Jezi Renmen Ayiti

A few nights ago during our bedtime prayers Charleigh prayed: "Fathder, Peas be width Haiti hep him to find a forever home and gives him food to eat".  Though it might not be a 'perfect' prayer... it was a very sweet moment to realize Charleigh (and for that matter all of our kids) is beginning to catch the Faith Mission vision!!  

Courtney and I have been going to Haiti together for over 10 years now.  Though we have gone with several different groups with many different purposes/focuses, the goal is always the same: Love.  What I have come to realize over the many trips is that no matter how crazy life gets, all of this world is really pretty simple: Love God, Love People!! 

Next month Court & I will be leading our second group from New Beginnings to the village of Neply in Leogane.  If you want to see pictures and periodic updates (from this trip and others) make sure you are following me on Twitter (surgeberg) or search the hashtag: #NBHaiti 

Though the May 2013 trip is full, there are several spots open for the November 2013 trip.  
If interested please attend the brief information meeting THIS SUNDAY (April 28th) after second service!!  

2003

2011*

2012*

2013

*Want to see more pictures from those trips... Click on the picture or the date!!

Haiti Mission Opportunity

November 2nd - 9th

If you are interested in joining the missions team going to Haiti November 2nd - 9th, there will be a short informational meeting on Sunday April 28th immediately following the 2nd service.  There will NOT be childcare or a meal provided (we said it was brief :)).  For more information, contact Matt Fowler (matt@nbchurch.info).

Want to meet the kids we will be loving on or read a little more about the organization we have partnered with?  Click on the graphic below: My Life Speaks

Jezi Renmen Ayiti = Jesus Loves Haiti

Where does our value come from!?

This week I had the amazing opportunity to go out and watch the Bixby Spartan Girls Tennis Team compete in regionals.  Some of you might be wondering if I meant the word: "amazing" and yes, yes I did.  Though I do not know a lot about tennis (in fact what I do know I learned primarily from Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64... Can I get an amen!!) but I love gorgeous weather and supporting students!!

While watching one of the games matches I over heard an interesting conversation that I think all of us have had at some point or another.  One parent was talking to another parent about the girls that were playing at the time. 

Parent A: "What do you think their chances are at State?"
Parent B: "I don't know for sure but they're playing really well today"
Parent A: "You know, they're really great kids too... They're co-valavictorians for their school!"
Parent B: "Wow, so they make good grades"
Parent A: "Yep, also involved in student council and FCA"
Parent B: "That's awesome"

Though I am proud of those girls for making good grades and being actively involved in their schools, I wonder if this is an accurate picture of who they are or, at the least, whether this is what we should value!? 

In ten years of full-time ministry I have seen more than a couple students that do all the "right" things, like padding their resume with service projects, taking AP classes, running for school officers, etc. to make it into a specific college or sometimes just to get parents off their backs.  Often these teens were seen as great kids only to have their real hearts exposed over the next several years on their own in college or even post-graduation. 

It's a funny balance isn't it... I mean in one hand we know that it's not our "resume" that gets us into heaven but an acceptance of what someone else did on our behalf (John 6:28-29).  Yet, doing 'works' is a way to show growth and belief in Christ (James 2:22), which lead us to the understanding that we need to do stuff.  But it isn't here that we should find our value... It isn't here that we should be measuring success for teens OR OURSELVES!!! 

In the book 'Raising Kids for True Greatness' author Kimmel says: "God wants our children to grow up to live adult lives that are far more than just seeing how much money they can make and how well known they can become. He wants them to make a profound difference eternally. When we raise our children with this in the forefront of our efforts, we automatically focus on higher goals than fame, power, beauty, and wealth-goals that most parents assume are sovereign. We aim them at a true greatness that is bathed in grace and carried out through humility, gratefulness, generosity, and a servant attitude."  What a great goal for those of us that are parents and even those of us that are adults on the outside... May we point students to a higher purpose and focus!!

Confession: This message wasn't even for you, it was for me this week... I'm a "doer" (in some circles we call it "Go-Getters") and this often is seen in a positive way because I can take on a lot and get stuff done.  However, I can often get frustrated when things are not going as planned or bummed when the event is all over.  Why... because I fall into the trap of finding my value in my works and not on the cross!!  Thank you Jesus for your grace and helping me find my worth in that I'm a human being and not a human doing!!

Do you resinate with what I'm trying to say (as a parent or as a sinner in need of The Savior)!? 


