My Final Post

Circumstances Change, But God Changes NOT!

Changes happen all the time. It's no different for adults. You know the changes of life can be sublte or drastic. You can experience change when friends move, when your boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with you, when your school changes, when your parents stop talking about divorce and start court proceedings, when a friend or a family member dies, or when you contract a disease. No matter how circumstances change. God changes not!

How does God not change? He says to you, "I am faithful. I am always gonna' be there no matter how circumstances change. I am good."

God is faithful. "This is a true saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself ( II Timothy 2:11-13)." God is always faithful. You may not feel you are always faithful to God. But God will be faithful. You can trust Him for He changes not.

Think of the geyser in Yellowstone National Park--Old Faithful. Check out this webcam with predicted eruption times. Every twenty or thirty minutes the geyser erupts. For decades this pattern has continued. Yet God is more faithful than a geyser. He is the everlasting God. He changes not! He is consistent. He changes not!
God is always there for you. "I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are
there (Psalm 139: 7-8)." God will be there for you. You may experience elevated highs or the deepest of lows. No matter. God wil be there for you. No matter how changes occur. You can trust God.

God is good. "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him! (Psalm 34:8)." How do you taste God? You suggested that you can taste the Lord by licking the wall, by reading the Bible, by doing good things, and by observing the godly attitudes of other people. I suggest that you taste God by eating foods that are good to you. What satiates your appetite? Watermelon? Apples? Oranges? Pizza? Fries? Ice Cold Mountain Dew? Double mocha Frapp No Room? God is good like the taste of your favorite food. God is good. Trust Him.

The Chronicles of Narnia reflects the uniqueness of God. Aslan the Lion is good but you must still fear Him. The book shares this dialgoue between Lucy and the Beavers.

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly.
“Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of Wood and the son of the great
Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan
is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver,
“if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees
knocking, they’re either braver than most or else silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver
tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But
he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

God is good. You can trust Him. He isn't safe--He's the God of the Universe, the Everlasting God. Check out Chris Tomlin's present worship song; "Everlasting God." One to buy!

If you don't have God in your life as the boss of what you do, then you have no access to his help. God provides great things for His followers. You can experience pain and joy and have no hope. But with God you
have hope that you can trust Him. Why? Because God is faithful, He will be there for you, and God is good. You can trust Him!

My life circumstances have changed As of today, the Elder Community of Northwest Chapel has directed me to shift all student ministries responsibilities to a transition team so that I can pursue what God is calling me to do for the future. I am still on staff at Northwest Chapel. But I will not be responsible for Student Ministries at midnight tonight. I have been given the gift of time to focus on missions--to discover what God wants me to do for the future. So I commission you to be advocates for God's church. Responsibilities change but my relationships with you does not. So stop and talk with me anytime.

But please don't eulogize me. I am not dead! I am embracing this decision and I agree that this must occur. I trust God and His leadership team. So keep this verse in mind as you respond and react to this news: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)." If you have concerns, then go talk with your parents, volunteer staff, or our elder community. May you speak the truth in love while in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ (Ephesians 4:3). While circumstances change, trust God for God changes NOT!

Til' you see me,

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Mornings

Game Day

Webster’s defines play as, “to amuse oneself, as by taking active part in a game or sport; engage in recreation; activity engaged in for amusement or for fun.”

The intention for programming a GameDay on a Sunday morning is to meet our goal of helping students play well so that each student has fun, feels connected, and is cared about in the context of a church family. We intend for students and their friends to come and play at Northwest Chapel.

One way students have fun is multiple-player video games. We want students to share games and game systems so that there is enough time for as many students as possible to enjoy playing a game. Four player games are best. Likewise, we may need to set a time limit on each game played so that other students are allowed to try a game.

Another way students have fun is multiple-player board games or card games. Again sharing games and time limits will help us direct students to try games and to include others by inviting other student(s) to join in. Whether they play or not, we want every student to get an invitation to try playing a game.

Moreover, some students would rather play individual or one-on-one games. These students need to share games as well with an adult leader who sets time limits so that others can play these games as well.

