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The little blue packet of obedience

This morning I was reading in 1 Samuel 15. An excerpt from verse 22 says, "...Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..."

It really got me thinking. This week I was talking to a friend of mine who is not a church-goer. He grew up in the Catholic church and has a Christian perspective on life, but he does not go to church. He was talking about how some guys he knows were adamant about abstaining from eating beef during lent while having no trouble chasing after women behind their wives' backs. I thought it was a profound observation. Why would they do this? Because they believe that sacrifice trumps obedience.

Sacrifice is a weak substitute (like equal for sugar) for a living, breathing, real relationship with the Creator of the universe. Even in the Old Testament, the LORD was revealing Himself, speaking to His children and asking for obedience and faith. They ignored him and offered him some token burnt offerings to try and make amends for their disobedience. This passage goes on to say that presumption is iniquity and idolatry. I think this is dangerous because I see a lot of presumption in the Church. We presume that God is pleased with a packed house at church. We presume that our songs are real worship. We presume that God is pleased that we decided to get out of bed and go. Maybe we even presume that because we fast or pray that God will have more grace on us. We presume that giving up beef will make up for cheating on our wife. It's sad that this system didn't work thousands of years ago, and it still doesn't work today.

God is not interested in sacrifices that make us feel better about ourselves. He's not interested in how many people we got to come to church. He's not interested in how well we pulled off a worship experience. I don't think he's using (I know I'm presuming now) the same scale to measure success. The next chapter says "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Romans 12 says that worship has nothing to do with an hour and a half on Sundays but the way we live our lives. James 1 says that religion that is valid is taking care of widows and orphans. There's a real danger the week after Easter to feel like we're advancing the Kingdom because our numbers were big. Consequently, do we feel like we're doing less advancing because they won't be back next week?

So, where are we? Are we sacrificing and offering things in an attempt to draw near to God? Or, are we drawing near, listening for the still small voice, and responding in obedience to the sovereign plan of an Almighty God and Creator who loved us enough to come to us. We should stop trying so hard to win his approval by what we're trying to "pull off" and realize that His approval is a gift given to us through His Son, and His sacrifice is what's important. I pray that God would reveal the things we're offering as substitutes for obedience and that we would walk by faith and not by sight - in obedience and not in self-centered sacrifices.

Dad's story...

It seems like it's probably time to give all the details of what's been going on with my dad. First of all, thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and kind words/messages from so many of you. There has been the biggest sense of this burden being shared among so many. Our family has been truly blessed by all of the love and compassion shown to us during the past three weeks.

While Holly and I were in the UK, we got an e-mail message from my mom that my sister and brother-in-law had found Dad passed out at his shop. The report I got was that he was dehydrated, disoriented, and had incredibly high blood sugar. I got that report Wednesday morning England time. So, we began to pray for Dad and went about our day thinking of him often. When we returned, a much more serious e-mail was waiting. He's had a 107.8 temperature all day, blood sugar of 2413, and is not expected to live. The story of us staying and finishing our trip and conference and how the Lord spoke to us and others is an amazing story, but I've chosen not to talk about all of that hear. For now, I'm just going to focus on the Dad's progress and not our own. He went from literally a ZERO percent chance of recovery to SEVENTY percent chance to full recovery. Here's what happened.

Dad had been sick with what he thought was the flu for two weeks. As it turns out, he had gall stones. The gall stones got so bad they shut down his pancreas. He developed severe pancreatitis. As a result his blood sugar skyrocketed to 2413 (his ICU nurse said the highest she had ever heard about was 1700). Needless to say, his body was shutting down - every major organ was being affected. His temperature reached 107.8 for most of a day while he was laying on an ice blanket. People generally don't recover from either of those things. However, an army of people were praying fervently for a miracle. Dad's pastor brought John 11:4 to the table which says, "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” It was prophetic. Any moment, things could've gone bad quickly, but instead every moment he pressed on. He began to improve slowly and steadily. The first week he was heavily sedated because of the pain of the gall stones and the need for his body to conserve energy in order to restore function to his organs. He was on a ventilator, feeding tube, and had a central line. Every day the news wasn't that he was making huge progress, but he wasn't getting worse - which ultimately meant he was improving. We returned home in the middle of the night Thursday the 2nd. Friday morning, I finally made it to the hospital, and dad was sitting up looking at me and asked me how my trip was. He went from the brink of death to this in just under two weeks. They pumped him full of fluids to keep him alive while sedated, but then the fluids were in the way of normal activity, movement, and breathing. They put him on dialysis to remove the fluid from his lungs because his kidneys were not doing their job yet. Every time they would do dialysis, they would take 5 liters of fluid from his body. The fluid was keeping him from breathing well - so he was still on a lot of oxygen. This week he continued the dialysis, and yesterday he called me himself to tell me he was out of the ICU and in a normal room. Shelley and I figured it would be at least another week. We were shocked. He said they're talking about discharging him completely on Saturday. His prognosis is incredibly good, but it will take 6 weeks or so to see if his kidneys will re-boot so to speak. Until then, he will have to be on dialysis. There appears to be no other damage.

It is so humbling to be such a close eyewitness to a miracle of this magnitude. It's been amazing to see the nurses and doctors give glory to God. Most everyone who came to see Dad in the hospital ended up praying with/over him. Everyone was on the same page - this sickness would not end in death.

For those still praying, please continue to pray for his kidneys. It will be complete healing if they kick in on their own.

That's the incredibly short version of the story. To God be the glory.

Woe to you who laugh...

In my preparation this week of Luke 6:20-26, I couldn't get past the verse that says, "Woe to you who laugh...". The issue I have is not with Christians enjoying life and living it to the full. The issue I have is Christians enjoying life and living it to the full while ignoring the condition of the poor around the world. It is wrong for us to spend our life and energy pursuing our happiness at the expense of those who live in oppression and poverty. If our prayer is truly for the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, then we can't pretend like the world is not a disaster. I compiled the following information about the condition of things around the world. I pray the Lord would lead us into the best opportunities to dance upon these injustices. This is not ok.