*All that being said, the girls did great overall at regionals with our doubles team qualifying for State!!  But before you jump on me for honoring their works, check this out.  As I was leaving the courts I noticed something on the insides of their wrists:

"WOL": Win or Lose

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" - 1 Corinthians 10:31 

Yeah, God is at work in South Tulsa... May we make less of us and more of Him!!

The Experiment...

For several months my family and I have been doing an experiment… No, this is not a pyramid scheme to get you to buy in to the program but I would love to tell you very briefly about it and what I’ve learned.  Essentially, it is giving up specific things each month for seven months so you can learn more about yourself and the abundance of excess in our lives (It all started with a book and now there’s a study too)!! 

Courtney and I have gone through several months at this point and have learned a ton each month, and this month has been no exception.  For the past 24 days the Berg household has given up all media items… That’s right: Movies, TV, Music, Apps, Yahoo News, ESPN and, outside of professional use, even: Cellphones & Computers!!  Though it most definitely hasn’t been easy, down right awful at times (missing the BCS Championship games and now the Super Bowl this Sunday), with only a handful of days left I’m kind of sad that it’s drawing to a close.  I’ve come to greatly enjoy “the silence” of my home (well, after the kids are in bed), the incredible conversations while just doing the day-to-day errands without the radio, the fact that the kids come home and immediately want to play a board game or shoot some hoops and “the honeymoon” period my wife and I have found again with card games, reading together and even just talking!!

Rereading the paragraph above I realized that just those things could be the focus of this post:

• Turn off the TV and get on the floor with your family
• Dust off the board games (or go get a new one)
• Schedule a mandatory date night once a month
• Maybe even power down the cell phone once a week

BUT that wasn’t why I started this post… The biggest thing that has happened this month of “no media” was my eyes being opened AGAIN!!  Ten years ago Courtney and I made goals for our family of two: No TV in the bedroom, Leave the cellphones in the car on dates, Buy a new board game once a month, etc.  But over the past decade we lost focus and became desensitized to the world around us!! Many “what ifs” (what if there’s an emergency, a crisis, a disaster) in our lives seemed to demand our constant attention and connection to technology and not meaningful connection to each other and to our family.

So with our fast winding down I’m praying for a couple specific things, will you join me?

• May I take a little time and evaluate where I am right now in my walk…
• May I be honest with myself and God, asking His Spirit to give me great leadership in making new boundaries (or even old forgotten ones)…
• May I set aside time for faith talks and even provide uninterrupted time so faith walks can happen with my family…

May Jesus bless your discipline and our community here at New Beginnings!!

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” Psalm 139: 23-24

What is one adjustment you could make in your day-to-day to open up a little more time and focus for your family!?

When paths collide...

For more than a decade now I've been in full-time ministry, specifically, working with teenagers!!  

I know, I know for some of you this sounds more like a disease or at minimum a disorder...we're not ruling that out quite yet!!  But truthfully, when you've seen what I've seen, life-change among young men and women, you can't help but want it for more students!!  

One example that comes to mind is Taylor (Whom we refer to as T-Doe)... When I met him he was a little 8th grader moving into his 9th grade year at a big new school across town!!  I remember having him, and a few others, in an early morning bible study each week.  We would joke around, eat some donuts and if we were lucky, maybe even get around to talking about Jesus before I took them to school (because they were not old enough to drive themselves yet).  Over the years he began to get extremely passionate about the service projects we did and the need to "share Jesus' love with everyone we met".  I'd like to say that his passion and focus was all me BUT Taylor has an amazing family who always supported him (and his brothers).  Over the years I watched as his mom and dad found ways to encourage this passion, from taking him to a local soup kitchen on weekends to even providing some finances when he had a "big idea": Serve-a-thon (which still happens every Spring Break in Oklahoma)!!  

Taylor got "Faith Mission" and his family understood that this was an important step of his "Faith Map"  (before we even had names for these things)!!  But that's not the point of today's post... Last week Taylor decided to invite others into a project he has been doing over the past handful of years (See video below).

With this short video he began to ignite the flames for others among a new generation!!  So with the challenge accepted two of our guys D-Groups from NBHighSchool took over South Tulsa invading grocery stores, gas stations and fast food restaurants delivering Valentine's to ladies working.  

They used their own money and purchased cards, candy and even roses to hand deliver and share a little of Christ's love!!  The stories are amazing and smiles, tears and hugs they received will live on for a long time.

I wish we had video but getting them to smile and take the picture was already a big ask!!

