A Little Bit of Humor

My sister introduced me to an absolutely hilarious blog called, "Stuff White People Like." Here are some of the entries I most enjoyed...

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/11/87-outdoor-performance-clothes/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/03/80-the-idea-of-soccer/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/03/48-whole-foods-and-grocery-co-ops/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/30/40-indie-music/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/30/39-apple-products/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/18/5-farmers-markets/

The first one is especially true of white people in Denver :-)

Prayer Requests (July 14-18)

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been away from the blog for a while. If you would like, here are some things to pray for this week:

- We have five teams out this week (instead of our usual four). This means that some of our younger, less experienced team members are having to step into leadership roles. Pray that God would give them all of the wisdom and strength they need for their new responsibilities. They are doing a great job so far!

- Here is a breakdown of where our teams are teaching this week: (1) Hannah's team is teaching kids' Bible clubs at homes in Thornton and Brighton. (2) Jessica's team is teaching at a several homes and one daycare in Thornton. (3) Kayla's team is teaching at a daycare in Arvada. (4) Sarah's team is teaching at two church programs and one Salvation Army day camp in inner city Denver. (5) Tessa's team is teaching at a daycare in Wheat Ridge and a home in Morrison.

- Pray for lots of team unity, so that we can minister effectively to the children.

- On a personal note, my grandfather passed away this weekend. Your prayers are appreciated. My dad is flying down to Arizona this week for the burial, then my whole family and I are flying down in August for the memorial service.

Thanks so much!!! I hope you are having a great summer loving God and loving people. Stay in touch!

Hickenlooper's "State of the City" Address

Mayor of Denver John Hickenlooper delivered his annual "State of the City" address yesterday in the atrium of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building. I decided to travel downtown and listen to him live and in person. I'm the guy in the photo above with his foot sticking out into the center aisle (it was cramped, okay?).

You can view a complete transcript of the speech here: http://www.movedigital.com/go/spinwizard/127057/2008_state_of_the_city.pdf

I am learning that in order to minister in the city—to love and serve the city, and introduce people to Jesus—you must know the city. Admittedly, in an address such as Hickenlooper’s the city is putting its best foot forward, but I still think listening in can be a helpful way to learn.

Hickenlooper spoke briefly (but emphatically) about public safety, explaining the measures that have been taken to make Denver a safe city. He then moved to talking about education, saying of several educational programs, "These programs represent the priceless currency of opportunity."

In recent weeks, I have been listening to some of Barack Obama's more important speeches from the campaign trail, and this seems to be a common thread. Education means opportunity. Education means a better city. Education means a better America.

But does it? What if an individual has a great education but poor moral values? Will we have a better city?

We need education infused with virtue. This, to me, is a more complete picture than education alone (though it is still not the whole picture).

Hickenlooper spent the greater portion of his address talking about how Denver is going green (and particularly how these efforts intersect with economic interests). "Sustainability has come to mean the strategies that promote economic development while also protecting our environment and improving our quality of life. Some would suggest that these goals are in conflict. In truth they are inseparable," he said.

A few highlights: RTD's FasTracks program is bringing 122 miles of new light rail/commuter rail to the area, as well as adding over 21,000 new parking spaces at existing transit Park-n-Rides. Denver's bicycle system is being expanded both in Denver proper and in its northern suburbs. With respect to sustainable green building and development practices, the city government is going to lead by example: any and all new municipal construction projects will be pursued according to green building standards (http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19). A forthcoming solar plant at DIA will generate 3.5 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity per year. Hickenlooper proudly reported: "Denver was recently selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 12 Solar Cities nationwide." Finally, Hickenlooper described how, currently, a commercial building can have a certified energy audit; then he asked: "Why couldn't a similar program be created for people's homes?"

When all was said and done, Hickenlooper did not introduce any new initiatives (and this is not a bad thing: there is plenty going on already, and the city should not bite off more than it can chew). I think he puts too much hope in education. Education alone will not give us a better city. We need our young people to receive a great education and be infused with virtue (which really means we need Jesus). I found his talk about going green to be encouraging, overall.

Christianity in China

Here is an interesting article from the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/religion/chi-jesus-1-1-webjun22,0,1980190.story

To Whom It May Concern...

Pictures from the first week of CYIA training are up on facebook.

Edit: pictures from the second week are now up too.

Leviticus - The Grain Offering

We are just two weeks into our study of the book of Leviticus at Regeneration (http://www.bvchurch.org/regeneration). I preached Sunday night on Leviticus 2, 6:14-23.

This is a text written for a worshipping community—the camp of Israel. It basically lays the groundwork for a grain offering where the worshipper and the worshipping community thank YHWH for (1) delivering them from Egypt, (2) entering into a covenant relationship with them, and (3) forgiving them of sin (in the burnt offering, which we studied last week). The worshipper and worshipping community demonstrate commitment to the covenant relationship. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, whether in sickness or in health, they are committed to YHWH (who is already committed to them).

It also lays the groundwork for the camp of Israel to be a place where each member of the camp was involved in meeting the needs of the other members. The priests mediated between the worshipping community and YHWH. They met the people's need for worship. The worshipping community, in turn, met the priests' need for daily bread. It is a beautiful picture.

Here are the notes I used: http://www.movedigital.com/go/spinwizard/126419/grain_offering_teaching_outline.pdf. They were thrown together rather hastily, but hopefully you can still get the idea.

And here are my PowerPoint slides, if you're into that sort of thing: http://www.movedigital.com/go/spinwizard/126420/lev_ch2_ch6vv14-23.pdf

That's all folks!

CYIA Training

Whew! We just completed our two weeks of summer ministry training. I operated on little sleep and lots of caffeine, but hey, it's only for two weeks out of the year and it is totally worth it! Pictured above is our group of kids who are teaching this summer, along with the four team leaders - Hannah, Jessica, Sarah, and myself (click on the picture for a larger image). They are so much fun to work with/hang out with and each have such a unique personality. What a great group!

For the first week, we joined the regional training camp up in Wyoming for classes, study time, and spiritual formation. The second week we returned to Denver and conducted training in our local office (near Santa Fe & Mississippi), with each team working hard to practice and flesh out the concepts we studied the first week.

Starting Monday (June 23), we are sending out four teams to teach kids' Bible clubs around the city. For the first week, my team is going to a daycare in the morning (in Arvada) and a trailer park in the afternoon (in Broomfield). If you would like, please pray that we would teach effectively and build meaningful relationships with the children.

(Note to self: I love my job.)