(Spontaneous) Baptisms last Sunday

It's Thursday, but I'm still so stoked about what happened at The Vine last Sunday! Nine people went public with their faith as they took this step of obedience! Originally, we had about six or seven people who were "scheduled" to get baptized, but we felt led to offer spontaneous baptisms and as a result, I pretty much preached about baptism, as I deviated a bit from our King David sermon series.

• Among those baptized was an entire family of four, who is growing in Christ. It is such a "high" to see people come to Jesus and then grow. It's like a total drug and I can't ever get enough!!
• Another story was of a guy who was on the fence about following Jesus, possibly because of his family turning their back on him because of Christ. He got baptized.
• Another story included a cancer survivor who abandoned her wig to be baptized. Her sister was also baptized.
• A high school student was also baptized as she took a public stand for Christ.
• Had the privilege to also baptize a guy from my own Vine Gro
  up. He and his family were introduced to the church through our children's summer program, VKids Adventures, a couple of years ago. AND his wife recently made a decision to follow Christ too!

The icing on the cake included more volunteers than normal serving that day. I am so grateful and honored to serve with people who strive to make a difference, serving Jesus by serving people. What an awesome Sunday!

Jounaling

I was just thinking about some of the goals I set for this year back in December of 2009, and here we are in October already. One of the goals I set out to accomplish this year was deeper spiritual growth and maturity. Obviously, this doesn’t just happen. One has to work at it… --------> As Paul says to Timothy, “train yourself to be godly.”

So, among a few things I changed or began doing this year is that I began journaling—on a more consistent basis, that is, which (embarrassingly) I had never really done. In the past few years, I had occasionally journaled but not regularly. It has not only given me newer/fresher insights into the Word, but it has provided a much needed avenue to connect with God like never before. It’s hard to believe that I had never ventured into this gateway to connect with God. But I’m so glad I did.

It has also provided a way for me to “hear” God clearer, where my flaws and short-comings have been displayed before me in such a raw manner that there is no doubt that I have been saved BY GRACE! My dependence and need for Jesus are very deep-seated!

Anyway, I’m looking forward to new chapters in my walk with Jesus as I journal my adventure with him. Will have to talk more about this later…

New Seasons

At The Vine, we’re talking about the new seasons to which God calls/brings us. I honestly believe that God calls us into new seasons often, but our paralyzing fears, subtle complacency and/or sin hinder us from entering into that season.

My wife and I are in one of these crucial moments in life right now, and we’re learning as we go. We don’t always have the answer(s), but we’re still pushing forward into that new season. As we enter this new season, the road is “foggy” and filled with uncertainty. But this is where faith comes in and is necessary. It’s so much easier to take the assured road that is filled with certainty and security but if we don’t risk anything, we’ll always have that pestering “what if” question looming over our heads about what could have been. Additionally, taking the safe and conservative route is normally more comfortable and can induce more of the same actions…instead of trail-blazing into the unknown. In other words, the more safe and conservative decisions we make, the less faith-risks we take. At the end of my life, I want to have taken way more faith-risks than comfortable, “easy-way-outs.” Life is too short to live in mediocrity, and mediocrity just sucks.

So, as we enter new seasons in our life’s journey, opportunities for faith-risks are to be expected. What will we do when confronted with such a situation? Whatever it is that we do—even if it’s one time—will be a determining factor of how much life we really lived.

I'm testing this entry from my phone. Man, you can blog from virtually anywhere in the world, even if you don't have a computer. What will 2020 look like??

Dia 8

Hace una semana, una gran parte de The Vine empezamos el Ayuno de Daniel, y hoy estamos en el día 8 del ayuno. Estoy tan orgulloso de aquellos que decidieron empezar. Los días más difíciles fueron los primeros días ya que el cuerpo se tiene que acostumbrar a un ritmo de alimenticio muy distinto al normal. Ahora, creo que la mayoría están alimentándose mucho mejor sin efectos secundarios--como dolores de cabeza, mareos, etc.--y aun hay reportes de tener más energía.

También han habido historias de personas que aciertan que Dios ha estado haciendo cosas en sus vidas: se ha encontrado empleo, se ha recibido aumentos de ingresos, y ha habido sanidad física....y ¡apenas completamos la primera semana!

Estoy ansioso y emocionado por ver lo que Dios hará en las vidas nuestras como en las vidas de aquellos por quienes estamos orando. ¡Me ha encantado el inicio del 2010!

Voices

Been out of the blogosphere for a while, but after reading and meditating this morning, I began perusing some blogs and ran into Perry Noble's blog, and God totally used him in this post to give me a kick in the 'ole be-hind.

As one draws nearer to God, there are always other "voices" that one hears (no, I'm not a schizo). Many times, they're from "reliable" people or those that have more experience and appear to be more mature than you. There are also those who tend to squeeze the life and the dreams out of you by bringing you back to the ground or giving you a shot of reality, which I guess is their reasoning. But, in all honesty (they may not even realize this), they are not the voices to be heard, especially if they go against what God has placed in your heart.

I suppose I can listen to these life-draining voices, but I'd fall into the pitfall of mediocrity, and man, how I hate mediocrity! I'm sure God hates mediocrity too (Rev 3.15-16) and has definitely not called us to it....but to obedience....even if it seems out there, crazy &/or stupid.

I am so glad God has never acted half-heartedly toward us or on our behalf. I know--for a fact--that he expects full obedience and an "all-in" attitude from us as opposed to half-hearted measures. May God's voice be the one we actually do follow and act on........

.......I'm all in!

Twitter

I have resisted opening a twitter account for a very long time, especially after someone hacked into a family member's e-mail account. It seems counter-productive to publish everything one is doing. Thus, giving mischievous hackers easier access to one's life and info.

However, I finally gave in yesterday and opened my very own twitter account. Man, it can be addicting! Still trying to figure it out, though. I'd like to be able to link it to my phone, facebook and blog...but haven't gotten that far...yet. Gotta love technology!