Sign of the Times?

Sorry to interrupt the "personal posts" on this blog, but this is a developing story that I really wanted to share with everyone. I'm hopeful that this will be resolved in a positive way, but it is certainly a sign of the times in which we live and the direction of our nation.

Here's a story out of San Diego, California...

Weigh in on this story. Share your thoughts.......

Ask About Pastor Steve

Wow! I almost wish I hadn’t asked for your questions about me. You all really want to know details of my life. Most are general enough. Those are easy. Some are fairly intimate details which I’d readily share in my CONNECT small group. Since an Internet Blog is a personal, private venue (that was a joke….), I’ll answer those also. One person (and you know who you are) asked a question that I will not answer… in this venue. He can make an appointment and I’ll gladly address that topic too.

Just tell us about you. Where did you grow up, go to school, etc.?

I grew up exactly where you found me last year, in Southern California. Most of my life was spent in Fountain Valley, a small city (53,000ish) just inland from Huntington Beach, Surf City USA. I spent almost all my free time at the beach, Lifeguard Tower 5 on City Beach (much better than the State Beach) just south of the pier. I ate way too many Taco Bell Encheritos (a cross between an enchilada and burrito) and occasionally a Jack-In-The-Box taco (the greasiest, cheapest fast food poison on the planet and one of Shawna’s favorites). I was not a board surfer; I was a bodysurfer. “Don’t ride a board. Be the board!!”

I started school at Fountain Valley Elementary, then moved on to a private school in Newport Beach, called Carden Hall. I went to Servite High School, an all-boys Catholic school (for the education only, since I was raised believing faith was a coping strategy for the weak). I attended UC Irvine and Eastern Oregon University before getting my BS in Organizational Leadership from Biola University. I received my Master of Divinity, concentration in Evangelism and Discipleship, from Talbot School of Theology. Way too much education and probably not done yet. I believe leaders are life-long learners and there’s lots more to grapple with!

Tell us about your family.

I’m desperately in love with my beautiful and wonderful wife, Shawna. She’s my very best friend and my companion in all that life presents. We have two lovely daughters, Courtney, 15, and Jessica, 13 on June 3. I won’t share more about them since teen-aged girls embarrass easily. I’ll just say that they are homeschooled and I’m very proud of both of them.
Back in California, I have a mom and dad, who have been divorced since I was in high school, and two younger brothers. My mom’s family is primarily in Colorado and of Italian (maybe even Armenian) descent while my dad’s family is mostly still in Germany. All of my grandparents are deceased. Sadly, we are not a close family.

Why would you leave California for Pennsylvania? Are you insane?

Hmmm. Two unrelated questions. Let me address the second, first. “Yes, slightly.” You see, I used to think that I had life all figured out. Then the Lord gave me a good shake and opened my eyes. Now, things that used to make sense to me seem like foolishness and foolish things, like leaving California for Pennsylvania are just crazy enough to be from the Lord. I guess I’ve spent a little too much time in Jonah to say “No” when God makes something very clear. Besides, California is a nice place to visit, but not the “ideal” place to live. Oh sure, you know you won’t suffocate because you can actually see the air, but, to experience breathing in its fullness, you need to spend a little time in Lancaster County, especially right after the farmers have sprayed liquefied pig feces on their fields, “to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.”

How is your family adjusting to life in Lancaster County?

Very well, all things considered. Sure, they miss In-N-Out Burger and Rubio’s (Baja fish tacos), but we found decent Mexican food in a couple places. Last week we drove to Lancaster for Taco Bell! (In California, Taco Bell was within walking distance of our home and it was our whoops-we-forgot-to-take-something-out-for-dinner contingency plan.) Certainly, we are working toward developing relationships here and one regret we have is the family (church and biological) whom we left on the west coast. But our first winter was mild. I guess none of us liked the amount of wind. The tornado was a new experience for us all, but the earthquake was just like “home.” We’re meeting some wonderful people and learning a tremendous amount about being Dutchy.

What one event shaped you for this current role as Pastor of Connections more than any other (apart from your salvation story)?

That is a story for my next blog entry. I’ll just say here that it involved the death of a friend…

Settling, Or Living?