  • Tragically, nearly 27,000 children under age 5 die every day, mainly from preventable diseases and related causes.
  • More than 2 billion people lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy.
  • More than 1 billion (one in five) people live on less than U.S.$1 a day.
  • The annual world economy breaks down like this: Low Income, $825 or less: 37%, Lower Middle Income, $826 to $3,255: 38%, Upper Middle Income, $3,256 to $10,065: 9%, High Income, $10,066 or more: 16%
  • Approximately 143 million children in the developing world (one in 13) are orphans.
  • More than 10 million children under age 5 die each year. Two-thirds of these deaths — more than 6 million deaths every year — are preventable.
  • There are 1.5 million diarrheal-related deaths per year among children under 5.
  • An estimated 130 million of the world's 15- to 24- year-olds cannot read or write.
  • Roughly one-sixth of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, do not have access to safe water.
  • About 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, roughly two-fifths of the world's population.
  • Approximately 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5,000 deaths a day.
  • The average person in the developing world uses 2.6 gallons of water every day for drinking, washing and cooking. This is the same amount used in the average flush of a toilet.
  • Approximately 21.1 percent of children live in developing countries without safe water.
  • Each day, 1,500 children worldwide become infected with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns.
  • Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS.
  • One person in seven goes to bed hungry every day.
  • Every day, nearly 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That amounts to one child every 5 seconds.
  • About 5.6 million or 53 percent of child deaths worldwide are related to under-nutrition.
  • Approximately 146 million or 27 percent of children under age 5 in developing countries are underweight.
  • More than 6 million children die from malnutrition each year.
  • Worldwide, 161 million preschool children suffer chronic malnutrition.
  • Already 40 percent to 50 percent of the world's populations are undernourished and there are 50 million starvation-related deaths each year.
  • Diarrhea kills an estimated 1.6 million children each year, caused mainly by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
  • About 40 percent of the world's 400 million school-age children are infested with intestinal worms due to the lack of sanitation.
  • More than 2 billion people globally lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy.
  • 2.2 billion lived in countries ruled by dictators or totalitarian regimes.
  • Children living in areas of extreme economic hardship and social disruption are at increased risk for abuse, violence and exploitation.
  • An estimated 1.2 million children — both boys and girls — are trafficked each year into exploitative work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.
  • Approximately 5.1 billion people live in the developing world. The developed world, which consists of about 57 countries with a combined population of about 1 billion, is less than one-sixth of the world's population.
  • 55 percent of all births in the developing world (excluding China) go unregistered, meaning more than 50 million children begin life with no identity.
  • Worldwide, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions.
  • Every year more than 1 million children get pulled into the sex trade.
  • An estimated 8.4 million children work under horrific circumstances: forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, prostitution, pornography, armed conflict or other illicit activities.

When Enough is Enough


I was reading in Exodus this week and stumbled on to something extraordinary. In chapter 36, verse 5, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”

For the first time I can remember, I'm hearing pastors talking about the reality of the economic hard times. I've heard about churches who are putting expansion plans on hold, cutting spending on ministries, and even letting staff go. Our church is experiencing tremendous growth, but our offerings have not increased significantly. Every day we try our best to do more with less, empower more volunteers, work more efficiently, and to be faithful with what we've been given. The reality is that we have a lot of people looking for work, and our church is half college students. It is exciting to see God at work in our fellowship and lives being changed, but it becomes more challenging to minister to so many more people without additional resources. I haven't heard about any provisions for young churches in poor college towns in all the talks about the new stimulus plan.

All of that is why this verse jumped out at me. Could you imagine having to cut people off because they were giving too much? I've never heard of that in any church (though I do know of one in Dallas that only takes an offering every six weeks because, and I quote, "money's the easiest thing to find around here."). I've heard of churches doing series on giving when budget's not being met. I've heard stories of pastor's pleading for more money in order to not close the doors. At a conference a couple of weeks ago I heard about churches borrowing money to keep the bills paid. All of those scenarios make me sad. Is this story from Exodus unrealistic? How far are we from that happening.

I think even in a bad economy, this could be a reality. Over and over again in this part of Exodus, the people gave because their hearts were stirred to give. They weren't giving out of obligation, they were giving out of guilt, they were giving because their hearts were stirred, and they were delighted to be a part of what God was building. We also see that they gave as they were able. People who had money gave money. People that could sew offered sewing. Construction dudes built stuff. Artists and decorators gave their services to God. In beautiful detail, we have descriptions of the fruit of their labor. We contrast this with feeling obligated to give our 10% so that we will be "blessed" or "obedient." These offerings in this passage were not their tithe. What we fail to see in our time is that tithing is not some major sacrifice for the Kingdom of God. Tithing is the minimum. Tithing is "housekeeping" according to my friend Norman. When we see the generosity of our forefathers in Exodus, we should be challenged to not be content with tithing, but we should search our hearts to see what else we can give. Some can give a lot of money, others can give what they do, others can give time. We were created to glorify and worship God, and that opportunity includes how we give and volunteer.

I'm now praying that a day will come in our church where we can say, "that's enough." We really don't need any more money. Or, what if we were able to take most of our offerings and give them away because it was too much for us? That's the Kingdom. I pray that we would listen to our hearts and respond in generosity, respond in giving. I believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I believe that He still stirs our hearts today as He did then. I believe that even when it seems like we should be storing away for the tough times ahead that we would invest in the Kingdom with our money, talents, and time. I believe we could see it... "Thank you for your offerings, but we've got enough." How awesome would that be?

