Year in Review

It is amazing how much life takes place each year. Each year moves at the speed of life. It feels like the older you get the faster the year goes. In the Bousa family, 2007 has been action packed with some major transitional moments.

Transitions:


Sold my car (Volkswagen Corrado) to pay for graduate school (Jan. 2007)
Graduated from Valley Forge Christian College (Phoenixville, PA)
The birth of the church and coffee house idea (June / 2007)
Start Blogging in May/2007
Moved to South Hamilton, Massachusetts
Began and completed our first semester at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Conducted 3 Biblical Relationship Seminars w/ wife
Joined a church plant launch team (scheduled to start on Sept. / 2008)
Signed up for an Intermediate Greek 2 Class at Harvard Divinity
Began working on a book (COSMOS: Bringing Order to the Overlooked Areas of Discipleship)

Still Thinking!!!

Beauty and the Beast

I went to a dinner theater production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast last night with the wife and In-Laws. Great show. Amazing how many older adults filled the theater to see a such a classic fairly tale. I think it is healthy for adults to revisit the stories they grew up on or their children. It fosters creativity. It sparks the part of the brain that operates our imagination. You will either do life from memory (life side of the brain) or from imagination (right side of the brain). If you notice that life has become routine, a whole bunch of rituals, then you are probably just living from memory. Just doing things just because. The same boring food, the same boring schedule, what a boring life. I want to suggest that the most creative people on the earth understand that they must be intentional on finding space in their life to dream, imagine, and invent. I am not saying you have to invent something for the world. What I am saying is to find ways to change your personal world. Be creative, try something new. Think inside and outside the box. Don't let routine run your life, but dream big dreams. Sometimes we limit our life we because our thoughts. Don't let what seems as an obstacle keep you away from fulfilling a dream. Think Big. If you want to do things you have never done before you have to think in ways you never thought before!! Think Bigger. Dream Bigger. Imagine Bigger.

Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)

I was challenged by someones blog to buy somebody you don't know dinner while out to dinner. I loved the idea when I read it, but didn't know how it would turn out. There is no how to book on being kind!!! So we were out to dinner in Washington DC in Union Station at Uno's. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed a family sharing a meal. I came back and the idea came to me, so as we were leaving I stopped at there table and I did it. They probably thought I was crazy. Who does those things? I never have. I learned that kindness is not something you learn in a book, on TV or in a classroom. It is learned by doing it. All I really did is obey Jesus' command to love our neighbors. It is really that simple and I don't know how much of an impact it made on their lives. It could have been a lot or a little, but one thing I do know is that in the end times, when the Lord Jesus comes back and all people stand before Him to be judged and He says the words, He does in Matthew's Gospel, "When I was hungry did you feed me. . ." I can say YES, because Jesus who is the king will say, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).

Loving our neighbors is loving Jesus.

Family Traditions (Cont.)

Before I leave the Blogosphere for the day, I wanted to show you the end results from our ginger bread house contest. When families are around, you know there is competition so here are they are. What one do you think is the best? What one do you think is mine? One of them is the prototype for a future cafe, JOKING!!!!

Family Traditions (Cont.)

One of our family traditions is to plan and participate in an activity together. Last night, we went to Washington D.C. to see the White House Christmas Tree! They also have a fire that burns for 30 days straight which has been a custom since 1923. We missed the musical because of the weather. Family is strengthened by each person's presence. Money can't buy your presence! Here's some pics!

Christmas Traditions

Other than Jesus (the real reason for the season), I think the best part of the Christmas season is not presents, but family traditions. Since Liz and I were married, we have tried to adopt new and continue old Christmas Family Traditions. Here are a couple:

1. Read the Christmas story in the Bible together on Christmas eve and pray together!

2. Buy one new ornament each that means something from the past year. I got a Starbucks ornament this year (Hence the picture) and Liz got a flying pig named, "Olivia"!!!

