The simplicity of a Pastor

WHY is love so easy for KIDS!

2010-02-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

My eldest always says, you are the bestest dad ever! I always laugh and think about that! I know she means it with all her heart! But is she ever going to stop saying that? I hope not! But I know that her expectations of a dad will surely be broken by me! So I remained focused that I may fail as a earthly dad, I must not be too prideful to admit my wrongs and be quick to remind her of how faithful our Heavenly Father is and HE does NOT fail. Until then...

the bestest dad!

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE _ I WILL__

2010-02-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

This verse has been in my mind since yesterday. We began church with a lot of problems... normally we fight to solve issues... but yesterday I realized that we need to choose our attitudes and pray the issues through!
God showed us mercy and grace!
We had standing room only in our children's venue!
Students was great!
And we had around four new families that were there for the first time!
All in all we had a great day yesterday! But would have I noticed???

if I had not chosen to REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

WOW

2010-01-22T08:00:00.001-08:00

The new year has begun and I cannot believe 2009 has gone by! One verse that God has brought into my life is Matthew 9:36-38. Read it whenever you get a chance... what sticks out at you?

Eric es mi PAPI en basketball

2009-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

Ayer tuve el placer de jugar basketball contra Eric y Brandon. Nos ganaron los cuatro juegos. No pudimos ganar ni siquiera un juego. Y por esto es que tengo que poner este mensaje en mi blog… este fue el acuerdo. El unico gozo que tengo en todo esto es que Eric y Brandon van a necesitar a alguien que les traduzca este mensaje.

Samuel's testimony

2009-02-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

On January 3rd and 4th I was given the opportunity to speak to our people at the Palmetto Bay and Homestead campuses. God had put it in my heart to speak about the lessons God had taught Jess and me during the pregnancy and birth of my baby, Samuel, who only lived 6 hours. It was a very hard message for me to preach, especially as I shared the video we have honoring his brief life. I have seen God do amazing things through this message. The impact Samuel’s story had on many that weekend confirmed the decision I made to share this part of our lives with our congregation. It has also confirmed to me that God’s planning is perfect, and we must be willing to be used by Him when He prompts us.

The evening I spoke, two people approached and told me of how they had gone through a similar situation, but had held on to bitterness toward God. They were choosing to let go of that bitterness! Then, Pastor Sammy came up to me and told me of another incident. A woman attended the service who had not come to church in very long time. It had actually been two years since she had come. I was able to talk to her she told me that she was going through some very hard times and that she knew she needed to come that day! I was amazed at God’s sovereignty!

It was amazing to watch the Holy Spirit work. I was on the verge of tears during each service, but I knew that there were many people out there who needed to hear this message of hope and trust in the midst of emotional pain!

One of my points in the message was that when you are going through hard times, God gives you peace and it is this peace that is used to show people God’s love. At our last service, Palmetto Bay 12:30, a lady came to me at the very end. She was crying and began to tell me her story. This woman was one of the NICU nurses at the hospital the day Samuel was born. She was the nurse who brought Samuel to us. She remembered us and had been touched by our peace in the midst of our impending loss. She could see and feel that there was something different about us…but she had not known exactly what it was. Until hearing my message!!! WOW!!! I cannot tell you all the emotions that came through me but God was so good and gracious to let me see a glimpse of HIS PERFECT WILL!

New Year

2009-01-27T19:07:00.001-08:00

This year started off really amazingly. I have seen God do wonderful things during this past month. Please be patient with me as I share a few stories!

Our Homestead Campus celebrated Christmas Eve in a most amazing way. After finding out that we would not be able to hold a service at the school where we typically meet, we came up with doing our Christmas Eve service at a local park. We had no idea what to expect, but we had rented 300 chairs and began to pray that they would all be used. We began our set up at 1 PM Christmas Eve. Our volunteers passed out hot chocolate and cookies as the time grew near for the service to begin. Our 6:00 start time was pushed back slightly due to problems with the lighting, but at 6:15 we were ready to begin. To our surprise and delight, people began flooding in. By the time Pastor Blackwood arrived to preach, not only were all of the seats filled, but there were 100 plus people standing beyond the seated area. The atmosphere was energetic and families were together enjoying the Christmas celebration. I got home around 10 but could not go to sleep because of the adrenaline pumping. It was awesome to see God work through a creative solution!

