Sunday Evening QB

It was a good day. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1) Awesome energy in BOTH our services today!

2) My second service message was a lot better than the first. Truthfully I wasn't happy with either one of them. But after saying that I should probably let it go. Once I asked a radio talk-show host friend when his best show was. He simply replied, "The next one."

I've never forgotten that.

3) Our worship team did an awesome job, despite their frustrations with how their rehearsals went and an overall desire to do their very best always.

4) It was exciting to meet more new people today who found the church because somebody brought them.

5) I loved interviewing Joey and Sara Reyes in front of the church. How blessed are we to have them at Compass!

6) Our staff was really encouraged by the response of so many after we made the announcement about our finances. If you missed it, we'll be uploading the video to our site tomorrow, and have a print version available as well. But we had so many people tell us that they're with us and they want to be part of the solution!

7) Scott Johnson told me this morning that the best thing happening at Compass is his 3-5 grade class! I can't tell you how great that was to hear!

Well, it's time to hang out with my wife and kids!

Farewell, Grandpa

The following is the tribute I read at my grandfather's memorial service last week. He was very special to me, and he will be greatly missed:

My grandfather was to me what all grandfathers should be to their grandsons: He was a legend. He was bigger than life. He was above the law. He was above my parents, which meant, he was above the law. He was a man, to me, who knew no fear.

He built a tree house for me. He taught me to shoot a gun. He let me wear his California Highway Patrol cadet badge when I was a kid. And I proudly wore the old patches of his uniform that were sown on a little shirt for me.

He had a tractor he liked to drive around his property and I always felt so grown up when he would let me drive it around with him.

I bragged about my grandfather. I tried to get others to see the legend that I saw. In a way he defined me. I was always proud to be part of his stock.

“He’s designed and built two of his homes.” I would say. “He’s a pilot, he’s self trained in trigonometry. He’s a painter. He can identify any bird in the entire Western United States. He rode a Harley up and down Beach Blvd. as a Highway Patrolman. He was a forest ranger in Yosemite National Park.”

But as is the case with legends, you can’t really put them in a box. On the one hand, here was a guy who was a proud member of the NRA, and he hated to dress up for any reason. He could count on one hand the times he wore a tie. At one point he sent me to buy 59 cans of cat food from 3 different stores. He told me the story of when he planted a cherry bomb in his neighbor’s yard. And when, as a highway patrolman, he and a few of his buddies figured out a way to put a motorcycle inside the captain’s office. Now if that’s all you knew of him, you may not expect much in the area of
refinement.

But I will never forget the weekends I spent with my grandparents. There was the sound of Mozart filling up the house, and a glass of red wine on the table in the late afternoons. There was a sharpened pencil on his drafting table, and paintings from his own brush lining the hallways of his house.

He always seemed so curious about things; it seemed there was no subject that he did not try to master if he had even the slightest interest.

But of all that he did in all of his life, nothing impressed me more than the way he took care of my grandmother during her battle with cancer back in 1995. Of all that he did, his commitment to her during that time was what brought him the highest honor in my mind. What he did leaves me with no excuse in my own life when it comes to rising the challenge of the commitment of being a husband and a father.

When my grandmother died, that was the saddest I ever saw him. But he was an optimist, and as long as he had breath in his lungs he never wasted an opportunity. And so, in what was such a wonderful surprise to all of us, my grandfather met Delia, and she brought him seven wonderful years. I want to publicly say thank you to Delia, for taking care of him during his final years, and bringing him so much joy.

As I grew older my grandfather became to me the incarnation of an era – the 20th century self-made man: the fearless, can-do spirit that never seeks anyone’s approval nor asks anyone’s permission.

The image of the rugged individualist has been attacked in recent years. The idea of a man making it on his own, taking care of himself and his family, and freely pursuing
his dreams is not as celebrated as it once was.

But I will never lose the image of my grandfather – I will vigilantly guard it. I will hold close to my heart the picture of a man who to my knowledge never woke up with a project he could not accomplish, never saw the glass half empty, and left this world with no excuses.

In the music he loved, in the airplane he flew, the art he created, the homes he built, all of that woven together represents a man who to me will always remain a larger than life. He will remain in my memory as he has always been – a legend.

