http://www.thewellav.org/blog/ Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:21:10 GMT en-us Copyright 2011 Lutheran Church at The Well http://www.thewellav.org/blog/all-saints-day/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/all-saints-day/ Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:21:10 GMT Today is All Saints' Day - a day to remember all of those who have died in the faith from the Early Church Fathers like Ambrose and Augustine to our grandparents, parents, or friends who ran the race of faith with us.  We remember that we ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/rock-paper-scissors/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/rock-paper-scissors/ Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:45:29 GMT I'm often asked...or rather challenged regarding the need to be surrounded by other Christians.  For a believer, this is truly a vital aspect of walking with Christ.  After all, in Scripture, the church is referred to as the body of ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/how-to-set-a-bushel-basket-on-fire/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/how-to-set-a-bushel-basket-on-fire/ Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:35:34 GMT Recently I had the opportunity to spend some time with friends.  They invited me over to their place for a BBQ after a big event at our church.  I was honored to be a part of it and excited to spend time with them and to meet new ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/to-rejoice-or-to-mournreflections-on-osama-bin-ladens-death/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/to-rejoice-or-to-mournreflections-on-osama-bin-ladens-death/ Tue, 03 May 2011 20:59:57 GMT May 1st was truly an historic day.  It was the day that a group of Navy Seals invaded the hideout compound of Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda which has been the single most evil terrorist group in recent memory. He was shot and killed ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-need-a-saladpt-2/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-need-a-saladpt-2/ Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:54:30 GMT As I mentioned on Monday, our church has the challenge to eat a meal consisting solely of junk food to remember how it feels to have "empty" and even "bad" things in us.  It was all inspired as a bit of a non-fast fast to draw us into ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-need-a-saladpt-1/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-need-a-saladpt-1/ Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:59:33 GMT Yesterday, I closed the service as I always do, with a a "Take Home Challenge/Question/Verse"  This "tradition" became a part of our corporate worship when we were seeking out a way to not only recap the theme of the service, but also to ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-emptiness-of-pride/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-emptiness-of-pride/ Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:20:31 GMT So my life has entered into a bit of a new realm.  My baby girl has recently started watching Sesame Street clips online.  It's nice, because we can only have her watch a couple clips that are only a couple minutes long, and it's just ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/advent-devotion-2/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/advent-devotion-2/ Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:57:05 GMT I know that many of you are spending time in the Word this Advent which is great to see and hear about.  I want to encourage you to continue on and keep challenging yourself in your study and time together and alone.  Today, I have a ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/family-devotion-1/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/family-devotion-1/ Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:19:33 GMT This past Sunday our theme was "Worship Fully".  Every major character that surrounds the Christ child (minus Herod, of course) worships as a result of their encounter with Jesus.  I want to encourage you that Christmas is about ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/double-giving/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/double-giving/ Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:12:08 GMT I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this week.  Ours was blessed with delicious food, great friends, and hearts filled with thanks for a great God who bestows such amazing blessings.  Being that Turkey Day is now behind us, our ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-new-preparation/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-new-preparation/ Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:53:48 GMT I know, I know...you haven't even put the Turkey in the oven yet, and this Sunday I started talked about Advent.  One thing at a time right?  Well, I felt like this Advent almost needed some prep work, so that's why I'm starting a bit ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-church-vs-in-n-out/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-church-vs-in-n-out/ Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:30:43 GMT Last night Sarah and I chose to have some In-n-Out for dinner...a true blessing of living out West.  In-n-Out is one of our favorite places to go.  Even though it has really fresh ingredients, it's still a grease bomb, so we limit how ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/priesthood/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/priesthood/ Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:59:21 GMT This past Sunday, we read through Leviticus 8, and saw God establishing the priesthood.  This all built up to Jesus being our great high priest, offering up the perfect sacrifice (himself) on our behalf.  Because Jesus has given us a ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/2-years/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/2-years/ Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:00:25 GMT March 16th, 2008 was a powerful day in the life of The Well.  It was our first "official" worship service.  Very soon we will be coming up on the 2 year anniversary of that day, so I thought that I'd take a moment to reflect on where ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/ikebana/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/ikebana/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:39:36 GMT This Sunday we continued our sermon series called "Be The Church" where we look at the reality of our existence as Christ's bride and what that means for our day to day.  This weeks theme was forgiveness (see Mark 2:1-17 for more info), and ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/91109/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/91109/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:57:06 GMT First off I wanted to apologize for the long delay between blog posts.  Things have been going nutso crazy around The Well (in a good way).  God is on the move!  More to come next week on that, though.  Today, I was inspired ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/back-in-the-saddle/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/back-in-the-saddle/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:57:10 GMT I'm back in town and I'm so excited to be here.  