask you to form us into a people who would bring about your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Make us a people who love mercy, do justice and who walk humbly with you. Make us more and more into the likeness of your son, that we as a people would reflect your glory, your goodness, your faithfulness to the world. IN JESUS’ NAME. AMEN

Meditation

2011-09-08T09:20:00.001-07:00

"I find Thee enthroned in my heart, my Lord Jesus. It is enough. I know that Thou art throned in heaven. My heart and heaven are one." Alistair Maclean (Day 8 Meditation from Celtic Daily Prayer)

Last Sunday the message text was Revelation 5. Billy Jack did a great job unpacking the first century historical context behind the imagery of John's revelation. The lamb who was slain (crucified) and standing (risen) is on the throne (not Emperor Domitian) and holds the scrolls (which determines the course of history, and the fate of all).

And the choirs sing to the lamb (not Domitian) a "new song"

   “You are worthy to take the scroll
   and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
   and with your blood you purchased for God
   members of every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
   and they will reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

   “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
   to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
   and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Scripture affirms that Jesus, the lamb of God is on the throne. At the end of the message we were asked, "Who is on the throne in your life?" This meditation by Alistair Maclean ties together the truth of heaven with the truth of our own hearts.

KidsGames: Building God's Kingdom in Solana Beach and Ghana

2011-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today we washed cars and sold baked goods to raise over $7000 for Emmanuel's school in Ghana for disabled and abled kids. Ten percent of Ghana's population is disabled, and most are destined for begging on the streets.

That's what Emmanuel's fate would have been, if not for his mother's words to him, "You will not beg, God has a purpose for you." Not only has Emmanuel not begged (his story is told in the DVD "Emmanuel's Gift") but he has become a challenged triathlete and has created a foundation to help kids in his home country.

KidsGames is learning about his foundation and the school we are raising money for. Emmanuel's dream is to have disabled and abled kids in the same school so kids are "mainstreamed" from the beginning.

700 preschoolers to sixth graders are participating in KidsGames at SBPC, which includes a "sport" (basketball to slot cars to scrapbooking), a compassion project (Emmanuel's school) and a bible lesson that helps kids see the are ambassadors for God's mission in the world. "You are smart, you are gifted, and we believe you can make a difference," Billy Jack says every morning. They also get to see 300 volunteers from 12 to 87 making a difference by serving kids this week as kid connnectors, coaches, teachers, guides, musicians, and helpers of all kinds.

This is our seventh year. God has used our kids to make a difference. in previous years to raise money and awareness for causes like the San Diego Rescue Mission and the endangered condors at the San Diego Zoo.

God brought Emmanuel to us in a very special way. A few years ago we watched Emmanuel's Gift at the recommendation of a friend. We were very touched by this story, which is narrated by Oprah. I shared a little about his story in a message that month. A few months later a member of our church met Emmanuel at the San Diego County Fair and invited him to our church. As Emmanuel went back and forth from Ghana to collect bicycles or work with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, he would worship with us. Eventually we decided to partner with him through KidsGames. Emmanuel has been on campus all week, interacting with kids and reminding us why we have all been called to be God's ambassadors to make a difference in the world.

In all services this Sunday we'll celebrate KidsGames--telling stories, seeing the video, and hearing all God has done through our kids.

God is present. God is at work. God is making all things new.

2011-06-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend Amy and I are in Calaveras County, in the small town of Murphys, to celebrate Kendra and Keith's wedding. We are privileged to be a part of another chapter in Kendra's life.

We met Kendra in 1990--she was 15 years old and part of our church senior high fellowship. Amy led her small group. We saw her graduate from high school and college, be in love, marry and have children. We also saw her walk through a year of her husband's cancer and eventually his death. We flew back from sabbatical a year ago to be with Kendra and to lead his service.

We prayed for Kendra, along with hundred, maybe thousands, who knew her and wondered what life would be like with 10 year old twins and a 12 year old daughter. God has answered those prayers in so many ways. Not in a magical make-everything-all-right king of way, but in the hard work of grief, conversations, tears and struggle.

In the midst of this chapter of her journey she met Keith--a single dad who had never married. Because their daughters were best friends, he knew her story and all that she had experienced. During this past year they went from friends to more than friends, they were engaged and tomorrow they will marry.

Tonight we were at the rehearsal dinner and saw wonderful signs of God's life in them: laughter, tears, gratitude, amazement, joy. What an honor it is to see how God has been present, how God has been at work, and how God has been making all things new.

