It’s been a week of celebrations and milestones for our family. I take that back. It’s been a month of milestones. This week we added to this list Zoe’s culmination from 5th grade (she’s moving on to middle school next year) and Sophie’s 8th birthday (yesterday). Watching our girls grow up is one of the greatest joys of parenting. There is a sense of loss for some parents, knowing that those toddler days are gone, but I most enjoy seeing them grow and mature and achieve new things in their lives, like hearing Zoe use the word “acculturation” in her culmination ceremony on Tuesday, or watching Sophie finish reading yet another book.

On Sunday, Elysabeth and I will drive the girls to Pine Springs Ranch in Idyllwild. It’s amazing to think that I went to that same summer camp some 30 years ago. I am so excited to drive them up to camp, as my dad drove my brother and me to camp so many years ago. It feels right, somehow, to be connected to a family in this way. Not just my biological family, but a church family. In the midst of our world that changes faster than we can keep up with—that discards new products within months to make room for the new—it’s comforting to participate in relationships and rituals that endure and span generations. It feels somehow human to be linked in this way.

The author of Hebrews writes,

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Hebrews 12:2, New Living Translation).

Or, as the Phillips translation puts it,

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Our culture of individualism is perpetually squeezing us into its mold. We move from one new thing to the next, seeking fulfillment and happiness in shopping and experiences. Meanwhile scriptures calls us to pour our lives into others in bonds of friendship an unity that will stand the test of time. This is a serious challenge for the church and one that, with your help, our congregation will continue to navigate together. For me, driving my kids to summer camp is one small step.

Grace and peace,
—Ryan

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

¹⁸”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:15-21)

This is the text I will be focusing on in worship this Sabbath. I thought you might like to see it in advance. Try reading it a few times, rolling the words around in your mind, praying through the text and formulating a few questions about it that might drive your imagination.

My experience is that Holy Spirit plays a larger role in the Hollywood Adventist Church than in any church I’ve previously been a part of. This is, of course, a good thing, but it is also troubling at times. Earlier in the gospel, John records Jesus saying to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We can’t see the Spirit. We only witness the effects of the Spirit’s work. Even then the Spirit’s presence is most often ambiguous. Understanding where the Spirit is at work in our personal lives and our community is a skill that is aquired and honed over time with much practice. The ancients called it discernment.

God is at work among us in ways we can’t always see on the surface, but through pratices of discernment, can be acertained. God is growing us, day by day. Sometimes it is more obvious than others. Two baby dedications with Sabbath reminds us that God is still growing families – not just biologically, but spiritually. These two families remind me that God is still at work among families, leading children to know and understand God’s purposes. These two families give me hope – that families still see value in bringing their children to the church for instruction, worship and community. Parenting can and should be something the church does in partnership with parents.

Next week I have the privilege of baptizing my own daughter! I have thought about this day since I Zoe fit easily on my lap. Next week is a big day for Elysabeth and me, but it is also an important day for our church. I am reminded, as I listen to Zoe describe why she wants to get baptized and what it means to her, just how important so many of you have been in her spiritual growth.

May God’s Spirit come to us and envelope us in her presence this Sabbath as we eat and drink together and celebrate God’s life in and among us!

–Ryan

According to some, today is the last day. That’s right—THE last day… of history. According to Harold Camping and based upon his very complicated and convoluted calculations, the end of the world is supposed to be happening any minute now. Or at least the rapture, in which faithful believers will be disappeared to heaven.

It’s easy to make fun, but it was only 167 year ago, or so, that our tribe made a similar prediction. Thankfully we learned our lesson. Mr. Camping apparently has not. I recall early in my ministry Mr. Camping predicted that Jesus would return on a September day in 1998. He keeps trying to get it right, but still, there is something drastically wrong with his approach.

Luke tells a story of the Pharisees demanding to know from Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. Here is the exchange, from Luke 17:20-21 (TNIV):

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Today our text is from John 14:1–14. There Jesus says that he’s going (somewhere) to prepare a place for us and will come again so we can be where he is. This is an interesting text to read in light of the non-events of this day.

What does it mean to live in the awareness that, in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God is revealed, in our midst, while at the same time acknowledging that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and that even now, the new world that God imagines is being created—prepared—by Jesus.

