Long story short, finish year, or new years goals or whatever you want to call it only succeed if you are dedicated to it.  If you are not dedicated to it, what is the point of even putting it out there?  2011 for me was a good year.  One of the best things about 2011 was receiving ministry coaching.  Ministry coaching is about becoming a better follower of Christ, minister and all around person.  To achieve any of these things, you must have goals.  As I set goals, I was always challenged to make them S.M.A.R.T. goals with specific action plans.

What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal?  I’m glad you asked.  Take a look at 2 goals: 1) learn to play the guitar and 2) learn to play the guitar and play in the worship band at church by the end of the year.

Specific: Both of these goals are specific, but the second one is much more so.  It states a general goal, intention of the goal, and gives an end date.

Measurable:  If you goal is not measurable, how do you know when you have accomplished it? How do you when you have successfully “learned to play the guitar?”  The second goal is measured by your ability to play in a band, in front of people.

Attainable: This one is tricky. To know if a goal is attainable, you have to be in tune with your gifts, talents, abilities, and drive to accomplish things.  Neither of these goals would be good for me.  I do not have a musical bone in my body, nor do I really want to make music.  I sing in church along with everyone else, but have no desire to lead in worship or perform music in any other capacity.

Realistic: There is a fine balance to making a goal realistic.  Most of the time you are dealing the question of completing the goal in the amount of time given.  In the example goals, if you are starting in January it is probably realistic to think you can learn the guitar well enough to play with a band in nearly a year.  However, if you are starting in September, you might want to reconsider your timeline. If you set your goal too far out, you may not get around to starting it, or it won’t challenge/motivate you.  If it is too difficult, you may not finish because you get frustrated with the goal.

Timely: Make sure you have a timeline on your goal.  I have found that it also helps to have action steps along the way.  In our example goals, I might set action steps like this: 1) Research and buy guitar by mid January. 2) Find teacher and begin lessons by January 31. 3) Attend lessons and practice 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. 4) Find out how to requirements and audition steps for worship band by June 30. 5) Audition for worship band in November.

All these steps are designed to hold you accountable to your goal.  Of course accountability is only as good as the one holding you.  I also highly recommend that you have someone to check in with you from time to time on your goal to ask how it is going.

What are your goals for 2012?  I’ll go first in the comments.

Have you ever held a big snake?  Like a really big snake?  At Royal Family Kids Camp this last year, we brought in a mobile reptile zoo thing to entertain the kids for a about an hour while most of the adults were taking care of business to get the camp cleaned up.  Not having a specific duty at the time, I went down to see what this reptile zoo thing was all about.

At one point, I was asked to be one of 3 adults to hold a snake.  Not just any snake, but a python. Pythons are long (on average about 12 feet), heavy and strong.  While holding the tail end for only a few moments, I made some observations.  All three of us adults had trouble holding our section of the snake, not only because of the awkwardness of holding such a long and heavy object, but also because of its goal.  Over the course of a few short moments, the snake managed to wrap itself around me-not all the way around me, but around my wrist and was working his way up my arm.  Again, I’m not a snake expert, or for that matter know any more than the average person about snakes, but it seemed to me, that this snake had a plan.  It I had continued to stand there and allow the snake to do what ever it wanted, I am pretty sure that it would have worked its way up my arm, around my body then I probably would not have been able to escape.

I find this a striking parallel to anger and bitterness.  Anger and bitterness can creep into our hearts and seem harmless at first.  After all, we have a right to be angry right?  What they did to you was wrong! Oh, and you are not only person hurt by their actions, it hurt your family as well!  And it is emotional too, so your anger is justified. Lets not forget that Jesus got angry too, or at least it would seem so by the account of Him driving out the money changers from the temple (Matthew 21:12-13).  We can find all kinds of reasons to be angry and hold our anger.

I’m not saying that having anger is wrong.  It is perfectly natural feeling to having and can be good at times, and I do believe that Jesus was angry when he drove out the money changers from the temple.  We do have to be careful about what we do with our anger.  Jesus’ anger drove him to do what was right and necessary in the given situation.  The problem is that so often we choose to hold  our anger too long, and it becomes bitterness.

