Finding Jesus in the Craziness of Life

For the past few weeks I have felt as if I'm a man on a unicycle, jumping ramps while juggling knives and trying to eat a granny smith apple while blindfolded. Yes, life has been just that crazy for me. Now, I've learned over the years that life in full-time vocational ministry is always pretty insane, but the past few weeks have been a bit unorthodox even for me. As you can probably tell I haven't even been able to shave out a few minutes to do some blogging! Just a few of the tasks I have been in are as follows:

• Interviewing, answering questions for, and hiring 7 new summer interns for the Student & Young Adult Ministries of Big Valley Grace.

• Seeking the Lord's will as to who our new Junior High Pastor will be.

• Setting up who the speaker & worship band will be for this October's EVENT sponsored by www.hisecho.com.


• Writing 8 sermons in the span of 2 weeks to preach when we take our High School Students down to Mexico on our Mission Trip.


• Writing the regular weekly sermons and attempting to continue my normal weekly routine of church meetings, emails (many which have gone unanswered b/c I absolutely hate email with a jihad-like passion), phone calls, and counselling meetings with parents.


• Oh....and to top it all off I am one of the primary planners for our Mission Trip which we begin in just a few days, taking over 215 people from our High School Ministry (175 of which are high school students).

Now, you need to understand that I'm not complaining about any of this. I mean seriously, when you compare it to the kinds of storms say the 1st Century Christ-followers endured this is like a Kindergarten field trip! I do, however, confess that throughout all of this my heart has been yearning just to sit in quiet and hear from Jesus. What's interesting is that even though all of the previously forementioned tasks I have been involved in are good things they in no way bring my soul true satisfaction or rest. I mean, they all have to do with things I love; casting & implementing a vision, dreaming MUCHO GRANDE dreams, investing in young leaders and preaching the Word. But at the end of each day something in my heart still longs for more of Jesus. And so I go to bed each night and realize once again that the scriptures are for real. It's during times like these when I remember the words from that Asaph Psalm:

"You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth!" (PSALM 73:25)

10 Things I Learned with my Family at the ZOO.

This week I took my family to the zoo. It was our daughter's first time having an experience like this. Here are 10 things I made a mental note of that beautiful day.

1. Spider Monkeys look extremely depressed while locked in small cages. Prozac anyone?

2. Bald Eagles were meant to fly.....not be trapped in a cage staring at Spider Monkeys.

3. Bats are probably the most freakish animals on the planet....they give me the heebie-jeebies!

4. I have a totally irrational fear of California Mountain Lions behind chain-link fences. I distinctly remember hearing once that cats can climb fences.

5. My daughter thinks Sea Lions are the most intriguing animals at the zoo! Especially when the Zookeeper feeds them!!

6. When little kids scream the baboons scream back.

7. Chinese Crocodiles need braces for their teeth.....YIKES!

8. If I was an animal I would definitely not want to be a Turkey Vulture. UG-LY!

9. A Lemur would make a good pet. Especially if I could train it to make me some coffee.

10. Pink is absolutely my daughter's best color.

I'm Back in Cali!

Here is a picture from the Event I spoke at this past weekend in Georgia. This is one of the groups from one of the churches. A very cool group of girls! It's a blessing to be able to go where the LORD leads me and proclaim the power of GOD's love and the victory He gives us through the cross & resurrection of Jesus! If any of you from this past weekend's event are reading this, "YOU ROCK!"

(1 John 4:10)

Saved!

Many students came to know Jesus Christ tonight at the event I was speaking at in Atlanta. Before I spoke a college student who was leading a host home this weekend came to me in the back of the auditorium and shared how her junior high girls couldn't stop talking about all the LORD was saying to them this weekend. It is so nice to be encouraged that our labor for the LORD is not in vain! Thank you Jesus! It still gives me goosebumps when I watch students stand unashamedly in a roomfull of hundreds of other students proclaiming their love and newfound devotion to Jesus. My prayer is that the churches involved this weekend would baptize immediately, and faithfully disciple these new believers! I am thankful for this opportunity the Lord has given me to preach Jesus Christ, crucified & resurrected! This weekend I have been reminded about how the LORD is alive and pursuing the hearts of people everywhere. From California to Georgia.

Your Way!

