Conflict Resolution

I grew up bringing the New Year with firecrackers and staying up all night long! So the other night Jess and I were talking about our plans for the holidays and I shared with her that I could not wait for new years so that all of us could pop fireworks! She replied that we were not going to do that. She believed fireworks should only be popped once a year… you know that celebration in July! So here was a little conflict and I had no idea how to resolve it.

Then Paper, Rocks, scissors came to mind… yep this is what was on the line: If I lost, we would only pop fireworks once a year but if Jess lost we would pop them twice a year. I knew my wife was a risk taker just because she married me, but she wanted this to be done through one round… not best out three! (The norm)

So the pressure was on!

Of course you can guess the outcome since I am blogging about! And yes, she will tell you that I psyched her out! That some how I confused her in this wonderful and easy game!

So if you want to come over to my house on the December 31 we will bring in the New Year with a huge BANG! So come and be a part! just bring your own fireworks!

His Grace is sufficient

I don’t think I have ever talked about my family, but I can’t stop thinking about family during the Christmas season. Today I heard a retired marine talk about his marriage of 40 years. I started thinking of when I am going to celebrate my fortieth; it’s going to be in 2041. That’s in 34 years! This man broke down in the middle of his speech to his bride and said the most meaningful thing… He said it was by the Grace of God that he was where he was. He just was so grateful that God still deemed it fit to use him! Then it hit me… everything that God gives us is by His kindness. When I am experiencing challenges in life, I may be focused on or feel God’s kindness, but I know it is always there. My prayer is that God may open the eyes of my heart to continually be able to see His kindness. The other lesson I learned was to never feel complacent with my attitude towards my Christian maturity. Just like this 60 year old, I don’t want to stop learning! So after hearing him talk about his family, it made me appreciate my family. When Jessica and I were awaiting the birth of our daughter, Gabriela, we were overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for giving us the opportunity of being parents. We realized that our marriage and family was a perfect example of His wonderful GRACE. We wanted to always be reminded of this, and that is why we gave our daughter the middle name of Grace. That is what Jess and I can hold on to, and Gabriela Grace is a constant reminder of His kindness.

Never Gets Old

I don’t think it can ever get old hearing how impacting our children’s ministry is to our community. There are two things that happened this weekend that made my day. Three weeks ago a gentleman came by our church. His regular Sunday would unfold by dropping off the nanny and his children at a church. He would then go and just hangout at random places like Best buy or stores like that. Two Sundays ago, he stopped to see what we were about because of the signs and asked us about our ministries. He told us that he would come back the next week with his children and hopefully his wife. Last Sunday He was there with his two children and he went to our video service, his wife could not make it because she was working. When he picked up his children and asked them if they liked it, they never hesitated to answer YES! He then decided to call his wife, he told her that she needed to take her lunch break and that he would come and pick her up. He wanted to show her the church. He came back 15 minutes later and as a great potential Guest service volunteer, was showing her the campus. As they left he told us they would be back next week! He came this week with the whole family!
Last Sunday night we had connection 101. This is a class to join Christ Fellowship. We had a couple there who had two children in our ministry. We always begin by introducing ourselves and saying how we came to church. When we got to her, she began to cry over how grateful she was that her children loved the Waystation and how it meant the world to her!
Both of this stories are awesome, the Waystation (1st grade through 5th) and Anchor Harbor (Pre School) but the best part about this is that we would never be able to pull this off without the volunteers and THEIR passionate desire to see children come to Christ! This is not the first time this has happened and I know it wont be the last. But I cannot think It will get old hearing about the impact our children’s ministry has!
Thank You God for giving us AWESOME LEADERS!

Do you Care?

This week has been really exciting. When you care not just about the people but about our ministry people can really see it. I received an email from Tony Isaacs. Here is what it said:

Dear Homestead Campus Team,

I am writing you as a team to tell you how much I appreciate your passion
And care for our Christ Fellowship Homestead Campus. Everything I've
experienced in my visit last week visit was over the top. I had 2 guests
with me who visited both our campuses. This it what they said, "We were
overwhelmed with the Palmetto Bay Campus and all that is going on there, but
we were more impressed with the Homestead campus. The spirit and unity of
the workers, the appearance of the campus and the execution of the set up
and tear down were phenomenal. We expected the Palmetto Bay Campus to be
like it was but the Homestead Campus blew us away."

WOW, I am so proud of all of you! Great Job!!
- Tony

This is so refreshing to hear. Each person that is involved makes a huge effort to be consistent. Being a part of a fun environment is….FUN!

This week I talked to a member on Sunday who was going through some tough times. She has been a member of our church since 2005 but really never been committed. She came off and on but a few weeks a go decided to start serving in our guest service team in Homestead. After she began serving she also found out about possible tumor. She shared it in our leaders meeting prior to our services and ask for us to keep her in prayer. I prayed with her that day and asked her to keep us updated. She called me a few days ago and told me it was not a malignant tumor but that she would still have to have surgery. She also told me that other leaders had called her and she finally felt that she belongs! WOW! That is awesome to hear! The fact that people cared made the difference! Seeing individual leaders step in the role of ministering to each other is so neat to see. Great job leaders for making going the extra mile ad truly caring! This is what is contagious! My prayer is that each week we may continually grow to be more like His church! I Thank God that HE has given me the privilege to serve in this church!