The Heavier Things of Life

...so we're watching "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" and the question was, "When was the Battle of the Bulge."

The right answer? World War 2.

My son Ryan: "I thought it was the Civil War, the one John McCain was in."

Oh, to be a kid again.

On another note, I started reading In My Place Condemned He Stood by Packer and Dever.

Holy cow.

I had to dig through about 1000 books that wanted to tell me how great I am and how much health, wealth, and happiness God wants to give me if I just believed in myself a little more. It's not the bookstore's fault. That's what people are buying.

But there is a gravity to this book that simply cannot be put into words. I bought the store's only copy (another tragedy in my mind), buried behind a few other solitary works on the atonement.

Don't get me wrong. It's heavy. But that doesn't mean its bad. Gold is heavy. My Vox amp is heavy. A Rolls-Royce is heavy.

Anyway, my wife was sick so I tried to help by taking the kids to the park and then McDonald's. I would have had an easier time herding 50 cats across the Plains, but it was fun nonetheless.

These activities, including the above comments, are written in light of the fact that my grandfather is in his final hours, and I will likely be travelling to Oregon in the next week to honor a man who has been a very signifncant part of my life.

So I'm trying to keep my mind on the heavier things, and capturing the moments that so quickly fade.

My Post-Election Thoughts, Abbreviated

Last night on my Facebook page, after reading comments from my friends both celebrating and lamenting, all that seemed appropriate was to simply post this: Psalm 2:10.

It came to mind because it was referenced, almost as an omen, alone on the first page of Paul Johnson's Modern Times. Johnson chronicles the history of a century that was the bloodiest and most violent we have ever experienced in the history of humanity - the 20th. This past century saw unprecedented human cruelty, largely because of leaders worldwide who did not heed the words of this verse:

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.

My prayer is that President-elect Barack Obama leads our nation with this verse leading him.

I love politics, but I don't write much about it here because it would be a distraction to my calling. I have strong opinions on what makes an economy work well, one that elevates everybody. My opinions are formed through my understanding of Scripture and the training I had in economics back in my college days. I attended a university that did not walk in lock-step with with all the others when it came to those subjects.

Regardless, I have remained disciplined and will continue to say with confidence that the only person that can save your Economy and your Future is Jesus Christ. Neither candidate would have had that ability to the degree each of us need.

My job (and yours, if you're a believer) is to help my community, and perhaps my country, understand who the real Leader is. I have a feeling that opportunity might be greater than ever now.

So today I'm going out to seize it!

Election Eve!!

Here's a photo of our Home Group tonight (I had to turn the night shot on because the flash wasn't working). We've been hanging out in my driveway over the past few weeks around a fire pit (or a "firecamp" as my 5 year-old calls it!), and tonight we even had smores!

Anyway, if you're not in a Home Group at Compass, you're missing out on times like these. If you want to come to ours, it's at 7:00 p.m. on Monday evenings. Let me know and I'll shoot you the addresss.

Well, Election Day is here in case you just arrived on Planet Earth. So make sure you go out and vote! As for me, I have a seriously passionate view about who should be the next president, and what policies have made this nation great. In my earlier days I had a stint as a call screener for the Michael Reagan Talk Show, and that gave me some exposure to issues that I've come to believe in deeply. But ultimately the only Candidate who can really bring change is Jesus. Whether its McCain or Obama who takes office, America ultimately needs Jesus. And it's wonderful to have a church full of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents (not sure if we have any Ralph Nader folks, but they're welcome too!).

On another note, Compass Church volunteered to be a polling place, and the folks at the elections office said to expect a full house! It will be a blast to have almost 1,000 people walk on our campus tomorrow, most of whom have never set foot on it!

Lastly, you probably don't know this, but every Tuesday for the past six weeks our staff, elders, and key lay leadership have been fasting and praying for our church. Basically, we've been skipping breakfast and lunch to commit that time and energy to pray. We've been praying for our finances as well as our ability to make an impact in our community. You are welcome to join us, especially on Election Day.

The whole purpose behind fasting is to "redirect" the hunger pains you feel into prayer. Every time you visualize a huge hamburger from Jack in the Box, you turn that thought into a reminder to pray! Jesus practiced this discipline during his ministry, and we've been wonderfully blessed as a Leadership Team by following suit.

We've got an exciting week ahead!