1st day of club

today was the first day of the new club at Princeton plaza. it was like being in middle school all over again: awkward.


my firends anna-marie from youth for christ and my friend chris from st. timothy's and i all showed up at 7:30 to pray and set up. we had cereal, pastries and orange-juice. we had some music, and all of our paper products- we felt like we were all set.


anna-marie stood out in front of mcdonald's, while I stood out in front of Walgreens handing out flyers. there were these 2 girls who were all dressed up for their friend’s birthday who thought I was a creep. a friend of mine stopped by to talk while they were in Walgreens- they looked like they were waiting for me to be distracted so they could get out of the store without talking to me. later they went back in with a friend. I said, “free breakfast today!” and their friend stabbed me in the chest with an eye-roll/head-snap/sigh-combo. i went into club and the students said, "some birthday girls rejected us!"
i said, "they rejected me too!" i went back outside and saw them again.
i said, "i'm not even going to invite you guys after that vicious eye-roll"
but this time one of their friends recognized me from church or camp or something.
she said, “oh hi! I know you! you’re pastor rob!”
I said, “aha! see?! I told you guys there was nothing to be afraid of! and you thought that I was a creep!”
and one of them said, “well, only lauren thought you were a creep…”
thanks.


you could almost see the thought-bubbles over the students’ heads saying,
“what will my friends think if I go inside? will they think that I’m not cool?” students would walk up, look for their friends, and then run away. and then they would slowly come back. it was pretty funny.


there was a big difference in the type of student around. there were the rich almaden kids who wanted to know “what kind of food is it?” and then there were kids from the apartments who were just glad that there was food.


in all, we reached out to about 30 students- mostly Hispanic boys. we had a lot of fun connecting with them- and we’re all looking forward to next week.

patriology:: entry 122

ever since jane graduated from her crib to her big girl bed, she has been able to get up whenever she feels like it. she was getting up pretty early, so we told her that she had to stay in her room until 7am, or she she calls it, “seven-zero-zero.”


i usually hear her wake up around 6:45. she usually starts reading a book out loud or practices her alphabet. most days i call out, “jane, want to come in mom and dad’s room?” and she says, “yes!”


then she crawls up onto our bed and says, “does dad want to talk about something?”
and i say, “sure! what should we talk about?”


she puts her fingers on her chin to make a thinking face and says, “hmmm…what should we talk about?”
and then she thinks of a topic that she can make some sort of list for- like: what can we do in the tub? what can you di at the park? what starts with the letter H? what foods do you like to eat?


whenever i come up with an answer she says, “that’s a good idea.”


then we make our list. when we finish it she says, “want to talk about something else dad?” and we start the whole process again. i always enjoy when jane comes to talk with me in the morning. she seems to enjoy it too. it’s a special dad and daughter time for me each day.


i was sitting in church this morning thinking about how i missed my talk this morning (because jane and deanna are in modesto this weekend). it dawned on me that my heavenly father must enjoy when i come to Him in the morning and say, “want to talk about something?” i enjoy it too. it’s a special moment that i can share with Him each morning- and i’m sure that He misses it when i don’t initiate the talk.


“how great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! and that is what we are!”
-1 john 3

overME

i just got back from my annual spring break mission experience with middle schoolers. this year we spent 3 days with elm street mission in santa cruz. this year it was called overME. and as always, i’m so glad that we went. i want to expose as many people as i can to the faith-filled people that oversee the mission. they never cease to amaze me with the way that they can accomplish so much for the kingdom with so little.


there is this verse in acts 4 that reminds me of the crew at elm street: “when they saw the courage of peter and john and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with jesus.”


so it wasn’t the hardest trip that i ever went on, but it was a little uncomfortable. we really wanted to give the students an experience, so there was no showers, and we slept on the floor. ouch! the highlights far outshined the backaches. here are a few:


:: the students stepped up. big time. they worked so hard that the mission ran out of things for us to do a few times. the students responded to every challenge that i gave them. they worked hard, they started conversations with the homeless, stayed quiet at night, prayed out loud and shared openly. great job!


:: they use the hymnals in the services at elm st. the students had never used one of these before. but there was this one moment when we were singing ‘how great thou art’ out loud along with this old piano. God was in the house, and i couldn’t even say the words to the song, they were so powerful. i looked around the room and the adults in my team we all wiping away tears from their own eyes as well.


:: since we worked so fast, we took a long lunch and then played at the beach. josh the intern owned beach-games and had the students thoroughly entertained. he pretty much kept us all thoroughly entertained whenever he could. he is a real leader- with a bright future in ministry.


:: another leader, mike, invited a homeless man to eat at his table at pizza my heart. it was beautiful.


:: several students shared that it was time to get over their prejudices, their materialism, their selfishness, their greed, their complaining, and their ingratitude. can't beat that.