I wish we could say to all the followers of Harold Camping, “We’ve been where you are. We know it ends in ‘great disappointment.’ Please don’t give up your faith. Rather in humility take a fresh look at what Jesus was really trying to say and do and determine anew to following him.” Which is also advice for us on this day, too.

—RYAN

You may have noticed that for the past four weeks I’ve been traveling. I’m sure I’ll be telling stories for weeks and months to come but let me begin by giving you the overview.

Melbourne, Australia
I left Los Angeles the night of Charles and Mireya’s wedding on my way to Melbourne, Australia. My arrival two days later (pesky dateline) still gave me about two days to adjust to the time change and be ready to begin speaking on Thursday night. From Thursday, April 21 to Monday, April 25, I was the youth and young adult speaker for the Victoria Conference Camp Meeting. Since the meetings were held over the Easter weekend my entire theme focused on the way in which the death and resurrection of Jesus sends us into the world in a particular way to be God’s agents of healing, peace and justice. You would, of course, recognize many of these themes if you’ve been around me for any length of time. I also had the opportunity to share stories of our ministry in Hollywood, show the Stained Glass documentary and have a rich conversation about urban ministry. In all I spoke nine times in five days, made some amazing new friends, heard stories of people’s lives being transformed… and nearly lost my voice!

Mombasa, Kenya
From Melbourne I traveled to Mombasa, Kenya—a gorgeous historic, coastal city. I arrived three days early, did a short safari, and caught up on some rest before the Amahoro Africa gathering began. For the next four days—May 1 to 4—I was one about 15 Westerners who gathered with approximately 120 African entrepreneurs, pastors, and social change agents to talk about gospel economics. It’s a theme I’ve explored a bit myself over the past several years so it was a privilege to listen in and participate in conversations about the gospel is shaping the economic imaginations of African Christian leaders across the continent.

Bujumbura, Burundi
From Mombasa I had the privilege to travel with David and Sydneyann Shook and David’s parents, Mark and Laura Shook, along with a few other friends, to Bujumbura, Burundi where we visited the ministries that Community of Faith (where Mark Shook is pastor) has been doing. For several years David and Syd have shaped, led and mentored leaders on the ground to empower the Batwa to create remarkable change in their lives. It was a privilege to listen in as they caught up with their friends and witnessed the remarkable changes that have transpired in just the past year.

Each of these experience has been life changing for me in ways I probably can’t appreciate right now. Nevertheless, I am so glad to be home and worshiping with you this Sabbath. Thank you for your prayers and support as I’ve been traveling.

—RYAN

We live in interesting times. As I write on Friday morning, the prospect of the a government shutdown looms large. I’m not sure if you’ve been following the news but Democrats and Republicans are at odds over the budget, which governs the spending—and thus the policy—priorities of our country. On one side are those who feel that billions of dollars need to be cut from the budget. Others argue that this is imprudent at a time when there is broad economic suffering in our country. While some economic indicators have improved, leading to the official end of the recession, the vast majority of Americans are still feeling the daily pain of job loss, underemployment, health care costs and so forth.

There are two distinct narratives at work driving this debate about our economy. At the risk of oversimplifying, one has the needs of average, hard-working Americans at its core. It is concerned with basic fairness and equality. The other has corporate greed at its heart, and a failed theory that if the very wealthy received even more of the economic benefits, the rest of us will eventually experience this blessing trickle down on us. I was talking with Elysabeth about this yesterday and we both said we never imagined we’d be worse off than our parents. Now, we’re not poor. Not by a long stretch. But the effects of this runaway greed—which is now at risk of being codified into our nation’s laws—affects all of us.

God has seen this kind of thing happen throughout human history. When it became especially egregious, he sent strong messages through the prophets—messages like this one from the prophet Jeremiah,

“Among my people are the wicked
who lie in wait like men who snare birds
and like those who set traps to catch people.
Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;
they do not defend the just cause of the poor.
Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”

Part of our work, as Christians, is to raise a prophetic voice in defense of those who are suffering. Jesus taught us to pray that the dream of the heavens—peace, justice, wholeness and life—might be realized on earth. Then he called his people together and gave them a mission, to live out these prayers. If you will join us on Tuesday night at the LA Voice Leadership Assembly you can learn more about how you can join your voice to thousands of others across this city and across this nation, who are putting their faith into action for the good the common good of the people God loves.
—Ryan

As we have been studying several key Encounters with Jesus in the gospel of John, I hope you have been reflecting on the way Jesus has encountered you. One practice you might think about engaging in during the remainder of the season of Lent is writing your spiritual autobiography. If you’ve never done this it is a wonderful practice of self-reflection on the way God has been at work in your life over the years.

