Our Fluid Religious Landscape

I just finished posting a rather lengthy comment in reply to a blog post of Don Miller's at the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The original article from the New York Times was reporting on a study that highlights how highly fluid religious affiliations have become. People are leaving and joining religious organizations at an unprecedented rate. The study found that 44% of adult Americans have shifted their religious affiliation in their lifetime.

Sure is an exciting time to be a believer! I pray God gives us the wisdom, energy, creativity, passion, purity, and vision to capture many of these folks for His Kingdom!

Space Kimchi

The New York Times ran an article on Sunday about how the Korean government has spent millions of dollars developing a version of Kimchi that can accompany the first Korean astronaut into space. Most of you won't know or care about Kimchi at all... But I LOVE the stuff! I've been eating it since I was a kid and I'm a Kimchi fanatic.

Outside Speakers?

We pretty regularly receive offers from speakers and ministries to come and visit us at the Coastlands. A staff-member for a very well-known speaker whose offer I declined a couple days ago was perplexed. Here's the brief email I sent in response a couple moments ago:

Hello [Name]-

Thanks so much for your thoughtful and honest inquiry. Couple of thoughts:

• Our philosophy of ministry (briefly encapsulated by the words “Love, Mend, Train, Send”, you can read more here if you like) has a huge emphasis on raising up leaders and sending them out (as evidenced by the 36 churches we’ve planted in various parts of the world). Part of our culture is that we promote leaders and speakers from within and we very rarely invite ministry from outside our own family. This is not at all because we devalue or disagree with others’ ministry, theology, or philosophy. Rather it comes from the firm resolve that we have to fulfill our particular mandate to raise up and send out leaders.
• Another of our cultural values at the Coastlands is that of relationship. We tend to invite speakers with whom we have significant relationship and ministry connection / partnership. Again, nothing against the ministry-philosophy of an itinerant speaker like [name] (or the many other wonderfully gifted and fruitful speakers that the Kingdom is graced with). Their ministry simply doesn’t fit in well with the culture we’ve developed around the vision/philosophy God has given us.
  

I hope this helps you understand our perspective a bit. Please understand that we intend no insult by our decline of your offer. We celebrate you, her, and the great ministry God is accomplishing through your organization’s efforts. I also understand that many (if not most) churches would be incredibly blessed by your offer of help and that we’re a bit unique in our particular calling / assignment from the Lord.

With fervent prayers that God will bring great fruit out of all of our efforts,
Todd

Buzz's Astro Blaster

So we're on vacation at Disneyland this week. One of the rides gives you the option of emailing your photo. Asher and I are pretty into this attraction... You can kinda just see his head in this shot.

Anybody out there beaten my score of 351,600 on this ride?

Congregation Report

This weekend I will present to our church family our annual report. Above is the first slide from the visual presentation I've put together... Excited to report the facts and figures; ready to celebrate an incredibly fun & fruitful year!

I believe that being open and accountable is absolutely vital to having a healthy life -- whether it's personally or corporately. Accountability provides boundaries. I often picture the Coastlands like a river. A river without boundaries is called a flood. But with boundaries comes safety, direction and momentum.

Besides all that, this weekend will be a great time to worship the Lord for what He's done through us over the course of the year!

Prayer Fuel

I've had some problems and stress recently. Despite all the wonderful things that are going on with family and ministry, there are many things that aren't going well, too. The last few weeks I've been trying to preach messages that I need to hear: how to see my problems as opportunities for God to do His work in my life.

I just want to go on record as saying I really need to practice what I preach! I want to learn to let problems and stress be fuel for my prayer life instead of a distraction from it.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Apparently, when I'm anxious, I can use it as an emotional / mental trigger to begin praying. If I can just get better at that, then I'll have a whole new reason to be thankful in the middle of difficulty!

The Ultrasound Shows...

We just got back from our 20 week ultrasound appointment... And we're having a girl! Little Larissa Joy Millikan is due at the end of June.

Although we've been looking for names and considering the possibility of having a girl, I had never emotionally processed what that reality would be like until we were at the doctor's office a few minutes. I am so excited for the tender sweetness that I'll get to share with her. A new dimension to being a daddy! How amazing!

Rambling...

I was convicted this morning because I found myself rambling on all kinds of little rabbit trails of thoughts as I was sharing with the interns in our weekly time together. The "rabbit trails" were about these kinds of things:

...philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8

I found myself teaching philosophy instead of Christ. And "teaching" is a generous word for what I was doing. Definitely more "rambling" than "teaching." Sharing my empty opinions instead of really searching for and sharing truth.

Lord, fill my heart and mind with your truth and life! May I meditate upon your Word and find life and success!

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:8