tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365621552011-11-27T15:17:58.874-08:00encounters of God in normal, everyday lifeJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-85768221993277692882010-03-02T09:12:00.000-08:002010-03-02T09:12:03.722-08:00

I am in transition today...switching my blog and writing...if you want to continue to follow my writing and thinking see here: http://joshkerkhoff.wordpress.com/

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-10739841441508136702010-01-29T11:25:00.000-08:002010-01-29T19:24:34.630-08:00

This past week, I was in a Doctor of Ministry class called Leading and Managing Your Ministry taught by Leith Anderson, the Senior Pastor of Wooddale Church and the National Association of Evangelicals. I really appreciated the practicality of this class but one word kept coming up that when I hear it, I have an internal reaction. When I hear the word organization used in reference to the

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-30839583002671559622009-12-23T21:48:00.000-08:002009-12-23T21:49:35.313-08:00

We are grateful to you, our friends and family, and want you to know how you bring joy to our lives. With these pictures from the past year, we hope you catch a glimpse of our family. Love, Josh, Amy, and our Boys

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-5264305110476261852009-11-30T22:26:00.001-08:002009-12-01T09:14:14.295-08:00

Two visions three years apart.Three years ago when we moved to San Diego so that I could work on staff with our church, I had a vision prayed over me. It was by a faithful young man in our church and he asked if he could share with me a vision. This was his vision: I was wearing hip waders (the ones you would wear if you were fishing in a body of water) and found myself moving toward the middle

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-49271543195036596682009-11-23T12:26:00.000-08:002009-11-23T12:29:28.914-08:00

Okay, so I'm man enough to share this with you. I found myself crying in the library or at least holding back tears and choking on my adam's apple as I read a post by Pete Wilson.Yesterday, he baptized his oldest son Jett and then wrote a letter to him through the blogosphere. You can read it here and see the video as well. What an amazing experience!I can only hope for the day when I have the

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-63817719524002247052009-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:002009-09-30T11:08:25.912-07:00

(posted by my wife Amy)Our boys are obsessed with Superheroes. Most days they are several different incarnations – Mr. Incredible, Superman, Batman, and Luke Skywalker are perennial favorites. Recently, they received matching Wolverine costumes from their Nana and Gramps, which they are wild about, even though they have never seen X-Men (and won’t for a long time). We spend time discussing at

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-52522225788357409072009-08-19T20:42:00.000-07:002009-08-20T12:34:59.197-07:00

Yesterday, I was in a conversation with some friends and local pastors that I have been journeying with for the past year and I realized something new about myself.In the last few weeks, there are two books that I have found myself frequently carrying around with me. The first is a book called The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ronald Heifetz, Marty Linsky, and Alexander Grashow. The second

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-15765316943939836822009-08-09T22:53:00.000-07:002009-08-20T12:26:08.349-07:00

Recently, I've been reading Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch's book, REJESUS: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church and some of what they write I've heard before in their talks but I love the following quote on 111: "we need to go back to the daring, radical, strange, wonderful, inexplicable, unstoppable, marvelous, unsettling, disturbing, caring, God-Man."This morning I was speaking on a story that

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-4241805617941997692009-05-16T20:20:00.000-07:002009-05-18T14:33:46.880-07:00

I need to preface this story by saying I should be finishing my sermon for tomorrow morning. I have a few tweaks to make to it but one of my take away points is that children (and others we overlook) are not a burden to our lives. And so my son helped me take to heart this point tonight as I was putting him to bed. Our oldest son Brighton talks a long time to go to bed...I mean a long time. Every

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-60684929923687366262009-04-21T15:12:00.001-07:002009-04-21T15:19:53.075-07:00

The post below is from my wife Amy. Since this blog is dedicated to encountering God in the everyday reality of life and we frequently talk about what God is teaching us through parenting, she will be a regular guest writer on my blog.A good friend of mine told me about a grocery shopping trip with her little girl, Janie. It was truly a revolutionary story for me, one that changed my whole

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-1758268449797769372009-03-16T14:35:00.000-07:002009-03-16T15:24:26.493-07:00

Jesus spoke and taught a great deal about God's Kingdom. In fact, I would argue that this is what Jesus cared about more than anything else. He described God's Kingdom through story and metaphor and it seems like his followers had a difficult time grasping what it was and how this related to the religious institutions and factions in the first century. I'm not so certain we understand any better

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-66908747373672408342009-02-13T10:57:00.001-08:002009-03-16T14:35:14.927-07:00

Yesterday, I caught up with a friend from Seminary named Shane Hipps who has published a few books both focusing on how media influence and affect our lives and perspectives of lives.I admit that I haven't read either of his books yet but would love a free moment to do so at some point in the near future. What I find engaging in my conversations with Shane is that he has a remarkable way to

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-8474991127557993712008-10-13T16:11:00.000-07:002008-10-13T16:35:57.126-07:00

For whatever reason, I don't like Christmas.I think it has something to do with the over commercialism of Christmas and the reality that I feel like I have to buy things from shopping malls. In the past, I would have pushed back my emotions, stuck my head in the sand and kept going on with the season at full pace but this year is different...I am already preparing myself for something different.

