Spent many of a day as a kid hiking to this sign in the Hollywood Hills…

ht: Marko

While on retreat these commercials were shown for a laugh or two. I died laughing. I guess they were shown at the National Pastors Conference in San Diego.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE]

These last couple of months I’ve been in circles where the word “missional” continues to be a “buzz” word amongst folks. I think its awesome. This last week I sat with a bunch of pastors who were asked to think about what Jesus would say about the cities we live in and in our context as pastors. What does this mean to me? It means for me as a pastor that I fall down in the middle of grace in every aspect of my ministry. It means falling down on the side of those who hurt and who ache over the things of this world that don’t seem right. It means weeping for the parent who hopes they’ve given their child what they need in order to survive this world. Falling down in the middle of grace means that we hurt for the lives lost last week and for the parents who grieve. When it comes to being a missional pastor it means helping others to come to grips with the call to fall down in the middle of grace. It means helping others to catch a glimpse of the mission of God, to becoming people sent out into the world, to love as Jesus loved, even when things don’t seem to jive.

Sitting here at Mt. Hermon…Darrell Johnson is preaching…”We are ordinary, broken people summoned by and gathered around the Risen and Ascended Jesus, to share in the life of Jesus, and to be engaged in the business of Jesus in the city.”

God of love and justice, our hearts are stunned today by the horrifying

events at Virginia Tech. We struggle even to know how to pray. Yet we ask You, above all, to let Your gracious presence be known to all who suffer this day, especially the families and friends of those who have died. Grant them Your peace that passes all understanding.Help us, dear Lord, to learn what we must learn from this crisis. Give us hearts open to You. Keep us from using the pain of others to manipulate or callously advance our personal agendas. Help us to listen to each other, and most of all to You.Thank You for being a God who is not watching us from a distance. Thank You for entering into the pain and sorrow of this broken world. Thank You for being present with us when we suffer. Thank You for giving us hope when all seems hopeless, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

HT: Dr. Mark Roberts

John 20:24-29 The Message

24 But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” 27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” 28 Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” 29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

Get to go here in a couple of days. Hope to have the family join me. Palmer and Johnson are the speakers. Looking forward to being away for some much needed refreshment.

I know the wind in So. Cal yesterday was misreable. In the AV it was the end of the world. The dust, the wind, the clouds, and the tumble weeds made it for an interesting day. I felt like I was in a scene from the wizard of oz…here’s what rolled into my car yesterday as I was making a left turn…

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Woke up Easter morning around 3:20am. Showered, got ready for a beautiful sunrise service at 6:00am (of course it was the Antelope Valley cloud cover) Arrived to the church at 4:30am after stopping at McDonald’s for coffee. (I can’t believe I’m saying this, the coffee is actually better than Starbucks) Littlerock is also the quietest little place in the Valley at 4:30am. Finished one service got ready for the next two. It was a joy to be able to preach on Easter Sunday. Years past I’ve been on the other side listening to the preacher or I was always away doing some kind of youth group mission trip. This year was neat in that I got to be the one giving the message. My favorite sermon of the three was the one I gave to a bunch of folks at the Sunrise service in Juniper Hills. My sermon title was “it really happened,” and my text was Matthew 28:1-10. What was special about the day was that three of the churches from the area helped lead the service. Each of the pastors had a different role and it was a day where we were one church, the church universal proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. We also had a great day back at the church. I loved arriving to the smell of lilies and coffee. After the second service folks stayed and ate some Easter munchies and fellowshiped together. The parental unit in-laws joined us for church. It was neat to have them in worship. We ended the day with a feast back at case de Wahe. Yours truly cooked his first ham. It was also a blessing in that we’ve never owned a home until this year, praise God! We were able to host our first meal for our relatives. The best part once the meal was over and as I couldn’t keep my eyes open from being up since 3:30am and stuffing my face with easter treats was hearing the sounds of the “moms” outside with kids searching for plastic eggs filled with coins and than watching one of the kiddoes counting his loot. Anyways, praise be to God that we in the church universal get to celebrate “Easter” all year long…oh yeah! The dodgers swept the giants…a very cool day.Thanks for the reminder Scotty!

 Silence for a king.