Foto Friday

Watch out!  Baby on the move!

Foto Friday

Looking forward to seeing these guys again.

Watching what I eat...

More like watching the food enter my mouth and enjoying it too much these days.  Unfortunately, this is not what I intended.  But intentions don't actually get you were you want to be.  Action does.  And my actions lately have been infrequent exercise and a lot of eating.  I can feel my pants getting tighter and my shirts fitting snugger and I don't like it.  2 years ago I lost 70 pounds over a 11 month period.  I kept the weight off for about 6 months, but over the last year, I've gained about 30 of it back.  That sucks.  I'm mad at myself.  I need to change my habits.  There, I said it.  And you may have read it.  But this point, these thoughts are still "good intentions."  Will that translate into action?  That is yet to be seen.

Foto Friday

Happy Veteran's Day?

As someone who has been involved in planning Sunday worship services for many years, national holidays like Veterans Day and Independence Day often present a unique challenge.  I have often received requests to sing patriotic songs in church.  (The Battle Hymn of the Republic, My Country Tis of Thee, America the Beautiful, God Bless America, etc...)  What do we do with that?  Is a worship service a place where we should be honoring our country and the men and women who have served in our military?  Isn't a worship service intended to be a time of honoring God?  When we come to worship, let's offer our allegiance to the King of Kings whose Kingdom is not of this world, rather than a nation that will pass away.  Let's honor Jesus, for his name is higher than any other name!
The question still remains though, how does a Christian respond appropriately to a holiday like Veterans Day.  This is pretty complex for me, and I don't claim to be an expert.  I have friends and family who have served in the military and I recognize the great sacrifice they have made and the difficulties they endured to serve our country.  Certainly, it is honorable to sacrifice on the behalf of other people.  Yet, I can't ignore the fact war is so horrific, and violent, and contrary to how I believe Jesus taught us to live.  I also can't ignore that God is a God of all nations.  The USA is not God's chosen nation.  God loves people of every nation.  We are not "better" than them.  So maybe instead of celebrating the greatness of our nation, let's celebrate the greatness of God's Kingdom, and pray for peace.  Veteran's day certainly isn't a happy day.  It is a solemn day, and a reminder of the brokenness of this world.  Many veterans are in desperate need of the peace and redemption of Jesus Christ.  Let's pray for their healing.
Here's a short blog from the perspective of a veteran of the Iraq war.  Read and Pray.

Foto Friday

Since I missed a few weeks while I was moving, here's a few extra "foto's"

Going away party

3 weeks ago, we were packing up the house, loading the truck, canceling utilities, and making arrangements to move 2300 miles away from our home for the last 5 years.  We also said goodbye to wonderful friends who had become like family to us.  I'm finally getting around to sharing some pictures and thoughts from our going away party at the Unterkofler's.

Emma, Jackson, Kyla, and Micah

Matt, Cheryl, Jackson and Kyla

Ryan and Juile

Matt, Robyn and Emma

Danny and Kaylyn

        In a way these pictures remind me of Christmas time with our relatives.  Every year we are forced to take family pictures in front of the Christmas tree for Grandpa and Grandma.  It might be a little cheesy, but we do it because we're family.  I think that description fits these pictures...they might be a little cheesy, but that's ok.  We're family. :)  These people are the ones who gave us countless rides to the airport, helped us move 3 times, threw us baby showers and birthday parties, invited us over for dinner, were there for us when we were struggling, supported us when Nicole and I were apart for 9 months, prayed for us, celebrated holidays with us, brought us meals when Micah was born, encouraged us when I was unemployed, shared memories of being pregnant and having our first kids together, enjoyed Men's/Women's adventure weekends together, and so much more.  Without meaning to sound sappy or cliche', I want to tell you all that I love you, and I am honored to have shared part of my life with you.  I will miss you.  We will miss you.  Thank you for being a part of our family.

