Mission Adventures

So tomorrow we start our 8th year of Mission Adventures. WOW, how am I still going? I am excited about it this year as my role is minimal as I am preparing for fatherhood once again and feel as though someone else should run the day to day. This week however is our 1st week and I am speaking. I am sure it will be busy, but I am surprisingly looking forward to it with much anticipation.
Tonight I was telling Amy that I am excited about the opportunity to set the tone for the summer through speaking on my own program. I feel as though I will be able to express myself more then just through hosting it and I will be able to get away with more. I am not sure what that means except I feel that I can take more risks this year. I will let you know how it goes.
Until then, keep me and us in your prayers.
Later

24

I am not sure how to say this subtly, so I will just say it, I stay awake at night thinking about Kiefer Sutherland. Don't freak our ot think I am to wierd because many people think about him often. I am talking of course about his role in 24. WOW! If there was ever a time in my life that I needed to go to bed early it is now, but instead my wife and I usually find ourselves starting to watch 24 on the lap top at around 11pm. Even now, it is 10:35 pm, and I am tired like a crazy tired person, but I can't go to sleep until I find out what happens to Jack in the next episode. If you have not let yourself become addicted to 24 I would encourage you to take the plunge. It is well worth it.

Anyway, I needed to come out of the closet on this one. I hope you day is filled with joy and your night is filled with Kiefer. Thanks.

Britney Spears

I was just watching a show where Briney Spears was on Dateline. I just wanted to quote her as she said some Brilliant things. Here they are

1. "I like working with funny people. I find funny people Hilarious."

2. "I like money."

So sad is all I can say. It is so sad.

Who am I?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about who I am. It has been an interesting journey. I have talked to a few people about this who I am close to and it has turned into something that I am thinking about and aware of on a daily basis. Now you may be wondering why I would be constantly thinking about who I am, but it is because I feel that somewhere along the way I lost myself, or I gave myself away.

I have been realizing that when I get into a relationship, romantic (which is my wife) or platonic (everyone else), I often find myself doing things, or becoming something that I feel that the other person would like me to be. By this I mean pretending that I am interested in things that they are interested in so that they won't be hurt. Having my coffee black if they have theirs black so that they won't have to feel bad about not having cream Wanting to read something that they are interested in when I am not interested one bit just to belong. Now these things sound good in themselves, but my reasoning in all of this and many more situations is not healthy. It is not so that I can enter into another persons world, it is because I don't feel that mine is worthy of them entering into.

Wow, I just read that above paragraph and even I am confused. I am just using this post to throw up all over and then sort out the chunks. Hopefully someone out there reading this (the 3 of you) can relate. I have found that I have given the beauty of me away because in a lot of way's I find no beauty. I read the verses that say that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, but I rarely live that out. I am at a point of being sick of it. Sick of not living out me and the person God created me to be. In my journey to find out who I am I have some fear and reservation. What if I don't like who I am, or what if I am not really nice, but just pretending to be nice so that I don't hurt anyone's feelings?

But, what if I am a strong, secure, honest leader and servant. Someone who God wants to use to bring others closer into relationship with Him. What if I am exactly who God intended me to be, wouldn't that suck if I never found out. I am on a journey. I am going through a metamorphosis. I want, desire and need change. I am sick of robbing people, and me of me. If you are reading this please pray for me and with me. It is exciting, but scary all the same.

Thanks.

Cambodia Adventure

I am sitting in the Singapore airport/mall on my way home from Cambodia posting for the 2nd time today as the last time it was erased as blogger went down as I was publishing. Good ol blogger. Good thing I am coming home from a mission trip as my heart is good and I didn't cuss blogger to much.

Just a short post as this keyboard stinks and my connection to Seattle via Hong Kong and San Fran leaves shortly. I just want to say that in my history of mission trips
this one was one of the best. I will post later on the details and what God did, but
for now I just want to thank some key people.

Lars and Wade, thank you for your hearts and commitments to the team and to outreach. You made this trip so much easier. I would do a trip with you again any time.

Jonah, Chris and Bethany thank you for hosting us. You made us feel involved in your ministry and your lives. Congrats on the engagement Chris.

Manny and the team thank you for being great. Thank you for working hard, caring for each other and Cambodia. Thank you for taking it sereously. Thanks also for making us part of your team. I hope to do it again.

Thank you Cambodia. Thank you for your smiles and love. Thank you also for your acceptance.