If we believe the all things means all things, then this shouldn't be a surprise. All things means every part of the journey, not just the happy times. All things means the people, the relationships, the grief and the joy.

I pray Kendra and Keith continue to experience new life together as their children become siblings, as their families become family, and as their faith deepens to trust God in this next chapter.

Amen.

2011-04-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

We may ignore,
but we can nowhere evade,
the presence of God.
The world is crowded with Him.
He walks everywhere incognito.
And the incognito is not always
hard to penetrate.
The real labor is to attend.
In fact, to come awake.
Still more, to remain awake.

C. S. Lewis

Psalm 23

2011-03-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

mjm

A shepherd calls

I listen

I recognize

I follow

A shepherd leads

I am protected

I am supplied

I have all I need

A shepherd lays down his life

I am rescued

I am included

I am resting

This shepherd is my shepherd

I am known

I am saved

I am blessed

He is lord

He is good

Three Marathons: Part Two

2011-02-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

Last post was a brief recap of the three marathons I ran in nine months (December 88 to September 89) and training while our boys were 12 to 24 months old.

The Los Angeles Marathon in April 1989 was a learning experience. I learned that you can beat your previous time if you (a) run the whole way instead of walk and (b) break through the inevitable wall and finish the race.

The marathon starts at the Coliseum and takes you through LA neighborhoods: China Town, Korea Town, Japan Town, Hollywood, and back to the Coliseum. There were so many people on Figueroa that it took me 10 minutes just to cross the start line. And with so many people it's easy to start out too slow and then set a pace that is way too fast.

But the thing that surprised me most was the wall that I hit at mile 21. I felt it coming and didn't want to finish. My hips were aching, my feet were dying, but I wanted to finish the race at the Coliseum. My brother Pat recorded the marathon from one of the local stations. The story on the news was how one of the top seeded runners from Kenya also hit the wall at mile 21. The commentator said he could see the look in the runner's face and knew he wouldn't finish. And he didn't. He stopped. He collapsed. He didn't make it back to the Coliseum.

I ran LA in four and a half hours, taking off thirty minutes off my time in Honolulu. I didn't set any records, but I finished the race. Sometimes just finishing is a great accomplishment.

Three Marathons in Nine Months: A True Story

2011-01-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

I was thinking back to 1988, a very significant year in my life. That summer Amy and I decided to train for the Honolulu Marathon with some people from our congregation in Glendale. This was not intended to be a competitive marathon, but a friendly marathon with about 20 who wanted to get off their sedentary rears and get in shape.

The Honolulu Marathon was started by two cardiologists who wanted to test their theory that post-op heart patients could train for a marathon within a year of surgery if they trained slowly and methodically. So we trained for about six months, following a strict schedule that increased our endurance and joining each other on Saturday mornings for group runs.

The challenge for us was we had year old twins. Amy would feed them and get them ready for bed so that when I got home from work we would run with the boys in the twin jogging stroller. Amazingly they fell asleep as we ran, we'd put them to bed and enjoy our post-run dinner.

We made it to Honolulu and ran/walked the 26.2 miles with our "team" from Glendale from the Aloha Tower, through Waikiki, out to Diamond Head and we finished at the park at the zoo.

After we returned home I decided to run the Los Angeles Marathon in April. After that marathon I ran the Portland Marathon in September. Three marathons in three states in nine months.

True Story.

A Red Letter Year

2010-12-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

This has been a red-letter year* for Amy and me. We knew at the outset 2010 would be special: Connor and Sherianne married in March, we turned 50 in April and October, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in June, and we spent four months together on sabbatical. As always, we planned but God has his own plans to make this year special.

It was a joy, after performing over 100 weddings to be Connor’s dad and sit with Amy at their wedding. It was an awesome day to remember God’s goodness, his faithfulness and his love that brought Connor and Sherianne together. We are so happy to see them settled into life in Pasadena together.

Brendan continued his masters and sang in several operas this past year. He came on staff leading worship at our evening service. What a joy to see Brendan using his gifts and developing his music skills, and to see him become more and more of the man God’s calling him to be.

