A Pastor’s schedule is quite interesting. Many think we only work one day a week (when we’re preaching). But nothing could be further from the truth.

I say that not with just myself in mind, but with all of my comrades and colleagues who are busting their behinds along with their entire congregations (like NewHeart!) to do God’s work and will! The needs are daily, and the mind and heart are always on the task at hand. There is no real “clocking in” or “clocking out”.

I am learning that to sustain life-giving ministry, a Pastor has to learn and discipline themselves to regularly unplug from the constant needs around him or her to recharge. Even then, I am also learning that it is a good thing every few years to allow for the separation from the “normal/abnormal” events and requirements of ministry to allow for a slow recharge to take place in the soul. I can feel it happening.

This morning, after getting up earlier than normal to take my son to a day-long football event he had to attend, I enjoyed the rest of the morning reading the Word, contemplating God and His creation, and allowing my soul to just soak in Him.

After my workout at the gym (I’ve been re-establishing this habit too), I spent a couple hours in the garage, sweating through the sanding and second coat of stain of a chair I’ve been refinishing. This thing is turning into a Summer-long project, but it’s good!

After a late afternoon nap and an evening hanging with my boys and their cousin, it struck me again … we/they are experiencing a normal Saturday, and it’s a good thing. Dad is around without the expectations and requirements that Sunday usually brings. It’s a good thing!

Yesterday, at the memorial service we attended, several folks asked if I was coming back. Oh, I’m coming back alright! Another part of this whole journey has been taming the anxiety (good anxiety, I think) of chomping at the bit to come back.

Now, tonight, I prepare to depart tomorrow with the love of my life for three days for her to unwind as well. Both of her jobs have somewhat continued, and she has had little opportunity to get away and unplug. (We have a gift of a week away in June Lake coming the third week of August, too!)

So, unplug we will! The computer stays home and even the phone disconnects from email once we depart tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it! See you when we get back!

The week we returned, Colleen was at one of her two jobs (nursing and teaching) for most of the week. Josh had football practice every day from 3-6 pm, Jonathan participated in a football camp from 9 am - 3 pm. We were much too busy beavers, but the activity has been good for the boys.

Last Saturday, Colleen get a penchant to have some folks over, so scrub away at the house we did all afternoon preparing for friends and neighbors to share an evening of good food, friendship, and our great firepit.

On Sunday morning, we visited Centerpoint Church here in Simi Valley, pastored by none other than my good friend, Steve Pope. We really enjoyed celebrating Jesus with other brothers and sisters in our own city. Later that day, we celebrated a 40th wedding anniversary with some good friends of ours. We unexpectedly ran into some old friends while there. It was a great time!

This week has thankfully been a bit slower is pace for us. However, we also mourned the passing of THREE people connected to the life of our church. None of them direct members, but parents of three of our folks.

Today, we attended the memorial service for Gail Tyson, who is Kelly Montgomery’s mom. It was a very moving time of celebration. Kelly’s son, Tyson (named after his mom’s maiden name as you can tell), shared what his Grandma meant to him. It was so powerful.

In 1997, Tyson went through treatment for a cancer that was connected to his bladder. His Grandma was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just six months ago.

Some of you know Johnny Cox, a good friend of mine, and a Teaching Pastor at our church. Johnny’s dad, Joe, passed away in Texas today. It was expected (also from cancer), but is painful nonetheless. Johnny is headed from Iowa, where he was speaking at  camp, to Texas, tomorrow morning.

This Sunday, Colleen and I will leave for a trip to San Luis Obispo (about 3 hours north of us, including a beautiful drive along the coast!), where we’ll enjoy one of our favorite places, The Apple Farm. Got a really good deal on their website for the stay. We’re both looking forward to it, and it will be our first time to get away for just the two of us so far on sabbatical. We’ll come home Wednesday.

By the way, for those connected to me either through my blog, Facebook or Twitter, I’ll be going “off grid” while we’re gone. No email, Facebook, or blogging.