Can you tell the difference?

2009-01-26T19:28:00.001-08:00

there was a day... that someone approached my wife and asked her if she was the biological mom...

is this Nadia or Gabriela?

2009-01-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

There was another day that they confused Jess as the babysitter...

I am sorry my love!

My king!

2008-11-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

This is always a good reminder!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upGCMl_b0n4&feature=related

The Father's Love

2008-11-28T12:23:00.001-08:00

I was sitting with Gabriela on the plane Tuesday heading to PA for Thanksgiving, and something really funny happened. She did something that reminded me of... ME!

I had bought some candy for her so that she could have a snack on the plane since, of course, there are no longer complimentary snacks... SO

She ASKED FOR THE CANDY... and I, being her FATHER, gave it to her. I poured the candy on her tray. I later proceeded to try to get a piece of candy from her and was flatly denied! She covered the candy with her hands and said that it was hers! So I explained to her that I was the one who had bought the candies and that she would not have them if I had never given them to her... it did not matter... THEY WERE HERS!

What did this remind me of?

ME with my heavenly FATHER!

THANK YOU PAPA for all that you give me, and please forgive me for holding on to those things that YOU have given me!

I did end up getting candy from her in the end... I just took it!

The truth of Ministry

2008-11-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

I just came back from a leadership Network in Dallas, Texas. It was a great conference. I was talking with a older pastor, and He was stating that for the majority of people when they get called to ministry, it is very hard for the individual. Most people when CALLED are not willing to do it, think about it... how many people in the Bible were used by God but began by not wanting to do it? The calling is for all there is a cost are we willing to pay for it?

This reminded me of Jeremiah, when he states that he has to talk about the Lord because if he does not his bones will ache! So i thought about myself and also how so many times still I am hesitant to accept the fact that we are here to build HIS kingdom and not mine!

Being a hero

2008-11-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today was very exciting! I did not realized how cool I would be to a bunch of 4-5 year olds. I got to drive the bus to their first ever field trip. All the kids gave a huge high five and just thought I was the coolest. Not that I need their opinion to know that :-) But it was a great time with our girl. God has and is doing amazing things, and one of the things I have been praying for is for HIM to open the eyes of my heart to be able to see more of His hand in my life! Let me encourage you to do that you will not be disappointed!

Garage Day

2008-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

For about six weeks Gabriela and I have been going garage sale hunting... It has been a blast... so as a good Salvadoran I have been teaching my daughter how to become a good haggler... she still does not understand why our goal is to pay less than what they ask! today's hunt..

ice cream maker 4 dollars

purple beaded curtain confused for a bunch of necklaces for $1

alligator caller- free

awesome hangout time with Brie- priceless

Our New Princess

2008-09-18T17:04:00.001-07:00

We are so grateful to have this wonderful blessing in our lives. Her name

NADIA RHAE which means hope is flowing. If you want to know why we named her this; look at the blog that Jessica posted on May 21st.

Intrusion or an Invitation?

2008-09-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks for being patient and waiting for me to publish new stuff. The summer is gone, fall is here, so it is a great time to celebrate and start blogging again. The Lord does amazing things all the time, and I am just thankful that He allows me to see it.

Last week I took the opportunity to tell our campus in Homestead that we held the power to encourage people. We have opportunities during the week to give hope to people. So I encouraged them to be looking out for those opportunities.

24 hours later…

Monday Morning…. I was in my office trying to organize my week and was ready to charge the week when I received a phone call from the front desk. I was told that there were two guest who needed to talk to me. In my mind I thought… I don’t have time for this! (THIS IS AN INTRUSION.)

But I welcomed the guests into my office. As I began to talk to them, they told me that they are Jews and that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He was the Messiah. They also asked me what believing this meant to them.

WOW! That morning, those two individuals received Christ into their lives in my office.

