HIGHtide Orange

A Spiritual Work-Out Plan Part #4

2011-03-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Where do you call it quits? When is it too much? How do you know if you have gone too far?

When we choose to do something, act a certain way, believe a certain belief, we make all these decisions to far. We weigh the consequences, we consider the pro's and con's of whatever we are going to do, Whether we know it or not, our mind is realizing that we want to submit to whatever an event entails. We come to terms with that we are doing and just do it.

This however seems to slip away in our faith. We think, theres wiggle room, this isn't black and white, cut and dry. I can fudge a little the lines that draw out my faith. It seems a difficult task to submit to our faith. We talked about being committed to our faith last week, but even there you are committed up until it stops working out the way you wanted to. Submission means that my faith is first, it is the director of my life, I will follow even when I don't want to. That is where I feel the kiddos need to be challenged. Submit your ways to the Lord and He will make your paths straight. Learn that following Jesus isn't always easy, not always hard, but its always right. Thats submission.

So we are going to try and ask what the limit is for their faith. Will the commit until its not what they wanted, or will they submit and take it for whatever it may bring?

Love wins...

A Spiritual Work-Out Plan Part #2

2011-02-28T13:25:00.000-08:00

So last week, while I was away on my bike trip, Lauren introduced HIGHtide to our new series. A peek into a work out plan for your spirit, looking at the spiritual disciplines that work. I want to equip and guide the students into a lifestyle that incorporates the spiritual disciplines that have worked in my life, as well as the life of others.

Last week Lauren took a glimpse at Joy, finding joy in your spiritual lives. Joy that brings us closer to God and Christ. Joy that is genuine, joy that is true, joy that feels right. So this week I want to push us forward, joy, now accountability. While is was in Hawaii, I have to admit that I thought I was going to be one of the top bikers. I was the youngest by at least 10 years all the way up to 55 years younger than our oldest man. So me, being competitive, thought "I got this in the bag, lets do this". My joy in being the best, or at least one of the best, was quickly found to be hit by a brick wall of humility. Man, these days of 30-50 miles were tough. They took me down and held me there for the rest of the day. What I found was that there was nothing better than coming around a corner and seeing a fellow biker standing up waiting for you. I remember there was a day that we were told was going to be "easy", much to our surprise, the "easy" didn't come until after the 12 miles up this winding, never ending slope of a hill. I remember thinking, again, that I had this covered, well after about mile 4 of just up and up and up and...up, well I started to fade....and fade fast. The thing was you would go around these corners and couldnt really tell what was around it but you just wished that it would be flat, or downhill, or anything but up, too bad I guess. After one of those miserable turns I found Adam and Forrest just waiting for me, standing there, eating and telling me to eat and drink. Then when I had restored some of my energy we took off, not without Forrest taking the lead and pacing himself so that I would feel good and not over stress my legs. Continually he would turn and ask "is this a good pace" and yes, yes it was Forrest thank you.

We need people in our lives that guide us, hold us on a straight path and maintain a good pace for our lives. This is so true in our spiritual lives. We are filled with Joy, capital "J" joy, Joy from our creator. That sometime we move forward at such a pace that we fall back a little, and sometimes just get off the bike and quit. What I love about this idea of accountability, which is what we are talking about this week, is that is gives us help where we most need it, where we least ask for it. "I got this" seems to be the beginning of the end for most of our endeavors, we so often need help, going up Mount Everest, well I know you have to have guidance, people telling you where to go, where not to step, how fast, how slow, what elevation to stop and to go on. We need accountability, the early Christians, even the kings of the old testament knew this. David has his advisors and friends that helped him as we walked a crooked path. Also Paul in the new testament had Timothy whom he advised and guided.

So my question to the kiddos is, who is keeping your path from straying? Who is your accountability, spiritually, your parents, a friend, a mentor? Questions you could ask yourself if you could see that for your student...I know my mom know's who that was and is in my life...Mikey Oster/ Eddie Moreno/ Matt Mills.

Love wins...

The Prayer Blueprint...Part #4

2011-01-31T13:26:00.000-08:00

Growing up I have found food to be a huge part of my life. Not only do I need it to live, but I have found it plays a much bigger role that I would have ever thought. From a child, food was what I ate, growing up food was what I had to keep me close to my mom and also my dad (mainly around the BBQ). In high school and part of junior high it was my fuel, as an athlete, food was a not just a source of energy but it connected me to my teammates. As a water polo player there a few people that can eat like you and even eat around someone that can eat as much as you do besides other water polo players. So food was communal. To now, I love to cook, for me, for my loved ones, for anyone actually. I love the smells, the tastes, the motions of cutting, from the tools; pots, pans, knives, the oven, the stove top, bake ware, frying...Food, such an important part of my life, something of a necessity not only for health but for my relationship and well being.

So when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Give us today our daily bread" to me I read just that...bread. A loaf, a slice, enough for a sandwich, a cracker (like the ones you got a communion in the Catholic Church) or a chunk (like the one you get at an OceanHills communion). Over the years that phrase has meant so much more to me than I could ever imagine. God give me today, my fuel, my community, my relationships, Lord give me the things I need to live. Then we slowly come to the realization that God gives us everything we have, maybe not directly, but in the bible we read "everything we have has come from you, and we only give you what is yours already" (1 Chronicles 29:14). We're asking God for what is His already. So we find a sense of dependency, "give us our daily bread" means Lord I acknowledge what I have, my necessities come from you.

The second part of this prayer is "today", "give us today our daily bread." As if to say, today, tomorrow, when I pray this prayer Lord, give me what I need to live, give me the things that I need to survive, thrive, succeed, breath, be happy. I am dependent today of you Lord and I will be tomorrow and all my days. The scriptures remind us in Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers have known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Its not only that we are asking God for food today but we are handing him out lives and saying "God, give me what I need, for today...tomorrow has enough problems, give me what I need TODAY."

My encouragement for the kiddos is for them to say, Give me today, not enough to spill over tomorrow, but only for today, the blessings of your hands, the necessities of life that will allow me to glorify you Lord. If we can commit each day to say, Lord you are the providers, provide enough for today, so I don't become complacent and indifferent, so tomorrow again I will pray, give me TODAY my daily bread.

Love wins...

The Prayer Blueprint...Part #3

2011-01-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

Some of you may but most of you may not know, but in a couple of weeks I am going to be joining a few of the men in our church for a men's adventure bike trip. We are going to be jumping on a plane and heading over to Hawaii and we will be biking the big island of Hawaii, 7 days 300+ miles!!

