One father's take on disciple-making

Several days ago I proposed a radical model of discipleship. As much as we may recognize the need for spiritual coaching, most of us don't have a sense of what true discipleship looks like. (Perhaps it's related our culture - we like "once a week programs" way more than "ways of life")

Anyways, I stumbled upon a related post by Mark Batterson at Evotional.com, in which he describes a year-long discipleship program he has initiated with his son. Can you imagine if all dads were willing to spend one year doing something like this with their children?

Just thought I'd share the three challenges that are part of my year-long discipleship of my son, Parker. I'd love to help some other dads while I'm trying to figure out fatherhood myself! Parker and I signed a covenant and Parker committed to complete a physical challenge, intellectual challenge, and spiritual challenge. If he completes the challenges, I'll take him on a pilgrimage at the end of the year as a celebration of his accomplishment.

For the physical challenge, we are going to train for and run a 10K together. We're eyeing the Capitol Hill Classic next May. I think it will teach discipline and pursuing a common goal creates a unique bond.

For the intellectual challenge, I'm having Parker read a dozen books. I don't have all of them picked out, but I'm going for a cross-section of books that have impacted my life yet are age-appropriate for him.

For the spiritual challenge, we're reading through the New Testament together. I want to teach him spiritual disciplines so we'll also do a forty-day Lent fast. Not sure what we'll fast, but we'll both give up the same thing. And I want to help him come up with a code of conduct and life goals.

Honestly, I don't really know what I'm doing! I just figure that if we sweat together, talk together, and pray together we'll probably grow close together! Sure, I have a plan. But I'm not sure what this will look like six weeks or six months from now. One thing is sure: I'm not going to let our culture raise my son! I'm determined to disciple him myself!

My Birthday Surprise

So, Katherine has been telling me to keep this weekend free for weeks now, because she has a birthday surprise planned. Now I know why.

Turns out, Katherine conspired with Jason, my best friend from high school who now lives in Washington, and he showed up on my doorstep yesterday! He's here all weekend for a few days of revelry and carousing, staying up until all hours, playing games, and eating snacky foods! Woot!

I'll have to drop more thoughts on the whole thing later. Right now, we're getting ready to drive to Apple Hill in Placerville to enjoy some beautiful fall leaves and some apple-y goodness. Freshly pressed cider awaits!

New Poll Up

Hey, there's a new poll posted in the sidebar on the right. Let your voice be heard, or something.

If you don't like your choices, vote anyway (just like real life). Then, submit your funnier and more creative alternative in a comment on this post.

Best. Job. Ever.

Last Tuesday, we had a fun evening out with our junior highers. Instead of our regular youth group night, we all met at the bowling alley. We had 28 enthusiastic kids! What fun!

Writing Overload

It's that time in the quarter at Seminary when things start being due. The fun and frivolity of classroom lectures is giving way to the demand for actual work product. So, I find myself writing like a madman.

Over the last 30 hours or so, I have written over 3200 words about the roles and relative importance of music, prayer, and preaching in worship gatherings. I have explored biblical modes of worship and responded to selected musings from the reading list. I have drawn conclusions about where contemporary worship gatherings could come more in line with God's intentions for them, and I have notated everything in accordance with the MLA Handbook. In that time, I have also worked a full day, slept a little bit, watched the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter, and drank 3/4 of a pot of coffee.

Why cram all of this into such a short time period? Because my Ever-Lovin' Wife has a special weekend planned for me. You see, Thursday and Friday is our weekend, and this particular weekend falls directly before my birthday on Monday. So, ELW has formulated some super secret birthday plans for me. Which she says will fill the weekend. Which means I had to finish all of my papers before this afternoon. Which I have done.

So now, I can sit back, relax, and enjoy whatever it is she has planned for me. I just hope my brain isn't too mushy to appreciate it.

What do I write about?

One of the blogger features I enjoy is being able to flag each post with the topics it covers, and to track how many posts I've written that relate to each topic. Over the past year, these are the topics we've visited most often (by number of posts):

Youth Ministry: 40
Fair Oaks Church: 22
Just For Fun: 19
Thoughts: 17
New Orleans: 13
Africa: 10

Late-night ramblings of a would-be disciple-maker

Fellow Christians,

why do we think in terms of ‘giving God our time’, when really, He made us, He made time, and He gives us just a bit of it to use for His glory? Who's giving what to who? What’s the point of living a life too busy to make a difference in God’s Kingdom?

What if…

we approached discipleship not as a classroom curriculum but a valuable relationship? Jesus lived, walked, ate, and ministered with his disciples. What would happen if we lived out our faith this way?