Two lessons learned…

1. Christ looked at people in a way that I should always look at them. He looked at them as an invitation to minister, not as an intrusion in ministry.

2. God is so good at giving the test and then teaching me the lesson. Totally opposite of what happens in our natural world.

Hello My NAME IS

2008-06-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

As I said, there are valuable lesson for me to learn from Jonah’s life. There are two that came to me just yesterday. I cannot express to you how much I am just in awe of our God.

The first lesson came to me as I was praying. I had been dealing with an individual this week and had been very merciless toward him. They had called me, and during the call I knew in my heart I had not been graceful. I heard Howard Hendricks from Dallas theological seminary say that when people come and speak to us, we must always look at that time as an invitation not an intrusion. So as I was praying, the LORD put this person in my mind and it just made me realize how easy it is to become Jonah. Here I was enjoying God’s mercy and grace and not willing to share it. Unless this person is reading my blog, which I doubt, it would be really hard to explain to them how God is dealing with me. So the best way to do it is just to give them what has been given to me in an immense way…Grace and Mercy.

The second lesson came last night at about 10 PM. I was asked “to go” to a place I knew I did not want to go. That is, I was asked to do a funeral for a young baby. My first reaction was NO WAY… I mean my excuses were flowing as I was listening to the physical and emotional needs of this family. The worst part was that I could not value the spiritual need this family has. So as I was explaining that there was no way I could do that, God had only to whisper to me, ”Jonah,” and that was it. So when I finish this blog, I will be leaving my home to be there for that family. I don’t know what to expect since they don’t go to church and may not be able to understand that GOD is in control. But God has asked me to GO and I just need to have the courage to LISTEN.

thanks,

JONAH

scattered thoughts

2008-06-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

For the next few days I will probably talk about Jonah… I know you probably have heard this story way to many times, you probably know the song that goes along with this.
As I studied this book there are valuable lessons that I gathered from here! But first let me tell you that I have probably read this small book many times for the last two weeks. Its one of those things that as I want to go to another book the Lord just continues to tell me to read it again. I know I am a knucklehead and it takes a while to grasp the lesson God wants me to learn…So I will let you into my crazy mind….by the way, I like to ask questions that probably will not have answers but it is still good to ask them, at least I think its good..

So lets start…

The first chapter tells me that Jonah gets the message from God and he wants nothing to do with it... To the extent that when he gets in the boat and goes to bottom of it and falls asleep…all this to GET AWAY FROM GOD. Kinda like Adam and Eve… when they hid themselves from the presence of God. So in my mind I think he must have been ashamed of what he was doing to the point that he must have been depressed for his outright disobedience.

I have seen this not just in my life but also in the lives of other people. They are ashamed of what they are doing and Satan fills them with guilt… because of this guilt they feel they cannot be used by God and therefore try to hide from God… by staying away from studying the word or even going to church…

Needless to say there is nowhere I can go that will separate me from God… Thank You God… somehow in my little mind I think that if I don’t talk to you I am separating myself from YOU…. But You God, will not let me go! You are so patient with me and for that I thank you…

My prayer is that I may have the courage TODAY to do what You want me to do not what I want to do … God You are wonderful and loving…

Questions to ponder about:

Why did he not want the people to hear of God?

Did he just want to be exclusive with God?

Can I ever be that way?