Thank you Jesus mostly. Thanks for being truth and for keeping us safe and giving us this opportunity.

Thank you to all of you who prayed. It was beautiful

Cambodia

On Monday May 9 I am once again leaving my city, family and community and flying to Cambodia. I will be leading a group of 29 college age students from Oakland, CA. On a prayer/ministry trip for 10 day's. I am very excited about this trip. We will be spending some time in Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, and Sianookville. While there we will be spending time in intercession at Angkor Wat and also at The Killing Fields. My good friend P. Wade put together some pod-casts for our intercession times.

We will also be going to a coastal town called Sianookville. While there we will be working with an orphanage a hospital and running some kid's ministries. I am also excited to go back to the church that we worked with last year and see the pastor and the Sunday school program that run's in the room we built.

We are also going to be going to a village 2 hours away from Sianookville called Crocodile Village. Here is what Jonah, our host says about the village. "As for this village I would like to tell you that, this village has been established by former Khmer Rough soldiers, which is very much unexplored by the general mass, even Cambodia. God gave me the favor to bring the gospel to this village. There's a school in the village, and I will talk with the leaders if 3 days program for the kids and the villagers (One day mercy ministry including medical service, kids camp and setting up a mini park for the kids, and personal evangelism. The team can also organize a concert with dances and drama)"

I am also excited about my team. I am leading this with my good friend
P. Wade who works for YWAM in Vancouver and also makes great soap, plays in a Epiphanic, DJ's, VJ's and rodied for Nickleback, who I won't link you to because they are not worth your time.

My good friend Lars Rood from San Diego is also coming. Lars and I have worked together a number of times, but this is the first time we have been over seas hanging out. I am also pretty sure that Lars is going to be snacking on some dog with me.

So, Please pray for us as we embark on this journey together. I am sure there will be pictures and posts to come. Thanks for reading and for putting up with all my links. If you do want the Nickleback link just ask.

Later

Cinderella

Holy Smokes, My daughter Emma is as cute as they come. Why you ask? Well, tonight when it was time for bed we were talking, well she was talking. I told her that I was going to Cambodia in a couple of day's. She asked if that was why I had the bag of crafts by the door and I said yes. Then she said that she needed some of the glitter that I was bringing because she doesn't have enough. When I told her no she launched into a 15 minute monologue. Here is the cliff notes of it.

Emma told me that while I was gone to Cambodia she was going to move into a castle with Prince Charming and she was going to become a princess. She then told me that she was never going to see me again, because she would be in the castle. I asked her if there was a way we could see each other and then she said yes because I was going to be the king and Amy was going to be the queen. We were all going to live in the castle and she was going to sleep with prince charming. But, prince charming was going to get mad at Emma's fairy god mother and so Emma was going to have to tell him that it is not good to be mad at fairy god mother. She also informed me that princesses don't eat or drink. Especially pickles or chips, which are Emmas favorites. All that princesses do is wash and comb their hair. They also ride on their princess ponies.

Suddenly she launched into the story of Shreck. She told me that she was going to get swept up by a bad guy in the forrest and then she was going to take him out. Then, Shreck was going to get an arrow in his butt and she was going to pull it out while donkey went to get flowers. Then it was time for bed.

Wow, what a story teller. It was the cuteness that I needed. Thank you Jesus for my little girl.

Happy Mothers Day

On this May 14th Mothers day I want to take a moment to thank my mom Ann. She has been my mom for as long as I can remember, which is birth. This goes out to you mom.
Mom, thank you for loving me. Thank you for caring for me and raising me. Without you, well I would have died I guess. We have had some good times and some rough times. Do you remember the time you were out of town for a week and Brendan and I stayed home and totally destroyed the house by not washing dishes, having people over, not cleaning and just leaving a mess? The house never looked so bad. I remember coming home the day before you were supposed to come home and seeing a note from you and dad saying that you were home and went for coffee and when you returned the house better be clean. I thought it was a joke from Julie until you called. I remember Brendan and I calling Melanie Collins to come over and clean with us. You were mad.
I also remember the same summer when you came in and saw Brendan wearing a vest. You commented that it looked just like the pant suite that you had and loved so much. I am not sure what our faces looked like when we realized we cut up your nice pant suit jacket and made a vest out of it, but I am sure it was shocking.
I also remember the time Jeff slept over and you threw out his contact lenses cause you thought it was just a glass of water by the sink. He was blind for day's. Just kidding.
We have had some great times and also some hard times. I know that it has not been easy since dad left. In fact it has been the hardest time in our family's lives. There are a few times over the last 3 years that I remember connecting with you. I remember going for coffee with you at Second Cup on Corydon and talking about dad. It was very sad, but we connected and it meant a lot to me. I also remember when I was in Fiji and so worried about you and how you were doing as I could not call. I remember when I did call it was like I was your little boy. You did not talk about yourself once, you just cared for me and asked how I was, even through your hurt. Thank you for that.
Thank you for sticking with it. For being a good Mom and Nana. Thank you for moving on and working at the church and thrift store. Thank you for sticking with God and remaining faithful. I know that God will work this out for good. I love you and pray for you continually.
Happy Mothers Day.

