Interviewing a Ministerial Vet

Hope you enjoy this interview, and because it's with my dad, it'll be in Spanish. My apologies to non-Spanish speakers. By the way, 2 minutes into the interview there will be a phone ringing...sorry, my dad never turns that thing off!

Sunday Recap

We kicked off our December month long series of Advent yesterday with Hope as the first of four traditional elements of Advent. It hit home even better than I had anticipated. Used a lot of scripture and once again confirmed that one definitely cannot underestimate the power of God's far-reaching word.

Also, it felt really Christmassy yesterday...I guess the beautiful decorations (done by my wife), the lit candles, the subtle apple-cinnamon scent and the Christmas songs contributed nicely to holiday feel. We also planned our Christmas dinner yesterday and am looking forward to all the new invited guests, who we will be inviting, joining us. We will be sending out invites this week to several guests with whom we have had contact--second time guests, festival attendees, etc.
This week will also be used to brainstorm for next year's sermon series.

Well, it's up and at 'em...

Dinner @ the vine

Last night at the vine, we had a Thanksgiving meal with the regulars as well as several new people. We had a great time of community, and it proved to be a major relationship-building occasion. After dinner, we played several games of Mafia, and it totally opened up most of our new people. It was great. We finished up at 11:30pm...a little too long, maybe. Everybody was in high spirits as we ended the night, though.

Now, my wife and I are off to Central and Northern California for the Thanksgiving weekend. Probably won't be blogging till after. Peace!

Building community through food!

As the holiday season is pretty much here, beginning with Thanksgiving, there is one element throughout that we can’t do without: Food! Not sure what others will be eating here in CA, but in my family and circle throughout this season, we will be eating Turkey (Thanksgiving, of course), stuffing, arroz con gandules (rice-PR style), habichuelas (beans, PR-style), tamales, pasteles (PR-style tamales), frijoles puercos, buñuelos, flan, and who knows what else will be added to the Mexican-Puerto Rican-US mix.

As I was reading earlier today in the Bible, I ran across the early church’s custom to eat together, which some called “Love Feasts.” It’s unbelievable how much “connection” and relationship-building can occur between people at the table…having some eats. Jesus did it countless times, the early church did it as well and even today it occurs quite often. I’ve experienced this connection with people throughout my life and have noticed its beneficial effect in ministry as well as in doing life with people.

However, I have had somewhat regrettable times in my life where I did succumb to the individualistic milieu of the society and instead of contributing to something so organic as community, I contributed toward its demise. Of course, I don’t purposely do this anymore, but I have to consciously make decisions as to promote community…even through something so mundane as meals. To eat...everybody does it. Why not eat together once in a while? I mean, who doesn’t like to eat???

How much does this individualistic society influence us to the point we don’t eat together as families or as faith communities? How could we connect to unbelievers through meals? Could we be more “effective” as missional followers of Christ through…food?

While on my way to Mexico to get married, I didn't get all the results to the US' presidential election until I arrived at my in-laws' house. Polls had Obama up decidedly over McCain...and they were right this time. At the end of the day, I heard the news...Obama was the president-elect. Talk about history being made!

By the way, I received some type of forward (email) about several past presidents being African-American as well. Not too sure how reliable those forwards are...

Have I been gone that long??

So much has happened in the past few months, accounting for the relatively long hiatus from the blogosphere. Was involved in several regional church events during the summer months, a fall festival at the vine and also my wedding a few weeks ago...that’s right, my wedding! The lovely Janeth Beltrones is now my beautiful bride, and we have been learning so much from each other in the last 2 weeks. It’s been a great beginning to our lifelong journey and adventure together.

We’ve also had some changes as of late at church. A couple of people left but others are coming…slowly but surely…all unchurched! How I love that! It’s a long process, but that’s what we’re in the business of doing.
Relational ministry tends to bring results in a long-term sort of way, and it can be real easy to get discouraged as no “immediate” results are evident. However, God is always working behind the scenes, and we’re trusting that he is doing much more than we can ask or imagine. In addition, relational ministry tends to have longer lasting results as well…at least, that’s been my experience in my short ministerial career (including ministry before pastoring the vine).

Effective Evangelism?