So for the last few weeks we have been heading out 8am on Saturdays for our training rides. Our first week was about 15 miles, last week (our second week mind you) 46.5 miles. Needless yo say we are getting our training in quick! On our first ride, as I often do when I am participating in mindless exercising (i.e. riding a bike for 15 miles) my mind began to wander. For the most part when I ride my bike I keep a look out about 15-20 in front of me, while also keeping a close eye on the road below me, to look out for rock and other such object that could cause my bikes tire to blow up. So I'm thinking, keeping my eye on the road ahead and below, while also being in front of the group. I'm starting to get a little tired so i begin to peddle a little sluggishly and maybe even start to stand up. When all of a sudden, one of the guys goes in front of me, not maliciously but just because I was slacking a bit and he didn't want to get stuck behind our pace. The nice thing is that when someone comes in front of you, the take are resistance and therefore you can actually lose 30% of your effort while going the same pace, so that was sweet! All of a sudden I found myself thinking, wheres the road 15-20 feet in front of me, all I have is this 12in. gap between my tire and his tire. I don't like this, this doesn't seem safe, what if he see a hole, a branch, a rock and I don't, he gets out the way and I, well, lose my tire... Needless to say, not a good feeling. Then it hit me, I'm not the most experienced rider here, most likely this guy, Andy, was much more experienced than me, and he was. Also, like me, Andy probably also keeps a very close eye on the road when biking, cause like me, he too has small tired that could blow up easily. So my nerves eased and I began to hand over my need to know the road, know the scenery, have control and just follow Andy and trust he was a go guide and wouldn't lead my bike into ruins. Plus to go ahead of him, I would lose him taking some of the air resistance, so I would have to put my 30% back into my effort and also I would have to surpass his effort to get ahead, so I'm thinking rather than exhaust myself, I'm going to relax right here and enjoy the ride.

So the Lords Prayer, our series right now is on the Lord Prayer. We most likely have all grown up reciting this at one time or another. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." and at this juncture of the our series we are at "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Max Lucado talks about will meaning "strong desire". When we call Gods will, we are asking his strong desires, his heart, to be known to us. We are seeking to know Gods heart in our lives and have it take over. The way we do that is we walk with God, we let God lead our lives. We follow God and learn from Him. We first need to let God take the lead and this is at the heart of this prayer. To let God will be done, for him to take the lead so that eventually we will learn Gods heart.

Its scary, we like to look ahead a bit in our lives, to know what coming, to be in control. The problem is God wants to guide us, he wants to be ahead of us taking charge, guiding us, looking out for branched, holes, rough terrain that can blow up our lives. He offers safety and peace, the problem is we are too scared to let God take charge of our lives. Like me on the bike, it took trust and believing that whoever is in front of me has my best interest in mind. God does, God will, Gods heart is to Love you and keep you safe.

So let us pray this will, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heave" guide my life down here Lord, on this earth, today, now. I put my trust in you. If not life just becomes to exhausting, trying to keep the lead.

Love wins...

The Prayer Blueprint...Part #2

2011-01-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

I know part 2, just have taken a little break from the blog for the last few weeks, winter break, Christmas and such just kinda took off some time but we are back in action now!

We have started a new series at HIGHtide on the Lord Prayer. What is it? Why is it so short? Is that really it? Word for word compared to some of the great addresses from great leaders this seems to fall way behind. If only these words could move they would dance and sing a great tune in your mind. Each line filled to the brim with meaning and truth. So my goal is to walk you through this blueprint that Jesus laid out for his disciples and for us TODAY!

Last week we looked at verse 1, "Our Father in haven, hallowed be your name" we looked at Father, Abba, daddy. We are not addressing this sergeant Father figure, a manipulative dictator, like when my dad was mad at me and I would straighten up when he would say something and I would respond "Yes? FATHER!" as if to respond to a drill instructor. Instead Jesus says, when you pray, call on your DADDY, tender, outstretched armed daddy. Then "in", currently residing in, presently placed...in. God wasn't, or is going to be, but currently is, here, now, today, with us. Then haven, not an office down the street, not an island in Hawaii, but in haven. A wondrous, strange but ever so unique place...haven. Last, "hallowed be your name", translated plainly to Lord let your name be honored, and I challenged the kiddos to say Lord let your name he honored, over my anger, over my frustration with homework. Let your name be honored over my classmate that I cant stand, over the disagreements I have with friends, family and other. Lord, in my life, let your name be honored.

So this week we break up this next line, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

"Thy kingdom come..."

Jesus is calling his disciples, his people, to call God near, to call Jesus near. To say that here, where I am now, where I stand isn't good enough, God bring your kingdom near. Thy kingdom COME, Lord come near and bring your kingdom with you. What is Gods kingdom? Some buildings, a mote with some alligators, guards standing in from with a huge wooden gate that falls down when the owner decides to let you in? Or is it something different, more like Gods law, Gods ideals, Love, Mercy, Grace, that is a kingdom I want to come. Where, though, do we miss it, if that is Gods kingdom, do we move so far away that we have to keep calling is closer.

Jesus says that the thief, adversary, the devil, comes to steal, kill and destroy. That is the world that we live in, the world without God. When we stray away from God, when we shift, when we make our paths deviate from God, the thief takes residence in our lives. So Jesus says, Thy kingdom come, come back into my life, now, today, in this moment.

The questions, the take away that I will have for the kiddos is not only to ask God to come into their lives, but where do "thy kingdom" need to come in their day to day activities. Teaching them to pray, Lord thy kingdom come into my home, where I fight with my parents, let your Love, Mercy and Grace come into my friendship, my family, my school, sports, plays, into my every being.

Hope that this stirs into your prayer and necessity to ask God, "Thy kingdom come."

Love wins...

Attitude Adjustment...Philippians 2:5-11

2010-11-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

For the last couple of weeks we have been talking about our attitudes and how we need to align them more with the attitude of Christ. We talked about the idea that "we are not God" then the idea that we need to take the position of a servant in our lives. Learning to take the example that Jesus gave by serving those around him and telling his disciples that he came to sever not to be served.

So this week we are going to be talking about how even Jesus came into this world knowing that he was going to have to put up with this world. I want to begin by putting it out there that this world, our lives, this place we call home is not always going to be a happy place. Things are not always going to go out way, if you think, "well for me things are always going to be awesome", first off not even GOD himself could say that. We read in our passage in Philippians "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross".

What does that mean being obedient to death, accepting that we all die? That could be it and, yes, even Jesus had to died, what we find is that death couldn't keep its hold on Him. Or by death, like a lot of the time in the bible, does the writer mean life on earth outside of God. Life is a characteristic of God and death is a characteristic of the world outside of God. So what I think we need to read is that, although God promises a life of joy, happiness, and eternal peace, we need to learn that our lives here on earth are going to have some rough patched. Not to put a morbid blanket on life, but thats the reality, we learn that even Jesus, God in the flesh, had to put up with the unhappiness of this world, with the bad and the ugly.

