North by Northwest

I'm spending a few days in the Porland area this week. We recently learned that my grandfather has pretty bad cancer and so I thought I should come up and spend some time with him ASAP.

Tomorrow my dad and I are flying down to Rogue River, OR, where he lives. I'm looking foward to seeing him, and flying down in my dad's new plane that he got from these guys. Today I worked on my dissertation over at Multnomah Bible College about 9 miles from my parents house. It's definitely an intense time, as I have a significant part of my project due a week from tomorrow. But I've decided I really want to finish and get this degree, and anything in life worth doing is supposed to be a little difficult, right?

Later on I went over to downtown Portland and had some Greek food. If you've never been to Portland, it is a beautiful city, especially the Pioneer square area, and especially in the summer. The weather was perfect so I ate outside:

About as Political as I'm Going to Get...

A note to these guys: Jesus' words in Matthew 25 do not mandate big government.

If you are "younger evangelical" who is socially conscious, that's awesome. Read something like this before you make up your mind this November.

People on both sides of the aisle love Jesus. But there are smart and not-so-smart ways to help the "least of these" in a 21st century free market society.

I didn't want to go there, but they made me. :)

A Lotta God Moments!!

Yesterday I sent the following in my weekly "Thoughts From Pastor Tim" email:

Dear Compass Church,

I have a favor…

I need you to tell me about a “God Moment.” In other words, I need you to hit “reply” and answer this question, “How have you seen God at work in your life in a
significant way?”

Maybe you’ve got a story about how you trusted God with something that really freaked you out. Or, maybe God has used Compass Church to teach you something or bring you closer to him in a way you never expected. It could be you had the opportunity to bring someone to Jesus by your words or your example. Perhaps God brought healing, comfort, or maybe he just bailed you out of a brutal situation!

All of those things qualify to be a “God Moment” - a unique event where you recognized his presence and power in your life. And if you’ve got one, I’d love to hear about it.

All I’m asking you to do is hit “reply” and type. It doesn’t have to be anything big, maybe just a few sentences. Or maybe it is big – maybe you’ve got a story to tell that nobody knows!

Here’s why I’m asking you for this:
1) We’d like to start gathering real life stories that describe what God is doing here.
2) Our congregation needs to know that there are people just like them who are experiencing God and connecting with Compass.
3) I know of things happening “under the radar” in our church that are awesome, but nobody else knows about them. It would be great if we came together as a church and began to hear what one another is going through.

Don’t worry, we won’t take your “God Moment” and plaster it all over the internet. But, I might ask you for permission to let our congregation know about it so that they can be encouraged.

Thanks for taking a few moments to think this through. And, if you don’t have a “God Moment” you can think of, maybe you could ask God to help you see where he is at work in your life!

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

God Bless,

Pastor Tim

All day I've been getting the most AWESOME stories from so many of you. Keep them coming!

Read the post under this one after watching this video...

This is my 7 year old son Ryan's first day on a tube... well, a "hot dog" to be more precise, over at Roosevelt Lake.

Today's Service...

...was awesome! Steph and Robin, along with the worship band, sang Finally Free, by Nichole Nordeman, and did an amazing job.

It was great to hear Daryld and Coleen Kratzer share their story of moving to the West Valley form Yuma, only for Daryld to lose the job he came out for just two days before they moved! But they came out anyway, and since June have already gotten plugged into our Children's Ministry, joined the church, and Daryld is even one of our ushers. It's people like that who become Compass Church, and we are honored to have them around.

It's been a bummer to have to say goodbye to so many of our Luke AFB couples, but many of them are moving at this time of year. We have seen a ton of families from Luke come to Compass, which has been a great encouragement.

Today we wrapped up our "Can You Hear Me Now?" series. We've had great feedback on the series, as many people have never heard an entire sermon series on the conscience. By the way, the catalyst for the series was a chapter in a book by J.I. Packer called A Quest for Godliness. The chapter is called "The Puritan Conscience" and when I first read it during my residency at Dallas Seminary I immediately knew we had to do a series on it.

Remember, if you want to download any sermon at Compass, you can do that here. If you ever have a problem, email office@compasschurch.info and they'll get it fixed!