For me, this is the sweet spot of my job... Not every teenager or young adult is consumed with self or even walking around entitled.  Not that Taylor is perfect but he is following the example he saw in Scripture and through the support of his family and church he continues to change the world (literally)!!  To see old youth set the stage for new ones is so exciting to me!!  To know that many of the students pictured above have committed parents that are not only ready but are already engaged in the "Faith Map" with their teens, is why the future of New Beginnings and NBHighSchool is so exciting.  

However, the journey ahead isn't going to always be easy... We are going to have to work together (in prayer, service and support) to do what we have all been called to do: "to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength...and our neighbor as ourselves" (Matthew 22:37-39)!!

What can you do TODAY to make someone's life better!? 

Below is the video Taylor and a friend did his very first year of doing the FFVD (Fast Food Valentine's Day)... Please check it out (at least watch the last 30 seconds)!!

*Want to hear more about Taylor's ministry... Click on this link: Reach Ministries

**If you just love seeing smiling faces... Here's the 2011 video and this years (2013 video)!!

Faith Walks among Faith Talks

For over a month now we (the Berg's) have been exploring what it would look like to have a fun and creative Faith Talk each Friday night.  We, as a NB Families Pastoral Team, wanted to make it a commitment to really pursue these principles we are articulating and try to 'Be' before we ask you (the body) to 'Do'.  For the Berg's we are now on a rotation with the whole crew, in fact Creighton's pick for Berg Family Fun Night is this week (stay tuned, and pray for us, for this one)!!  This past week was no exception to our fun, however, building a house and discussing the wise & foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-27).  

But the ultimate blessing didn't come from my planning or even leading of the devotional (which I thought was pretty good)...In fact, it had nothing to do with me AT ALL!!  Instead it came from the sweet voice I heard on the other side of the "house" in something I couldn't explain in anyway short of "spontaneous worship" (I'm thankful I had enough time to grab my phone and begin recording)!!

The beauty in this song wasn't just my youngest singing worship but the fact that she inadvertently picked it up from her mommy!!  With the radio off this month (because of ourmedia fast) we have had a lot of acapella singing going on in the Berg home.  My wife isn't one to ever sing in front of folks but she has been in worship all month with her God, and in that time Charleigh has picked up a beautiful new song.  It wasn't because we sat down and taught it to her it is something she just saw, heard and now beginning to live out... That isFaith Walk to the core!!

The interesting part to me is if you asked Courtney what she did this week to focus our kids to Christ, she might tell you a couple things but probably end with I haven't done enough or maybe even "nothing".  It's hard being a mom!  It's tiring pulling laundry out of what seems to be a hamper with an endless bottom or not just making lunch & dinner each day, then having to clean up the messes that follow.  Being so tired from being a taxi service to activities and sports, homeroom mom, and the countless other errands that have to happen.  And though we (the family) might not always get to say thank you or even tell her what a difference she makes, Court got to catch a peek into what her impact really is... AND IT'S HUGE!!



Thinking about your week, what are some things your kids picked up on this week, either positive or negative?
  
How are you being intentional with your time to reflect the very presence of Christ daily?


**Want to purchase Jesus Culture's - "Set a Fire" Click Here 

I'm exhausted!!

I don’t know about you but I feel exhausted.  I overheard some folks say it was Spring Break but I missed the ‘break’ part and my dash thermometer this morning said 39 degrees!!  

Actually, I got some time off last week for the break and even went camping with the fam.  But since Matt stole that for his post I’ll just direct you there for the fun camping story and move on to why I’m so tired. 

I actually looked up the word while writing this… “Exhausted: Drained of one’s physical or mental resources; very tired; completely used up.”  Did you catch it?  ‘Drained of one’s physical or mental resources.’  That’s me in a nutshell this week.  I’m drained, tired, used up… EXHAUSTED!!   But it’s not because I worked over the break, spent time with my family or even because I haven’t slept well lately.  I’m shattered over our country!!  Before you re-post this (or flag me) for politicizing some stance, you might want to read the rest.  I’m sad for the people… all of us!! 

I’m really not even talking about gun rights, gay rights or even horse rights (which I saw a post about yesterday, right in the middle of the equal rights debate on Facebook).  What’s frightening is that there were more than a half dozen articles this week covering events going on that challenge religious freedom, conservative morality and mock virtue.  Currently I’m in dialogue with several self proclaimed atheists that want to discuss (enemies argue friends discuss) everything from pro-life to the stupidity of believing a religious system that was “made up by rich rulers to control the poor” (or the “fallacy of an inerrant Bible”).  Top that off with a new generation (teens & young adults) that is “fleeing” the church.  All this adds up to make for an exhausted Family Pastor of High School!!

