Bradyn's Blog

Hi- this is Bradyn. We went to San Diego a couple of days ago. It took a long time to get there. But when we got there we checked into our hotel. And after the night-time, we went to Sea World the next day. And after Sea World, we went back to our hotel. And then we went to sleep. And then in the morning, we used the pool. And after the pool we to the beach. It was lots of fun! And after the beach it was kind of embarrassing because we went to an Ice Cream shop and we were all sandy and wet. And then we went back to the hotel and dad went to the church. And at the night-time, we went to the church. It was pretty boring. Then we drove home and I was happy to be home because I really missed Chloe (our dog). I missed my stuffed animals. Now that we are back, I'm looking forward to Thailand and I'm happy to share my story with you. I'm going to miss you- good-bye! Love Bradyn.

Rock Harbor Church

My family went to the 7pm Sunday night service at Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa. They are located in a nice industrial park area next to the John Wayne Airport. A couple of warehouses have been converted into their meeting places. They have done a wonderful job of converting these buildings into attractive and functional spaces. Every sign, tv screen and picture I saw in the lobby and worship center pointed back to their purpose- a "community being transformed by Christ to be a catalyst for changing lives." They constantly reminded the church family that this happened "by giving yourself away" (GO 2008 is their theme his year). The atmosphere, age demographic, music, and ambiance was very similar to The Flood Church (previous post) so I won't repeat everything. One thing that definitely stood out during all aspects of the service and throughout their facility was their commitment to the concept of the "priesthood of all believers". It wasn't a pastor/attender relationship. Everything was "we". It was evident that they are very intentional about each persons role and responsibility in being a catalyst for changing lives. They believe that God changes us as we learn to worship Him beyond the weekend in community with one another and through service to others. There was even a reminder of this when were leaving the parking lot. In front of us was a sign that said, "Worship begins here". You didn't see it as you entered the church facilities, but as you left into the world. I think that speaks volumes as to what this church is about. It's also my prayer for Neighborhood. I hope it's yours as well.

The Flood

On Sunday morning, I visited The Flood Church in San Diego. The church meets at a high school auditorium and is near UCSD. I had heard good things about this church from a few of our previous high school students that had gone off to school in that area and attended The Flood. I have to admit, when I first got there and looked around, I felt a bit old. I was surrounded by college age students and young adults. The church has to haul in their stuff every weekend so their set-up was basic, but well put-together. They added a few props on stage that related to their current series (Outside In) and added a few lights and a kicking sound system. I felt like I was at NC because when the service first started, there auditorium was only half full, but within 15 minutes it had filled up. The lights went down when the service started and the worship leader read a couple verses out of the bible and then went straight into a song. Although the auditorium was dark and the music loud, it didn't feel like a show. I was deeply impressed with the authenticity of those leading the music and their genuine desire to worship our Creator. After a couple of songs and some announcements, Matt (their lead pastor) got up to speak. As mentioned before, they were starting a new series that addressed how to experience God's grace through the seven sacraments. The sacrament they were studying that morning was baptism. It turned out to be a biblically sound and inspiring message. They ended up inviting people that hadn't been baptized to follow Christ's example. There were 3 people in that service that went down and after some brief instructions during some response songs, they were given the opportunity to share their testimony, answer a couple of questions and then get baptized right there on the spot. After the service, I saw many students hanging around talking to each other. Even though they were meeting in a rented facility, they seemed to have found a way to facilitate "community". I came away inspired and with some ideas to think about. What about you... I realize most of you haven't been to The Flood, but I would love to hear what you think about a couple of things. Is it healthy to have a church made up mostly of one age group? If not how can this be successfully achieved? Also, what do you think about spontaneous baptism? Typically, we have interested "candidates" take a class before being baptized, yet the Ethiopian in the bible (Acts 8) doesn't seem to have taken a class before being baptized. I have my own ideas about each of these questions but would love to hear from you.

Post by Ashlyn

I had a lot of fun this weekend in San Diego. On Friday we went to Sea World. We went to see the dolphin, shamu, and sea lion/otter show. All three shows we really neat. One exhibit was the penguin encounter. There were Arctic penguins. They were behind a glass window and it was so cold that the workers had put real snow in the room and it didn't melt. Another exhibit was the Wild Arctic, it was right next to the penguin encounter. First, we went on a ride kind of like Star Tours in Disneyland, but it was a tour of the Arctic, not space. Then, we toured exhibits of beluga whales, a polar bear, and a walrus. That day we also looked at many other animals. On Saturday, we went swimming and went to the beach. First, we went swimming. There was a water park too. The pool was huge and it was really warm. There was also a hot tub. After we had swam for a couple of hours, we had lunch, and then went to the North Carlsbad Beach. It was really close to our hotel, in fact we could see the ocean from the hotel. The water was warmer than in Pismo Beach, but it was still cold. I didn't feel like getting wet so I just stuck my feet in. My brothers were splashing around and got almost their whole bodies wet. After that we came back to our hotel, took a shower, and chilled until dinner. My dad had to leave right when we were done with the beach because he had to go to a church. I'll write more soon.