3. Buy new pajamas to wear on Christmas eve and Christmas day. I get a T-shirt since I don't wear pajamas! Last year I got a "Rocky" T-shirt and this year the shirt says, "Think Outside of the Box."

4. On Christmas eve we are building ginger bread houses as a family.

5. We are going to watch home video's on Christmas eve.

6. We watch a Christmas movie together.

7. Buy somebody we don't know Christmas presents.

8. Go on a Family Activity together.

There is no substitute for family traditions. All the presents in the world mean nothing compared to being with family on the Holy days. Jesus came to the world to bring heavenly joy. I think we get a taste of that joy when we come together as a family on Christmas.

New Year's Challenges

With a new year around the corner I thought I would share my thoughts on setting new year challenges. I like to call them challenges not resolutions because I like to set goals that are a challenge, not something easy to reach. This is the year of challenge! This is a rough draft, so everything is up for change with further thinking.

3 Personal Challenges:

a. Spiritual-Prayer and Fasting: I am challenging myself to fast (no food, just juice) and pray one day a week (probably wednesdays) for 52 weeks.

b. Intellectual-Reading and Writing: I am challenging myself to read 52 books including school books and complete a writing project I recently started. I feel called to write books just as much as I do to pastoral ministry and college level teaching. So I started working on a book on SEX from a Biblical perspective. I will blog about it soon.

c. Physical-I want to work out 3-4 times a week, 30 minutes each time. I am still thinking and praying about something else. I will update when I figure it out.

Sharing a Book

One thing my wife and I do every year is share a book on marriage. We read out load a chapter together and talk about those things that stuck out. We are reading, Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. In chapter two, he compared man centered marriages to God centered marriages. A man centered marriage is maintained as long as our desires, comforts and expectations are being met. You can see how this sets up marriages for failure. What happens if both spouses have a bad day on the same day? But in a God centered marriage, we preserve our marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful would to a reconciling Creator. The Goal of marriage is to Model God's Love for his church to the World. Marriage was created to please God, not you. I will close with this quote in reference to divorce: "How can I tell my children that God's promises of reconciliation is secure when they see that my own promise (to my spouse) doesn't mean a thing?

Ask yourself what I ask myself, how can I representative of Christ to the world, when I can't represent Christ to my wife/husband?

New Research

In the book, The Houdini Solution, the author made a point I wanted to see if it was true. I conducted two tests. My ginini pigs were a 2nd grader boy and a woman in med school. I asked them to draw the coolest thing in the world. There was no limitations. Whatever! There was no right or wrong answer. They drew and reported back to me. The 2nd grader drew the UNIVERSE with the all the planets, shooting stars, the sun, etc. The med-student drew a person, a micro-small house and a rainbow. The results proved the theory right!

The younger we are the bigger our imagination (the universe). As we get older, we tend to limit and restrict ourselves (the person).

Keep dreaming big dreams, be creative, think both inside and outside the box, don't allow limitations on your ideas, and instead of asking, why? ask why not?

Every area of life can benefit by creative thinking: work, ministry, family, church, relationships, etc.

Church Planting Promo Video

This video is hot off the press! The video is like a documentary of the community, Garden City Church, a new church that will be coming to Beverly, MA in Sept. / 2008. I have the privilege of assisting the lead pastor. We are like batman and robin!!! We tried to capture the heartbeat of Beverly, MA in this video. We hit all the hot spots. The video was used in a service, where Pastor Rich casted vision to the church that will be supporting the start of this new church. The video put faces to statistics. We actually showed the church the people we are targeting. Check it out, you even might see me!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HpP6ebfWdE

Book Reflections

I just finished the book, The Houdini Solution, by Ernie Schenck. Ernie is a co-founder for an Emmy Award winning Advertising Agency.

