It’s that time of the year, one of my favorites as groups from our church and churches across the country are sending their people out on short-term mission trips.  My wife and I are once again going with our church to the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico this summer.  I will be updating with blogs and pictures as much as possible.  We have a large RV and trailer that left last night to make the drive, as well as multiple flights of people flying into Albuquerque till Friday afternoon.  The whole team minus the driving team will be in Albuquerque Friday night and then we will meetup with the drive team on Saturday in Window Rock, the capitol of the Navajo nation.

Please pray specifically for the health of each of the team members before and while they are travelling on Friday as well as protection for the drive team as they make the long drive.  Also pray specifically for Keith and his health and energy on this trip as he recently finished his chemo treatments for cancer. You’ll remember he found out about his cancer one year ago exactly on Friday after having to fly back early from last years trip thinking he had severe kidney stones.

The latest blog i’ve done with our senior pastor for timsvlog.com.  Make sure to check it out and leave a nickname or a vote for the best hip-hop name for Tim.

One of the things I got our senior pastor to do was a video blog on a semi-regular basis.  The are ususally short, funny, and provide a unique spirtual viewpoint that helps reinforce a biblical truth.  I was in the very first one (which you can see here) and am now becoming a regular person to interact with Tim.  See the first of the latest videos below and keep up with me (twitter and facebook) and Tim too (twitter and facebook).

You come back from a Mission trip with all sorts things going through your head.  How you’re going to change, what you’re going to change, things you can do, things you should’ve done, going back next year, etc. I kept waiting for this great ephipany of a blog post to write and share….I’m still waiting. It’s hard to even know where to begin but I feel I need to start writing to get the process going.  First off I want to thank each of you, those that prayed, those that gave, those that followed along, it took each of you for this trip to happen and for it to be a success.  There are many things about the trip I’d like to share but right now I there is something more important to share.  Keith Martin, our Worship Arts pastor, is the leader of the Navajo trip.  He’s been dealing with back pain for quite awhile and it got progressively worse on the trip to the point he ended up coming home early to have it taken care of.  It comes to find they have found a mass in his abdomen.  All  that to say, please keep up with his status and pray for him, find out his latest at http://www.gowoodland.com/keith

Wasabi Gospel

Finished reading Wasabi Gospel, Shawn Wood’s second book, and it was I believe even better than the first. Shawn’s first book had me at the title alone,  200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One: Creating a Life of Meaning and Influence.  I just have to say if Shawn keeps titling his books about food I’m probably going to have to read them all. Luckily there’s a sushi place just down the road I can head to real quick everytime I see the cover of Wasabi Gospel. Shawn’s writing style drew me into 200P/A1  and made me want to get Wasabi Gospel as soon as I could.  It’s like sitting with that close friend that doesn’t have to sugar coat everything but you love them for saying what you don’t want to hear.  Shawn takes those statements from the Gospels  and challenges us to live them and not just walk around them.  In the same way you’ll never truly appreciate wasabi unless you take a big bite you’ll not completely the truths Jesus longs for our life unless we live them out.  The challenge of not just loving your friends and the enemies you don’t have to worry about but loving the enemies that challenge and threaten you, your family, and all that matter to you. The Wasabi Gospel is a book you’ll love even if it challenges you in ways and in things you didn’t think it would. Want some more info on the book or Shawn? Check out:

www.wasabigospel.com
www.shawnwoodwrites.com
www.twitter.com/shawnwood
www.facebook.com/shawnwood