We underestimated the significance of our sabbatical pilgrimage, especially to the holy land with 26 friends and members of our church family—sunrise looking over the Sea of Galilee, renewing our vows in Cana, praying in the synagogue in Nazareth, remembering our baptism in the Jordan River, walking down the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane and across the Kidron Valley up through the Lions Gate into Jerusalem, praying at the Western Wall, walking up the steps Jesus walked to the Temple, praying in the Upper Room, listening to the story of Palestinian Christians at the Bethlehem Bible College, and remembering the horror of WWII at the Holocaust Museum—and to Kiev and Moscow with our choir—preaching in the churches, hearing the stories of pastors and priests who were persecuted, learning more about the 1000 year history of Christianity, and seeing the new thing God is doing in Ukraine and Russia.

Our theme of pilgrimage and practices took us places we would not have been otherwise. Traveling to historic Christian sites—Rome, Assisi, Lindisfarne and Iona and practicing a consistent rhythm of prayer alone and together with others made our time very rich. We missed our family and church family, but God made us keenly aware of opportunities to connect with strangers, new friends, and communities where God is at work in simple and profound ways.

Our return home taught us so much. It’s transformative to hit the reset button. No work emails for four months. No accessible cell phone. No concerns, because we left with a wonderful staff and lay leadership who stepped up in my absence, which I found does make the heart grow fonder. I missed preaching and came back with a renewed energy. I think we were missed, not just in general, but for the gifts we uniquely bring to our church family. One of my staff told me, “Thank you for setting an example for us of taking care of you and getting away with Amy.” That feels gratifying.

The rhythm of daily prayer has stuck with us. Amy and I continue to pray together ancient Celtic liturgy for Morning Prayer over coffee and Compline prayer right before bed. It gives our day a framework to seek after God together and to sleep with his protection and under his care.

We also learned about opening new doors without fear. After four months of opening restaurant doors, B and B doors, church doors, and apartment doors, we learned to trust God with the new adventure with faith. Those doors are either doors of welcome and hospitality (for which we are grateful) or doors of challenge and faith (for which we attentive to what God is doing). Either way, they represent an adventure and an opportunity to grow.

This fall the door of our Generations Campaign was an important door to walk through as soon as we returned. Reaching back 65 years to those who stepped out in faith to provide what we enjoy now, we were inspired as a church to step out in faith as well with our own praying, giving and serving. We united around 21 days of prayer and a day of prayer and fasting, as well as a vision to provide beyond ourselves to the next generation and future generations of children. About 1000 people came to a lunch or dinner, 500 families contributed cash or pledges totally almost $7 million, including $2.5 million in cash. In this economy? God has shown himself to be faithful and our church has responded with generosity.

But for me personally, I grew in my own faith of what God can do in me and through me. I never led a campaign before. I never talked about money so much or casted a vision so extensive or so costly. And I never felt so certain that I was the right person in the right place to use my gifts of leadership, vision casting and preaching.

Amy came back to her small group of young adult women. It’s so wonderful to see her grow with them and grow in her own gifting. Amy has had the opportunity to speak to women about marriage and about how God has been at work in her own story, and to walk alongside other women to see how God is at work in their story.

Amy and I are so grateful to be where we are and who we are becoming as 2010 comes to a close. This was a red-letter year for us and we pray 2011 is filled with new doors, new adventures, and seeing God at work in new ways in us and through us.

*More than 100 years ago my great grandfather celebrated his 21st birthday while at sea with the navy. He wrote in his diary it was a “red-letter” day and actually used red ink!

God on the Move: The Many Moods of Christmas

2010-12-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I asked the musicians what it was like performing in our sanctuary. All but three of the 48 musicians are from the San Diego Symphony and they have played in every kind of venue and for every kind of audience. Many have played in our sanctuary for 15 or more years. Their response was unanimous: they love playing each year in our sanctuary because our people are so appreciative. They are inspired by the congregation.

I asked the choir the same question. This is not a professional choir. Every choir member (except for our soloist) is a volunteer who responds to the call to lead our worship services. They sing from the heart and believe what they sing. Dan is a great conductor and minister of music who chooses the texts, develops the program to communicate the message of Christmas. Their response was unanimous: they love singing with the orchestra. They are inspired by the amazing musicians.

I asked those who attended the services. There were 2500 people who attended our five concerts last weekend—250 more than last year! The added Monday night was the best attended of the five concerts, and it allowed us to accommodate virtually every request this year. (The worship service in Debin Hall added another 280 people, bringing our grand total for worship to 2800 people!) These are members of our church, visitors to our church and people who have travelled as far as Temecula and Long Beach. Family came to hear their children or grandchildren sing. Neighbors came with members who wanted them to hear the message of Christmas. Veterans came from the VA Hospital in Long Beach. Their response was unanimous. They love the beautiful music that comes from our choirs and orchestra. They are inspired by the music.

