Love for Orphans Transforms- from Catalyst Monthly

July 15, 2010

I’m leaving in a few hours to go back to Casa Hogar Elim, an orphange in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico that I have been visiting for 14 years. I can’t wait to be there. I miss these children and look forward to every opportunity I have to spend time with them. I’ve often wondered myself why I’m so taken by this place and these kids. This morning I woke up to a monthly email from Catalyst and it contained the following article. The timing was perfect. I think Jedd Medefind says it better than I ever could so I included his article below. I hope you’ll take time to read it, and I pray that you have a transformational experience as well.

Shaun

Love for Orphans Transforms

Unwanted infants in ancient Rome were often disposed of via the practice of “exposing.”  Whether undesirable because it was malformed, female or simply inconvenient, the child would be left alone, outside the city walls, without defense before glaring sun, icy winds or roving animals. Read more

Daraja Children’s Choir of Africa

June 23, 2010

Wow! That pretty much sums up this past weekend for me. I’m still riding the wave of excitement. For those of you who were not able to attend Beachside this past Sunday we had 20+ kids from Kenya, Africa lead us in worship. The singing, dancing, costumes, and drums were awesome, but it was the smiles that did me in. Read more

Obligation

March 13, 2010

“Not too far from us, a few blocks away, there are kids without enough to eat and without parents who care. A little farther away, hours by plane, are people unable to reach their goals because they live in a community that just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support them. A bit farther away are people being brutally persecuted by their governments. And the world is filled with people who can’t go to high school, never mind college, and who certainly can’t spend their time focused on whether or not they get a good parking space at work.

And so the obligation: don’t settle. Read more

Measuring Success

February 19, 2010

I recently read a great blog titled “Consumerism vs. Community”. This might be a little off the subject, but I’d like to share the thoughts it brought up in my mind. Read more

Middle School Cheerleading and Church

September 11, 2009

This past week I found myself at another middle school football game. Cali is a cheerleader, and even though she has a broken leg, she’s pretty involved. She still cheers and dances, but she no longer “flies” during stunts. Since this was the first game of the season, we were all excited to see her. As a matter of fact, my mom, sister, and niece all came down to watch. This wasn’t easy for them since all middle school games are on Thursday nights, and my family lives 6 hours away. They had to take off work and/or skip school to come down. So, what does this have to do with church? Read more

1 + 1 + 1 = 3

June 6, 2009

I know what you’re thinking. No, it doesn’t take a math whiz to figure this out. 1+1+1=3 is simple arithmetic. Did I insult you by giving you this information? Hang with me for a minute, and if I didn’t insult you already, I’ll run the risk of doing so with my explanation for this illustration. Not on purpose, but it’s really pretty simple. Read more

What do young non-Christians really want from us?

May 17, 2009

This past week I listened to David Kinnaman answer this question. Kinnaman is the President of Barna Research, and he has spent the past 12 years researching this topic. So, what was his answer to the question, “What do young non-Christians really want from us?” Nothing. That’s right. Kinnaman stated a somewhat hard to swallow truth- young non-Christians don’t really want anything from us Christians. However, what he asked next was crucial: “What do young non-Christians need from us?” They need Jesus. So, how do we help them understand what they need but don’t want? If young non-Christians see Christians as mostly hypocritical and judgmental, then how can we have any influence on them at all? What does this mean for the Church and specifically for Beachside? Read more

Compassion Trip to Peru

March 3, 2009

This coming Monday I have the privilege of travelling with several other NP Partner lead pastors to Lima, Peru. We’re travelling with Compassion International to learn more about their efforts to provide for disadvantaged children around the world, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about this trip.

Compassion has ministry centers all over the globe, and they are most well known for their child sponsorship program. Tami, the girls, and I have been Read more

Sunday Service Launch Date

February 28, 2009

Most of you probably know by now that we have an official date for the start of our Sunday services: August 30th, 2009! You may think this sounds like it’s an eternity away, but for those of you who have been tracking with us since the beginning, it probably looks like the end is almost here. Finally, the completion of a lot of hard work and effort, a lot of sacrifice, and the fulfillment of a dream. Although I guess it wouldn’t be totally incorrect to say that this “interim” or “preparation” period will be coming to an end, I think it is much more appropriate to say that this whole thing is really just beginning. Read more