NEW BLOG! (wordpress)

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen - I switched my blog over to wordpress. My new address is http://ryanedwinpaulson.wordpress.com/ - update your links! Sorry about the change, but wordpress offered a little bit more versatility.

Yahtzee!

60th Anniversary

Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. What an accomplishment! It was so fun to be together as a family and to see the impact that their marriage has had. What a great legacy. it's really fun to see the way that God's grace has been evident in my family for so many generations. I'm grateful! 60 years, that's a long time. Can't wait to celebrate 60 with Kelly!

Fun day

Today, for the first time, we went swimming with Ethan! Here are a few pics. He was so funny in the water. He loved it.

Become a Fan

My message for this week in our series "The Gospel According to Facebook" is called "Become a Fan." I am so stoked to give this message. The whole fan thing has been one of my favorite developments in facebook over the last few months. The things that people come up with to be fans of is absolutely hilarious! I was doing some research for my message this weekend looking at some of the crazy things people are fans of. One that caught my eye was "Laughing when people fall." I thought to myself, "that's about the dumbest things I've ever heard." Not only that, but it's simply not nice to laugh at people when they fall. Anyway, I went to the site to read what people were posting (which I'd never done before, but people write some really funny/ridiculous things), and I found this video posted. I was in my office crying I was laughing so hard! Evidentially I am a fan of "Laughing when people fall" and I didn't even know it! Watch this... please.

Friend Request

I am continuing to teach this week in our new series called "The Gospel According to Facebook." This week my message is called "Friend Request." I have been studying friendship in the Bible and feel like the Lord is giving me a good message to deliver, but I can't get the stupid Michael W. Smith song "Friends" out of my head. It's absolutely killing me. So many good/disturbing/emotional/cheesy memories attached to this song. I might have to share a few on Sunday night.

Push play... I dare you!

Facebook Generation

I a starting a new series this weekend called "The Gospel According to Facebook." I'm so excited to teach on this. I am going to use the phenomenon of facebook as a metaphor for the Christian life. As I have been thinking about facebook and why it is so popular it seems to me that its popularity is driven by the way that it touches so many of the desires and cravings that we hold in common as human beings. For examples; connection with other people, causes to believe in, groups to join, etc...

Anyway, as I was studying, I ran across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about the "facebook geneeration" and the way that they are changing the way that business is conducted. Here are the 12 main things that they see:

1. All ideas compete on an equal footing.
2. Contribution counts for more than credentials.
3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
4. Leaders serve rather than preside.
5. Tasks are chosen, not assigned.
6. Groups are self-defining and -organizing.
7. Resources get attracted, not allocated.
8. Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
9. Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
10. Users can veto most policy decisions.
11. Intrinsic rewards matter most.
12. Hackers are heroes.

It seems to me that the church might do well to take notice of some of these realizations that the business world is coming to. I think that there are a lot of them that are applicable to the way that churches operate. Thought?

Liberty?

I read today that Liberty University will no longer recognize the Democratic Club on their campus. Now, I am not a democrat (nor would I consider myself a republican), but I think this is a bad move on a few different levels to kick them out. And, I must point out that the name Liberty seems a bit ironic at this point! The University said that they will no longer recognize them because "the national party's platform goes against the conservative Christian school's moral principles." If you want to read the article, click here and read what The Washington Post reported.

To make the statement that "the national party's platform goes against the conservative Christian school's moral principles" are you implying that the Republican Party is wholly in line with your values? I certainly hope not. The marrying of Christianity with one political party has weakened Christianity for long enough. Hopefully we can move beyond blind support one party and think about ALL issues through Biblical lens.

Those are just a few of my thoughts, I'd love to know what you think about the story.

Free Goods

I saw this link to a free Coldplay Live album. Here is the link. I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but hey, it's free.

Enjoy!

Mission Trip Blog

Our mission team for the Dominican Republic started a blog a little while back. You can got to it and check out thoughts and prayer requests of people on the team. Also, we will post pictures when we are there (hopefully, that will depend on technology) and then we will share stories once we are home. Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.thewellefcc.wordpress.com/

Sheer Randomness!

I haven't had the chance to blog ina while, so I thought I would post a few random thoughts...

• my son peed in his eye this morning. that's right, you read that correctly, he peed in his eye. like a good dad I just started screaming. he smiled at me. evidently it wasn't as big a deal to him as it was to me!
• is Charles Barkely the worst golfer in the world? I saw this clip of him golfing this weekend where he hit someone in the crowd with the ball. he was playing at some sort of pro am fundraiser and he took someone out who was sitting in the front row. i'm not sure who is at fault here... who in their right mind would stand there when barkely is teeing off? have they seen his swing? i seriously couldn't stop laughing.
  

• I'm really enjoying teaching through the book of James, but man is it convicting! It seems like every message I prep for God really challenges me through. This last week was on the way that faith expresses itself through speech. ouch.
• I am so excited for the Nuggets in the playoffs. They are playing so well right now and just can't wait. Bring on the Lake show!