The main idea of the book is based on the secret behind Harry Houdini's magic and performances. It is simple, he worked best in tight places, inside the box. He did not allow his mind to be consumed with the problem, he directed all of his energy toward solving it. For instance when Houdini was bound and locked in chains. He was lowered upside down into a glass box filled with water. With only minutes to escape. What would you do? Would you allow the hopelessness of the situation dictate the the outcome, which would be death? Or like Houdini would you accept the circumstances? Accept the box. Accept the chains and the locks. And begin to think inside the box. The bottom line is this: the biggest secret of truly productive creative people is that they embrace obstacles like Houdini, they don't run from them. Look at setbacks as opportunities and limitations as chances to excel.

Are you going to let your box set you back or set you up for your best performance ever? Working inside the many boxes of life might limit the time we have to get out of the box, but at the same time it will maximise our ability to be creative and innovative.

Jess' Believe or Not!

Did you know that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, did not invent the MP3 Player? The MP3 player was released by a company in 1998, but they had lots of problems with it. It did not hold a lot of music, etc. Apple reinvented an old idea and came up with the IPOD. I heard it said before, "There is nothing new under the sun." That is true with ideas. Very few ideas are great ideas. Take an old idea, reinvent, repackage it, and maybe you to, can be like Steve Jobs!!

Harvard Here I Come!

Its official! I am officially signed up for a grad school class at Harvard--Intermediate Greek 2. They actually pronounce it like this: "Ha-vad." They forgot the "r." The school is beautiful. My wife and I took a trip down there today, toured the library and sneaked a peak at the classrooms. Actually, as you can see in the pictures, they asked me to teach a class. Just joking!!! Maybe one day!!

Misquoting Jesus

My master piece is done!! Finished!! Complete!! It is my final paper for "Interpreting the New Testament" class. I uploaded to my personal open source. Check it out. I took a not so conservative view for once in my life on a passage in the New Testament I am arguing was a well know passage for scribal alterations.

The Main Idea: Jesus did not permit divorce on any grounds (not even fornication), but commends permanence in marriage. Jesus' message on marriage was permanence, just God instituted in the Garden of Eden when He created man and woman. Jesus reestablished the standards God set in the Garden, by reinterpreting Moses divorce concession with God's original standards for marriage.

The paper took me three months to write, it should only take you 30 minutes. Let me know what you like or hate!!!

http://myopen-source.blogspot.com/

Home Improvement Ministries

I just got home from the marriage and family training, my wife and I attend twice a month. The goal of the training is to learn how to implement a marriage and family ministry in the local church, so since we are in striking distance with a new church that we are helping to started in Sept. 08, this info is going to be helpful.

We focused on Communication. "Truth telling trumps peacekeeping." Couples tend to fudge the truth to keep the peace in their homes. Fudging the truth is lying. What this does to any relationship is stunt its growth. "One can only experience intimacy to the degree one is expressing honesty." Honesty is always the best policy when done in love for the other person's benefit. Always use words that build up not tear down. Always choose your words carefully.

Don't do this: A woman was looking at herself in the mirror and she said, I am so fat. She then told her husband to say something nice, to be honest. So he thought, and thought some more and said to his wife, "You got darn good eyesight!!!!!"

The moral of the story is "Always speak the truth in love."

CheeseCake Factory

I cracked the code. If you buy a $25.00 gift certificate at the Cheesecake Factory you get a Cheesecake Factory Teddy Bear with Velvet bag. I learned as I was waiting in line to go eat and I saw someone buying gift certificates. I ended up putting two and two together and we bought the gift certificate on the way in, got the bear, then paid our bill with the gift certificate. My wife got the bear and I was the hero. You too can be a hero. Try it. I dare you.

Updated-My-Open-Source

I just updated the blog I created, doubling as an OPEN SOURCE, with a paper I just finished. I have been working on it for 3 months. If you are up for some deep theologically deep stuff (its pretty deep) take a stab at it. The title is "MISQUOTING JESUS." Check it out.
http://myopen-source.blogspot.com/

Leaving a Legacy

I just learned about breaking news, actually it was breaking news in 1988, where the USA Olympic team was in a record breaking pass running the 4 man relay and when the last man went to pass the baton to his partner to seal the deal and beat the world record, not to mention to win the gold medal. He dropped it.

