and we're off on the journey with ReGen ...

Jay and I at ReGen's Christmas bash in December.  

It's been quite the journey with ReGeneration Church so far. Placed in the heart and mind of Jay and I, we've carried a vision to reach the next generation of young South East Asians from ethnic churches and communities in the Southern California region. For over a year we've been going to seminars, connecting with various people, going through internships, taking assessments and reading pretty much anything we could get a hold of that has to do with church planting and we're still feeling around for matches to light a candle on this journey. pken hit it dead on when he says that those who are looking to plant a church need to get their heads checked http://weblog.xanga.com/sedaqah/636081452/if-i-were-going-to-plant-a-church-this-year-08.html, but since I don't have health insurance yet that won't happen any time soon ... ahhh the vicious cycle.

We have a desire to reach a generation of young people that have been neglected and are either encountering a fallout in their relationship with God or are turned away from him because they can't quite find their place in a church that was meant to minister to the generation before. At the core of it all we've come down to "4 RE's" that encapsulates the vision for this church:

1. REconciliation: we desire to see this generation of young people reconciled to God and one another.
   
   
2. REstoration: we see that a lot of our young people have many hurts that haven't been addressed and that they come into churches and are immediately plugged into service of some sort without really much time invested in their own restoration.
   
   
3. REnewal: we seek to renew spiritual foundations for those who are on this journey through intentional spiritual formation
   
   
4. RElease: we want to see people released for service in the kingdom of God and it doesn't always have to remain within the four walls of our church. As a matter of fact we want to build around specific giftings and build up the body in any way we can and release them to do what God would have of them.

What's in a name?
Since we are targeting a specific Generation we decided to go with: ReGeneration Church a.k.a. ReGen. And we are looking at regeneration of the person as the goal of our Christian life ... a change from the inside out, that is. So any way you cut it, ReGeneration is it. This was all swirling about as we read through the scriptures when one passage really captured what God emblazed upon our heart from Ephesians 4:11 - 12, NIV:

"11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up."

We find that in most churches today we look to the pastor as the one that represents the church. If we think of great churches we think of the names of great pastor's. While I have do have my share of favorite pastors in some sizable ministries, our hope is that ReGen will be known for the body of Christ that is living and moving and impacting the community. If as pastor's, teachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles we do this right we'll build up the body of Christ in a very deep and tangible way. It's a very subtle point that can be easily missed if we read the passage as gifts that are to be coveted. However, if we read the passage as gifts to be discovered and utilized soley for the purpose of serving the body of Christ, leading it to maturity and unity then we may be on the right track.

In other words, if we have great teachers, and draw great numbers of people with rocking worship bands that have amazing skills, and wonderful ministries that people are blogging about all the time, it amounts to nothing if the body as a whole isn't maturing towards Christlikeness and unity. How will we measure this? By looking at how many people are living out their part in the body of Christ and continuously being challenged to grow in character. We will battle gossip with transparency and integrity and we will go up against stagnation by continuously seeking God's heart on seeking the lost, binding the broken and empowering those to carry out the ministry they are called to.

$Money $Money $Money
Now, with all that said we'll touch on an area that is quite hard to deal with ... finance. I know that I'm still trying to figure this one out. You never can quite get this right unless you've hit an endowment from some dying rich buddy. I can keep wishing. But I've chosen to do this the old fashion way of connecting with people for support raising and looking to denominational support as well. Just like any business, securing capital is a hard thing to do and when it comes down to it you do have to have entrepreneural spirit. I don't think that I'm nearly entrepreural (man, I have as hard of a time spelling it as I do saying it) enough but I do know that God has brought some interesting people at the right time to team up with us. Here are a couple of things I'm learning along the way and I'm open to your thoughts as well:

• Soak up any training you can get in support raising.
  
  
• Pray passionately for opportunities to meet up with people that have a similar heart's cry. If they don't have the funds to support you could see the fire in their eyes and they may just join up with you on it. (It's amazing who God brings out of the woodwork).
  
  
• Be specific about the amount that you are looking to secure.
  
  
• Be sure about your vision because your going to get lots of "no, i can't do that right now" or "that's interesting, i'll be in touch with you ..." that'll get you down.
  
  
• It's about connection, connection, and follow.up.
  
