Archives for category: faith

George Will was famously quoted for describing football in this way.

Unfortunately, this quote all too often describes my experiences within the church. Not so much outright violence (most of the time) but passive/aggressive power plays, wrangling for authority and that whole lording things over others deal that Jesus talked about.

Forget lofty ideals of Kingdom humility, Christ-like servanthood and mutual submission… I’d be happy these days just being able to take people at their word without having to guess at what they really meant.

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Speaking of football, does Brett Favre being traded to the Jets count as part of the Madden curse? It’s really strange seeing Favre as a Jet; stranger still to see the Madden ’09 ads featuring him a a Packer. But EA is sticking to their guns and, apparently, refusing to change the cover to Madden ’09.

You can view sdunited.org — “Celebration Sunday” for what should be my final update from Japan before returning back to the States.

Sincere thanks for all of the love and support!

Jesus laid down His life for us.

And this is how you know it was Christ’s love working in my heart during the three days of our kids camp:

There is simply no other explanation for how I could spend several days handling bugs of all manner, especially the beast picture above.

More photos and stories at sdunited.org.

I hope everyone from Southern California is safe and sound today. I couldn’t believe the news about the earthquake — we used to live in Chino Hills, the epicenter of the quake. My heart aches to protect our daughter; understandably, she was very frightened by her first earthquake but here I am, thousands of miles and an ocean away in Japan.

If you are able to, please remember to keep our Japan team in prayer. We’re heading into the homestretch of our outreach here — I’ll be disconnected as we head out for a three-day children’s camp. Please pray for our team as we seek to share the love of God across language and culture barriers with kids who have no connection with Christ at all. And please lift up a special prayer on my behalf — I’m definitely feeling my age during this trip (and all of this before we even get to camp).

I’ve posted another update with photos at sdunited.org.

…literally. I’m like an overstuffed couch here :)

I posted some photos over at sdunited.org in case you’d like to see a bit of what we’re up to right now.