Fun is not the only goal—but also seeing students make connections with one another and feeling that adult leaders care about them. Adult leader(s) will issue name tags so that we can hear student names and begin using them. Likewise, An adult leader will take pictures to post on the website or on a PowerPoint slide or to include in a pictorial directory for MS Ministry Team members.

Thus, the goals for GameDay are:

1. To help students have fun by offering a variety of games so that students can interact with one another and with an adult leader.
2. To help students feel connected and cared about by making sure that every student is greeted.
3. To help students feel connected and cared about by making sure that every student is issued a name tag.
4. To help students feel connected and cared about by making sure that every student is invited to participate in an all-play game.
5. To help students feel connected and cared about by taking pictures to post on website or PowerPoint slide or for pictorial directory.
6. To help students get connected to God by sharing Christ in testimon, which outlines how to know God in a personal way as your forever best friend.

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Series

Losers: How to learn from Bad Examples

You learned how Haman put action to his prejudice and tried to kill those he hated. In the Old Testament book of Esther you will find the story of Haman. The king of Babylon appointd Haman a role of honor in the king's court. All paid him honor--all but one Jew named Mordecai. Mordecai worshipped the true God alone. He did not bow down to anyone but God alone. This action enraged Haman. So Haman made plans to kill Mordecai and his people (Esther 3:5-6). God intervened in a unique manner to save the Jews and to honor Mordecai. You have to read the story yourself to see how it concludes. But the challenge is to put off prejudice rather than feed prejudice like Haman did.

You can put off prejudice in three ways: 1- You can forget the stereotypes, 2-Focus on the Inside, 3-Everyone deserves respect. The Bible says that you can discover how you are by the fruit of your actions.

Prejudice means "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason (Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006)." I wonder if you have thought about how you treat people. Your actions will reveal how you treat people. For instance, I wonder how you interact with those from other cultures in public. What if you had to stand in line at the checkout in Hollister? I wonder if you would forget the stereotypes and warmly greet them or at least try to be friendly. You may think that people of other cultures only want to be with their own people. That perconceived reason may be prejudice. But you can forget the stereotypes and seek to encounter all people groups differently. You can put off prejudice by forgetting the stereotypes.

A second way to put off prejudice, you can focus on the inside of the person. I Samuel 16:7 says that God looks at the individual's thoughts and intentions, not on the outward appearance. Rather than focusing on the outward appearance (skin color, type of clothes, footwear, or sunglasses), you can choose to focus on what's inside a person. It is more important in God's sight to see the individual's heart and thoughts rather than mere outward appearance. So focus on what's inside an individual, not on what's outside.

The last way to put off prejudice is to respect others, everyone deserves respect. Jesus said it best, "The second and most important (commandment) is similar, 'Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself(Matthew 22:39).'" In fact the apostle Paul reaffirms in I Peter 2:17, "Show respect for everyone." Give respect to each person as a follower of Jesus. YOu can put off prejudice by showing respect for everyone.

Next week be ready for Game Day--we will try to do something different. So come and bring a friend.

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Series

How Not To Be a Loser

This Sunday morning you will learn how to identify your prejudices and how to alleviate them. To put off prejudices is an on-going battle. In our ever growing multicultural world, you will need this skill for the rest of your life. I read on the news ticker this morning that the minority population in the US surpassed the 100 million mark. I wonder what will happen when the minority population outnumbers the majority. Well, you will be ahead of the game. You have prejudices that are not identified as prejudice. You will learn what prejudice is, how to put it out of your life, and then reflect on what God would have you target as action steps for your spiritual journey. I trust you can join us by looking at the life of one bible character named Hamaan, who is someone that you don't want to be like. See ya' Sunday!

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Morning Series

Mother's Day 2007

You got the chance to honor your mom by creating a mother's day card. You also heard how I called my mom a terrible name in anger. I learned from my mistake by taking the punishment and by adjusting my life to stop displacing my anger in harmful word(s). The Bible says to honor your parents (Ephesians 6:2.). You can develop a better relationship with your mom by honoring her.

You can honor your mom by sharing love in a real way. Using the Five Love Languages from Gary Chapman and made popular by Gary Smalley, you can enjoy a better relationship through Chapeman's five love languages: #1 Physical Touch, #2 Words of Affirmation, #3 Quality Time, #4 Gifts, & #5 Acts of Service. One of these langauges is your mom's primary love language. Discover it and act upon it to honor her. You can share real love to her in a new way.