  
• Don't be an annoying salesman ... we've got to learn to distinguish between the "how's your church plant thing doing?" (expecting a quick "oh, great thanks for asking and how are the kids?") from the "how's your church launch coming along?"(not said: how can i help?). Sometimes you just got go out on a limb.
  
  
• Keep your eyes focused on giving towards the vision and your heart filled with gratitude because all that we get is pure Grace.

And to live out what I preach: If, after reading this, you feel a tug in your heart to give, I want to give you a chance to do just that. You can make a financial donation to the beginnings of ReGen by writing a check to:

Regeneration Church
PO Box 2046
Walnut, CA 91788

We're always open to monthly parnters at various levels and if you'd like our newsletter you can e.mail me at san.nate@gmail.com and provide me with an e.mail address and mailing address too.

If you know of any one who would like more info on this by all means ... let me know. It's been far too long since I've done any blogs on here so if you made it this far ... thanks for hanging in there and drop me a comment! Please pray for clarity, commitment, and a heart that remains centered on pursuing God!

Finding and Keeping a Life Partner
(I didn't write the following but I sure wish I did ...)
(I did add the bold marks though!)

Golden rules for finding your life partner by Dove Heller, M.A. a relationships coach who lays out his 5 golden rules for evaluating the prospects of long-term marital success. When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50%, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Mrs. Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say:

"We're in love."

I believe this is the number one mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound "not politically correct," there's a profound truth here. Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come. Let me say it again:

"You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone." You need a lot more!!

Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner:

1. Do we share a common life purpose?
   
   Why is this so important?
   Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone.
   
   What do you plan to do with each other all that time?
   Travel, eat, and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.
   
   Two things can happen in marriage:
   (a) You can grow together, or
   (b) You can grow apart
   50% of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life!
   
   
2. Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?
   This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship.
   
   Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get punished or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings.
   
   A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.
   
   
3. Is he/she a mensch?
   A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test?
   
   Here are some suggestions:
   Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis?
   Are they serious about improving themselves?
   A teacher of mine defines a good person as, "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing."
   So ask about your significant other:
   "What do they do with their time?"
   "Is this person materialistic?"
   Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement.
   
   There are esentially two types of people in the world:
   (1) People who are dedicated to personal growth
   (2) People who are dedicated to seeking comfort
   
   Someone who's life goal is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing.
   
   You need to know that before walking down the aisle.
   
   
4. How does he/she treat other people?
   The one most important thing that makes a relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.
   
   Ask:
   "Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed?"
   
   To measure this, think about the following:
   "How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as waiters, bus boys, taxi drivers, etc.?"
   "How do they treat their parents and siblings?"
   "Do they have gratitude and appreciation?"
   
   If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything can you nearly do as much for them?
   
   "Do they gossip and speak badly about others?"
   Someone who gossips cannot be someone who loves others! You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.
   
   
5. Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?
   Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married.
   
   As a colleague of mine puts it:
   "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage ... for the worse!"
   If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.
   

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you're dating.

Be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.

Another perspective ...

There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance.

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going anywhere relationships. Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention.

Which ones lift and which ones lean?
Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?
Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?
When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse?
Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know, or appreciate you?

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you ... the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

An African proverb states,
"Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye."

Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really that important.

Once you decide to commit to someone, over time, his or her flaws, vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will become more obvious.

If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow and evolve, you've got to learn how to close one eye and not let every little thing bother you. You and your mate have many different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses and strengths. You are two unique individual children of God who have decided to share a life together. Neither one of you are perfect, but are you perfect for each other?

Do you bring out the best in each other?
Do you compliment and compromise with each other?
Or do you compete, compare, and control?
What do you bring to the relationship?
Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain?
You can't take someone to the alter to alter them.
You can't make someone love you or someone stay.
If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and a 'life' you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain.
Seeking status, sex, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship.

What keeps a relationship strong?

1. Trust
2. Communication
3. Intimacy
4. A sense of humor
5. Sharing tasks
6. Some getaway time without business or children.
7. Daily exchange (meal, shared activity, hug, call, touch, notes, etc.)
8. Sharing common goals and interests.
9. Giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure.
10. Giving each other a sense of belonging and assurance of commitment.

If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment, withdrawal, abuse, neglect, and dishonesty, and pain will replace the passion.

There it goes ...

Success is nothing without someone to share it with.

(What are your thoughts and response to this?)