The Stranger on Emerging Churches

The Stranger is a city paper in Seattle that puts out weekly articles, classifieds, movie listings and concert info. It is a free publication. In the May 4th edition there was an article written on Emerging Churches in Seattle. It was a very interesting view of a couple of Churches in the city, one of which is Mars Hill, which I personally attend. I am putting the link here if you would like a read.

Emerging Church

King of the Hill on Church

I was checking out Mark Driscoll's blog this afternoon and came across this clip that was shown on King of the Hill about church. I hope you find it as humorous as I did. Have a great Sunday.

Taking Steps Into The Future

I just recently returned from a 10 day outreach to Thailand. It was a great time for me, yet a very different experience than I am used to. There were two things that were different.
1. I am used to taking a group of Jr. High or High Schoolers, but this time I went with a groups of adults, the youngest being 22 and the oldest being in his mid 70's.
2. Usually the groups that we take on trips contact us and have set leaders and an existing group dynamic. This time, I contacted individuals who had no specific connection and asked them if they wanted to do a trip with me.

I have been in YWAM for 12 years now and have been working inside of a mold that was already in existence when I joined. I never started anything new, out side of helping to pioneer YWAM Seattle. But as far as programatic things that I have been involved in, they have already been running. I feel that God is changing this for me and also for those around me. I feel that God is calling us to step into something new, to pioneer new programs and new way's of doing things. Basically to step out.

I truly believe that this is one of the significant ways that we can bring change to the world. The reason that we have all these great existing programs, ideal, and organizations is because someone stepped out in faith and passion, and started something new that has never been before. We can either continue to work inside those existing structures or step out in faith like those before us and start new programs, ideas or organizations that will bring change.
I think for me, the reason that I have not done this before is out of fear. Fear that I will not know what I am doing. Fear of failure. Fear that no one will follow me. There is no risk in working inside an existing structure and trying to restructure it, but to start a totally different thing is a little different. I feel like this changed for me when I saw the success of the Thailand trip.

I saw that there are many adults who are good people, hard workers and Christ followers who have never had the opportunity to go on a Mission Trip and see change. People that are missional in their own culture, but have never had the chance to go and be missional in a foreign culture. The more I saw this the more I wanted to see that change. It was a risk for me to plan this trip, but a risk I was willing to take and a risk that payed off for those who went and those we went to see.

I feel that this is going to open up more doors to do similar things in the future. I also feel that this is going to push me to step out and start things that are not existing programs and hopefully bring change. I don't want fear or apathy to stop me from following God's plan for me. I also don't want to miss God's plan or have Him use someone else to see it get accomplished because I am to fearful to take up the call. I am excited about where this will take me.

Blogging

One of the web sites I like to brows through each day is Relevant On-Line. There is lots of great worthless entertainment info, as well as some interesting articles like the one I read today on Blogging by Andrew Odem. I really enjoy blogging, but I could see how it could be used for Evil instead of good. Anyway, I am on the way to Canada to pick up my beautiful wife and daughter so I am putting the link here for you to enjoy. Later.
The Blogging Church.

Welcome Home

Well, even thought it was great to be in Thailand, it is wonderful to be back home in the beautiful North West. My time in Thailand was great. I just want to take a few minutes to thank those of you who made it so wonderful.

I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know that I arrived home safely from Thailand on Sunday. It is good to be home, but it was great to be in Thailand. Permit me to take this time to thank some people who played a part in my life while I was gone.

