Friday, May 20, 2011

Missions Mobile...

Yup - it’s that time! With 3 kids in the car, things are getting awfully tight in our Honda Wagon! While Eisley is still peacefully residing in Lori’s belly, any day she will be out and we will be cramming her infant seat in-between the boys booster seats in the back. Don’t even get us started on how traveling will work with these 3 kiddos! We overflow the car with just the boys as it is, not sure how we’re going to add the baby’s stuff to the mix when it’s time to go up to Oregon this summer - camping no less! This is why a larger vehicle has become necessary for the Barrow Bunch.

We have been looking at different vans, and the Honda Odyssey and the Kia Sedona are our two top picks. We’ve found a couple of each that could be wit
hin a good price range for us, so now we just need the remaining funds to make a deal! So far we have been able to save up about $5180 with our tax return and some generous gifts, and our goal is to raise almost $5000 more! We hope to be able to sell our other car, the Dodge Neon, for a couple thousand, but there is some work we need to do on it before we can proceed with that. Hopefully we can get that in the shop next week and have it sold before we know it!

This is where you all come in! We need to raise the rest of these finances to be able to purchase this van as soon as we can for ease and less frustration for Lori wrestling with car seats! :) Please consider donating to our van fund and thanks to all who have already!

If you would like to donate towards our van. We would really appreciate it, and all donations are tax deductible.

If you live in the US:

you can donate online at http://www.ywampismobeach.org/donate.html

or you can mail a check made out to Youth With a Mission
at;
YWAM Pismo Beach & Central Coast
791 Price St. #119
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Include a separate note designating Barrows Van Fund

If you live in Canada:
you can donate online at http://www.ywamcanada.org/donations.html

or you can mail a check made out to Youth With a Mission at;
YWAM Canada

Project Funding Office
PO BOX 57100
Vancouver, BC V5K 1Z0
Include a separate note designating Barrows Van Fund

If you have any
questions, leave a comment or send us a email at willinpismo@gmail.com.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Will, Lori, Eli, Liam and on her way slowly but surely, Eisley

Monday, March 28, 2011

Missions Monday

Last week was crazy busy for me. I got to work in Eli's school two days last week and Lori was teaching in our YWAM Pismo Beach DTS. So last week I missed my Music Monday blogpost. But 6 out of 7 weeks isn't that bad. This week though, I thought I would switch it up and post a video that I saw on the YWAM facebook page.



We spent part of our morning praying for the countries in North Africa that God would use these times to bring more people into relationship with him through Jesus. We prayed this portion of Psalm 72 from The Message;

Because he rescues the poor at the first sign of need,
the destitute who have run out of luck.
He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out,
he restores the wretched of the earth.
He frees them from tyranny and torture—
when they bleed, he bleeds;
when they die, he dies.

Please continue to pray for the people of Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and the surrounding areas.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Music Monday - The Honey Trees

Music Monday this week features The Honey Trees. Becky Filip and Jacob Wick make up The Honey Trees. They have some really amazing music. I'm not going to write a lot, but what I am going to say is that you should definitely check them out.

If you happen to live in the Central Coast, they will be playing a free acoustic concert at Kreuzberg,CA in SLO at 9pm. They will also be playing on April 10th with Sparrows Gate and Bonnie Dune at SLO Brewing CO. for the amazing price of $12.

Check them out on Facebook or Twitter. If you want to purchase something find them at http://thehoneytrees.bigcartel.com/

Now take 4 minutes and let your ears enjoy some amazing music.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Music Monday - Gungor - "God Is Not A White Man

I saw this video a couple weeks ago by the band Gungor. Michael Gungor leades the band, which use to be named "The Michael Gungor Band."

Gungor lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and is a christian worship leader and singer/songwriter. It is here that they founded a community of believers called "Bloom."

I really like this song, one of the lines that he repeats is, "But God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone. God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone." This is something that I have really been trying to live out. That I would be able to be the type of Christian that displays God's love. Unfortunately, a lot of times the church does not do a very good job representing the love of God. There are the people from westboro baptist that are definitely not displaying the love of God, and it breaks my heart every time I see them on the news. I did just see a cool article about these veterans that are going to the same places as the westboro baptist protesters and blocking the grieving families from seeing them with their hateful signs. For that article click here.

