Watch the students of Island Ukuleles from Canada perform a program of Hawaiian tunes, with a hula show by Halau Hula O Napualani on May 19, 2012 from 2p-4p at New Hope Seattle Church 19350 Firlands Dr., Shoreline, WA 98133

A tantalizing, no boundaries, program of music from Hawaiian tunes like “Henne Henne Kou Aka,” and “Hawaii Aloha” to rock’n roll classics like “Proud Mary” and Johnny B. Goode”. Island Ukuleles provides an offering of music of the eras with happy swing time tunes like “Aba Daba Honeymoon,” to the sultry and rich flavored Spanish “Mantillas” complimented by the delicate, delightful harmonies of Mozart’s “Minuet and Trio.” Island Ukulele’s vocal and instrumental music is diverse, thoughtful and wonderfully entertaining!

Youth representing twelve high and middle schools from the Victoria area in British Columbia, Canada are given a multi-dimensional musical experience with “Island Ukuleles”. They are encouraged to master skills, to excel and to develop into confident performers. This exceptional family of ukulele players represents the good in young people. They are community contributors, dedicated and supportive of one another and they love to entertain at home and abroad! They especially love to work, play and tour with their ever energetic and enthusiastic Music Director, Tina Horwood. Visit http://www.islandukulele.org for more information about the group.

Ticket Information: $12 donation, benefit for the Youth Group Kenya Africa Mission trip to help build a library and stock it with books. Spaghetti dinner available by donation.

Reservations online or call 206-299-2662, 206-478-0772

Wow! Good Friday… This is the day over 50 years ago that my family became Christians. It is weird to know the date that my family was saved because I start to realize the paths cleared before me. Grandparents and parents forged a path through my life to instill a Christ like compass inside of me. I cannot tell you how thankful I am (even though as a kid, I fought it tooth & nail). Now as I reflect on today, knowing that last year on Good Friday Jamil was baptized, I understand that passion and urgency to have your child solidify a relationship with Christ before you release them into the world. While some of the methods my family used, I still do not agree with… I am starting to understand the heart behind it. I woke up this morning and weighed myself (if you don’t know, I gave up a lot for lent this year and some of which was sugar and carbs) and realized I had reached my goal. I lost 40lbs in 40 days! As soon as I realized this, I burst into Jamil’s room as he is getting ready for school, and tell him the good news. He looked at me with very proud eyes and was truly impressed (I think because he had doubt I would do it). It was an awesome moment because he knows what it took for me to accomplish this. He was there with me while everyone else around ate what they wanted and I powered through my salad. He saw me at the morning journaling’s, that we do with the youth group before school, as they had chocolate chip pancakes and I drank a non-flavored protein shake. Why is that so cool you ask? Because he witnessed me do what he knew I should be doing. As I come out of this lent (or boot camp), I feel a different kind of discipline. A discipline of perseverance. A discipline of patience. A discipline of obedience. Now I would love to say I did this all on my strength but that is NOT the case at all. As the children church song says, “I am weak but he is strong…” and it is so true. I didn’t have to turn to my self for strength and then live with the guilt that I had let myself down. I turned to the father for strength who renews it EVERY morning. There is a lot I learned this year and it seems fitting that it is the anniversary of the Paz’s salvation. Thank you LORD for all you have done in my life (as well as my families). I thank you for your daily renewal. I thank you that you are strong so that I don’t have to always be. I thank you for you compassionate discipline. I thank you for all of the blessings that you have given and the ones yet to come. Joshua 24:15 “… But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

AMEN

Ouch! Growing up in church I can remember year in and year out the high and holy day of Easter would come… and then it would go. After the eggs had been found, the candy eaten, the bunny ears and basekts put on the clearance shelves in stores it was back to business as usual. I had been a part of many Easter cantadas in my early years at the Nazarene church. I was usually in the choir singing “Hosanna, the King is Risen”, but occasionaly I’d get to dress up too. It was strange seeing the various people I went to church with every week now with fake facial hair, fake dirt on their cheeks and potato sack costumes. It was really strange and rather uncomfortable seeing someone that sang from the hymnal in the pew next to me now walking up to the stage in a loin cloth carrying a fake cross. I thought to myself, “I’d never do that”. I was, however, happy to put on one of those “authentic” Jerusalem robes and some sandals in order to murmer and shout in the crowd as the fake Pontius Pilate stood in feigned bewilderment at the condemnation of the fake Jesus. I don’t despise those times by any means nor do I look down on those who participate in such elaborate plays. Personally speaking though, it didn’t do much to make me aware of the suffering Christ went through, the reality of the Resurrection or what all of that had to do with the here and now world of jeans and shoes and the nagging feeling that I would never fit in at school.