Hope is Flowing

2008-05-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Jessica Molina

I have a love/hate relationship with the highly anticipated fetal ultrasounds. When I was pregnant with Gabriela, Jorge and I were just listening for those words that would tell us whether to register for pink or blue blankets at Babies ‘R Us. “It’s a girl!” Pink. It wasn’t until our ultrasound with Samuel that we realized there is so much more to the in-utero peek than determining gender. Anencephaly. I had never heard that word before. But in the course of a few minutes I came to understand that the condition would rob me of my chance to raise my son. We registered for one blanket. Blue. So as Jorge and I held each other’s sweaty hands, waiting for our ultrasound for Baby #3, there was a loss of innocence. Gender was no longer an issue. I found myself praying Gabriela’s nightly prayer, “God, please give us a healthy baby. One we can keep.” My anxious eyes were glued to the screen. I studied the beautiful, round head, the heart beating strongly, fingers, toes, everything! I had to remind myself to breathe. I began to relax. Then came the dreaded, but familiar, comment. ‘’I’m just going to show these pictures to the doctor and he’ll speak with you in a few minutes.” My mind and emotions were racing. Lord, I know that my faith will not be shaken, but what about Gabriela! What about her prayer? The doctor was concerned about a “tumor” he was seeing in the left atrium of the baby’s heart. He gave us the names of a couple pediatric cardiologists and told us to schedule an appointment to return to his office in two weeks. Procedure is to repeat the ultrasound so that parents have time to decide whether or not to “terminate” their pregnancy before the 24th week… when it’s still legal.

The next couple weeks were filled with frustrations with the insurance company, tears shed in front of my computer screen filled with scary scenarios, and dread. I poured my heart out to two dear friends. Not only was I in a holding pattern to find out what was wrong with my baby, I was coming up on the 2nd anniversary of Samuel’s life and Mother’s Day. One of those friends is a pediatrician. She began making phone calls and found an amazing doctor who was willing to see me in her office. This doctor would rearrange her busy schedule to provide the fetal echocardiograph and consultation the next day… without insurance… free of charge! What a blessing!

The technician spent one hour capturing pictures and sounds in every nook and cranny of my baby’s heart. The doctor spent an additional hour studying the images and measurements. She called Jorge and me in to her office. She began by recognizing the skill and accuracy of the doctor who had looked at the results of the initial ultrasound. She told us that she had spent the last hour looking and looking, trying to find the mass. Whatever had been there was now “GONE.” Words cannot describe how we felt, realizing that God had worked a miracle in our lives and in the life of our baby! God had answered Gabriela’s prayer.

Then came the icing on the cake. The other friend I had shared my pain with let me in on another piece of the miracle. She told me she had told her mom about the mass. Her mom attends a church filled with prayer warriors in Kentucky. The pastor of that church had been prompting his congregation to pray specifically for situations. So during the service, the pastor had my friends mother share about our baby, and the congregation prayed collectively, on the spot, for the mass to “go away.” God responded to their prayers!

Over the past couple years, God has shown us that he can strengthen our faith through trials. Jorge and I have experienced God saying “no” to our requests for healing. We have now experienced His “yes.” Both have allowed us to give God the glory for His perfect plan. Rejoice with us! By the way… PINK!

SEEING THE WALK

2008-05-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

I was encouraged today by a conversation I had with a volunteer from Homestead. His name is Fred and he is very meticulous in every decision he makes, but when he makes the decision he is all in.

Fred told me that he began attending Christ Fellowship in Palmetto Bay right before we launched our Homestead Campus. When we were asking people to sign up to join the launch team. He did, and his plan was to commit to Homestead for six months.

He began to worship and volunteer in Homestead. He never let us know was that he suffers from chronic physical pain. Pain that sometimes does not let him get through the day. He never complained, just always worked hard and made sure to help wherever there was any need.

About a month ago, two years since the Homestead Campus launch, Fred came to me and told me that God was dealing with him. He said that he could not express how awesome it was to be a part of a team and most important that he had a family. He also told me that he was ready to make the commitment to membership and also to be baptized.

So today he was telling me that he was talking to some of his friends and that they had noticed a changed in him. They began to ask what had happened? I thought, “Wow! I know what comes next… he told about the decisions he had made.” But no, he said nothing to them about what had happened. He did say that when he sees them next month, if they cannot SEE the difference then they are blind. He wants them to SEE His new way of life, the change that God has made in him.