So ultimately this weeks lesson is that realization, that the world is something that we are going to have to endure, become obedient to, and put up with. The joy, the good, the beautiful part of it all is that Jesus promises that when our time on earth is said and done, if we believe and have faith and follow Him, that its not the end of the road that there is something much more beautiful, much better, much more pure and full of life and that is a life with Him, with God, forever.

So hopefully we can come together tomorrow and try to get the joy out of life at HIGHtide.

Love wins...

Attitude Adjustment...Philippians 2:5-11

2010-11-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

So now that we have talked about not being GOD, what do we do and "not Gods"?

The next verse that we read in this passage is, "[BUT] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."

So not only did he make himself "not GOD" he took on the role of a servant. I have been thinking about this word "servant" and wondering what does it mean at the core of it. Does it mean helping others? Does it mean suffering so that others dont have to? Is it doing what others dont want to do? Or does being a servant really just mean meeting someones need, emotional, physical, economic need? I immediately thought about the passage when Jesus is washing his disciples feet and tells then I have come not to be served but to serve. What need what he meeting for them?

Jesus was meeting their need to be accepted. Followers of Jesus, the living God, how can one truly feel like they can get close to Jesus. By having Him wash your feet? The need to feel worthy, with the one billion cleansing rituals the Jewish tradition had, how can one truly feel CLEAN? Having Jesus wash you seems pretty suffice. Jesus was meeting the needs of his disciples because he knew he needed them to meet His needs on earth, to be His hands and feet. To serve His people in the future.

So the question then becomes if this need to be our attitude to set our hearts on service, how so we do that. What needs do we meet, what ones do we not meet...? What needs are more important than others.
I want to say all of them! I know that that is a tough task so I want to maybe give some direction with ways to serve. If its meeting a need, then the first step is to find a need, do the dishes NEED to get done, does the trash NEED to be taken out, does mom or dad NEED a hug or an "I Love you"? Does the teacher NEED me to behave, today more than ever? I dont think we are called to HUGE acts of service but meeting the needs of everyday happenings is a beautiful start, if the HUGE act is your thing then by all means....

So thats my push this week, also I will introduce Novembers BIG EVENT, our service project down in LA. So keep an ear out for more information on that!!!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!!!

Love wins...

Attitude Adjustment...Philippians 2:5-11

2010-10-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Philippians 2:5 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus"

Okay, well that is never going to happen...but if it did, how would someone go about doing that?

Pretty much what I would argue would have been my response as a junior higher to this verse. Seemingly out of my reach and also seemingly indescribable. Again and again, over the years, I have come to realize that there is so much in scripture that is describable and attainable, if only you look hard enough.

This next series is called attitude adjustment, most of us would agree that our attitude is not that of Christ's. So then how can I push the kiddos in that direction? Well this verse and the ones to follow, to me, are just what we need. The next verse begins to describe this "Christ-like attitude". Phil 2:6 "Who [Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,..."

Okay that seems like something I can work with, being God but not finding equality with God. Well I hope we all know that we are not God. However, I do think some of us may find equality with God at times. I myself only recently have found myself thinking I am something, which is much greater than me, but still feeling the equivalent to me. I play in a city basketball league, old guys taking themselves way to seriously should be the tag line to it. In any case I play in this league and was asked, by a friend to join his team. Lets just say, I'm not awesome at basketball, but on this team they might as well buy me the #23 Bulls Jersey and lets call me Jordan, cuz we are not very good. (0-6) to be exact. One game, and this is where the point is made, we were playing a team, we lost, in familiar fashion 48-28, I scored 24 of our points. So when asked who won the game, I turned and responded "I" lost the game. I then turned away embarrassed at my ego and then said, WE lost.

The point is that I thought I was the team, I'm on the team, I play with the team, I could have scored all the points for the team, but I am still on the team and play for the team. My 24 point contributed to the loss of the TEAM. I have found, that there is many times that we do this in our lives, the leaders and the kids alike. We think we are the team, we are the teacher, we are the parent, we are God. What this verse teaches us, and Jesus teaches us is that...well, we aren't. We are us and we need to know that roll. If the teacher tell us we did something wrong, well our attitude shouldn't be like mine is junior high, "no you're wrong". We need to take humility where ever we go and use it often.

So my challenge for the kids is to find places where they see themselves thinking "I'm God", "I'm write", "I know best" and be able to figure out if that's true of is they need to have Jesus' attitude when he was in the garden not wanting to die and prays to God, "yet not my will, but your be done" - Luke 22:42

Hope to see you all tomorrow!!!

Love wins...

Bible 101 Part 5...Prophecy

2010-10-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

What happens when it isn't quite enough, when you try and you try and you try but nothing gets done. You spend your time trying to communicate, in way you find most affective. You use peers, you use influential people. You use people that are so unlikely, that it become more likely to trust in them.

Well...some times you just have to do it your self, the old saying goes, and my dad reminded me of this many times when I was younger...If you want it done right you have to do it yourself...

So what do we get from this...prophesy, God wants his people to hear about Him, so he speaks Himself, through his prophets, His words through their mouths. Its quite the phenomenon, God speaking...to us...through us...his words...our ears...crazy.

So why are we talking about this, story, poetry, epistles, wisdom, now GOD OWN WORDS. How does this fit, how does this make sense. That the beautiful part of it all, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. We read a passage in 1 Thessalonians that all scripture is God Breathed, meaning that all the words of the bible come from God Himself. all the letter put down on these pages come from God himself. Is that not prophecy?

The way I see it and wants to put it is, what if I was friends with Justin Beiber, and I told all the kids in the youth group, hey Justin wants you all to come hang out with him during his next tour. Well maybe some kids might believe me, they might come along with me. Some would just look at me and say, sure maybe you know him, but why should I believe he wants us to go with him? So then I bring in a letter signed by him, saying Dear Fellow HIGHtiders.... Then maybe a few more would come along with me...All words from him, Justin Beiber, but nothing would compare to me having a Video Skype call from him and had the live feed showing in the LOFT and himself looking at us and say..."Come with me on my next tour!"

God, through the prophets, is speaking directly to his people. Until Jesus comes and puts flesh to Gods person, thats the closets the people could have gotten to Him personally. This was no easy task, there were many men that were called to this task and many of them that were killed for this task. Lucky for us that their words didnt die with them, we have documentation of what God said to his people, here, today, with us. His words...their lips..OUR EARS...

So my question to the kids, how do we respond, not only to the prophets, but to the bible. Since it is God breathed,how do we respond to the bible. As the finish the BIBLE 101 series, how do we respond. Do we see the bible and say, nope just story, nothing else? Do we say beautiful poetry, but thats were it ends? Is it just a how to guide? Or a book of wise sayings? Or is it God speaking to us, coming to us and inviting us into a relationship with HIM?

hope to see you all tomorrow!!

Love wins...