Hurdles

For our nearly 4 1/2 years at River Stone, our insurance situation has been unstable at best. We started a church with no financial backing and were willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to do what God has called us to do. Insurance has been something we've sacrificed off and on just to make ends meet. These days, things are better, and the church is in a position to help out with that expense, So, I began insurance shopping. I filled out the online application and waited to hear from them. They called to ask about Jacob's allergies. I explained the situation, and they acted like it was no big deal. He takes Claritin from time to time so he won't sneeze. No big deal. A few more days, and we still haven't heard anything. So, today I called to see what the deal was... I found out that Jacob was approved with a 20% increase in the premium because he's allergic to stuff, but Holly and I were denied. I inquired as to why, and I'm still beside myself ... "You're expecting a baby." "Because you're adopting, we treat that as if you were pregnant, and we don't cover maternity, and we're required to add your new baby within 30 days, and we're not willing to take that risk. " Really?!?! I argued and complained, but couldn't get her to stray from the script.

Adoption is this crazy thing. We've begun to walk through these steps - making sure our house is in order, preparing for a home study, networking and trying to find out which means you want to use to connect with your baby, praying that God would bring you the right baby at the right time in the right way according to His will, and dealing with the fact that this could cost you in the $10,000-$20,000 range. Then you wonder about the birth mom and the health of the baby. You wonder what race, what gender, what personality, how will Jake do as a big brother? Every day walking, praying, waiting, and thinking about all of the hurdles you have to jump over to come to the place of bringing a baby home. It was a hurdle to move Jacob's room so that we can start to get a nursery ready. It's a hurdle to brainstorm fundraising ideas. It's a hurdle to put your life on hold because it's better to prepare for a new baby. There are so many hurdles. I never in my wildest of dreams would've guessed that adopting would cost us our opportunity to get health insurance. I know the insurance world is very broken, but are you kidding me?

The Lord is faithful, and He always comes through for us, but I am so irritated about having to jump over a hurdle I thought we were already over. But, since when do things happen like I expect them to happen anyway? None the less, I'm angry and trying to understand a world that punishes you for wanting to bring home a baby that needs a home. For the love!

Bigger and Better

 
This morning I was preaching on Joshua chapter one where Joshua takes over after the death of Moses.  I talked about how God's plan and promise is bigger than any one person.  The vision of every church should be bigger than any one leader can accomplish.  We should be leading our churches with future generations in mind.  If our churches don't outlast us, then we're doing something terribly wrong.  
A couple of years ago, Norman took Holly and I to the Chichester Catherdral in the UK.  On the wall was this plaque with all of the Bishops/Pastors.  The one at the very top lists S. Wilfrid as the Bishop of this church in the year AD 680.  The most astounding thing is that the ministries of this church are alive and well today.  1500 years of ministry. 1500 years of the Gospel being preached in one place.  
I like to keep our 4 years of River Stone in perspective.  It's been a great ride, but we've got a long way to go.  God's plan is bigger and better than what we could ever plan for ourselves.

Opportunity Missed

Pizza on my birthday is a tradition that started with visitng my Grandparents most Christmases in Minnesota.  White Christmases with my Grandpa Norman reading the Christmas story are occasions I will cherish forever and never forget.  My birthday is the day after Christmas, and my family would always take me out for pizza at Angeno's.  It was always very special for me having the same cast of characters who came together the day before come together again to celebrate with me. This year, I thought I didn't care very much about celebrating my birthday.  We had Holly's extended family's Christmas time on the night of my birthday - which was great.  So, we went and had wings for lunch (always a great birthday option).  When some of my Minnesota family members left me facebook birthday messages, they mentioned pizza.  I began to regret the fact that I chose wings over pizza.  So, last night we made up for it.  We went to Mangia's in Austin for my birthday pizza.  It was truly a pizza pie, and it was delicious.  Holly and her mom ordered a pizza to share that they messed up.  The waitress told them to eat on the messed up one if they wanted and that she would bring the right one at no charge.  So, they did, and we ended up with a whole pizza to go.  I put the pizza in the back as we drove down to Mozart's for dessert and then on to Westgate for a movie. 

I don't know about you, but I always struggle with how to react to someone who approaches me asking for money when I'm getting out of my car.  I wrestle with my call to take care of the poor, to help the helpless, to demonstrate the love of Jesus.  Am I enabling?  Am I really helping?  What's the best scenario for this person at this time?  If I have change in my pocket or some cash, I will typically give something.  Many times it will be a fluke that I even had anything to give, and I count it as a sovereign moment.  Other times, I don't have anything to give and respectfully decline.  Last night,  as I was getting Jacob out of the car, we were approached by a homeless lady asking for help with food.  Immediately I became a victim of my own thought processes... do I, don't I...errrr...  I had no cash, no change, and I even pre-paid for my movie tickets online.  I didn't think I could help this lady, so I apologetically declined. 

This morning, I brought a couple of boxes of books to the office that had been in the car for most of the week.  When I opened the back, I found the to go box with a whole pizza in it.  My heart sank.  I still feel horrible.  She asked for food, and I had a whole pizza in the car from one of the best places we've ever been to.  It didn't even cross my mind.  So, I use this today as a sort of public confession.  Out of my abudance, I had the opportunity to feed the hungry, and I dropped the ball.  Thank God my ommission is met by His tender grace, but I hate that I missed an opportunity to bring the Kingdom. 