For example, if your mom likes hugs, cuddling, or pecks on the cheek, then you give mom a hug "just because." If your mom uses words of affirmation, then affirm her with kind words of gratitude--say thank you more. If your mom needs to spend time with you, then make time for her--set a starting time limit of five minutes a day (yes, use the timer, but tell her why you're using it so that you can learn to increase time with her not as a device to tell you when it's over). Your mom may need time with you. Designate it as a date and keep it. If your mom likes gifts, then give something up to sell and buy her something or make something by hand and give it to her. If your mom likes doing things for people, then do things for her. Target doing one thing for her. Start with just one thing! Then add two. And so forth.

You can show appreciation to your mom in these various ways and more. Stop and think how you can show love to your mom and to develop a better relationship with her today. Make it more than just one day a year. Strive to work on your relationship with your mom an everyday occurence. You will get better at it as you work on it with God's help. Here's to mom! I love you mom!

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Morning Series

Mother's Day

This Sunday we will take a one-week break and highlight mom's. Everyone alive has a birth mom. You will get to honor you mom in a unique manner on Sunday morning. Come ready to honor your mom.

You can be a good daughter or son. You can grow in maturity. This week I will share my own adolescent mistakes. You will benefit from hearing about my teenage regrets and about my past and present relationship with my mom.

You will get practical help to honor your mother better. Come to stop and make a card for your mom. Who says you can’t take time out to take some paper, crayons, markers, and paste and creatively say thanks to your mom.

Pastor D

Sunday Evening Discipleship

I came across by Charles Swindoll that helps illustrate the point that we are in a spiritual battle. We need to march forward for our King. He has made us his princes and princesses. Just like C.S. Lewis' story the Chronicles of Narnia. You need to armor up and join the battle for God's truth. You need to think the truth. You need to live the truth with love. You need to speak the truth in love.

Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christians were routinely persecuted for their faith by the Communist regime. We have many inspiring stories of courageous Christians behind the Iron Curtain who were willing to die for their faith during this difficult period in world history.
One such story involves a house church in a city in the former Soviet Union. The small group of believers who gathered there were afraid to carry Bibles, so they memorized large sections of the New Testament and recited Scripture to each other.
Each week they would arrive at the house at different times, to avoid arousing the suspicions of KGB informers. On one particular Sunday the church members were all safely inside the building, with the windows closed and doors locked. They began the service by softly singing a hymn and praying.
Suddenly, the door burst open and two soldiers armed with automatic weapons walked in. One shouted, “All right, everybody up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ, you can leave now and no harm will come to you.”
Two or three church members left, then another.
“This is your last chance!” the other soldier warned. “Either turn your back on this Jesus of yours or stay and suffer the consequences!”
Another member left. Two more covered their faces in shame and slipped out into the night. No one else moved. Parents with small children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly. They fully expected to be gunned down on the spot—or, at the very least, imprisoned.
After a few moments of silence, the soldiers closed the door and looked back at the church members left standing against the wall. One of them said, “Keep your hands up—but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another house church several weeks ago to arrest a group of believers. But instead, we were converted.”The other soldier added, “We are sorry to have frightened those who left, but we have learned that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted.”

So live for God's kingdom.

Sunday Evening Discipleship

Bread Series--conclusion this Sunday Night 6:30-7:45pm

The final discipleship session for the school year focuses on God's forever Kingdom. God's people in the Old Testament waited and waited for a Messiah--a Deliverer. They thought when this Messiah comes he would arrive in a big, spectacular way. They thought His coming would instantly, perhaps violently, radically change the world for them. They thought their enemies would be struck down, their lives would become prosperous, and their faith would be embraced by all. They were wrong, God's kingdom didn't and doesn't work that way.

Jesus explained that God's kingdom is like leaven. Leaven is a small, simple ingredient that works itself in and through the dough--transforming the dough and giving rise to the dough for bread to be baked for eating. God's kingdom is like leaven--it's truth works itself in and through you, transforming you and giving rise to a person living out the truth in real life. You can see your role--your place to live out God's radical and revolutionary ways in your own world. Your unique place is one that you can see work slowly and mightily through you. It is a lifetime transformation that God desires. You can pick up new pieces along the journey. You can make a radical impact these final weeks of school. God can do His kingdom work through you. You are his princes and princesses in battle for Him. Go and make a difference for Him!

