I love funny news stories so here is one I came across today. Last week I was talking with Nathan and asking him his whole name and asking him what his parent's names are. I thought that might come in handy of he ever got separated from us or was in some other situation that we couldn't speak for him. He did really well and I was real proud of him.

What to do when you're lost.

Turns out I've taught my kid what a parrot can do...I'll be wrapping up my book "Breakthrough Parenting" here in the next few years. Maybe you'll buy it?

Hi, I'm 28.: As a teenager I remember reading 1 Timothy 4:12 (Paul giving instructions to young pastor Timothy) Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in life, in love, in faith and in purity. I remember is so well because I figured it would come in handy as a young pastor.

If I'm honest I can't say that one time someone's behavior has indicated that they look down on me because of my youth. In fact sometimes I'm uncomfortable with the opposite. I remember as a youth pastor I would get calls from parent's asking me what I thought they should do about their misbehaving teenager. I remember just laughing in the inside. First of all because I was only a few years older than a teenager myself, second because I wasn't the best behaved teenager so I was better equipped to give advice as what not to do rather than what do do and finally because the person asking the question was often older than my parent's. I just remember thinking, what can I offer this 50 year old person who has so much more life experience than me. But then I remember that as long as I didn't trust in my own skin and abilities and allowed God to work through me I did have some stuff to offer.

A good number of people at The Bridge are older than me. In fact many are old enough to be my parents. Sometimes while I'm up there bringing the word God has for that week I just think to myself that they are listening to someone so much younger than me. And often I'm so grateful they hear the words coming through me from God rather than words just coming through me.

I've been a part of my district's Church Health Committee which I find ironic because I have been the pastor of exactly 1 church and while I think we are a increasingly growing and quite healthy church we are also not the poster church for church health. But God in his wisdom let my superiors know that I love the Church as the Bride of Christ and that I enjoy assessing and equipping churches to be more healthy. It's perhaps one of the most humbling experiences I have.

Today I received yet another humbling thing. I've been asked to stand to be nominated to our Districts DEXCOM, which is like the district's governing board. What? I'm honored, but also baffled at this. Yet I learned years ago that God does these things to stretch me.

Finally, I was having a conversation with a man on the phone today that told me he was 57 years old. He's never met me or seen a picture of me so he has no idea how old I am and he didn't. In our conversation he said something to the effect of "Who knows that 27 year old kids are thinking these days?" I wanted to say "I do, I was just one a year ago."

Does this mean age is relative?

Graduation: My dad graduated on Saturday. As kids he always talked about going to school and getting an education. He worked hard in the Navy for 29 years and retired at the top of his rank. When he left the Navy 7 years ago he started taking classes at the community college and working towards his associate degree. His associate took about 4 years to get. Then after graduating with his associates he started going to ODU for his Bachelors. He finished his bachelors in 2 and a half years. As he likes to say he was pacing himself.

This Saturday all his hard work paid off and I was able to sit and watch my dad graduate. I can't express how proud I am of him. He finally did the one thing he has always wanted to do. So good job POPS! I'm proud of you.

Chris Matthews: While at graduation I got to hear Chris Matthews speak. He has a tv show in MSNBC called Hardball with Chris Matthews. I really enjoyed his speech. I don't often get to hear professional speakers. I liked his style and his brevity. His point was this. Don't expect success to find you but go out and find success. People won't be knocking on your door asking you to take incredible jobs but rather you have to seek them out. He said the secret to success is in the word "ask". The more you ask the better the chance to hear a yes. When people say yes to you they have invested in you and when people invest in someone or something they want to see it succeed. It left me with some motivation.

China: If you haven't seen this month's National Geographic it's worth checking out. The entire thing is about China and provides some great insight into their culture and mentality. It's also casts an outlook in their future, which I must say looks bleak. The culprit seems to be their incredibly large population is providing most of their economic growth at this time and then their new 1 child policy for those of the Han nationality. In just one generation the work force will begin to dwindle because of this policy. Another major concern is the lack of water to drink. The many damns on their major rivers that are used to power industrial plants have reduced the water to a trickle in many places add that to the pollution that those same plants dump into the rivers they are on the verge of an epidemic.

But what I wanted to comment on is the recent earthquake that has so far claimed the lives of 19,000 people. I don't think we americans can grasp 19,000 deaths. I don't think I want to. You can read more here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355247,00.html.