Imagine…

if we chose to share a home with a disciple, intentionally sharing all aspects of our life with them? It would be costly… maybe we couldn't spend so much time at work, pouring into a career. Less time to spend on self-fulfilling hobbies. We’d have to develop our own faith, make it worthy of sharing. Maybe get a little flexible with the definitions of “mine” and “yours”.

What if...

over dinner, we dreamed together of what could happen in our church, our community? What if we shared our God-given passions and encouraged one another to follow them shamelessly? What if, over breakfast, we prayed and devoted ourselves to living out His call? What if we cared enough to actually do something uncomfortable?

Could we...

actually equip a generation of Christ-followers to pick up their cross, let their light shine, and show a cynical world true faith not just by what they say, or how they vote, but by what they actually put into practice? Would we change the world by honoring God with more than just our lips?

(Admit it, aren’t you thinking right now: Yes! Someone (else) should definitely do that!)

It's pretty radical, I admit. Maybe even crazy talk. But as Christians, we are all commissioned to go forth and make disciples of all nations. So, if this isn't how you want to make disciples, how are YOU going to do it?

Kid Nation

When I first heard about the new reality show “Kid Nation”, I was horrified. What kind of parents would let their kids run around without adult supervision for 40 days, for the sake of being on TV? What would happen with these kids? I imagined a chaotic 'society' in which the bullies would run wild, scarring the other kids for life.

As I actually sat down and watched a few episodes of the show, however, I was surprised by how greatly the (portrayed) reality differed from my expectations. For the most part, the kids demontrated great maturity and dedication to what would be best for the group as a whole. They consoled one another when homesick. They took care of each other when hurt. When one district slacked on chores, the other kids came in and washed all the dishes, simply because it had to be done.


On the show, the kids are given the opportunity to rebuild society in an abandonded town called Bonanza City. (For a full description of the show, there's a great write-up on wikipedia). Each team leader is representative to a town council that makes decisions for the group. Every few days, the council is given a task to help bring order to the town. For example, the leaders are given the freedom to choose what time a town curfew should be, but must also enforce their decision.

Various challenges determine the respobsiblity of each district (winners are 'upper class' and take it easy, losers scrub toilets), and a good overall performance may result in a group prize. In a recent episode, the town earned a big reward - the choice between a collection of holy books (Bibles, the Koran, etc.) and having a miniature golf course built in their town. To my amazement, the kids chose the holy books over the golf course!

Although there are some of the scenarios one would expect absent parental supervision, there are far more examples of kids buckling down to work hard, encourage one another, and do whatever it takes to make the town succeed. Thank you Kid Nation - you've given me a renewed respect for our young people.

"Why do you visit Feed My Sheep"?

We want to know!


It's your last chance to take the poll, so take this chance to make your voice heard...


Right now, don't wait until later, go to the top of the blue bar on the right-hand side, and click on all the reasons that bring you to this site.

Thanks!

Tell me how you really feel...

On a recent excursion to Santa Cruz, we happened upon Bonnie's dream car...

Supernatural

Coming soon to Fair Oaks Church:

SUPERNATURAL
A Safe~Fun~Family Event
October 31st from 6:00-8:30PM

God is in the details of this Fair Oaks event:

Chamber of Mysteries - When our community visits the Chamber of Mysteries they will find three drama teams acting out God's truth. Pray that our drama teams will proclaim the mysteries as in Colossians 4:3, "And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ."

Come see the three performances:

- "Hand Writing on the Wall" - (Daniel 5) by our Adult Small Group
- "The Rich Man & Lazarus" - (Luke 16:19-31) by our High School Drama Group
- "In the Light" - an interpretative drama by our Mission Drama Team

Bible Booth - We want to make sure our community knows our Lord and what better way then by leaving our campus with a Bible as a gift from Fair Oaks Church. Our Bible Booth will be "stocked" with 200 Bibles to give out. The Bible Booth will be strategically located after the Chamber of Mysteries for those who want to find those stories and many more of God's truths!

Dinner for $2.00 - Our neighbors will come and not only be fed a great dinner for $2.00 by our High School Youth, but will also find out about the High School Mission trips and how God is working through our youth! All profits will sponsor our youth mission trip to New Orleans in 2008!

Prayer Tent - We will have a Prayer Station set up for any family that is in need of prayer for any reason. This station will show that our church community truly cares for families of Contra Costa County. There is nothing more Supernatural than the power of Prayer!

Praise God - He is in the details! Come see Him work His mysteries at Supernatural!

Atlanta, here we come!

G-Dub and I had been greatly looking forward to our escape to San Diego for our 'most favoritest' event of the year, the National Youth Workers Convention. Worshipping with David Crowder, learning everything I can about youth ministry, catching up with old youth pastor friends, visiting the Bonus in his new place for the first time...