As I was browsing through a few blogs, I ran into this picture of some kind of demonstration. I wonder how effective this is for evangelism, or could it be that it's a statement of Biblical holiness? I wonder if Jesus (living in the 21st century) would do something like this today...or would he call those people out like he did the Pharisees??? Hmmm....

Very cool Sunday! Attendance was up again, and the message seemed to hit home nicely. Although I realize that numbers aren't everything, they sure are a boost and an encouragement.

Today, I noticed the heartfelt needs so much more than other times. The need can be so great among the church that it's pretty overwhelming. I'm going to have to take things in stride and do as much as I can. I'm definitely learning to rely and rest on the Lord for stuff like this. There's just no way I can be the doctor, counselor, etc.; I'm learning quick that I have to be the one who points them to Jesus, the ultimate healer, marriage fixer-upper, etc.

Anyway, among the attendees was a second time visitor who came with her son. It's always nice to see visitors come back. Momentum seems to be growing with us, so, we're going to have to capitalize on the opportunities God sends our way.

Man, am I ready for this summer!

The Finals

After the Celtics defeated the Pistons last night, the stage was officially set for a rematch of a classic battle between the Lakers and Celtics in the finals. Even though I'm not a big time basketball fan, it's nice to see this matchup. Of course, it helps that my LA team is in the finals. Can't wait to see this series unfold...

....Go Lakers!!

Weekend Wrap-up

Super busy weekend, but it was all good...

Friday - Drove 2 hours to the Santa Barbara area to speak to a youth/young adult group. They were camping out for the weekend at a campsite right off the Pacific. It was sweet! The weather wasn't typical for this time of year in SoCal, but it was cool to crowd around the campfire. I had a blast at their camp, meeting cool people and sharing from the Word.

Saturday - Headed out to Redlands to the SB/Riverside counties' Fiesta de Area (a convention of churches) where I got to share with the teens and also got to play in the worship band. I don't play as much as I used to anymore, and I had a great time worshipping through music. It was a great worshipful experience overall. Also got to see and catch up with several friends.

Sunday - Had a great turnout today...about 30-40% more than usual...on Memorial Day weekend! Worship was awesome, and we had a guest speaker share with us today. Fidencio Burgueño used to be my overseer (supervisor) before he moved on to be the Director of Hispanic Ministries in the COG. It was nice to hear him speak from his heart on coming together as a church. His four points were

1. Be united
2. Speak the same language
3. Do the work
4. Be persistent

In addition to being the overseer, he and several others began the church 12 years ago. So, this was his home church while he and his family lived in California.

Later on in the afternoon, I hung out with some friends from Vegas, Lizette and Junior, and got to meet their beautiful daughter, Abigail, and hold her for a bit. It was nice to catch up and just hang out. Definitely need to do this more often. Great way to cap off the weekend!

Fueling up

The first weekend of May a group of us pastors headed to Tucson, AZ to visit New Life Church to observe and become students of the work being done there. We got a behind-the-scenes look at the church as well as being able to hear from some of the church leaders and the pastor's, Sam Santana, story of transitioning a traditional church to something more contemporary.
Additionally, it was nice to see how he's doing bilingual ministry...definitely can learn from that. Overall, it was a pretty enriching experience, and most of us returned pretty fueled about pastoring.

Gas prices in California

As I was driving home last night from meeting with the church (by the way, it's about 80 miles...one way), I ran out of gas and was forced to fuel up in the desert--right around Morongo. For the cheap 87 grade, I paid $3.97!! I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I needed the gas to get home. I only fueled up with what I needed...something like $10 or less, but it felt like a total rip-off. Sucks paying this much for gas. Must be one of the prices we pay for living in SoCal. Gotta love it!!

Andy Stanley @ Exponential

I wasn't able to go to the Exponential Conference in Orlando, FL this year, but thankfully, some that do go, blog on it and post their notes. Scott Hodge posted some notes on vision based on Andy Stanley's talk over there.

Making Vision Stick

1. State it simply
2. Cast it convincingly
3. Repeat it regularly
4. Celebrate it consistently
5. Embrace it personally

For a little more exhaustive view of Scott's notes, check it out here. Mark Batterson also posted his notes on his blog, which you can check out here. I really wish I could've gone, but it wasn't possible this year. I do wanna check out the NOC at San Diego in November, though.