“Every Christian must see themselves as the link to the next generation,” writes William Barclay.

We need to practice the hand off.

Looking at the life of Jesus and the legacy He left, I cannot get past this one thing. Discipleship!! Jesus lived and died to pass the baton to His disciples. He showed them, modeled for them, taught them, and lived with them, all for one purpose, to make them into disciples.

The greatest legacy you can leave your family, your community, your generation and your church is Christ followers.

Ask yourself, as I ask myself, are we leaving a legacy our generation can follow that leads them closer to God or have we drooped the baton and got off track?

LAST CLASS

It's a wrap. Today, I have my last class for my first semester here at grad school. 4 more semesters left. Time is flying. I have Intermediate Hebrew!! Almost finished with my two final papers, I have been working all semester on. They will be posted on "My Open Source" blog next week some time, if you want to see what in the world I am doing!! Let me know what you think.

My Best Leadership Decision I Ever

I recently watched a conference session from the Catalyst Conference. The speaker was Andy Stanely. He is the pastor of North Point in Atlanta, GA. He titled his talk, "My Best Leadership Decision I Ever Made."

He found when starting a new church that there was not enough time to be a leader because of leadership and there was not enough time to get done what God wants him to get done. He said, what we do is cheat our families when we are in a crunch for time, not the church. He said, we tend to cheat towards those things that show progress and also we cheat because we are afraid. We are afraid. We think, "If I don't. . . It won't."

The biggest leadership Decision he made was that if he was going to cheat something or somebody out of time, he was going to cheat the church not his family. The Bible commands us to love our wife's not the church. Church growth does not rest on any pastor, but on Jesus. Jesus said, I will build my church . . "

I totally agree with his decision. I have made the same decision. How about you?

NEW IDEA

I got a new idea. I have decided to create a second blog site, doubling as an OPEN SOURCE site, so that I can upload all the paper's I write at GRAD school, sermons I preach, church planting materials I gather, seminar notes I put together, books I review, or whatever else I write. You have FREE access to all these materials. HAPPY READING!!! The link is on the left of my blog, titled My-Open-Source.

http://myopen-source.blogspot.com/

Angel Tree Ministry

Another thing my wife and I like to do around Christmas is buy a family Christmas presents who can't afford them. This year our church has partnered with Prison Ministries. Prison Ministries goes into prisons across the country and shares the good news of Jesus Christ. During the Christmas season all the inmates both women and men who will not be home with their children and involved with the prison ministry in their jail can give their children presents through the giving of people like you and me. My wife and I were privileged enough to purchase the gifts for an 8 year old boy and a 9 year old girl.

If you want to check out this ministry, here's a link to their promotional video:

http://www.angeltree.org/generic.asp?ID=2570

Jesus could not have been more right when he said, "It is more blessed to give then to receive."

I define success by how much you give away, not how much money you make. How do you define success?

The Health Benefits of Martial Sex

My wife came across this research, I thought you might like to see it. I bet you never knew sex has health benefits that is of course with in the context of marriage, (but outside the context of marriage, sex actually heightens the risk of acquiring STD's, HIV, etc.)

Read carefully and practice regularly!!

1. Scientific tests find that when women make love, they produce double amounts of the hormone estrogen, which make hair shiny and skin smooth.

2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the pores and makes your skin glow.

3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.

4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches and tones up just about every muscles in the body. It’s more enjoyable than swimming 20 laps and you don’t need special sneakers!

5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases the body endorphin into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being.

6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones. These subtle sex perfumes drive the opposite sex crazy!

7. Sex is the safest tranquillizer in the world. It is 10 times more effective than Valium.

8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque build-up.

9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restrict blood vessels in the brain.

10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.

Don't tell kids this stuff!!!