To our great astonishment, however, the San Diego convention sold out weeks in advance... oh no! We were left with two options: scrap the convention altogether, or pursue alternative options. Youth Specialties usually holds three conventions in different locations across the US, perhaps the others were not yet sold out.

Well, as you may have guessed from the subject title, we were able to get tickets to a later convention. In Atlanta! This is very, very good news, as we will be able to work in a side trip to Gainesville, home to some of my 'most favoritest' people in the world!

This will be our first time reuniting with teammate Ashley since coming home from the World Race last November. (Ashley just informed me that our other teammate Rinn will be passing through the Atlanta airport only the day before we arrive on her way to South Africa... oh, so close to a full Red Team reunion!) We will also definitely be hanging with the Jacobs', and hopefully getting a tour of Adventures in Missions.

I was so disappointed when I heard San Diego had sold out, but it seems as if God has something better in store... huzzah!

Paradise

What if Christian students from around the nation gathered together, not to hear their favorite band or speaker, but to gather in unity, acknowledging the supremacy of Christ and worshipping the Lord?

It's happening next year in Paradise, Kansas. There will be no stage. No Christian celebrities. No T-shirts for sale. Just students in a field, praying, singing, and worshipping together. "Everything the worshippers say and sing is for an audience of One."

This is so different than anything I've ever seen, I can hardly picture it. Who will come? What will happen? This is just radical enough to make me very, very curious.



"PARADISE is a journey to awaken students from every part of the body of Christ to the supremacy of God's Son, to call them to adore Him as King, and to inspire them to arise to bravely join Him in accelerating His kingdom purposes for this generation, converging in a national worship gathering on May 25, 2008, convened at the geographic center of the nation."

Everything, by Lifehouse

My world race teammate Ashley Musick just sent me this, it's a powerful drama set to music by Lifehouse. I hope it blesses you as it blessed me.

Final Concert at the Warehouse

This Saturday, enjoy a FREE rock concert with local Christian bands "The Richard Andrew Experiment" and "Until April". The warehouse is closing, so this will be the last concert until God provides a new venue. If you're not busy, go show your support!

I love my small group

For our high school small group last night, Gary and I decided to take a break from our discipleship study of Mark, and take the students out to have some fun. Sometimes you gotta eat some orange chicken together to take you to that deeper level, ya know?

We treated everyone to dinner at Panda Express, then came back to hang out. At some point our joking around led to the guitar and djembe coming out, and we ended up breaking into a spontaneous worship time that lasted about an hour. (Have I mentioned that youth ministry is the coolest job ever?)

Here are some pics from our dinner out:


Do you like to high-five? ME TOO!!!


Carol and I


Boys will be boys...


Thou shalt not covet the gorgeous locks of the Bauermeisters!

Worship Night

Last night was our second "Youth Worship Night" at Fair Oaks. I'd meant to post after the first one, so I'll just have to combine summaries of the two into one post.

The vision that Gary and I have had (for a long, long time) is to develop a worship gathering that is more focused on what we can give to God, for His glory, than on what we necessarily get out of it. We come together to bless the Lord, and others in the body, with the various gifts we have been given, as opposed to coming to 'get filled up'. In the context of youth ministry, we also enjoy the opportunity to train and equip our youth to minister to one another out of their unique passions and gifts.

We decided to focus each gathering on a specific attribute of God, to encourage a natural response of adoration and worship.


The first night, we celebrated God's holiness. Our God is unique, set apart. There is no one in the universe like Him! We imagine the angels in the heavens crying out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty", and we join their cry through our prayers.

Last night, we rejoiced at God's faithfulness. Many came forward to share about the various ways God has proved His faithfulness in their lives, and I was left with tears in my eyes more than once.

Personally, it's been so refreshing to break out of the 'business as usual' routine of church. We've shared extended times of prayer (well, as compared to what we're used to), meditated on scripture, explored themes through video, skits, and drama, worshipped through new songs, shared testimonies and readings of scripture, and even celebrated God through art (painting). These elements are not about production value, but about helping each student discover and develop the gifts God has given them, and to use them for His glory!

Like any new thing, we are still figuring things out and working out the kinks, but it's exciting to see the ways that God is already working in and through this time. May these worship gatherings launch a cultural revolution, through a generation passionate about pursuing Jesus and bringing the light of His hope into this dark world...

Ver es Reir

"One Semester of Spanish Love Song"



ht: Karina

Everything Counts

As much as I think and pray about helping orphans in Africa, especially Swaziland, it surprises me sometimes how (relatively) little I blog about it. I've continued to investigate opportunities for getting involved, and thought y'all are about due for an update.

Saint's Coffee - This is a brand-new Christian-run company that was started with the primary intent of raising money for orphans in Swaziland. Each purchase feeds an orphan for a month, and the website claims that in their first five weeks of sales, they've already been able to feed 270 kids 8,100 meals! That's great!