Concerned About Division

 
As I was voting last week, behind me a fight broke out.  It wasn't a physical fight, but it was a definite verbal fight.  The volunteers were being nazi-like in their enforcement of the no cell phone or electronic device rule.  They said there were signs posted, but there were none.  I only know this because I too was a victim of a volunteer with 10 minutes of power rebuking me for disregarding the sign that didn't exist.  I was somehow able to not give him the tongue-lashing I had come up with in my heart.  The guy behind me wasn't able to show this type of restraint, and a pretty impressive argument ensued.  I'm not really into politics, and these thoughts are not political suggestions or proclamations.  They are just some of my attempts to resolve my own political tensions. 
I walked away completely frustrated with my voting experience, and I've been able to work through some thoughts since then.  First of all, the past 20 months of campaigning have forced most of our nation into a corner.  It's created a huge us vs. them mentality.  Parties have divided people.  More than that, it's caused people to decide that they're better than other people based on who they feel should be elected.  Tensions are high as a divided people anticipate the arrival of the new "Savior" to occupy the oval office.   I worry about the post-election fallout.  What happens when someone loses?  Will the people who so violently oppose a certain candidate really be able to line up under their authority should they win?  I know this happens to a degree after every election, but it seems this time it's going to be worse this time around.  
A nation divided against itself will not stand.  As different camps have magnified what all the disagreements are, I wonder if we'll be able to recover and unite with what we have in common.  I wonder if people will be able to come out of their corners and embrace whoever the "losers" are in this election.  I realize that the "under God" part is already a problem with those who oppose a belief in God.  Are we now on the verge of losing the "one nation" bit as well?
I was just trying to do my part to be a responsible citizen and vote my conscious and convictions, but I walked away not feeling like I had done anything to make my country a better place.  I left concerned about the tension that exists in our land.  If our hope is really in either one of these two men running for office, God help us.

Grandma Freda's Eulogy

EULOGY
Freda Ruth Peters (January 13, 1927 - September 15, 2008)
September 17, 2008 - Wichita, Kansas
by Jason Bollinger (Grandson)


I’m going to do my best to Eulogize Grandma Freda, but I don’t eulogize very often, and there’s a good chance that this will become sermon number one with sermon number two coming from J.C. in a little while.

The word Eulogy comes from the Greek word “Eulogia” which means simply to praise. While it is appropriate to come together to honor our grandmother and to praise her in one sense, it is more appropriate to give praise to God for Freda Ruth Peters. There are things in her life to be praised, and there are things in her life that cause us to praise God. We’ll start with her.

Grandma Freda endured a lot. She endured the loss of a husband prematurely to cancer. She endured being a single mom to three young daughters. She endured a fire in her home. She endured living alone for the better part of 50 years. She endured many other losses in her life. We praise her for her ability to endure.

Freda was ambitious. Her ambition often got the best of her as she was ambitious for more than what she could accomplish on her own. This caused her much grief in her life, but it is something that we all can learn from. We should be ambitious for more than what we can accomplish on our own.

She wanted the best for each us. Though that best was often at odds with the best we wanted for our life. She loved each of us and wanted us to be happy.

Grandma was creatively giving. She would give constantly. When she had money to give, she would give it. When she didn’t have money to give, she would give it. She would give to her own detriment, but her generous heart is worthy to be praised.

There are some other things in her life which I feel give us an opportunity to praise God for.

First of all, Grandma was passionate about generations. In recent years we remember Christmas cards with “Four Generations” plastered across it. There was nothing more exciting to her than being the matriarch of four generations. We praise God for this because He is a God of the generations. His will and plans are not limited to one generation, but they are formed with future generations in mind. Think of all the ministries and all the good that the generations linked to Freda Peters are a part of. We are here because of her, by marriage or by birth, we exist because of her. If it were not for her, none of us would be here, and because of her we are able to celebrate what God is doing through the generations of this family.

I praise God for the legacy that is growing from Grandma Freda. As we have just observed a changing of the guard in the matriarch position of our family, we appreciate a strong, Godly covering. We see in Susie, Grandma’s leadership, we see in Christy, Grandma’s honesty, and we see in Terie, Grandma’s prophetic-ness. We see a legacy that reflects that character of God. It excites me to know that the great grandkids, Jacob, Anna, Evie, and Ike, won’t have to struggle through some of the hard times with Grandma, they will just appreciate the family they are apart of and will recognize her as the one who God used to bring it to be. Recently Jacob asked for a new puppy. We looked at some online, and our conclusion was that we didn’t have enough money for that right now. A few days later, Jacob said, “Daddy, when we get rich, can we get a new puppy?” I asked him his plan for how we were going to get rich. His reply was, “You can get a job.” I did my best to explain to my son that I have a job, but he wasn’t buying it. Because our church meets in one place and my office is at another place, he doesn’t think that I work at the church. He knows that computers are a source of video gaming, and he’s seen me at my office “working” on my computer, and his conclusion is that I just play games. Since the kids are dismissed before I preach on Sunday, my son figured it out... I just need to get a job. After I pleaded my case and gave evidences of my employment, I asked again what his plan for getting rich was. He replied, “ Grandma Freda can give us the money.” Jacob’s experience with Grandma revolved much around envelopes with cash in it, boxes with some of his favorite things, and a trip to Walmart resulting in a new toy. Grandma Freda had provided him with monetary things he really enjoyed. Tonight, I celebrate the idea that already, the fourth generation remembers her for something we never will - money. Her legacy will be strong.

We also need to praise God for the tension that we have in our relationship with Grandma. Over the years we have suffered many misunderstandings due to this person we are honoring tonight. Many comments were made at our expense that were hurtful or confusing - at the very least misunderstood. Tension was often the result of a conversation gone bad. However, before we write the tension off as a bad thing, I just want to say that Jesus was a character who was surrounded by tension and misunderstanding. He said things like, “He who wants to find his life will lose it” “The first shall be last,” “Love those who persecute you,” etc. Grandma Freda loved those who persecuted her and often persecuted those who loved her, but this tension is not something that we should rush to resolve because this tension is something that helps us draw near to God. Donald Miller said, “I never liked Jazz music because it didn’t resolve.” We don’t need to rush to resolution when it comes to saying goodbye to Grandma, because the tension that we’ve experienced makes us appreciate her even more. More importantly, it can remind us the tension surrounding the Son of God whom we follow. We need to praise God for the tension, the misunderstandings, and the lack of resolution.