Anyway, as far as vision, it's easy to overlook the repetition of it so as not to overwhelm or bore people, but how necessary it is. Right now, I'm dealing with Andy's first 2 points as we're still in the initial stages of the replant.

Changes

Today will be the last day (other than Sunday) that we will be meeting at the place we call "church" on Thursdays. We'll be meeting in homes starting next week and begin laying some more groundwork with the core group. Eventually, I'd like to begin small groups--as soon as June--and begin being more aggressive in reaching our community.

Meeting in homes, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. tends to foster a much more real environment and helps most put their church-guard down. Plus, it will help foster community as we connect people with God and each other. I'm looking for several materials that will help us put together a culture-appropriate curriculum for our small group meetings as well as going with the mission and DNA of the replant.

There are many other changes that need to occur, but my tendency is to be more subtle and cautious. Who knows? I just may have to dive into the deep end.

...still wrestling with this...

I'm baaack

It feels like it's been forever since I've been on the blogosphere. Gotta take an occasional hiatus once in a while to get caught up on other life stuff.

Anyway, life has been good lately, despite the curve balls that are thrown once in a while. Life with the church is moving. There's a lot of change and re-positioning coming up, and I believe that people are starting to feel it. Thankfully, most are on board and willing to press forward...exciting times.

This past Sunday was great. Some of the newer converts and I had some meaningful conversation. It's great to see people open to God's "reconstruction" of their lives. As Jonathan Martin of Renovatus puts it, we are definitely a church for people under renovation as well, and it's great to see God doing his thing and people allowing him to do so.

We had been having a mid-week service, but we're moving it into a home. This will be a pre-cursor to starting small groups. Man, I can't wait! I'm a huge small group fan.

Anyway, it's good to be back on the blogosphere. Hopefully I won't be as sporadic as I've been in the past month.

Busy or Productive?

How easy it is to get caught up in being busy all the time, and somewhat losing sight of the bare essentials...even when you know it's happening, but you still do it anyway. It certainly takes courage and guts to actually cut out those things that keep you busy and not productive. Being busy all the time is not the best feeling in the world and many times does not accomplish much.

John Maxwell is right in recommending that we make a list of the important, urgent, unimportant, etc. things in life. He obviously uses other terms than what I'm using, but the principle is the same. I may have to go back and reread some of that material and re-apply it to my life.

Do you have to cut "stuff" out of your life to be less busy and more productive?

Sunday Recap

Today was an awesome day! We seemed to have worked a lot more like a team today, and it just felt good. We were expecting a lot more new people, but the upside is that two people made decisions for Christ today. Man, I was stoked!

The kids got to go on an egg hunt while I was speaking, and we had a grill-out on the same field after the morning gathering. We had a great time talking, laughing, playing, etc. Although I was pretty tired by the end of the day, today was definitely like filling up on church/pastor fuel.

By the way, I got sunburned a bit 'cause we have perfect weather in SoCal!

Roadtrip

This past weekend, I got to travel to Tucson with 7 others in a rental to a leadership summit held there. Upon entering Phoenix, the highway bottle-necked and everyone braked pretty hard, including the driver of our van. However, the guy behind us did not brake in time and rear-ended us causing our driver to lose control. He was able to avoid the line of cars that had come to a complete halt and somehow avoided hitting the rail on the median (we were on a bridge at that point). We finally stopped on the median grass--after the bridge--with minor injuries to one person only.
Turns out that we had clipped a car in traffic as well. As far as the guy who hit us, he disappeared. Thankfully, somebody who had witnessed the accident collected a bit of information about this person's vehicle.

Looking back, it could have been a lot worse, and I am so thankful God protected us. Interestingly enough, all of us on the trip grew closer together, despite being sooo different. On our way back home, we actually laughed at some of the stuff that had happened on the trip. Good memories were created...