You might catch a tweet or two from Twitter (you can follow me here), but only if it’s for something to die for (in a FUN way!!), and I won’t be actually checking Twitter or conversing by it. Even email access by phone will be shut off. Phone access will be for the kids and family.

I have been planning to go off grid for an extended stint or two since the start of the sabbatical. This will be the first time actually doing it for more than 24 hours. I’m really looking forward to it!

I think that’s it for now. I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten to share, but that’s what happens to your mind on sabbatical!!!

The weekend was a hoot! On Thursday, we took the boys to Nojoqui Falls. A good hike and some good exercise and certainly beautiful surroundings, but the Falls were not much this year. Most likely due to drought.

On Thursday night, Colleen and Joshua arrived around 10 pm. My friend’s wife and his girls showed up I guess around the same time.

Friday morning, we slept in and rested a lot. Quite wonderful. In the afternoon, the boys hooked up for more crawdad fishing and thoroughly enjoyed it. The evening was our families together at the campsite while I BBQ’d two whole chickens and a tri-tip….yum!!!

Dessert was Smore’s at the campfire. This week, we discovered Smore’s made with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup instead of a plain piece of chocolate. If you’re a peanut butter lover, you gotta try it.

I’ve pretty much stayed away from a lot of sweets (some have been irresistible, I must say….) this week. I’ve started back at the gym the week before we left for camping. An application on my iPhone has been greatly aididng me in tracking my calories and exercise. I have set a goal to get to a certain weight by next Summer. We’ll see how it goes, but the first two weeks has been getting my body used to exercising again.

On Saturday, we had the surprise of some friends from church who came to visit for the day. Among them was Ceci Haedt, our Foursquare Ignite student who just returned from a missions trip to Japan and Korea. It was great to hear some about her time there and hang with good friends through the day.

We considered fireworks in Santa Barbara (30 minute drive) or Solvang (10 minute drive), but opted for neither of them. The boys weren’t all that interested, so we ordered pizza and watched a movie together until our friends who’ve been here all week returned from Santa Barbara.

Today, we again rested in the morning. We spent a few moments together as a family in Scripture and praying together before launching out for the afternoon. I want my boys to know that it isn’t church just when we go to church. We are the Church, so church ahppens anywhere God’s people gather. We were gathered here today, so we had church!

Spent the afternoon walking through Solvang, picking up souvenirs for the boys (a somewhat tradition) and then saying our good-byes.

Since Josh was only here a couple of days, he was bemoaning not having spent much time camping. So we’re hoping for another stint in a few weeks once he has his three week break from practice before his two-a-days begin. We’ll see.

Blessings to all of you reading this. For those at NewHeart, I sure miss you, and look forward to our future together! I pray for you regularly and think of you daily!

Until next time …

Today, my friend, Craig and I had the chance to golf at The River Course at Alisal in Solvang. I had heard a lot about the course and it definitely lived up to the expectations. Beautiful setting, great course in awesome shape. Craig was able to get us a decent deal for the round as an owner of his timeshare. Didn’t do too bad, shooting 102 for the day.

Funny thing was that last time I golfed was June 1. Today is July 1, and I golfed with the same friend then. We joked about setting a tee time for August 1!

Early in the afternoon, I got a call from the Police Department about a shooting that occurred in Simi Valley this morning. Most reading this will know I serve as a Police Chaplain in our city. There are five of us.

Though the shooter ended up killing his wife and injuring four others, the incident was over relatively quickly, the shooter is in custody, and our Officers are safe. They did a stellar job bringing the incident to resolution the way they did.

That’s the kind of stuff that I honestly struggle with in terms of being away. Not for the adrenaline rush of it, but the struggle of, “I should’ve been there for the Officers, the victims and their families.” I was greatly relieved to hear that all of our other Chaplains WERE able to respond to the incident when I called in to say I was out of town.