Thank you to my team.
Mario: You did great. Thanks for bringing so many with you and being committed to Mission
Anthony: Thanks for letting the kids crawl all over you 24/7
Sonia: Thanks for putting up with all us boys, it was good to have you
Paul: You were hard core bro. You are in your 70's yet you were with us all the way
Matt: Thanks so much for committing to coming and making it happen. You came a long way and lost your bag and remained cool.
Damien: Thanks for being committed to Mission and working so hard
Rusty: Thanks for hosting us, you ,made it so much better for all of us.
Brad: Thank you for coming in the midst of difficulty. I pray that God changed your life forever
Dog: Thank you for a good meal. You tasted great.


Thank you guy's for being so flexible. For sleeping on the floor, for putting up with a million bug bites (Mario), for putting up with 7 men who sometimes act like boy's (Sonia), for coming all the way from Canada (Matt), for trying new and exciting foods (dog), for hosting us (Rusty) and for loving and serving the Akha people will all your hearts.

Thank you to Dave Stone who is helping with out computer. Thank you to Stephen and Boon Soon and Joe for offering to help. Thank you to my dear wife Amy and my daughter Emma for being alright with me going and supporting me. Thank you all of you who prayed for us during this trip and who continually support us as a family financially so that we can continue doing the Lords work that He has called us to.

Finally and most of all thank you Jesus. Thank you for calling us to you and sending us out. Thank you that the call of Christ is worth our lives. Thank you for your truth, your love and your grace. I love you.

Have a great week.

Gone to Thailand

Hello everyone reading this. This will just be a short blog, but I wanted to post. I am leaving for Thailand tonight for a 10 day trip. I am going with 6 men and one lady to build a church in a Northern Thailand Hill Tribe. I am so excited about what the Lord is going to do in me and the team that I am leading there. I won't be posting for the next 10 day's, but I am sure that I will have a lot to say when I return. Please keep us in your prayers.
The team is:
Mario
Anthony
Damien
Matt
Brad
Sonia
Paul

One more thing before I sign off. Yesterday the hard drive on my i-book crashed. It is our main computer so we really need it fixed. We need to pay $300 to get it fixed. If you would like to help with this need just post a comment below. I can let you know how you can be involved. Thanks so much for taking time to read.

Later.

He has risen. He has risen indeed.

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia! Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

Today we celebrate the end of Lent and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray that we can have the joy of the risen Lord in our thoughts and minds today. This is why we live. This is why we pray. This is why we love. Jesus conquered death and the grave and rose victoriously so we could have life in Him.

Please take time today to thank Him. Take time today to celebrate Him. I pray that today you can be surrounded by people who can share and celebrate this resurrection day with you. I pray that if there is someone today who has no one that you would invite them to spend their day with you. I pray that we would have the joy of the Lord together.

Jesus, thank you for your life. Thank you for saving us. Lord, you are everything. May your will continually be accomplished in out lives. May those who don't know you find you today.

-AMEN-

What ever happened to Good Friday?

What ever happened to Good Friday? The last day has been a shock to my system as I have begun to realize that Good Friday means nothing anymore. Yesterday I was rushing to get my taxes done so that I could drop it in the mail before Friday because the post office would be closed, or so I thought. As I rushed to the post office I realized that I had missed the last pick up and then I noticed that on the door was listed the dates that the Post Office would be closed. To my surprise Good Friday was not listed.
Later I was talking to my friend Gordon. I asked him what he was doing for Good Friday and he told me that he had to go to work. Wired, why would his work be open on Good Friday? I guess I hadn't realized how far we have come in our society away from celebrating Christian Holy Days. I am totally disappointed at how far from the cross we have gone. It is like the cross never happened.
I remember as a kid in Canada going to church on Good Friday morning for an all church breakfast followed by the Good Friday service. I loved it as I got to eat with all my friends and raise havoc in the church by playing the biggest game of hide and seek that any Friday morning has ever experienced. Now, even though I didn't sit quietly through the service on Good Friday morning I distinctly knew that the reason we were there was because we were celebrating Christs death on the cross nearly 2000 years earlier.
Jephta, my German friend commented today that America doesn't see Good Friday and anything special. This is such a sad thing in my eyes. This is the day that we were freed. This is the day that the greatest sacrifice in history was made. Nearly 2000 years ago Jesus hung on the cross as a man to save us from our sins. The greatest act of selflessness that anyone has ever, or will ever make. How can we not celebrate the man who gave us our freedom? How can we not just stop our everyday lives to spend the day with Him?
Now I am not talking about my friend Gordon who has to go to work, or the server at Denny's who has to serve Moons Over My Hammy, but I am just talking about society in general. We are lost and missing the point. This is extremely grave.

