A Saturday in Miami

My mother-in-law Myrna drove down to Miami this past weekend to enjoy a couple of days off. After cooking pan seared tilapia with a cilantro sauce that I made up (my wife’s favorite) we decided to head off to the Deering Estate in Palmetto Bay. As soon as we got there we witnessed a Hindu wedding ceremony right from its start. It looked awesome, the colors, the music, the energy. This is a picture of the groom in its horse riding down the path to meet his bride….

Sadly, this is the God whom they were also venerating…

The weirdest rendition of an elephant that I have ever seen.

One of the things that impressed me was the spiritual emphasis of the whole ritual. They invoked the presence of a God to purify and cleanse the event. They continued with more traditions throughout the ceremony, which by the way, was going to last 4 days.

After watching this unfold I thought to myself how did these people come to believe in a God that they crafted out of bronze? It was so sad. So sad that they believe in a God who doesn’t exist. So sad they are deceived by the devil into thinking that this elephant will give their life meaning. So sad that this couple would begin to build their marriage on such shaky foundation. So sad that probably very few people will tell them about Jesus…

I saw them and said nothing. I just watched. I respected their beliefs. I wondered when will be the time that they will hear the gospel.

God @ work in CF West Kendall

We have prayed that God would open up doors for us to reach the community in the city of West Kendall (which by the way is not officially a city because it hasn’t been labeled that, but theoretically is just like one). In any case, God has given us two huge opportunities to serve in the city.

1. Next Friday night, May 9th, we will be playing a concert right in front of the doors of the Regal Cinemas at the West Kendall village. Why is that an awesome opportunity? because hundreds of people go to the movies on Friday night and because it is one of the most happening places in West Kendall. Make sure you save that date on your calendar!
2. May 17th and 18th, Regal theaters have asked us to do something awesome INSIDE the theater. We will host a family fun fest both days for the Chronicles of Narnia movie “Prince Caspian”. That means we will decorate the whole lobby, ticket booth, do stations for the kids etc. How awesome is that? that is God allowing us to change, to intervene, to be part of culture.

Lastly, remember how I played at that storytelling festival just 2 weeks ago?… for the Chronicles of Narnia family fest we will now have a station for kids with professional storytelling!

Its just amazing to see how God puts things together. He’s in control of everything. Make sure you come check out the concert on May 9th! and bring your kids to the family fun day at the theater!

I called Kinsey - Lindsey.

One of the most amazing volunteers at the West Kendall campus is Kinsey Moore. She has stepped it up big time, I mean she has been an incredible piece to the set up puzzle at West Kendall. That being said, we set up at 6:00 am which means that sometimes our brains are not fully functional. This past Sunday, my brain said “Lindsey could you pass me that microphone” in a very loud voice and I immediately realized I had called Kinsey by another name. She got mad… however, she sang extremely well and later went on to forgive me for the blunder. Have you ever called a good friend by another name?

The international storytelling festival #1

This is a long post. At Christ Fellowship we want to serve the community in any way that we possibly can. As a worship leader this means that we can help serve the community using music. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I was invited to play at the International Storytelling festival held by “Cuenteros and CO” where a myriad of storytellers from the Americas came together to tell stories. It was Vivian Perea’s idea (Vivian is a coworker at church and awesome person) She actually became a storyteller and that’s how she was able to help me get plugged in at the event. In any case, the event so far has been awesome, the storytellers are phenomenal…its definitely an art that has to be fostered in our community. Today, Abiel Mir (downtown worship leader) came by and led the set … he also brought some friends who thoroughly enjoyed the evening. One of the storytellers actually asked me to improvise some music to her story, that was fun. Finally, it was awesome to see the name Christ Fellowship printed in the program. We were the “music sponsors.” I’m glad that we serve in a church that lives outside its walls…
Here are some pics from the event… By the way, baby, you’re the best wife ever.

Worship Night - Diversity

When I see this picture I see a picture of diversity. So many different cultures represented on the stage, so many feelings, backgrounds, but one purpose and one mission…To worship God and to bring people to Christ in the city of Miami. I am so excited to be part of this movement… Praise God!

I thank God for our leadership and the focus that God has instilled upon them. Let’s keep going, let’s continue to seek after God, let’s continue to worship our Saviour with everything that we have.

Prosperity Gospel

I grew up in a church culture that believes in the prosperity gospel. “Your business not doing great? You must be far away from God”… I wondered how Bill Gates kept making so much dough…
Check out this vid, got it from Fee’s website.

What’s your take on it?

Worship Night

I’m so pumped about what’s next in our worship ministry. We are going to hold a live CD/DVD recording on April 12th Saturday night with all original songs from the CF Worship Leaders. Save the date, it’s gonna be awesome!

Evidence of change…

Sometimes its hard to keep track of the transformation and the work that God does on our lives. I sat down to think how He has worked in my life and I find myself wowed by the insane changes and blessings that he’s decided carry out in my life… Some of these evidences are tangible, I can point to some incredible things that I can touch and that point to His love, His existence, my relationship with Him, etc. But perhaps the most telling is the change within, the change that He’s made in my heart… I thought “Why do I want to help do such and such?, or where does this drive to serve come from?” or “how come I don’t struggle with such and such anymore?”… Anyways… it hit me hard. He really changed me, like, He’s changed my desires, my thoughts, its crazy.

These verses in Romans 8 struck me…

5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires … 9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

The launch!

Our official launch is here! This weekend we get our one chance to launch CF West Kendall. It’s exciting for many different reasons (in no order of importance)…

1. Change in the WK. West Kendall is densely populated and there really aren’t a lot of churches, so a lot of people are about to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s why we do what we do.
2. The theater is made for sound… Our band on Sundays looks like this right now: a bassist, 2 electric guitarists, drummer, acoustic, lead singer, and backup vocals. They are awesome. We really are praying for a keyboard player, if you know anyone, let me know. More on them in the next couple of blogs…
   • From the start we pray that the worship atmosphere will be awesome. I mean I want fervent worship in CF West Kendall.
3. The leadership team… I love working with my leaders, they are awesome. Did I mention the campus directors are volunteers?
4. The volunteers… Incredible. The commitment and passion week after week is amazing, I’m encouraged and humbled by their attitude.
5. The learning experience… I think I want to write a book about a theater church.
6. I get to serve with my wife along my side… (Children’s Director) She is pretty incredible.

There are so many more, please pray for the team that God will give us the endurance, passion and determination to do His work out in this city. The best is yet to come.

Pursuit

I think that in our pursuit of God we may stumble upon some crazy ideas don’t you think? Anyways, happy Valentine’s Day to all.  CF West Kendall kicks off this weekend! See you there!