tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491Fri, 23 May 2008 16:24:40 +0000http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Living Hope Blog)Blogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-2548513212313214891Wed, 21 May 2008 20:04:00 +00002008-05-22T10:50:25.885-07:00 Money is a huge mask and looking at yesterday's response from a young lady who shared the decision she made re: the government stimulus check touched me. Laura and I have invested more than $150,000 into God's work in the last 33 years and many more $$$ into Christian education. We've given a lot of time. We've given up much of our retirement. Yes, for us it has been so worth it! Giving is a http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/masks-how-my-obsession-with-appearace.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-7336601120805599107Tue, 20 May 2008 05:08:00 +00002008-05-22T10:57:03.517-07:00 God's view of us is our true reality! Who do you trust about your true value? Yourself? Others? God? Who's most trustworthy? So we've been in a series called "Rock Star" at Living Hope and I was thinking of an acronym I've used for the past 20 years that represents how we typically try to measure our value. The word I use is M-A-S-K-S. We wear Masks because . . . well, they do serve a purpose http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/imagine-what-god-imagines-about-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-7988845086907258442Sat, 17 May 2008 14:33:00 +00002008-05-22T12:43:47.659-07:00 What amazing weather (I grew up with hot summers) and I even slept in this morning (a rare treat) until 7:30 (there's something wrong with that . . . part of getting old . . .). I'm alone, sitting in one of my two favorite chairs (drinking Kona coffee -very good!) and reading my British-Friend-Chap O.C. (11 yrs. this June) and journaling. I didn't like today's devotional at all - just does http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/some-sudden-somewhat-impulsive-thoughts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-3465333165902222262Wed, 14 May 2008 12:31:00 +00002008-05-22T12:50:02.392-07:00 It was my day off and I was in the gym . . . something the Spin Class teacher said keeps going round and round in my head (I was pushing hard on that stationary bike, ugh, and dealing with the cold, hard reality that this teacher picks horrible music - Techno and Country . . . please!). It wasn't just what she said, but when she said it -she said, "Do what 's right for you!" This came with 1.5 http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/spin-class-identity-and-faulty-self.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-4911404615195366061Tue, 13 May 2008 20:02:00 +00002008-05-22T12:53:16.410-07:00We had an amazing Mother's Day breakfast, worship, and great times this last week (Pictures of our air guitar contest at the bottom). y My friend Jeff sent me this YouTube clip and as I began to watch it (it's nearly 8 minutes long) I thought, not so great, but by the time I finished it . . . oh wow! Watch it yourself and let me know what you think. This is a great example of what it meanshttp://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/never-give-up.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-6757164038588407141Fri, 09 May 2008 20:42:00 +00002008-05-22T14:03:10.141-07:00What a fun kick-off to what may become one of my favorite Living Hope series - Rock Star. Here are few pictures of Justin the King who showed up introduce our series last week. This weekend is Mother's Day and we have a team preparing a wonderful breakfast that will be served at 9 am in our banquet hall downstairs at the church. Bring a mom, a woman, or just yourself and enjoy (men will be http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/fun-fun-fun-dont-miss-this-sunday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-6241501637619698256Fri, 09 May 2008 00:39:00 +00002008-05-22T13:59:04.523-07:00If you didn't read my last blog you may want to jump back there first (sorry it took me a few days to get back to it). Boundaries may look a lot like a fort but they have very different motives behind them. They are very different. River banks exist to aid the river in it's desire to go somewhere. (Do rivers really have have hopes and passions?) Forts instead, focus on safety and http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/boundaries-r-rivers-part-ii.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-6677562340249830274Sun, 04 May 2008 13:05:00 +00002008-05-04T07:14:19.853-07:00One of my strange thoughts this week was that our sympathy, empathy, and concern for a friend can sometimes harm them. Friendships have boundaries (I talk about that misunderstood word in a moment). I was sitting in my new leather recliner yesterday morning –the house is very quiet as Laura had left for a retreat at the beach. My old English-chap-friend had joined me, via a scrap book I’ve http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/05/friendship-boundaries-and-human-empathy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-8856065167364119753Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:53:00 +00002008-05-22T13:49:26.512-07:00So last Saturday was a marathon with our younger son and his girlfriend doing a co-ed baby shower (this should be illegal; can someone find a verse in the Bible that will let us guys off?) and then Gordon playing in the Satyricon! Sunday morning the sunshine was so nice as I felt like I had a hangover. It was so wonderful to see a huge number of people come out for the baby shower - people we http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/friends-faith-and-spontaneous-love.