that which matters most

so it's been almost 2 months to the day that i last blogged.

lot's of incredible things going on. so much so that it's easy to forget that which matters most. i appreciate this pick that was taken by a buy attending Imago Dei, out in portland oregon; cool cat.

it reminds me most of all that in the middle of life and it's clutter, it's important not to forget the sacred; that which matters most.

what matters most and is it reflected by your time, money, and actions?

life. money. hope.

this weekend at CF we started a 2 part series by dave ramsey. good stuff. lots of insights.

above all, he mentioned this one piece of info that was so true

20% is head knowledge

80% is actual doing

knowing about over spending is easy to understand; not overspending is the tough part

the same thing could be said about all the stupid things in life that we do

we know it's stupid and would never recommend anyone else to do it and yet we somehow end up doing it ourselves

it's the 80% that's tough

to the Don...

tonite i had the cool opportunity of being with a pastor friend of mine, noel lozano (aka The Don) to celebrate his 10 years of ministry. myself along with a few others laid our hands on he and his wife; prayed for their church, membership, future, and God's will

pretty cool time. please continue to pray for him and his family; most people have no idea how hard it is to be a pastor/pastor's wife/pastor's kids

to reading...

been reading about sin lately; what it is and how it works. also been getting ready for a message that i will be sharing at CF DT next week, it has to do with sin.

in the mean time, i'm trying to implement what i'll be sharing. it's easier said than done.

my sin is very real and alive. it reminds me of my past, which stinks.

which is why i'm thankful for God's word; it reminds me of my future, which is incredible. 

can't wait to share with CF next week.

proceed with caution...

so this is what i'm learning about...

God is holy

I am not

i know it doesn't sound like much, but when one begins to understand who and what the essence of God is like, anything in comparison is pitiful; especially me

knowing how screwed i already am and can potentially be helps me reframe my thoughts and my position when i approach God

He's holy...proceed with caution and reverence

"holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts. the whole earth is filled with His glory" - Isaiah

to the sexy prayer...

so i was thinking about guys that lead worship. some cool, others not so much.

either way, when they get into, there's almost always that pause or break in the middle where you can sense that something cool is going on. it's at that point that the sexy prayer begins.

passionate words are uttered. hand gestures are used. it even becomes emotional. 

the catch is in the tone. the voice and feel changes. it's...well, it's sexy.

am i the only one that thinks so?

to breathers...

so being out in the community meeting folks and developing new partnerships is pretty exciting...and draining. been out and about moving fairly quickly for the last few weeks and i'm a bit tired.

not complaining, just stopping to breathe.

if i don't i'll miss the other good things happening all around me.

don't forget to look up every now and then; lots of good things happening in our world.

to 9 years of marriage...

so today i celebrate 9 years of marriage with adriana. loving it.

i can honestly say that i have no regrets in my marriage with her. if  the next 9 are any where as adventurous as the first 9, then the rest of my life is going to be incredible. 

i remember the day i said 'i do.' 

i still 'do.'

adriana, i will love you as long as God allows me to. 

little dave's surgery...

in case you didn't know, my little son dave had a minor surgery procedure done on his ears today. he should be able to hear much better

just wanted to say thanks to all of you who thought of him and prayed for him.

he came out just fine; we are having difficulties calming him down now.

ironically enough, we can already hear that his speech is improving. he's pronouncing his words a bit clearer

thanks friends

to reflections...

so during my quiet times with adriana, we are going over a study called 'down pour' by j. mcdonald. good stuff.

here's where i'm at. there's a few things that i've noted and been convicted of.

-i truly don't realize how holy God really is...it scares me

-i don't spend enough time in worship of Him

-i need to start praying for revival

so with that in mind, i'd like for the blogopolis out there to consider these things with me and to take them to heart

what would it take to bring personal revival?

what would it take to bring revival to our cities?

i know it starts with prayer, what's next?

"I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground" Isaiah 44:3

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.