Brett Favre retires

After watching number 4 for sixteen years, he retires today. It is definitely the end of an era. I initially rooted against him and his Packers because they were quite the opponent to my beloved 49ers, but never could I undermine Favre's ability on and off of the field. He was known as a fierce and unswerving competitor, overcoming obstacles on the field, like hard hits, ever-changing defenses, concussions, fractures, arthritic conditions, separated shoulders, etc. He was the Packers' leader, especially with his no-die/no-quitting attitude.

Off the field, he had the same attitude...but with life. He had to overcome obstacles, like his father dying the day (or a couple days) before Monday Night Football and still playing like a champ with several TD's (4, I think) that night. Or like finding out his wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe he even considered leaving the game when he found out about Deanna's (his wife) condition.

I hate to see Favre leave the game, especially after I rooted for him to go all the way to the superbowl once the playoffs began this last season...and he didn't get the ring, despite coming so close. However, he will be forever remembered as a champion...as football's iron man. We will miss you, Brett...

YCE outings

Last night, I went all the way to Oxnard from the low desert to go speak to teens at the first night of a week-long district COG youth event. I'll be continuing tonight in Simi Valley and am looking forward to minister to the teens and early twenties people. I hardly get out to this area, and it appears as though we really connected last night. So, I'm praying and hoping to connect and minister effectively tonight as well.
It's so vital and necessary in my line of work, namely, ministry, to focus on being intentionally relational. Plus, superficiality sucks. I'm thankful for the relationships God has allowed me to develop and cultivate in recent years.

Sunday Recap

We had a good time yesterday, and it felt good being back in SoCal after having been gone almost a week. Some attendees didn't go, but we had a couple of new people show up. Thank God for new people! I felt and saw the need for connectivity yesterday as well. We're needing to take some appropriate steps in that direction soon.
Had lunch with the Fitch's afterwards and just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Back Home

Just got back in town from my trip to Cleveland, and I am so ready for tomorrow. Can't wait to be back with the church family! The trip proved to be very good and productive. I went to the Engage 21 conference but had to skip out the last night because of time I had to invest in a friend. That time was very well spent.
I'm continuing tomorrow with the series on Dreams, and I really feel like God has a word for those attending. More news tomorrow night or Monday morning...

One down...one to go

Finished our first meeting this week, and it felt like we got stuff done. I like the changes we talked about and proposed, but we'll definitely have to follow up nicely to get the results discussed. Maybe I'm an optimist and idealist, but I can see Editorial Evangélica improving and becoming a top contender in its market. So, we finished up by 5pm, and then I headed off to a friend's house where several of us got together for dinner.

I'll probably play some Guitar Hero later on tonight with the Burger Boys as well as some other people. I've only played that game once, but it is AWESOME!!

Anyway, apparently the other meeting/conference won't begin until tomorrow night, so, I'll get to work a little bit tomorrow and hook up with friends for breakfast and lunch and maybe get to hang out a bit before the conference begins. This pace is much more pleasant than the norm. Gotta love Cleveland...

I spent almost all day travelling yesterday, from LA to Nashville and then to Cleveland, TN. I'll be in a meeting today and tomorrow discussing ways to improve the educational/discipleship material produced by the Spanish-speaking publishing house for the Church of God, Editorial Evangélica. I'm looking forward to meeting with the others because it shows that they've noticed how a lot of times the material doesn't connect or isn't always relevant to the students. Plus, it demonstrates that they're interested in being intentional about being relevant, pertinent and purposeful with the students within the denomination.

Besides this meeting, I'll be attending a conference here in Cleveland called Engage 21, which the COG is hosting to begin dialogue between the various generations of ministers and also to discuss missionality within the denomination.

In addition to these "meetings," I'll be visiting a bunch of friends, which I haven't seen in quite a while. I'm looking forward to that...


...and so, I'm off to begin my visiting tour!

Week Wrap-up

Last Tuesday, my leadership team for the replant and I met to discuss the basics of the church. I think that at times all the material may have been overwhelming to them, but it turned out to be a good meeting as we got through a general skeleton of what we'll be doing. After a few hours of discussing, dialoguing and dreaming, we decided to continue the discussion Sunday after meeting with the rest of the church for worship.

Sunday--
After worshipping together, we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory to discuss chapter 2 of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day as well as continuing our journey of establishing the basics of the replant. We got really far on Sunday and because we were taking long at the OSF, we headed to Seattle's Best Coffee to continue. I love productive days, like this past Sunday.