Bible 101 Part 4... Wisdom

2010-10-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” - Plato

This week we are venturing into WISDOM. There is a massive part in the bible that speaks on this subject, more so than that wisdom is threaded throughout the bible. So we are going to look at this chunk f the bible that is all about wisdom.

We have gone through story (introduction), poetry (the heart), epistle's (our strength), and now wisdom (our mind). We are going to be looking at Salomon, a man when offered anything in the whole world by God asked for wisdom.

What is wisdom? Wisdom is possessing discernment as to what is right or true coupled with just judgment to action within that. Meaning knowing what is right and knowing when to do it. So Solomon asked God for the knowledge of what is right and true and then asked, in the same question, to know when to act upon his knowledge justly. A pretty grand request if you ask me. Then there is Job, a man that seemed to be on Gods hit list. God takes everything away from him, his family, his friends, his health and darn near his soul. All to prove to Satan that it isn't humans bodies, life, friends and such that draws us to Him, but faith. What did Job prove, that God was right, pretty funny is you ask me. Then the other well known "wisdom" text in the bible is Ecclesiastes. Written by "The Teacher", to many its Solomon, but its not definitive. This book is in some senses pretty morbid or sad. The word meaningless s used more in this book than in the entire bible combined. "Everything is meaningless", the tagline for the chapter, is spoken about the writer, everything is meaningless, nothing is new under the sun...and what does he conclude with, everything is meaningless but our faith in GOD???

So we have that wisdom come from God, is displayed by God and ultimately leads us to God. So what I want the kids to hear this week is that God calls us to be people that are wise, not smart and knowledgable, but people that move around and conduct ourselves justly. Jon once told me that a compassionate person see's people floating down a rive and helps them out, but a man that is just goes up the river to see what is causing people to fall in and fixes it. Thats wisdom.

So this weeks challenge is for the kids to read 1 Kings 3:16-28, the story of two prostitutes that come to the king, one who's baby has died and she has taken the baby of the one next to her. She claims that the one next to her has rolled over and killed her baby in the middle of the night, but in reality she just put her dead baby next to her at night and took her live baby. They come to the king pleading their case, the king says this, we'll just cut the baby and half and you can each have half of it. The one who's baby had already died says YES, but the one who's baby was alive and about to be cut in half says NO and the king rules that the baby goes to the one that said NO, knowing it was her baby by her compassion. The questions for the kids are: do you feel like the lady that is trying to out smart the system, seemingly wise? Are you the lady that is full of compassion and wanting to save the babies life rather than have a baby, also seemingly wise? Or do you strive to be like the ruler, trying to give just action to the knowledge you have, very wise?

None of which are the sole characteristic of any of us, we all can be like all three at times, but I want to challenge the kids to lean to one of them, hopefully the king! But I know in school, we try to outsmart the teachers and such, with tests, homework and everything else. Then with our friends we lean towards compassion, maybe with an eating disorder, drugs, alcohol, and the million other things kids see their friends do and do nothing about it, they try to have compassion on their friends by keeping their secrets.
What if they could know what the right thing was to do and then DID IT!!! Thats my hope, my prayer and my desire for the kiddos.

Hope to see them all tomorrow!!!

Love wins...

Bible 101 Part 3... Epistles

2010-10-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Epistles? What the heck is that?... A letter, coming from the Greek word that means to send out, or message send.

The bible, as we know it at HIGHtide, now has 2 components to it, Story and Poetry. This week we are going to be looking at the part that is towards the back of the bible, the new testament. The Epistle's, mainly written by Paul, but also written by others. These are the letters that were send out by the early church leaders to regions, people, cities and specific people.

We are going to liken these letters to a "how to guise", an instruction manual, or my personal favorite a "how it works" guide to our faith and to our lives. Reaching all the way from Love, to do let others look down on you for being young, to preach with authority, to guard yourself with the shield of righteousness.

What are the letters good for, what can they teach us, what do they teach us about Jesus. Well....EVERYTHING! God used Paul and those early church leaders to speak into our lives, as people, then and even now. Many say that this is a living document, if we look at the manual for an Apple computer 10 years ago and then look at one today, well they are going to look a lot, A LOT, different. If they had a "how it works" show back 100 years ago it would look quite different than they do today. What about the Epistle's allow them to be just as applicable today then they were back then.

So now we have a part of the bible that gives us application today... things to put into action. From a story to dive into, to poetry to grasp out hearts to now a how to guide, to guise our actions, our lives, or daily routine. So this week I am going to have the students to look at a passage in the Epistle's and have them dissect what it is telling them to do and maybe even have them think about what that would have looked at for the people it was written to, 2,000 years ago.

With that, I hope to see you all tomorrow!!

Love wins...

BIBLE 101 Part 2...Poetry

2010-09-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

A softer side of scripture, scripture from the heart to our hearts. David, a man after Gods own heart, along with some others, poured his heart our on to the pages of the Psalms to help us cope, relate, and feel the pressures of our faith.

I personally Love poetry, it moves me, its stirs me, its helps me and its pushes me forward. In high school i began to write poetry, reading poetry and Loving poetry. The ink drawing its source from my heart, my soul weeping onto the page. My mind blank to my thoughts ready to be laid. Poetry was a way for me to express my most inner feeling with freedom and passion. I wrote about girls I like, a lot, a whole whole lot. I wrote about my faith, my friends, my family, my joys, my pains, my laughter and my sorrow. It was the best way to express myself that I could find.

Here the psalms are just that, a book of the heart of David and many other writers about their faith and their Love and their dislikes and their discomfort towards GOD. What a magnificent book in the bible, for the people of God to be able to pour out their hearts and their emotions about God. What a treat for us, there is a writer, Phillip Yancey, that wrote a book called "The Bible that Jesus Read". The book was on the old testament, there was a chapter on the book about the psalms and it was titled "Spirituality in different Keys", like musical keys, how we go from highs to lows and everything in between in our spirituality, in our lives and the psalms point that out beautifully.

What I want the kids to see this week is that the bible had a second, slightly deeper layer to it. From story, a very surface level, to poetry, a slightly deeper layer. A layer of emotion, scripture from the heart to our hearts. A level that can help us cope with the varied emotions we may have towards God form full devotion to utter discomfort and dislike with God.

So what I want the kids to take away is that the bible gives us nurture for our hearts, nurture for our emotions and walks in our peeks and valleys. So what I want the kids to do is to read Psalm 23, and meditate on that, as Jon likes to say READ, REFLECT and RESPOND to that passage.

That is all for this week, hope to see everyone there tomorrow!!

Love wins...

BIBLE 101 Part 1...Story

2010-09-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

At HIGHtide this week we are going to begin out series on the BIBLE. What I want is to give the kids a new perspective on the bible as a whole. Last year we talked about how the bible has to main parts, Old Testament and New Testament. We looked at how the Old Testament was God pursuing us, his people, and how that idea was intertwined throughout the Old Testament. The New Testament, however, was our call to follow God, to pursue God, to draw nearer to God.

