Pastor Scott's Thoughts

My 10 Favorite Things to Do in SoCal

I got my first sunburn on my forehead today after sitting in my backyard which means summer is coming. There is not a bad month in SoCal, but I love the summer. It got me thinking about all the things I love to do here. I'm a little tired of theology, so here is a completely trivial top 10 list of the things I love to do in SoCal. Feel free to add your favorite things (for example since we live at the base of the mountains I really should have included hiking on the list, but I just don't take advantage of it enough).

Here's my top ten in reverse order:

10. Hanging out at The Grove. I can live the rest of my life without shopping malls but I do like cruising around in Old Town Pasadena and Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. But I totally love going to The Grove in Beverly Hills (even if we do have to take Sophie to the American Girl store everytime we go). the Grove has the coolest Apple store and Barnes and Noble around. I can spend the whole day eating at the Farmer's Market - I live for the english toffee. I also think its the best star gazing location in L.A. Rarely do we go there without seeing somebody who is at least medium famous.

9. Running the LA Marathon. I finished the marathon the last two years but I still haven't run a good race yet. Nevertheless, there is something totally cool about running with 25,000 people. This year the race started at Dodger Stadium and finished at the Santa Monica pier - great course. I need to train harder for 2011, but I hope to keep running the race. It's also a bonus to get to help raise some money for my friends at Child SHARE.

8. Show Shoots. I haven't been to a sit-com, talk-show, or game-show shoot in a while. But I miss the old-days when Deb was working at Warner Brothers and we were regulars at sit-com and pilot shoots. Its sort of a long night when you go because you have to laugh at the same scenes two or three times. But it is really cool to see "behind the curtain" to see how a show comes together. One of our top memories from the 90s was when Deb and I were seat-fillers at the Emmys.

7. Sporting Events. I obviously love to watch my kids play sports. Caleb has recently turned us into a swim family. But even without an NFL team in town, somewhere in the Southland there is a professional sporting event taking place. I prefer Dodger games, but the kids like the Angels. I'll go in a heartbeat to see the Kings or Ducks: whichever team is winning. And it is super fun to go see the Lakers (if you can get tickets) or even the Clippers. If Blake Griffin gets healthy, I'm ready to jump on the Clipper bandwagon. Maybe the most fun we've had at a game was last year when the boys and I went to an LA Galaxy playoff game. We were "this close" to Beckham.

6. San Diego. If you need to get away for a couple of days the primary short-range destinations are Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Vegas, or San Diego. Nine times out of ten I pick San Diego. We love Balboa Park, the Zoo, Sea World, hanging out at Point Loma, and eating fish and chips at Anthony's Grotto.

5. Theatres. There are theatres everywhere, but we are kind of partial to seeing musicals at the Pantages and movies at the El Capitan. I love the organist who plays before the movie at the El Capitan. We went to see Enchanted there when it opened and the actor who played the prince (James Marsden) was sitting across the aisle from us with his family and a couple of cast members from X-Men. It was fun to watch someone watch themselves on the big screen. We also love going there with out of town friends and grabbing ice-cream next door to the soda parlor and ordering "Mickey's Magic Hat" (8 scoops of ice cream, at least one can of whipped cream and all the fixings).

4. Disneyland. So far we have been persistent passholders. The thing that makes Disneyland great is the way the park changes with the seasons. Being a passholder is nice because you can go for two or three hours and not feel like you have to squeeze every minute out of your time there. Our favorite time to go is from October through the end of December. There are many moments that I start day-dreaming about Disneyland fried chicken and pineapple soft-serve.

3. The Beach. My goal this summer is to learn to surf. I consider myself to be a world-class boogie boarder, but its time for me to get up on my feet. During the summer we try to hit the beach at least every other week. 50% of the US population lives within 50 miles of either coast. My goal is to someday move within 50 yards. Everybody has a favorite beach, ours is probably Manhattan. I love going to Venice because I like to walk the strand, eat, and look at all the unique (a nice way of saying wierd) people. But my wife usually freaks out at Venice. Last summer a school of dolphins swam by all but one day we went to the beach. Sometimes they come within twenty feet or so from where you are swimming. Apart from having to vacuum the sand out of the floor mats, I like everything about the beach.