There's no place like home

There's something about this place that is just special to me.  I never appreciated it much growing up, and 6 years ago, I was pretty eager to leave.  But as they say, distance either makes the heart grow fonder, or makes it wander.  It's safe to say the former is more true than the latter for me.  Don't get me wrong, I will cherish many memories from my time in CA...we made great friends, met wonderful people, learned a lot about ourselves, our marriage, and ministry, and went through our first pregnancy in CA.  I will miss the relationships for sure, but there is a lot that I won't miss also:
-Traffic
-Smog
-100+ degree temps
-LA sports teams (Lakers, and Dodgers mostly)
-Dust and dirt (and when the Santa Ana winds blow it around every where)
-Being 2300 miles away from family and the necessary flying back to MI to visit them
-People who think that CA is heaven on earth and that everyone who doesn't live there is crazy

So far after 5 days in Michigan, I am loving it.  So many small things just make my heart happy.
-Trees, especially with all the colored leaves
-Grass
-Rain
-Biggby Coffee
-Flashing red left turn signals
-Meijer
-Parents and In-Laws who treat me to dinner
-Dutch bingo
-Yesterdog
-The thought of being home for Thanksgiving and Christmas without having to travel
-Ministry connections with old friends at other churches
-Local sports teams on tv and covered by the news...even High School sports

It's just special.  It feels like home.  It feels right.  So to our friends in CA, thank you.  We love you.  You were our family when we were away from our family.  But to Grand Rapids, MI...we are glad to be home!

Bullet Points

-I'm moving to Michigan on Saturday.  Holy crap!  (Hence the bullet point blog post)

-Saying goodbye is hard

-Both of my brothers are flying to CA to help me drive all our belongings across the country.  Should be fun.

-Micah is rolling and scooting all over the place.  I can't stand thinking that I won't be able to hold him for a month.

-Nicole and Micah are staying here until Nov. 21 so Nicole can help transition to the new teacher in her classroom.  :(

-Nicole and Micah got a 1st class ticket to fly back to MI.  :)

-The Lions won dominated on Sunday :)

-Yesterday was national coming out day.  May the bullying, teasing, marginalizing and ostracizing stop!  Jesus loved the outcasts, so should we!

-I hate packing

-I love craigslist

-I hate political attack ads...enough already!

-I love my wife, my son, and you!

Foto Friday

4 months old

Foto Friday

We did this 5 years ago.  Getting ready to do it again, headed East this time.

The Welcomed End of an Old Routine

     I'm sure whenever most of us sit down on the computer we have some sort of routine we go through, or at least a few select websites that we check on a daily basis.  It may be checking email, facebook, the news, the weather, sports, or whatever else interests you.  For me, for the last 2 plus years, this routine has included visiting church "help wanted" websites.  (churchstaffing.com, churchjobs.net, the banner classifieds, etc...) Everyday, I would check to see if any new job postings came up at churches that interested me, and then I'd spend time perusing the websites of the churches that piqued my interest. 
     I no longer have a need to go through this routine anymore.  After a year of school, a lot of waiting, and a lot of praying, God has led Nicole and I to Hillside Community Church in Grand Rapids.  The job search is over.  It's crazy how we are creatures of habit.  The past few days, just out of habit, I visited the same "help wanted" websites, only to stare at the home page and think to myself, "There is nothing to look for here.  I've found what I was looking for already!"  It's really a great feeling.
     While there will be many new challenges ahead, and many more obstacles to overcome, and more ways that our faith will be tested, for now, we can take a deep breath, exhale, and say "Thank you, God!  You have been faithful to us."
     Philippians 4:4-7  "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Foto Friday

Home

Away

Worship and Prayer

I believe the church needs to relearn the importance of true worship and prayer.  In a culture that is dominated by consumerism, the goal of the church in America has become to meet the needs of its market.  Through top rated programming, concert like Sunday services, and high quality marketing, the church has taught it's attenders that church should meet their needs, and if it doesn't, they should go somewhere else where it does.

My senior pastor has said on a number of occasions, "If all we did was pray and worship, God would blow the roof off our building!"  In other words, God will move mightily in his church if all we did was pray and worship.  I'm not sure about your church, but if my church canceled all programming and just prayed and worshiped, I'm pretty confident we would lose at least half of our attendees.  Worship and prayer is much more about giving of yourself sacrificially and dying to the flesh than it is about meeting our perceived needs.  When we surrender the desires of our flesh and give ourselves in submission to God, then God is able to move and demonstrate his power in our weakness.  The Holy Spirit is the only person capable of radically changing people's hearts, so why do we try so hard to do it on our own?

