I love Venn diagrams. The visual representation of all logical relations between a finite collection of different sets is just the coolest. Don’t you think?...
As we enter a new year of “inviting all people to grow into a Christ-centered life in God’s family” Good Shepherd staff members have brainstormed three key areas vital to living out that mission....
Every year at this time, the Weekly is filled to the brim with various opportunities in the life of our church. By my count, there are 23 opportunities this week alone! A recent member of the Good Shepherd family recently e-mailed me to share of the fun...
Next Saturday, August 25th, our elders are meeting for a bi-annual retreat day. We do so every January and August, and they have become two of my absolute favorite days of the entire year, not only because we have a lot of fun together, but also because I learn so much from each one of the leaders on the team....
Last week we welcomed over 220 kids for VBS. This week, our Middle and High School students are on Catalina at Campus by the Sea for a week of summer camp. Different settings, to be sure, but the same goal....
VBS week is like no other week on campus. It’s not even close. All week, over 220 Pre-K through 5th graders have been making crafts, engaging in science experiments, playing games, watching skits and singing. And singing. Then, a little more singing...
When we discovered Jen was pregnant with our first child we were still in Princeton, NJ, entering the last year of our seminary adventure. It was the summer of 2000. In the fall of that year we traveled back home to southern California. We celebrated Jen’s birthday...
The Red Sox and the Yankees. Tom and Jerry. UCLA and USC. Batman and the Joker. Coke and Pepsi. The Hatfields and the McCoys. Classic rivalries are all around us. Here's one you may have never thought of: 9am Classic and 10:45am Modern...
Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willamon’s book Resident Aliens opens with these words: Sometime between 1960 and 1980, an old, inadequately conceived world ended, and a fresh, new world began. We do not mean to be overly dramatic....
In 1926, the United States Supreme Court made a well-intentioned ruling that affects our everyday lives - perhaps for the worst. The justices ruled that the town of Euclid, Ohio could bar the development of land which had been slated for an industrial-use...
One of my favorite parts of preaching is words. Which isn’t all that surprising. I use a couple thousand of them in each sermon (though sometimes one or two of them are repeats). It’s not the amount of words I like (surprise though it may be)...
Keep ReadingThis fall we engaged the call to create Christian community in our series One Another. Our bulletin cover and PowerPoint background was a serene forest of trees, deep in some secluded forest. The inspiration for that image came from aspen trees,...
Keep ReadingOur goal this year at Good Shepherd is to go deeper into community so that we can go further out in faith. If you haven't heard about that, learn more here. The desire to go deeper into community has prompted us to explore the "one anothers" found...
Keep ReadingThis week is Mission Sunday (remember to come early 2nd service folks!) and also marks the anniversary of an important moment in church history. 500 years ago, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a copy of his Ninety-five Theses...
Keep ReadingOne of the movies I still enjoy is The Blues Brothers, staring the late John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. They play Jake and Elwood Blues, brothers who believe they have a divine appointment to reassemble their band, play a one-night-only benefit concert,...
Keep ReadingBy now you’ve undoubtedly heard me write or talk about our one year goal at Good Shepherd: "Deeper Into Community, Further Out in Faith." We want every member of our church community to be connected not only in a Sunday morning worship...
Keep ReadingThe phrase "change the world" is a common one in our day. In one way or another, it seems everyone wants to do so. Type that phrase into Google and you’ll get 206 million results in a search that takes less than a second. Included are more than 50 million...
Keep ReadingI am cast upon a horrible, desolate island, void of all hope of recovery. I am singled out and separated, as it were, from all the world, to be miserable. I am divided from mankind – a solitaire; one banished from human society… I have no soul to speak to or relieve me....
Keep ReadingOn Sunday we conclude our series All In, in which we’re engaging our mission statement: Inviting all people to grow into a Christ-centered life in God’s family. We’ve discussed “inviting all people” and “growing into a Christ-centered life.” On Sunday, we will think...
Keep ReadingIt’s been said that “words create worlds.” And it’s difficult to argue with that statement. Think, for instance, of the outset of the Scriptures, where God declares “Let there be light.” And, sure enough, there’s light! The next day God creates the sky. The next day...
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