ORIGIN 2007

The Origin conference at Mosaic church was a paradigm - challenging, mind provoking conference in which Erwin Mc Manus and the team of artisans gave a wonderful presentation of what their church has done to reach the community through active participation of God's kingdom. Top - notch performances by mucisians and artists conveyed the heart and soul of the ministry to a group of 300 + leaders from all over the world (some came as far as New Zealand). The core values were presented in the elements of earth, water, fire, wood, and wind ... GO ... captain planet! At first glance this smacked of new age stuff but as I listened to the presentation it made a lot of sense and was quite biblical:

• earth - represented the creativity and possibility of growth that their ministry desires to foster. According to Mocaic, "Creativity was the natural result of spiritual growth."
  
  
• water - states that love is the context of all missions. Every mission is driven by love. That makes sense.
  
  
• fire - conveys that relevance is not optional. As Paul was connecting with the community at Mars Hill we are to look for ways to connect with the society that we have been placed in.
  
  
• wood - represents structure that always submits to spirit. While we do have a structure for ministry it must always seek submit to what the Spirit of God is doing.
  
  
• wind - testified the fact that mission is why the church exists. It alluded to the Holy Spirit's moving to and fro through the earth and no one truly knowing where it would go but they would be able to see where it has been.
  
  

All of these values was well developed and conveyed through the talks, panel disscussions, professionally done video snip-it's and skits.

Another intriguing area that Erwin addressed was in regards to three needs that people are searching to fulfill in life. He argues that in every life there is a search for:

1. meaning: here we are all searching to understand and discover truth and certainty.
   
   
2. destiny: there is a longing to be heroic and push beyond the status quo.
   
   
3. intimacy: here lies the desire for community and closeness
   

I find that each of the above needs resonate with my own journey and if I had to choose one that called out to me above the others I would have to say it would be the need for catching a clearer vision of destiny in life. I continue to hammer out what it means to follow the call God has placed upon me to do something that will impact this generation and get them off their butts and move for His kingdom versus my desire for safety and security. Not to mention the other 2 needs of intimacy and meaning that are vying for my attention.

What are your thoughts on the needs and core concepts above? Which one(s) resonate with your life? What are your thoughts on Mosaic church?

Some time Away in the Bay

Taking the next few days to jump through some hoops in preparation for the church plant. Getting some good time away from the city of down south to escape to the beautiful San Francisco. Just about two blocks from the frigid beach I'm taking time to get through some doctrinal stuff along with lining up other components of the church plant with my mentor. yipee! Getting through all the red tape is tedious but it's revealed a lot of what I do believe and what I still hold loosely before God.

Taking this time to also seek Him about what the next steps will be. It's a scary thing because I hardly feel capable to handle such a call. But I think that's what makes it His call ... the fact that I can't do this on my own. I am so grateful for the people that he's brought alongside me for this. 

It's funny because I sought Him for the call to this ministry so long ago, that somewhere along the lines of preparing for it, I've forgotten to seek His still, clear voice in the midst of it all. Have you ever set your mind towards something that you felt God called you to (relationship, task, endevour, etc.) only to find that you lost His voice somewhere in the hoopla of it all?

Yeah, it's confusing, it's frustrating, stretching, and straight up madning at times but I wouldn't want to find His will any other way. 

Pray on and seek to be the answer to your own prayers.

a follow up saallloww dansah!

I was bored and I figured this would be a good follow up to the last blog so I did this test and it's funni stuff. That'd be funny if it was opposite and said ... 'I get worse and worse in my love life as it wanes every year.' My ideal girl would be distant, dingy, and very demanding.' Are there any hornivores out there? At least chris and I are alike. What are the odds of us testing the same out of 32 personalities?

The Slow Dancer Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer (DGLDm) Steady, reliable, and cradling her tenderly. Take a deep breath, and let it out real easy...you are The Slow Dancer. Your focus is love, not sex, and for your age, you have average experience. But you're a great, thoughtful guy, and your love life improves every year. There's also a powerful elimination process working in your favor: most Playboy types get stuck raising unwanted kids before you even begin settling down. The women left over will be hot and yours. Your ideal woman is someone intimate, intelligent, and very supportive. Your exact opposite: The Hornivore Random Brutal Sex Master While you're not exactly the life of the party, you do thrive in small groups of smart people. Your circle of friends is extra tight and it's HIGHLY likely they're just like you. You appreciate symmetry in relationships. ALWAYS AVOID: The Battleaxe CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor or The Sonnet Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.