Though, the though of returning to near 100 degree weather wasn't all that enticing, I was really excited to see all of you, and to start anew with The Well.  The past few months have ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/were-not-the-only-ones/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/were-not-the-only-ones/ Thu, 28 May 2009 17:02:31 GMT So most of you know that our community has had some issues with "the man" regarding our gatherings and renting/leasing a space.  Well, we're not alone.  It appears that some brothers and sisters down in San Diego are dealing with the ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/forgiveness-and-football/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/forgiveness-and-football/ Wed, 20 May 2009 18:57:05 GMT So if you've been watching TV or reading the paper lately, I'm sure you've heard that Michael Vick is being released from prison today.  Vick (former Atlanta Falcons quarterback) served almost 21 months in prison and will be serving ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/hope/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/hope/ Thu, 14 May 2009 18:38:23 GMT It appears that fame and fortune cannot provide true hope especially when the need is great.  Check out the article...let me know your thoughts.   http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090514/people_nm... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/responding-to-culture/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/responding-to-culture/ Sat, 02 May 2009 20:55:09 GMT My friend Joe is a pastor in Denver.  He's got a blog post that I thought I'd share with everyone.  Now, I usually stay away from the political disccussion being that we live in such a politically polarized culture, but this has ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/convicted/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/convicted/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:29:50 GMT This last Sunday we talked a lot about mission, and that God has brought us into the family business (since we are his children after all).  God's family business is mission.  Now, for those who know me, you know that mission is always ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/excited/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/excited/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:05:39 GMT I just wanted to put something on the blog because I'm really excited.  Today is our Open House at the potential new space (go and see it if you haven't yet...get directions from the calendar of events).  No, it's not perfect, it's ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/firewoodflight-of-the-conchords-muggenerosity/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/firewoodflight-of-the-conchords-muggenerosity/ Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:24:39 GMT First off I want to thank everyone who both attended and helped out with services this weekend.  Even though rain threatened to deter our Good Friday service, we were able to pull it off and stay dry, and it was awesome.  I don't know ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/sludge/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/sludge/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:03:26 GMT This Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday.  I know many were undable to be there, and I must say that you were missed.  Worship was very powerful.  This morning as I sipped coffee I thought a lot about what we talked about on ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/mission/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/mission/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:37:11 GMT Many have asked me in the past months how things at The Well are going.  Typically, people want to hear some sort of quantitative statement like we have X number of people in worship, or we had an event and X number of people showed up, or ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/did-someone-scream-fire/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/did-someone-scream-fire/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:17:44 GMT If you were at worship on Sunday you experienced a definite first for me as a pastor.  Immediately before worship began the fire alarm box started making some funny noises.  Myself and a couple others tried to figure out what the ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-different-look-at-sermons/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-different-look-at-sermons/ Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:23:53 GMT In case you weren't able to come last Sunday, I decided to do a Wordle image from Wordle.net.  I thought that it was interesting.  I just just copied my sermon text into the generator and this is what came out. If you're interested ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/giant-step/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/giant-step/ Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:04:28 GMT So, I got to watch a bit of the Inauguration this morning.  For those of you who know me, I'm not always the most patriotic guy.  I love my country...but I also have a hard time with things our country does/says.  Regardless of ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/death-and-such/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/death-and-such/ Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:29:42 GMT I just had lunch with Sarah and we talked about how we were looking forward to watching Scrubs tonight.  If you've never seen the show, it's pretty good.  They seem to combine humor with thoughtfulness that I'm not sure I've seen come ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/epiphany/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/epiphany/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:52:28 GMT So it's been a while since the last posting.  I took a bit of a break for Christmas and New Year's.  Thanks to all who made this season encredibly encouraging.  I thought that I'd wish you all a Happy Epiphany.  Epiphany is ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/answered-prayers/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/answered-prayers/ Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:29:43 GMT So this week during our time of prayer requests, we had many people ask for God's healing, his guidance, as well as His Comfort.  There was one prayer request that I'm sure stuck out to most of you.  Tyler Haas, a 7th grader, asked God ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/how-to-be-enthusiastic-all-the-time/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/how-to-be-enthusiastic-all-the-time/ Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:52:25 GMT Okay, so I came across this book in my drawer of randome things today.  It's called "How To Be Enthusiastic All The Time.  I was at a pastors' conference this fall and there was a big table of free books.  I poked around the ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/of-minor-prophets/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/of-minor-prophets/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:55:11 GMT One of my favorite musicians is David Bazan who is the former driving force behind the band Pedro The Lion.  He's a Pastor's Kid from Seattle and has gained some fame in the indie rock scene over the last decade or so.  