Fast forward many years and I find myself working on an Easter message and praying with all of my heart that I’m not perpetuating more of the same from those early days at the Nazarene church. New Hope doesn’t plan on having anyone in robes or loin clothes (thank goodness). I can’t help but conclude, though, that if people actually met the Person of Jesus Christ and experienced the power of His Spirit and were washed in His full forgiveness at an Easter service there wouldn’t be any way you could keep that person from knocking down the door of the church the following week just to know Him more!

I’ve just read recently that a church in Toledo, Ohio is giving away a house on Easter Sunday. The requirement for being considered for the big giveaway is to attend one of the worship services. With a fresh desperation and clarity I just want to be sure that this Easter I’m giving people Jesus. Yes, we will have an Easter egg hunt for the kids, a brunch, great music and powerful stories, but apart from Jesus no one is going to be changed. Isn’t that what Easter is about anyhow? After studying the book of Luke for the past couple of months I feel like I am meeting Him all over again. He is much more radical, beautiful, scandalous, powerful, strong, and dangerous to the religious traditions of men then I have ever realized. He is shaking me up, removing the veil, and lifting the religious fog. I can’t stomach the thought that anyone would come to New Hope this Easter and find something that is simply safe and comfortable. I’m praying for a dangerous Easter! That this Sunday would be a line in the sand, a point of demarcation in the lives of the over-churched, the unchurched, and everyone in between. That we wouldn’t be simply inviting people to a nice church service, but rather an encounter with the Resurrection Lord! I want to invite you to join me in a prayer that has been rocking my world since I read it in a book on the life of Jesus by John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw:

Jesus, show me who you really are. I pray for the true you. I want the real you. I ask you for you. Spirit of God, free me in every way to know Jesus as he really is. Open my eyes to see him. Deliver me from everything false about Jesus and bring me what is true.

During this awesome time of celebration when we acknowledge what the one true God did for us in sacrificing his Son so we might be saved from our own sin nature and receive eternal life, we can also be thinking of those who do not know the truth about God and his amazing gift. I believe God recently showed me what he is doing to reach a particular group who are caught up in a blinding smoke screen, the likes of which keeps trying to engulf you and I.

Each year, Ann and I journey to Snowbird, UT for a week of skiing. We look forward to joining an amazing group of friends to play in Wasatch Mountain powder that is unlike any other we have experienced. Despite the anticipation, each time I fly into or drive through Salt Lake City, I have a sense of foreboding. This year was no different. I see the “temple” built by the riches of a cult that claims to be Christian. That’s right; I said a “cult.” Josh McDowell and Don Stewart, in their Handbook on Today’s Religions, define a cult as, “…a perversion, a distortion of biblical Christianity and/or a rejection of historical teachings of the Christian church.” Their list of “cults” that meet this definition includes Mormonism. Paul raise the red flag when, in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 he said, “And I will keep doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground out from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workman, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And, no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their ends will be what their actions deserve.”(NIV) The book of Revelation tells us what God has in store for these teachers of falsehood. (Rev 16:13-14; Rev 19:20; & Rev 20:10).

It doesn’t take much research to learn about Mormonism’s false prophets, false prophecies, distortions of who God is, who Jesus is, who man is, what heaven is, belief in the non-existence of hell, and the contradictions of the true Gospel that are the heart of its doctrine. Briefly, the Mormons claim that through Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and their prophets of today, they are the restoration of the true church established by Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith and his followers insist all other Christian churches on earth (Protestant and Catholic) are wrong and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God’s true church. They claim the correct translation of the Bible is impossible because the Catholic church removed important parts. So they supplement the Bible with the Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. Joseph Smith, Jr. said the Book of Mormon is the, “most correct of any book on earth.” Yet, according to McDowell and Stewart’s research, it has gone through well over 3000 changes between 1830 and modern day. The Mormons apparently weren’t impressed by what Paul had to say about tampering with the Gospel: “I am astounded that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say it again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be eternally condemned.”(Gal 1:6-9) Mormons try to tell us God was once a man, and that Mormon men can attain godhood. Mormons teach that both man and Jesus were preexistent spirits before taking a body here on earth. The Mormon Articles of Faith spell out the doctrine of salvation: “We believe that men shall be punished for their own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.” Mormons claim three levels of heaven and deny the existence of hell or any sort of everlasting punishment. I could go on and on with their false prophecies and contradictions to the Gospel; but I, instead, encourage you to do your own research.