Generosity hit us!

Yesterday, God hooked us up with some gear from a church in the LA area. Unexpectedly, we were given a sound board (mixer) with its corresponding amps, a Kurzweil with an amp and a drumset. Man! As a musician, one knows the cost of this stuff, and it's so humbling to see how God takes care of you. I had not anticipated receiving this stuff at all. In fact, the thought of us needing something like this had shortly been entertained for the future....but not until the summer months or so. Anyway, I'm just in awe of how God hooked it up and am soooo thankful for this!

Sunday Recap and more

What a great worship experience today. Mr. Fitch does a great job with the music and worship, and the message really hit home for many as we finished our Friends series, where we touched a lot on forgiveness.
Also looking forward to this Tuesday as I will be meeting with the leadership team to discuss Mark Batterson's book and to dream quite a bit. I am so humbled by God's love and mercy and often wonder why he chooses people like us to carry out his mission. It's humbling as well as exciting!

ADD reading?

Am I the only weirdo out there that will read several books at a time?? When I started reading Chazown, I kinda had to drop all my other reads for a while, but I've gone back to my old habit as I'm finishing it up. For leisure, I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye, and next week, my leadership team from church and I will begin reading Mark Batterson's In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Pretty excited about that, especially because as a team, we'll get to grow together and talk about the direction of the replant, including risks needed to be taken (which is a major theme, if not the main theme, in Batterson's book).
It's good stuff!

Weekend Wrap-up

Okay, so, I'm a little late for a recap of last weekend, but I'm barely getting back into the swing of things after a busy couple of weeks with my "day job."
Anyway, last Saturday, my team and I organized our region's leadership summit in Ontario, CA and had a good turnout. Every person working helped make it a great success. I was pretty tired by the end of it but still managed to go to a Toby Mac/Jeremy Camp concert after with friends. I had a great time there, and by the time I got home, I was exhausted!

Sunday was a terrific day.
· Had the best attendance ever (our little place was packed out!)
· Among those in attendance was a cousin of mine who is considering joining the church
· Continued our Friends series
· Had lunch with a bunch of family afterwards at El Torito in Rancho
· Hung out with some friends in the evening at Victoria Gardens
· Got some way overdue rest at the end of the night!!!

Breakfast Club and bilingual ministry

Had breakfast with the small crew of young pastors again this morning. It's so cool to be able to share and vent with these guys. Plus, some of the ideas bounced around today were beneficial to all of us.
Sometimes the Latino ministry mindset can be so complex because of the language issue as well as the cultural dynamics between the different generations of Latinos here.
I'm looking to do some bilingual stuff in the future, but I'm not so sure I wanna do it simultaneously yet. I don't want to limit ministry to Latinos only. Yesterday, I spoke with a pastor of a large, growing church that does ministry bilingually...simultaneously. I'll probably check things out in his church to see how they do it. However, my experience doing that is that it tends to be a little distracting, especially to bilingual people. Plus, it's never cool when the voices overlap. I guess we're going to have to experiment more when the time comes.

Leccion de hoy con el texto aureo...

Me recuerdo que en mi niñez y toda mi adolescencia, usábamos el material de Editorial para lo que tuviera que ver con discipulado en la iglesia, o lo que se conoce como la Escuela Dominical. Recuerdo todavía algunas canciones que se cantaban con la iglesia, la ofrenda que se daba, los cumpleañeros, y algunas lecciones que eran aburridas…más cuando fui adolescente. Cuando empecé a enseñarle a los jóvenes (siendo yo un joven también) usaba el mismo material de siempre. Recuerdo que cuando simplemente seguía las instrucciones del expositor, la clase resultaba ser aburrida, y que casi siempre le tenía que hechar crema a los tacos para que la clase fuera interesante, ya que no era yo un educador profesional. Ahora, no estoy diciendo que yo era la gran cosa para enseñar, pero siempre fui forzado a ser creativo y/o buscar otras fuentes de creatividad para ser efectivo como maestro.