This year we are going to look at the bible in 5 parts.
- Historical Narrative...Story
-Poetry
-Epistles...Manual
-Wisdom...Food for thought
-Prophecy...From the mouth of God

This week we are looking as the bible in the form of a Story. For much of the bible, its a historical narrative, from the time of Adam to Noah, to David, to Jesus to Paul, there is a story line moving throughout the bible.

I am going to pointing out some of the kids favorite stories of when they were younger, but most likely they were my favorite stories but the kids have heard of them. "Cat in the Hat", "The Giving Tree", "Curious George". Those are all stories that they remember , they can quote, they can tell you about, stories that they Love. What do these stories do, they are a narrative of some event, the history or past happenings of a character and such. Although those characters are man made and fictional it doesn't take away from what their stories do, they move us, change us, make us happy.

For most of the Old Testament, there is a story being made by man, from the beginning of man up until Jesus, there is a story. There is documentation of people's journey through life, families, conflict, war, laughter, joy, pain all the parts of a story are there.

So if this is true, why don't we see the bible as a story. I believe it is because of the other parts, the parts that we named, that keep us from seeing the bible, in part, as just a story. Why not start there, why not begin the journey into the bible, as looking at it as simply a story.

That's my challenge for the kids this week, maybe you have been reading your bible all your life as an obligation, as a textbook, as something that you know is going to give you something in return but you can never seem to get it out of it. What if now, you read it as a story, something your engaged in, something you follow, even if you skip the parts f prophecy, wisdom, poetry and such, just focus on the story, how would the bible look then. For those that never had picked up a bible in their lives, what a better way than to pick it up as a story, a nice, gentle entry into a book that will change your life and the world around you, but to just see it as story.

So that's my charge for this week, the bible is, in large part, a story, so lets see it that way. If only for now, lets take it as a story....next week POETRY in the bible.

Hope to see you all tomorrow

Love wins...

First High Tide....LETs GO!!

2010-09-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

So here we go, this is it, HIGHtide!!!!

High Tide starts tomorrow, Tuesday (9/14), night! 7:00pm-8:30pm

This is HIGHtide gone Orange, a place for the parents to come and see what we are talking about every week. Also there are going to be some talking points at the end of every post so that you, the parents, will have things to ask the kids about the talk every week.

This week we are going to begin with a little intro to HIGHtide. The DNA of HIGHtide, what makes us what we are.

The basics...There are 5 components that are at the heart of our ministry.

1. SAFETY - We want HIGHtide to be a safe place, a place where kids can come and not fear being made fun of, where they can come and know that who is there is going to Love them, care for them, be there for them in their hurt, joy, pain, laugher ECT. This is a fundamental part to HIGHtide.

2. COMMUNITY - We want to create a place where the students, or as I usually refer to them the kiddos, can create a sense of community. HIGHtide should be something they belong to, take hold of and own as their own. Also community meant that we want to connect them to the community here, in SB, but also at large, around the block and around the world.

3. FRIENDS - We want HIGHtide to be a place for the kiddos to make friends, but also a place that they feel SAFE to being their friends. We are after all trying to bring not just our children but Junior Highers all over SB into the Loving arms of Christ. So we want to create a very very very FRIENDLY atmosphere.

4. FUN - We want to have FUN FUN FUN here at HIGHtide. Much like Club 56, we Love our games, although we may be a little less over the top excitement, we have fun don't think we don't, cuz we do!

5. CHRIST - Last but not least, we want the kiddos to encounter CHRIST in a personal and intimate way. We want the students to know, Love, care for, draw near to, have their hears broken and put back together by CHRIST and CHRIST LOVE.

So that is HIGHtide, lets come together this year and enjoy, have fun, bring friends and draw near to one another and to CHRIST.

Hope to see you all tomorrow,

Love wins...

Shore Break #6

2010-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Gosh has the weather be any better, well today maybe, but last week?

Lets hope that it keeps on rolling, tomorrow we are at East Beach from 12p-4p. $5 for lunch!

Thursday we have our hike from 1-3, meet at the Loft

Then Friday we have our service project from 4p-6p, again meet at the Loft.

Hopefully you can make it to all the events.

Also remember that Surf Camp is next week, 3rd-8th grade are welcome, so invite your friends and come yourself!!!!

Hope to see you all soon!

Love wins...

Shore Break #5

2010-07-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So it looks like the sun is making a run for the horizon and making its way to us this week! So lets make the most of it, tomorrow we are going to be at the beach from 12p-4p, come and hopefully enjoy some sun, some BBQ and some good times with friends. We are going to be at East Beach, come on down and join us.

Also this Thursday we are going to be going on out 3rd hike, we are going to be taking the rattlesnake trail this week, so come and join us and we prepare for our hike in Yosemite in August!!!

Hope to see you all soon!

Love wins...

Shore Break #4

2010-07-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer and hope you had a great 4th of July!

Just a couple of reminders for this week and what is coming up this month:

Tomorrow: Shore Break from 12p-4p at East Beach

Friday: Second Service Project 4p-6p @ the Loft

July 26-30: Unleashed Surf Camp, don't forget to sign up, its not open to 7th and 8th graders, if you want to be a leader mark your calendars for the Wednesday before for our leaders meeting.

Hope to see you all very soon,

Love wins...

Shore Break #3

2010-06-28T10:24:00.001-07:00

Hey ya'll another day another week!

Just a reminder that we are on for tomorrow after noon from 12p-3p at East Beach for Shore Break!!
Come and enjoy some volleyball, BBQ and the good old Beach. Remember that all your friends are welcome and that its open to all grades from 5th-12th!!

bring $5 for food and sodas!

Also this Thursday marks our first Hike on Thursdays! 1-3, meet at the Loft (promptly so we can get out to our hike on time!!!) then pick up also is at the Loft.

We are in "training" for our BIG HIKE in Yosemite in the middle of August so make sure you come! Also you have to make 5 of the 7 hikes to be able to go to Yosemite so make sure you show UP!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Love wins...

Shore Break #2

2010-06-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

So we are rolling, week 2 of shore break and we have our first service project this week!

Last week we had 19 students come in and out of Shore Break for some BBQ, volleyball, soccer, sand castle building and for some even an couple bee stings...:(

But fear not the bees should have moved on so you should come join us today at 12:00p at East Beach!

Also this Friday marks our first service project that will lead us up to our Lake Nas trip this summer!

We moved them to every other Friday because it will enable us to join some projects that I think will be more fun for us and just be better, the Saturday projects were very limited for the time slots that we had asked for. So this gives us more flexibilities as far as the projects we get to do!

So I hope you can join us today and Friday!

Love wins...

HIGHtide Summer Begins

2010-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

ITS HERE! Summer is upon us, although the clouds might show differently, fear not we shall press forward!