Because I got nailed on the mountain by an out-of-control skier, I sat out the Saturday we were flying home. Instead, we toured the new Museum of Natural History on the University of Utah campus. The museum sits on a mountainside facing across Salt Lake Valley to the west. I went to the rooftop of this tall building and looked out across the ugly smog that engulfed Salt Lake City. Through the haze I could make out the mountains west of the valley and the heart of the city which includes the Mormon temple and tabernacle. By the time we left a couple hours later, the smog was so dense I could no longer make out the city or the mountains across the valley. As I stood there, I drew an imaginary circle around the entire valley and prayed that God would speak through that smog-like shroud of lies into all the lost souls of the Mormon cult, revealing to them the truth of who God is, who Christ is, and the one and only way to salvation. I’m just learning to pray BIG, so I wondered if God heard my prayer. That evening, Ann and I boarded our flight back to Seattle. Ann sat by the window and I got the coveted middle seat with a young lady seated on the aisle. I sat quietly working on my Life Journal. I sensed the young lady was looking toward my Bible, so I introduced myself to Keisha and asked if she was from Seattle. She said “no,” she was from Salt Lake City and on her way to visit a lifelong friend who had move from Salt Lake to Seattle. She and her friend had gone through school together and had attended the same Mormon church. Keisha was anxious to see her friend to talk about the revelations she had since moving away and learning how to truly walk in Christ. Keisha had come to question the tenants of Mormonism and felt shunned by people she grew up with whom she thought were her friends. I took advantage of the opportunity to witness to Keisha about my relationship with Christ and invited her to New Hope. In addition to being given the opportunity to speak into Keisha’s life, I realized something else had taken place. GOD HAD SPOKEN TO ME!! He said, “Steve, I heard your prayer. Keep on praying BIG!! I not only can see through the smoke screen laid by Mormonism; I am reaching the millions of lost and plucking them out its grips.

I mentioned earlier about that smoke screen also trying to engulf us. While on that same rooftop, I also prayed for our entire country. In Matthew 7:14 Jesus tells us to, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (NIV) How many of you have been inundated with TV ads, billboards, and buses passing by telling you, “I am a Mormon?” Could those be ads for “sheep’s clothing?” In Matthew 24:11 Christ warns us that during end times (which we are currently in), “…many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”(NIV) Anybody notice that hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent this very moment trying to place a practicing Mormon in the White House? Wonder how much of a hand the Mormon church will have in governing our country if elected? Praise God for showing us ahead of time how the story ends.

I had the hardest time coming up with my God Thought. I have lots of thoughts, and would like to think that some of them are God inspired, but for some reason I couldn’t make anything sound right. Then I had a run in with the printer at the church, and was re-living the situation in the car on the way home as I was telling Jonathan what happened. I realized what I wanted to write, and something that God has been working on with me.

PATIENCE….

Not the most beautiful word, but an important one nonetheless. I feel like I’ve literally had to wait for everything in my life. Nothing happens or comes at the timing that I want and what works for me…DUH…

We attended a Friday night worship service a couple weeks ago and someone was praying for Jonathan. They told him that God has us in a season to learn patience. My reaction was a really sarcastic “really!?!”, and the “I’ve been here my whole life”, obviously an over exaggeration, but that’s what it feels like.

Then I look at what I have, different things that have happened, and what’s unfortunate is that it’s always in retro-spec that you realize what God was trying to teach. You look back and say “Oh, that’s what you wanted me to learn”. I can’t say I have the patience thing down, and my husband and people I work with could probably attest to that, but I feel like I’ve come really far.

