Sweatpants Under Denim Shorts

Today I saw a man going for a walk around the beautiful Selma streets with a combo antennae headphone set over his ears, normally I would mock this, however considering I can't listen to the Giants game on my computer or my radio in my office I was slightly envious. But beyond the bright yellow antennaphone this man was also sporting a pair of full length grey sweats with a pair of denim knee-length shorts over the top of the sweats. Now I by no means have the greatest fashion sense in the world, I like to walk the excess length off my jeans rather than hem them (Yeah that was a Jeff Foxworthy quote). But I feel like this man is a walking example of the church way too often.

We want to stay with current trends, we heard that people like to listen to sermons on the go nowadays, so rather than getting a podcast, we sign up for an AM radio station. Now I am all for being in the world but not of it (I don't know how many times I heard this quoted to me in high school) but in order to reach a generation of people who are thirsting for truth wouldn't it make sense to be a part of the media outlets and current trends in which that generation is partaking? At what point did the church decide to get off the fashion train and decide that almost being relevant is good enough?

What are your thoughts on this? Is the church rocking Anchor Blue Beyond Baggy styled jeans? Is that okay?

Monday Morning with Coop

My Monday's are one of my favorite days of the week, yes it helps that it is a day off for me but what set's it apart from Saturdays or Caesar Chavez day is the fact that I get to hang out with my ridiculously cute son Cooper Edwin.



I know, he is disgustingly cute, as a matter of fact it is kind of embarrassing. And I don't love Mondays just because me and Coop hang out, because we hang out at some point every day, it is because it is just Dad and Son, man and boy out to conquer the world, or weeds, or in Coopers case his dog Parker.



Don't get me wrong, we love hanging out with Mom too, she is really cool and good at a lot of stuff. Things like cuddling, playing peek-a-boo, and changing diapers that I may or may not have smelled and ignored. But these days are really special to me because this is where I get to test my merit as a dad and he gets to test his as a son. We make mistakes together, like the time we went jogging and his blanket fell off the stroller and I didn't realize it 'til we were on our way back, we have successes together, like when we had our first monster noise making contest (I won).

But yesterday I realized as Coop and I were watching Lincecum throw 7 shutout innings that these days are rapidly coming to a close. Our Mondays are coming to an end when Sarah is done working in early June. Mom is great to have along and all, but I am sad to see this period of life go. Beyond Mom ending work, Coop and I are going to have another buddy to hang out with too. Come August our days are going to be filled with the sound of Cooper's little brother. I guess I write this with a heavy heart and an eager excitement because I am stoked for my bride to be home with our babies and the Anderson clan is growing yet again in August but my time with my boy is ending soon.

That being said, I may not get a regular day with me and Coop, but when me and my boys get to hang out and test our manhood against that of the outside world, I am going to cherish every minute of it.

Is that contestant on American Idol Christian?

90. Their name is vaguely Biblical, like John or Mark = + 1 point

To add up your score with over a 130 other ideas on this scorecard, visit stuffchristianslike.net.

Marshmallow Shooters

In Him,
Peter Anderson

High School Leaders

Here are two of our High School Leaders, Denver and Amanda Silva doing what they do best...

Be Silent

This is a hard time for me right now, I am embarking on a media fast with 8 of our high school students and 3 of our leaders. Which means I can’t watch TV, go on the internet, text message, read anything other than Christian inspired non-fiction and the bible as well as no movies or music. For those of you who know me I pride myself on being a pseudo-techno nerd, so giving up all of these outlets is going to be difficult for me, as well as the students. But it is a good thing to unplug from the noise of the world. Jesus made a habit of this as we can see in Mark 1:35, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus withdrew to a solitary place to be alone with God and pray.”
So if the creator of the earth finds it necessary to draw away from people and be in silence isn’t that something we should be doing on a regular basis as well? We are inundated 1,000’s of images and noises every day and because of this when we turn off our radio in the car we feel a suffocating kind of silence. Why is silence so hard to deal with? I posed this questions to our eight high schoolers and they decided it was because once it is silent, you begin to do self-reflection, you begin to think and for a lot of us we turn on the noise in our lives so we don’t have to think about what is happening or going on.
This week take some time and sit, breathe deep and be silent. Don’t turn on the television or radio, don’t read a book, just sit, breathe and be silent. See if it makes a difference in your life to stop and just be silent. Happy Youthing.