I never would have thought...

The other day I was reminiscing with Judi about how much I used to love going to Yoshinoya Bowl, located on Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Canoga Park, nearby where we used to live. I used to swing by there, eat a bowl, and then catch the 101 Fwy to make my 60 mile journey to the Talbot Seminary campus.

Yep, it was just a week ago I was feeling the urge for Yoshinoya. So, I went on their website to see if they had any in the Phoenix Metro Area. What did I find? Nothing. The closest one was still in CA.

Oh, well. That's the price of living in an up-and-coming community, I thought.

Then, yesterday: I'm driving down Van Buren, and it was as if a light came shining out of the north, and drew my eyes over to the left side of the road. There is was, right next to the Sketchers store.

They made it to Arizona.

I almost cried.

I called Judi... she thought I won the lottery. "Jude, Jude, I can't believe it! They're opening up a Yoshinoya right under our noses!

They're not open yet, but as far as I'm concerned, whether Goodyear ever builds that urban core they're planning or not, the city has finally arrived. We don't need museums, universities, or cultural arts centers.

We've got a Yoshinoya, right here in the West Valley.

So remember, my friends, anything is possible.

Wisdom from the Past

Richard Baxter on preaching evagelistically:

“We must labour, in a special manner, for the conversion of the unconverted. The
word of conversion is the first and great thing we must drive at; after this we
must labour with all our might.”

And:

“I am frequently forced to neglect that which should tend to the further
increase in the knowledge of the godly, because of the lamentable necessity of
the unconverted.”

Perhaps the greatest of all the Puritan preachers, Baxter's words were spoken at a time when the state law in England required you to go to church!

Jump ahead 300 years. In his book Why Should I Believe You?, Thomas Bandy argues that pastors must function apostolically in order to regain credibility in the world. Here's his definition of the "apostolic attitude" of a pastor:

"Fundamental preference for the stranger, over and against a fundamental
preference for the member." (Bandy, p. 41)

That's why at Compass I believe we can teach very heavy theological concepts, throwing the truth of God's Word out there as plain as possible, but still speak it in the language of those who need it the most.

A long time ago I vowed that I would do whatever I can to make the truth of God's Word understandable to those in my culture who need so badly to know it. While I love teaching the Christian more truth from God's Word as I learn it, never in life am I more pumped then when someone who was lost hears a message I have preached and finds the truth! I can't wait for the next one!

Synopsis on McCain

Extremely articulate, substantive, serious, yet personable. Probably told one too many stories but made up for it with sharp, clear answers said with conviction.

I've tried to steer clear of politics on this blog, becuase it's about Christian leadership. But Warren brought it all together tonight. He did fantastic, and hopefully this will cause the general public to have a renewed respect for the church in the public square.

Update: Saddleback Forum

McCain on Russian aggression: "centuries-old ambition."

One of the challenges McCain would have been thought to have was presenting himself as a man of "faith" in this particular venue. He's not as specific as Obama was, vis-a-vis Obama's statement about being "redeemed" and Jesus dying for his sins.

Warren is doing an amazing job, super-professional, but McCain is doing what he can to "grab the mic" at times!

Update: Saddleback Forum

...he's still funny, specific, and hard-hitting, optimistic.

Not my favorite Republican, but he's looking good. He's got an understanding of the issues that seems much more thorough and well thought through than the other guy.

He's got one word and short phrase answers, such as, "Poor teachers need to get a new line of work."

I think he might take this one...

Update: Saddleback Forum

Warren - What do we do with evil?

McCain - Defeat it...If I have to follow him to the gates of Hell (speaking of Osama bin Laden.)

He is strong, strong, strong on evil.

The stem cell answer was clear, but clearly not popular.

The marriage amendment, like Obama, came down to a states' rights issue.

Wait... Did McCain just say he goes to North Phoenix Baptist Church?

Update: Saddleback Forum

McCain continues to look good...he's got substance, and he's funny.

Warren: "What is the most gut-wrenching decision you've ever had to make?"

McCain replied with a refusal to back down during his time in prison camp.

These guys really are different...