I have desires in my heart that I know have been placed by God. They’re desires that only He can make happen which makes them so beautiful! When they come to pass, which I know they will, I will also know that it’s God working in my life through me, and not me working for me.

Thank you Jesus, in advance, for the things that you have and are going to do. I will continue to seek your face and ask for a “God” type of peace and patience, two amazing gifts that you provide for those that ask. I love you. Amen

“People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Matthew 6:32-34 MSG

For a “planner” by nature, focusing my entire attention on “what God is doing right now” is a huge struggle. So no surprise that this is exactly the area God is choosing to do some deep work in me. But by His Grace, He provides help to do His work. One of my favorite tools the Lord has brought into my awareness is the daily Examen, taught by St. Ignatius, who founded the Jesuit order in the mid-1600s. Simply, the Examen, is a way of “rummaging” through one’s day to find Jesus.

Using a contemporary version of the Examen, “Reviewing My Days” by Sibyl Towner & Sharon Swing, here’s where I’ve noticed Jesus in my day so far:

What answers to prayer did I notice?

Immediate answers for God’s power in the women’s prayer group this morning.
Worried about my busy schedule today, I prayed and God provided margin.
When did God help me do His work?

He thwarted the enemy’s attempt to prevent a client meeting this afternoon and helped me focus all my attention on her to really hear her heart.
Where wasn’t I pleased with what I did or didn’t do?

I felt a nudge to go deeper with boldness in that conversation and shrunk back.
Where did I see God’s care?

Through a friend, the Lord provided a brand new swimsuit for our daughter! And I hadn’t even thought to ask for that yet!
What is my body telling me?

Exercise more! Get good sleep! Be constantly mindful of life-giving rhythms.
Lord Jesus, thank you that you are always present in every detail of my life. Thank you for showing up in unexpected and expected ways. Forgive me for not responding to your nudges, and forgive me for the hundreds of times you showed up and I didn’t notice. Help me to notice you more tomorrow. Amen.

Ah, it’s the end of the day in the Burgess house. Well, not quite. I’ve still got beds that need clean sheets, 3 more kids to put to bed, and a dining room table full of laundry in need of folding. Besides that, the day is almost done Most of my days feel like there is more stuff to get done than there are enough hours to do it all in. Ever feel that way? When will they invent those cool personal assistant robots to do all our busywork, anyway?

But as I drove around today running errands, the Lord quickened to my heart a picture that I so often recall, a “life message” of sorts between God and myself. It was a picture of a tree planted by a stream of water. Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 both speak of this picture: “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper” Psalm 1:1-3. And in Jeremiah,”But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit” (17:7-8).

This is an image the Lord brings me back to often as a reminder and an encouragement that as long as I am rooted and established in Him, drawing my strength and wisdom and life from Him, I will not run out or run dry. This tree is not immune to the elements, but is safe and secure in the middle of them. Pastor Wayne Cordeiro writes in his book “The Divine Mentor” about how the masts of old ships were chosen. A single tree was chosen from a group of trees, and all the surrounding trees were clearded away, leaving the single tree exposed to all the elements, taking the full brunt of every storm and wind. If the tree was still standing strong after many seasons of storms, it was then cut down to be used as the mast of a great vessel.

Ever feel like that tree? Like life and junk are just coming at you at full speed, and you are just taking it. Well guess what, we don’t have to face it alone. God has made us to be connected to Him, rooted in Him, with all of His full measure of resource available to us at all times. He has created us to be that tree planted by the river, drawing our life from Him, bearing fruit in every season.

Let us be a people who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD our hope and confidence.

You can do more than you think you can! When it comes to seeking the Lord, when it comes to sacrificial obedience, when it comes even to suffering, you can do more than you think you can. I’ll never forget what a man who was badly burned told me a number of years ago. The newest treatment for burns at the time involved what was called “debridement.” It consisted of soaking the burned area of skin with a solution several times a day, then TEARING OFF those old, burned areas of skin that might cause infection and prevent maximum healing. Most of us don’t even like to tear off some bandaids. This man described how painful that treatment was, but added, “I never knew I could endure so much pain.”

