Sunday Recep

It's better late the never so here it goes a run down of the fantastic events from Sunday.

-And we tried again streaming our service over the Internet. IT WORKED! We had a buddy of mine @ the Univ. of Kentucky who tuned in live. Gonna get better before we start advertising. But were almost there.

-Same Place, Different Heart. Coming to the same church with the same heart week after week will not cut it. Your heart must be moved to see something and experience something greater in God. Push the envelope, try something different, push to see God results.

- What if we developed a culture of greeters?
One of the things we struggle with is we have a small team wearing many hats. Imagine going to a restaurant and you were not greeted. That can't happen in church but were spread so thin. Our goal have everyone connected with someone at some point during the service. Now we don't have 1 person doing 15 things, we have 15 people focusing on 1 thing and doing it well, now we have developed culture.

-A good friend of mine came to church today
Danny, Gia and Cara it was great seeing you guys. Hope to see you again soon so we can sit down and catchup.

-Plenty of new faces
I think we have a certain level of energy we bring despite the crowd, but I love seeing new faces in church, it's one of those things that energizes me and then some in fact I watched it energize the entire team.

-RECHARGE
Pastor Dan brought it. Learned something about recharging that I plan to blog on later on today. So many people were blessed and I heard reports instantly. Thanks P.

-Great Lunch
We all went out to eat at Jesse and Marsha's. All I can say is DUUUUUUUDE! Thanks guys love ya, we had a great time.

I'm looking forward to next week. My boy Santz is gonna tear it up.

Same Place, Different Heart

This is for all you in leadership heading into another weekend of influencing, challenging and touching lives for Jesus. Prayerfully consider doing something different this weekend. Consider where God wants you to push the envelope. I guarantee God does not want to work the same way in you or through you that He did last week.

Don't do something different just to do something different, do something different with the intention of seeing different results. Strive for different results in your life first, it should always be about what God is doing in you before He does anything through you, then it naturally exports to those who are around you. Influence sells best when it's not sold just lived.

Show up with a different heart this weekend, a heart touched and influenced by a raw encounter with God. Encounters between God and man have always led to incredible moves of God, things that the wildest imagination could not dream up. Go to the same place with a different heart and expect different results.

The Only Time You Should Look Back Pt. 2 (Milestone Lessons)

7) Your only as good as your team
I can't do anything successfully without those around me. Take time to praise and bless your team. Challenge their vision, but don't become their biggest challenge, just because it's not done your way doesn't mean that it's wrong. You will kill people's dreams, break hearts and damage relationships if you don't allow people to try. By the way your number one team is your family, don't try to get it right anywhere else until it's right at home first.

8) Strive for excellence not perfection
Perfection will eliminate people, you will never be satisified and your standard will never be reached. Excellence puts nothing else but heart on the line and considers hearts in the process most of all the heart of God.

9) Find out what really mends the nets...
Everyday I'm fishing fishing to share Christ, fishing to challenge someone to another level, fishing to encourage someone to dream. All that fishing takes a lot out of the nets. Find out what mends the net in your life. Find out what brings rest to your soul, relationships that bring water your spirit, places that help you relax from the inside out.

10) Keep the important things important
I love what John Maxwell say's, "If I take care of the important things, then everything else will take care of itself" I have non negotiables in my life, things that I cannot live without. The minute prayer, journaling, family time are out of whack in my life the more my life get's whack.

11) Steward your time wisely
This is a constant battle in my life, stewarding my time. Making the most of my time. As a husband & parent "being all there" in my time in my home is a constant struggle. Andy Stanley say's "It's not about how much time you have left but what you will do with the time you have left." You will never have enough time to do things that you are not supposed to be doing, but will always have enough time to do the things that you are." God will provide resources, opportunities, relationships, ideas, creativity to do what He has called you to do. Live your life well... steward your time that you have on earth.

12) Dont lose the fun aspect
Laugh, laugh alot, tickle your kids, play jokes on your loved ones, have inside humor with your team. Don't be so driven in life that you don't know how to enjoy the journey. I love making people laugh.