After our round of golf, we met our boys back at the RV park while they were frog hunting, which has turned into crawdad fishing. The frogs have been a no-go for whatever reason. Maybe the season isn’t right. So they’ve turned to trying to catch crawdads.

They were quite resourceful, having asked the front desk for a makeshift hook paper clip, and then spending their own money to buy string at the camp store. Then they took some lunch meat for bait. They ended up bringing home a good sized crawdad! I’ll try to post a picture of them and their crawdad in the next few days.

I was personally relieved to hear the news that Michael Jackson’s family had backed out of holding his funeral at the Neverland Ranch. We are only a few miles south of that location, so we knew this weekend would be jam packed with people trying to get there and be there.

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At the grocery store tonight, I struck up a conversation with the checker, who admitted to being very relieved they had backed out. She shared her feeling that the entire Santa Ynez Valley breathed a sigh of relief when the news broke earlier today!

Enough for now …..

It’s a few minutes before midnight. I am at an RV dining table watching my 13 year old son, Jonathan, sleep. Kids are precious when they’re sleeping, aren’t they? Heck, ADULTS are precious when they’re sleeping! I love to watch Colleen sleep. Digression, again …..

It is precious watching him sleep. We spent the last couple days packing together and encouraging each other about this trip. Joshua arrived home from his trip today just before we left for this one.

Arriving here about 6:30 pm, we started setting up camp (for what it’s worth, it IS a lot of work to set up an RV; I don’t care what you say …. everything still has to go somewhere….)

Jonathan did as much as he could and then just HAD TO go searching for frogs. We brought walkie-talkies, so he grabbed one so we could stay in touch while he searched and I finished unpacking, packing and setting up. Our conversation was precious ….

Him: “Dad, there’s a snake, what should I do?”

Me: “Uh, leave it alone and let it be.”

Him: “You mean I shouldn’t kill it and bring it back to base with me?”

Me: “Right Munchkin (my nickname for him), just leave it alone and let it be.”
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Him: “Dad, I can’t find any frogs out here.”

Me: “Well, they’ve probably all gone home for dinner like good little frogs.”

Him: “Yeah, tht’s true, they’re probably all enjoying their dinner.”
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Him: “Dad, I just saw some quail and they are cool and majestic!”

Me: “Wow Munchkin! Who made those?”

Him: “God did.”

Me: “Right, and what does that mean about God?”

Him: “That He thought of something cool and majestic?”

Me: “Right, and tha means He is even more cool and even more majestic.”

Him: “Yeah, that too.”
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Him: “Dad, keep talking to me.”
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It was pretty incredible, as you may imagine. I BBQ’d some hot dogs for dinner, and we just enjoyed being with each other. A great night.

Josh starts football practices tomorrow afternoon. Wow.

He and Colleen will join us Wednesday or Thursday night, and then we’ll be here through the weekend. Planning to see the 4th of July fireworks in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

When Colleen and Josh arrive, I plan on disconnecting technologically through the weekend. No Twitter, Facebook, TM’ing, and as little phone as possible. I plan to do at least one or two lengthy stints away from technology.

Some find it hard to believe, but I DO believe it is important to disconnect technologically on a regular basis. It’s been a while since I’ve done it, so it may be a little nerve-wracking for me, but I’ll live. And probably even thrive!

Feel free to let me know you’re along for the journey with a comment if you’d like.

Until next time …..

Been two weeks since the previous update. Since then, Josh promoted from 8th grade, meaning we now have a High Schooler in the house! I am still trying to get my mind around that!

He left last Saturday with some friends and their family for a trip to Lake Don Pedro (northern CA) and Lake Lopez (Central CA). He comes home Sunday, and it sounds like he’s having a great time.

He actually texted me today with the question, “Did Michael Jackson die today of a heart attack?” When I confirmed it had happened and called him back, he said, “That sucks! They aren’t going to make anymore movies about how weird he is!”