Back to the snake analogy: holding  the snake for too long and becoming comfortable with it would allow it to overtake me.  Becoming comfortable with anger also allows makes us vulnerable to it overtaking us by becoming bitterness. Bitterness is poison to the spirit, it causes one to not be able to say, do, or think anything positive about a person or group of people.  It ruins your outlook on life an allows your situation to be bigger in your life than God.  It creeps in slowly and takes over your life while you stand there thinking you can control it.

As I write today, I believe that I on the side of victory from anger and bitterness.  The crazy thing about it, is that I had not realized how much anger and bitter I was carrying around, until I decided to let it go.  The other day, I was driving home from an event, and Roberta was sleeping resting her eyes.  We had a conversation earlier in the day about some negative things that I had to say, and as does so well, she called me out on it.  She told me that I needed to work through my anger and bitterness (which I denied existed, or only admitted to so she’d stop talking).  As I was driving, I prayed.  I don’t remember exactly what  I prayed, but I clearly heard God tell me to put it down.

So, I thought about it.  I decided that there is no one in my life that I want to control me but Jesus.  As long as I held anger and bitterness, I was allowing something else to control me.  My mood could be affected by a comment I made or someone else made that reminded me of someone or something.  I could not speak positively about certain people, or even think a good though, and these people are brothers and sisters in Christ! How wrong is that?

I walk in forgiveness.  God forgave me of all the things that I have done wrong, so who am I to hold what wrong has been done to me against the supposed wrongdoer?  I choose forgiveness.  I choose freedom.  I choose love.  I choose to let go of anger and bitterness.

At the time exact time this post posted, you turned 1-year-old. In honor of this joyous occasion, I would like to share with you some facts about the year you were born, and share with you some things that I have learned along the way that might help you through life.

In the year you were born:

US President: Barak Obama

Notable News:

-US finding Osama Bin Laden

-worldwide protests leading to the fall of several dictators across the world

-stock market volatility

-infamous Charlie Sheen meltdown

-BP oil spill

-9.0 earthquake tsunami and near nuclear meltdown in Japan

You accomplished:

-learning to crawl

-pulling yourself into a standing position

-growing 7 teeth

-growing from 7 pounds 14 ounces to near 21 pounds

-growing from 21 inches to around 30 inches

-rolled all over the house before learning to crawl

-eat table food

-survived all of our worries and anxieties

-gained the coolest aunt ever

Zane, you have a lot of life ahead of you. While I have not lived as much life as a lot of people, I do still have some valuable things to tell you.

1) You can trust God no matter what. The very fact that you are here is a testament to God’s grace, and the wonder of His love. We trusted that He would bring you into our lives at the right time, and He did. Though we are in an unexpected place in life now, we know we are exactly where He wants us, and He’s got awesome things waiting for us. You’ll see and one day after the story is written, I’ll tell you about all about it.

2) Treating others the way you want to be treated is the best way to live. This one pays off; big time! When you treat others the way you want to be treated, they will treat you the way you want to be treated. Not only is this a Biblical command, but a great way for everyone to live life. I’ve heard people say it in church, and when I was working at Amazon.com.

3) Always make the wise choice. How do you know what the wise choice is? You must know the Scripture to know how to make wise choices. Get to know the Scripture and it will help and guide you to do wise decisions. To get you started in making wise choices, here are a couple of guidelines: think not only short-term, but long-term as well. Ask yourself, “How will tis decision affect me today, tomorrow and a year from now?” Also, be mindful of how your decision will affect others around you.

That’s all I have for you now son, I’ll keep writing and sharing things with you along the way. I hope that I am a good dad, and that you grow up most of all to know, love and serve God with all your heart.

I love you very much!

Daddy

Tyler had a new book out called “Words & Sentences” which I can’t to get my hand on.  Without any further ado here is man of the hour:

Tyler Tarver is a high school math teacher but also enjoys throwing rocks. You can check out his website tylertarver.com, subscribe to it here, check him on Twitter @tylertarver, or just buy his brand new toilet book which he won’t shutup about titled Words&Sentences that 4 people have said is “funnier than sliced bread.” He’s not as attractive as you, but he sure does love you.