What we experienced last weekend was beautiful in a mysterious way. What we experienced was more than music played by good musicians, or a well planned program or an enthusiastic audience. What we experienced was God at work, choreographing gifts and hearts and prayers and his word into a masterpiece that causes us be in awe and wonder.

If what NT Wright says in Simply Christian is true, that one of the marks of the Kingdom of God is beauty, then I believe we experienced something of the Kingdom of God last weekend. We experienced a mystery, something we can’t quite explain humanly, but is of God. It’s a mystery that points to a greater mystery of Christmas: the God of the universe came to us as a baby born to a virgin who would live a perfect life, perform miracles, announce the Kingdom of God, die for our sins, be raised from the dead and become King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and enter into human hearts as Savior and Lord. We can’t fully explain it humanly, but we can experience it and be in awe of what God has done. Glory to God in the highest! God is on the move!

Thanksgiving Worship

2010-11-29T18:06:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night we tried something different for the Thanksgiving Eve Worship--we incorporated Students in each part. Students played in the band, read a litany and shared the reflection on Psalm 100. They also served communion alongside pastors. So how was it?

I think the students felt honored.
'We are the whole message?'
'We get to serve communion?'

Spencer and Molly and intern Rachel did a great job reflecting on Psalm 100 ... personal, funny, deep. The congregation clapped after each meditation, not as a performance, but I think out of gratitude. Junior higher Grace and intern Jessica read the litany of thanks. Stew led us in a reading of Psalm 100.

'Best service.'
'Students have so much to teach us.'
'Inspiring.'

Jamie shared his experience of asking junior highers, "What celebrity would you swap for a family member?" None of them answered the question, saying, "I don't want to lose anyone in my family, but I'd like to add people to my family." Junior highers, he said, like their families and want others to join them. So, he invited us to be family by sharing our gratitude with each other, paying special attention to those outside our generation. We did, and there was energy in the sanctuary as people grouped together in circles of 3 and 4.

The choir sang with Brendan on the Revelation Song. Lisa sang a beautiful solo called Gratitude. Drums, guitar, choir, litanies, apostles creed... it was all there in an hour of praise and thanks.

When we worship all together we learn something we would never have learned otherwise. I'm thankful for that.

Grieving and Leading

2010-11-15T18:38:00.000-08:00

I have blogged recently about how we experience community in the church. We are brothers and sisters, we are family members, we are members of one body and all the parts work together. Because of our relationships in Christ, what forms is a kind of intimacy with each other. This closeness grows as we learn together, worship together and serve together--but especially when we risk together. The risks we take can be internal risks of trust and grace--can I share authentically with this person and still be accepted? Other risks are external risks of experimentation and leadership--can we walk through this new door together and come out the other side still friends, still trusting God together?

The real joy of ministry is never the predictable times of meetings, worship services or planning sessions, but it is always those times of risk, both internally and externally where we depend on God together and we actually are transformed. That change is miraculous because it's not something we expected or planned on, or anything we could have actually done on our own--it took God and the other in our lives.

So what happens when those relationships of trust and grace and intimacy, of history and shared memories suddenly end through death?

As a pastor there are many ways to deal with the loss. One is compartmentalizing. That's when we put those relationships in clean lines and boxes in a way that distance us from real grief. That wasn't a friend, that was a congregant. Being a pastor means when I lead a memorial service of remembrance, I don't attend as one who grieves. Being in charge means I use a different side of the brain--more thinking, less feeling.

Another way is theological. They're in a better place. God is good all the time.

Yet another way is logically. We're all going to die someday. This just happened to be sooner than we all expected.

I'm not any good at any of these responses. I'm first and foremost a person, not a pastor. And what my mind does as a pastor sometimes robs me from what I need to experience, what I want to experience as a person.

In the past 5 years I've lost three friends who were all involved in those great formative years of ministry with students. We learned together what it meant to have joy in serving--real joy because we struggled, prayed, failed, laughed and cried, and we made a difference together.

I miss Maynard, Geoff and Rawley. I thank God for the relationships. I'm thankful for lessons learned, for real transformation in my life and theirs, and for a bit of the Kingdom of God we experienced together.