SO what does that mean for Junior Highers in Santa Barbara...well a whole lot of fun...

We start off with a wonderful tradition from last year SHORE BREAK. Shore break is out weekly beach gathering down at East Beach, we have volleyball, soccer, tanning, swimming, skim boarding, and most importantly burgers and dogs. The cost is $5 for the snacks and the drinks. All 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are invited. This is just meant to create a community among the youth and for the youth to have something to look forward to every week. So come join us and lets have some fun together this summer.

Also this Saturday we have our first service project. Last year, in August, we went to Lake Nacimiento with the group for a couple days of amazing Wake Boarding. This year we are doing this same trip, accept to be able to go on the trip you must attend 4 of 6 service project that will be happening every other Saturday throughout the summer from 4-6p. We will be participating in small project around town and we will also be having a little lesson learning about the different encounters with Jesus in the bible.

This Blog is going to be updated every Monday with just information of what we are doing and what we are leaning each week. Hopefully you'll keep an eye on it!!!

Love wins...

Orange Thought #11

2010-05-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

After learning last week and discussing what it means to pray the "search me" prayer. Asking God to come into our hearts, our minds, our souls and point out the things that we are doing that are of the "offensive way" and also the things that are in the "way everlasting". Asking God to point out the ways we are living well and not living so well. We also looked at a passage in Job, (Job 31:6) "weigh me Lord on honest scales...", basically looking at how much of each we would have on each side of a scale, the offensive way and the way everlasting.

This week we are going to be looking at what it looks like to pray the "stretch me" prayer. This prayer is one that we would pray to ask God to test us. Ask God to take us to our limits and then past them. This wouldn't a prayer the would be burdensome, but would be one that would create perseverance.

In James 1 we read, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its works so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

We have been talking about how when we want to mature in our faith we need to stop asking God to give us, to provide for us, not that that's bad, but for growth in our faith we need to learn to start asking God to give us the reigns of our actions instead of an outlet for when we don't have it quite in us. Jon always uses the analogy that when we are young in out faith we need to ask and ask and ask God for things, much like a child need to feed himself, or needs to get clothed. As mature people of faith we begin to ask God how we can grow our faith, through perseverance, much like an adult begins to take care of himself.

Not, however, saying that we don't always need to rely on God. God is our rock and the kids need to know that but James even says that we need to develop perseverance in out faith to be fully mature. So that is what I want to have the kids hear. That we need not ask God to comfort us with the things that are safe, but begin to ask God to stretch us, to test us, to push us to our limits and then past them.

Orange Thought #10

2010-05-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Only 4 more weeks of HIGHtide for the 2009-2010 school year,

Why not start a 4 week series on prayer?

Jon and I were talking about a passage, Psalm 139:23-24, where David prays Search me oh Lord and know my heart. We thought how wonderful it would be if we could get out students to go away from the traditional, Lord help me, Lord give me, Lord bring me peace, all good prayers and God wants to and can provide. For students that want to mature in their faith, how neat would it be if they could start asking God to evaluated them in a sense.

The next 4 weeks look something like:

-Search me prayer
-Stretch me prayer
-Know me prayer
-Use me prayers

Looking at what it mean to come to God authentically, but more verbally authentically. What I think tends to happen is that we come to God knowing he know everything about us, but somehow thinking that our poor judgment yesterday got by Him. Or the gossip somehow never landed upon His ears. So we pray as if we are living a good life, but what would it look like for the students to try praying that God look at and stir in them a need to change or look at what might not be so great inside of each of them. Understanding that God is graceful and full or mercy for us, but he wants us to acknowledge that we arent perfect. Coming to him in prayer knowing there are things we dont openly admit to God, things that we need Him to bring out into the open for us.

So my challenge this week is asking the kids to pray the search me prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 and see what stirs in their hearts. Seeing as we just finished a series on hypocrisy, and we defined it as drawing us away from God, what better than a series to help ourselves dream nearer to God.

Orange Thought #9

2010-04-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, here's the scoop for this week

So we have been discussing what hypocrisy is, looks like, where its found and so this week we are looking at why is it a big deal and how it affects us.

Amy, your leader will be speaking on the "why" and "how" of hypocrisy. She is going to be taking the fear approach to this.

Who cares? Jesus
How does it affect us, well it creates fear, in us and and those around us.

How will be able to meet the standards of Jesus if those that are high up cant even do it? Why would I want to try and meet those standards if, when I fail, God is going to punish me?

So the angle she is taking is that there is fear, but in three manifestations, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

Emotional:
How can I meet those standards? How can I feel adaquit to be the person Jesus wants me to be? Do I need to feel bad all the time, because I mess up all the time?

Physical:
Is there reprocutions for my actions? Will God punish me for my wrong doing? My family, my kids, me friends?

Spriritual:
Do I respect the Lord? Do I follow him intimately and know his power in my core?

These are the ways that people fear the Lord and I want the students to find a fear, not of being affraid, but of respect, or reverence of understanding his power.

Orange Thought #8

2010-04-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

So this week is a big one, how? How do we work of hypocrisy? How do we fix this seemingly ever present problem in our worlds, in our churches, in our families, in ourselves?

Seems that since it is everywhere that no matter what we do that its going to find its self into out lives. From seeing it at our church and feeling that if the church can do it, well why not me? Why should I work on it when the very place that preaches against it is doing it?

If our family does it, seems to me that its going to be integrated into our lives, and well if we do it, how we stop?

I think the answer is simpler that many may seem, Jesus preaches that what the people are doing isn't wrong completely, what he does seem to point out is that how they are going about it is wrong. At one point he tells the pharisees, you have promoted one thing but forgotten justice, mercy and faithfulness. In essence you have been preaching to people but have gone away from me. Those three things are things the bring us to cling to Jesus, to God. So what Jesus seems to pointing the finger to is that we are straying from God. So what seems to logical step to avoid being a hypocrite...draw closer to God and his will. Jon once said that when we decide to follow Christ we become better at life, meaning that drawing our hearts closer to Him and his commands and his will makes us better people, better Lovers, less of the hypocrites that we once were.

So a little more practical step, Jesus says when hes talking about making oaths, saying your going to do something, and then breaking them, doing the opposite. Simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.

So how do we do all this, well I know for me scripture has become a away to draw near to Christ, prayer is a way that people have fallen upon to draw near to Christ. Solitude, writing in a journal, service these are all ways, you just need to find the way that best suits you. Then when you are out in the world simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Orange Thought #7

2010-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Here is this weeks lesson plan...Where do we see hypocrisy in our lives? We are going through in this series the who, what, where, why, who and why of hypocrisy. Last week we talked about what is hypocrisy, this week is the "where".

So as I was reflecting on this I thought that there are three major places that we tend to see this in our everyday lives, or maybe just that we notice it the most.