2. The Rose Parade. Some longtime Pasadenans act like they could live without the parade, but I still love it. We've been spoiled the last four years because we've had friends or family living at the start of the parade route and so we've been able to go out late New Year's Eve and see the floats as they are lined up beneath the lights. I think its amazing to see a million people descend on the city each year and camp out all night. Pasadena has made a contract with God that it is almost always a Chamber of Commerce day on January 1st. A couple of years I've had tickets to the game as well. The world's best parade in the morning followed by "the grand-daddy of them all" footbal game in the afternoon is the perfect way to start every New Year.

1. The Hollywood Bowl. I know that at some level this makes me a nerd, but I think my favorite thing to do in SoCal is go to an LA Philharmonic concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Everyone brings a picnic dinner and kicks back and enjoys great music. I can usually only afford to sit in the middle somewhere but that's perfect because its right at the level where the HOLLYWOOD sign is visble just over the ridge. The weather is usually spectacular and the whole canyon just echoes with history. I hope I never move again, but if I do, I know that I'll sit on my porch on a Friday night and wish I were sitting at The Bowl, eating fancy sandwiches, and listening to John Williams directing his most famous movie scores.

Life is good.

All I Needed to Know I Learned in Sunday School

Last Sunday we began a series on Colossians. The focus from 1:1-14 ended up being from verse 12 - what it means for believers to "share the inheritance of the saints." Out of that idea I ended up re-writing "All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindegarten" to celebrate the inheritance of faith that the church continues to hand on from generation to generation. I have had several requests for my rewrite. So with deep apologies to Robert Fulghum, here is All I Needed to Know I Learned in Sunday School:

All I really needed to know and what to do and how to be I learned in Sunday School. Wisdom was not discovered at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but around the felt-board in Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

 Everything is a gift, and gifts are meant to be shared.

Life is not always fair, but God is just.

When people hit you, work on not hitting them back.

Whatever we have been given is on loan to us from the Creator, so put everything back where you found it, and clean up your own mess.

We all sin, so practice saying, “I’m sorry.” We all have to say it a lot.

Cleanliness is next to godliness. (That isn’t in the Bible – but don’t tell anybody).

The Lord commanded a Sabbath so we would remember that life is more than work. That also means that Sunday afternoon naps are not a suggestion but a demand from on high.

Keep your hands to yourself, because your body is not your own. You have been bought with a price. So be careful little hands what you do.

He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He designed us to need each other, because everybody entered the ark two by two.

Giants are no problem for God.

Running from God usually means you wind up in the belly of a whale.

God will always meet you in the fiery furnace or in the lion’s den.

God answers prayer.

When our friends are sick we should take them to Jesus, even if we have to lower them through the roof.

Jesus can do a whole lot with very little. You can’t believe what he can do with a sack lunch.

God created us to sing – or at least to make a joyful noise.

So, “Praise him, praise him, all you little children. God is love. God is love.”

And, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

And most importantly, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are week but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me.”

 

Seven Last Words - "It is Finished"

Last night - Holy Wednesday - I had the privilege again of being one of the preachers for the Seven Last Words service at Los Angeles Grace Church of the Nazarene. The congregation was made up of primarily African-American churches from the LA area. It was a wonderful night and I am always so thankful to Rev. Lamar Davis for inviting me to be a part of it. I was assigned the sixth word - "It is finished." Below is the text for my sermon. I hope it is a blessing to you on this Maundy Thursday. It helps the sermon tremendously if you can imagine the congregation repeating the line "It is finished!" with me at the end of the message. It's a preacher's heaven when the people catch on and start preaching the sermon with you!

When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

 

Two weeks ago I attempted to run the 26.2 miles of the Los Angeles Marathon. I was doing well for the first 16 and then I started developing huge blisters on the bottom of both feet. I had figured out that each mile took me 935 steps. So I started counting down from 9,350 thinking about nothing but the finish line. When I crossed the line I said to myself, “It is finished.” And I meant it. I haven’t put my running shoes back on in two weeks.