I wasn’t much of a fan of Michael’s music, but he is certainly my generation’s “Elvis”. I respect his work and talent, hope he knew Jesus, but really thought Joshua’s observation was hilarious!

Yesterday, Jonathan and I headed for Temecula to see some friends. Today, we took one of them to SeaWorld with us. We had an excellent day, and will head home tomorrow. On Sunday, he and I will leave for Buellton, where the same friends will meet us on Monday, to vacation for the week.

Colleen and Josh will join us later in the week so Josh can make most of his football practices. We’re looking forward to the time away from home and seeing the 4th of July fireworks in Santa Barbara.

Driving to Temecula yesterday, I realized that it was the first time out of town since the sabbatical started. As I was driving down (which I love to do….driving), I felt like I was unwinding finally.

I love our home, but trying to unwind there can be difficult. Just like it is for anyone. When you’re at home, there is always a list of “to do’s” to be done. When you finished one task, the next is waiting.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to relax while home and be very much more available to Colleen and the boys. I have also really enjoyed getting a couple of long-awaited repairs done and working on some projects we’ve wanted to complete.

Some of it has involved wood-working, which I love to do. It’s therapeutic for me to see the finished product. Not something I get to experience a lot of in my “line of work”. So that’s been nice, but it was nice to leave town for a bit as well.

In case you haven’t heard, a transition took place at one of our sister Foursquare Churches in town, Sonrise Christian Fellowship. Dan Stewart, who had been the Pastor there since last Fall, announced his resignation last Sunday.

This isn’t the time or place for all the details, but Dan, though tired and in need of some rest and refreshment, is fine, as is his marriage and family. That’s the most important thing!

Announced and introduced on the same day was the appointment of James Craft as the new Pastor at Sonrise. James is the brother of the founding Pastor there, Ken Craft. He served as the Youth Pastor there for several years in the late 90’s.

Most recently, James has served as the Foursquare “Next Gen” Director, overseeing ministries from “cradle to college” for our National Church Office, based in Los Angeles. He has done an outstanding job serving in that role.

He had been planning to plant a new church in Thousand Oaks, even having already been meeting regularly with a team of people committed to starting the new church there. As Dan knew his time was at a close at Sonrise, he felt that James would serve well as the next Pastor there, and that’s what has transpired.

I encourage you to join me in praying for James and his family as they undertake this new assignment. I look forward to getting to know James as we serve this city together.

That’s all for now! Until next time ….

We are almost at the end of the second week of the sabbatical. Well, kinda. The first week was what I consider an “easing” into the sabbatical. I was still doing work on and off, though certainly not inundated or constantly working.

There were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. Among them was a decision on our next Children’s Ministries Director. A couple weeks before the sabbatical, our current CM Director, Jenifer Milbauer, shared with me she was feeling it was time for her to move on. She’s done a great job with our Children’s Ministries for three years now.

I am happy to report that we are bringing on Leslie Hertweck. Her maiden name is Taylor, and she spent her childhood and Middle School years as a part of our church. Her dad, Stan, was an Associate Pastor here in the 80’s. He was also very instrumental in Colleen and I getting together!

Leslie starts next week, while I am out on sabbatical. Jenifer will be training with her until July 31. That was the largest loose end, and I am glad to say that the other ones seem to be wrapped up at this point.

The sabbatical started off on a very sad note when I got a call on Sunday night, May 31. A young man whose family used to be a part of NewHeart, and who used to be part of our Youth Ministries, Joey Pullen, had taken his own life. I write about that here.

It was certainly a very difficult way to begin this sabbatical season. It is always one of the worst pieces of news to receive, especially when it is a young person, and more so when they have made the decision to end their own life! Words can’t describe what a family and the friends endure when someone takes their own life.

The first day of the sabbatical, I had arranged to play a round of golf at my favorite golf course, Elkins Ranch in Fillmore. First one in probably three years. I honestly can’t remember the last time I played!