The process of writing a spiritual autobiography begins by calling to mind all the persons, events and experiences of your life that you judge to be in any way significant. Consider, for example, significant people in your life (family, teachers, pastors, friends), significant turning points in your life, experiences of school, work, volunteering, significant decisions you have made, struggles and conflicts, successes and failures, talents and accomplishments, frailties and weaknesses, experience of prayer and church, experience of finding God in your life.

You can also divide your reflections into the major subdivisions of your life: childhood, high school, college, adulthood, work. As you think about these significant people, event and time periods, the common thread you’re looking for is how God has been at work in your life. If, to use the language of the Bible, you were lost, how did God find you? Or to use the language of this current series of messages, where and under what circumstances were the major encounters with Jesus.

Doing this can help you appreciate the way God has led you and been at work in your life. It can help you appreciate the growth you have experienced in your life. It may even give you an indication about the way God wants to continue his encounter with you in healing and life-giving ways. Knowing where we’ve been can give us courage to face the future.

—Ryan

This week I spent parts of three days at a retreat center just north of New York City with other leaders of Religious Peace Fellowships. I met remarkable peace activists from the Presbyterian, Episcopal, American Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Mennonite, and Brethren Churches as well as Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities…and one other Adventist, Spencer Chiimbwe, Founder and Coordinating Chairman of the New York Center for Conflict Dialogue. I look forward to telling you more about Spencer very soon!

It was invigorating to speak with a group of people who share a common passion for peace in very practical and down-to-earth ways, motivated by their faith. Yet by the end of the day, as we sat over dinner pondering how we might shape the faith-based peace movement for a 50-year journey, we had to confess that we have few answers. We challenged each other to find ways to reach beyond those who are already sympathetic to our cause; to imaginatively engage those who might be predisposed to reject our vision of peace. This is hard work. It means that the leaders of peace fellowships and peace organizations have to think differently about the work we do, and thinking differently is always hard. Some groups have been doing remarkable work for decades. Others, like Adventist Peace Fellowship, are at the very beginning stages.

I end my time in New York reflecting on my personal commitment to a more peaceful world. Specifically, I find myself wondering what God would have the Adventist Peace Fellowship do to reengage the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the vital theological and practical issues of peace, justice and reconciliation in a world torn by war, terrorism and other forms of violence and oppression. What about you? What do you think the future of the Adventist Peace Fellowship should be?

To learn more about the Adventist Peace Fellowship, please visit www.adventistpeace.org. For a free book published by the Adventist Peace Fellowship (and as a reward to anyone who read this far) please speak to me (first come, first served – limited supply).

It’s been an incredibly full week. Looking back, two things stand out. I only have space to talk about one today.

The first and most obvious special events of this week were the two Ash Wednesday services. This has become one of my favorite days of the whole year. Our first service is always held at 7:00 a.m. which means people have to wake up extra early and come out to the church to start their day in this way. Like previous years, we had about a dozen and it was such a blessing to start the day in prayer together.

The evening service is always beautiful—quiet, reflective—a sobering reminder of our humanity and mortality and God’s tremendous grace in receiving us into God’s family. What is most rewarding for me about Ash Wednesday, and the whole season of Lent in a somewhat less intense way, are the conversations I get into. Inevitably people share what they’re “giving up” or “taking on” for Lent. I’m not so much surprised that people have given this decision so much thought as I am excited that we’re finally talking together about it.

The bottom line is that any repentance is a decision to turn intentionally toward God. Giving something up for Lent, as we’ve been saying, is about removing something from our lives so that something better and more important can grow and flourish. Within the space of one day I’d already heard how this is happening for people. Individuals shared with me how almost immediately their decision to “fast” from something had changed their perspective and their behavior and turned them toward God.