A few weeks ago, I quoted pastor Brady Boyd on my facebook page.  "If you don't teach your church how to worship, you'll be responsible for entertaining them every Sunday."  The quote came from the video below. Enjoy!


Brady Boyd:The Nines:Game Changing Moment from Timothy Dumais on Vimeo.

Foto Friday

Oh. My. Word.

I would rather...

I will never forget walking into the student lounge at Reformed Bible College nine years ago and seeing the World Trade Centers on fire and then burning to the ground.  I watched for fifteen minutes and then had to go to Christian Doctrine class with Professor Felch.  Class was let out early, and I drove home and spent most of the rest of the day watching the events on TV. 

For most people, September 11, 2001 represents emotions like fear, despair and hate.  To this day, these emotions are very real in the hearts and minds of the people of the United States of America.  They even dictate how we act, how we legislate, how we vote and how we feel about certain groups of people.  I can't help but see how fear, despair and hate are in direct conflict with the Kingdom values of faith, hope and love.  (1 Corinthians 13)


I would rather be known as a person driven by faith, hope and love, than a person motivated by fear, despair and hate.

I would rather burn with desire for the presence of God, than burn the Koran in protest against Islam.

I would rather fight to build more churches in the darkest corners of the world, than fight with other religions about where they can build theirs.

I would rather support causes that reach out to illegal aliens in the name of Christ, than support legislation that shows them no mercy in order to protect the rights of the "hardworking taxpayers"

I would rather be a voice for the poor, the marginalized, and the mistreated, than join the many voices that speak up only when their own rights, and their own bank accounts are being threatened.

I would rather do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God, than do work, love money, and walk proudly because of my accomplishments.

Foto Friday

Love and Marriage

"Love and marriage, love and marriage
Go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you brother
You can't have one without the other"
           -Frank Sinatra
           (and later ruined by the stupid show, Married with Children)



Marriage is a wonderful, sacred relationship.  I have been married for 8 years, and I can't imagine life with out my wife.  She has been a part of shaping who I have become.  My wife knows me deeper than anyone else.  She even knows the ugly things about me - my short comings, my failures, my sin - yet she is committed to me anyway.  That's what love is.  It's a commitment.  It's not a feeling, or an emotion, or a longing for, although those things often accompany love.  Love is mainly a commitment.  A commitment to die to yourself, your rights, your desires, for the sake of another.  That is what love and marriage is about.  I don't think many people understand this.  Most people want more to be loved, than to love.  This is why over half of marriages fail.  We can only truly love once we embrace how deeply we are loved by our Father in Heaven.  When we believe that he loves us, that we belong to him, then we are free to give our love away with out fear.

Jeff and Katy

Last week my youngest brother asked a lovely young lady to marry him.  It is a happy occasion that we look forward to celebrating.  I pray that they may know, and that you may know as well, how deep, how wide, how long and how wide is the love of the Father.  A love that is beyond all understanding.  A love that is able to do more than you could ever ask or imagine.   You belong.  You are loved.  Nothing can change that.

Foto Friday

Foto Friday

7 things on my mind... in no particular order

1.  Now that I am accepted to Western Theological Seminary, the question still remains, how are we going to pay for this?  When I first decided to apply, I said, "ok God, I've fought going to seminary since I graduated college.  If this is what you want next, You're going to need to pay for it."  So I guess I have to have faith that He will, or maybe He wants me to wait until later.
2.  My mom is coming to visit again tomorrow.  That should be great.  I love my mom.
3.  I'm nervous that Nicole goes back to school next week.  I'm nervous that Micah will cry a lot more once she leaves.  I think I'm more nervous for Nicole, having to be away, finding time to pump at school, and somehow finding energy to stay awake once she gets home.
4.  Are there really a lot of people upset about this Muslim Community Center being built a few blocks from Ground Zero?  I can't find any.  All I here are a bunch of people saying there's nothing to be upset about.  Who's upset?  I am not.  If terrorists wanted to build a memorial to the fallen soldiers who gave their lives up when they flew planes into buildings, then I might get upset.  (This is not meant to make light of the situation, but Muslim's are not terrorists, and we, in the US, need to stop treating them like they are.)
5.  I have an interview in about 3.5 hours.  I've had a lot of interviews in the past year and a half.  It's hard to know what to feel anymore.  I've stopped trying to guess how I think God is going to open doors.  I'm just trying to have greater faith.
6.  I am eager to read more.  I was challenged greatly by this blog post in regards to the books I read.
7.  It's supposed to be 112 degrees today in Chino.  I hate Chino when it's this hot.