Si tú estás leyendo esto, creo que tu experiencia haya sido parecida a la mía. Si tú le pudieras decir algo al escritor o escritores de todos esos expositores, ¿qué le dirías? Me gustaría saber tus pensamientos en cuanto al material y en cuanto a las ayudas pedagógicas ofrecidas en el material.
Interesantemente, estaré asistiendo a una junta a fines del mes con esta misma casa publicadora. Entonces, quiero llevar algunos puntos donde yo creo que puede mejorar y dar una retroalimentación positiva y constructiva. A ver que ondas...

Last Sunday

This past Sunday we met at our new place in Upland...

· Our new place is smaller but more functional and very cozy
· The group is very excited and on board to do whatever it takes to reach Upland and its surrounding cities
· We just opened up a 3-week series called Friends, where we will tackle on certain relational issues that will benefit us both in the not-so-distant future as well as in the long run
· The children were happy to have their own room
· We're working on having a more kid-friendly environment as well as good, fun teaching material for them
· We need to begin small groups...asap!!!
· I need to move into the area as well

Prep for the new place

Yesterday morning, several people from the church and I met to clean-up and prep the new place for our first Sunday of worship there. Although we were working, there was so much excitement in the air. There's nothing like being in God's time of change, and I am so grateful that the church is willing to embark on this journey. Man, it's so sweet to see the momentum growing. I almost want to get ahead of myself, but I gotta take it in stride.

FYD 2008

What a weekend!! It was awesome to be part of an experience where a bunch of people were worshipping, going crazy, screaming, jumping, crying, giving their lives to God, etc. It was bigger and better than last year's (not that bigger is always better) event. And now, we're definitely focused on following-up with the teens and early 20's that made decisions to change the direction of their life.

The team that works with me did a fab job. They are hard-working, have a servant's heart, and they also believe in this. Their sacrifice and work is priceless, and I am so appreciative of everything they contribute to make it happen. Everything was just off the heezy!!

My "day" job

Last winter, we re-launched our regional youth convention and called it FYD 2007 (find your destiny). This year, we are continuing with it but tweaking it to be Fulfilling Your Destiny. It's been quite a ride planning and organizing this thing...filled with its share of speed bumps along the way. We're really trusting God to impact teens' lives and help them find and fulfill their purpose in life. Anyway, we start today, and I still got a bunch of stuff to do. I'm out!!

Another good Sunday

We had a good Sunday yesterday. Had a good turnout, a lot of high energy in the air and got to spend some time with a couple who recently decided to come on board and be part of our core group. It was cool to just hang out and dream a bit about what we're planning on doing in the not-so-distant future.

Next Sunday will be our last Sunday at the Ontario location as we prepare to move to our new place in Upland. Our group seems to be pretty excited about the move and is looking into the future with quite a bit of optimism. I am extremely grateful for this group and for being so willing to journey with me on this adventure.
In the following weeks, our foundation will continue to be laid, and by the beginning of March, a date should be set for the launch of our replant. Exciting times...

We had another weekly meeting last night for the formerly known Vida Nueva Upland church. Although we are in a "prenatal" stage as we develop the architecture of this replant, there's excitement among the small group of people to venture out into the unknown.

In our Sunday meetings, we've been talking about going over to "the other side," or next level, be it in our relationship with God, family, other people, job, etc...including as a church. In the last few weeks, we've been reviewing Abraham's story, especially in the beginning of his journey out of the known and comfortable. God calls him to leave his country, family and father's house and quest into the unknown. God gives him awesome promises, but he doesn't tell him exactly where he's going. It appears as though he gives him hints here and there, but regardless, he does want Abraham to trust him on this trek.

So, we're on a journey...to who-knows-where. God has definitely been giving us hints here and there, and even though things aren't crystal clear, we've definitely made the decision to obey and trust him. Despite the apparent uncertainty (not to be confused with doubt or lack of faith, btw), there's a peace in our hearts and minds as we journey with God.

You mean...today?

Have you ever heard anyone saying something like, "I can't wait until I graduate from high school (or college) because then I'll be happy?" Or..."I can't wait until I get a raise at work 'cause then I'll be better off ." Or..."When I get married (or have kids, grandkids, etc.), then things will be better." But what about today?
Why do we have a tendency to look to a better tomorrow when all we have to do is change our perspective on today?? One dude said, This is the day that the Lord has made... (Ps 118.24a).

