father's day...

in case you forgot to call your dad, step dad, dad-in-law, mentor, older guy you look up to, etc.... today is father's day.

you might want to give him a ring. if things are weird and you don't know what to talk about, here's a couple of things you might want to say...all true of my dad and those men that have mattered to me

here's 5 things that could help make father's day

1. i love you because...

2. my best memory with you is...

3. one thing that i've learned from you is...

4. one thing that i would like to learn from you is...

5. you are an example to me because...

and to top it off, give your dad a hug and kiss. yes a kiss on the cheek is all good

i love this place

just wanted to let you know that christ fellowship is beginning it's new series this weekend. went to the saturday night service, it was good.

it's about the church, it's role, and how God is doing some great things through it.

check out anyone of the 5 campuses

to facebook...

so i was going thru my facebook and noticed some new friend requests from highschool...la souwesera (southwest)

i accepted and began browsing thru their page. before i realized it, i was like 50 clicks away from my own home page.

initially i thought it was curiosity. but after some reflection, i'm wondering how nosy i really am. also, it's pretty easy to stalk people thru facebook. when ever someone does anything, like updates, pic change, hangover, fart, anything...i'm quickly informed.

maybe i'm the only one, but this has the potential of becoming an obsession if i'm not careful. curiosity didn't kill the cat, but it's making him blind

anybody else have a thought?

is it me or is it all of us?

todays services at downtown...

this am i had the opportunity of teaching at both the christ fellowship downtown services; 9.30 am leader service(my heroes) and the 11 am service.

as i was processing what was shared, i thought i might highlight some of the points that were shared. 

here goes (in case anyone out there cares):

1, we have found the saskwach(bigfoot) in the bible, his name is Goliath. he's big, mean, and hairy

2, the inaction of a nation, people, or person demonstrates what they believe about God

3, God’s invitation for us to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. (henry blackaby is the man)

4, no action = no faith

5, hasn't God proven Himself to us over and over and over again? why can't we just trust Him?

6, i can only do what i can only do. once i've done my part, God does his part

7, impossible is nothing...for God

i'd love to hear what different folks heard around the city in their houses of worship. 

what's God telling you out there?

to the least of these...

so tomorrow am i'll be teaching at christ fellowship - downtown campus. pretty excited about the opportunity.

however, there a ton of other good things happening while service is on. to name a few, a worship environment is created for our homeless friends. about 150 strong show up. we sing, teach, we don't push it, but many of the folks there even give of the resources they have. i'm floored every week.

showers, clean clothes, breakfast, and a hot lunch are served -- this happens every week. 

sunday mornings are great for different folks, for different reasons. 

so glad to be working within areas that are serving the city; regardless the cost. 

to the least of these...

to little dave...

some pics that my friend merari took...thanks for capturing dave's life. these are the images that we will look back on the day he gets married, has kids, and becomes a grandpa. thanks so much!

to the weekend...

so as i'm getting ready for the weekend, a few thoughts are running through my mind...so here goes.

-the nba finals were a great reason for adriana and i to spend dinner and time with our next door neighbors. it was incredible considering that we didn't really spend too much time watching the game

-i'm excited about teaching at CF DT this sunday am again. had a great response from the staff and folks there last sunday. this week, we'll be looking at the next chapter in dave's life - running to the battle and living on the edge...because that's the place that God has invited us to be (you gotta be there for the whole thing)

-class 401 at all the CF campuses are going on this weekend...get connected!

-we are taking dave's pacifier away today...for good. he's not reacting well to that, but oh well.

-my heart goes out to the many friends and family that have told me within the last 6 months that they've lost their jobs or have gone through financial loss. all good people that love God. i have been and will be praying for you

-my anniversary is coming up - June 24 save the date. this year makes 9 years. i love my wife more than i ever have

-God is in control.

to abilities...

so what do you do when you know that you have abilities and talent greater than that of your supervisor or up-line?

as i sit and chat with more and more folks, i discovering that this is more common than i realized. 

so my thoughts on the matter are as follows:

-honor your leader as best as you can (if you can't follow your leadership, then it's time to go)

-do what's best for the organization/business (if you get in trouble for doing what's right, it's the right thing to do)

-make lemonade out of lemons (if the current leadership is the problem, then provide solutions, not just complaints)

any thoughts on the subject? 

i'm still learning how to handle these things wisely when they come my way

to insecure leadership...

so today, i thought i would throw out some different ideas that i'm gathering from 2 main sources - 1 samuel and the life of saul and johnny hunt, pres of the southern baptist convention. 

basically, being a good leader is tough -- there's so many easy ways to get caught up in the initial success. below are some thoughts that j. hunt came up with; i think this is what happened to king saul.

i hope that i never lose sight of the bigger picture.