A Multi-Site Church

Tonight I had the privilege to visit North Coast Church in Vista. I had set up a meeting with Chris Mavity (multi-site guru) before their Saturday night services (I also got the chance to talk briefly with Dave Enns their small group pastor- who I found out grew up in the Dinuba/Reedley area and knows a number of people at our church). I chose North Coast in order to get more information on thoughts that NC leadership have been tossing around. Do we build? Do we go multi-site? What are the advantages of each? I chatted with Chris for nearly an hour and a half before walking around to check out their campus and the different venues that are held on Saturday night. I have to say, when I first drove up on campus I was not impressed. If I was to judge a book by its cover, I probably wouldn't buy it. Their church was located in an industrial park area. They had bought up many of the old buildings and turned them into venue sites, offices, and children's rooms. Their facilities didn't equate to all the hype I've been hearing about them. So I was intrigued about how they were being so effective in reaching people for Jesus in so many different ways. You can go to their website to find out about all the different details behind the 22 different services (with 9 different venue choices- none of which hold more than 550 people- yet they reach over 7000 people weekly) on five different campuses (www.northcoastchurch.com) most of which are with live or recorded video teaching. I have talked with a lot of people that say they would never go to a church in which you see the pastor teaching on a screen. I have had some of the same feelings in the past. However, as I moved around to the different venues and ultimately ended up sitting in their Edge venue (more edgy music and feel) I began to understand why it wasn't a big deal for most people there. It only took about 30 seconds and I was able to focus in on the person teaching on the screen- like he was really up on stage. I was fascinated how the crowd interacted. They laughed, yelled back answers like he was really up there. Everything else was live in each one of their venues- music, announcements, etc. They even had a campus pastor that served as the relational connection to many in their little community. However, I wanted to share just a couple of things I learned and get some feedback from you on what you think. According to Chris, the multi-site approach: 1. Brings together the best aspects of larger churches and smaller churches. 2. Improves a church's stewardship of funds and resources. 3. Increases the total number of available seats during optimal worship times. 4. Enables untapped talent to emerge each time a new venue or site is opened. 5. Increases options of location and sometimes of worship style too. 6. Provides a pipeline for the development of emerging leaders and future staff. 7. Creates growth that happens like polyps (reach more diverse community). Although I'm still digesting what I just experienced, it took me back to the ending of a book I just finished reading (The Multi-Site Church Revolution). "Jesus left the church with one final instruction: make disciples, baptize, and teach. The apostle Paul was so committed to fulfilling that mission that he constantly looked for new and innovative ways to spread the gospel.... The churches in the first century were not defined by a building or a location. Groups of believers met in homes, in synagogues, and in the open air. They did not think of themselves as distinct communities competing for members; they saw themselves as part of the whole...The future of the multi-site church might be a return to the mind-set of the first century believer, when the word church did not refer to a specific building or a location but to a group of believers connected to other groups of believers by a common mission- a church not built around personality or a facility but instead built around a mission. Whenever 2 or 3 believers gather, there could be a new campus. Churches could meet in homes, in coffee shops, in break rooms at work. Resources could be directed at spreading the gospel and meeting the needs of the community rather than at more land and bigger buildings. Church might no longer be thought of as an hour on Sunday or a visit to a building. Church might become a lifestyle lived every day in every place the believer walks." Thanks for reading through my very long blog. I would love to hear what you think. I realize that the "multi-site" concept might still be a bit vague for most of you, but I would love to interact with you about the advantages and disadvantages of NC looking into this concept in the near future as we continue together on a journey to passionately follow Jesus by... Loving God, Loving People, and Serving our World!

Garden Worries

Our kids each planted a small 3 by 5 garden in the spring. As you can see from the pictures, they chose some interesting plants for their small space. Ashlyn chose a giant sunflower, onions, and sweet peas. Payton chose a giant sunflower, peas, and cilantro. Bradyn, however, chose to plant 3 watermelon plants in his space. His melons have taken over the other gardens and my flower planter. He's very proud that his plant is dominating all of ours. All the kids are worried that their gardens are going to die when we take our trip to Thailand. I have reassured them that we have some very nice people helping to care for their plants while we are gone.

Jim and Casper Go To Church

I just finished reading a book written by an atheist and a Christian. They embarked on a fascinating journey across the country to visit 12 churches- some well-known, and some hardly known. The book documents their experiences and reactions to each church. Many Christians have grown up in the church and have no idea how non-Christian guest might interpret what they see or hear at a worship service. What are Christians doing right? What do we need to do better? Casper, an ordinary atheist agrees to engage in these conversations with Jim, an experienced Christian leader. Casper didn't seem impressed with the polished productions of churches like Saddleback and Willow Creek. Instead he seems impressed with churches like Lawndale (in Chicago) who are deeply invested in their community. After all, he said, "if you are going to be a community church (or neighborhood church), serve your community." He explains that even though he doesn't believe in God, he sees evidence of the idea of God being a good thing at churches like Lawndale. Casper had seen and experienced over and over (in big churches and small ones) what Christians do when they "do church." The greet-sing-preach-collect-present form played out the same in every church. Yet, Casper could not imagine Jesus telling his followers that the most important thing they should be doing is holding services. Did Jesus really care about church services? Or did he care about loving and serving others and introducing people to a personal God who not only loves them but more important, likes them. Casper ends the book by asking an intriguing question, "What does the way Christianity is practiced today have to do with the handful of words and deeds uttered by a man who walked the earth two thousand years ago?" If you are looking for a book that makes you think about the way we have "always done church", I highly recommend this quick read. Based on the questions posed to me, I'm looking forward even more to the upcoming fall series at NC in which we will be looking back to the book of Acts and discussing together as a church family what God created the Church to look like.

It's Almost Time!

It's almost time to kick-off my sabbatical. I've been working frantically this last week to get everything in place. As usually, I'm sure I forgot about something. It officially starts on Monday. However, I will be spending the first couple of days around Visalia before taking off toward the latter part of the week to visit 3 Southern California churches. I will keep you updated as I visit each one. In addition to shoring up last minute details for our Thailand trip, I'll dive into my stack of books that I hope to read through. My list includes "Jim and Casper Go To Church"by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, "Everything Must Change" by Brian McLaren, "The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham" by Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley, "The Multi-Site Revolution" by Geoff Surratt and Greg Ligon, and "Morph" by Ron Marioia.