I'm sitting in a meeting right now listening to a presentation about tax exempt bonds. Would you ever believe that a youth pastor would need to set and listen to something like this? Wow, yep that's me. Believe it or not as a youth pastor your involved in almost every aspect of life. You get to hear everything! I hope some of you that read this will have a call on your life to be a youth pastor. Even though there are some crazy things your involved in most of the time what I do is the single most satisfying occupation on earth. Loving God, my family and the students of Sacramento!
Awesome.

Pd

To the hills

Random Picture - Bagpipe Chick at Spanish Bay

I'm heading to Tahoe today to get the Urban Challenge set up. Oct. 5,6 and 7. We like the name so we decided to keep even though it's in Tahoe. We figured all of us from Sacramento would bring the urban to the hills.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Pd

Alrighty, here's the deal. I'm going to start some random thought provoking discussion on different books of the bible. We are starting with the book of James. Here's the first eleven verses of chapter 1:

• James 1:1-11 (MsgB) I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! [2] Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. [3] You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. [4] So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. [5] If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. [6] Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. [7] Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, [8] adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. [9] When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! [10] And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. [11] You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

Questions:

1. Who is the writer trying to get his point across to?
2. Let's focus and the 5th and 6th verses, how does this apply to you?
3. How are you going to live different because of the direction given in this passage?