I Have A Dream

And They Lived Happily Ever After

Haven't been able to get this thought out of my head since last Sunday night.
Revelation 21:2-4 "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
What an incredible ending this story has!

Matt In The Sky

This is Matt Short on a helicopter tour during his recent vacation in Tennessee. Matt is one of our musicians. He plays a mean trumpet. He also helps with Kids Church and has even been known to help remove a tree in our parking lot. We're not sure what he did with it -but it's gone. He's just an upstanding citizen and all around great guy.
When I first saw this picture, it looked to me like he was doing the morning traffic report. I've never been out there, but in my mind the morning traffic report over the hills of Tennessee would go something like...
"We've got a cow blocking traffic on the 7 Freeway. It's in need of milking and some passengers have stopped to help. A truck has just spilled a shipment of banjos on the 47 Road going out to Ma Tucker's place. It caused an accident which actually turned into a hoe down. And over near the general store a chicken is crossing the road and we just don't know why. It has turned into a high speed police chase and we'll be following this story to its conclusion. This is Matt with KFC Traffic in the sky."

This Weekend

This Sunday night I'll be concluding my series on the Greatest Commandment and the Sacred Romance. We have a decision to make on what road we're going to take. One seems to offer us control and as few surprises in life as possible. But it's really a deception. The other one seems to have a lot of twists and turns and we're really not sure where it's going. But that is the nature of relationship. This is a journey our heart is taking. You want to be sure it's destination is a good one.

Paul's Movie Reviews

Well, I usually try to catch some of the summer blockbusters. Here's my opinion on a couple of them for this year.
The Bourne Ultimatum: The pacing of this movie is so fast -it's just all a blur...LITERALLY! It looks like the camera man had way too much coffee and couldn't hold the camera still. I think Jason Bourne did too because he's just running the entire time -probably in search of a restroom. If you get motion sickness easily, try to sit in the back row and be sure to take some dramamine before it starts. Don't take the kids because it gets a little bit more violent than the Andy Griffith Show.

Ratatouille: Hundreds of rats slithering into a kitchen in Paris to eat and cook. Not only that, a rat is the best chef in all of France. Is this Disney's way of slamming France because of the difficulties of Euro-Disney? This movie was more gross than funny. I really like the Pixar movies too. Rent "Cars" or "Finding Nemo" instead. And then just buy a rat at the pet store for Mom to play with and nurture.
What do you think?

Dull Meals Inspire Sleep

One of the cool things about teaching is that you really have to know the material before you pass it on. Of course, there are those who will try to bluff their way through it. My senior year of high school I took American Government. The teacher was an older man who just didn't seem to care anymore. The entire class was him rambling on and on at random and I remember absolutely nothing from that class.
In fact, I'd situate myself to be looking down and taking notes...but I was actually napping. (Maybe that's why I don't remember anything.)
Once I fell asleep and woke up to see that the classroom was about emptied out and the teacher was standing over me. I felt really bad about that. It would've helped if he'd had any sort of curriculum at all.
God's Word is incredible. I get excited when God shows me something in a way I hadn't quite seen it before. It's awesome to be able to share it with others. And then it keeps coming back to me after I've shared it with them. It's like a fine meal that just keeps getting better the more you chew on it. Well, chew on this...
Isaiah 62:5 "...as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you."
Ephesians 1:4 (The Message) "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love."

This Weekend

Well, it's been a pretty busy week around here. We had about 40 pastors in our organization coming in from all kinds of locations to have meetings here. It was very dangerous. You have to be very covert when there are Pastors on the premises because if you get caught by one...you may never escape. What I mean is, Pastors like to talk. Which is really cool if there's one or two. But forty...that's dangerous.
Anyhoo, this Sunday night I'll be continuing my series on The Greatest Commandment. At this point in the story, we focus a bit on the villain. That's not something I thrill to actually. But it's good to be aware of his tactics and strategies. There is nothing he'd love more than to stop the Hero from having His Beloved. As we are in the middle of this fight, we must decide what story we're going to believe...the serpent's or the Savior's. Join us!

Don Update

It has been very hot and humid here this summer. But after reading an e-mail from Don -who is at Fort Benning in Georgia, I suddenly feel grateful for my present location!

"Things are hot here. Wednesday it was 112. The humidity kicks in and really works you over. It's a constant race to see if you can drink as much as you can sweat. Drill Sergeants are letting up even more."

I hope Don is doing well. I heard that every time they get a letter they have to do push-ups. Suddenly I feel very inspired to write him.
In this picture, he's the one in the top right corner. Keep him in your prayers!

Dog Sniper On The Loose

This may eventually inspire an Oliver Stone film about a conspiracy against dogs.

What God Wants Most Of All

Yowsa...it's already Friday! It's been a busy week and I've been meaning to write but you know how it goes when there's a lot of nose picking to be done.
This Sunday night I'll be continuing my series on what God wants us to do most of all.
Ok, I guess I'll tell you. He wants us to love Him. It is the greatest commandment, according to Jesus...and He'd know. So often I've heard this scripture glossed over so quickly in order to get to the second greatest and so on. But the first is the first for a reason! I've been inspired by the book "The Sacred Romance" (by Brent Curtis & John Eldredge) and it is helping us to take a fresh look at how God loves us and wants us to love Him too. Join us!

Sunday Nights In August

Have you ever been tempted to yell out, "God, what do you want from me?!"
For our Sunday night services in August, I will be talking about what God wants you to do most of all. We have so many things to do and that we want to accomplish in this life. But Jesus gave top priority to one commandment in particular. We're going to spend these four Sunday nights thinking about the number one thing that God wants from us. This is a one hour service which begins at 5:30 PM. Join us!

Heifara

This is my friend Heifara. I first met him on my second trip to Tahiti in a Vacation Bible School I was helping with. When I found out he played the trumpet, I encouraged him to play for church and later mailed him a letter with some music.
Fast-forward quite a few years to my recent trip. I was concerned when I didn't see him in church.
The next Sunday, I sang before the sermon. When I sat down, suddenly there was this grown, 6'4" tall man at my side. I didn't quite recognize him at first. He said, "Paul, it's me, Heifara. May I sit with you?" Of course, I quickly moved over. He told me that it had been three years since he'd been to church. Then he told me that the day before he "just happened" to see my letter and the music I'd sent him many years ago. He felt that God told him if he'd go to church Sunday, he would see this man. When he arrived, I was singing at the piano.
He proceeded to cry through the rest of the service. When it ended, we prayed together and he beamed the rest of the day -like you see here. He has started to climb, as he put it, a new ladder which will lead to heaven.