Join us this Sunday night for a challenge and praise time to ignite your life for living for God this coming week. May it fuel your soul and impact others for Christ!

Tips for Small Groups:

• Praying Together--some students will be uncomfortable praying out loud. Let them know that everyone feels self-conscious when praying out loud for many times. Some people don't get over it. But students can work at it with you. Share how you learned to pray out loud with others or how you still feel challenged about praying out loud with others. Remind them that each one is simply talking to God who is the perfect Father and just wants them to share with Him what's on their minds as we have directed them this evening.
• Prayer Help--Try using a fill in the blank sentence; e.g. I want to thank You, God for _____; or I want You God to help me with _______. You may want them to write out their prayer and then read it back to God. Encourage students to try. This may be the only time they get coaching on how to pray and you get the chance to help one student become a great prayer warrior for the rest of his or her life.

Pastor D

Sunday Mornings Middle School

This Sunday morning at 9:30 you will be looking at some biblical characters. I am going to select two losers...biblical characters that you don't want to be like. Often I can select the men and women of the Bible who did great things or said awesome things. But as I review the wisdom literature of the Bible, you can learn from your mistakes. I do. In fact, you may learn some things to avoid in your own life.

As I skimmed through the Bible, I saw many losers. So I chose two--Saul & Haman. Saul is a great example of what can go wrong when you decide to know more than God. God had blessed Saul's life in tremendous ways yet he decided to disobey. So the challenge for you is to choose to obey. The rewards are worth the risk.

So come join us. You will discover how to not be a loser. You'll be glad you came to learn that lesson.

I want to say thanks to my friends Doug Fields and Kurt Johnston for lettime me use their material for our students. They have such great resources.

Pastor D

Game Day for Middle School

Students focused on relationship building this morning. I intend to try to get students to get to know names of other students. I hope students get to break down barriers. This will build up connections in the youth group. My focus is to foster friendships at church with Christian friends. Students attend different schoools or have opposite schedules from one another. Sunday mornings may be the only time students see each other during the week. To cultivate relationships I will revise the game day concept. I will begin with a planned opportunity for mixing students so that barriers to relationships can begin to come down between individuals, leading to potential bonding within the group. So I will provide for opportunities for interaction. This takes time out of the hour, but as I hear from parents and students--connection is critical. So I will seek to structure time for students to open up about themselves. I will set aside time that students discover mutual interests and potential links for friendship. I pray that students leave excited about potential friendships within the group.

Sunday Evening Equip

Small Group Info and Tips

This Sunday night we will explore how God is our Father. You can call upon Him everyday to meet your needs and trust in His provisions. Your relationship with God should be shaped by these truths. I will email the abbreviated outline for Sunday Night. I learned from last week that I need to make things shorter so that students can gather in small groups.

I want all the students together to create a corporate worship experience filled with music, teaching, and small groups. This short three-week series will fill the gap between the end of the last session and the summer break. I am still experimenting and learning when to integrate and how to integrate all age groups for a corporate experience. I expect high school students to model a walk with Christ so that the middle school students would "idolize" their remarks and actions to foster a legacy of students committed to follow Christ better. I expect the adult leaders to gather with a small group of students and to engage in one meaningful conversation about your walk with God where students "rub-shoulders" with you and peer into your own walk with God right now.

I provide the list of questions for adult volunteers to target their discussions in small groups around the main theme. Yes, you will need more time to get to know them. But try to listen well and rephrase their responses so that you communicate that you really heard what they said.

What if there is silence or a "I-don't-know" reply? Allow for silence. Then ask, "Who wants to help (student's name) with this question?" If there is still no comment. Say, "If you had to guess, what would you say?"

This week I will try to give more time to small groups. You can change, modify, or throw out the list of questions and the proposed scripted lines. But please stay true to the main point for the session. You will wrap up the lesson and help them take God's truth home with them for the week ahead. My prayer is that you will help prepare them to live out God's truth in real life for the coming week. Please offer suggestions by leaving a comment. I'd really like to hear from you.