As I sat in the Sacramento Airport yesterday waiting on a flight to leave, I got a tad-bit hungry. Not starving or famished hungry, mind you. Just enough to wet my appetite and get me to craving some sort of sustenance. Realizing I was about to be locked into a flying metal-tube along with 200 sickly, coughing, sneezing, and snotting other people with only a small sack of peanuts and some stale Diet Pepsi to satisfy me, I decided to get a bite to eat from the airport's food court.

Seeing the Burger King I figured that this was as good a choice as any. After ignoring my existence for at least 45 seconds while they carried on a conversation about a man named Scooter the two ladies at the counter finally inquired about what I would like to order. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hey there"

Her: "mmhmm"

Me: "Could I get a double-cheeseburger combo, please?"

Her: "No"

Me: "Really?"

Her: "All we have is double-bacon-cheeseburger combos, not double-cheeseburger combos."

Me: "Ser.....iously?"

Her: "mmhmm"

Me: "I can't get it without the bacon?"

Her: "It comes with the bacon."

Me: "You can't give it to me without the bacon on it?"

Her: "It comes with bacon."

Me: "..............................................."

Her: "........."

Me: "I guess I'll have the star-shaped chicken nuggets combo then."

Confused about Burger King's current marketing strategy I just checked their web site (www.burgerking.com) and there it was again just as I had suspected: "Get it your way at Burger King!"

I don't know what baffled me the most about this experience. The fact that "holding the bacon" seemed to this lady a task equal to that of splitting the atom or the fact that I went to a restaurant that prides itself on the idea that I can have the burger any way I want it and then they blatantly refused to give it to me the way I wanted it. As usual I'm not sure whether or not I should laugh or cry at the world I find myself in.

10 Top Things I Hate About Traveling

Every once in a while I still travel to speak at various events. This week I am on one such excursion. I have been reminded once again about what I despise about traveling. The top ten reasons I hate traveling are as follows:

1. The "You're such an idiot" look I get from the airline representative when I ask for help while checking in at the self-help kiosk. I guess checking people in is now too much to ask from a real person.

2. The strip search and de-lousing I get at the security checkpoint from a 260 pound 11th grader with pimples.

3. The guy in front of me on the airplane who is constantly readjusting the tilt of his seatback. Somebody should tell him that if he wanted comfort in travel he SHOULD HAVE GONE ON A STINKIN' CRUISE!!!

4. The kid behind me who won't quit humming the Blue's Clues theme song. Man, I hate that dog!!

5. The sight-seeing pilot who feels as if it's necessary to point out every landmark we pass over as if it's an option to exit the plane and take a stroll around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and then just casually and unassumingly hop back on the Atlanta-bound jumbo-jet when I have had my fill of its immense beauty & grandeur.

6. The stewardess who wakes me up from a dead-digger just to offer me stale crutons and 3 cubes of ice with a drop of Ginger Ale in a cup half the size of a thimble.

7. The fact that I just remembered that I left my cell phone on but it's in my briefcase in the overhead compartment. YIKES....I hope nobody calls me!!!!

8. The 1x1 bathrooms that make it virtually impossible to do your business without feeling as if you need to push the stewardess call button to request a cleanup crew.

9. The turbulence that just popped up out of nowhere right after the flight attendant gives me a scorching cup of coffee......are you sure that sight-seeing pilot isn't just screwing with us?!

10. Being away from my beautiful family.

Wonder Back

I was thinking today about something random. As I watched my daughter play with her toys I thought about how cool kids are. I think one of the things I'm most impressed with is a child's incredible ability to be excited and overjoyed as she discovers the simplest things. I mean, I look at a rattle and it's no big deal. Just a plastic gadget that makes annoying noises when you shake it or throw it. My daughter, on the other hand, is in awe of the rattle! She reaches for it as I would reach for a 100 dollar bill floating in the wind, her eyes widen as mine would if I saw Elvis Presley standing on my front porch in a polar bear suit, her mouth opens in a huge smile like mine would if the Georgia Bulldogs actually won the National Championship this year, and she coos and grunts as I would.....well.....if the Georgia Bulldogs actually won the National Championship this year. It's amazing!! She's like this with just about everything. And yet the things that excite her and bring her imagination to life are the same things I take for granted. Our dog Molly, a blue sky, her sippy cup, a cheerio, a stroller ride around a noisy park filled with screaming 7 year olds, a cruise across town in the car, and even the waiter at our favorite Mexican Restaurant all cause a joy and wonder to light up her face.

