twenty pounds of books

So far, my biggest packing dilemma has been deciding what books to take with me to Argentina. I think I am coming closer to a final list. Actually, this list is probably a little ambitious for me to complete in 2008. But, one can always dream big! I just weighed the stack in at 20 pounds! Let the packing games begin!

- God of the Empty Handed, Jayakumar Christian
- Community & Growth, Jean Vanier
- The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann
- Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer
- Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, Robert Mulholland
- Catch Your Breath: God’s Invitation to Sabbath Rest, Don Postema
- Sacred Listening: Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, James Wakefield
- Monastic Year: Reflections from a Monastery, Brother Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette
- Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta, Mother Teresa
- Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel on Prayer, Thomas Dubay
- The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus Is the Way, Eugene Peterson
- Spiritual Formation of Leaders, Chuck Miller
- The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages, Sister Joan Chittister
- Spiritual Theology, A Systematic Study of the Christian Life, Simon Chan
- Simply Christian, NT Wright
- Blood Brothers, Elias Chacour
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis
- More-with-Less Cookbook
- Extending the Table Cookbook
- Lonely Planet Argentina
- Lonely Planet Buenos Aires
- Spanish-English Bible

currently reading...

I just started reading The Spiritual Formation of Leaders by Chuck Miller. Chuck was one of the mentors of The Journey retreats I participated in recently. Some of my friends will recognize the "pitcher/cup...saucer/plate" paradigm on the cover of the book that comes from Chuck. I am just a few chapters into the book and already realizing how deep his mentoring and priorities in following Jesus have shaped my life these past few years. I am looking forward to diving into this book as I pack and prepare to leave for Argentina in just a few weeks. Great timing!

ticket in hand!

I am now officially on my way to Buenos Aires, Argentina! I leave March 13 and will be there in time for Easter Week! I am grateful for God’s provision and look forward to being a part of all He is doing in Buenos Aires.

I have carried this Psalm and Lament (along with a few other anchor Scriptures) with me these past two years. I have found rest and encouragement in these promises! They seem especially appropriate as I offer my praises of thanksgiving and wait in eager anticipation and hope for all that is ahead!

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have HOPE: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him! The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” ~ Lamentations 3:21-26

“Give me your lantern and compass,
give me a map,
So I can find my way to the sacred mountain,

to the place of your presence,
To enter the place of worship,
meet my exuberant God,
Sing my thanks with a harp,
magnificent God, my God.”
~ Psalm 43:3-4 (The Message)

this just in....

Just this afternoon I got word that I have reached my financial support goals! Thank you, Lord! I will start shopping for tickets to Buenos Aires soon. Suddenly, this all got a lot more real! More soon...

march prayer letter

Here's a sneak peek at my March prayer letter...for those who don't get it via snail mail.

Click here.

Tomorrow is the day! We see where my support is and if I can purchase my ticket for Buenos Aires this weekend. Prayerfully, I will be there in time for Easter Week!

Grace Commissioning

On Sunday I was commissioned for ministry in Argentina by my home church, Grace Community Church of Seal Beach. It was a very special and meaningful send off in prayer by Pastor Don and laying on of hands by our Elders and Mission Commission. I shared that these past two years feel like the “long goodbye,” as the church family has prayed and journeyed alongside me! Grace is the church I grew up in and served on staff for twelve years. So, really this is now just the next season of lifelong relationships. I am grateful for the foundation of care, support, and prayers as I leave in just one month!

I wrote up my first “missionary bio” for the church highlighting some of the key moments in my journey and the communities that have played a part! My commissioning seems like a good time to share it here.

Growing up at Grace and in a family that loved and served Jesus, David made a decision at a young age to follow Him. Today he continues the process of knowing and following Jesus more fully. His burden for the poor began to take root when the youth group regularly visited El Sauzal Orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico. While attending Biola University, David sought ways to serve the poor locally. He served among Cambodian refugee families with InnerCHANGE in Long Beach, developing a relationship with one family that deeply impacted his desire to know God’s heart for those living and suffering in poverty.

