It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me and for anyone who reads this you can tell that the blog has suffered. This week isn’t going to be much better as I’m writing a paper for my Doctoral program and working on a sermon for Sunday. So, I’ve decided to just post a photo that you should all see. These are my friends Kyle and Keith from our trip down the Kern River last Friday. Keith is in front and buried by the water. Can you say Class IV rapid and hitting just the right spot. I went through right before them but I don’t have a picture of me even close to this cool.

Back from a whirlwind trip. Met with a lot of people out in California. Spent a lot of time at my old church Bel Air Pres and got to see their new facility. Had a great time with some of my favorite college students on the Kern River. Photos will be posted soon.

I should probably say that this was a needed trip for me. I love my new life here in Texas and our ministry her is amazing but I am just not one to forget about friends and contacts that I’ve had for years. I was able to hang out with some great friends. Rhett, Brian, Jeff, Natalie, Kyle, Preston. You are all incredible people and a “HUGE” part of my life. Living 1,000 miles from you will never change how much I love you all and care deeply about your lives. Thank you for spending time with me.

Heading to Los Angeles today. Going to Bel Air Pres to see some old friends and to introduce Keith the college Pastor to them. Visiting some other people in Carlsbad too.

This was a great weekend. I had a good friend Phil come out from Seattle. I brought him out to speak to my church about issues of injustice. Phil has been helping lead YWAM Seattle for a bunch of years and does an amazing job expressing to students how important it is to understand God’s heart.

We had a good time exploring Dallas together to. Phil blogged about it (and you should read his blog) but I’ll echo a few of his thoughts here. We heard a lot of Nickleback this weekend. For some reason their is a radio station here in Dallas that loves them and kept playing them over and over.

Perhaps the strangest moment of the weekend though came at The Den worship service on Sunday Nights. My good friend Keith runs the Den which is a multi sensory worship experience aimed at the 20-something generation. Just before the “Meet and Greet time” Phil and I noticed a woman pull a stuffed dog out of her bag and set it on her lap. When the greeting started she made a beeline for us and introduced us to Charlie the Christian Dog. She informed us that he was actually a real dog and really liked the service. I just stood their unsure of what to say. Phill, the master at these types of situations, began to ask questions about Charlie and what types of music he liked. (Probably Nickleback) In my blankness I didn’t even get a chance to introduce myself. I guess that’s just proof that God reaches all people.

Phil is heading to Cambodia for a couple of weeks at the end of the month. I had the opportunity to go with him on a trip last year. Amazing ministry.

Ok so what do these two guys have in common?

The answer is absolutely nothing except in my head. Yesterday in my quest for good coffee I ended up at Highland Park Village Starbucks. As I was leaving I saw Troy leaving a gym. He’s a big guy and apparently lives in the neighborhood.

Perry and I have no connection except that Itunes had a sale today and I bought Jane’s Addictions Nothing Shocking for $7.99 and I’m listening to it now.

This is a crazy week. I’m working on a paper for my D.Min, preparing for a sermon and my good friend Phil is in town this weekend.

Today at our Sunday morning youth group event I was impressed by some of our seniors. We have a worship leader named Michael who is amazing. He’s reached out to a bunch of 8th graders and enfolded them into a worship band that he leads. Today I just sat back and listened to them and I was thinking that God was stoked that they were worshiping him. I’m glad I get to be around amazing students and so impressed with the gifts God has given them. I’m looking forward to the next several months and getting to know them in new ways.

Today I bought this

Had this

Wore this

And feel like this

I was looking on Dallas Craigslist today and realized that life here in Dallas is very different. If you click on the Sportingtab you will see a lot of people selling guns, exercise machines and golf clubs. If you click on the Sporting Tab in the San Diego Craigslist it’ll all be surfboards and stuff like that.

Ok so I realize that reading that last paragraph you will all say “Duh” that’s not exactly rocket science. But, it is significant for me because I don’t know what to do here for fun. I’m still trying to figure out what people do. I have played Tennis and I’m playing a more basketball but as far as outside stuff there isn’t much here.

I’m pretty sure this is going to be me at Thanksgiving next year.

The last 24 have not been good for me. I’ve been sick. Sick like fever and sweating sick. Sick like nothing sounds good and I just want to sleep. Sick like I want to lay down on the couch and do nothing. That’s how I’ve felt.

Tonight was one of those lucky moments as a youth worker. My right hand at the church Emily invited Danielle and I to a dinner at a local church where we got to interact with Shane Claiborne. If you don’t know who he is he wrote a book a while back called The Irresistable Revolution which chronicles his ministry in Philidelphia and the organization the he is a part of called The Simple Way The dinner itself was unremarkable but getting the chance to interact with Shane was amazing. He lives a life that is very focused upon living in the 21st century how Jesus would live if he was here in the flesh. The focus of his ministry is community and bringing the idea of simple life and focus to Christians everywhere. It was heartening to see at least 500 people come out to see him speak. I love it that he has dreadlocks, wears very roby type clothes and a bandana. Plus he has a Tennessee drawl which just seems totally out of place on the streets of Philidelphia.

I was challenged to remember that who I am and how I live is more important than what I say or how I say it.