Other Small Group Tips:

1. Pick 5 minutes one day to pray for the students who will come this sunday night.


2. Show up ready to talk with students discovering what he or she is interested in this week.


3. Seek to actively listen. To be heard is to belong.


4. Take turns praying for one another.

Pastor D

Sunday Evening Equip

The Bread Series



This week we will target how God is the provider for our daily bread. Many people memorize the Lord's Prayer, or DIsciples' Prayer. But I wonder have you spent some time unpacking it and really thinking about what Jesus said. This Sunday night you will unpack these familiar verse differently. Come to engage in learning how God is your Father. You will learn how to relate to Him better as your Heavely Father. Your Heavenly Father provides for you. He cares for you. He loves you!

Pastor D

Middle School Connect 9:30am

Middle School gets a play day!

What about guitar hero II? I wonder if anyone could bring guitar hero I. I'll bring the donuts and a few breakfast drinks. First come. First served.

Soccer may be our theme this weekend hour. I hope you can come.

pastor D

Sunday Morning Lesson

Middle School Connect

You were challenged that the world sometimes seeks guidance in foolish ways. It's like letting a stranger guide your life. You shared how most kids make their own decisions but factor in the great influence of what their friends or culture says. A few of you were willing to do what a stranger suggested to make that point. One student did cartwheels, another did the worm, another played a song on the keyboard synthesizer. You observed how crazy it is to trust your future to a horoscope. You may even have friends who don't have much better guidance in their lives. But you do. Or at least I hope you know that the Bible gives guidance.

You can find genuine guidance in your life from the Bible! You fashioned mini-scrolls for your use this week. I wonder how it's going for you. Is the Bible your source for guidance? Are you letting God lead your life? My prayer is that God helps you to live your life for Him!

Pastor D

Sunday Morning Lesson

Where to find genuine guidance in life

This Sunday morning I've decided to target where to find genuine guidance in life. If you've seen the trailer to Premonition, you can see how our culture views guidance of a supernatural nature. How do you know if what you discover in life is really true. A lot of people look for guidance in life , but seeking it in the wrong place is likely to do nothing but create problems. Many people run to all kinds of things, even weird things, to get guidance for their life. But they ignore God. If you've ever wondered how God guides His followers, then you need to be here on Sunday morning. You'll discover where anyone can God guidance from God.

Sunday Morning Lessons

I find it challenging to address the needs of both high school and middle school students. This coming Sunday is the last installment regarding habits or addictions students use to cover-up the emptiness in their lives. I wanted to address this by highlighting how busy students are--too busy to hear God's voice. So i challenged them to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. Next I targeted snap-judgments--students need to take a long and honest look at his or her life before putting down others. This week I am torn what to target--either where to find genuine guidance in life or putting God first is the missing detail in many stuents' lives. So I will ask God for help in targeting one or the other. I pray to discern His guidance by tomorrow.

I will need some help with either option. I wonder if you could comment if you are available this week to help out. Thanks.

Pastor D

Sunday Morning Lessons

April 15 Dealing with hypocrisy

Middle School 9:30 AM

The main theme for middle school students was to think before you judge. When you can't see clearly you tend to make a mess of things. Students tried discerning what the difference was in some pictures shown on the screen. The boys and girls tied at six points each. So for the tie-breaker, I blindfolded students to see who could draw the most accurate smiley face. The girls barely won. It is so easy to be critical of others but not see your own mess-ups in the same area. Matthew 7:1-5 challenges everyone to be wary of a critical spirit because it has a way of boomeranging. You need to see clearly your own faults before you point out the faults of others.

Pastor D

Easter Service for Students

For a lot of students in our church, the story of Jesus' resurrection is very familiar. A student could become jaded, or dull to its impact and importance. Students may encounter those who object to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead by offering theories to try to explain away the resurrection. I intend to renew each student's appreciation for the miraculous nature of Christ's resurrection this Sunday morning. I will need several students or adults to help me do some readings this Sunday morning. So come ready to engage and to respond to the reality of Christ's resurrection. Invite a friend.

NOTE: Middle school students gather at 9:45am this Sunday. High School students will gather at 11am.

Pastor d