The Only Time You should look back Pt. 2 (Milestone Lessons)

As I mentioned in my previous post. The last 8 years at Christian Worship Center have been some of the most incredible years of my life. My Pastor, the leadership of CWC and great relationships have taught me a whole lot. Some of my milestone lessons are the following:

1) At times learning is a backward process. Sometimes part of your learning process is actually a lot of unlearning. I've had to unlearn my way, my thinking, my experiences, my conclusions to trust the pure wisdom that can only come from God.

2) God's way is not always the easiest way but it is the best way. God will take you through some challenges to promote growth in your life. There are tough times in your life that God will take you through, that will require a faith that you have not yet walked.

3) There are no problems only opportunities. Leaders make things happen, they are agents of change. I've been challenged not to look at problems as problems but as opportunities for God to shine through my life, lead through my life, and love through my life. You can't find a solution when your focused on the problem.

4) R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y
There is no pretty quote that I can put for this one. It's plain and straight to the point. I am responsible for me, my walk with Christ, my family, my marriage, my home, my children, my purpose, ministry, leadership, job, etc. I am responsible for being the best me in each of those areas. Excuse making will cripple your success in the key areas of life, the areas that nobody else is responsible for but you.

5) Love your wife like Christ loves the church.
Christs love towards the church, is merciful, hopeful, giving, kind, gentle, considerate and the list can go on. Ephesians 5:25 is the standard for all husbands.

6) Your greatest asset can be your greatest liability.
I don't know how to live life any other way but passionately. My passion can kill me though. Sometimes I can get too emotional, quit just as easy as it was to start something, forget about the cost of things, say stupid things, and ignore planning.

Six more lessons coming up...

The Only Time You Should Look Back Pt. 1

The only time you should look back at anything in life is to see how far you've come. This weekend marks the 9 year anniversary of my church Christian Worship Center of San Jose. My journey actually began 8 years ago, I was frustrated, felt dreamless and had lost my purpose. My wife and I were expecting our first child and little did we realize how wounded our marriage was. If you would of asked me 8 years ago what I would be doing today it may have angered me because that's how much frustration I was living with. As a result of a gracious God and a praying wife my journey has been marked by incredible moments, incredible people and one incredible church.

Moments I remember...

The first heart to heart with my Pastor
(The famous question that haunts me till this day "If you could do anything for God that felt like a little kid in a candy store what would it be?" I didn't believe my answer at the time but I dared to believe that it would come true. )

The first time I taught marriage class (Wait a minute I'm young, my marriage was far from perfect, what do I have to offer someone else) I did it and it ignited an old flame for speaking again.

The first time I helped with youth (We had just left running a youth group, I missed my kids. These new kids could not replace our old relationships but it brought energy to my spirit
Thanks to my brother Matt for asking me to help out.)

The first time I preached at CWC (Boy was I rusty. I was like the tin man. I had a great setback the week before tried to get out of speaking but my Pastor got in my face and told me I had to do this and I was going to do great and that God was going to use me)

Our first Masters Student
Another life changing question this time from my wife. "Whats stopping us from giving?" This one moment has sparked an incredible relationship with a young man that I believe will one day change history and mark the world with an intense passion for God.

My first Heart to Heart with our MC Student
I found purpose again, I felt passion. It was time, time for the dreamer to start dreaming again. Our relationship was God designed. Thanks Pastor Nick for trusting me, my home and keeping Santz at our house althought it was supposed to be temporary.

The first time we announced we were planting a church in Hawaii
To hear the support of the church, the cheering, the excitement to have incredible people standing next to me willing to put their hearts to the greatest risk possibly ever in their life is priceless. Till this day I'm humbled by this memory.

There have been plenty of other moments, and plenty of other people along the journey but these were the moments that marked me. These were the moments that I can look at and after I can say was never the same again. Thank you Lord, thank you for an incredible church with incredible people, thank you for my Pastor, and most of all thank you for my wife because today we are living the dream together.

The lessons I've learned coming next...