That’s what this journey is about, right? Our goal as individuals, and collectively as a community, is to deepen our relationship with God, which is to say, live more fully within God’s kingdom, in God’s way, free to be the human beings God has always desired us to be. Sometimes all it takes are a few concrete practices like fasting, or ashes, to deepen the connection between what we know in our heads and what we do with our bodies.

It’s such a privilege to be on this journey with you. May this Lent be for each of us a time to examine our lives and recommit ourselves to live more completely in Jesus’ way.

—Ryan

The season of Lent begins this coming Wednesday. For a number of years now our church has encouraged each of us to take the 40 days prior to Easter in a different way—slower, more reflective, and with fasting.

Growing up in the Adventist Church, I never heard anything about Lent. I suppose that’s because it was considered a part of the Catholic tradition and we were opposed to all things Catholic. In fact there was an intangible fear of anything that seemed remotely Catholic. What is often forgotten in the hysteria about Catholicism is that from about 350 to 1517, the Catholic Church (as well as the Eastern Orthodox Church which branched off in 1054) was the only church. We were all Catholic, so to speak. So, it wasn’t Catholics who adopted the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea. It was Christians. It wasn’t Catholics who determined the way of practicing church in buildings with pews and altars and the way the Lord’s Supper was celebrated. It was Christians.

Very few practices that we hold as important to our faith are specifically commanded in Bible. Sure, we are told to pray, but we not given one posture in which to pray or told how often or how long we are to pray. In fact, when the Bible does prescribe certain prayer practices, Protestants have often rejected them because of their perceived associations with Catholicism (the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9–13 or set times of prayer in Psalm 119:164 and Psalm 55:17).

I would suggest to you that there is nothing fundamentally anti-Protestant or anti-Adventist about spending forty days in prayerful reflection and repentance. As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, this posture of soul-searching, confession of sin, and sanctification is distinctly Adventist as anyone who has spent time reading Ellen White will know. As mature and maturing Christians it is important to be able to distinguish between something that does not adhere to biblical faith and things that are feared by their association with something we’ve been told is bad. Confessing your sins to another person is biblical (James 5:16). Teaching that you have to confess your sins to a priest in order to find God’s forgiveness is not. There is a big difference.

All that being said, if the whole idea of Lent and Ash Wednesday makes you queasy, then just let it go by or call it something else, but certainly don’t pass up an opportunity to open your life to the searching eye of God that He might sanctify you for His purpose and mission.

Finally, I wrote a short article about Ash Wednesday and Lent in 2009, which you can read here. I hope you will find it helpful.

If you would like to join us for our Ash Wednesday services this year, they will be held on Wednesday, March 9, at 7:00 a.m. in the small prayer chapel and at 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Hope to see you there!.

—Ryan

Edited to change some historical facts.

This past Thursday was a first for the Hollywood Adventist Church. We successfully hosted a Candidate Forum for the City Council District 4 race. Disappointingly, the incumbent, Tom LaBonge, had another commitment and couldn’t attend our forum, but I moderated a conversation between his two challengers: our neighbor and city activist, Stephen Box and local education and environmental activist, Tomas O’Grady. Approximately fifty-five people attended, the vast majority of which were members of our neighborhood who have no direct connection to our congregation.

Because we were the hosts and I was the moderator, we were able to ask questions that are of primary importance to us—questions about homelessness, affordable housing, education, youth and the Responsible Banking Ordinance. At the conclusion of the forum, many people thanked our church for hosting this event and said it was very informative and helpful. Some even said it was the best forum they’ve attended.

As a church—a religious non-profit—we must be extremely careful not to take sides in elections. But it is a central part of our missional vocation to be a people who foster an open and respectful conversation about the common good of our community. We were successful in doing that on Thursday. I was so proud of our leaders who created a warm and comfortable environment for our guests and documented the evening on audio and video.

It is important for each of us to vote in this election. If you live in an even-numbered City Council District, your Councilmember is up for re-election. In addition, there are a number of important ballot initiatives on the line. Please go to your polling place on Tuesday, March 8, and do your part in creating a better Los Angeles for everyone.

If you want to do some research you can Google the three candidates: Tom LaBonge, Stephen Box and Tomas O’Grady. If you want to learn more about the ballot initiatives or locate your polling place, go to http://cityclerk.lacity.org/election for more information.

—Ryan