Happy Birthday Sam

2008-05-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

May 4 2008

Today is my son’s birthday and as I look back on the last two years it has gone very quick. I miss him a lot, but I can only tell you that I know that my wife and I believe that God’s hand has never been taken away. His love has been very evident and His promises have stayed true to us: ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.
Well we both love our Savior, our Father, our Helper, and through the things we have gone through we have seen HIS hand and we have tasted that HIS PURPOSES are good. We have tasted His kindness and that is why we continue to do what we do.
His will is perfect but the problem was that I was not willing to accept it. The other day my wife and I were talking, we both were saying we would not change anything in our lives. This was huge because of the emotions that we sometimes allow to control us. Of course there are things that we wished would have worked differently but… then there would also be people who would never have been impacted, people who would have never come to church or people who never would have taken that step of faith of receiving Christ. So to them God’s plan is perfect and so it should be for Jess and I. So we celebrate in the same way that God chose king David, Jacob, Joseph, Esther…ordinary people to reflect HIS will…we thank God that He chose us to be Samuel Patton Molina’s parents.

If you haven't seen Samuel's slide show heres the address!
http://www.frank.nu/samuel.html

His GIFT!

2008-04-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has taken me this long to let everyone know what wonderful things God has done. On Thursday of last week we found out that we were having a GIRL! I am so excited especially Gabriela, Especially because she will get to share all her clothes with her.

Anyways!! The search is on to find a beautiful name! So I will keep you updated on that!

My wife continues to be my hero… every morning she has to put a shot of heprin! That’s so that she does not get a clot. This baby I know will be reminded of the countless sacrifices.

I am reminded of the countless times my parents told me of how many sacrifices they made for me. I specially remember my mother telling me that I would not really understand the sacrifices, until I had a child of my own. Well that time has begun… I cant expect my four year old to understand the times I want to take that last sip of MY extra thick vanilla milkshake but instead I give it up for her to have, I do it because it brings me happiness to make her happy. The reason is because her joy brings me more satisfaction than the sip of milkshake… so could this be what God does with me?

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

As I look back to events in my life and see many things that happened to me, specially those that were life changing whether I thought they were good or bad back then...

NOW they are all HIS LOVING KINDNESS.

for example, I would not be here if I would have never been robbed at gunpoint four times in six months, or my family shot at!

Thank you God for your never ending KINDNESS, the blessings I get to see and those I don’t!

My Flame

2008-04-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

As I was writing about my daughters and my wife's craving I thought about what is one of my favorite things about Disney. Norway's "School bread" has to be one of the reason why I love Epcot. I was introduce to this about two years ago and the Norwegian server himself told me that was his favorite. From the outside it just looks like its a heart attack ready to happen... but the taste is just amazing! like the moth drawn to the flame, I am drawn to road side vendors and school bread. So if you ever want to make my day just get me one of this things.

Why is this the Happiest Place On Earth?

2008-04-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

MY WIFE'S CRAVINGS ARE FULFILLED!!!

MY DAUGHTER'S WISHES COME TRUE!!!

What about your sign?

2008-04-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Rick talked about serving this past weekend, and it really made me think about an individual who has really taken his ministry to the next level.

On Sundays, since we began a year ago, he goes and stands out in the road with this arrow and waves at passing cars. As time went by, we added a broom stick to the arrow so that it would be easier to hold it and wave. Then came the PVC pipes. As you can see, this was a well thought through item. It is so sturdy that an individual could lean on it and still wave.

Why would a volunteer spend all afternoon working on a sign?

Does this guy have too much time on his hands?

The truth is this, I am extremely grateful that our "sign guy" has given his all to what God has called him to do on Sundays! He understands his ministry. Not in the comfort of AC, but out in the Miami heat. I have never heard him complain. He has been faithful and always ready to do what no one else wants or is willing to do.

Truly, I am humbled and get encouraged that he has taken his ministry to the next level. I probably would have thought I was too good for that… just being honest…and you see because of that attitude, I may have never thought of improving my sign.

I know God looks at our heart; I know he looks at the passion and commitment that we have for HIM. His Word says in Hosea 6 that He desires loyalty or mercy rather than sacrifices…

So by looking at the SIGN it tells me of someone who is passionate and is committed to serving and making God’s passion theirs!

I want that… whatever I am doing I want HIS passions to be mine!

Oh by the way…

We have received many reports of people coming because of the signage that we have.