That alone kept my expectations low. I usually have 3-4 blow up holes each round I play. The ones where you lose count how many strokes you’ve taken just to get the ball to the green. Top that with rarely playing the same ball for the whole round. I usually lose at least a few to the hills and water and am happy just to shoot close to 100 over 18 holes.

Well, this turned out to be no usual round of golf! I shot a 98 (and yes, that was BOTh the front AND back 9 combined!). I played the same ball the entire round, and only had 1 blow-up hole. Other than that, I had nothing over a double bogey on the card and even birdied one hole!!

Great start to the sabbatical as far as golf is concerned!

The rest of the week, as mentioned already, was on and off work. With the boys still in school and Colleen working hard to finish off her 2nd semester of teaching Certified Nurse’s Assistants at Simi Valley Adult School, I had the mornings to sleep in and was able to rest pretty well and get some reading done.

Our first Sunday on sabbatical went well. I had hoped to be out of town, but that didn’t happen. Living right next door to the church facility, there is a supernatural gravitational pull that happens on Sunday mornings.

It was not an easy fight, but Colleen’s french toast made it a little easier. We ended up staying home the entire day and evening and it was quite peaceful and enjoyable!

Actually, this second week was my first real week of allowing the sabbatical to settle in. It hasn’t yet, not really. Jonathan ended up home nursing a pretty nasty head cold through Wednesday, so the week has been fairly busy being with him. We ran some errands together and accomplished a project together as well. That was a lot of fun.

At the end of two weeks, unless you’re somewhere else physically, I think it just feels like vacation. I’ve done two weeks off before many times, even three a few times. I guess I kind of expect it to settle in more over the next couple of weeks.

I never did follow up with a post about how the “Connecting With Your Congregation Electronically” workshop went at Convention in Anaheim. It really went well and the room was packed. Made a lot of great connections through the opportunity and have some good thoughts about how I would do it differently.

Last night, Colleen graduated her 2nd class of Certified Nurse’s Assistants, a class of 13. I am so proud of her, and her students couldn’t talk her up enough. She is still working a couple shifts a month at Los Roblers Pediatric Medical Group, and is planning to cover a few classes over the Summer for her daytime counterpart at the Adult School. Other than that, she is free for the Summer.

I think that’s pretty much it for now. If you’ve got another idea for the title of these posts for the Summer, comment on it below and let me know!

All the reasons surrounding Joey’s decision and its implications (as is the case with almost every suicide) are yet to be understood. Joey was 21 years old and full of potential and love and everything else a family would want in a son, brother and uncle.

His funeral on Saturday, June 6, was jam packed with family and friends. The pastor who officiated did a great job of being very honest with the gathering about the circumstance of Joey’s death.

I am often asked as a Pastor what my thoughts are on what happens to someone who commits suicide. I believe that if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you go to heaven, and I make no bones about it.

I do not believe in the doctrinal position of what is called “eternal security”. That is the belief that once you’re saved, you will end up in heaven no matter what. I believe that a person can purposely renounce their decision to follow Jesus.

Just as God’s love would never force a person to choose Him, I don’t believe His love would force a person to keep following Him.

However, when it comes to suicide, some churches believe that since it is your “last sin”, you cannot be ask God to forgive you and will therefore go to hell for eternity, even if you knew Christ as your Savior.

I don’t believe suicide is the “unpardonable sin”. And, as God knows the number of our days, I also do not believe that He knows when we will commit suicide.

Now, I believe God knows ALL things. I do believe He does know His plan for the number of our days. But being omniscient (all-knowing) as He is, and loving us so much that He gives us a will to make choices, I believe that God knows EVERY possible move we might make, even among the dozens we choose every day, along with the many more we MIGHT choose. I believe He sees all the possibilities.

I believe that when a person who has made the decision to turn their life over to Jesus commits suicide, they have short-circuited God’s plan for their life. As such, I believe it breaks God’s heart when we take our lives into our own hands. I believe that God wraps His arms around the person who has committed suicide and simply says, “I had so much more planned for you!”