We can also praise the Lord for His sovereignty. Scripture teaches us to take both good and bad as being from the hand of the Lord, and we’ve all experienced both in our relationship with Grandma Freda. She experienced both throughout her entire life. What we need to remember is that God, in His sovereignty, brought Freda Ruth Peters into existence, as a part of His plan for each of us (and the future generations) to be a part of bringing Him glory forever and ever.

I would now like to read Psalm 145:

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your [2] mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.] [3]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

In closing, and in the spirit of praise, I would like to say something that Grandma didn’t get to say, and that is Thank You. Thank you to each of you in Wichita who sacrificed so much to take Grandma in. She wasn’t happy about not being on her own, and I’m not sure she ever made the transition, but it was the right thing to do. You guys took her in, showed tremendous love to her in very trying times. You’ve modeled something that we will hold in high esteem forever. You’ve honored her in a way that is truly reflective of the grace and mercy of our Savior. I praise God for you and for the love you showed her, and for the inspiration you’ve provided for our family. Thank you.

Prayer of Praise...

They're Back...

All of the sudden my in-town commutes have doubled in length of time, it takes twice as long to go to HEB, and the population of our town has doubled in size. While many people in our town complain and are annoyed by the presence of the Texas State Students, I'm happy to be inconvenienced.

There is an energy and excitement to this place that the summer lacks. Last night we were on campus at a shin-dig that invites campus organizations to set-up a table. We met a lot of people, and it was fun to have new faces around. Our church attendance increased by 25-30%, and there were a lot of new faces there as well. I'm so grateful to be in a place where the ebb and flow and college life have such a big influence on our ministry. We're excited about this semester, and we'll be allotting more time for our in-town activities until Christmas.

River Stone Movers Rock

In recent months, I've found myself more and more proud of being the pastor of River Stone Community Church. Time and time again, the people of River Stone step up to reach out to either help one of our own or someone in the community in need. Last night, we functioned as a moving company.

A single mom in our church accepted a new job that provides housing. So, she told Brian of her plans to hire movers to move her and her kids into their new place. He asked if I thought there was something we could to help. I committed our assistance, but at that point I had no idea who would help. I sent out an e-mail asking for help from our Overflow Group. After receiving some commitments, we found out that the day I had arranged was not feasible because the new place would not be ready. So, at the last minute, I changed the date. Quite a few of the key people I originally had in mind weren't able to make it. About 10 of us showed up to help. Our caravan consisted of 3 pickups, 2 trailers, and 3 SUV's. With the assistance of the family of 3, we moved all of their stuff out of the old house and into the new house in a little over 3 hours, and that includes 30 minutes of eating pizza. Big stuff, small stuff, boxes, odds and ends masterfully loaded (with nearly no wasted space) and transported. I am so impressed and so proud. The single mom kept asked what she should be doing, and I kept telling her to get out of the way. She didn't know what to do. I inwardly boasted about the Kingdom of God being put on display right before my eyes.

Also, when she told her realtor what was happening, she decided to make an appearance to see first hand what was going. She couldn't believe all the help this family was getting, and the single mom said she had never moved so quickly.

I know this seems like a little thing, but it really made me appreciate the heart of our church and the people God has blessed us with. I was so blessed to be able to help. I've never had so much fun moving, and I think it must have been working for the good of the Kingdom with people that I really enjoy being around.

I hope that we continue to have opportunities to consider other better than ourselves and to demonstrate the love of God to those around us. Thanks for reading. God Bless You!

California Day 2





Day 2, June 26, 2008 - Napa Valley

We got a good night’s sleep, not a long night’s sleep, but we slept well in our “green” bed that’s actually a very sterile white. We took our time getting ready and realized that the most important stop of this day would be Starbucks. We grabbed our lattes and were off to the Napa Valley. It only took us about 20 minutes to get into the heart of wine country. It was truly amazing how many vineyards there are. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones, simple ones. There are hundreds of them.

We started off in St. Helena at V. Sattui. This was also our favorite of the day. The main building of the winery was breathtaking. It was a four story building that we could have stared at all day. We had a picnic lunch in front of it after walking around and seeing everything we could see. They had an authentic Italian meat and cheese market which looked like something out of a movie. We shared an amazing, and I mean amazing Black Forest Ham Sandwich with smoked cheddar and chutney. We added a side of pesto pasta, and of course, a bunch of locally grown V. Sattui green grapes. It was all very good. The grapes really did taste different here. After that, we headed north on Highway 29 and came immediately to Sutter Home.

We weren’t expecting much at Sutter Home. The outside wasn’t near as elaborate as V. Sattui, but they had a nice house that was also an inn, but the cool stuff was reserved for inn guests only. We went through the gift shop and found the cutest little bottles of wine that we snatched up for some of our friends. We then came to the wine tasting counter, and we discovered that Sutter Home gives you samples for free. So we tasted about 8 different kinds of wine. A taste is really just a taste, not by any means a glass, and they hooked us up. They were supposed to give us a choice of 4 different kinds, but they kept asking if we would like to try all these different kinds. We learned that a reserve wine is made specifically from grapes on sight, and it is different from the wine that they ship out to the rest of the country. The reserve white zinfandel was our favorite, but we really enjoyed all of them. We browsed around the store, and headed further north. We didn’t spend as much time at any of the other places as we spent at these two.

Up the road, we went to the Behringer winery, and the Culinary Institute of America (which was a very impressive place). Holly wanted to check out some of the places that “A Walk in the Clouds” was filmed, and we found Charles Krug and Duckhorn wineries. Charles Krug was under construction, but Duckhorn was the first winery where we actually got close to grapes. We are officially enthralled with vineyards. After going to these places, we went on a hunt for the house seen in the new Parent Trap movie. Holly remembered that it was in Rutherford. So, we typed Rutherford into Gigi and she took us to what turned out to be one of the coolest stops of the day - the Rutherford Hill winery. This winery was off the beaten path, and the view was incredible. You could see the whole valley from this place. After walking around a bit, we ventured into the store and asked the gentlemen behind the counter about the house we were looking for. As it turns out, one of the guys lived on the same street as the house we were looking for. Needless to say, our directions were quite good, and we drove right up to this house which was very fun. This was Holly’s highlight today. It was a very beautiful house.