Some pictures?

Robbie and I breaking it down with the 2008 rendition of "The Sprinkler"


Am I cold? Now I'm doing the "Cold Dance" if you've never heard of it that's because I created it.


Seth


Nathan giving Seth some love


Me and Nathan goofing off with the camera.


I thought this spider web would make a neat picture.

Mormons: A few weeks ago our local mormon missionaries stopped by the house. I knew the previous set but hadn't met these two yet. I always make sure I make my intentions clear with them and let them know what I do for a living so as not to deceive them in any way. After we talked for a few I asked them a few questions that I had for them about mormonism in general. I asked them about archeological proof for the ancient white race they said inhabited North and South America in the 4th century AD. My logic and knowledge of history tells me that if there was a large nation of people around only 1600 years ago there should be some archeological proof it exists. I also learned that for them Special Revelation is above all in their faith system; special revelation that was given to Joseph Smith and written in his writings. I also questioned them a little about the character of Joseph Smith. They weren't offended and gave me a book of mormon before they left and asked me to read several passages. I told them I would and they said they'd come back to talk about it.

They came back a few nights ago and I'm not sure they were ready for my questions. I didn't intend to but I gave them some pretty serious challenges. I wasn't trying to be aggressive to them but sometimes when talking with them I get so angered because I believe they are being deceived. I'm not angry at them but angry at the evil one and angry at the false prophets that founded the LDS church.

In short we had a circular conversation for about an hour. I commended them on their sacrifice to give up their lives for a 2 year mission. I also commended them on their faith and their willingness to put their faith in action. I believe they have sincere hearts and I made sure they knew that. I also told them that from what I can tell of the Bible that the entire Old Testament points to Jesus Christ. Christ himself makes it pretty clear in the gospels that he is the one that was to come and as he left he made clear he would be the one to come. Jesus never told me to look for another prophet that would make complete the true gospel (this is what the LDS church teaches.) In fact I find in the New Testament that the prophets that are to come will be false prophets and to not trust them.

I also told them that I have some serious problems with the "revelation" given to Joseph Smith. I see how some of these "revelations" were awfully convenient for Joseph Smith and in his life. The first that I find awfully convenient is that Mormons use water in their communion or sacrament service. I found this interesting and started doing some research on this. Turns out that before the prohibition the LDS church used wine just like many protestant churches. However during the time of prohibition their began to be an uproar in the church. Turns out that Joseph Smith has a revelation that it is no longer pleasing to God to use wine but rather they should use non alcoholic grape juice or water. Turns out they selected water because they could all agree on it. Oh yeah, it was also ok to use wine grown in the vineyards that were owned by the Mormon church. Even though today Mormons are forbidden to consume alcohol.

There are two other convenient revelations. Joseph would have mens meetings in his home. The men would smoke on their pipes and then when they were done would chew tobacco. Turns out he didn't clean up after himself very well and his wife must have complained to him about having to clean up the mess. Suddenly Joseph Smith has a revelation that tobacco is wrong.

From wikipedia

According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, the Word of Wisdom was received in 1833 as a revelation from God. After Smith's death, Brigham Young claimed that the revelation was given in response to problems encountered while conducting meetings in the Smith family home:
"When they assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the Prophet [Joseph Smith] entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the Prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry."[2]

The final convenient revelation is that of plural marriage in the mormon church. The LDS men began practicing polygamy in the church. It is revealed that this practice is what God wants. The US gov't catches wind of this practice and makes it illegal to practice. It is again revealed by God that this is not what God wants.

Sound like someone wasn't the most in tune with God...wow!

It absolutely boggles my mind. I thanked them for coming and they went on. I want to emphasize that I wasn't going for victory but that I don't agree with them that special revelation should have more power over them that the scriptures of the Bible. It burdens my heart...

Tornado: Yesterday our area was hit with a pretty serious tornado. I've lived in this area most of my life and I can't say I ever remember a tornado. I can't even say I ever remember a tornado warning, a watch maybe but not a warning. Well yesterday it happened.

