Bonhoeffer Book Review

I finished reading the biography on Bonhoeffer which was published this year. There are 2 things which I gleaned from the life of Bonhoeffer which can be applied to the church in USA.

The first is he was a man of the word. He firmly believed in the preaching which exposited the word of God to the congregation. We are missing this too much in the Church today. There are more than a few things which we over look or don't preach on especially if we don't teach verse by verse. If we do happen to preach on those subjects we are viewed as radical by our society and culture and dismissed. This is what I liked about Bonhoeffer he saw years ahead in his culture to see where the church was headed and what would happen to it. The Church is not meant to be an organ of the state to justify the existence of either party in control. The Church should not be used as a justification of the parties policies whether they be left or right. To be in the camp of either party is to be sold out. There are views of issues on both sides which the Church should support.

The second part I learned from Bonhoeffer is total belief and acceptance of the presence of the Lord. When the book wrote about his prayer, Bonhoeffer was a man who when he prayed he actually prayed as if Jesus was right there in front of him listening and conversing with him. Sometimes, it seems as if the "belief" in Jesus is broken down to what He did for us rather than actually believing in Him. Jesus has called us to follow Him. He still calls us to follow Him not a belief about Him. There becomes a distinction between do you actually know Him or do you know about Him? Do you see his footprints in the sand or are you actually there walking with Him? Is He real to you?

After finishing this book, I would highly recommend this book, especially to learn from the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and how real Jesus was in his life.

Love

I received a letter earlier this week from John Eldredge in which he wrote about love. The letter has been like a seed planted in my heart this past week. For our lives, it truly is all about love. His love for us which caused him to die on the cross for us that we might be made whole once again. It is His love for us which compels us to reach out to others with His love. It is only through His love that we are able to do this.

Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus.

Camp Cherry Valley 2010

This is the first time I have been to summer camp at Camp Cherry Valley. I went as the scoutmaster for Troop 373. I had a great time with a great bunch of Scouts. SPL was Seth Castro who was a great leader. The troop earned the Honor Ribbon for participation. All of the scouts earned at least 3 merit badges, 1 went through the ACE program and 1 was certified as a BSA Life Guard. The program was great, something different everyday, great stories told by Lafe and Shaun Conner, great staff. The troop had 2 great troop friends, Alex (X-Factor) and Johnnie D. All of our scouts had a great time at camp. We hiked to Goat Whiskers then Little Fisherman on Wednesday for the day hike, a 7 mile hike.

I will be going back to CCV for Cub Camp in 3 weeks. I can't wait to go back. This time I will be working in the kitchen all week and be the chaplain. I will be using one of the stories I heard at summer camp in the Scout's Own for the Cub Scout Campers.

Henninger Flats

Cara and I took a morning hike up to Henninger Flats this morning. This is the first hike we have taken together in a couple of years. We parked our car on Altadena Dr then hiked up the Mt.Wilson toll road to Henninger. It was a lot steeper than what I remembered! We left a few minutes before 9am and got there around 10:37. The hike was 8 miles round trip. After coming down from the top we soaked our feet in the little creek flowing through Eaton Canyon. It felt really good! For lunch we ended up at Daphne's. I had a Gyro Salad, very healthy. The hike was very hot because you are hiking up and down a fire road with very little shade.

Henninger Flats is an experimental forest station which is operated by Los Angeles County. When you get on top it is very cool with pine trees. The camp grounds are very nice. I need to take my BSA troop up there for a camp out. We met a young family coming down who had camped out for the night. If you have the chance this is a nice moderate hike.

Milestones

There are a few things which have been happening so far this year.

We have had our 2nd daughter get married within a year. Kathleen was married to Matt on April 30. They are a wonderful couple. I am so happy for Matt and Kat.

We will have our 7th child graduate from AWANAS next Wednesday. AWANAS is a great program which promotes the word of God among our children. This is something which is starting to be missed with our children in church. There is more entertainment going on now in the church in an attempt to "draw" children to Jesus. My question is what method did Jesus employ to draw the children to himself? Did he use entertainment? Or did He draw children to himself just because of who He is? The church doesn't gimmicks and programs to draw children to Jesus, first it was the parents who brought their children to Jesus to be blessed by Him.

As you can tell, Jesus is laying upon my heart again his love for the children.

Children's Ministry Update

It has been a few years since Cara and I have been involved in Children's Ministry.  This is still the ministry God has called us to.  As we are getting back into the ministry the spiritual warfare is intensifying.  I believe this is where our hearts are. This is what captures our imagination, what fuels our passion.  Bringing children to Jesus so they can know him.

To Know Him and to Make Him Known!

Eaton Canyon Falls

The Falls were beautiful today with the recent rains we have had in Southern California. It took multiple crossings of the fast running creek to finally reach our destination. It was such a beautiful day for a hike. The creek was able to get 2 scouts soaked who missed the rock they needed to cross the creek. But with the sun and warm temperatures they were able to dry off quickly when we got out of the canyon. I hope to have pictures of the falls later on Facebook.

We found an abandoned hut, shack, structure,??? in the creek bed on the way up then had the chance to check it out later. It was like a Robinson Crusoe type of structure. Probably abandoned from a homeless person. It was in the middle of the creek so can understand why it was abandoned. Place to go when I am in the dog house? Hmmm...

Nature Hike

Went for a nature hike today at Eaton Canyon with 3 scouts, 2 who needed to pass plants requirement for 1st Class. It was a great day. Learned about a plant which helps with sore throats, laurel sumac whose berries were used as an aide for digestion, another plant which helped with bladder problems. Cowboy Sage which was used by local cowboys as a cologne before they rode into town. It was like going to local pharmacy.

Wish more of the Bat Patrol could have come for the hike to learn about our local native plants in Southern California.

It was a great way to start off the day. A beautiful hike in Eaton Canyon.

Foodies

We spent the weekend up in Northern California this weekend visiting Cara's dad. He is doing well considering...

We were taken out to dinner at his favorite place. Our favorite was ice berg lettuce salad with kidney beans as a topping. Yum...

Tonight, we ate at a restaurant on the highway home. This should have been the first hint. Cara had a tri tip salad with cubed tri tip recooked in grease. I had a shredded beef ice berg lettuce salad which was ok. We were longing for our new favorite restaurant here in Pasadena, Stone Fire Grill.

Transition

I went camping last week with my son on a Boy Scout camp out to Calico. He is my next son who has been in Scouts now for a year. The transition which struck me is teaching him how to help me set up camp, break down camp, etc... I have been camping and going on outings with his older brother who had his Eagle Court of Honor this week. He is 16 the younger is 11. Another one to teach and train on the trail to Eagle. 2 more after this one!

Start of a New Year, 2010

Today is a beautiful day in Southern California. It has been in the mid-80's all day. Next week, we are supposed to go camping with a chance of rain. This weekend was the kickoff of the birthday celebration of BSA with a float in the Rose Parade then the unveiling of AB100. The weather couldn't have been better!

Today was also incredible, got to hear the CSE of BSA speak, Bob Mazzuca. Talk about OA being a bond of brotherhood! I was introduced to a dancer from the Pow-Wow this morning through a fellow friend then found out he went to the same high school in Germany, Zweibrucken American High School. He went there a few years after I was there. I was there in 73-74 and he was there 77-78. Amazing! It is a small world after all. This is the first time meeting someone from the high school I went to in Germany. And through OA!

Last year may have ended on a bad note, my car quiting on me twice on the way home on Dec 31 but yesterday and today have been beautiful! And Kathleen getting married on April 30, 2010 in OC. This year is going to be a whirl wind. I will try to post more than what I did last year.