Hill or Mountain

Just got off one of the most inspiring team conference calls yet. Have you ever had the feeling that there's gotta be something more then what I am seeing? This has been my feeling personally in life, ministry and church, and the team I work with has been feeling it as well. If I can give a visual it would be like this. "God wants us to climb a new mountain but were stuck climbing the same hill"
A hill is safe, doesn't require much risk, much sacrifice, and there's pretty much nothing unknown. Living in Colorado for a period of my life I saw one of the greatest sights in the world, The Rocky Mountains. The Rockies become mysterious as the tops are hidden by cloud cover and extreme weather. Nobody would think of climbing those mountains.

In life, in ministry, chasing a dream it's like looking at a mountain, it's unknown, feels impossible, and sometimes you feel like you don't have what it takes but I believe this is where God wants us. Climbing a mountain takes risk, it takes sacrifice and it takes a team to get to the top. Most of all it takes a consistently growing faith with each new step to the top. To this day I've never heard of anyone being recognized for climbing a hill yet the mountain climbers make history.

If in life, ministry, chasing after purpose, new direction, or seeking new vision, it feeling like it's getting repetitive, like something needs to change, like something is missing, maybe it's time to look for a mountain and stop climbing the same hill. Practically speaking: Get God inspired about what He wants to do in your unique and incredible life. Develop relationships with like mountain climbers of life. God put's people in our lives for a reason. Go to the top together, there's no such thing as king of the hill when your mountain climbing. What do you want a hill or the mountain?

Stick to the Mission

"But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me..." 1 Samuel 15:20

God had given Saul a mission to completely eradicate the Amalekites who were an enemy of Israel. The bible says that Saul allowed the king and the best of the plunder to remain and because of Saul's disobedience he lost the kingdom and the spirit of God left him. Even when confronted on the issue Saul is still in denial and say's "I did obey the Lord, I went on the mission the Lord assigned me" When I read this I thought about the mission, the plan, the direction that God has me in life. You can still walk in the direction that God wants you to walk in and still do the wrong thing. Because of Sauls incomplete obedience he saw an incomplete blessing of God up on his life, so close yet so far away. When did Saul stop sticking to the mission?

1) v.24 say's " I was afraid of the people so I gave into them." Anytime you notice the favor of people outweighing the favor of God in your life, your in a dangerous area.

2) v.26 say's Saul had "rejected the word of the Lord" Instruction from the Lord can never be leveraged to satisfy those around you. You are responsible for carrying out the plan, the mission, the God given mandate on your life, any voice louder then God's will destroy your greatest dream and the best you.

3) v.29 reveals that Saul had a wavering mind. Your heart can be easily swayed by the thoughts you allow to dwell in your mind. David's heart was a heart after God because His mind continually dwelled on God, for God and in God. Take a look at Psalm 27:4-6

4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Davids words remind me to continually keep my eyes, my heart, my life on God. A map is never looked at just once while on a long trip. Our minds and hearts must continually check the instructions and check your obedienceometer to make sure to Stick to the Mission.

At Least We Tried

Yesterday we attempted broadcasting our service live across the internet. We had a handful of hopefuls standing by that logged in (Even had some in Hawaii). Everything worked great the day before, but the next day there were camera connectivity issues, then some latency issues. Pre-Service I was pumped, there was nothing that was going to stop me from trying this out, so you can imagine what I felt when it didn't work. In the attempt that didn't work I learned more. In my return to the drawing board I'm learning more. And when we try again with a new game plan we will learn even more. All in all, at least we tried and all although it failed it wasn't failure at all.

What's in your ability to try today that could potentially catapult your life, your ministry, and influence for Jesus?

"Just Do It" - Nike

Has it been that long?

I can't believe it's been a week since I last blogged. Leading up to Easter Sunday, things have been ridiculously busy; in fact so busy I've blogged less, slept less, read less, even my personal thought time has been much less. When it gets busy though a few things that I absolutely refuse to let go of are the following:

Journaling/Reading the Bible
Prayer
Family time

All of the above are my non negotiables in life. I won't replace these, negotiate them, make a deal on them or any other way you wanna slice or dice it. I refuse to let my non negotiables leave my life. What are you non negotiables?