Didn't wanna sound preachy, but I woke up this morning with this passage ringing in my head. Man! How different things would be if my perspective on the todays in life would be more optimistic and purposeful as I pursue God and fulfill his vision for me and others...even in the "small" things!

I choose to view today as the day God has made.....and it's filled with purpose and vision and opportunity and beauty and dreams and, well, you get the point.

How will you view the todays in life?

SBUX: in decline or on the rise?

For a good while now, I've been close to being a Starbucks addict. I've tasted just about everything they have to offer, except for tea....definitely not a tea person. However, not sure if it's because of the monotony of drinking a certain drink all the time or what, but I'm starting to stray from SBUX and trying other people's coffee. I've tried The Coffee Bean, Seattle's Best Coffee, and other local coffee shops. My favorite so far is SBC, which is usually found at Borders bookstores. I'm finding myself seeking Borders out solely for their SBC coffee. Man! I guess I can't live without being addicted to some kind of substance!

So anyway, I've heard several rumors about sbux being on a downward slope, and it seems as though I will be adding to that decline. However, I'm still open to receive any kind of sbux gift card!!

What about you? Are you a Starbucks person?

Missional Church of God

While browsing some friends' sites, I came across missionalcog.com, which seems to provide dialogue among COG people about Jesus' mission for us. I think I'll be contributing periodically to the discussions at hand. Check it out when you get a chance.

Breakfast Club

Years ago, when his airness, Michael Jordan, was at his peak, he, Scottie Pippen, and a couple of other players met almost every morning to work out and improve their game by doing other stuff together. They called themselves the Breakfast Club.

Yesterday morning, I met with three other "younger" pastors to just hang out, eat breakfast, bounce ideas off each other, grow together, etc. It was cool to just hang out and discuss stuff. 2 of the guys have been pastoring a while now and are growing, and the remaining guy and I are the rookies. It was cool to hear about what they're doing, how they're growing, strategies being implemented, to be encouraged, etc.

We'll be meeting once a month, and it's something I will be looking forward to, for sure. Now, while we don't pretend to be the Jordans of ministry, we will challenge, encourage, push, and be accountable to each other. Ahh, the breakfast club.

The adventure continues...

Ship's Sailing Out!...with the right people on board

We had a great worship service yesterday with a better-than-average attendance and the series we're on is just kickin! I had a bit of trouble while playing a couple of videos with my computer at 256mb of ram. So, I think that may have been the last time I'll be using that comp because I had offers from three different people to use their computers from now on!

Last Sunday, a friend of mine let me know that she will be joining the church, and yesterday afternoon, my boy and his family let me know that they have decided to get on board and sail the open seas with us as well. So, we now have three "new" adults that are joining us, and the good thing about these guys is that I've known them for a long time and there's already a sense of trust that bonds us. At the same time, the architecture of the church is coming together.

What an adventure!

Lion Chaser's Manifesto

Mark Batterson wrote a book called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day where he talks about lion chasers. Below is the lion chaser's manifesto, which I will be adhering to:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion.

New year, new season

With the beginning of this new year, it's definitely a new season for Vida Nueva Upland. The holidays were a nice close to the previous chapter in the life of the surviving church. There are many plans still brewing that will take VN Upland on a neverending journey of health, outreach and ministry, where it will thrive. This is a process, however, and a learning experience that has endless possibilities.

Yesterday, a couple of families and I went to check out a couple of places to call home (for a while, anyway), and it seems as though we have a green light. The meeting space is somewhat smaller than where we now meet in Ontario, but now, we will have a room for children's ministry, we will be paying less than what we've been paying, and we won't be meeting in the same place as one of our sister churches. The latter may not sound as a big deal, but it was just kinda weird having two congregations (who report to the same office) meet in the same place.

So, it appears as though we will be moving back to Upland within a month. It's kinda funny because I just started a new series called "The Other Side" where we talk about crossing over (not Jonathan Edwards style) to the other side in terms of faith, in our relationships, jobs, ministry and as a church. It's kind of a "next step/level" talk. And this move to Upland feels like we're going over to the other side. I'll comment more on what else is going on soon.