So what’s the good news?  

You mean you don’t know?  

We are actually celebrating just that, this Sunday (join us)!!  

But just in case, let me break it down for you simply:

1) God is very much in love with you (EVERYONE)!! Zephaniah 3:17

2) God was so in love, He sent His son!! John 3:16

3) His Son: Jesus, died, was buried, and rose again!! 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

4) All who humble themselves by committing 100% devotion to Him, will be saved!!Galatians 2:20

A friend of mine one time was on a vacation and while sitting out one down reading his Bible a lady walked by and said: “We win”.  My friend said, “Excuse me”.  The lady turned around and said: “The Bible, those that put their trust in Him win”.

Brothers and Sisters… We Win!! 

Join me TODAY in spreading the victory in love (let God sort out the rest)!!   

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.  We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

1 John 4:7-21

May this truth calm your spirit, like it did mine... May our families get the best of us because we believe that He is coming again... May our neighbors flock to our friendship because of the love we share... And may our kids be led by our example!!

"Daddy...it's your favorite"

A few weeks ago I was sound asleep when a small hand was placed on my shoulder.  When my eyes adjusted I found another face nose to nose with mine and a sweet little voice followed saying: "Daddy... it's your favorite!"

There's two things that I love thinking about in that moment:
- Charleigh thinks she's my favorite
- It's true!!

Before you get mad stick with me... Keep reading!!  I remember when Jackson (our oldest) was born and thinking: "I can never love someone as much as I love this little guy right now"!!  In fact, when I heard we were expecting Creighton (our second) I remember thinking: "how am I going to love her as much as I love my son".  This wasn't because she was a girl and he was a boy but I didn't have a category for how my heart could handle loving something as much, or worse, was I going to have to love my son less to make room for some love for her!?  BUT, the craziest thing happened... Creighton was born and in an instant I held her and looked at her and thought: "Holy cow, I love her with everything I am"!!  I bet if you have kids, you know what I'm talking about...

However, if you're keeping score at home, you know we have one more... Charleigh!!  And she came to us a little differently... She's adopted (Read more about her story here)!!  Though, I had heard jokes like "you love your adopted kids more because you get to pick them and are stuck with the others" this isn't the thought that creeps in the hours before seeing the child you are to adopt.  For me, it was: "How could I ever love someone more than my own blood?"  Yet, that morning in October will forever be sketched into my mind when I picked up this baby girl and though I was trying to play it cool (because I knew 'failed adoptions' were fairly normal) I thought: "I will love and fight for you the rest of my life".  And for the first time I understood the true essence ofEphesians 1:4-5 "He chose us... to be adopted through Jesus"!!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!  And each one of my kids really is my favorite... I don't know how that works but I bet it has something to do with us having the characteristics of God.  You see, I'm God's favorite!!  BUT SO ARE YOU!!!  I know, I know... In our culture we are taught there's only "one favorite" but if you look up the definition it says: "one that is treated or regarded with special favor or liking".  Every one of us are treated with special favor and liking by the Savior--the question is whether you want to see it or not!?  Each one of my kids knows I love them and I hope each one of them knows they are, in fact, my favorite!! 

Top 10 Moments of 2012 (and honorable mentions)

If the 'Titles' are different color click on them and read more about that event from Court's Blog (or other helpful places)!!

Honorable Mentions:

*) The Blue Whale of Catoosa

*) Being alive for 12:12p, on Dec. 12th '12

*) Washington DC (bonus to go with my nephew and his freshmen class)

*) Chick-Fil-A from Chelsea

*) Dr. Pepper Museum 

The Top Ten Moments of 2012:

10) Performing my first wedding of a former student

9) Getting Maced (Yeah, it was a DDW List!!)

8) Competing in Finishing a Triathlon

7) Live at Monday Night Football

6) Decorating for Christmas at MY home

5) Starting a Garden from the ground up

4) Taking Jackson to his first Dallas Cowboy game

3) Starting 'Seven'

2) Meeting Jacob (our 'My Life Speaks' sponsored child in Haiti)

1) Completing a 40 Day Fast

What do you say when your son starts doing this!?

Bottom line... He's going to be bored for the next 50 years (playing the piano everywhere on the known planet)!!

The ‘DDW’ List (updated TODAY)

Over the past several years the term “Bucket List” has come into play… And many of you have “Made Bucket Lists” but many years before that a group of men sat down and made the ultimate list… THE DDW LIST (Don’t Die Wonderin’)!!