Chuck Taylors v. Penny Loafers

There is a hard line to walk in the church and especially in Youth Ministry. You want people to notice you, you want people to come to your church for them to see that God isn’t just about rules and ‘things you can and cant do. Its not about a God sitting in heaven laughing at how stupid we are and smiting people at every whim. So you want to be appealing, you want to be exciting, you want to be relevant. The other side of that line is making sure that the truth of the Lord is not watered down, we need to make sure that we are fearful of the Lord, that we are in awe of God and we don’t take His power, His fury, and His love for granted. We need to make sure we are reverent.

Now sometimes this may be hard, especially in Youth ministry, are we being reverent using the baptismal for a pool party? Probably not (I haven’t done this don’t worry), are we being reverent when we show up to church in a collar with nice shoes on and our hair combed? Yes… yes we are. The difference is easy to see. But the issue comes into play when we want to be relevant and reverent at the same time. I want people to appreciate my ministry and have fun while they are a part of it, that doesn’t mean I am going to let students do whatever they want. But I am also not going to show up in a suit and tie to youth group and make students sit in a pew for an hour and a half, their parents can barely do it, how could I expect them to?

But what of the Chuck Taylored, untucked, unkempt, cool Pastor? He is so nice looking, so approachable; he is a regular guy, a guy I want to have coffee with. He talks about love and has a beard just like Jesus, he must have all of his facts straight, he knows what he is doing, he is relevant. Sure, but does he revere the Lord? Maybe, and maybe I need to get past the idea that Jesus needs to see us dressed nicely on Sundays, I mean he sees us every other day so why should our attire be different on Sunday morning?

It brings me back to a conversation I had with my Grandma before she passed away when she told me through tears, “I dress nice on Sunday because I want to look my best when I am in the house of the Lord, he sacrificed himself for me, the least I could do is shower for Him.” Granted, my Grandma was no biblical scholar, a long way from it, but I think she speaks to the truth of the matter when she implies that so many people no longer care enough to even run a brush through their hair on Sunday Morning. I’m not saying we should come in our Prom attire, but I am saying that tucking your shirt in and wearing closed to shoes on a Sunday (and trust me, I love sandals) shows that you respect the house of the Lord, and more importantly, respect the Lord.

So how do we get a balance between not running off people who are seeking the Lord by our Christianese and our Father’s day neck ties and making sure that we don’t get so relaxed with God that we wear our swimsuit to church so we don’t have to go home and change before our Sunday afternoon barbecue at the Wallace’s? I wish I had that answer for you but unfortunately I don’t. Truth is, far too many churches are divided because of issues just like this one. But until I figure it out, I will respect those who came before me by wearing a collared shirt and dress shoes on Sunday and I will run around and throw shaving cream at students at Youth. It’s a fine line to walk between relevance and reverence, but it’s a line worth walking, because too far in either direction and you are alienating a very important people group.

Jr High Leaders

Here are the faces of the people leading at Jr. High.

Camp Stuff

Hey Guys, here is a list of the things you need to bring to Winter Camp. There is 4 feet of snow so bring dry and warm clothes, lots of them. There are 14 guys and 5 girls who get to come with us and check in is between 6-7:30. If i know you are going to be late don't worry about it, if you haven't told me when you are coming up let me know asap. Parents please be at Sugar Pine by 12:15 to pick up your student unless prior arrangements have been made.

So, here is the stuff you need:

Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Deodorant (PLEASE!)
Boots
Tennis shoes
Gloves
Sweatshirt
Snow Jacket
Beanie
Snow Pants
Bible
Pen
Notebook
Sleeping bag
Pillow

Dont Bring:

Cell Phones
Inappropriate Material of any kind
Weapons (Knives, Airsoft Guns, Real Guns)
Tobacco
Alcohol
Drugs
or Wyatt O'Brien

Lock-In Pics

Happy Youthing