Our church, our family and ourselves.

Taking a look at those there there seems to be something about them, that hypocrisy just seems to ooz in and through them.

I know that growing up and even now the church has this air about it that seems to reek of hypocrisy that people cant seem to get passed. The times I have heard but Jonny dont you work at a church, when I let a foul word come out of my mouth. Or when they hear I had a drink with dinner, or have dreams of getting married. The things that people assume the church says we cant do and then we the people that go to church or work at a church go ahead and do out selves is countless. What I want to shine a light into for the kids is that the church isnt at it seems, people somewhere some how have made the church much more pristine than it actually is. They made it look, smell, feel, taste like something that it isnt. People have dragged it further and further from what it is, a bunch of messed up people seeking after a right and intimate relationship with God. With that I think its important for the students to know that even though we are messed up as people, its not okay to go steal, get drunk, sleep around ECT. But that its by grace that we are given second chances. The hypocrisy peice is that we as the church body need to shine the light on the church that is the truth, we're not perfect, we dont have it all together, but its by Jesus that we are allowed to grow closer to God, and thats the authenticity piece that Jesus wants when he bashes the Pharisees for being hypocrites.

Then the family, well my family could be a perfect example for this. We from the outside look like a great family, my mother seems the part of a good mother, caring gentle. My dad seems a wonderful father; protector, provider and loves his family. As a whole, well we go to Disneyland, we go camping, we do this and do that, that make it seems that we as a family are just fine. Just beneath the surface there is a world of pain, dis-function, disorder and lack of Love. My parents fight...all the time, my relationship with my parents is not that great, my parents haven't slept in the same bed for years. There just is a lot to point at the idea that we are a "good" and "perfect" family and laugh. The hypocrisy here is that we need to learn to see this for what it is. I remember being ashamed of this, my family IS perfect, so Im going to keep that notion up for who ever was concerned. My family DOES have it all together so Im going to keep making you think that. In reality they arent perfect and dont have it together and the sooner I can embrace that the quicker I cant be okay with is.

Then ourselves, well we're all different there, but its there. The main thing to know is that we arent perfect but God grace allows up to draw near to Him and feel afraid to reach out to Him. God want the who were are not the what we are supposed to be.

So parents take a look at these things with your kids, explore them, discuss them. Show them that its okay that things aren't perfect but that graces makes them perfect.

Orange Thought #6

2010-04-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

This week we are back on and beginning out new series, hope you all enjoyed your time off, after a long stretch of being busy it must have been nice to have a week off to relax.

Just wanted to fill you in on what we are talking about tomorrow night at HIGHtide!

We are stating out new series on the who, what, where, why and how of hypocrisy. Taking a look at why this seemed to get Jesus so worked up, and why he always pointed the finger at the religious leader when he talked about his.

This week is the what? What is hypocrisy? How does Jesus define it? How do we in out society define it? And how at HIGHtide are we going to define it?

Jesus' definition:
In Matthew 23 Jesus had a few definitions of it in line with what the Pharisees were doing. First off he describes it how they deny people the gate to Heaven but they themselves do not enter it, the clean the outside of the cup but the inside is filthy, they bury their ancestors and say if the lived in their times they would have been as bad as them. At the heart of it I think Jesus is saying, your are trying to look good to the world, perfect and put together. On the inside, however, you are dirty filthy and all messed up. You hearts, Pharisees are all for God but far from God. You are hypocrites.

World’s definition:
1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

HIGHtide's definition:
What I want the kids to hear and see here is that hypocrisy is having out wants to be like Jesus, our wants to be the wants of Jesus, our actions to look like we follow Jesus, but in reality we are far from God. Our actions are not lead by our hearts. We want to badly to be like Jesus, so we fake it, make it seem like we have together, but really there’s not Jesus in our hearts. What hypocrisy is to us is having a heart that is far from Jesus but our actions making us seem like we are closer than ever.

So the point of this series is to teach the kids to see that we don’t have to have it all together, look perfect in Gods eyes, look Christian to the world, what Jesus wants is out hearts to be right with him. If our hearts are in pursuit of him, but we are a mess on the outside, that’s okay, that’s reality, that authentic, and Jesus, pleads for it!

So this week and for the next weeks to follow encourage, push, teach your kids to be authentic, to embrace the messiness of life, but have a heart that is in constant pursuit of Jesus!

Orange Thought #5

2010-03-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

So I was being reminded this morning of how on Monday of Holy Week Jesus was in the temple, saying how it was supposed to be a house of prayer, so that made Ryan think about how today he wanted to spend the day in Prayer. Then Thursday is the day where Jesus washed his disciples feet knowing that in one day he would be given over to the officials of the day. Friday of course is Good Friday, the day that marks the cross, where Jon reminded us yesterday of its importance and meaning, and we celebreate it for those reasons. Then Sunday of course it Easter, where we celebrate Jesus being risen, and that being our joy and hope in our faith.

The Orange Thought is this, lets takes these days and celebrate them with our kids.

Monday (today) take a time out of today, 5, 10, 15 minutes out of your day and pray with your kids. Just pray with them, sit down with them, lay next today, drive with them, but at one point pray with your kids.

Thursday take some time and serve your children, show your appreciation for them, celebrate them, go out of your way for them. I think they can learn so much about Jesus last ministry before the cross, by your actions towards them.Then maybe tall them why you are doing that act of service.

Friday, go to the good Friday service, then stay afterward for our showing of the Passion of the Christ, dinner with be provided by a family in our church, they will provide Palazzio for everyone. If you have plans and cant make the service make sure to take time out of your day and sit down with your kids to talk the cross. Takes Jons message this Sunday and talk about it with your kids.

Sunday, Easter service. Come and celebrate with us at OceanHills. "He is Risen", we have a wonderful service planned out for everyone. So lets share the Love this Sunday!!!

Hope that we can take this week and really try to live out the Love of Christ and impliment it on our kids this week!

Love wins...

Orange Thought #4

2010-03-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

So this week we are taking some time off from HIGHtide, the way I heard it from the kids is that most of then have to present their science fair projects tomorrow night. Also my leaders, 8 of them at Potters Clay and 3 back home for spring break, are gone. So with that this Tuesday we are off. Next Tuesday we are back on, then off for spring break. I know it get a little confusing but I think we can all mangae.

As far as HIGHtide Orange is involved, I think this week would be a great time for you the parents to be talking to your students about service and also serving them. I Loved Jons example last night about how, even though he is the father of the family, doesnt put him a position to make others serve him, but like Jesus, he can go and serve them. While at the same time instilling in his family, his daughter how to be a servant.

This week for me, I see it as an oportunity to teach our kids, through actions, through conversations how to become servants. In a couple weeks when we return from spring break, we will begin a series on hypocrisy. Talking about the who, what, where, when, why, and how of it. What a better way to transition into that if the parents of the students could begin, but not just telling them to be servants but acting it out, in Love.