Wasabi Blog Tour – JULY 8th EDITION Inbox X Reply to all Forward Reply by chat Filter messages like this Print Add to Contacts list Delete this message Report phishing Report not phishing Show original Show in fixed width font Show in variable width font Message text garbled? Why is this spam/nonspam? Reply | Shawn Wood to shawn, Ashley, Jessica show details Jun 26 (12 days ago) Reply I just want to open by saying, “Wow” – I am amazed at the response I have gotten to be involved.  All I can say is that I am honored. Because of the response I am going to break the tour up into two “bites”.  You are a part of BITE ONE! Bite one will be on July 8th (which is a WEDNESDAY) with a post around 9am your time to coincide with the Amazon Book Bomb. Here is a link to the full digital copy of the book.  Please do not share this link with anyone else. http://issuu.com/abingdonpress/docs/wasabi_gospel I have also cc Ashley Miller from Abingdon Press and if you will forward her your physical address she will get a hard copy out to you as soon as those are available. Your blog belongs to you and I am an invited guest , so you can review the book anyway you would like, but here are a few suggestions: 1.  You can review the whole book – or even better pick your favorite chapter and review it.  This may help too if you don’t get a chance to read the whole book before July 8th. 2.  Please Mention early on in the post that July 8th is also the Book Bomb on Amazon.com and link to the page to buy the book… here is a link that you can use http://www.amazon.com/gp/entity/-/B001JSAWAU 3.  Here is a link to a graphic if you can feel free to use: http://shawnwoodwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wasabiweb2.jpg 4. You can include this 411 if you want: www.wasabigospel.com www.shawnwoodwrites.com www.twitter.com/shawnwood www.facebook.com/shawnwood 5.  Twitter that you are going to be hosting the blog tour as often as you like and I will RT you! 6.  And finally if you are able to buy a book on July 8th to support the book bomb (which I would greatly appreciate) please give your free copy away to someone who does not know Jesus but is exploring!  I will pray that the free copies make into the hands that will set someone else free! Thanks so much everyone and if you have any questions please let me know! Please send me the permalink to your post and I will make sure and link to it from my blog on July 8th! Carve pomegranates with your life, Shawn Reply Reply to all Forward Reply | Derek Berg to ACMiller show details Jun 26 (12 days ago) Reply Hi Ashley, I’m forwarding you my mailing address at Shawn’s request for Wasabi Gospel. You can mail to me at the address below: Derek Berg Woodland, the Community Church 9607 State Road 70 East Bradenton, FL 34202 - Show quoted text - ———- Forwarded message ———- From: Shawn Wood <ShawnWood@seacoast.org> Date: Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 11:06 AM Subject: Wasabi Blog Tour – JULY 8th EDITION To: shawn@shawnwoodwrites.com Cc: “Miller, Ashley” <ACMiller@umpublishing.org>, “Kelley, Jessica” <jkelley@umpublishing.org> I just want to open by saying, “Wow” – I am amazed at the response I have gotten to be involved.  All I can say is that I am honored. Because of the response I am going to break the tour up into two “bites”.  You are a part of BITE ONE! Bite one will be on July 8th (which is a WEDNESDAY) with a post around 9am your time to coincide with the Amazon Book Bomb. Here is a link to the full digital copy of the book.  Please do not share this link with anyone else. http://issuu.com/abingdonpress/docs/wasabi_gospel I have also cc Ashley Miller from Abingdon Press and if you will forward her your physical address she will get a hard copy out to you as soon as those are available. Your blog belongs to you and I am an invited guest , so you can review the book anyway you would like, but here are a few suggestions: 1.  You can review the whole book – or even better pick your favorite chapter and review it.  This may help too if you don’t get a chance to read the whole book before July 8th. 2.  Please Mention early on in the post that July 8th is also the Book Bomb on Amazon.com and link to the page to buy the book… here is a link that you can use http://www.amazon.com/gp/entity/-/B001JSAWAU 3.  Here is a link to a graphic if you can feel free to use: http://shawnwoodwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wasabiweb2.jpg 4. You can include this 411 if you want: www.wasabigospel.com www.shawnwoodwrites.com www.twitter.com/shawnwood www.facebook.com/shawnwood 5.  Twitter that you are going to be hosting the blog tour as often as you like and I will RT you! 6.  And finally if you are able to buy a book on July 8th to support the book bomb (which I would greatly appreciate) please give your free copy away to someone who does not know Jesus but is exploring!  I will pray that the free copies make into the hands that will set someone else free! Thanks so much everyone and if you have any questions please let me know! Please send me the permalink to your post and I will make sure and link to it from my blog on July 8th! Carve pomegranates with your life, Shawn Reply Forward Reply | Miller, Ashley to me show details Jun 26 (12 days ago) Reply Thanks, Derek. As soon as the books arrive in our warehouse we’ll be shipping them out! Hopefully within a couple of weeks. Thanks so much for supporting Shawn’s work. Let me know if you have any problems with the link or other questions. Best, Ashley Ashley Miller Publicity and Marketing Manager Abingdon Press 201 Eighth Avenue South, P. O. Box 801 Nashville, TN 37202 Phone: 615.749.6290 Fax: 615.749.6061 email: acmiller@abingdonpress.com UMPH.org Cokesbury.com AbingdonPress.com Follow us on Twitter: abingdonpress - Show quoted text - —–Original Message—– From: Derek Berg [mailto:derekjberg@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 2:15 PM To: Miller, Ashley Subject: Fwd: Wasabi Blog Tour – JULY 8th EDITION Hi Ashley, I’m forwarding you my mailing address at Shawn’s request for Wasabi Gospel. You can mail to me at the address below: Derek Berg Woodland, the Community Church 9607 State Road 70 East Bradenton, FL 34202 ———- Forwarded message ———- From: Shawn Wood <ShawnWood@seacoast.org> Date: Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 11:06 AM Subject: Wasabi Blog Tour – JULY 8th EDITION To: shawn@shawnwoodwrites.com Cc: “Miller, Ashley” <ACMiller@umpublishing.org>, “Kelley, Jessica” <jkelley@umpublishing.org> I just want to open by saying, “Wow” – I am amazed at the response I have gotten to be involved.  All I can say is that I am honored. Because of the response I am going to break the tour up into two “bites”.  You are a part of BITE ONE! Bite one will be on July 8th (which is a WEDNESDAY) with a post around 9am your time to coincide with the Amazon Book Bomb. Here is a link to the full digital copy of the book.  Please do not share this link with anyone else. http://issuu.com/abingdonpress/docs/wasabi_gospel I have also cc Ashley Miller from Abingdon Press and if you will forward her your physical address she will get a hard copy out to you as soon as those are available. Your blog belongs to you and I am an invited guest , so you can review the book anyway you would like, but here are a few suggestions: 1.  You can review the whole book – or even better pick your favorite chapter and review it.  This may help too if you don’t get a chance to read the whole book before July 8th. 2.  Please Mention early on in the post that July 8th is also the Book Bomb on Amazon.com and link to the page to buy the book… here is a link that you can use http://www.amazon.com/gp/entity/-/B001JSAWAU 3.  Here is a link to a graphic if you can feel free to use: http://shawnwoodwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/wasabiweb2.jpg 4. You can include this 411 if you want: www.wasabigospel.com www.shawnwoodwrites.com www.twitter.com/shawnwood www.facebook.com/shawnwood 5.  Twitter that you are going to be hosting the blog tour as often as you like and I will RT you! 6.  And finally if you are able to buy a book on July 8th to support the book bomb (which I would greatly appreciate) please give your free copy away to someone who does not know Jesus but is exploring!  I will pray that the free copies make into the hands that will set someone else free! Thanks so much everyone and if you have any questions please let me know! Please send me the permalink to your post and I will make sure and link to it from my blog on July 8th! Carve pomegranates with your life, Shawn Reply Forward