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5718504419065831991Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:30:00 +00002008-05-22T13:46:01.938-07:00 Last Sunday about 23 of us ended up at Mark Lindsay's Rock and Roll Cafe - very fun! Our service was great - Aria did a fantastic job leading worship and sharing some of her music from her latest album. I've meet so many people this week, and I can't help but remind all of us what it takes to grow amazing friendships: 1) All great friendships have at the core a clear sense of how valuable http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/growing-great-friendships.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-2541783888380680872Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:54:00 +00002008-05-22T13:42:26.542-07:00I'm so excited to be talking (live) at our Portland Living Hope campus tomorrow. Pastor John is in Cabo opening our new campus there, so I'm speaking at Portland (I think I should suffer for Jesus and fly down to Cabo for a couple weeks!) Tomorrow, at our campus we will have special guest, Aria Anafonian, a new recording artist who lives locally and loves our campus. It's going to be so great http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/dont-miss-tomorrow-big-day-sunday-april.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5472082321801112443Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:24:00 +00002008-05-22T13:38:35.575-07:00 How cool it was for Laura and I to take two of our Portland leaders to Seattle for a conference. The appreciation of how God has built us to create community was so strengthened! The conference was hosted by a church about the same size as us that started the same time as Living Hope. But their values and "smell" (the DNA of any group of people) is as different as night and sunshine (day). http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/seattle-and-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-7156302827456971151Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:01:00 +00002008-05-22T13:35:36.623-07:00 We are planning some very fun times together for spring and summer. For example, how would you like to do the famous STP? (see the link) Want to take in a Beavers game with us? We are planning some cycling rides and some golf outings. Come hang out with us. We should have our spring and summer calendar out soon! Four of us from our Portland campus are headed to Seattle this Monday. Pastor http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/feels-like-summer-get-your-calender-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5164012902397266838Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:05:00 +00002008-05-22T13:31:46.592-07:00 Yesterday an opportunity came for a very inspiring group of young men to perform in our church this Sunday (10 am). They are from Rwanda and the name of their group is Hindurwa, which means "be changed." I have a personal friend who stayed when all other Western missionaries were taken out of Rwanda just as the genocide began. I listened to the stories he has told, they were shared in a specialhttp://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-sunday-at-living-hope-portland.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5239546177853916820Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:15:00 +00002008-05-22T13:26:36.466-07:00that Jesus never claimed to be a good man, and he never asked us to just follow His example. Pastor John's last blog asked the question, "Who are you listening to? The truth or the crowd? The critics or your God?" If we only look to Jesus as our example we are likely to remain trapped in the prison of performance, power struggles, and worshiping the god of Safety. I look at Jesus and his life, http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/jesus-is-not-our-example-hes-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-4481116568702991960Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:42:00 +00002008-05-22T13:01:55.251-07:00I can think of nothing more powerful in the realm of giving than Easter. God, Jesus, and the Spirit loved everyone who ever lived and would live so much that they gave their love in giving up their life so that we could be supernaturally connected back in relationship with them. From God's perspective it's a done deal - God's mad-in-love with us. But just as you can love an infant and they don't http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/ultimate-reminder-of-giving.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-2181725546949726572Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:35:00 +00002008-05-22T12:54:14.476-07:00 Here's how it works, click the blue "CALL ME" button on the right side of the blog and then enter your name and number (please leave the "keep my number private" if you don't want me to have your number). Then I will listen and decide if I want to post your voice blog. If you've got a great thought during the day, you can call directly and leave a message at 503.616.5970. If you DON'T want your http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-first-audio-blog-response.