Starting next Thursday (Feb. 14th), we will be launching a four-week series on male-female relationships. Part one will address the big-picture of how God created men and women, as well as how we can best get along, starting as friends.

More info on this can be found, starting next week, on the chapel blog.

Here's an article which sheds lights on the female side of misplacing our hope in men and relationships rather than on God.

If you're a dad with daughters, or just a girl who needs to hear

At the risk of being slightly self-promoting, I wanted to alert you all to a conference coming to Bellevue on February 9th.

The Higher Ground men's conference is coming to Bellevue's Westminster Chapel on February 9th, from 9AM to 4PM. In short, the conference is aimed at providing encouragement, support, and information to equip men of all ages to live as God intended. A special emphasis is placed on fathers and sons, helping both better understand what God intended for them as males.

For

This article is real.

The story seems goofy, but it points to the importance of a Christian education and worldview.

Merry Christmas, and may the Force be with you, but only on your widescreen TV.

Hi everyone...

If you don't know who Keith Ferrin is, start here.

Keith spoke to the JH and HS chapel groups today (see it here), and I would like to seize the moment and present the "Keith Ferrin Challenge," which is as follows:

1. Read through an entire book of scripture in one sitting (preferably, but not mandatory); just get through it one day.

2. Do it daily, for one month, starting Friday, December 7th, and going through Monday, January 7th, 2013.

3. Don't worry about highlighting or

Hey now...

This is somewhat of an open-letter to all of the BCS high school students, inviting anyone interested to participate in various ways with our weekly chapels. I will make a list of the ways you might be able to participate in hopes of making chapel all it can be. If any of these items are of interest, let me know at molson@bcsmail.org and we can talk.

I do need to say this: If you're interested in contributing to a chapel, either just once, or on a regular basis, it will need to be

Chapel specifics will be coming out tomorrow, but here are some more links to Joe Ehrmann's work.

Coach For America

Follow Joe on Twitter

Joe's Blog

Joe will be with us in JH and HS chapel this Thursday. All in the BCS community are welcome.

Bye for now...

m

Our chapel guest this week will be none other than Joe Ehrmann. Joe has been inspirational in my work at BCS, and I'm thrilled to be able to hear him in chapel, as he will be speaking to both the JH and HS this Thursday. Joe will be speaking in the Bellevue area for various other events as well, so if have the time, check him out if you can. Joe speaks to issues of authentic, godly masculinity and femininity, specifically "building men and women for others." Joe's work will be a major teaching

Instragram is a fun app that makes you feel like a legitimate photographer, even though you're probably just taking a picture of (A) your current meal, (B) your pet, or (C) yourself. You can add fun effects and quickly post them so all the world (or your followers) can take a look. Comments are made, "likes" are posted, and it's all good fun.

Mostly.

If you--and especially your kids--use Instragram, you would be wise to read this article.

For what it's worth...

Mike

Hey now everyone...here we go!

On the first day of school I had a chance to speak to the entire JH and HS student body about the upcoming school year. The temptation here is hit on the ol' cliched ideas of "make it a great year!" and "this year will be what you make it..." and such things. All good ideas, but we've all heard them so often they fail to make much of an impact. I've been thinking all summer about the new school year, and one thing kept coming to mind: What if we did school

Summer reading.

To many students, this is a prime example of the fall of Man in Genesis 3, and a sure indicator that not all is as it should be. To many adults, it’s a chance to read a book that might not necessarily be aimed in the direction of self-improvement or growth, but rather for escapism and relaxation. For me, it’s a chance to hone-in on some specific books and get lost in reading. I am an early morning person, and I love nothing more than reading early in the day (teens and

We've been taping HS chapels in the past few months in an effort to take the content beyond the walls of BCS, but we weren't able to get things recorded yesterday. So, in an attempt to give you the big ideas and content of yesterday's HS chapel, I present what follows below.

Usually, when one thinks of Easter, one doesn't think of the movie Saving Private Ryan. For me, however, the movie--particularly with its final scene--strikes at the heart of the Easter message. To be fair, Steven

Entitlement is one of those things that is easier to pick out in others. It's a ugly-sounding word that no one wants to have any part of, at least outwardly. This blog post, from a guy I really like named Tim Challies, highlights the issues with entitlement in government, education, and paying particular attention to the Biblical response. Good stuff to think about in the "for what it's worth" category...

Mike

One of the highlights of my work week is the drive-time with my 12 year-old daughter, a 7th grader at BCS. I am continually blessed and blown-away by the depth of our talks. Yesterday, on the ride home, with the Dave Matthews Band playing softly in the background, we talked about the supremacy of Christ and how understanding that particular principle leads to understanding the key ideas of stewardship and worship. Now, before you think we always talk about things like this (we don't), or that

I am going to do something dangerous right at the outset of this post: make an assumption.

My assumption is that if you’re reading this, you are an adult and most likely a parent of a teenager. I am 41, with three kids, ages 12, 10, and 7. The oldest two are girls, and the youngest is a chip of the ol’ block (a boy). My 12 year-old is pining for a phone, and my 10 year-old got an email account for Christmas (talk about a cheap gift!). My youngest loves playing Lego Star Wars on our Wii, and

Okay, this isn't a spiritual matter, but I did want to get the message out about next week's schedule, specifically regarding HS exams.