-An insecure leader has a hard time giving credit to others. “Why should praise seem like an unrecoverable cost? It is a gift that gives back to everyone.” 
-An insecure leader keeps information from his staff. “When you release information, you convey trust and confidence to others. When you conceal it, you convey just the opposite: no trust, no confidence.” 
-An insecure leader doesn’t want his staff exposed to other leaders—people who may possess qualities you don’t, people who may have skills your staff wishes you had. “When one person grows the whole team grows….Give your people the best—even better than you are.” 
-An insecure leader is often a micromanager. “He’s a control freak.” Nothing can happen that they are not fully aware of. They fear things will fall apart without them. This kind of oppressive control can wring the life out of your team. 
-Insecure leaders are too needy of praise. “For this reason, more than perhaps any other, they can’t really be leaders. When someone needs his followers to always be telling him how wonderful he is, he works in direct opposition to the heartbeat of leadership, which is: building into other’s lives.” 

-Insecure leaders don’t provide security for those they lead. “If the mood and environment in the office is one of fear, second-guessing, and self-doubt, you can be sure an insecure leader is in charge.” 
-Insecure leaders take more than they give. Instead of validating and encouraging others, they are focused on receiving it. 
-Insecure leaders limit their best leaders. “Insecure leaders cannot genuinely celebrate the victories won by others.” 
-Insecure leaders limit their organization. “Not only does insecurity throttle down the horsepower of individual team members; it results in putting restraints on the whole church or organization.”

what do you all think? 

let me know

to small group...home church....

so at small group tonite, we had a really discussion and reality check. we are not in jail, 1. we are not oppressed to not be able to live out our faith, 2. and we are able to discern those things that truly please God, 3. 

i'm excited to be growing with a group of people next to me, not ahead or behind. big ups to our teacher tonite, i think she did a great job.

following our study time, prayer. significant requests were made which is awesome. it shows me where we are as a church family and trust. it also shows the point of maturity where we are in our walk. no prayer requests for in grown toe nails or stuff like that, it was really good. 

and to top it off, we talked about how we could be more involved in mission opportunities and serving beyond the walls of the church. it's really cool to see our faith being lived out infront of our very eyes.

if you're not connected to community, you should be. we meet tuesday nites at my place. dinner included, but let us know you are coming.

to tv series finales...

just thought about asking the blog world

who's going to be back next season on grey's anatomy?

will izzie make it?

will george make it?

i need to know a 'why' as well. help me out. i'm doing a study

to the water shield...

so for a few years, i had this theory going about a 'water shield' that disney had created to keep bad weather out of it's major theme parks and largest fund generators.

the reason that i held to this theory was that after having been in central florida for a billion times, i would always get rained out at one of the universal parks or minor disney attractions, but never at the big parks, let alone the magic kingdom. 

at first it didn't make sense as to why the greater orlando area would be drenched, but disney at best would get a few drops tops. that's it. so out side of being able to control the weather (i don't think that they can yet), they obviously had to have some kind of device to keep inclement weather out...the water shield. 

i know it's a stretch, but think about it. if it's pouring everywhere else, then disney gets just a few drops. hurricanes never damage or effect the property of the mouse. they never close down. salese, despite a bad economy, are still up. 

how do they promise the 'magic?' with a little help...the weather shield is one of those helpers. 

it held true, until today. after a bit of hanging in central fl, the weather shield gave way to a bunch of rain that has left the mouse a bit wet.

i would, however, like to add, that while everyone from daytona to orlando is experiencing 'flood' type weather, disney has rain, but no where near the kind of water found in it's neighbors. 

just saying.

to american idol season 8...

i can honestly say that i've never really been into a.i., ever. tonight i saw the last episode where the final 2 contestants sing. 

it's really not about talent, it's about popularity. i think it's easy to see who's the most talented of the 2.

