Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

I spend a lot of time and effort trying to “control” my heart. I suppose I spend even more time trying to control other people’s hearts – my kids’ hearts mostly. Emily Dickinson famously said, “The heart wants what the heart wants…” So, if she’s right, “control” may not be the best way to deal with our heart.

The proverb says “guard your heart.” Not control it. Guard it.

How is a heart guarded? Presumably, we’re supposed to put up some kind of soul-gatehouse restricting the visitations of unscrupulous trespassers. We are to evaluate all the things that might corrupt, ruin, damage, or poison the neighborhood of our souls. For my kids’ hearts, I’m hyper-vigilant. Granted, I can’t control everything for them. Hopefully, I’m giving them the tools needed for constructing their own guardhouse. But, I’m watchful for everything that ought to be prevented access. At my worst, I catastrophize about all the potential evils that could corrupt their innocence – worrying about an intruder, intent on scaling the walls and running roughshod all over the good work I’ve tried to accomplish as a parent. The guard I imagine at the gate of my kids’ hearts – the one who works for me – is on constant alert. He’s probably a bit overzealous with his walkie-talkie and his flashlight. He’s overly suspicious of everyone. He’s annoying. No question about it. I like that guy.

Now, about my own heart and the manner in which it is guarded: I am far more permissive in handling those same villainous infiltrators that threaten my kids. Sometimes, I give special passes and back-door entrances to the things I know will poison my heart. I make excuses and justifications for things that could endanger, not only my heart, but those I love. In many ways, the things I’m most often worried about for my kids are the unprocessed issues in my hidden life – things I’m not willing to deal with for myself, things I’m hoping to spare them from experiencing.  But, the person hired for the protection of my own heart: He’s been working a long time. He’s watching the World Cup on his computer. Occasionally, he takes a nap. He’s really not being held accountable for the job for which he’s been hired. I would never hire him for my kids. Though, I’m pretty OK with him watching over my heart.

Recently, I had “the talk” with my oldest. I came face-to-face with the reality of how important the work of heart-guarding is. I’m transitioning him to become a person who can staff his own guardhouse. Right now, he wonders about stuff. He’s curious. Soon, very soon, he’ll start wrestling with desire. At that point, and for the rest of his life (ours too), the “heart wanting what the heart wants” will primarily be an issue of what kinds of things have been allowed to pass the guard-gate to take up residence there. Because, with regard to the heart, “everything you do flows from it.”

This Sunday, Doug Fields will join us. Continue to be the great inviting community that you are. Invite some people to come with you. It’s going to be a great weekend.

See you Sunday,

Jeff

Don’t miss an exciting week of games, drama, crafts, fun surprises and live music. Open to kids, K-5th grade. A friend request will be honored for each child who registers by June 22! For more info or to register click here.

Tuesday-Friday, July 15-18
Registration now open, $50

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” -Hebrews 10:24

As the US Men’s Soccer team advances into the knockout stage of the World Cup, there is a lot of conversation about the early rounds’ surprising upsets, fulfilled hopes, and dashed dreams. The soccer pundits – some of whom are eating their previous words regarding the US’ chances to make it out of the dreaded “group of death” – are speculating now about what it will take for any team to be crowned World Cup champion.

What is being proved out in this World Cup tournament is this:
Superstars do not a great team make

Yes, players with great flare do make an impression. Last minute heroics and moments of remarkable skill by the game’s greats notwithstanding, the team that will likely win it all will be the one placing team success over individual achievement. Reports of in-fighting and division all but ruined Ghana’s high hopes of moving into the round of 16 (two players were suspended by the team prior to their match against Portugal). Spain, the team loaded with the world’s best players, and dubbed by many: “the greatest team ever” imploded spectacularly on the globe’s biggest stage. Individual players sell jerseys. Teams win championships.

Last Sunday, as a team of nearly 1,000 volunteers from Mariners MV joined to support a local elementary school in a massive community service effort, the aim, clearly in focus, was about helping the school win. Some people painted. Some dug holes. Some served lunch. Some pulled weeds. Some watered plants. A pregnant woman stapled workbooks together. While I heard a lot of enthusiasm about how we were living out our oft-quoted mantra of being “in the community, for the community” and the mutual admiration for what were able to accomplish with this kind of partnership, not a single person said anything about how much more important their role or their work was than someone else’s work. In so doing, everyone was “spurred on toward love and good deeds.”

We (the school, the community, Mariners MV, the neighborhood, the teachers, the students, and the faculty) won. We all won. Take a look at some of the event photos on our facebook page.

Join us this Sunday as we share photos and stories from the SERVE DAY event. We’ll hear from Kenny Luck, long-time men’s pastor in South Orange County and founder of Everyman Ministries. This Sunday is a great one for inviting people – guys, in particular – who are looking for a fresh start with God.