It became so popular that WWJD began to appear everywhere: bracelets, t-shirts, earrings, on Christian kids, those who preferred to party, jocks, nerds, rednecks, it did not matter, everyone was wearing WWJD.  Few people knew what it meant.  It most likely began with a few kids wearing it as identification to other kids that they were a Christian, but it spread far and fast.

In any event, I woke up this morning, wondering what Jesus would do.  The answer I came up with is pretty simple: if we look at Jesus as our model, we see that He chose love.  He was accepting to everyone around Him, the Samaritan (by the way, Samaritans and Jews hated one another) woman at the well (who had 5 divorces and was shacking up with another man), the prostitute who anointed Him, Judas the disciple who betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver, Nicodemus who had big questions, the thief on the cross, the soldier who executed him, plus you and me. Jesus loved and accepted everyone around him.

His love looked different depending on the situation.  With the Pharisees and the money changers in the temple, His love was confrontational.  He told them the truth in a way they needed to hear it.  His confrontation was meant to bring change in their lives, but their hearts were hard.  With many others, his love was shown with quality time spent with those who needed it.  For the thief and Roman soldier, his love came in the form of forgiveness. That demonstrated f his forgiveness and acceptance of you and me as well.

“What would Jesus do” is a dangerous question.  It’ll lead you to people who you no one wants to be around.  It’ll take you to places that no one wants to go.  It’ll take you to the most sinful of sinners, the most hardened criminals, society’s outcasts and marginalized, and to the most Godforsaken places.  Asking this question will put your life in danger, and cause you to be hated.  After all, who is Jesus?  Yes Jesus is the Son of God, but He was homeless.  Jesus made friends with “tax collectors and sinners.”  He did not despise prostitutes, or criminals.  He loved everyone, and accepted them for who they were.  He spoke the truth when it was unpopular, and in the end He proved that He was right all along.

Go ahead, ask yourself “What would Jesus do?”  I dare you…

Summer is right around the corner, and before it officially gets here, I would like to take a moment to let you know about all the excitement that is coming up!

First of all, we have our promotions coming this Sunday!  If your child is a new Kindergarten, 5^th or 6^th grade student, they may go to their new classes beginning this Sunday in the 9:00 hour.  If they are not here for the 9:00, but are here for 10:15, new kindergarten students may come to the Trailhead, and 6^th grade students may attend the adult service.  For 6^th grade students, the middle school does have a section where they sit together (look for Pastor Aaron), or they may sit with their parents.  If at any time, anyone is unsure of where to go, you can ask myself, their previous teacher, any other pastor, usher or greeter where to go.

Summer activities:

We’ve got some amazing summer activities on tap this year!  First of all, Young Champions is coming up fast.  Mark your calendars for July 25-28.  Registration is online at www.PCCtoday.com or you can register on paper using the brochures that will be coming out soon.  Young Champions is an awesome track and field clinic where kids learn not only track and field skills but also how to be a true champion.  Cost is $20 per child with a maximum of $60 per family.  Invite a friend!

Royal Ranger Powwow

For so many boys, this is the highlight of their summer.  Activities include rock-climbing wall, zip line, bb guns, canoeing, batting cages, paintball and more!  They will also hear from a great speaker and come away changed by the power of God.  Powwow takes place at Camp Wildcat near Corvallis.  Boys going into grades 2-5 may attend without a male adult coming with them, younger kids must have a male adult chaperone (dad, uncle, grandfather etc) August 11-14, cost: $110 per boy.

Kids Camp

Kids going into grades 3^rd -6^th are invited to join us at Kids Camp August 15-19, at Kellogg Springs, in Sutherlin, Oregon.  At Kellogg Springs, the kids will be treated to amazing speakers (Jenni and Jeff Smith from Horizon Community Church in Tualatin), zip line, pool, archery, and much more.  For sign ups, see Pastor Brad.  Space is limited, so sign up soon.  Cost: $225 per child.

M’s Club Girls Camp

All girls between 1^st-5^th grade are invited to Girls Camp at Driftwood Creek Camp in Lincoln City.  Suzie Star will be our guest speaker and she will knock it out of the park!  This will be an amazing time for the girls to connect with other girls, worship God, and be challenged in their relationship with Him.  Cost $90 per girl.