The value in investing

This weekend was unbelievable! A local plant nursery donated 260 plants to our church; each of these plants would normally be sold for about 5-7 dollars a piece. We decided to attach invest and invite cards to the plants and hand them out following each of our services. We asked our members to think of a friend or neighbor that they might give this plant to. I did not know what to expect. It was the first time we had ever done anything like this. The plan was to put out 50 plants per service. We have four services in Palmetto, and we would take 60 to our Homestead campus.
The result: Well, on Saturday we were mobbed… people rushed to pick up plants, and in less than 5 minutes all of the plants were gone! It was a beautiful, but at the same time flustering. If I could have given all 200 plants that night, they would have all been gone! On Sunday we ran into the same problem following our 10:30 service. We even gave away our cardettes (the plastic stakes that go into the plant with an invest and invite card) without plants. The members were excited just to take the stake and planned to buy a plant to accompany it.
There were a few lessons that I learned from this. First, never say no to someone’s gift. Second, never underestimate the power of a free gift. The neighbors and friends that receive this gift do not know that the plant bearer received it for free. Anything that is valuable and pretty will be accepted with gratitude. The third lesson is a little harder to think through. For a long time we have instilled in our members the importance of investing in their neighbors’ lives so that they will get an opportunity to invite them to one of our services. Did our members feel more confident to reach out to their neighbors with this plant than they do with just a card? I think they did! So maybe its through little things like this that will make a big impact in the lives of our community. The last lesson is that you never know when you will learn a new word…like cardette!

Why?

Why do we do what we do?

I think that is the question that I began to ask myself... What is our motivation? Why do we constantly do what we do?

These were the questions I was asking myself and then I started to wonder about our volunteers.

In 1 Peter Chapter 2:3 Peter is talking about why or what is our motivation to serve God or to live for HIM. And that is because we have all tasted that the Lord is good. We have tasted His Kindness and because of this goodness shown to us we are saying thanks every morning when we get here at 8 AM or when we get here on Fridays at 7:30. SERVANTOOD is not things that we do or are going to do it’s a PLACE. God loves the place the heart of a servant puts us in. These place should be a reminder of God’s greatness and love. Its at this place to we give God the glory and not ourselves.

So how to we stay on task? How do we stay with the same purpose?

In Chapter 4:7 of the same book Peter states three things are important. Prayer, Loving one another, and show Hospitality. Why is this important? Because, if we don’t do this we will be sowing the seeds of grumbling instead of the seeds of the good news. I never spend enough time in prayer and meditation I am always to busy to hear God? Is that you? What about loving each other? Truly loving each other is the key… think about your friends and your not so close friends… why don’t you start to pray for your not so close friends? Is it because you are scared that God will bless them? Its not our responsibility to see who deserves our prayers its just our responsibility to pray and love people. The last thing was a shocker to me… why would Peter say be hospitable …Simple Stated when people come to you whether it is planned or not…do you look at them as an intrusion or an invitation.

Its better to live without any doctrine than live a contradiction

I have been reading Watchman Nee and he has been really exciting to read. In "Sit Walk Stand" He states that we have to accept who we are in Christ and what He has done for us. And I thought about what I have believed or accepted as "my doctrine". So many times I want to "do" things it just comes very natural. Its natural for me to put "Rules of acceptance" I dont believe my God ever intended me to have those. He accepts me for who I am. I have the same right as HIS child I am sitted at His side. Because of this privilidge I am motivated to live for Him. I dont want to live a contradiction... but in order for me not to do that I have to accept what God has done for me and believe on what He promises I am ... I am HIS child and He is my ABBA father. So I must daily make an effort to not put any rules of acceptance in my life. If I am to live...I am to be grateful and accept HIS kindness and it is through this kindness that will lead me to repentance and show God's love through me to others.

Echoing FOR Eternity

On Thursday March 1, I did one of the most outrageous things I've ever done. I called the man who led my father to Christ 27 years ago. In 1980, Richard Anderson, a young college student, led an angry beer-seeking, hispanic man to Christ. You see, my father had sovereignly stumbled onto a Christian camp called Hume Lake. Not only had he stumbled there, but he had also run out of beer! So my father had gone to the camp's store looking for beer only to find they did not sell alcohol. This young man must have heard the "problem" and took my dad aside; he began to share the gospel with my dad. Rick, as he now goes by, led my dad to Christ that day. The day after that, he bought my father a NIV Bible, writing a note of encouragement on the front inside cover and his address on the back inside cover. It was through that address that I was able to locate Rick all these years later. Following that encounter, my father returned to El Salvador, a changed man. Rick never heard from my father; actually, he had a hard time remembering the event when I was talking to him on March 1. One of the things the Lord has shown me is that He who is faithful in the little things will be faithful with much. Here was this young man who took a step of faith in sharing Christ with an angry, beer-searching alcoholic. Rick, for the last 27 years, had no idea what had come about. What he did that day will continue to echo though eternity. When my father went back to El Salvador, he established two Christian schools. One educates 700 students each year and the other around 200. I would not be serving my Savior as a pastor here in Miami had it not been for God using Rick. There have been countless lives changed because of Rich's faithfullness that day in 1980! I must always make each day count!