I wonder when I lost this. I was a child once too. All of us were children once. And yet at some point in our lives the wonder we once experienced from the simplest things was replaced with an attitude of "been there-done that". It's sad really. It makes me look at my child and wonder who really has the wisdom. I want the wonder back.

There is a story that Jesus' disciple Matthew told about an experience he had with Jesus one time. See, some of the disciples asked Jesus who the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven was. It's not surprising really. We as adults are always concerned with adult things like status and importance. Jesus responded as only God would have the wisdom to respond. He called a small child over to him and had the child stand in front of the disciples. As these guys watched probably wondering "Um....bro, did you hear what we asked?" Jesus makes this statement; "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-4)

I think today as I watched my daughter joyfully discover the simplest things I finally began to understand what Jesus meant. He wants us to be like children. To stand in wonder and in awe of the simplest things because they are all created by God. And ultimately He wants us to stand in wonder of the mystical things we so often grow numb to and take for granted. The love of God, the patience of God, and the cross that Jesus bled and died on. Jesus wants me to stand in wonder of Him and all that He is and all that He's done and all that He's said and all that He can and will do. I become like a child when I humble myself and stand in awe of his love. When I reach for Him with wide eyes and a huge smile. Like a baby reaches for a new rattle.

Where have all the Gladiators gone?

As I sat at home alone last night I decided to pour myself a glass of iced tea and watch (what was in my opinion one of the greatest movies of all time ever produced in this solar system) the movie Gladiator. I guess reading this new book on Ancient Roman history had me craving it. As I watched this movie I couldn't shake a nagging question in my mind. "Where have all the gladiators gone?" I mean, seriously! How come men don't live like this anymore?

Now before you get the wrong idea I'm not writing a blog about how men should slaughter others with swords more often, hold more simulated wars inside sports arenas, and be on a mission to kill Caesar and avenge his mentor's death.

What I am saying is it seems like young men don't live noble lives anymore. They don't stand for anything anymore. They don't passionately believe in anything anymore. Most men today wouldn't die for anything. Most men don't look at one another in the eyes and say in unison, "Strength and Honor!".

Strength and Honor. What if my life could be summed up in those two words? Instead of falling into this hollow worlds pit of lies and beinf a foolish man with only women, sex and money on my mind, what if I lived a life characterized by strength and honor?

There is a scene in Gladiator when Maximus has been marched out into the middle of the Roman Colisseum along with at least a dozen other slave-gladiators. It is announced that these men will fight whatever comes out of the gates. They will fight to the bloody death. Maximus stares ahead with passion as he asks the men who stand behind him, "Anyone here been in the army?". "Aye, sir", most respond back. Then in a moment of intense and firey leadership Maximus says, "You can help me. Whatever comes out of these gates..... we've got a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together we survive."

After the chillbumps left my arms I couldn't help but to ask myself why most men don't act like this anymore. How come men don't unite in battles against the evils of this world? Most men are living and working for the weekend instead of something much larger than themselves. Most men today are defined by heros like Borat and the fellas from Jackass instead of being defined by something that is worthy of honor and yes, even worthy of dying for. Most men would rather sit around and tap on their MySpace pages and Youtube instead of learning about the great men of history and what it was that made them great. Most men would rather be the empty-headed people in the stands of the Colisseum screaming for blood and entertainment instead of actually being Maximus and his small army, staring ahead and waiting patiently for the enemy to burst forth from its iron gate.

So what are we going to live for? For Maximus it was Rome. For us it's Jesus Christ. Where have all the gladiators gone? The world treats us like fools and expects us to be hypnotized and have our senses and passions numbed by the media it vomits out each day. GOD calls us to be the men he designed us to be. Gladiators ready and willing to fight and die for that which is true, noble, and eternal. Who stands up and fights for GOD anymore? It's time to be a Gladiator, boys. And one more thing:

"We've got a better chance of survival if we work together."

Lindbergh

This week I have finished 3 books I've been reading this month. One of those books was the autobiography of Charles A. Lindbergh, the famous aviator and icon of the 20th century who became the first man to fly an airplane from New York to Paris. (We call that a Transatlantic flight. *Anson smiles intelligently*) To think that Lindbergh did this during an era when most people didn't even see aviation as having the potential for an incredible feat like this is astounding to me!