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-9843569371669894912008-09-25T20:35:00.000-07:002008-09-25T20:40:36.692-07:00

Got to love this clip of two greats.

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-60224179065967957212008-08-26T12:31:00.000-07:002008-08-26T12:52:15.549-07:00

Last year, I bought a book The Myth of A Christian Nation by Greg Boyd and I brought it on a trip to Londrina, Brazil to visit a mission partner. I love Greg and I was planning on reading it while there. The book is based on a six-week sermon series titled "Cross and the Sword" he did with his church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 1000 people left his church as a result of the viewpoint of

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-8960617712946756822008-08-21T16:10:00.000-07:002008-08-21T16:26:50.172-07:00

Question: How does a person live missionally?Here is a practical look at this question that was in the Neue Weekly e-newsletter today. After reading it, what do you think:By Ashley WolpertIn a culture that feeds off a vast array of social justice causes, it seems that the term missional living is being bandied about increasingly in our churches. But what does this really look like? Recently Dr.

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-85407570286805285702008-08-15T00:53:00.000-07:002008-08-15T00:57:08.478-07:00

Here's a post that I wrote quickly tonight for the Inside-Out Conference in Long Beach.

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-82470425919877302412008-07-21T09:59:00.000-07:002008-07-21T11:59:07.665-07:00

After almost 2 months it is time to get back on the horse of blogging (I have a couple blogs that are partly written in drafts). Last week, as I found myself in conversation with a friend and then later reading a book, I was reminded that I need people in my life. It wasn't simply that reality that I need others to survive (a created need for community) but I need others to thrive (to understand

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-89846305387759683362008-05-27T21:21:00.000-07:002008-05-27T22:01:30.636-07:00

It is hard to imagine how yesterday, I was building a house with a group of people from our community of faith and Amor ministries for a family in need of a safe, dry place to lay their heads at night. It was an amazing experience as within two and a half days, we built relationships with each other and the family we were building for and put up a house that is significantly better than the

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-49516928108447051682008-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:002008-05-19T10:44:57.047-07:00

Over the last 2 weeks, our small group hosted two dessert and awareness nights in order in two different locations with friends outside our small group invited.We focused our efforts to support Opportunity International who works with people in developing countries to give microfinance loans. They give loans to people who are not typically good investments by banking institutions. The microloans

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-3535864346600833132008-05-12T11:09:00.000-07:002008-05-12T14:56:23.062-07:00

Last night, I had the opportunity to anoint with oil half of our 545 Gathering and I found myself honored as people from our community moved forward toward me, allowed and even welcomed me to put my finger on their foreheads and make the sign of the cross as I said this simple phrase, "I anoint you with oil but be filled with the Holy Spirit."There are certain tangible acts (the Lord's table,

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-20815936094752048182008-04-28T20:03:00.000-07:002008-04-28T20:21:12.073-07:00

Tonight I found myself talking with my oldest son in our kitchen about the reality of the Kingdom of God. I want him to understand at an early age how big God's Kingdom is and how he gets to participate in God's work wherever God is present. So here I was talking with a little boy about this huge idea that many brillant theologians, let alone me, have a difficult time explaining in a clear and

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-69305066386272416512008-04-19T19:11:00.000-07:002008-04-19T19:19:32.505-07:00

I've had a number of conversations this past week that speak to the purpose of the church, programs and even small groups. If the goal of our church is to reorient everything around the hub of mission (we are becoming missional) then we must engage this challenge and reimagine why and how we exist. Who do we exist for?I've got a few ideas about how a small group can be intentionally organized

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-53840368162264519332008-04-15T22:59:00.001-07:002008-04-16T18:21:37.020-07:00

Tonight, Amy and I had so much fun together as we dreamed and wrote about a challenge that someone put forward in our faith community for different community groups. We sent out an email and facebook notes that pointed people to a great opportunity, which I mention below.When a group of people make a little time, dream together, think creatively about how to use limited resources and finally make

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-45729358772405568552008-04-09T11:13:00.000-07:002008-04-16T18:22:57.116-07:00

Last Monday, I found myself reading a book called Making a Meal of It by Ben Witherington III that examines the history of communion.Ben writes this about a section out of one of Paul's letters, “‘Be imitators of me as I am of Christ’ (I Cor 11:1). This may indeed allude to Jesus’ practice of eating with anyone, even notorious sinners, and perhaps to his ruling (see Mark 7) about no food being

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-22185785612215775942008-04-07T11:11:00.000-07:002008-04-07T12:56:17.297-07:00

Yesterday, in a message I shared a quote from Mark Labberton's book The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice, "Jesus was and is awake. He came to make a world of those who are awake - awake to God, to each other and to the world. Waking up is the dangerous act of worship because worship is meant to produce lives fully attentive to reality as God sees it, and that's more than

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-25869944507313624142008-03-25T21:42:00.000-07:002008-03-25T22:13:25.631-07:00