Sunday Recap

-You know that feeling you get when you enter into Disneyland "This is one special place" Yeah I got that when I walked into our church today

-The smells coming out of the kitchen were amazing, but the smiles on BJ's and Aunty Carolyns face were mo betta.

-Thousands of bacon slices later, and my hands still smell of pork product. My favorite smell. Still think Glade should put out a Bacon Smelling Air Freshner. Reminds me of camping.

- So we cooked for the community today, we had a great turn out. Timed things a little off, but Troy Lepisi and his imagination are incredible. (Tap your man)

- All I can what the Easter Production crew did today with the amount of space that they had was incredible.

-Bre, you still got it girl. Let me know when your ready for Victory Symphony. BTW I'm thinking a Saturday night, something totally out of the box, big time promotion. Huge lights outside, coffee house prelude, live music, then it's all yours.

-PBen was totally honored by what Milpitas worship team did. Whose idea was that? Honor and appreciation are wonderful things. PBen, thanks for everything, keep up the great work.

- It was awesome seeing some close friends of mine make it for this weekends event. Gia I know you read this blog, we're praying for ya. You got family at CWC don't ever forget that. It was great seeing you and Cara.

-I love putting my boy Santz on the spot, you should see his eyes when I setup him up to do something he's not expecting to do.

-Final dance routine was awesome. Slap some white mask on that dance crew and you have the Christian Jabbawockeez.

Good times today at CWC Milpitas. Thank you everyone who worked their tails off, cooked their tails off, and put their tail on the line to make it all happen. San Jose campus is going to rock next week. I'll have a video up soon from this weekend. Much Love everyone and Thank You Jesus!

Confessions of a Pastor

So I'm watching Hells Kitchen tonight. There's this guy, can't even remember what his name is but he annoys the heck out of me. This guy is so driven that he tries to produce fancy dishes that nobody even knows what they are called. The other two guys on the guys team just have a good time and honestly I would much rather have a meal from the guys that just have a good time cooking. I realized I'm the guy that is so driven. My standard is so high I can't even meet it anymore, I can't even have fun at times. I love God, and the reason why I am in ministry is because I can't help but do something for Him because He's touched my life. The ministry idol has to die, it has to. A scripture that I read this week 1 Corinthians 16:14 "Do everything in Love" keeps ringing in my head. I love God, I love people, I love life and I don't want to mess it up. I am nothing without God, without His Love and without Him leading my heart, I'm just some foolish guy that is crazy enough to live with huge dream, and crazy enough to think that God can use him to touch the world. Practically speaking I'm finding myself needing to get back to heart much more often as I dream bigger and chase closer. I constantly have to go back to heart because otherwise I'm just crazy.

Fruitfulness pt. 2

How do you measure fruit?

Recently I took the family to Southern California and along the way down highway 5 orchards are a common sight. Since spring was around the corner the trees had blossomed and it looked like snow. Every single blossom represented a fruit or a nut that would eventually be harvested. Just about every orchard that I saw also contained smaller trees, trees that had not yet produced fruit, but they would eventually, they just needed some time.

I believe this is the picture of our lives when Jesus said we are to bear much fruit. Fruit is the litmus test of Christ present and active in my life. Fruit is the condition test of my heart. Fruit is the measuring stick of my maturity. Fruit is the influence test of my character. Fruit is evident in every part of my life. Is my marriage growing? How have I grown as a parent? How have I grown as a Christian, and the list can go on.

I believe you measure fruit in three areas.

1) How is my heart? Without transformation of my heart there is little to any fruit at all and what's there will eventually spoil if the heart is not constantly monitored.

2) How is my growth? They key in seeing if any plant is alive is verifying it's growth it's the same in our lives. Is my marriage, parenting, character, spiritual life growing?

3) Am I duplicating? Is my life producing something in others. Fruit is not too keep it's to give away. Generosity, forgiveness, serving, love, just some of the areas that fruit is easily monitored.

Faithfulness is just showing up, it's showing up to a church, a job, a marriage, and parenting.
Fruitfulness shows up and then some, it produces, it's alive, it's constant and consistent.

"I don't want to just show up in life, I want to show up and then some..."