There are 3 reasons I wanted to read this book. One, I became fascinated with Lindbergh while our history class studied him in the 7th grade and I had to do a report on him. Two, Heather and I visited his grave on our first trip to Maui a couple years ago. We actually stumbled upon it by accident at a small church on the road to Hana. Three, there has always been something in me that kind of wished I was alive during the roaring twenties, depression-strained thirties, and patriotic fourties. It's weird.

There were many fascinating things about this book, Autobiography of Values. It struck me how this guy was such a fascinating man involved in everything from aviation, cartography, medicine, WWII bombers, politics, the environment, rocket science, and even mysticism! I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you really enjoy history like I do.

One thing I didn't know about Lindbergh prior to reading this book was that before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he was quite the anti-war activist. Dead-set against America becoming involved in the turmoil going on between Germany, Russia and England he constantly gave speeches and met with politicians regarding his stance. I close this blog with an excerpt from one of his speeches that I found to be quite relevant for the debates echoing throughout homes, classrooms & offices today. I want to encourage you to comment this blog with your opinions regarding this statement:

"Democracy is not a quality that can be imposed by war. The attempt to do so has always met with failure. Democracy can spring only from within a nation itself, only from the hearts and minds of the people. It can be spread abroad by example, but never by force. The strength of a democracy lies in the satisfaction of its own people. Its influence lies in making others wish to copy it. If we cannot make other nations wish to copy our American system of government, we cannot force them to copy it by going to war..." (Autobiography of Values, p.194)

Mozart hurts my neck!

This has been a physically painful week for me. Unfortunately, the reason for my physical ailment was about as "anti-machismo" as a man could possibly get. One morning early this week I had decided to go into work later and spend more time around the house with Heather and Annabelle.

I was playing with my daughter and decided that we would play a game that has become a favorite for her. Here's the way our game works:

I begin to play Mozart on my i-pod (which is hooked up to a set of speakers so we can all enjoy it)

I then pretend that I, Anson McMahon, am the great Maestro, Mozart. I do this by wildly leading my imaginary orchestra in a classic number.

To say that I am a bit eccentric while "channeling" Mr. Mozart would be an understatement.

I'm like a frothing-at-the-mouth Musical Savage as my arms zip and flail, sharp and fast through the air, the whole while my head banging as if I'm listening to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Each time I do this sweet Annabelle is staring wide-eyed with mouth open, giggling, cooing, and she is even learning to move her own arms with the music like a lil' miss Mozart.

There was a mishap this week, however, as we played this game.

In the middle of my composition of "Le nozze di Figaro" my arms came up, my head jolted back, my shoulders tensed, and I guess it was the convergence of a Perfect Storm. The sound could be heard across the room!

"SNAP!!"

I wish I could explain the pain I began to feel in my neck at this moment but there are no words to do it justice. It was as if I had just been interrogated by Jack Bauer! I have no idea what my face must have looked like at this moment but it was probably similar to the look a gnat gets on his face the moment he smashes into a windshield on the freeway. A faint squeak escaped my mouth as the pain stabbed my vertabrae with what felt like a jagged machette. My pupils dialated. My body collapsed into the leather chair behind me. My wife rolled her eyes. My daughter laughed.

After marinating my aching-neck in Icee-Hot and positioning the heating pad in just the right spot I began to think about my battle wound. It may sound a bit overdramatic (OK....a lot overdramatic) to call it a battle wound, but that's what it is to me. I had been wounded in the war of quality time.

As a Student Pastor I am convinced that there is a war going on in the lives of American families today. The enemy is "Other Responsibilities" and it attacks in the camouflage-fatigues of career, hobbies, and "things that just can't wait". The casualties are children, wives and even husbands. The only way to overcome this enemy is to be willing to die on the hill your family is on. I meet kids all the time who have dads who care more about beer and football than they do their own families. I hang out with all kinds of students who have moms who drop everything to spend 5 extra hours at work each week but haven't "had time" to go to one of their kid's softball games in years.

As embarassing as it was to tell people this story, I also sort of told it with a sense of healthy pride. See, I'm proud I didn't pull my neck out at work, or helping someone move, or para-sailing, or playing wiffle-ball with friends. Instead, I was injured in the line of duty while my wife and daughter laughed their heads off. And that's like being awarded the Purple Heart to me.