To read more about Michael Gungor check out his site here.



Monday, February 28, 2011

Music Monday- U2

I came across this cool book/interview with Bono and Michka Assayas. Some people may not enjoy Bono, or the way that people use his name for everything. I have enjoyed U2 for a long time, and I really think the things that Bono is bringing to light and using his fame to bring awareness to are amazing. How many celebrities use their fame for really pointless things, too many to count. The work that Bono has done to bring awareness to AIDS in Africa is amazing!

I loved this article, so check it out and when your done enjoy a sweet video!

Bono Interview: Grace Over Karma
(Excerpt from the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)
from The Poached Egg blog.

Bono: My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me: a study of the life of Christ. Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor. I don't let my religious world get too complicated. I just kind of go: Well, I think I know what God is. God is love, and as much as I respond [sighs] in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting in that love, that's my religion. Where things get complicated for me, is when I try to live this love. Now that's not so easy.

Assayas: What about the God of the Old Testament? He wasn't so "peace and love"?

Bono: There's nothing hippie about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes divisive love, but love it is. I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross.

Assayas: Speaking of bloody action movies, we were talking about South and Central America last time. The Jesuit priests arrived there with the gospel in one hand and a rifle in the other.

Bono: I know, I know. Religion can be the enemy of God. It's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. [laughs] A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship. Why are you chuckling?

Assayas: I was wondering if you said all of that to the Pope the day you met him.

Bono: Let's not get too hard on the Holy Roman Church here. The Church has its problems, but the older I get, the more comfort I find there. The physical experience of being in a crowd of largely humble people, heads bowed, murmuring prayers, stories told in stained-glass windows

Assayas: So you won't be critical.

Bono: No, I can be critical, especially on the topic of contraception. But when I meet someone like Sister Benedicta and see her work with AIDS orphans in Addis Ababa, or Sister Ann doing the same in Malawi, or Father Jack Fenukan and his group Concern all over Africa, when I meet priests and nuns tending to the sick and the poor and giving up much easier lives to do so, I surrender a little easier.

Assayas: But you met the man himself. Was it a great experience?

Bono: [W]e all knew why we were there. The Pontiff was about to make an important statement about the inhumanity and injustice of poor countries spending so much of their national income paying back old loans to rich countries. Serious business. He was fighting hard against his Parkinson's. It was clearly an act of will for him to be there. I was oddly moved by his humility, and then by the incredible speech he made, even if it was in whispers. During the preamble, he seemed to be staring at me. I wondered. Was it the fact that I was wearing my blue fly-shades? So I took them off in case I was causing some offense. When I was introduced to him, he was still staring at them. He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him as a gift in return for the rosary he had just given me.

Assayas: Didn't he put them on?

Bono: Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine. He was a comedian. His sense of humor was completely intact. Flashbulbs popped, and I thought: "Wow! The Drop the Debt campaign will have the Pope in my glasses on the front page of every newspaper."

Assayas: I don't remember seeing that photograph anywhere, though.

Bono: Nor did we. It seems his courtiers did not have the same sense of humor. Fair enough. I guess they could see the T-shirts.

Later in the conversation:
Assayas: I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that?

Bono: Yes, I think that's normal. It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.

Assayas: I haven't heard you talk about that.

Bono: I really believe we've moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.

Assayas: Well, that doesn't make it clearer for me.

Bono: You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

Assayas: I'd be interested to hear that.

Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.

Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

Assayas: That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?

Bono: No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was the Messiah or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched

Bono later says it all comes down to how we regard Jesus:

Bono: If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Music Monday - OK Go

Music Monday this week features OK Go with their song "This Too Shall Pass." OK Go is originally from Chicago, Illinois but now, like almost every band/star, they reside in Los Angeles. When you think about it though, who wouldn't want to live in California? Besides all the debt in California, it really is a beautiful place to live!

I first heard about OK Go a year or two ago with their song "Here It Goes Again." These guys are super creative when it comes to their music videos. The music video for "Here It Goes Again" is the band doing a crazy dance to the song on treadmills.