Music Day Camps The 2011 Kids’ Summer Music Adventure Camp

August 8-12, 2011
Morning Only from 9:00 AM – Noon or
Full Day from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
For: Kids entering Kindergarten-4th Grade
Location: Portland Christian Center

Kids will have a blast during five fun-filled days packed with action and adventure as they explore music from the Appalachian Mountains all the way to the Islands of Hawaii!

Each day we’ll dive into a different style of music, have demonstrations of instruments, interactive music games, music instruction, get artsy with fun crafts, learn fun new songs and dances and snack on yummy treats! Optional afternoon activities will include outings to the Oregon Zoo, OMSI, Oaks Park Roller Rink, the pool, and more!

COST:
Morning Music Camp – $130 (Early Bird Rate of $115 if registered and paid by 7/25/11)
Full Day Camp – $245 (Early Bird Rate of $220 registered and paid by 7/25/11)

For more information email lhalling@pcctoday.com

If your child wants to participate in any of these activities, but cost is a factor, don’t fret! Scholarships are available.  I don’t ever want for a child to be hindered from doing something because of money.  For more information on any of these activities, email me at bshimomura@pcctoday.com.

Have an awesome summer, I hope to see everyone at at least one of these events!

Pastor Brad

Being a Pastor has certain inflexabilities. Church wont wait for me to get ready, and to be ready, I have to get there. It so happens that this weekend, my parents were in town, and for the first time since Zane was born, Roberta decided to come to church with me. The only reason that was even possible is because my parents could stay home and take care of our baby boy.

As soon as the panic settled, Roberta suggested that I call another pastor and see if he can pick me up. She stayed with my car and waited for my dad to come to try to put the spare on. The other pastor arrived, and I went to church only a couple minutes later than I normally arrive on a Sunday morning. Roberta got the car take care of thanks to roadside assistance our car insurance provides (good thing too, because we had none of the tools we need to even change a tire), and she met me at church about 30 minutes later.

Looking back, I clearly see the miracle of God in it all. Had it been any other day, that would have caused me to be massively late to church (work) and it would have ruined my day.  God had an incredible sense of timing.  The tire was going to blow, there is no doubt about it, but God allowed a bad situation to happen in the best imaginable circumstance.

A friend of mine occasionally challenges me to look for God in the “everyday” situations of life.  He says when you put on that mindset, you’ll be amazed at how much you notice God doing.  When I actually take him up on this challenge, I am never disappointed.

Psalm 1:6: “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

When have you seen God in the “everyday” situations of life?

God does not give us everything to be a perfect leader.  He gives us a certain set of gifts, passions, and even limitations so that you can be exactly the person that He created you to be.  People were not made to attain perfection.  If we were perfect, and had every spiritual gift that we needed and were perfect leaders, we would have no need for God.

We were created with limitations so that we can learn to rely on God.  I love the way John the Baptist puts it in John 3:30.  In John’s teachings of his disciples about Jesus, he made this amazing statement: “He must become greater and I must become less.”  As people we are broken, frayed, flawed and imperfect.  The more of us that shines through, the more the flaws shine through.  When we realize that, get out of God’s way and allow Him to work, He will really show up and do things beyond our imagination.

When you come to your end, God is just getting started.

1) There are no friends in hell.  Hell is eternal separation from God.  Since God is love (1 John 4:8), an absence of God means an absence of love.  Thus, there are no friends in hell.  I’ve heard people say such things like, “Hell is going to be one big party.”  The last time I checked, parties involve friends.

2) Hell is eternal.  Jesus made several statements about hell, while He walked on the earth.  In fact, he talked more about hell than heaven, or many other things.  Many of the times that He mentions hell, he puts it together with eternal suffering.  For example, Matthew 18:8, “If you hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.”  Some might argue because of the hyperbole in the first part of the statement, Jesus was also using hyperbole in the last two words.  Check out Matthew 25:41 and 46, Jesus clearly states the eternal nature of hell in the parable of the sheep and goats.  Jude 1:7 also makes mention of the eternal nature of hell.  God did not mince His words about hell, it is eternal.  There is no escape, no end to the punishment.