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-4775779945917319552Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:45:00 +00002008-05-22T12:56:55.265-07:00No excuses now; our Living Hope website is up and running now and you've got to watch the weekend video if you missed the service this week. It was amazing! I think it's so what all of us need to prepare our hearts of Easter. I've included the clip used from the weekend that you can watch if you don't watch the whole service - it's old, but still so good! Want to buy the original 33 min. film? http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/did-you-miss-this-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-4619152216834334792Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:35:00 +00002008-05-22T12:55:14.759-07:00This weekend at our Portland campus we will be doing a "talent" show! This will follow our 10 am service and will be during our potluck (bring a salad and/or dessert and we'll provide the chicken). The talent show is open to anyone and the only two rules are: 1) No music (singing or performing), 2) it should be funny, cool, or really dumb (or maybe at least entertaining). If it's a kid doing it http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/this-weekend-in-portland.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-8054781556354794565Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:39:00 +00002008-03-16T11:34:32.619-07:00 Laura and I slipped in and listened to our son Gordon give his first public talk (our Living Hope school - grades K-12). He was talking about how he was a Hopeless Romantic. He blamed us as parents because his first movie to watch (VHS) was The Little Mermaid. He was funny telling the story and we remember how we had to stop the movie and explain to him it would all turn out good. Gordon then http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/hopeless-romantic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-7233401315222218429Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:09:00 +00002008-03-16T11:24:07.921-07:00So my most faithful "comments" friend kicked in some great stuff . . . Yes, our auditory is the first of our senses to kick into high gear when we enter this world and the last to leave us. That is why some science guys say everything can be broken down into SOUND - the smallest (we've seen or thought about) particle is but a sound, a song. Split in half that beyond qualifying entity and you get http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/life-is-sound-more-memory-lane-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-7173826449738176748Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:50:00 +00002008-03-16T11:17:16.042-07:00The original version (Todd Rundgren's) was good, but England Dan & John Ford Coley's version might be better (anyway, it's the 70's). Thanks Jeff for sending the words to me: What do these words say to you? "Light of the world, shine on me Love is the answer Shine on us all, set us free Love is the answer." "Who knows why Someday we all must die Were all homeless boys and girls And we are http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/original-version-todd-rundgrens-was.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5758361884269027021Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:46:00 +00002008-03-11T10:46:41.368-07:00 Monday a.m. - so very tired. . . wow what a day yesterday! The KidsWorld Big Red Bus appearance, having an amazing lunch with a couple I'm doing pre-marital counseling with . . . dinner with family to celebrate one of our boy's girlfriend's birthday . . . a crisis of two friends who fell off the wagon (hard) . . . it was worth it all! I'm back, reading more carefully Philip Yancey's book on http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/random-post-weekend-thoughts-book-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-4069892021218090230Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:05:00 +00002008-03-09T14:05:50.602-07:00Last night, Pastor John spoke, once again, of being desperate. I sat there I looked down at my black rubber bracelet from two years ago - it reads "desperate" and I thought, "Am I still desperate?" What are my most desperate prayers? Some of them have been just for me. But for most of these last two years they've been for those who don't have a clue how much Jesus loves them. Yesterday our http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/desperate-unanswered-prayers-of-jesus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36078491.post-5537768389255849669Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:16:00 +00002008-03-09T14:01:47.855-07:00 Prayer: Feelings describe how we interpret emotions and emotions are chemical/electrical responses to our senses and memories combining with core beliefs (I see a rattlesnake and I feel anxious - loss - let's go somewhere else! A toddler might feel inquisitive, interested, happy, let's check it out feelings). Did you get all that? Prayer includes feelings that are fed by our emotions. SO, SO, http://lhcportland.blogspot.com/2008/03/before-you-pray-3-big-thoughts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Bruce)