We made our way into downtown Napa around dinner time to find a place to eat. We made an attempt to eat at Copia, which is where Julia Child’s restaurant is, but we thought it a bit pricey. So, we went down the road and found a very cool street festival going on. We walked through and found a cool little Italian place called Piccolino’s. We ate Italian, and sat by the windows and watched the locals. After dinner we stopped by some of the booths and sampled peaches, dips, peanut brittle, and Greek yogurt. We purchased some kettle corn, chocolate covered strawberries, and cabernet flavored fudge. Delicious.

We came home, webcammed with Jacob and Carol for a bit, uploaded our 259 pictures, yes 259 (we did delete a couple, but not many) from the day to the computer, and dropped in the hot tub before retiring to the room - which is where we currently find ourselves. All in all a very productive, relaxing, and fun day.

We spent all day looking at grapes, and on tap for tomorrow.. more grapes. We’ve got another full day of grapes planned, but we’ll wait until tomorrow’s blog to tell you about that.

California Day 1



Day 1, June 25, 2008 - Austin/Oakland/San Francisco

After taking up the better part of three days of taking Jacob to Burleson, doing laundry, packing, and crossing things off of our work lists, we were ready to go. Our personal sky hop (Lance) picked us up just before 5pm and took us to Austin to catch our flight. We were amazed at how few people were at the airport. We breezed through checking our baggage and security. Upon checking the monitor, we found our flight to be delayed about a half hour. It actually ended up being more like 45 minutes. So, we got some tea (I had iced and Holly had chai) and some pumpkin bread and awaited our departure.

The flight was fine, but at one point, we looked at each other and said the same thing, “Do you feel like there’s a lot going on in this plane.” It seemed like we were the only ones not moving about the cabin. We read, I snoozed a bit, and we landed in Oakland about 9:45 after circling around the bay area for an added 15 minutes (probably because our plane was late). After waiting what seemed like an eternity for our baggage, we snatched it up, got on a Rental Car Shuttle, and bussed 5-10 minutes away, picked up our luxurious, light blue Kia Spectra, and were off to the hotel, which according to GPS was only about 40 minutes away.

So, we drove from Oakland (which one of the first things we passed was the A’s stadium - very cool) Northbound. We saw what we thought was the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, but was actually the San Francisco Bay Bridge. It was huge, and thanks to not understanding what Gigi (my cell phone GPS) was telling me, I ended up on the road that took us to the bridge. It was a $4 toll to go across, but we were stuck. It was beautiful, and we ventured just a bit into San Fran before we turned around and got to drive back over the bridge, but on the bottom of it this time. We got some cool pics, and I’m lucky to still have my sight after all the flash bulbs Holly instigated. Anyway, we were back on track after that, and it was only about 45 minutes to our hotel which is at the “Gateway” of Napa.

We checked in right at midnight. Our hotel is new and boasts in being a “Green Hotel”. They have monitors displaying their energy consumption at all times. It’s pretty cool. There was a bit of confusion when we checked in because we paid for a King room with a “Lagoon View”, but we didn’t get one, and they didn’t have any available. So, we’re stuck with a plain King room - which is still quite nice and big, but not what we expected - which seems to happen to us on every trip we take. Oh, well. It was disappointing, but not the end of the world. Apparently, elevators are not green because there’s not one that we can find. After lugging our stuff up the stairs we arrived at room 245 (The Nighthawk Room), and to our surprise, Lance and Christina had ordered a bottle of Sparkling Wine for our anniversary. It was sitting on or table, chilling in a bucket of ice with two wine glasses and a card that read “Happy Anniversary from the Yarbough Family”. It was a great surprise! We dropped our stuff and went to Walmart (which is like 30 seconds away) to grab a couple of things we needed and some sandwiches b/c we were starving. After scouting out some of the vineyards Holly wants to go to, we got to bed around 2 local time which felt like 4am because of the time change. But I must admit, the king-size “green” bed and comfy pillows were mighty inviting after a long journey to Cali.

National Doughnut Day


In case you didn't know, a couple of Fridays ago was National Doughnut (or Donut) day. One of the highlights in my life of the past couple of years is regular donut dates with my boy, Jacob. If it were up to him, we would go every day. On my days off, or a lot of Saturdays, we try to let Mommy sleep in and we head to Shipley's for donut goodness. Jacob rotates between cherry, strawberry, and chocolate (all with sprinkles). My staple is the jalapeno sausage and cheese kolache. Jacob always likes to sit on the barstools (unavailable on Doughnut Day due to high traffic). On the barstools, we sit, spin, talk about life, look at the pictures in the newspaper, talk about what new movies he wants to see and usually run into someone we know. On this particular day, we wondered why there was a line to the door. It was the first Friday of summer for San Marcos students, and we thought it might be that was cause for doughnut celebration. So, I consulted the Blackberry browser and discovered we were a part of a worldwide event. In many places, the doughnut places were giving money to charity on doughnut day, but not ours - anyway - I digress...