You can read the details here Fox News Story

Kids: Nathan has a friend that lives two doors down. She's a newer friend, meaning she's just started coming over to play with him and the next door neighbor girls. This little girl's mother is german and she speaks pretty good english but with a heavy german accent. The little girl was talking to me today and every time I talk to her she cracks me up. She makes me laugh because of what language she speaks. First of all she speaks american english, most of the time. Tonight she was telling me "Nathan isn't ------(insert some word". I do pretty good talking with little kids I can figure out what most kids are saying so I ask her to repeat it and she said it again "Nathan isn't ------ (insert some word). I could tell from the context that she was meaning to say "sharing" but she wasn't. She said it again and I realized she was saying a german word. Crazy kid.

Then sometimes when she speaks she speaks with an english accent. The kid has to be confused.

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. My love for reading started in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades with the usual Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books most of us grew up on. But the first grown up books I started reading were sports biographies and autobiographies. I learned all about major league baseball straight from the words of Willie Mays, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle and Dave Dravecky. It was weird how I could smell the grass of the ballpark and catch the atmosphere of the dugout from reading a book. I loved it!

So I was thrilled to find an excuse to order Tony Dungy's book Quiet Strength. I knew I would love it. First of all I know that Coach Dungy is a follower of Christ and from what I could tell it wasn't just lip service. I also saw the way he responded to his son's suicide a few years back and I was very impressed by him.

I ate this book up. I think I finished it 3 days, most of it read while holding Seth in one arm and my book in the other. It was easy reading and so much fun to read. I walked away even more impressed. Coach Dungy is a man of principle and he's stuck to those principles through some hard times. The thing I'm most impressed is that he views his life as a platform for the message of the cross of Jesus Christ both in his words but most importantly in his actions.

My Eldest: Let me tell you about Nathan for a minute. Mostly because he cracks me up almost every day. I know I'm biased but the kid is hilarious, this post is more about the hilarity of having a child.

I check my voice mail on my cell phone. On the other end is Nathan saying LOUDLY "Daddy, I pooh-poohed in the potty." *click*

At his age independence is king. He wants to do it by himself and for himself. Our help is shunned in almost every thing. But sometimes he'll forget he's 3 and he'll walk over to me and crawl in my lap. His long legs will dangle off my lap, he doesn't realize how big he's getting but I notice he takes up more and more of my lap each time this happens.

Record: Much to the chagrin of The Bridge Church's nursery workers I broke a record on Sunday. I preached for more than 50 minutes. It really wasn't planned. However I did forget my watch (forget?) and I noticed the congregation was very engaged in my message on prayer so I preached on.

We were drinking coffee and enjoying conversation after church when an almost 4 year old boy comes up to me and asks "Pastor Nick, what took so long today?" I laughed and could only reply with the truth "I guess I had a lot to say." That seemed to satisfy him.

If you've got an hour of cardio planned today you can catch the marathon message HERE

April 16, 2007:

Day of Remembrance

Trinkets: Some times I read about religion in other countries. It's always interesting to see how the rituals and traditions of one faith get mixed with the other. It's sort of as if its adherents want to make sure they are covered on all sides so by committing to the practices of two religions they have better chances that life will be good and when they ask for something in prayer it has a better chance of coming through. The anthropological term for this is syncretism.

I see people do it a good bit with christianity and astrology. For many it's a simple lack of knowledge of the roots and practice of astrology.

A few months ago I was getting my taxes done and my tax person is a Christian woman that goes to a southern baptist church down the road from my house. I got connected with her through one of their pastors. She seems like she leads a good life, always treats me great and from what I can tell walks with Jesus. We were talking and I was telling her about our new son that was to soon be born and she asked me the due date.

She then proceeds to tell me what Seth's personality will be and she bases all of this on the time of year and the date of the month that he was to be born. In my mind I'm wondering where all this voodoo talk is coming from I'm talking to a southern baptist woman. I just sort of walked away with my head shaking, I was confused.

Then yesterday we listed our house to sell. Our realtor goes to a local community church that preaches Jesus. I've talked to the pastor several times and he is well grounded in the scriptures. She came by to drop off some papers and she had this little trinket with her. She said this is St. Joseph and he's the patron saint of selling houses, you're supposed to...blah blah blah. He brings good luck.

Heather said "I'll think we'll trust in Jesus." I thought it was a great reply. I was thinking to myself. Woman, if you are a believer you are a child of the king. Why trust in a $3.95 plastic trinket when you have Jesus?