You may be asking yourself, what’s the difference… Well, a bucket list is something you just want to do before you ‘kick the bucket’ but a DDW list is something you HAVE to do before you die!! I will go out of this life and into the next someday… And when I do I want folks to say: “He Didn’t Die Wonderin’”

Thus, enjoy the on going list and feel free to help me on my journey OR jump in and add some of your own in the comments!!

((P.S. I have several lined up in the near future, get pumped!!))

Things I want to do:

• Own a yellow jeep wrangle
• Read Bible from cover to cover
• Drive all of Route 66 (Chicago to LA)
• Bull Riding
• Sky Surfing/ Diving
• Tropical Snorkeling
• Own a bald eagle
• Spend 30 days alone
• Swim with Great Whites
• Extreme Mountain Biking
• Cliff dive (over 50 feet)
• Box a pro boxer
• Drive in a demolition derby
• Drive over 180 mph
• Fly a helicopter
• Hang glide
• Golf Pebble Beach &St. Andrews
• Fire walk
• Climb a major mountain
• Jump from moving boat to moving boat
• Spelunking
• East coast to west coast on $20
• Build a log cabin
• Cruise in a sub-marine
• Desert snow boarding
• Hunt polar bear
• Stay in wal-mart for at least 3 days
• Bungee Jump
• Meet a president
• Compete in a professional sporting event
• Go on a 1,000 mile bike ride
• Visit an active volcano
• Wrestle an alligator
• Hunt an animal with a knife
• Save a life
• Fly far way to just eat lunch or dinner
• African safari
• Rewalk Christ’s footsteps (Via Dolorosa)
• Fast for 40 Days
• Backpack the Grand Canyon
• Drive a swamp craft (hover craft)
• Ride a fire truck to a fire
• Backpack Scotland
• Sing in a Cathedral
• Ice Fishing
• Visit all 6 Flags locations
• Participate in a war reenactment
• Face and rappel a major mountain
• Ski in New Zealand
• Deep sea fish
• Build a tree house
• Go sailing
• Barefoot ski
• Chase a tornado
• Be on a TV show (Reality)
• Ride a ostrich
• Go on a police patrol
• Do a push-up in four states at once
• Stand on the equator line
• Visit a military facility
• Drive a Wrangler/Hummer off road
• Float using helium balloons
• Drive a semi truck with a delivery
• Look through major telescope
• Run a 5 minute mile
• Learn 3 languages
• Play organized rugby
• Mine a diamond or gold
• 1000 hours of community service
• Do a citizens arrest
• Go on a road trip by flipping a quarter
• Go to random house and eat with them
• Spend the night in Beverly Hills
• Be on David Letterman
• Watch SNL live
• Swim with dolphins
• Spend the night in a haunted house
• Surf 8 feet wave
• Watch the AFI 100 movies of all time
• Experience no gravity
• Play in professional poker tournament
• Run for mayor
• Invent and patent something
• Swing on a vine in African jungle
• White water raft level 5 waves
• Shoot a quarter from 100 yards away
• Ice skate on a pond
• Go on a cruise
• Learn 3 instruments
• Get into the Guinness book of records
• Ride a horse bareback
• Do a stunt for a scene in a movie
• Disciple 12 people
• Dog sledding in Alaska (Iditarod)
• Compete in a Triathlon
• Carve a canoe out of a tree/log
• Publish something
• Ride the top 10 Roller coaster in the world
• Become an expert marksman with a rifle

Places I want to visit:

• Visit all 50 states
• Visit all 7 continents
• Israel – Jerusalem
• Washington DC (Capital Building, Whitehouse, etc.)
• The Wallace Monument (Sterling Scotland)
• The Great Pyramid of Giza
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Stonehenge
• The Colosseum
• The Great Wall of China
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Mount Everest
• The Great Barrier Reef
• Victoria Falls
• The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
• The Northern Lights
• The Galapagos Islands
• The Northern Red Sea
• The Great Barrier Reef
• The Empire State Building
• The Panama Canal
• The Golden Gate Bridge
• Mount Fuji
• Mount Kilimanjaro
• Niagara Falls
• The Clock Tower (Big Ben)
• Eiffel Tower
• The Gateway Arch
• The Aswan High Dam
• Hoover Dam
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Taj Mahal
• The Parthenon
• The Aztec Temple
• The Statue of Liberty
• The Mayan Temples
• The Suez Canal
• The Sydney Opera House