Love wins...

Orange Thought #3

2010-03-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone...

So here is this weeks Think Orange thought:

For the last couple of weeks we have been discussing Love here at HIGHtide, talking about how Love is a lifestyle, "I Love you" has to be keep sacred and from the heart and then last week talking about hoe Love is not just an emotion but a driving force.

This week we are going to be watching a nooma video o n Love called "Flame". Nooma is a video series done by a pastor from Michigan, Rob Bell, where he takes topics of discussion in the church and does 10-15 min videos and talks about each topic.

Flame is surrounding the topic of Love in the church and the bible. How there are essentially three words that are used in the bible that mean Love, but each with a specific meaning or implication.
            Philia: The love that we have for family and friends.
            Eros: The intimate Love we have for the oposite sex, where we derive erotic
            Agape: The Love that God has for his people and calls his people to have for Him and one another.
Rob Bell then goes to describe each one individually as a lighter, that has a small flame, one that is in it of itself a flame. Then at the end he end us having a bonfire to show that when all these Loves come together their individual flames create something much bigger and stronger.

This is where the last three weeks have been leading,
            Love as a lifestyle would be Philia, how we Love those around us; family, friends, teachers we are called to Love them with that Love that should permeate out beings.
            "I Love you" being kept sacred, is Eros, how we need that phrase to be for those that we are so tightly knit to, to those that are sacred and our hearts are drawn to.
            Love as not just a feeling but a driving force as Agape, the Love that should move us and moved God towards us.

So this week talk to your kids about Love, talk, demonstrate, show your kids the Love that God has for them and the Love you have for them, let them see how to Love by how He Love and you Love.

Orange Thought #2

2010-03-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

This week we are staying on the topic of Love. Last week it was the phrase, "I Love you". Taking a look at Love as more than just a work, but it should be an act of the heart rather than an act of the lips. Taking a quote from Jesus when he was the confronting the Pharasees as hypocrites and saying "you honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me", how sometime the "I Love you" we say is far from the "I Love you" our hearts feel.

I want to, this week, take another look at Love, but the focus is on Love as a feeling. Is it just that, a feeling? Warm, fuzzy, cuddley feeling that makes us feel good. Or a stirring, a moving, a "driving force" that causes us to move and act upon it? Taking a couple looks at how it moved Jesus, in an through out his ministry. Where he fed 4 thousand, it says that he said "I have compassion for these people" that had been listening to him for 3 says, so that moved him to feed them, to meet their needs, to Love them. Then the time when Jesus has the man with leoprasy and how he could have healed him, but Love, who he was, moved him, physically to touch this man. Love is a driving force, Jesus just didn't feel Love for us, he acted on Love for us.

What I want the kids to hear is that we need to take our Love that we feel and make it a Love that moves us, that is our driving force. So how do we do that. It says Love the Lord your God WITH all your heart, WITH all your soul and WITH all your mind. Love should move us, we need to use our minds, souls and hearts to Love others. So I know we arent going to have Love heal our friends cold, stomatch ache, cancer, but we can bring them Orange Juice and Soup. Love wont heal our best friends broken heart, but Love can move us to call them and to listen to them. We need to take baby steps, but step none the less, towards Loving others. Love should move us, not make us feel good.

This is where we can come together, I need you, the parents to talk to your kids about this, but also try your best, as I try my best, to act on it ourselves. Push the kids to act out Love, not just feel it. So may we do that this week, and the weeks to come!

Love wins...

Orange Thought #1

2010-02-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

This week at High Tide we are taking a look at Love. Last week one of our leaders spoke on Love, Love as a lifestyle. How when he had his first kiss with his first girlfriend his initial reaction was to utter "I Love you". He went on to look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and how that is what Love should be, if we say "I Love you" we need to be ready to live out this verse. His kiss wasn't what made Love, he wasnt ready to be patient, he wasnt ready to be kind...but when we Love someone we need to be ready to live out this verse. Love is a lifestyle, not an action.

So this week I wanted to elaborate on it a little bit. Love isn't just a word but an act of the heart. We don't Love just because we say "I Love you". In this day in age we, the kids, myself, my leaders, this world, use the word Love so often, for everything, things we do and things we don't Love. The word Love is slowly becoming more diluted to the ears that it falls upon. I'm talking about fortune cookies and how when you first get one that means something to you or you like it for whatever reason, you get happy. Then your friend turns to you and says oh yeah I got that one the other day. Ouch, well guess it didn't mean that much after all. Then Ill talk about how my mom would always tell me she Loved me, all the time, every day, muliple times a day, but for some reason it didnt hit me like it should, maybe it was that we didnt get a long super well. Whatever it may have been, her "I Love you" was far to diluted to me and my ears and my heart. My dad on the other hand has said "I Love you" to me, since I can remember, 6 times. Let me tell you, when those word hit my ears an seep into my heart, I cry, I bawl, I cant contain myself. It is sacred to me.

My challenge, my hope, my push, if for the kids to find a way to make that word sacred again. How can I act like I Love them and they know it and me not have to say it, not dilute it with my words but make it potent with my actions.

So here's where we go orange. Where can you, the parents, work with me on puching this notion towards your kids. I know that maybe there could be some disagreement, in which case contact me and lets talk about it. I want my talks to be topics where you the parent could talk to your kids about and we can come together and work towards growing the kids closer to Christ. So take this topic and discuss them with your kids.

Love wins...

We are going Orange!

2010-02-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

Ocean Hills is trying on something that is Brilliant!

In efforts to bring the family and the church together, OceanHills is thinking Orange. "Thinking Orange" partakes of two parts, the "red" which is the family; Love, compassion, and care, then the "yellow" which is the church; light,sun and goodness. Together the two colors make Orange, the idea is that for a more affective way to raise children to grow closer and more in Love with Christ we need to work together and begin to Think Orange.

This site is designed to do just that, Think Orange. My hope is that I can equip you, the parents and students, with tools to come together with what is going at High Tide.

My hope is that in the hour or two we spend together can then be stretched out into the many out that you, as the parents, then have with the students. So every week, on Monday, I will posting up the weeks "talk" or discussion topic, along with some questions to talk about with the students, much like the one that my leaders will be given to discuss during our small group time as the end of every group. The goal is that when the kids leave you, the parents, will then know what we have talked about, before and after the group, so that the topic doesnt die right after they walk out the door. Instead it can thrive and grow in the household, and most likely have a better chance of making it to school. and so on and so on. Most importantly this Orange thinking is moving toward the goal that the kids can have the two major influences to their faith and Love for Christ working together to have a greater affect on the students as the grow more in love with Christ.

So stay tuned and keep the site on your bookmarks and lets begin, as HIGHtide, to "Think Orange"

Love wins....