Foto Friday

Community

These last few months we've experienced the richness of community.  Especially our church community.  We have lived in California for 5 years now and have developed great friendships.  But the fact remains that our families live over 2,000 miles away from us.  (They would point out that we live 2,000 miles away from them.)  I don't know what we would have done if we did not have a church family to step in and fill the gap.  We had wonderful baby showers, financial gifts, and endless amounts of diapers given to us.  (after 2.5 months we've spent a grand total of $10 on diapers!)  We had so many meals delivered we couldn't eat all the leftovers fast enough.
This is not to slight the support that our biological families did give us - they all came out and visited and bought us groceries and changed many diaper - but sadly, they all had to leave and go back home too.  Our church is still here.  And we are grateful for them.
Even more exciting, are the opportunities we've had to support others at our church recently.  I've been able to help give a teenage boy rides to work, after his mom had surgery.  We gave some friends rides to the airport for their vacations.  We were able to help our friends demo, paint and move into their new house, and we are in process of doing the same for some other friends these next couple weeks.
I love when people ask me for help.  This is what being part of the body of Christ is.  People who realize how much we've been given in Christ, who can't help but give to others out of gratitude to Jesus.

Foto Friday

                                      (In honor of WMW's Wordless Wednesday)

How rich are you?

This is a 1.7 Million Dollar Bugatti Veyron I saw a few weeks ago on Rodeo Drive

This is one of few 10 plus million dollar homes we drove by in Beverly Hills, CA

Most of us reading this can't imagine what it must be like to have this kind of wealth.  Who can possibly have so much money and what did they do to get it?  I often think about what I would do with my money if I had millions.  I would pay off my debt, buy a reasonable $500,000 house, buy a reasonable $20,000 car, and help my family and friends ease some of there financial burdens.  That would leave me with millions of dollars left that I would donate to charities like World Vision, Compassion International, and causes to help fight AIDS in Africa.  I think about how great of a person I would be.  More people should be like me!

Then I think about this.  This is my car.

And this is my house.

I think about how at least 95% of the entire world looks at these 2 pictures and has the same feeling as I had looking at the 1st 2 pictures.

Ouch.

I am rich.  Filthy stinking rich.  I should be doing more with what I have.  I have been irresponsible with my money.  Lord, forgive me for my pride, my selfishness, and my lack of faith in you.

I want to do better.  I want to give more, live on less, and spend less on myself.  This is going to be hard.

Want to know how rich you are?  Check out The Global Rich List to find out.  I am about the 100 millionth richest person in the world.  Which means that about 5.9 BILLION people are poorer than me.

Let the blogging begin

I'm gonna do this.  For real this time.
Here's what's been going on lately:
-We had a son.  His name is Micah.  He's great.

-I preached my 1st "real" sermon this past Sunday night.  I've preached many times before, but only to youth groups, or at special weeknight services.  This was the 1st time during an actual, scheduled, regular church service.  I know, it might not seem like a big deal, but for some reason, it's a lot bigger deal to preach at a Sunday service.  I mostly enjoyed the experience.  Hopefully, there will be more opportunities in the future.

-I am applying to seminary.  Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI.  Don't freak out yet, we're not moving!  (sorry if I got all you MI folks excited.)  They have a distance learning program so I can do it online.  That's right, in about 5 years (hopefully less) you can call me Pastor Kevin.  That sounds scary.

-My wife and I are fasting from TV this week.  Yesterday we played Mahjong together, cleaned the house a bit, walked to the grocery store for a few things, and made homemade shakes with cookies n cream and vanilla ice cream.  Didn't miss the tv at all.  I am praying that we will have more meaningful conversations this week and that God will speak to us as we shut out the noise of the world to listen to him.