Well, I don’t want this to get too gory, but I’ve been reminded of that sentence so many times when pain or discomfort has been my lot. It’s one thing to deal with the pain we have no choice about, such as being burned. But what about the discomfort of going the extra mile for Jesus, of digging in a little deeper, of lingering longer in prayer, of waiting on God when you do have the resources to do something right now, of fasting, or of giving sacrificially to a God-called need when you don’t have many resources? You can do more than you think you can.

Jesus gave everything for us. We can only imagine His suffering on every level – physical, social, psychological and spiritual. What kind of response does that solicit from us? We can do more than we think we can…especially for the Lord, especially in light of His sacrifice! Just remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil.4:13)

It makes me laugh to my self that I am losing track of what day of lent I am on. I think because it is starting to become a lot more habit. While I am excited to eat my super awesome dark chocolate hickory smoked bacon candy bars when Lent is over, I start to think of what will my discipline look like outside of the parameters of a “program” like Lent (40 days). God has been challenging me to come to him daily to be fed by His Word. Will I keep this up? When I go out to eat with my friends, (I have been fasting sugars and carbs) will I make the healthy choice? As of right now, I feel like the answer is yes. I have been in this habit now for (X) days (still dont know how many days) and it gives me confidence. As I really dig into “myself” I start to wonder, “where is my discipline coming from?”. Could it be from the fact that I am going to the LORD for my strength? Absolutely! So, this means if I want to make sure that I have discipline throughout my life even after Lent, then I cant let the habit of going to him fade away. I cant “take a break” from it or some varying plan. He wants me with him all the time and in doing so he gives me the strength that I so desperately need through my day to day life.

God continues to work on my character and identity. Here is an excerpt from the book Pure Desire by Ted Roberts that really hit home this week:

“One of the greatest things about being a pastor is how little children often respond to us. Not too long ago, one of them came up and hugged me. I knew the little guy had already faced some tough times in his life, being raised by a single mom. His dad decided to leave one day. I understood what that felt like, so this boy was kind of special to me. After he hugged my leg, he looked up at me and asked, “Pastor Ted, if you love flying so much, why are you a pastor?” I thought, ‘Great question, because I’ve thought about quitting several times this week.’ But I remembered the day Christ called me to follow Him – not just to accept His salvation.
It hadn’t been easy to walk away from a flying career. I had set my sights on becoming a pilot when I was five years old. Yet, after I left the military and entered seminary, as I stood watching an air show one day, I determined to follow Christ wholeheartedly. As the Blue Angels performed, flying the very aircraft I had gone into combat with, I realized I really had only one option. Because of my love for Christ, I would never go back to flying, and not because I didn’t want to. My soul yearned to go back, but I could no longer serve Christ solely by flying or by being in a cockpit. I was responding to a much more profound vision in my life than flying combat aircraft.
I looked down at my little friend still grasping my leg, and said, “I’m not flying anymore so I can be here for you.” You should have seen his face. I had come to battle for something really worthwhile. I was responding to Christ’s calling in my life, a much higher one than I’d chosen to call myself to.”

For so long “swimming” has been a big part of my identity. I swam competitively from age 9 all the way through college. In fact, it paid for my education at Cal – I swam on full scholarship there. It was also very exciting to see this past weekend that Cal won the NCAA Championships for 2 years in a row. Since those days, it’s been a struggle dealing with that part of my identity, with some regrets, some shame, and I turned to coaching swimming – giving back and sharing the knowledge and experience I had graciously received. In the story above, I can easily replace Ted’s flying with my swimming. I have coached for 9 seasons now and while I get lots of accolades, ego strokes, and feel like I’m making a difference by coaching, God was pretty clear with me this week that it’s time to lay it down and step into His calling on my life. His calling on my life starts right at home with my own wife and kids; something He told me years ago and He’s reminding me again. Coaching swimming has to a certain extent put my family on a sacrificial alter. God is saying to me, that I’m battling for something worthwhile by stepping down from coaching, that I’ll not be coaching swimming anymore so I can be there for my wife and kids.

Which receives bigger worldly praise, being a great coach or a great dad? Which is easier to find worldly security in? Which are you more accountable to God for? Which is more eternal? Which fits into your 5%?

The more I seek out following Jesus and enjoy His company, the more I learn about who I am becoming and the vision for my life. Thank you Jesus! May my life be a sweet offering. Give me courage to seek and stand in Your validation over the world’s.