After graduating from college David served in various staff roles at Grace, including young adult ministry, outreach, and missions. During this time he also attended and graduated from Fuller Seminary. He is grateful for these twelve enriching years of ministry, growth, and lifelong friendships. His mission trips with Word Made Flesh introduced David to desperate poverty overseas in places like India, Peru, and Sierra Leone. These trips broke his heart and drove him to Scripture to listen to God’s heart for the poor and consider his response to stand in the gap and intervene with God’s love, justice, and mercy. After wrapping up his staff position at Grace in 2005, a Word Made Flesh internship provided opportunity to serve, learn, and discern future steps among the poor in Brazil and South Africa. During this time a series of spiritual formation and leadership development "Journey" retreats led by The Leadership Institute were a valuable piece of mentoring and growth.

David now looks forward to sharing life and ministry with at risk kids on the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few years. He is also hopeful for what God may have ahead serving in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa. His three life priorities are shaped by John 15: 1) abiding relationship and intimacy with God; 2) loving one another in community; 3) and bearing fruit and witness among the poor. He is growing to understand his primary vocation as follower of Jesus Christ conforming into his image. He is grateful for the ongoing love, support, and prayers of his Grace family!

joy of your salvation!

Last week I got a double dose of the Book of Common Prayer liturgy for Ash Wednesday. Psalm 51 is the primary Scripture in this liturgy. I was reminded of my Lenten devotions last year in Cape Town on the "joy of your salvation"! Here is part of what I posted last Lent...

"This morning I started a book for Lent, "The Joy of Your Salvation: Reflections on the Psalms of Lent" by Deborah McCann. The title of the book is taken from Psalm 51, the first Psalm of Lent this Ash Wednesday. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation…” (Ps. 51:12). In the introduction the author of the book recognizes the importance and value of the season of penitence and introspection during Lent, but she also recognizes Lent as a “season of profound, abiding joy, a time for celebrating God’s overwhelming mercy and love for us.” She goes on to say, “Through these songs [Psalms] of yearning, loss, repentance, and triumph, you may hear you’re your own voice, and can join in praising the wonder and glory of a God who restores to us the joy of God’s salvation (Psalm 51).”

Good words as we move forward in this Lenten season!

this & that

I'll lump some random updates together today! Feeling like I need to "lighten up" my blog a little these days! :)

1) Departure Update:
I am super close to meeting my financial support goals! I long ago exceeded my love and prayer support goals! The overwhelming support, care, encouragement, and prayers of family and friends continue to bless my life! I am now very close to reaching some financial goals before purchasing my ticket to Buenos Aires! I am hoping and praying I can get the green light by next Friday, February 15! I would love to be in Argentina by Palm Sunday and Easter Week! Seems like a meaningful season to begin sharing life and ministry there! But, ultimately, I trust God’s best timing. His timing hasn’t let me down yet…nor will it! Please pray for the Dean Family who will be a month ahead of me in Buenos Aires….they leave February 14.

2) Movies:
I seem to be on a bit of a movie streak this 2008! 1) Juno - The whole package…funny sweet, thoughtful, etc. Ellen Paige deserves the Oscar nomination. 2) The Kite Runner – As usual the book went deeper, but the movie still captured the story and made me cry. 3) U23D – A lot of this was filmed in Buneos Aires…amazing! If you are a U2 fan….see it! Most of us will never get so close to Bono and you feel like you are rocking out with the crowd on floor level! 4) There Will Be Blood – If the trailor for this one freaked you out, the movie is even more chilling. Not for everyone….I’m sure I missed some symbolism in the story. Daniel Day Lewis’ performance will stick with me for awhile (hopefully not in nightmares). 5) Rambo – True confession time! Not sure what I was thinking in seeing this record breaking body count. (Sorry Rich & Ben!) I guess the opportunity to hang out with a good friend I haven’t seen for awhile got the best of me. Even the nostalgic memories of “Ramboing” in high school on the "hill" and "gum grove" in Seal Beach in didn’t justify my decision.