i've been reading about the life of david and i find it really similar. popularity vs. talent. pretty incredible when you think about saul and dave. popularity vs talent. 

i'll be sharing a bit more about this in a few weeks at cf dt. i'll be teaching there for a couple of weeks in a row. i really feel good about the 2 messages

to this weekend...

so i'm getting ready for an exciting weekend

friday - ministry rally at CF

sat - friend's bachelor party

sun - mother's day with mom's and my wife (she's hot)

jam packed, but worth it for all the involved players

don't forget to take care of  your moms. if you don't, you're a bad kid, seriously. unless mom did something seriously wrong, make sure that you're mom is up there in priority this weekend.

to priorities...

it's funny how consistency with God thru quiet time really yields results. besides the sweetness of being with HIM, the blessings that come out of it are incredible. i don't have more stuff nor have i received a raise at work (wanted to clarify). it has to do with personal fulfillment and personal accomplishment.

i think that i've come to grips with myself on a few different things; one of them being priorities. i always  make the time to do the things that i want to do. there's no reason that God should not be in the picture.

when i refocus on my priorities, everything that i should/shouldn't be doing becomes obvious.

what are some priorities that need to be priorities?

to tests...

it's been a while since i took a test. all to say, that i was super excited when i took a test for something that i've been studying for, for about 2 months...and i passed. it wasn't a 100%, but then again, it's a pass/fail thing. 3 more and then i'm done...for now anyways.

i don't care how old one gets, test stink. 

any one else out there agree?

beach baptism at cf...incredible!

so today crandon park/el farito, CF hosted it's beach baptism for all 5 of the campuses. besides the fact that the day was beautiful, it was incredible to see the amount of friends and family that came out to support their loves in taking the life changing step of baptism

all in all, between the 5 campuses, there were approximately 250 people baptized...incredible.

each person different, different story, different culture, different language; same God and church. 

i have a hunch that heaven will look similar to this

God is doing some crazy things!

easter at Christ Fellowship

so this weekend starting on friday night, i had the opportunity of serving at Christ Fellowship Church here in miami - it was an incredible weekend. 

the thing that stuck out the most was that regardless of the campus, style, or even demographic of the group, the gospel message was clearly presented

of all the times of the year when the message needs to be easily understood and presented, i can say with confidence that in all aspect of the programmed hour, the gospel was shared

thanks to all of you who helped participate and make this weekend possible

i'm looking forward to following up with all of the visitors who came this weekend

friday was good, sunday was awesome...Jesus lives.

to serving...

so this morning, despite the hour change, i was at the caring place (downtown cf missions dept) working with an incredible group of dedicated volunteers (you all are amazing - i'm honored to serve with such incredible people

the task was beautiful...serving the under resourced and under privileged of the downtown community. 

among those present were homeless men and women, recently laid off people with gifts and talent, transexuals, hung over guys, and the 2 or 3 guys that everyone is scared of.

then tonight, at cf palmetto bay, i got to teach 401 - connect to the world. 

i was reminded in the middle of the session why we do what we do

God's priority isn't those present - it's those that aren't present (we call them the lost)

Luke 15 talks about...

-lost sheep

-lost money

-lost son (family)

all of them valuable, all of them equally lost. 

today i was able to serve genuinely. not for show and definitely not because people were watching. i'm happy to be able to say that. in the past, my motives have been mixed. but not at 7  in the morning after a hard hour change and poor night sleep.

yet i've had more than enough energy today to do what matters most. worship God, love my family, and serve other. 

how are you serving where you are?

what are you doing to add to the kingdom in you community?

let me know

to yp summit 09...

so this morning spent some time listening to...

dave edwards...traveling communicator

darren w. from axis (willow creek)

jay strack from student leadership university

francis chan from cornerstone church - cali

david nasser from iran - grew up in the US and is now speaking everywhere

the lead singer from 3rd day

shane 1 of shane and shane and some other great musicians

good folks in good places all doing different things. it just reminded me on how organized God is. all of us doing different things at the same time and yet it's all part of the same picture/puzzle.

lots of good things raising lots of good questions among my staff and internally. good stuff today. looking forward to spending time in break out sessions tomorrow morning and finishing with francis chan again tomorrow afternoon.

keep you posted with more

i miss my wife and son.