The point, my friends is this... I could care less about doughnut day or most other holidays for that matter (especially those created by Hallmark and other marketing geniuses who make me feel guilty for not giving cards on random days throughout the year), but Jacob doesn't miss an opportunity to celebrate. When we found out, I think his reaction went something like this, "TODAY IS DOUGHNUT DAY?!?!? DADDY, THAT'S AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S DOUGHNUT DAY! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL MOMMY WHEN WE GET HOME! I WISH EVERY DAY WAS DOUGHNUT DAY!" It's the same excitement I see when I come home. The same excitement about going to a movie, going to a friends house to play Wii, meeting new people, getting to go outside to play with Aaron, Ashley, and Bianca. Do you know that when we pull into our driveway, Jacob's neck is turned 180 degrees looking to see if the neighbors' garage doors are open (which means his friends are outside)? I know I'm going to have to change the name of my blog to what I learn about my faith through my son, but that kid loves life. He loves people. He loves to be with people he loves. He knows how to make people feel special. He doesn't see skin color (except when he referred to Cooper as a blackneck when I made a redneck joke in reference to Cooper's Nascar shade in Yarbough truck), doesn't care about age, doesn't care about differences, he just knows how to celebrate what God's put in his world. Whether it's doughnuts, Kung Fu Panda, Grandparents, friends across the street or at church, someone coming over, etc. I have a lot to learn about excitement, joy, and love from him.

Isn't it supposed to be me teaching him?

Moving On


Last week Brian and I had the distinct honor of clearing out the storage facility we've had for the past year and a half. When we moved from our first location in the shopping center to the square, we had a lot of junk to store. In our best efforts to cut costs, we decided to get rid of the storage and get rid of some stuff, sell some stuff, and put the rest in places that don't cost money. While we were in the zone of cleaning stuff out, we decided that it was time to take down the River Stone sign that had flown high in the Crestwood Shopping Center for the past three years. This task has been on our list for the past year and a half. We kind of liked people just thinking that we were a multi-site church. In the first two pictures you can see Brian and John hanging the sign. I remember being so proud of that sign and letting the world know where we were. It was a strange feeling cutting it down and watching it descend to the ground.

The day ended up being a rather spiritual experience. We laid our eyes on things we didn't remember we had. Certain things reminded us of certain people who are no longer here, and that was sad. We remembered, reminisced, and re-evaluated whether or not we needed some of this stuff. It didn't take long to see how different our church is now. We have no use for most of the stuff we packed away a year and a half ago. We also had no use for a sign flying above a place we no longer meet in. It was a day to remember where we've come from, but more importantly it was a day to celebrate where we are and where we're going. There was a feeling of liberation - everything we were holding on to is now gone. Our chains are gone. We are free from the things that were holding us back, and we're focused on what's ahead and what we need in order to get where we're going. It was clear that the time to move on is now. While we never want to forget where we've come from, we also don't want to cling to the junk in storage or the sign keeping us focused on a season passed.

A new day has dawned, the old is gone and the new has come. I hope that we continue to clean out the closets of everything keeping us from moving on after the Holy Spirit and His plan for our church.

Before you came home...


For the past couple of months I've been walking 4-5 mornings a week. I walk for 35-40 minutes, and I've used the time to get caught up on various sermons that I can never seem to find time to listen to during the day. As Holly and I have turned a corner of healthier living (now that we're both post 30), this has become a very enjoyable part of most of my days. Jacob is usually still asleep when I leave, and only a few times has he been awake when I walk in the door. A couple of other times he's been sitting on the porch with Shelby (the dog) waiting for me to get back.

Today, I was about halfway through my route deep into my sermon of choice when I noticed a little kid that looked a lot like my son walking toward me. Not only did it look like him, it was him. Three blocks away from our house (including a couple of turns), Jacob was walking down the sidewalk in his Old Navy Pajama pants - no shoes, no shirt, three blocks from home. I was shocked, stunned, furious, confused, relieved, and curious. I asked Jacob what he was doing. He said, "I just wanted to find you." I asked him how he knew where I was, and he proceeded to tell me my route (which he apparently memorized the one time he went with me on his scooter). I went on to say all of the fatherly things about how dangerous it was that he walked that far by himself, how he needed shoes and a shirt if he was going to walk that far, blah, blah, blah... Then I asked him why he didn't just wait for me to get home. I reminded him and reassured him that Daddy always comes home. He listened, thought about it, and replied, "I just wanted to see you before you came home."

I've notice a lot lately that I'm learning a lot from my son. I'm enjoying this stage more than any others as he's dialogging so honestly and thoroughly about life, God, friends, baseball, basketball, Mom & Dad, and so much more. As I was carrying him home this morning, I thought about how so many Christians live their physical lives content to wait for the day when their Father comes home. What if we went hard after our Father because we can't wait for Him to come home. We want Him now. We want to follow him now and be with him now. What if we had that type of urgency to go where God the Father is - where He's walking and moving. Jacob was so confident that he knew where I was. He had no doubt we would be where I was. He was so caught up in the moment of finding me that he didn't make any plans, didn't put on shoes or a shirt, he just went for it. It's not small thing that scripture teaches us to have the faith of a child. What if we didn't sit around waiting for Jesus to come back and went out where we know He's walking and join Him, walk with Him, let Him carry us home, all the while just being excited that we are with Him and becoming like Him.

It was a beautiful thing, it really was.

Something to Say...


Last Thursday, Brian and I were blessed by a friend of ours with tickets to go and sit under the teaching of John Eldredge who's written a new book entitled, "Walking with God." It was a great time, and it was very refreshing. The event was in The Woodlands, and I took the excuse of going to Houston as an opportunity to take some pianos the church has accumulated to my Dad for repair and to later sell. I dropped the pianos off and had lunch with my Dad. He had an appointment so I headed to the Woodlands for some needed time of study. I landed at a couple of different places over the next several hours. My final spot was a Starbucks (which didn't exist according to my GPS).