HIS WONDERS NEVER CEASE

2008-03-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well…

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

This is our 5 centimeter child! And everything looks great!

Translation

2008-03-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I heard a lot of wonderful comments from my daughter's prayer. I also heard from many people asking me what she meant by "And God … I hope my mommy has a baby boy… so that we can be two girls and two boys!”

So this is what it means in a a four year old's language:

Jessica and Brie = two girls

Myself and maybe a boy = two boys.

I hope this clarifies what she meant. Thanks for your continued prayer for us!

Brie's Prayer

2008-03-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight my daughter reminded me of how awesome the heart of a child is. She was praying and became very excited to let God know that she knew how to spell His son’s name…”I know how to spell your son's name. Wanna hear me? J-E-S-U-S, that’s your son's name. And you know what else God? I can spell your name too, G-O-D. Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And God … I hope my mommy has a baby boy… so that we can be two girls and two boys!”

Man I tell you …. I know that’s what God meant when He said we need to be as a child in order to come to HIM.
Humble
Honest
and
Teachable.
This is what God has from my daughter. My four year old has these, and so many times, in my life, I don’t have them!

So today, this is my prayer:
Lord remind me of who I am, I notorious sinner saved by grace.
Grant me the courage to always stay Honest and to trust in YOU,
and most importantly don’t ever let me stop learning. Continue to teach me each day!

God thanks for Your patience and your never ending LOVE!

Brie has something to tell you!

2008-03-10T11:39:00.001-07:00

I cannot tell you how excited and grateful I am! The only thing we have to work through is the fact that all the names Brie wants are Disney Princess names!

Afraid of Heights?

2008-02-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

This Morning I was reading Habakkuk 3 and I came across “A Hymn of Faith”. As I read I though about my life and my family and how our Faith is not dependant on circumstance, but yet the circumstances will bring me closer to God. OR will they? I know they should but sometimes I don’t want to get closer.

Verse 19 says that “The LORD God is my strength ; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and HE will make me walk on high hills.

So what this promises me is that even though it seems that I am going to fall God will make sure that he equips me and prepares me NOT to fall, but also My Faithful God will help me climb higher. So then I think… “But I’m afraid of heights! There is no way I am going to make it all the way up there with YOU LORD!”

But if I don’t climb I will not be able to see what HE wants me to SEE I will not learn what HE wants me to learn!

So today I choose to believe that God is who He said HE IS, FAITHFUL and climb to where HE is leading me.

I will not be afraid of Heights!

Thankful heart

2008-02-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I got the opportunity to go to El Salvador a week ago and it was an unbelievable experience. I went to one of the schools that my Father founded in 1995. I had gone to this school and visited in 2003 and I had an experience that I had forgotten but as I was walking through the school was reminded of it.
This school was established to minister to underprivileged children. These kids live with alcoholic parents in a one bedroom home and if they are lucky share one bed with the whole family. We took the student missions team to this school and we hosted a piñata party. It was exciting; these kids probably never had a party like that! We brought tons of candy and I just loved that feeling of putting a smile in the face of a child.
There came a point in this afternoon that I just happily gave all my candy away and just sat down just to ponder and thank God for this opportunity. What I had not noticed was that a kid had been watching me hand all the candy and during this time we locked eyes and I just smiled, held both hands out and said, ”sorry I don’t have anymore!” He came over and out of his pocket took out two pieces of candy and gave me one and kept the other. He then smiled and ran out and caught up to his friends and left me there with one piece of candy and a gracious heart.
This kid who I have no idea how often got free candy had given up half of his share… that night I remember just crying to God and saying thanks for the many blessing He had given me! Everything is HIS! God thank for that moment when that kid taught me what unselfishness is. That day I thought I was doing a huge thing, I thought I was doing a wonderful deed, But I was not giving up nothing that meant a lot to me, but I knew that, that candy was something that was special to that kid but yet he was willing to give it up for me and share it with me! WOW I want to have a heart like his!
A thankful heart!