Schedule

Yo yo all. Phil here with my little blog getting ready to post my schedule for the internship. So, buckle up and hold on cause here we go.

Currently I am spending most of my time running Mission Adventures, but I am transitioning out of this program that I have given the last 10 years of my life to. This has been an interesting time as I have been forced to figure out what I want to do after this summer, when Mission Adventures for me will come to a close. Here is a little bit of that story.

At the end of summer 2004 I became tired and lacked any sort of motivation for running the Mission Adventures program with Seattle. This was really all I have known in my time with YWAM, so I felt that my time in Seattle was through. The thing that I felt myself being drawn to was the Church. I felt that my time with YWAM was done and my time with the Church was starting. I called up my good friend Lars Rood and filled out a resume to work with the Jr. High ministry at his Church. The more I pursued it the more I felt wrong about it, but I did not know what else to do. After talking to my good friend Rusty I came to the realization that I could stay in Seattle with YWAM and do Church here. I realize this is a sketchy, brief overview of a huge transition in my life so if you want more details just ask.

So this brings me to now. My passions are to provide a place of worship for people who have not yet connected with a local church or community. I want to spend time developing that. So, while I am not working on Mission Adventures I will be, and am, reading blogs on church, listening to pod-casts on church, reading books, taking classes from a Bible College to finish my degree and running a by weekly Gathering that looks a lot like a church.

I am also heavily involved with my family. I really love them and they are very cute. I want to invest in my daughter and her growing up. I also want to be involved with Amy and the baby that is due in July. Very cool. The other thing that I want to do is take care of my body. I have started running and would like to do that 3 times a week or so. I also love playing dodge ball and blogging.

This is my rant. Enjoy.

Processing My Future

This week in the YWAM Seattle Urban Internship we were talking about Personal Growth, Vision Statements and Values. Most of the material we covered came out of a pod cast by Patrick Dodson. Most of the week was spent telling each other our stories of where we came from and what God has done in out lives.
On Thursday night we talked a lot about issues of divorce and homosexuality. It was interesting to here how people perceived the churches views on those two issues. Some of the comments were about how the church knows how to talk to people, or deal with people who steal or cheat, but when it comes to homosexuality or divorce we are kind of at a loss and don't' really deal with it very well. I wonder why that is? I think because most of us view those two issues as greater, more horrible sins than all other sins. These are sins that we would never commit, that no one should ever commit. How can we disciple people in these areas if we feel that we are above them.
Another thing we talked about is who we are. Patrick, in his pod cast called Processing Your Future talks about who we are in three areas.
Who we are in God
Who we are in Family
Who we are in Ourselves.

This is what I came up with, even thought there is a lot more time that I need to put into it.

Who I am in God is:
Faith, Forgiven, Son, Secure

Who I am in Family:
Brother, Son, Friend, Dad, Giver of Perspective, Dier to self, Provider, protector

Who I am in Myself:
Friend, Pastor, Empathetic, Learner, compromiser (in a way that I want all ideas heard, not just mine), No Compromiser.

I would encourage you to listen to the pod cast, it is great.

Energent

Today I was reading on The A-Team Blog about the The Emerging Church. There is a lot of talk about the Emerging Church movement and also a lot of questions. Roger Overton posted a good article on this and linked to an article that Mark Driscoll, the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle wrote. Mark Driscoll was one of the original members of the Emerging Church movement, but left after a while because of theological differences he had with it. Here is the article that Mark wrote on the Emerging church that explains it pretty clearly for those of us who are interested. Enjoy.

How Emergent came about

Busy and Tired

I am tired. I feel like I am sitting in heavy traffic and just can't wait to get home. You know that feeling where you just feel rushed and want to be in a quiet place with no thoughts or stress? I kinda feel like that. It has been a busy week here in my world. I have enjoyed it in that there is growth happening in my life and in the lives of the people I work with, but it is still crazy. Today I received an email from a youth pastor wanting to bring her youth to an outreach that we are running this summer in the Gulf Coast. I just wanted to scream NOOOOOO, no more work. But, the work is good. God is blessing us. He is giving us favor and responsibility. I am tired, but I want the Lord to continue to do His work in me. I don't want to stop, yet I really want to stop.

Jesus, I love you. Thank you for the favor you are giving me and the YWAMers I work with. I am excited about what is going on. Please give me strength to hold on and stay invested. I need your help. It is exciting, but it is hard.
-AMEN-