Update: Saddleback Forum

McCain is coming out strong... he's not as "pretty" but he's serious and credible. Looks good.

Talking about his heroes: people of "courage, commitment to causes greater than our self-interest."

McCain's greatest moral failure - "failure of first marriage."

He's hitting hard on defense, security, military, etc.

Synopsis on Obama

Looked great, super smooth, played the event very well.

I think that Warren did what he set out to do in being direct but also non-partisan. As much as we might want Warren to go after him like a bull, he's not going to do it, becuase he'd lose his crediblity on the national stage.

This was a plus for Obama, no doubt.

Now McCain is coming out...

Update: Saddleback Forum

Warren: Define "rich"

Obama: If you have book sales of 25 million... (followed by applause).

Obama: $150,000 or less, you're middle class, depending on the region.

Warren: In this region, you're poor.

Update: Saddleback Forum

Obama: "Evil does exist...and it has to be confronted."

Warren is excellent at disarming people, and it seems that Obama is more disarmed than I've ever seen him.

Warren - "Which Supreme Court Justice would you not have nominated?"

Obama - "I would have not nominated Clarence Thomas." (Followed by applause.)

Wow. If he had had my vote, he would have just lost it. I read Thomas' autobiography earlier this year, the man is amazing and over the past 15 years or so seems to be doing quite an effective job.

Saddleback Forum

Right now I'm watching the Saddleback Forum and Rick Warren is interviewing Barack Obama. Here's the deal: no matter how you feel about the candidates, it was totally brilliant for Warren to bring these two guys to Saddleback. When was the last time an evangelical church was at the foreforont of the political process?

As Ed Stetzer calls them, the "Pajamahadeen" will be out in full force on this one, and will only further alienate themselves in cyberspace. These are the Rick Warren haters, and I've read enough of their stuff (out of necessity at times) to believe that they hate Rick Warren and other outreach-oriented pastors more than they love Jesus Christ.

The truth is, most of these midnight pajama-wearing bloggers have no visionary or leadership skills. To be clever is not to be intelligent, nor is it to be effective. They could never even dream of accomplishing for Christ what Warren has, and so they are left to pick at the edges, and they will go to their graves knowing they were not much more than unpaid pundits who should have spent more time watching their own lives and not standing in judgement of others.

...okay, that was a "rock"... something I commit not to throw on this blog, but there's been a lot of ugliness out there in the name of Jesus.

Warren is at the top of his game tonight, to be sure, and I say, way to go.

Warren: "What does it mean to trust in Christ?"

Obama: "I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins, and I am redeemed through him."

Where else are you going to hear that question?

Interesting stuff...

Face It

I'm on Facebook now, a move that was motivated entirely by peer pressure. I was hanging out with Ray Chang, my ultimate multi-cultural church planter friend from Anaheim, and Dave Page, the EFCA West Church Planting Director, and made to feel rather behind the times for not being on the great social networking website.

So, if you see my mug on Facebook, invite me to be a friend and I'll consider it! It was pretty amazing seeing a bunch of people I hadn't seen in years as I began to look people up to try to build my friend inventory so my page wouldn't make me look like a complete loser.

Ray, Dave, and I were talking about some super exciting stuff regarding church planting. Compass is definitely going to plant in the future, and hopefully we'll be known as a church that trains leaders and sends them out.

Most chruches have lifespan of about 70 years, and by their 35th year they're past their prime and begin to die a slow death. So, they must reinvent themselves or they will die.

The best way a for a church to "reinvent" itself, especially if it's in the maturity/decline phase, is to plant a church. It's a lot like having a baby. You're never ready, you're not quite sure how to prepare, but the experience always challenges you and leaves you better than you were before.

For most churches who choose to send 20-30% of their people to plant, they end up replacing those people within a year. That's because the entire church is on "mission" and they are able to see firsthand what it is the church is really supposed to be doing - reaching out, taking risks, and establishing new "beachheads" for the Kingdom.

Imagine if over the next 10 years Compass was able to start at least 5 new, growing, prevailing churches in the West Valley. Imagine if our combined attendance was 10 times what it is today, with the majority of folks being new converts, baptized at these churches that haven't even started yet!