I am convinced that’s what Joey has heard from Jesus, and that we will one day be together with him again when we reach heaven. Until then, this life is a desperate plea for that day!

The event started last night (Monday) and ends on Thursday night. Matter of fact, tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 11:45 (PST), I am presenting a workshop that I’m calling “Connecting With Your Congregation Electronically”. I’ll be sharing about how to use the electronic tools available today to be and stay in touch with your church.

Anyway, I was supposed to head down there last night. However, some pressing family issues kept me home. As I write this post around 9:30 Tuesday night, I am waiting for Colleen and Josh to get home from clothes shopping before I head out.

The big news of the day I hear from Convention is that Foursquare President Jack Hayford, who has served so well and faithfully the last five years has decided to remove his name from consideration for ratification of a second term of office. It had been planned that he would be ratified for the second term at this Convention.

Instead, Vice President Glenn Burris will serve as Interim President starting September 1. A new President will be selected at the 2010 Convention in Atlanta, GA. Very interesting development indeed, and the buzz of the Convention all week I am sure.

I’ll be posting more as the week progresses, and plan to do a post during my workshop tomorrow morning, so pop on by around 12:30 or so and you’ll probably catch that impromptu post as it happens! If you read this one, leave a comment that I can show all the folks at my workshop tomorrow!

I fly home from New York last Monday (May 4). Great flight. Stayed up the night before working so I could sleep the whole flight home, and it worked! Had to get up at 4:30 am EST, which is 1:30 am my time. That’s not the weird part, just the bad part.

Anyway, Tuesday at 11:30 pm, I’m just falling asleep when my nose drips. It’s annoying, out of nowhere, and won’t stop, so I rub my nose with my hand and my hand is all wet? What the….??

I stumble to the bathroom, turn the light on, and there’s blood all over! I’ve got a nose bleed, and it’s bleeding pretty bad. I’m soaking tissues. Overall, it takes me 55 minutes to get it to stop.

Wednesday, I’m feeling pretty anxious about what just happened. Colleen is thinking, “New York was humid. Now you’re home in dry weather.” I’m thinking, “this is weird”. Did I say that?

So, Wednesday at 4:00 pm, I’m in the middle of a meeting when I start to feel something funny running down my throat. A drip in my nose, a grab of a tissue, and doggone it, there it goes again!

Colleen takes me to the doctor, who informs me it’s like having vericose veins or hemerrhoids (did I spell that right?) in your nose. Great! Nice picture! Anyway, he says if it happens again and you can’t get it to stop in 15 minutes, go to the ER where they will put an inflated tampon up your nose! An ER Nurse friend later says they’re called “Rhino Rockets”. Pleasant sounding, huh?

Doc says if you can go 48 hours without a bleed, you are MUCH better. 36 hours later, 4:00 am Friday, it happens again! This time, thankfully less sever, and stops within 15 minutes. Colleen says, “You better go see the ENT today”, which I do only 8 hours later, around noon.

The ENT says the same things as my doctor did. Only, he says he’s going to cauterize it. Ahhh, a branding iron up my nose instead of an exploding tampon. Let’s see, which do I prefer?

Anyway, he says to cauterize it, he has to find the source of the bleed. To do that, he has dig around my nose and break the clot!! So dig he does (OUCH!), but he can’t find it! So, he says, some of these come from behind the nose in the sinuses, so I’m gonna put this foot long chrome stick in your nose with a light on the end of it to see if we can find it.

He can find NOTHING! So he checks again in both places. At this point, I am about to sneeze on him everything I have not blown out of my nasal cavities for a few days now. He is flabbergasted, gives me some saline solution and says, keep your nose wet. Hmmmm, sounds like my dog.

That’s my story. It was weird! I have no choice but to stick to it, and be glad there have been no bleeds since. Thank you, Jesus!