 

We are gathered here tonight to celebrate that when Jesus proclaimed “It is finished” he was acknowledging the end of his earthly ministry. But we know that for Christ the end was only the beginning. His ministry was finished, but a new creation had just begun.

 

For, “It is finished” is not a cry of defeat. “It is finished” is not the exasperated Jesus gurgling out, “I am done for.” It is significant that the Christian tradition has not considered “It is finished” to be the final words of Jesus. For, “It is finished” is not a cry of defeat but the proclamation of victory. “It is finished” is the triumphant cry that proclaims that all that Christ had been sent to do – the establishment of God’s transforming kingdom – in the cross is fully accomplished.

 

This is the check list for the Kingdom:

 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us – finished.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth – finished.

The hungry were fed and the naked were clothed – finished.

The eyes of the blind healed, the ears of the deaf opened, the tongues of the mute loosened, and the wounds of the lepers cleansed – finished.

The message of grace that includes tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners was proclaimed – finished.

The written law of God was fulfilled in the living law of love – finished.

The lost sheep found, the lost coin recovered, the Prodigal Son returned – finished.

The expectations of the prophets that by the stripes of the suffering Messiah all creation would be healed – finished.

The mission of God carried on through the sanctified people of God – finished.

This is what Jesus meant when he cried out, “It is finished.” In the cross, the kingdom of God is not hindered, defeated, or far away. In the cross of Christ the kingdom of God has come near. The old creation had passed away. It is finished. And behold, in Christ, God is making all things new.

 

Unfortunately many still do not understand that the old world is finished. It is hard to imagine anything worse than someone continuing to fight a war that is already over.

 

On March 10, 1974, Lt. Hiroo Onada was the last World War II Japanese soldier to surrender. Onada had been left on the island Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944, with the command to “carry on the mission even if Japan surrenders.” Four other Japanese soldiers were left on the island as Japan evacuated Lubang. One soldier surrendered in 1950. Another was killed in a skirmish with local police in 1954. Another was killed in 1972. Onada continued his war alone.

 

All efforts to convice him to surrender or to capture him failed. He ignored messages from loudspeakers announcing Japan’s surrender and that Japan was now an ally of the United States. Leaflets were dropped over the jungle begging him to surrender so he could return to Japan. He refused to believe that the war was finished.

 

Over the years he lived off the land and raided the fields and gardens of local citizens. He was responsible for killing at least 30 nationals during his 29 year personal war. Almost a half million dollars was spent trying to locate and convince him to surrender.

 

Finally, on March 10, 1974, almost 30 years after World War II had ended, Onada surrendered his rusty sword and what was left of his ammunition after receiving a personal command from his former superior officer, who read to him the terms of the cease-fire order. Now at 52 years of age, Onada handed over his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him. After 29 years of what he described as “complete unhappiness” waging an unnecessary conflict in the jungle, Onada’s war was finished.

 

Two thousand years ago, on a dark Friday afternoon, left on the outskirts of town, hanging between two common criminals, our Lord, commander, and superior officer proclaimed the war over and announced the terms of a new creation. It is finished.

 

The one who was rejected was reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sin against us: because it is finished.

 

The holy and innocent one who was convicted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law as a law-breaker destroyed the power of the law. So now we are no longer under law but under grace: because it is finished.

 

The one crucified by the principalities and powers of Rome destroyed their authority to coerce others by turning the other cheek and going the second mile. Jesus has unmasked the wickedness of the principalities and powers by, in his body, overcoming evil with good: because it is finished.

 

By going to the place of God-forsakenness, there is now no place nor any person called God-forsaken: because it is finished.

 

There is now in Christ Jesus no longer Jew nor Greek, no longer slave nor free, no longer male nor female. We are all one in Christ Jesus, because it is finished.

 

He is our peace, who has broken down every dividing wall. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace: because it is finished.

 

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone: because it is finished.

 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death: because it is finished.

 

And the whole creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. For in hope we know that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God: because it is finished.

 

Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?: because it is finished.

 

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ: because it is finished!