So this weekend, I set up a Facebook account. I’m still not sure if that was the wisest move; we’ll say that the jury is still deliberating. It’s not that I don’t see the value, but I spent hours familiarizing myself with features. It was very cool to see how many people I knew. I studied the culture (Yes, the missionary in me was hard at work). How do people communicate? What do they communicate? Why are they doing what they’re doing and what does that tell me about them?

I found myself searching for people I know here in PA as well as those I know back in CA. I guess I tried to “make friends” with too many of them the first day because Facebook got really mean and threatened me! I assume I wasn’t supposed to make so many friends so quickly. Although it took a couple days, I built my friend list to over 70 people. But are they really friends?

I remember telling our daughter, Courtney, when she was small that a friend wasn’t merely someone you knew by name. We go through life with lots of acquaintances, but few true friends. Jesus called His disciples His friends and told them that friendship is characterized by self-sacrificial love (John 15:13). The Greek word, agape, is a love that seeks the good of others even over its own good. This is the kind of love that God has for us, the love that brought the Son of God to earth to suffer and die.

Among my 70+, are there any friends? Yes, there are a few. There are also potential friends (I try to see what people can become in addition to who they presently are). Mostly, Facebook will give me acquaintances. I can laugh and joke, maybe even cry, with acquaintances, but it will take more than tapping on a keyboard for potential to be realized, for us to become friends. And deep down inside, while acquaintances are nice (and safe), I was made for something more. I was made for friendship.

How many of us are going through life at the acquaintance level, settling for a cheap substitute for what God planned for us? Christ said that He came to give us an abundant life (John 10:10). Some of our CONNECT group leaders are telling me that group life is showing them how mediocre their “fellowship” has been for years, even decades. The ones who have begun to develop real Christian friendship tell me that they will never go back to “faking it” again.

So, are you settling? Are you playing it safe? Or are you seeking faithfully after the God “who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20)? Take a chance. Invest fully in a CONNECT group today and make yourself available for God to show you a different kind of fellowship.

Local Opportunity Involving Our Kids

Another facility that needs help is Clare House. Maybe you recall that name from our Stuff the Sunroom campaign in the fall of last year. According to their newsletter:

Clare House serves homeless women and children by providing a temporary home in a caring environment, life-skills programs, and aftercare support leading to self-sufficiency.

They have sent Grace Church a wish list, items which they need for their guests, certainly because they know of the generosity which was demonstrated toward them in the past. Here are their needs:


So, how can you help here? Well, there are lots of ways. Maybe you can pool your resources and go shopping (I just got the ladies’ attention!). Another solution is to ask a local market if they would allow you to solicit contributions from their customers. We did this with much success in California. With the permission of the supermarket, our groups would stand at the entrance with fliers describing the needs of the organization. People who were doing their routine grocery shopping would select a couple items from the list, buy them, and drop them off upon leaving the store. This is a great outreach to get the children in your group involved in – they love handing out the fliers and are thrilled to see the “fruit” of their labor when people fill baskets with supplies.

Do you have any other ideas about how our groups might meet these needs or ones like them? Let me know in the comments section so I can share them with other groups.

Faith Without Works

What should our groups be doing thru the summer? We talked about studies in the last post, but several of our groups have decided that they have received enough information for now and it’s time to start putting what they’ve learned into action. James tells us:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (Jas 2:14-19, 26).

What does this look like? Well, some groups are taking on service projects here at Grace Church. Others are helping other church members who are experiencing a difficult season of life. Still others are reaching out beyond the church to share the love of Christ. Let me tell you what the Buch group is doing.

Hi Steve,
Friendship Community is a ministry to those with disabilities. Their main office is near Landis Homes retirement community (near the Lancaster Airport). Our CONNECT group will be doing a short 20-30 minute program to the 6 residents in a group home run by Friendship Community here in Lititz (near the Warwick High School). These residents include 2 men and 4 women who are disabled, some visually and all mentally impaired.
We will be singing children's songs and Susanne Shuss wrote a short puppet skit talking about how God loves us and each are created by Him. I asked Susanne and Geri Sell to organize the program and they came up with some good simple material. We can let you know how it works out.
Thanks, Dan

I encourage you all to think about how you can live out everything that the church is called to do. If you would like more information on Friendship Community, go to http://www.friendshipcommunity.net/. If your group is doing creative things and you wish to share them with our online community, please take a couple minutes and comment on this post. If you have ideas and they seem too large for one group to manage, please shoot me an email and we’ll see if others share your passion and wish to partner with you.