I've seen him ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/what-started-with-2/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/what-started-with-2/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:55:25 GMT Thank you to all of you who came to the Prayer Meeting that we had on Saturday over at Marie Kerr Park.  It all started out with just a couple of us wanting to pray more for our church, and it turned into around 15.  It was great just ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/plan-b/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/plan-b/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:06:01 GMT The mathematician James Yorke, who is known for his work on chaotic systems (yeah...stuff that's over my head, too), said "The most successful people in life are those who are good at plan B."  I came across this quote today and it made me ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/im-under-my-desk-right-now/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/im-under-my-desk-right-now/ Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:17:51 GMT Okay...so like the title suggests...I am under my desk right now blogging to the world.  You see, today at 10:00 AM is the California Shake Out.  It's a state wide earthquake drill where you are supposed to pretend for 90 seconds that ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-taste-of-freedom/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-taste-of-freedom/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:12:38 GMT Last night in honor of the democratic process we had our 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off.  It was awesome!  We packed the Fernandezes new house, watched some football, and ate a lot of chili.  Everyone who made chili did a great job, ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/halloween/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/halloween/ Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:26:06 GMT I know that Halloween has a pretty bad rap amongst the church going folk, and I'm sure many of you have wondered what to do this year for Halloween.  If you are struggling theologically with whether or not to have your kids celebrate ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/shout-out-to-my-boy-gutenburg/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/shout-out-to-my-boy-gutenburg/ Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:56:05 GMT I cam across this movie today.  I figured it was appropriate considering our message on Sunday and that Reformation is on Friday.  There are some inaccuraces in the movie, but if you go to their website they correct them all.  ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/permanence/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/permanence/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:49:58 GMT Today I've been thinking a lot about permanence.  So much in my life changes.  Just in the last 6 years or so I've gotten married, finished Seminary, moved cross country 3 times, started at a church, planted a church, moved locally, ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/im-loaded/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/im-loaded/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:23:50 GMT So I never put this in, but since we had our message on greed the other week I thought I'd include this link.  http://globalrichlist.com.  This is the website I referred to where you can type in how much money you make and see how rich ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/jesus-uncensored-video-1/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/jesus-uncensored-video-1/ Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:39:22 GMT Here's the video from last Sunday.  The first is the one that we showed during worship and the second is the same video but "uncensored".  Make sure to watch the censored one first especially if you haven't seen it yet.  ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/joshua-tree-in-flip-flops-vision-for-the-well-pt-2-equipped/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/joshua-tree-in-flip-flops-vision-for-the-well-pt-2-equipped/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:27:54 GMT A few weeks ago, Sarah and I were at a pastors' conference down in Palm Desert (doesn't that just SOUND beautiful during the summer).  Well, we had one afternoon free since there was a golf tournament, and I decided that for the sake of ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/on-this-day/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/on-this-day/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:07:46 GMT Today is a day that I'm sure many of you remember.  It's a very important day in our nation's history.  I remember when I was in grade school...about the 4th grade.  We had this regular sub who we all got to know over the years, ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/vision-for-the-well-pt-1-serve/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/vision-for-the-well-pt-1-serve/ Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:33:50 GMT I thought that what would be good for us is to take a number of different looks at who we are as a church in this blogspace.  I came across some writings by a theologian named Ambrose (333-397 A.D).  Even though he lived over 1600 ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/don-lafontaine/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/don-lafontaine/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:44:27 GMT Today Don LaFontaine died due to compications with an illness he had.  He was only 68.  Now, I'm sure most of you have no clue who he is...but I'm sure you're familiar with his work.  Don LaFontaine is the voiceover guy that ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/phoenix/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/phoenix/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:23:42 GMT You know...sometimes I dread meetings.  I'm sure you've all had to deal with this at work or maybe other churches (because our meetings are FUN! :) You know what I'm talking about.  You sit there and someone really has something ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/lets-party/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/lets-party/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:15:56 GMT This week Cameron Strang (editor of Relevant magazine) decided to turn down an invitation to pray at the Democratic National Convention in Denver (find the complete article here).  He felt that in the role that he has, that he shouldn't ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/reminisce-/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/reminisce-/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:39:01 GMT Music can bring back all sorts of memories...of times, places, friends, important events...today that happened to me. So today I ate lunch at home and Sarah wasn't at home, so I decided to turn on the TV to check out what was going on over in ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/loving-those-you-hate/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/loving-those-you-hate/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:46:47 GMT Here's a sermon I listened to the other day by Eric Bryant of Mosaic church down in L.A.  