Memoirs from a Bookstore

My family and I had a crazy night on the town this past Friday! After a long day of playing & hanging out at the McMahon house we decided to swing by Jamba Juice for a nice fruity beverage and take a stroll around the Borders Bookstore here in town. There was this book about Ancient Roman History I’ve been longing to get (I know what you’re thinking….who wants a stupid book about Ancient Roman history?! Well, I do! I may be a total book-geek but I’m stinking proud of it!! The older I get the more I come to discover what pure treasure knowledge of the past & present truly is and how it relates to the quality of our future as a society and world. The more I study the history and current events of this planet that GOD has spoken into existence, the more I appreciate GOD’s Word and long for His Kingdom to be manifest. Actually I believe that if more people read good books instead of letting Oprah, Senators in the incubator called Washington D.C., and Jerry Springer tell them what to think and when to think it, we might actually be better off as a people and culture! Besides, this particular book focuses on Rome’s political and military history which when you think about it is actually so re- ...Ooops…there I go again…..what do you care? Anyway,). There are a few things I noticed while with my family in the bookstore during this excursion. I decided to share them with you kind young chaps who actually frequent my blog.

1. The children’s book section at Borders is A-MAZING! Annabelle was in awe of the colors and imagination that filled that place! Books and stuffed-frogs stacked to the rafters. Stories of talking elephants, flying kangaroos, princesses, bear families and more were everywhere as if they were screaming out for Annabelle’s attention. She was much more interested in this than in the Roman History section. Go figure!

2. It’s really difficult to flip through books while holding a giant cup of Caribbean Passion smoothie from Jamba Juice. I hope they don’t find that stain I accidentally left on a copy of Homer’s Odyssey.

3. My wife is so cool! The fact that I’m married to a woman who can have fun with me just strolling our daughter through a giant bookstore is AWESOME! It’s such a cool thing knowing we can have a great time just hanging out doing the simplest things! She truly is a Proverbs 31 woman!

4. Whoever woke up from a long night of sleep and suddenly came up with the idea of a giant bookstore with a giant café in it along with a giant magazine section right next to the giant DVD/CD section is right up there with Sir Isaac Newton & Alexander Graham Bell in my opinion! BRILLIANT!!

5. Barack Obama actually has 2 books on the National Bestseller list. Pretty impressive! He won’t be my choice for President in November of 2008, but you have to admit it’s pretty amazing that he’s had time to be a senator in Washington D.C., making crucial votes about U.S. policy and national security, traveling the speaking circuit, listening to and meeting with his constituents in Illinois, being with his family, learning what it takes to be President of a world superpower, and writing two Bestsellers all in the past couple of years!! {Anson winks while his tongue is in his cheek}

6. There are a lot of “Book-Grazers” in the world. You know…. people that somehow confuse bookstores for libraries. Get a card people!! Dang!

7. There is a book on the Bestseller list entitled The God Delusion. Man….that’s harsh! Sounds like that brother got burned by somebody or something real bad!!

8. Books are my weakness. My vice, if you will. For some it’s alcohol, for some it’s crack-cocaine, for some nicotine, for many it’s food or laziness. I have discovered that books are a weakness for Anson McMahon. The moment I walk into a bookstore my knees turn to jelly, I hear voices in my head luring me to the non-fiction and current events sections and I begin to see things “I must have or I will just die!!” Even more of a weakness to me than Best Buy is, and that’s saying a lot!!

Those are some things I learned last Friday night. But above all else I learned this: I love being with my family. Whether we’re at an Almond festival or a bookstore on a Friday night, we always learn something new. And to top it all of, I found my book on Ancient Rome! {Anson the book-geek smiles in eager anticipation}

Ministry, Jesus & the joy of Pod-casting

I haven't seen (or really cared enough to look at) any statistics regarding how many students, young adults, or even older adults actually listen to podcasts. (For those of you who have no clue what a pod cast is, take this opportunity to look it up on www.wikipedia.com) What I do know is that it has become an amazing ministry tool to use for ministry. Tapes and even CD's for that matter have gone the way of Vanilla Ice and now media is literally a click of the mouse away.

I am so jazzed about what the LORD is doing in the ministries of www.hisecho.com. The DEVOCAST and the ACCESS pod cast have become incredible tools for God's kingdom in the lives of the students at BVG, not to mention the pod casts of Xrds and Newgen!

So...if you aren't doing anything important in the next half hour, pour yourself a scorching hot mug of joe (vanilla-nut creamer suggested) and enjoy a discussion centered around the Word of GOD. You can find all of our pod casts at www.hisecho.com or by typing "BIG VALLEY GRACE" in the i-tunes search window.