My compassionate wife found this video on one of our friend's blogs. Take a look...When we were at Fuller Seminary, we experienced something we had never experienced before...a 100 day birthday. In Korean culture it is customary to not bring a baby out of the house until their 100 day birthday. While this may or may not be the case for Korean families...to us, we felt a sense of detachment for

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-63024497009020729292008-02-06T13:00:00.001-08:002008-02-06T13:00:47.226-08:00

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-5120878984528380632007-10-01T04:54:00.000-07:002007-10-01T12:16:24.732-07:00

There are times in life when I must chuckle about the circumstances that I choose to live in. It is 5 am in the morning on a beautifully dark day and I am sitting with 5 other perfectly quiet people on a sidewalk.See, after a long, long day of work, I set my alarm for 3:30 am, which by the way didn't go off because I rolled over 3 minutes before to see that it was time to get up from my short nap

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-33078289330412642622007-09-27T13:57:00.000-07:002007-09-27T14:03:06.494-07:00

There are times like these past weeks and months that trully get away from me. I find myself uncovering my desk from papers, papers and more papers...so much paper in an age of technology?At other times, I realize that life is meant to be lived and at times this means that I don't get to write about it. I converse, play and even take moments to reflect in my small little head without getting to

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-92104583892185427092007-07-19T17:49:00.000-07:002007-07-19T17:52:25.892-07:00

Michael Frost wrote this..."Someone once challenged me that in the world to come there'll be no mission, only worship. I couldn't disagree more. In the world to come we will still be charged with the task of declaring Jesus' rule over all of life. Sure, we won't be feeding the poor or planting churches. Those missional activities will cease when every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-17388709433628621542007-07-19T11:12:00.000-07:002007-07-19T17:51:50.097-07:00

I am in a season of reading and I don't want to stop. In fact, my desire for reading is distracting me from other things...like work and life.There are two specific books that are challenging my thought process right now: (1) The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch and (2) Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian World by Michael Frost.Frost is speaking at a

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-84817024884040535992007-05-05T14:44:00.000-07:002007-05-05T14:59:20.223-07:00

My mind has been consumed with this little phrase the last few weeks as I read a book with this title by Eugene Peterson (Yes, CNP's I will have it finished and digested by the time I see you in Portland). What an incredible read! I was reading another book when I started this and had them both going but I decided to put the other book down as this book captivated my imagination.This little

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-10956382157424160542007-02-05T09:30:00.000-08:002007-02-05T09:52:52.939-08:00

Last night I was talking with a friend on my cell phone that is serving as a pastor in the Southeast... well East of here. I called to congratulate him on his Indianapolis Colts winning the Super Bowl. He was telling me how difficult it has been for his family to transition from the West Coast to the Southeast.As we continued to talk, I was standing in line buying ice cream for my wife and

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-43988647405548300062007-02-02T19:54:00.000-08:002007-02-02T20:05:50.345-08:00

So I haven't blogged in awhile and it is time that I try on this silent night...my wife is gone to a high school retreat and my son is fast asleep.About a month ago, I heard a story about an acquaintance who got up out of bed in the morning to do what he always did in the morning...go to the bathroom. As he was sitting there minding his own business, his daughter, who is a little older than my

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-54635711754194363112006-12-03T21:06:00.000-08:002006-12-03T21:23:01.670-08:00

Why is it that sometimes I feel like I work in a foreign church in a familiar world? I would not be surprised by quick responses about how we should be "in the world but not of it." Now, what really does that mean? We were created by God who created the world that we live in. It makes sense to me that we would be in the world that God created and be a part of changing it.I've been a part of the

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-29743813256085794602006-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:002006-12-03T21:05:59.711-08:00

You've got to be kidding. How did nearly a month go by without any further blogs? What was I doing? What was I thinkingFamily, work, Brighton, church, neighbors... Sometimes it takes me a month to get back to someone who has emailed me but blogging should be easier than this. Here's to not as long next time.

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-51950578614748229222006-11-10T16:57:00.000-08:002006-11-10T17:12:27.432-08:00

Blogging has become a unique way for me to express thoughts and (I hope) coherently write about certain topics that I face on a regular basis. Especially topics that relate to God, culture and the Church.I have a friend, Wes, that seems to have more time and energy than me because he ends up blogging much more frequently than I can imagine; he's also been at it a lot longer than I have. I realize

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-1162940122349141252006-11-07T14:45:00.000-08:002006-11-10T17:13:32.346-08:00

This last weekend, I came down from an incredible retreat in the mountains that focused on community and the overlapping of heaven and earth. I consider it a monumental time for our church as we move towards being missional in the world and how this requires us to deal with our sense of health in the interior of our community. God is at work in us.When I returned, I was confronted with the

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36562155.post-1161840087253276802006-10-25T22:21:00.001-07:002006-11-10T17:14:52.467-08:00

I was amazed tonight as I saw a news piece on a new documentary called Jesus Camp (check out the website and see what you think). I don’t know exactly how to respond to a documentary like this; I am repulsed by it and interested to see it at the same time. How do I respond as I try to journey with Christ?How do I respond as a father of a young son who will navigate this world when he gets older

Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17550798482584898203noreply@blogger.com0