3) Hell is unpleasant (understatement of the year).  Here are some of the words I’ve found in the Bible used to describe hell: “eternal fire” (Matthew 21:41) “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46), “Fiery lake of burning sulfur…the second death” (Revelation 21:8), “fiery furnace… where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42) “…darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13), “lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).  When I think of things that are pleasant, these are not words that come to my mind.

4) Hell can be avoided.  God laid a pretty clear plan of salvation: we have all done things that deserve punishment.  Jesus took that punishment upon Himself, on the cross.  All we have to do is accept these facts, believe it to be true, confess our sins and decide to follow Jesus, and we do not have to suffer the consequences of our sin.

5) I don’t want anyone to go there (neither does God).  Hell was not originally designed for people.  God created it for satan and his minions.  When sin entered the world and man’s hearts hell became the consequence for sin. Ezekiel 18:23 offers and interesting perspective on God’s views of wickedness and death: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? . . .  For I do not pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” 2 Peter 3:9 also clearly states God’s desire for everyone to turn from their sins and be forgiven: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you not wanting anyone to suffer, but everyone to come to repentance.”

When you begin to imagine what eternity is like, and the pain, anguish and torture that will take place for all eternity, it is really hard for anyone to really wish that upon anyone, no matter what they have done do you.

I would like to close this blog by posting this video by Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller.  I may have shared it before, bit it is worth watching because I find it to be really powerful.  Thanks for reading, and please do check out the video:

I have lots of thoughts on world events from the past weekend, and the response across America.  My thoughts are far-reaching, so lets just see how far I can get in the time I have allowed myself to write today.  I should also mention that I waited until now specifically to write these thoughts, because I wanted to give time for my emotions to settle down before posting.

First of all, I love America and particularly those who volunteer for the military and the various other agencies that exist to protect our country and keep people like you and me safe.  I appreciate that our soldiers and other service men and women have not given up, but kept the fight for 10 years to track down Osama bin Ladin and bring him to justice.  I am so very glad that he is not a threat to America, or anyone else any more.

However, we must understand that al Qaeda is a very sophisticated and deadly organization.  Because its founder/leader is dead does not mean that al Qaeda is done.  In I am a bit more scared of al Qaeda today than I was a few days ago.  We have no idea who is the new head, and how bad they are.  Remember Saddam Hussein?  His son Uday was a lot more brutal and dangerous than Saddam was.  If he had not died before his father and was able to take leadership in Iraq, it was be far worse today that it ever was in Saddam’s day.  I fear the same may happen with al Qaeda.

Next, al Qaeda’s mode of operation is in independent cell groups.  Think franchises and not corporations.  If the CEO of a major company were to become suddenly incapacitated that would mean bad news for the company.  However, the cell groups in al Qaeda work independently of one another, and its leadership.  The cells are given their task and then left to do their work.  Osama bin Ladin is not checking in on each cell and measuring their progress.  Therefore the death of Osama bin Ladin is not as divesting to them as a cell group.  They can still function and carry out their mission.

That’s enough about that.  Something else that stuck out to me as I read tweets from church popular (and not so popular) church leaders and Christ followers I was truly saddened by the response.  Many rejoiced at the prospect that Osama bin Ladin is dead and in hell.  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that he is no longer a threat to anyone on earth ever again.  I am glad that we were able to find him and bring him to justice.  However we must remember the words of 2 Peter 3:9 “…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  God does not delight in people being in hell.  He wants for everyone to experience heaven forever, and ever and ever.  I think that if we truly understood what hell was like, we would do everything we could to keep anyone from going there (another story for another day).

I hope that my disappointment with some of my tweeps is nothing more than my lack of understanding a person’s true thoughts because of the limited nature of twitter’s 140 character capacity.  I recognize that 140 characters is not enough to share a complete thought and can often result in miscommunication.  I’ll close with a powerful thought that I could not have said better myself from a twitter friend of mine: “Bin Laden’s death doesn’t avenge the lives he took. he’s still a human life & a soul that didn’t know Jesus. and that should be mourned.”  She wrote a great blog that also attracted a jihadist to comment, you can give it a read here: http://www.jenniclayville.com/bin-ladens-death/