Building our Lives, Together -- Oct 18

2010-10-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

"Build yourselves up in your most holy faith..." Jude 1:20

Last night at the 6:45 service we had a community question: What is something you have built that you are most proud of?

It's a great question because there are so many things that we can build and what am really proud of?

I thought about: building a culture in our church (better communication, service and small groups), building a house in Mexico (many times), building family traditions (like toasting each other for special occasions), building faith in students (over two decades of student ministries), building a staff that works well together.

But I quickly realize that I am proud of what has been built but I didn't build anything alone. Everything I mentioned above was built together with others.

In this little-read epistle, Jude (maybe the brother of Jesus) writes in the plural to dear friends, and to build yourselves up. Is it possible to build faith, ministries, traditions, alone?

As we consider what God is calling us to build in the Generations Campaign, it's impossible for any of us to build it alone. We are building faith and building building together.

Praise God for his Church! Praise God for each other! Praise God for the gift of fellowship!

Humility – Oct 14

2010-10-15T09:17:00.001-07:00

"Humble yourselves..." 1 Peter 5:6

It's Thursday and I'm sitting in the Fuller Seminary Youth Institute "Sticky Faith Cohort", a gathering of pastors and youth pastors from twelve churches across the country who desire to make faith stick in the lives of adolescents. This morning Scott Cormode, professor of leadership, talked about leading change and the conflict that often comes with change. He acknowledged that in any conflict there are competing commitments or values that frame the conflict.

In conflict situations rarely are two people bad people who want the worst for each other, and usually conflicts involve good people who want the best. In the church, one person might value nurturing those who are already in the church, another values reaching out to the community. Both are good values, and we can assume both people have good motives. Humility means I'm willing to acknowledge my own agenda or my own commitments that might be in conflict with someone else's agenda or commitment.

Conflict can also arise when we don't live out what we value. For example, I tell you that hospitality is important to me, but I leave my office door shut. Humility recognizes that my stated values are not always the values I live by, and we see it much more clearly in others! We judge ourselves by our intentions (what I wanted to do) but I just others by their actions (what they actually did). Humility says I acknowledge my own failure in being the person I want to be, and I give grace to my brother or sister who may not be perfect either.

It's only when we come with humility to the conflict with another that we can get past the conflict and find a solution that moves us forward. We think the best of each other and give each other grace and understanding.

It's hard work, but necessary work since we belong to each other and we want to become humble like Jesus.

Love and Belonging -- October 13

2010-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

...and each member belongs to all the others... Love must be sincere... Romans 12:5

We sang on Sunday night "We are the temple of God... Christ is here and he reigns, take a look around..." We are brought together from different backgrounds and experiences to be the place where we are no longer strangers to each other or to God. We are members of Christ's body, the temple of God. Only together are we Christ to the world.

Last Sunday twenty-four people became members of SBPC and will be presented to the congregation on October 24. Thirteen from the hispanic congregation and eleven from the english speaking congregation.

Our new Campus Master Plan and Phase 1 specifically has our spanish speaking and english speaking worshipping congregations facing each other. My prayer is that somehow we will know and love each other and we can see Jesus more fully in each other.

God has brought us together, not to be strangers Isn't that a great picture of the church? How will the world see Jesus more fully when we are together, one body?

We are home -- Oct 12

2010-10-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

You are no longer foreigners... but members of God's household. Ephesians 2:19

Most of four months we were on sabbatical we felt like foreigners. Street signs and menus in different languages, finding out where to buy bus tickets, adjusting our meals to fit the local customs, decifering the meaning of words spoken in English but carrying a different meaning.

There were times when we were welcomed into a home, a restaurant, a bed and breakfast and no longer felt like strangers, we felt like we belonged. Other times we felt out of the conversation, not really apart, not understanding what was going on, on the outside.

To be a foreigner (xenos in Greek) in bible times was to be an outsider. Some outsiders were separated out (gentiles), despised (ie, samaritans) and others feared (babylonians). In the temple there was a court designated for the gentiles. They couldn't get as close to the Holy of Holies as the female jews (close) or the male jews (closer) or the priests (closest). Jesus turns over the tables in the temple because the court of the gentiles had been turned into a marketplace and it kept those who were on the outside even farther away from worshipping the one, true God.

But Paul says in Christ we are no longer strangers or foreigners. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near..." (Ephesians 2:13) and (we) the whole building (not just Jews, but also Gentiles) is "joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." (Ephesians 2:21)

As the church we belong to God and to each other. We are home.