It seems strange to me that in just 4 days, @sberg and I will be heading out with 14 others on a mission trip to the Navajo nation.  Not really sure why it seems strange we’ve done local missions, stateside missions, and even a couple of international mission trips, but this one already has a calling to me and us.  Not sure what it is or why it is but it seems to just make sense, this trip to go out west will be a trip into what will seem like a 3rd world country with more cultural and spiritual difference then i’ve had to deal with before.  For a techie that normally has a Blackberry in hand, a laptop on the shoulder and never far from internet and connectivity this will be a challenge for me as well.  And that’s a good thing! One of the things I struggle with is stopping and connecting and embracing the things that are most important, those relationships with God, with family, with friends. If you’ve ever talked with a person who has been on a mission trip they almost always say that it had more effect on them then it did on those that they were serving, that’s what i’m looking for, that moment, that realization, that focus. Pray for the Navajo and our group, pray that all involved will grow closer to the one true God. Thanks.

One of favorite books that I have actually read (not many of those) is Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. It’s one of those very challenging and make you think type of books that I have to go back and read every once in a while just to get my priorities right.  I’ve included a video below that is the introduction video for book, you’ll want to check this out! Don’t like reading? The audiobook is available for free during the month of July from christianaudio.com. So stop and go download it and start listening and when you finish go tell all your friends!

As many of you know and as many of you are as well, I’m a huge fan of the CITRT community. Yes, community, we are a group (or “ungroup” as some say) that definitely come together mainly through our techie tool of the internet. In just over 2 weeks my wife (@sberg) will be heading to the Navajo Nation which is mainly in Arizona and New Mexico on a mission trip.  I was getting ready to write up another post this morning to ask for prayer and for those of you so inclined financial support (for the two of us the trip will be over $1600) when I get the incoming link notifications that my buddy Jeff Suever has posted on his blog about our trip in today’s post called CITRT Member on a Mission.  I can’t even say how much I(we) appreciate the support that Jeff and others have shown and given us and can only hope we can live out God’s love this well to the Navajo. The following comes from Jeff’s blog I just thought it HAD to be shared

If you have ever been blessed, encouraged or made to laugh by Derek, join me in supporting them in any way you can. Financially would be great, but in prayer (really, do it this time) would be more than appreciated as well. Whip out that fancy phone, put task reminders in there for

• every Wednesday beginning June 24, ending July 8
• once per day, beginning July 9, ending July 18.

I guess I seem to be in the mood for giving stuff away lately.  Just got an email from Grace Hill Media for a free private screening for Eddie Murphy’s new movie, “Imagine That” on June 11th in Tampa a day before it’s official public release. You’ll need to follow the link below to register for this Tampa viewing but you can sign-up for all of their upcoming screenings here.

Summary:
In Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ family comedy “Imagine That,” Eddie Murphy stars as a successful financial executive named Evan who has more time for his blackberry than his seven-year-old daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi). When Evan is faced with a crisis of confidence and his career starts going down the drain, he is forced to finally stop and really listen to his daughter whose imaginary world may have the solution to all his problems. In discovering Olivia’s inner world, Evan discovers what he has truly been missing.

Register Here

As always the easiest way to get these and all other of my blog posts is to follow my RSS feed here, and of course to keep up with all that’s going on in my life follow me on twitter, I’m @djberg.

I’m looking for some new worship music to take with me on our Navajo Mission trip coming up in about a month. I want to know what your favorite worship song is that the normal person has never heard of. To help spurn on the conversation I’ll give a $10 gift card for iTunes if you are the first person to have the same favorite worship song as me.

Contest will run for 24 hours and answers must be put in comments.