I ordered my skinny cinnamon latte and took out my bible and notebook. I sat down at the only available table in the place which was uncomfortably close to a couple who looked to be in their mid 50's. At first glance I didn't think anything odd about the couple, but within moments it was clear there was a problem. This couple was in the middle of a huge argument, and it was an argument that had to do with whether or not they should stay together. I am a compulsive eavesdropper, and I was hearing everything they were saying (as was the table furthest away from them due to the volume of this man). I heard him drop God's name and God's will. I heard him attack her level of faith. I heard him validate his job and insult hers. I heard him take credit for things and blame her for things. I heard him place the weight of their conflict on his broken wife. I sat there and felt very strongly that the Lord brought me to this location for this event. I was trying to find two other Starbucks listed on my GPS which apparently didn't, and I was on my way to another one two miles down the road. Then, I saw this one. Could it be a coincidence that I was here for just a time as this. Two Christians struggling in their marriage, talking openly and honestly, even mentioning maybe they need to talk to a pastor. I thought to myself, "It's good that I'm here." I listened and waited for my opportunity to approach this couple, but I didn't feel it. I tried really hard to focus on the section of Scripture that I was reading from my Life Journal. I searched intently for the "Word from the Lord" from these passages that would solve these peoples' marital problems. I prayed, I waited, I listened, I studied, and I looked for the right time to intervene. To the pleasure of most of the other people studying and reading, the couple decided to head outside. I knew they weren't leaving, and I was still confident my moment would come. As they fought outside, I stared. The wife knew I was staring. I knew she knew that I had something to say. I knew she was needing someone to stand up for her. I very badly wanted to be the guy, but as I prayed for something to say, I had nothing. Very rarely am I a person with nothing to say. I begged God for something to say. I was here. I was available. I had some time before it was time to meet Brian for dinner. I packed up my stuff and awaited my opportunity to speak truth in love. Then, my boldness turned into hesitance. My excitement turned to sadness. My zeal, to brokenness. I had nothing for these people. I couldn't come up with anything to say. I was trusting God, I was listening, I was available, and I had nothing. The couple walked off, and all I could do was pray for them in my heart.

My struggle is this. If this was someone in my church, I can guarantee there would've been no shortage of words. If this would've been my friends, I would've had plenty to say. When my parents marriage was falling apart and my Mom was really having hard times, I had a lot to say. But, in that Starbucks in the Woodlands, I had nothing to say. Even a few days later, I don't know what I was supposed to do. Maybe I was just supposed to pray. Maybe I was supposed to trust God more and just talk to them trusting that the Holy Spirit would fill my mouth with the right words like the apostles in Acts. All I've got is maybes.

In the end, though, I'm being confronted with evidence that this world needs the Gospel. It can't only work in the pulpit in church. It has to work in Starbucks in the Woodlands. It has to work in San Marcos on the Tball fields. It has to work in our homes with our families, hanging out with our friends, and in the streets with our neighbors. Again, I wish I was enlightened by some supernatural revelation, but I can't say that I was. I don't feel guilty about what happened, but I don't feel good either. I don't know what this means for you, but for me it means to be better prepared to speak on behalf of the Gospel whenever the Lord arranges for it to happen. It also means to be more aware of the power of prayer. I've prayed for that couple every day since. My heart still hurts for the pain and anguish. I don't know their names, but God does, and I am thankful for another opportunity to trust Him in a new way. Hopefully, next time I'll have something to say...

Jacob's Rush


Lately I've found myself really enjoying my son. That's not to say that I didn't before, but it seems that overnight he's become this little man I can hold conversations with who asks about a question per second. These questions are mostly random with at least one an hour presenting me with some theological issue that I can't really answer. There may be future blogs about some of those questions, and there may be future blogs about the roller coaster experience that is our new found T-ball phase of life, but this one is about something different. Thanks for reading on...

A couple of weeks ago, our family (which again includes Ashley who's living with us), sat down to watch August Rush. This is a beautiful movie about a young boy with an extraordinary gift for music. He hears music in the wind, where he lives, in the city, etc. Orchestrations come to him with ease, and the movie includes his discovery of his abilities. I won't spoil it for you, but you should definitely rent it or put it on your Netflix list. After the movie, as the credits were rolling, and the movie score was playing, Jacob went and sat down at the piano. He was listening very intently to the music from the movie, and he began to play along. When I say play along, I mean that he played along. I'm not saying that he played what he heard note for note, but he played along. His ear kept him in the right key and he played sometimes with the melody and sometimes he was making harmony, but it was all right. It all fit. When he would accidentally hit a note that didn't work, he quickly changed it. Holly, Ashley, and I exchanged dumbfounded looks and could say nothing. It really was one of the most beautiful things we've ever seen. I had to shake my head and attempt to withhold tears.

As we've been studying Galatians, I find myself more and more free from sin, guilt, fear, and death, and more importantly I find myself strangely sensitive to the Gospel. It's interesting to me how much we try to control our Christian experience through discipline and routine. I think it's more appropriate for us to realize that God created and set this world into motion. It could not continue without his constant involvement and supervision of everything. We are dependent upon him for everything. His Spirit moves in us and speaks to us - all around us He is giving us opportunity to be His ambassadors, to live for His glory. The music is around us, the Gospel has been preached and is being preached in movies, in the streets, in our homes, at our jobs, at our schools, in coffee shops - everywhere. What if we just played along to the music that God is playing in the background? What if we realized when we stepped out of tune or hit a note in the wrong key and we quickly found ourselves back in sync with the score? It reminds me again of John 3-4 where Jesus encounters the woman at the well and Nicodemus and He says that following the Spirit is like the wind. It blows wherever it pleases. It goes where God wants it to go. What if we surrendered control of our spiritual lives and let the wind blow us and find our part in the greater musical score that is being played? What if followers of Christ were able to sync up with their Holy Spirit Rush? Jacob didn't make an announcement. He didn't read a book. He didn't ask permission. He heard the music, sat down, and played along. The music was much bigger than him. He didn't try to take it over. he didn't think he was making better. He just played along and contributed what he could. He played a part, and it was genuinely one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

I hope that we can discern the song the Spirit is playing all around us and play with Him, play in tune, play in rhythm, play an appropriate part, play like He's the conductor and we're the musicians, play like He's the Creator and we're the created, play with our hearts with our ears listening closely for where the Song is going and for what's coming next.

Thank you, Jesus for your Gospel that reveals itself everywhere.