Then last year sometime I saw their video for this weeks song "This Too Shall Pass." After I decided to feature OK Go on Music Monday this week, I thought I would really check out the lyrics for this song. Some of the lyrics from the song say;

You know you can't keep letting it get you down
And you can't keep dragging that dead weight around
Is it really all that much to lug around

Sadly, a lot of us do this. We keep all this dead weight on us, and things keep piling up on us until we feel like we can't take it anymore. There have been some times where this has been so true for me. What has helped me in these times, is I give these things to Jesus. I lay them down, and try to keep moving forward. I don't want to pick up the things that have held me down. Psalm 55:22 says;
Pile your troubles on God's shoulders—
He'll carry your load, he'll help you out.
He'll never let good people
topple into ruin. (the message)

I'm not sure if this is there were going for when they wrote the song, but it's what I'm getting out of it. So in the words of OK Go;
Oh, you can't keep letting it get you down,
No, You can't keep letting it get you down!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Music Monday - Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan

Maybe you've been living in a cave or under a rock some where, but you really need to check out these two bands.

Mumford and Sons are an amazing folk rock band out of England. They have been my most favorite Pandora station as of late. They formed in 2007, and released their album Sigh No More in 2009.

The other is The Avett Brothers who I just recently found out about, and they are equally as good! I recently heard that one of my friends saw them live and said it was the most amazing night of his life! So take the next eight minutes and treat your ears to some amazing music.

Here is Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan performing at the 2011 Grammy's.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Music Monday - Eisley

So this week's musical selection is in honor of my coming daughter. Lori and I have been trying to decide on a girl's name for a while. We went back and forth on names, well it was mostly Lori suggesting names and me saying no. Lori was looking through a baby book and saw the name Eisley (Apparently it wasn't in the book, Lori had heard the name from our good friend and author Mary, check out here blog at http://mchristineweber.com). We both really like it. It didn't have anything to do with the band, they do have some really great music though. So check out one of their songs below and if you like it check out their website at http://www.eisley.com/;

Monday, January 31, 2011

Music Monday - Lakes

Today I'm bringing you the sweet sounds of Lakes. The local Central Coast band that started in June of 2006, . They released their first EP, "Photographs" in 2006. Their first album, "The Agreement" was released in September of 2010.

Lakes is the creative genius of Seth Roberts, Jeremy Wells, Matthew Covington, Justin Sears, and Jacob Wick.

Show them some love and repost their video.



you can find them on:

the web: http://www.lakesband.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lakesband?ref=ts/
twitter: http://twitter.com/lakesband/
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lakes

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Steps of Justice

One of my good friends Phil Cunningham, who just so happens to also be from Canada, has created an easy way to not only learn about justice issues but also gives you some ideas on what to actually do about it.

Alot of times you hear about justice issues, and it leaves you with this feeling of, what can I do about it? Well, Phil and his good friend Wayne Shaun created and dreamed up the "Steps of Justice Prayer Guide."

The Steps of Justice 30 day Prayer Guide is a great way to spend a little bit of time each day reading about injustices like, slave labor, child prostitution, unclean drinking water, lack of opportunities for education, lack of medical care, overwhelming poverty, corrupt government and many other issues affecting our world. It's a great tool to help direct you in steps you can take to bring justice and God’s light to a world longing for it.

More ways to find Steps of Justice;

web: http://www.stepsofjustice.org/
facebook: click here
twitter: http://twitter.com/stepsofjustice

Monday, January 17, 2011

creative...

A couple of years ago now, it doesn't seem like it was that long, but i started Hope Eternal Clothing. I came up with a couple of designs that i really liked. One of them was a giant print with a fingers crossed, and the other was a dandylion being blown in the wind.

I have been busy with other projects, so i recruited our Swedish staff friend Paulina, who is amazing and incredible and newly engaged to Robert. Our boys love Robert, he's amazing too! The idea with Hope Eternal is that all the proceeds will go towards medicine, food, clothing and shelter. We have a couple different ministries that we are going to be giving toward to cover all of these areas. One of the areas we want to see an end to is the horrible crime of human trafficking. So here is our newest Hope Eternal Design...