Back to work

I'm back!  VBS was a complete success, thanks to the hard work of all of my wonderful volunteers.  I've been way too busy to blog, sorry!  More will follow in the coming days.

Prayer Needed for Teen Sailor

Emergency crews in the Indian Ocean are racing to reach a Southern California teenager in distress.  Abby Sunderland, a 16 year old sailor from Thousand Oaks, lost contact with her parents and activated her emergency beacon after being battered by 60 knot winds.  Her parents and friends are asking for prayer.

Photo of the Day - June 10, 2010

From unknown via 500px

Photo of the Day - June 9, 2010

From argg via Flickr

Tasty Photo of the Day

I so want sweet potato fries right now.  Recipe here

ANGRY BLOG POST!

 I am writing about something that I feel is plaguing the Christian community.  Or perhaps, it stands out because I know that I myself have struggled with it...  Pride.  Cynicism.  One uppers and knowitalls.  Sermon haters and text critics.  If they didn't think of it first, they will find something wrong with it.  Our modern world of user interaction and mini-publications such as Twitter and Facebook have us thinking that everything that we say is God's gospel truth simply because 3 people Liked it. It makes me so angry - I feel like praying an imprecation.  Praying for God to wake us up, to snap us out of this nasty habit that we have.

Photo of the Day - June 7, 2010

 

via we<3it

Photo of the Day - June 6, 2010

Copyright Patrick Slaven via Flickr

Praying for Golf Games

I was reading more of Francis Chan's book Forgotten God when I had an epiphany.  OK, epiphany is probably too strong - perhaps it was just a slight realization?  It was at a funny time too - when Chan was talking about the basics of the Holy Spirit.  I have this problem when I read a book that isn't written primarily to make me feel dumb scholarly of just glossing over the sections.  I think it's a defense mechanism that I have developed in order to be able to stay sane through reading all of my school stuff.  Anyways... Where was I?

Photo of the Day - June 5, 2010

Unknown

What I'm Listening to: Jack Johnson

Stressed?  Here's your remedy: Put on some shorts and flips flops, find a hammock, and put Jack Johnson En Concert on.  JJ has personally influenced my guitar playing style over the past decade and has helped me develop that calm cool persona you all know and love... anyways, he's a cool guy and he makes amazing music!  His debut album, Brushfire Fairytales is one of my top 10 albums of all time.  This is a live album with songs that stretch across his musical career with some surprises.  Full review will come soon.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat some Banana Pancakes and pretend like it's the weekend.

It's also on sale for $3.99 on Amazon MP3 downloads - a bargain!

Photo of the Day - June 4, 2010

Copyright PatrickSmithPhotography via Flickr

Picture of the Day - June 2, 2010

Copyright Patrick Slaven via Flickr

Lift Comes to a Close

Tonight was the last midweek Lift children's service of the school year.  It has been a phenomenal year!  I am the one who is blessed to serve these wonderful children of God.  Honestly, if you've never worked with kids before and you have a heart, you will enjoy children's ministry!  Anyways, we have a lot of stuff planned for the summer.  These kids are going to have a blast!

And now, I'm tired. I need a nap.

Photo of the Day - June 1, 2010

From Unknown via imgfave

My Soul Finds Rest in You Alone

Ah, summer!  To me, nothing quite defines the joy of not having school quite like Calvin and Hobbes. 

This past semester was so overwhelmingly difficult and busy that I feel guilty even taking today to do nothing.  I feel that I should be running around and scrambling to get homework done or staying up all night in order to finish a paper.  I actually had time time to read for fun today - which is a rarity for me!

That got me to thinking - how many times do we ask people how they are doing and the first thing they respond with is, "busy!?"  As a society, we are overworked, overstressed, overstimulated, and unbalanced... and I think that it's one of Satan's most insidious tactics.  Apparently, it's working, because usually the first thing to go in all of this hustle and bustle (I kind of feel like I'm 85 by using that phrase) is our devotion time, our prayer time, our Bible reading time, and our rest. 

God doesn't want us to be overworked.  Part of the fallout from Adam and Eve's indiscretion is that work is difficult - difficult but not overwhelming.  My solution?  Pull a Calvin & Hobbes - grab you Bible and go walk somewhere.  Whilst (I like that word) walking, try to empty your mind of the worries of the day.  Let them go.  If something pops into your head, just pray and ask God to take it for now.  Sit somewhere nice and give the time to Him.  Whip out that Bible and read Psalm 62.  Repeat daily, ad infinitum.  Oh goodness, I'm turning into my professors, using Latin in a blog post!

Photo of the Day - May 31, 2010

From the US Army via Flickr.

Happy Memorial Day!
God bless and thank you to all those who serve this country to keep us safe and free.

Walking Advertisements

This is somewhat of an ADD ramble, but then again, I have a lot of those.

One of the kids in service today asked me how they can know for sure that they are Christians. A great question, to be sure. I was pretty excited that the kids are thinking and wondering. I responded by telling the children that the Holy Spirit works in them and confirms in their hearts that they are... but then I began to think about something I read in Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God. I think this is a more important question to ask:

How do other people know we are Christian?

Do we stand out? Shouldn't we stand out? I taught the children about the 12 disciples today in service, and one thing always strikes me when I read of their stories: They were known to be Christians (Acts 4:13 - Chan p 19). One of the things that I always try to teach the children is that they should be and are walking advertisements for Jesus, that they shouldn't care about what others think and live all out for God. People knew that the disciples had hung out with Jesus just by how they acted. The term "Christian" even came from the believers in Antioch who acted so much like Jesus that people coined the term little Christians (Acts 11:26). What would people say about you? How would they label your life?

Welcome to my Blog!

I would like to welcome you personally - as much as that is possible through the intertubes - to my blog! I created it to be a place where you can read the random thoughts that run through my head and heart as I serve God through my ministries at Newbury Park First Christian Church. I am truly blessed to be serving there and can see God moving through the church family there. This blog is primarily for the families and people at NPFCC, but if you should find my musings interesting, read away!

-Patrick