For the HS set, the exam schedule is as follows:

Friday, January 27th: Periods 1, 4, and 5 (yes, the 27th is now a school day)

Monday, January 30th: Periods 3 and 7

Tuesday, January 31st: Periods 2 and 6

As for Monday, January 23rd, a normal 1-7 schedule will take place. More info about the schedule will be given out on Monday the 23rd, and can be seen here on

Here's a sermon I found very timely for this time of year, though it's not Christmas-themed. Tullian Tchividjian is a grandson of Billy Graham, and is currently the lead pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This sermon is his wrap-up of one of my favorite books of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. Advent is about finding our hope in Christ alone, which is very challenging during the month of December in particular. Solomon was a guy who lived the life we think we want,

Other than my own pastor, the one I listen to the most is a fella named Matt Chandler, who is the lead pastor at The Village Church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. He is a solid Biblical preacher who is honest, funny, and firmly rooted in Christ in his preaching.

His church put out an advent video that is pretty cool, which I thought I would share with you here. Just for the record, the guy in the video is not Matt Chandler. Not sure who he is, but it works. Enjoy...

Advent: God With Us from

I have been speaking to various groups over the past few years on subjects  related to Biblical views on relationships, sexuality, and masculinity/femininity. This past January I delivered a talk titled "Redeeming Adam," which I gave at pureHOPE's Men of Valor conference held at Westminster Chapel. The talk dealt with how our culture raises boys to become men who define their masculinity at the expense of others, which is the antithesis of how God created us. This has implications to the

I love this song, regardless of the arrangement:

Come Thou Fount, which is a song with an interesting history, always had this one line that threw me for a loop:

"Here I raise mine Ebenezer, Hither by Thy help I've come..."

Ebenezer?

Upon learning a few things, the

Here are some articles you might find interesting regarding the spiritual lives of teenagers today, specifically in how they think and respond to church life.

The first article can be found here, and if you look on the lower right of the page, you'll find a series of articles providing deeper insight into these issues. These all print up into 3-5 pages, so they're easy to read during convenient times.

For what it's worth...Mike.

A lot of students watch Glee, and love it. It's musical, witty, sassy, and full of fun songs. It's a show that has tremendous initial appeal, and features characters that have made their way into pop culture in various ways. Having watched a couple episodes, there are many laughs and clever moments.

So check this out:

Okay, they picked an old Billy Joel song, which is harmless enough (though they do mention white bread, which is bad for you...gasp!)...nothing to get too worked up about,

Hey now...Have an opportunity for you.

Dave Moyer is BCS parent who has kids at Three Points, the JH, and HS. If he had a Pre-schooler, he'd have the campus grand slam!

Dave is involved in a apologetics-based Bible study with his boys which addresses the two core issues of what one believes about Christianity, as well as why they believe it. He is doing this study on Saturday mornings and is inviting any fathers and sons who might be interested to join him.

The gist of the study can be found more...

It's always tricky to recommend books, because at their core, they speak to us in very personal and singlular ways. For me, The Importance of Being Foolish by Brennan Manning was a book that smacked me between the eyes and addressed several issues I continually struggle with. As one to likes to highlight and underline, this book was full of color by the time I was done with it.

Here are two quotes to give you a taste, for whatever that's worth.

"Often our preoccupation with the three most

If you attended BCS at any point, I have an offer for you...

I have created an on-going high school chapel series titled "What I've Learned Since BCS" where former students share with current students about their lives and faith during and since BCS. The big idea is to provide students with a sense of perspective about their current life stage, as well as examples of adults who have relevant and consequential faith in Christ. Many students walk away from the Church after high school, not

I like free things.

I really like free things that I can share.

So, with that in mind, you can get John Piper's book "Think" free (in audio version) from this site.

If you're unfamiliar with Piper, check him out at his Desiring God site.

Here's a little trailer for "Think." Enjoy...

We had a See You at the Pole event this morning at BCS, under a beautiful sunrise. We read two significant prayers from scripture, starting with King David's prayer from 1 Chronicles 29, which reads:

¹⁰ David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

   “Praise be to you, O LORD,
   God of our father Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.
¹¹ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
   and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
   for everything in heaven

See You at the Pole is a nationally orchestrated prayer movement which involves students coming together to pray for their school, city, and each other. It's been around a while, and BCS has taken part in it for several years.

Here are the "good to know" details:

When: Wednesday, September 28th, at 7AM

Where: Clock tower in the Clyde Hill campus court yard

Who: Any student, parent, staff and faculty member, alum...anyone associated with BCS

What: Praying for our school, city, each other, and

I wrote a piece last week on football and worship, two topics that don't often go together in the right ways (sadly).

I won't rehash that piece here, but I did want to point your attention towards something that took place after most of the fans had left the stadium Saturday night.

As you know, life is a collection of little things. Big things show up as well, and while some say "the devil is in the details," I say it's where worship is often shown most brightly. The football game Saturday

Since about my sophomore year of high school, I have been asked two questions far more than any others:

"Dude, what do you bench?"

"So where'd you play football?"

Nowadays, both answers are unsatisfying. For the former, nothing, since my heavy benching in high school and college have now rendered both shoulders unfit for any more heroics. When doing push-ups, it literally sounds like I have a bowl of Rice Krispies in each socket. As for the latter question, I have never played a down of

"So...what do you do again?"

I just found out what my dad does for a living.

He's 79, and I'm 40, so it's about time!

This means that my dad is either:

A)     A CIA agent and cannot reveal the nature of his work, or...

B)      Works in "Waste Management" or something of that nature.

C)      Work in Internet publishing, which doesn't help me much.

Glad to report that is neither A nor B, which probably explains why my dad is still up and running at 79. "Internet publishing" isn't exactly