The Ministry Amnesia

2008-02-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about our awesome volunteer leaders lately. It was just a year ago that we began in Homestead. We have had amazing leaders and seeing God minister to them has been awesome. I have seen leaders step out in faith, I have seen the fear of “ I am scared of doing this but I will do it”. It is at this points that God reminds us to fully trust in HIM.

So it is here that I came across Luke chapter 7:18-23. Here John the Baptist - the man who led the way for the Messiah, Jesus - the one who had Baptized Jesus…. had doubt! John had been thrown in prison and it was at this point that he began to doubt!

Can you imagine?

I would have answered … something like you are horrible I am disappointed! I cant believe you forgot what you already knew!!! How can you ever get to that POINT of doubting who I am? Did you not see what I was doing?

...But Christ in His loving and graceful way kindly replies to this;

“ Go and report to John what YOU have SEE and HEARD!”

So how does this apply to us? There are many volunteers who begin to serve and become deeply committed to the ministry. Then they begin to go through hardships… and in the midst of these hardship these doubt settles in… the thoughts of God… why is this happening? I mean was I not serving you?
So is it wrong for us to think this?
I don’t think so… I think it is something normal for us to go through… but we must NOT forget what we HAVE SEEN and HEARD!
It is when we forget that what we have SEEN and HEARD that our commitment level gets lowered!

Proud Father

2008-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

One of the songs that means the world to us is Matt Redman’s “ Blessed be the name of Lord” I have to tell you that it is not an easy song to read. The tune is great but when you are thinking about the words it really touches your conscience about meaning what you are singing.
About a year and half ago, Eric was speaking and he gave me the opportunity to share Samuel’s story to our church. It was such an opportunity because I always wanted to give hope to people or just like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:5 that the trials in our lives should bring comfort to others. That evening we showed Samuels life through the slide show and I gave a testimony on how God had been so faithful through this hardship. In one of the services was a family, which had struggled to get pregnant, and after many years they had gotten the opportunity, and became parents. Through out the service He heard Samuels story and in the end Manny realized where he was in His relationship with God and received Christ that evening. Manny wanted to tell us that night, what had happened, but he never got the chance. He also did not realize that I was on staff at the church, so he just thought I was a member of the church, and that there was no way he would be able to find out who we were.
Fast forward two weekends ago. The Lord put it in Sammy’s heart to ask Jessica to share a little testimony before we sang that song. So she shared a short story on how meaningful that song was. This clip was shown through out all our campuses and in Homestead, Manny was serving, being our cameraman, He then realized who we were and in that instance began to shake at the realization of How beautiful our God is.
I was told that Manny wanted to talk to me, so I went and as he began to tell me His story I began to weep. I began to just say thank you, Thank You!
There is another valuable lesson God has given me; it is a privilege to see Samuel’s impact. I know that there are people that go through worst things and don’t ever see God’s reason for that mishap. I don’t know if it is because they refuse to see His hand or God does not show it to them, but I am a true believer that all things work together for good. I am very grateful that He has led me to SEE HIS good hand in my family’s life especially in the short life of my son.

I know I am not supposed to be proud but I cannot help it.

If you have not seen my son’s life you can go to www.frank.nu/samuel.html

Happy New Year

2008-01-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

We had a huge blast for new years. We had about thirty people in our house and thanks to Corey Spencer and Hal Slayden we had enough fireworks to continuously pop them from 8 to midnight! We had a lot.

The most exciting time of the night, other than the midnight kiss that is, was seeing Luke Isaacs in a refrigerator box. He put the box as a barrier and ran around as people shot roman candles at him. It was so funny!

I also got to speak this past weekend at Palmetto and Homestead. It was really exciting and also it was an eye opener. I cannot imagine doing this every week. Hats off to Rick and Eric you guys rock! ( They are also my bosses)

There is a new resolution that I have brought into my life. The first is I am not going to buy anything over ten dollars other than the necessities (Gas, car parts, date night, and medical things) I just don’t NEED anything! I just have this habit of buying random things, just ask anybody! I just thank God I only spend $2.41 at starbucks for my misto with three splenda!

Conflict Resolution

2007-12-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-11-10T12:19:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

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?

2007-06-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

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!