I've now sampled three of the blends that Saint's Coffee offers on their website. The mild and medium roasts are unfortunately too subtle to stand up to my Starbucks habit, but the St. George is not bad. If you'd like to sample any of the blends, please let me know.

Christmas in Africa - Children's Cup is a ministry that feeds children in various Care Points around Southern Africa. Each year they provide a huge Christmas party for the children, and this year they are encouraging a personal connection with sponsors around the world.

What you do is order a Christmas card from Children's Cup (preprinted in Siswati or Portuguese), write a note to a child, attach a picture of you and your family (if you like), and send it back along with $6. The money will cover the cost of a Christmas gift and dinner for the child. The child will then fill out a note and send it back to you. I just ordered a bunch to do as a youth group project, and am really excited to see our students connected to African kids.

5 for 50 - This is a charity that Tom Davis talks about in his new book Red Letters (I just received a copy - haven't gotten to read it yet). Each copy purchased results in a donation that goes directly to feeding orphans. On his blog, Tom talks about how they are able to do this: all the money raised pays for shipments of donated food. Not sure this is the right thing to do? Watch some of the videos posted on his blog. Keep tissues handy.

Wherever you are, whatever place you are in life, I pray that you will respond to the tragic need. I believe that we in America have been given rich material blessings, not for our own pleasure but to partake in the joy of giving to others.

So, if you can sponsor a child, do it! If you can send a Christmas gift for $6, do it! If you believe that God answers prayer and wants to heal the brokenhearted, do it! In the kingdom of God, no gift is too small.

Retool Kit Reflections

Wow. I am feeling sooo (pick one):



So, yesterday was our first (six hour!) "Retool Kit" meeting. There are 18 of us from Fair Oaks Church that have been invited to participate in a revisioning process of sorts. The "Retool Kit" is a resource developed by our denomination to guide churches through a process of change. Our role is to work together to discern where God is leading us as a church body, and learn how to develop vision and shape the church culture to align with God's direction.

At this point of the process, I am experiencing a multitude of emotional responses:

Happy, that our church is serious about getting healthier and developing a cohesive vision. Discouraged, that the process is so lengthy. Excited, to get to work with some really neat people that I've wanted to get to know. Apprehensive, that we don't really know what we're getting into. Hopeful, anticipating God will do something amazing. Confused, wondering if a process is what our church actually needs. Exhausted, by a day of teaching Sunday school, going to church, participating in a six hour meeting, followed by high school small group later that night.

Tomorrow will kick off our first "assignment": getting together in triads to pray and discuss our reading, "The Emotionally Healthy Church". I look forward to the meeting, but I'm gonna have to find some strength somewhere.

Recommend a Dentist?

One of the worst things (in my opinion) about moving to a new area is having to establish new relationships with care providers - new doctor, new dentist, etc. It's always a bit of trial and error before finding someone you trust.

After a disappointing dentist appointment this morning, I must admit to myself that the search will continue. Nearly two hours of sitting around waiting for a scant few minutes of attention is just not the way I want to spend my time (not that anyone really wants to spend their time with the dentist)! My "cleaning" really could not have been much less thorough, and while I appreciate they did not hurt me, I don't want to end up with further problems down the road due to lack of attention now.

So... if you have a dentist (in the East Bay) that you trust, and will take Blue Shield Insurance, please send your recommendations my way!

Review: Cost of Discipleship

There is a stack of recently read books on my dining table that I intend to review for you. I've given up on the hope of reviewing them all at once - I don't have the time to write that much - you don't have the time to read it - so, I'll deal with them one at a time. I present to you my first book review.

The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I chose this book as a devotional after noticing how often Christian authors quote Bonhoeffer... why not go to the source? I began reading it in September of last year, when we were in Kibera, Kenya, and finished it about a year later. This is a challenging, deep, thought-provoking book... it should go without saying that I loved it.

Bonhoeffer writes topically - Part One deals with "Grace & Discipleship", Two is a series of commentaries on the Sermon on the Mount, Three is "The Messengers" (the apostles), Four is "The Church of Jesus Christ and the Life of Discipleship".

I especially appreciated the first chapter, "Costly Grace". Here I read:

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods... it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it cost God the life of His son... it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us."

These words are indeed challenging, yet inspiring. I can't read this passage without getting chills. This is the relationship I want with Christ. To love Him so much I would go anywhere or pay any cost. To recognize that He paid a dear price in order to save me from my sin; to realize my gratitude every day.

I recommend this book to those who are willing to walk the narrow road. It's not a devotional collection of warm & fuzzy anecdotes, but a challenging call to a life of holiness. The title is apt: true discipleship comes with a cost, a truth for which Bonhoeffer lived and ultimately gave up his life.