I have a motto for this trinket: When God says no trust in St. Joe.

Milestone: Every night the routine is the same. We let Nathan know he'll be going to bed soon and then one of us takes him upstairs to read a book, pray with him and then he goes to sleep. Lately he's been too busy trying to convince us he's not tired to enjoy this process but last night he was all about the routine.

He laid down and I picked out the book. I told him I loved him and that he made me happy. He started by telling me he wasn't happy because he hit Madison, his friend next door, in the face with a wiffle ball bat. I asked him if he told her he was sorry and he said yes so I told him he could be happy because he did that. I told him that Jesus loved him and that he should always follow Jesus. He told me he would.

Then Nathan asked me if his friends were going to sleep too. I told him probably. He asked if they read stories before bed too, I told him I bet they did. He asked if their stories were about Jesus, I told him I wasn't sure but he should ask his friends tomorrow. I told Nathan they would probably have questions if they didn't know about Jesus what could he tell them about Jesus.

He said, I should follow Jesus, Jesus loves me, and Jesus thinks I'm special.

This marks one of the first times Nathan has let out some of the spiritual things we try to teach him. Needless to say I was excited to tell Heather about it later.

---------

I was praying with Nathan the other night and I must have said "Father,..." and after the prayer he asked "God is my father?" I told him yes. He said "you're my father?" I said yes. That made sense to him. I was elated. Then he said Mommy is my Grandma. I said "not quite".

You can't win them all.

Sunday Preview?

PRAYER: We kicked off our new and innovative message series called PRAYER on Sunday. I'm sure it will be hard to understand what it's about so I'll just spell it out for you. The new series is about prayer.

I am perhaps more excited about this series than I have been about a series ever. In my study of prayer the past few weeks my excitement has grown and grown. There is much to be understood about prayer and there is much most of us don't know. Really it's simple, not filled with rules as the mortal interacts with the divine. But at the same time I believe we either oversimplify it or over complicate it.

Mostly I think we ignore prayer, which is not only a shame but I believe a tragic mistake. It is through the prayers of godly men and women that God works.

Last Sunday my message was from Luke 11- Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. Jesus said to them, this is how you are to pray "Our Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come." You can listen to that message by going to www.sermonplayer.com/thebridgechurch

The next 4 weeks are as follows:

April 13: Ask, seek, knock

April 20: Barriers to answered prayer; what to do with unanswered prayers

April 27: Intercession; standing in prayer for those who can't.

May 4: Either prayer Q and A or the immeasurable power of God.

April 4- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_in_the_name_of_love

As a runner this is funny to me. I don't get it too often but sometimes I'll get that look back from another runner that says "is that guy following me?"

Overheard at the water cooler: By water cooler I mean on back porch while Nathan was playing with his friends from next door. The 3 girls Kennedy, Morgan and Madison have a little sister named Emma that is 7 months old. They got to see Seth this evening on the porch and one of the girls asks with disgust "Nathan, why is your little sister a boy?"

Prayer 101 Experiencing the Heart of God by Warren W. Wiersbe. Since my new addiction to FPU I cut out my book budget. So this week I wandered down to the library after my run to see what they had that I could read. I found this book by Wiersbe and figured it might be worth a read.

It was the best book I've read on prayer. He has a great writing style that is casual, blunt and yet theologically informative. He was willing to address some hard questions about unanswered prayers, why we should pray, if our prayers change the will of God and other stuff like that.

I took lots of notes and look forward to using this as a resource for my new message series to start on April 6th on prayer. I was telling Heather the other day that I have never been more excited for a message series. I know God is going to use this series to change lives and I look forward to being one of the vessels he uses to do this. I will be well prepared for this message series. I ordered two books on prayer and one of them came in today. I've been studying the scriptures about prayer, man I'm excited!

Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine by Tom Jordan. I bought this book to read while in the hospital for the birth of Seth and finished it on Seth's birthday but am just now sitting down to write a brief note about it.

What to say? Steve Prefontaine was the greatest american distance runner of his time and some would say of all time. In fact until recent years few Americans made a splash in the international scene. You can head over to wikipedia.org and google his name to read more about him.

What I admire most about his story and what I thing I would have liked about him is that he had guts. When he raced he ran to win, he left it all out on the track.