National Day of Prayer

I had the chance to share at North County's National Day of Prayer breakfast this morning. It was truly an honor to be able to speak to a room full of people who are far more prestigious than I will probably ever be. I shared about the power of prayer and how I had the chance to introduce a student to Jesus over at Palomar College just yesterday. One thing that I have realized about prayer is that it really forces me to get my agenda in line with God. Yesterday God just literally brought this student up to me and I just responded to the opportunity that he had obviously given to me.

I read this quote about prayer by Henri Nouwen that really got me thinking about the way that I think about prayer and often times compartmentalize my prayer life. Nouwen wrote,
"To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put him into a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. ... Although it is important and even indispensable for the spiritual life to set apart time for God and God alone, prayer can only become unceasing prayer when all our thoughts -- beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful -- can be thought in the presence of God. ... Thus, converting our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer moves us from a self-centred monologue to a God-centred dialogue."

What a great truth to keep in mind!

Great Quote

I ran across this quote this morning as I was doing some reading. It resonates with me because this is exactly what I want the focus of my life to be.

THE GREATEST USE
OF A LIFE IS TO
SPEND IT FOR
SOMETHING THAT
OUTLASTS IT.

Faith You Can See

I started a teaching series on the book of James two weeks ago in the college ministry. When I started it I knew that it was going to be a challenging book to study, but it has really blown my own expectations out of the water. It is REALLY challenging and really practical. This week we are looking at James 1:19-27 which paints a picture of what true faith looks like. As i have studied, there are really 4 different things that James points out. Faith expresses itself in the way that we deal with anger, the way we listen and respond to the Word, the way we speak, and the way we care about the things God cares about.

This is a really challenging passage, but I think James a book that the church needs to embrace in a new way. We (at least in Evangelicalism) have told people that faith is saying a prayer and being convinced in our head of some theological truths. After spending time with James, I think he would say that is a pretty weak definition of the word 'faith.'

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts....

Go Natinals!

Are you kidding me? The worst franchise in baseball just became a bigger joke. Two weeks ago two of the Nationals players (their 2 best players by the way), walked out onto the field to play a major league baskball game... with the name of their team logo spelled wrong on the front of their jersey! Way to strive for excellence Natinals! You go Natinals! The Worlde Seris is rite arownd the korner.

Thankful

I was sitting in a seminary class last night, talking about ministry and I was just struck by how thankful I am for the people that I get to work with and share life with. Seriously, we have the best staff! Here is a recent picture that's on a postcard we send out to new people who come. (for some reason the colors are messed up when I upload it, but you get the picture).

Earth Day - Stopping Short

So, it's Earth Day today. I have never been a big celebrator of Earth Day, but I am intrigued by people who do celebrate this 'holiday.' To me it really just seems like it is stopping short - no, not in the same was as the Seinfeld episode. It reminds me a lot of what Paul writes in Romans 1:25 which says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

For me, the fact that this day even exists is a reminder to not stop short. To not worship the things that God has created rather than God himself. The Bible affirms that the things God has created are good, but we miss the point when we give those things praise rather than the person who gave those things to us for our use and enjoyment. May we press forward to the giver of all good things. We are too easily satisfied.

I am reminded of a famous C.S. Lewis quote where he said, ""It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." May we not be so satisfied with the gift, that we miss the giver. May our desires grow that we will long for so much more!

The Love of God

I heard the song "The Love of God" this past week and was just absolutely taken by the last verse.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

What amazing poetry, truth, and beauty. It's so good to be reminded of this truth this week. I needed it!

Bees... they're sting crazy!

I had an interesting experience last Saturday. I was on the driving range getting ready to play a round of golf with my father-in-law. I saw a cloud type thing emerge in the distance, sort of like the smoke monster in Lost... It moved towards me and the other people hitting balls on the range. As it go closer, it became clear that it was a swarm of bees! I'm not a huge fan of killer bees, so along with the other people on the range, I backed up under the canopy (like that would have protected me!).

Eventually, the bees calmed down a bit. They seemed to be leaving, but when I looked closer, they weren't leaving at all, they just found a place to congregate and make a new home... right on my golf bag!!! That's right, there were literally a few thousand bees that made their home on my golf bag!

To make a long story short, the golf course had to call an exterminator to come. They put a bag over my golf bag and took the bag and the bees to a hive near the Wold Animal Park. I got my golf bag back at the end of my round. The people in the pro shop told me, "It has a little bit of wax and honeycomb on it."

CRAZY!

Resource for Holy Week

I found a great resource for Holy Week on a blog that I read. Here is the link. I hope that it is helpful to you as you think about the significance of this week.

A practical resource for Holy Week

Resurrection

Being that it is Easter next weekend, I have been doing a lot of study lately on the subject of resurrection. A lot of my study and thinking has centered around N.T Wright's book "Surprised by Hope." One of the things that has been solidified in my mind is the future hope of a bodily resurrection. While my thinking has been impacted by Wright's work, it is also being molded by 1 Corinthians 15. I have always been firm in my conviction of a bodily resurrection, but have never been too sure of where that fits into the generally accepted idea of heaven.

I am really enjoying "Surprised by Hope" and highly recommend it... I don't agree with everything in it, but it has stimulated some really good thinking and discussion.