See you Sunday,

Jeff

Join us as we bless our community by serving a local elementary school. To sign up or for event details, click here.

Contact Maher with questions.

Sunday, June 22, 1p
Viejo Elementary

Calling all families with students transitioning to Junior High Ministry or High School Ministry! Join us to hear from our Student Ministries staff, and parents who just went through the transition, about the vision for your students and family in your next chapter. RSVP to Jordan or click here for more info.

Friday, June 20, 7 – 8:30p
In the Upper Room

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” – Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

This past weekend, Mariners held an all-campus Men’s Retreat. I heard story after story of people whose lives were impacted by the experience of being away together. Church men’s retreats over the years have garnered a few stereotypes. On the one hand, men’s retreats have a fearsome reputation for being a kind of primal hyper-masculine departure from civilization complete with pugil-sticks and raw meat. On the other hand, men’s retreats get stereotyped as a “churchified” version of a Downy commercial where men sit together making doilies and crying about unrequited love from their high school years. But neither describes this retreat.

This was guys – regular guys – taking a moment to put back into focus the most important things in their lives: faith, family, and meaningful friendships. Having been a part of a number of retreats over the course of my life, I was confident that these things would happen. I knew that once regular guys with great intentions who (like me) occasionally get distracted from the most critical things, could get to a place with spotty wifi and poor cell reception, they’d find what they were truly looking for. What I didn’t expect was how the retreat “sounded.”

As a speaker at a retreat, I can only prepare myself for what I assume will be there. I can envision how people will come into a room. I can know where I’m supposed to stand. I can test a microphone. I can make sure the A/V tech has all my presentation slides. I can talk to the worship team about the order of songs they’ll lead people in. But, I cannot prepare for how the room will sound immediately before I get up to speak.

It turns out, that a few hundred men away on a retreat sing – really sing. This wasn’t, as Walt Whitman described, a triumphant and “barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.”  While there may be times where a “yawp” is appropriate, this was a chorus. No, it wasn’t the voices of trained vocalists in harmonic perfection (which is something I can’t understand, nor participate in). It was a choir of regular guys who really needed God. I understood that sound. I realized, only moments before I was to start teaching, that I needed that sound. For some of us, it was the sound of desperation. For others, it was the sound of joy. For still others, it was the sound of something entirely new. After all, men aren’t supposed sing like this. Are they?

What I have come to understand, a few days after the retreat is that this is what it sounds like when men truly seek a life of “confidence in Him.” In so many words, it is the sound of blessing. Worship. I’m honored to be connected to such a great group of guys. I’m looking forward to a great Father’s Day Sunday: child dedications, bacon, mac ‘n’ cheese and a celebration of dads.

See you Sunday,

Jeff

Dads, we want to thank you for giving us memories and adventures to last a lifetime. You’ve spent countless hours constructing everything from the latest new toy to tree houses for us, so to honor you on Father’s Day, we’re having lots of ‘man food,’ fun family activities and an inspiring, relevant message. It will be a day you won’t soon forget! Hope to see you there!

Sunday, June 15, 9 & 11a
Click here for directions and more info

But God helped them anyway, commanded the clouds
and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven.
He rained down showers of manna to eat…
-Psalm 78:23-24 [MSG]

Psalm 78 retells the story of the rebelliousness of God’s people. At best, they’re merely distracted and forget God. At worst, these same people eagerly exchange their allegiance with God for the pseudo-gods of empty promises and shallow religiosity. And, when in the midst of discovering that these other gods fail to deliver at the most critical moments of their lives, the people remember the roots of their faith and unceremoniously blame God for abandoning them, wondering where He’s been all along. Yet…

…He “helped them anyway…”

This is everyone’s story. It’s definitely mine. Admittedly, I’m among the most distracted, blame-oriented, fear-driven, self-focused people I know. When life – the life I’ve chosen for myself – turns out to be less-than-wonderful, I immediately wonder why God has marooned me to my own selfish desires. I blame Him. Then, I cry out to Him. I cry out to Him without the purest of motives. I pray for God to rescue me while my loyalties are still very much divided. My soul starves for His sustenance while I complain about the paucity of menu options. I want my life without God. Yet, I need His rescuing power. I know I won’t be able to live up to my perceived end of the proverbial bargain. I’m afraid God might not want me as I am. But, because He knows me already and loves me…

…He helps me anyway.

See you Sunday,

Jeff

In Rooted, we wrestle with some of life’s biggest questions about God, relationships and meaning. It’s a journey with the goal of deepening your connection with God, His Church, and your purpose in His big, epic story. Register online. or find out more. Contact Catherine with questions.

Sundays, June 8 – August 3, 7 – 9p
MCMV Upper Room, $15