Making Disciples...thanks Mom and Dad

I sent this email to my family today after reading an article by a guy that has a different passion than I do. Anyway, I thought I would share it through blogger, as well.

So, you may or may not know this about me, but I am not all about the big and the cool. To the contrary, I am really for the element of making disciples through relationships, not explosions. So, when I see something like this from Ron Luce who is the driving force behind Acquire the Fire (which by the way, the actors in SAVED went to in order to make sure they could adequately give proper humor to youth ministry when they made a brilliant satire of youth ministry), I kinda laugh. However, this time, it really stuck out to me...since we are all about a family email going around.

Here is the reality...crazy, we all love Jesus. We may disagree, and some of you may not fully realize that you were elected (that is fine, you are in, and when we get to heaven, you will realize that you had no part in your salvation), but the reality is that we all love Jesus. The thing is, that our mom and dad don't get to write the book. They just did it (right, wrong, good, bad) they made disciples of Jesus Christ...Not Don Thomason, not Rod Price, or Don Leigh...but mom and dad. Sure, as we all can attest, Grandpa had a part. But, in the biblical mandate, it ultimately comes down to mom and dad. Faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Thanks, mom for passing on the heritage, and for dad for breaking the generational sins to help us be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Don't worry about writing the book...just pass on your stories of loving Jesus and loving us to those who don't get it, or need help. This seems to be the master plan of parenting.


ARTICLE REFERENCED:

Friends, Something exciting happened to my family a few weeks ago. We got a call from the editors over at Charisma Magazine. They wanted to run a feature story on my family because of the parenting book we just published called ReCreate! My wife, Katie, and I wrote ReCreate to share stories of how we made it a priority to raise Godly children and build a Christ-centered culture in the home (Charity, my middle daughter, even helped write the teen version!). It turns out that the editors at Charisma were just amazed to see all three kids in one family absolutely in love with God and pursuing them with their lives. A lot of families in ministry really struggle when it comes to their children, and they wanted to find out how we did it. I don’t think we did anything special. It’s all in the book, but we always prayed for our kids and with our kids. And I really think the kids are doing so well because of Katie—she’s just amazing. But really what it came down to was a decision to put our kids first. After God and our marriage, our kids have been our top priority, even before ministry. That’s been the guiding principle for us as parents, and we’ve had to fight very hard to keep that focus. It wasn’t always easy, but it was worth it! Please pray for this article! We really hope that this story in Charisma and the book itself is an encouragement and blessing to all of the families that read it. The article will be in the March issue. Until then, you can watch some videos we recorded for each chapter in the book and order a copy online if you’re interested. Consumed by the Call,Ron P.S. I've been sending out email updates on a variety of topics every week or so.

If you're not getting them, you can sign up at www.teenmania.com. Ron Luce
Founder and President

New House, Great Pic

CRAZY, here is the picture of our boys by our "SOLD" sign, now here is a little info that I did not know. When you see these signs, it doesn't really mean sold...but under contract. The funny part of the story is that Krista, the boys and I went to Gig Harbor for Christmas, and then, on the way home decided to drive by the house. As we drove past the house, we saw the "SOLD" element of the sign on the bottom. We were freaking out that one of two things happened 1. someone else bought it or 2. it was actually under contract, and we were the ones who were going to be buying it. CRAZY! Couldn't believe that out of those two options, option 2 was the reality. So exciting. I just want to move today.

Closing day: Feb. 10th
New Address: 1606 Amon Street, Richland, WA 99352

Believing for another week

The Eagles are still around for one more game, and I think that they can actually beat the Giants. McNabb gets beat down all the time, but the guy threw to 8 receivers. Come on, man, he has no number one receiver, and he is still surviving.

I was on the Eagles website, and the theme is "Believe in Green." I am believing! I am believing. Come on Eagles. Wearing the jersey to work tomorrow. Believe in green!

Believe with me.

I never knew...

I never knew how long a game of Chutes and Ladders could be. Seriously. So, I was a good dad, this week. Krista had a class that she had to go to...yeah. So, I got to be at home with the kids. Instead of doing the let's-watch-TV gig, I thought that I would actually spend time with Cal and play a board game. We started with Candy Land...classic. I won...he cried. So we played another game, Chutes and Ladders. Do you know how long that game can last. You can land on Chutes time, and time, and time again. It can be a pretty long game. I had no idea. Tonight, we just played Candy Land. The kid has a bed time, you know.

Administrative Assistants

Okay, so, I have been working at Bethel for about 90 days...It is great, and Krista and I love going to church there as well...a plus. One of the great things about working at Bethel is the administrative support that Michelle Hopp gives to the ministry (that includes me). BUT a side bonus is that there are connection points that Krista and I get with her family. Instead of describing it, I thought that I would imbed a video that was their family Chirstmas card. Funny stuff. Enjoy:

The Resurgence

It has been a whole month since I have posted. Goodness, get on it, Seth. And this time, I don't even have much to say. Regardless, I came across something that is really moving me to think and ponder. It is a ministry out of Mars Hill in Seattle called The RESURGENCE. I am thankful for this ministry, as it has been a positive impact on me, and very valuable in helping me communicate the gospel. Here is their mission statement: The Resurgence is a movement that resources multiple generations to live for Jesus so that they can effectively reach their cities with the Gospel by staying culturally accessible and Biblically faithful. The questions that this poses for me are what does it mean to be culturally accessible verses being relevant? and Is the ministry that I have been called to lead Biblically faithful? Good things to chew on.

Shepherding...

A mentor, pastor, shepherd friend of mine, Ron, has given me something that has haunted me. I love ministry, I love being a part of what God is doing in the lives of people, I want to be "successful" at this calling...but what is success. So, once upon a time, Ron gave me a beginning of what it means to be a shepherd, and it will not leave me alone, as I think about ministry. I am not in it for the numbers, but for the shepherding. I want to see students shepherded, not just cattle-prodded. So, then, what is a shepherd? Here are two elements that Ron gave me:

1. Know the state of their soul (Ezekiel 34)
2. Miss them when they are gone. (Luke 15)

Am I passionately looking to know the state of the souls of the students God has given me to shepherd? Am I clammering to get more and more adults to be a part of knowing the state of our students' souls? Do I miss them when they are gone...do I ache for them? Am I a shepherd...or a program director. God, make me a shepherd!

And, thank you, Ron, Dan, Dave for being my shepherd. I am thankful for you.