3) Ebay:
I have one last supply of collectible diecast cars to sell. See here. This batch also included old Matchbox pocket catalogs from the 60’s & 70’s. One 1965 catalog sold for $45! Not bad! Fun to see what more I can squeeze out of this before I go! Plus, the extra cash ain’t bad. The postal workers keep asking when I am leaving (I am at the post office at least 2-3 times a week). The other day one woman asked what exactly I would be doing. I told her working with at risk kids on the streets with a mission and answered her good questions. She replied something like this, "Wow, I see you in a different light…I thought you were just some “floater” dude waiting to earn enough to leave on your next trip." I said, "Well, that's not too far off these past couple years...I'm a little of that too!" HA! Classic.

4) Flip Flops:
I rarely wear shoes! I go through at least two pairs of sturdy Reef sandals every year. That includes rotating them with my Brasilian Havaianas. Just got my new pair of Reef Fannings with church keys in today’s mail! If I’m lucky maybe they will get me through Christmas 2008…I’m thinking winters in Buneos Aires may force me to wear shoes a little more.

ash wednesday & book of common prayer

Today I attended an Ash Wednesday service. Here is just some of the liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer before the ashes were imposed and communion was taken. The liturgy and the Scriptures could be helpful to those observing Lent this year.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wickedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17, or Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103, or 103:8-14
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This is season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

(For the entire liturgy you can check out this link to the Book of Common Prayer I found online: http://holycross-raleigh.org/bcp/264.html.)

ash wednesday

I came across this thoughtful meditation on Lent...

"Lent is a journey, a pilgrimage! Yet, as we begin it, as
we make the first step into the ‘bright sadness’ of
Lent, we see – far away – the destination. It is the joy
of Easter; it is the entrance into the glory of the
Kingdom. And it is the vision, the foretaste of Easter,
that make Lent’s sadness bright and our Lenten effort a
‘spiritual spring.’” Fr. Alexander Schememann, Great Lent

Today I also started receiving a daily Lent devotional email from CRM, a ministry that includes InnerCHANGE and NieuCommunities. You can check it out and sign-up here: http://www.crmleaders.org/lent

st. benedict & lent

“In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old." ~ Psalm 25:1-6

Lent is nearly upon us with Ash Wednesday this February 6. Like Advent, making space for Lent is something fairly new in my relationship with God. Last year I attended my first Ash Wednesday service in Cape Town. This weekend I have been reading and reflecting some more on Lent in preparation for the weeks ahead. My prayer and desire is to make effort to posture my heart for the themes of Lent. Part of my preparation has been reading a bit of what St. Benedict teaches on Lent in his Rule of Life. He says, “the life of a monk ought always to have the character of a Lenten observance.” For St. Benedict Lent was the model for the monastic life of those striving to live under the Rule.

St. Benedict proposes the following Lenten practices in the Rule: 1) refraining from sin; 2) prayer with tears; 3) holy reading; 4) repentance; 5) abstinence from food. Of course, these practices and posture are important year round, but during Lent they can take on increased attention and discipline leading up to Easter. Perhaps these timeless Lenten principles from St. Benedict can help us rediscover fresh and renewed meaning and experience in Lent.

I confess that I am experiencing some tension and reluctance in my desire to dive deeper into Lent this year. As I consider the five practices above, I would rather avoid some of them. The focus on sin, tears, repentance, and abstinence is not easy. My watered down understanding of Lent is a much easier path. This morning Psalm 25 is especially significant as I consider Lent.

Lord, show me your ways, teach me your paths, and guide me in your truth! You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you!

What an appropriate prayer of hope and trust in the Lord as we enter this Lenten season of 2008!