:: one of our students, sarah gave a testimony in front of a congregation of homeless men about how jesus had freed her from depression. she nailed it.


:: we were going to go to the boardwalk after serving on friday night, but it was closed because of the rain. so we went to marianne’s instead. yum!


:: there was this moment when it occurred to me that the mission pretty much sticks to the basics when it comes to teaching. a lot of believers would go nuts in a church like that. and it dawned on me that so many people out there don’t even know the basics- that God is real and He is seeking out His lost sheep.


:: it also dawned on me that in a town built on rebellion and on being different, there are no rebels bigger than the guys at elm street. in a town that says rebel, their message is submit.


they are bringing it strong again tonight- and every week. if you’re the praying-kind, send up a word on behalf of my friends that they’ll continue to do a good work for a long time to come.


“…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it…”

if i were president

if i were president,

i’d appoint the carlos from the malibu grill as secretary of bbq and invite the leaders of the world over for some lunch.

i’d have the military scour the hills for mountain-people- just to check on them.

i’d have an awesome train table in the oval office so that jane and i could play together in between world summits.

i’d find out what’s really going on at area 51, and what really happened in roswell.

i’d have the scientists find the sasquatches.

i’d make it so that every single vote counts- no more blue or red states- just blue or red people.

i’d be so cool that i’d put the daily show out of business, because they’d have nothing to make fun of.

i’d send all of the spoiled-celebrity-law-breakers on a mission trip to africa.

i’d make all of the car companies make electric cars so that it wouldn’t cost so much to drive- and better for the environment.

i’d move the white house to pismo- so all of the legislators could watch the sun set over the pacific every night- and enjoy a breadbowl at splash café.

i’d be pro-life- and place a high value on life all the time; no matter the age, ethnicity, or history.

i’d get rid of the suits and ties- and long meetings. all congress meetings would need to be held at a ginormous starbucks on comfy seats and low lighting.

i’d basically say yes to anything that bono asked me to do.

i’d pose for photos with protesters.

i’d write a lot of thank you cards to soldiers, teachers, police, ministers and red cross workers.

i’d have all parking lots painted white- i think it would cut global warming in half.

i’d make at least 2 more work-free holidays: go outside and play day and nap day.

i’d hold meetings to ask the iraqis how we’re going to get all of the americans home and how to restore peace to their land.

i’d give cool statues to other countries- like france gave the statue of liberty to us.

i’d raise taxes on hummers and “adult entertainment”- and lower taxes on property and gas.

i’d like to be able to say that i took care of people- i mean, you can’t legislate people’s decisions or pay people to do nothing, but i’d like to help everyone afford health insurance, car insurance, and a home in a good neighborhood.

i’d write a letter to someone every day- so that a lot of people would feel the excitement of getting a personal letter from the president. i’d call people too- people like teenagers who make a difference in their community.

i’d totally fight with reporters during press conferences.

i’d have a cupbearer like in bible times- because i get really tired of carrying my cups.

i’d go to a random church every Sunday- just to freak the pastors out.

i’d travel the country by bus just like john madden.

i’d invite the middle east leaders to watch a giants game in san francisco and talk policy over some sunflower seeds and cracker jacks. and i’d treat them to a hawaiian vacation.

and hopefully through it all, i’d show the world that we’re not so bad over here; and that hating us is so four years ago. (maybe 8).

random-rob-thoughts: march 25

this edition of random-rob-thoughts is dedicated to my daughter and the fun times that we have had recently:

1st of all, jane has got a thing for baseball lately. so we had to go and get a disney princess baseball bat to play with at the park.



we just had easter, and our annual easter-egg-hunt- good times. thanks to grandma, grandpa and uncle ross for making the trip out to share this with us:



today we went to the hp pavilion to go see the wiggles!



we were ready to leave about half way through.
we're having a lot of fun-
time to go read some stories!

life is worth the living...

happy easter-

coolest thing i've seen today

for more go to youtube & search for "improv everywhere"

when love comes to town

good friday

galatians 5 to middle school boys:

tonight i led the small group of 6th and 7th grade boys for a volunteer that didn’t show up. we were doing a lesson on the fruit of the spirit. i had the boys turn their bibles to Galatians 5. several boys asked if they could read the passage, so i decided to have them taking turns reading verses from the entire chapter. BIG MISTAKE.


here is how it went:


BOY 1:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.”
“uh rob? what does circumcised mean?”


ME: “i’ll tell you as soon as we finish the chapter…”


BOY 3:
“Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”
“uh rob? what does emasculate mean??


ME: “i’ll tell you as soon as we finish the chapter…”


BOY 6:
“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
“uh rob? what does orgies mean?”


ME: “well…
since we’re all boys…
ummm…
well…
you know,
uh… like,
you know...
does anyone have any prayer-requests?”


awkward!
thanks a lot apostle paul for making Galatians 5 so scandalous!