It's really powerful, and rather eye-opening.  It's a tough thing knowing how to deal with those you can't stand.  Our leadership is ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-trip-to-the-garden-store/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-trip-to-the-garden-store/ Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:33:14 GMT Yesterday, Sarah and I had a great day off.  It was relaxing and fun.  We started off by grabbing a cup of coffee at a coffee shop near where we worship, and we got to play Connect Four...a great game.  As we sat there sipping our ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/approaching-normalcy/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/approaching-normalcy/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:56:27 GMT Last week at the Community Group I had a bit of an epiphany.  I noticed that the gentlemen who were there had shaved off their mustaches.  It took me aback for a second, but I realized that this is how those men had always ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/shopping-injury/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/shopping-injury/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:17:38 GMT Okay, so yesterday on my day off, Sarah and I took care of a bunch of errands we needed to run, many of which were down below.  Well, while we were down in Santa Monica we decided to check out a couple of sales because I needed some ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/long-time-no-see/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/long-time-no-see/ Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:21:02 GMT I just got done writing a friend of mine from an old church.  We haven't talked in quite a while and I realized that I owed him some money to boot.  He was a good friend and my guitar teacher my last year at the Seminary.  I ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/bella/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/bella/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:36 GMT Most of you know my love of movies that aren't all that well known. Typically I go for movies that are challenging in not only how I think, but what a movie should be about. Okay...I'll say it. I like weird movies that very few people have ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/top-10/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/top-10/ Fri, 30 May 2008 19:13:58 GMT So after the last minute combined Community Group over at our place, I had some time to just sit back and think.  I thought about how much I love The Well and all you people as well.  Now, I know that I totally dogged on people who ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/for-all-who-thirst-for-more/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/for-all-who-thirst-for-more/ Thu, 08 May 2008 19:23:16 GMT So about a week ago I posted a blog about NPR and Hannah Montana.  I spoke very highly of NPR, and I thought that I should clarify my endorsement.  I do love NPR, and it is the only radion that I pretty much listen to.  They have ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/wallpaper/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/wallpaper/ Wed, 07 May 2008 23:26:55 GMT Okay...so many of you know that I used to spent my summers as a painter. I mostly did outside stuff, but I did a fair amount of indoor jobs, too. It was during that time that I developed a hatred of wallpaper. I never put it up, because it ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-cant-believe-im-blogging-about-hannah-montana/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/i-cant-believe-im-blogging-about-hannah-montana/ Fri, 02 May 2008 18:25:24 GMT I just got home from dropping Sarah off at LAX this morning for her trip to go to her little brother's confirmation in Chicago. It was an early morning...very early. Well, Sarah did a great job of keeping me awake for the ride down, but the ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-story-thats-still-relevant/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/a-story-thats-still-relevant/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:59:06 GMT On Sunday I promised a little bit more info on the sermon text from 1 Peter 3:1-9. Well, I know that the blog has been a lot more of story telling and random musings, but for the sake of telling a story I'll give you a little bit more ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/let-go/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/let-go/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:31:29 GMT Last night was an awesome night...it was one of those nights that I love being a pastor. We had a great BBQ at our Community Group at the Cross'. There was great food and great fellowship. We even had an ecouraging study with good ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/identity/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/identity/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:48:01 GMT This past Sunday I preached on identity. I came across this episode of the Cosby show the other day and thought that Theo's perspective really sums up how we all feel. We seek out our identity through so many worldly things that it can ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/church-bragging-is-lame/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/church-bragging-is-lame/ Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:16:20 GMT So Today I had an interesting conversation.  I happened upon a guy who lives down below.  He asked what I did and I said that I am the pastor of a new mission church in the AV called The Well.  As I'm describing what I do (maybe ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/we-are-marshall/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/we-are-marshall/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:47:10 GMT Recently I sat down to watch a movie that, to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to watching..."We Are Marshall" (that's why it has taken me so long to rent it...it came out in 2006). It just looked like something Disney ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/with-a-side-of-fries/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/with-a-side-of-fries/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:39:04 GMT Yesterday, Sarah and I thought it would be good to give her brother-in-law, Micah, a good L.A. experience since he's visiting from out of town.  We decided that a trip to L.A. wouldn't be complete without a visit to Pink's.  For ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-first-worship/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/the-first-worship/ Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:30:21 GMT March 16th, 2008 will be a day that I remember for a long time. Last Sunday night was our first worship service and I was absolutely moved by what God did that night. There was a huge crowd, many well wishers from our mother church, and many ... http://www.thewellav.org/blog/our-new-website/ http://www.thewellav.org/blog/our-new-website/ Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:49:12 GMT Greetings all...this is our new website and blog format.  I know many of you have read the blogs on our Myspace and on the original mission1615 blog, but now we are going to try and keep it all centralized here.  I will still put ...