Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Marine, Thanks, United States Marine Corps, Valor, War in Afghanistan
After seeing this picture of a Marine barely escaping his death in Afghanistan. I once again realize how our military continues to confront evil to protect the freedoms we enjoy. Even though the war is winding down in Iraq; the war is getting more intense in Afghanistan. So please, please continue to pray for our troops and thank you to every man and woman that serves their country so valiantly!
July 13: A Marine of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade runs to safety moments after an IED blast in Garmsir district of Helmand Province in Afghanistan (AFP).
Filed under: Christmas Project, Church, Family, LOVE, Personal, Uncategorized | Tags: C3 Feed the Families, Christmas, Feed the Families
Alright I know I haven’t blogged forever. Well it’s only been a week and a half but it seems like forever. I have been a busy man joining my wife and helping out her company with the holiday season. It’s been fun and totally different, plus a few extra bucks in the old bank account is an added bonus. Let me start out with the week in review, starting with church last Sunday.
Last Sunday we wrapped up the “Feed the Families” Christmas initiative and it was an incredible success. We had so many of the families come to C3 to visit and we were blessed beyond measure. I believe that the families enriched our lives more than we ever expected. We had almost 800 people in attendance and the atmosphere was just electric. We had more than 20 decisions to become Christ-Followers and a ton of first-time guests. I thank God that I am part of a movement that has a desire to really reach out to the community and in turn change people’s lives.
Secondly it is Christmas. This time of the year is my favorite just like most people. This year has had its challenges but it’s been rewarding nonetheless. Usually my family loves to give presents to each other and enjoy the whole spirit of giving. This year it is even more meaningful because our family wanted to do more than just give gifts to each other. This year as an entire family we made the choice to give to charity what we would have spent on each other. Obviously this is what we as a family felt we wanted to do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving presents to each other but we were just blessed this year in such hard times to give to others. This has made this Christmas especially meaningful and fulfilling for us.
As 2008 rapidly comes to a close I thank God for the many things He has done in my life, our family and our church. He has truly moved and enriched our lives. I look forward to 2009 and the great things God has in store for us in the coming year.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Filed under: Uncategorized
I have the privilege to serve on the Management Team of, in my opinion, the best church on Earth! Yes, I am biased but that’s OK. It doesn’t mean that other churches are not good it just means that I love mine the most just like I love my wife the most.
Creativity and innovation guided and led by the Holy Spirit are embraced and used to present God’s words. Not every church is led like this and so I feel fortunate that I get to work at a church that flows like this. We love “sermon series” at C3. We have done numerous series on numerous topics over the past several years ranging from the family, relationships, fears, religion, love and the list goes on and on. Each of the series we do is an in depth look at what God has to say about the particular topic and good practical application of how we can take “what God says” and integrate that into our lives.
So naturally we get excited about any (every last one of them) new sermon series that we believe will have an incredible impact in people’s lives. Which leads me to talk about the new series starting on Sunday. Starting this week Pastor Byron will be kicking off the new sermon series entitled “Hey Jude”. This series will impact your life to the core. We are also doing something new in this series. During the week we will have a daily thought on the sermon that Pastor Byron preached on Sunday. You will be able to go to this BLOG everyday and read a post based on Pastor Byron’s sermon. Sounds pretty cool, right?
So get ready C3’ers for the sermon series, “Hey Jude”! Don’t miss it!
It’s been a little while since I blogged but I have a few minutes so I am going write down a few thoughts. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. We had another great Sunday of preview services at C3 this last weekend. If I ever thought that things would get easier as we get a few weeks under our belt doing portable church I was completely mistaken. There is more work than ever with a whole set of new challenges.
Probably the biggest challenge right now is a space issue. We are occupying six theaters plus two other rooms at Regal and we are already having space issues. The main issue is our worship services. We have jumped so much in attendance it is forcing us to make decisions to facilitate our growth much faster than we had anticipated. I tell you that so that I can say this. This and the other issues that we are having to tackle are good problems to have. Growth, rapid growth is a great issue to deal with. Mean, hateful, spiteful, disloyal people are horrible issues to deal with. Over the past few years it seems like our focus (not by our choice) has been to deal with mean Christians that did not want to follow God’s word by coming under the leadership that God had appointed over them. Instead of being focused on others and reaching the lost they were focused on their traditions and what “they” wanted. I am so glad that the people that needed to move on have and now our entire focus is on reaching the lost for Christ.
Who would have thought that “Connecting the Community with Christ” would be so controversial. I thank God, He has brought us through it and is blessing C3 with so many new believers. It is a blessing to leave the ninety and nine for the one. The one that is lost. Just like Pastor Byron said on Sunday. Can you see it, can you see them?
This is the new sermon series at C3 starting on January 20th. It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship. Losing My Religion.
Filed under: Uncategorized
In a couple of weeks I will partake in the annual celebration of my birth. I’m not one who wants any fuss. (Unless it is an 80’s themed roller skating party to which everyone would be invited!) I will usually tell Darrell specifically not to do anything to draw attention to that day. (I will also refrain from posting the date in this blog… it will remain a mystery!) Regardless of however little or much commotion is made of the day one thing always remains true for me. Birthdays are always a day of reflection for me as well as a time to set goals for the future.
Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a planner. My life is on a very strategic timeline. We all have come to the realization that life doesn’t always go according to plan but there is something to be said for setting some goals and striving to meet them. God has a way of reconfiguring the things I do though.
The main reason for liking my life on a timeline is that it is neat and tidy. (That is a whole other obsessive-compulsive disorder I have in and of itself… love neat and tidy!) I really think I had succumb to the whole “you can never over-plan” philosophy. But what happens when God throws you the proverbial curve ball? I think a symptom of the timeline lifestyle is there isn’t a lot of time left over to enjoy the things that are going on now. God has a way of reminding me not to take the here and now for granted. What is He teaching me now that I would not be able to see if my eyes are only focused on the next and later?
My tendencies to plan come from a place of thinking that if everything is already set up then nothing can fail. With failure comes disappointment and sadness. The problem with this is that if the plans are only “Andrea-made” then I have set myself up for failure because without Christ I can do nothing. I gotta lay it down. I love that God has given me the ability to cry as He is showing me things. I used to be very hard, closed off and lacking any outward emotion. Crying used to be cowardly to me. I was confirmed in my gratitude for tears tonight as I read Ecclesiastes. I love how the message translation puts it in chapter 7. “Crying is far better than laughing. It blotches the face but it scours the heart. Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving. Fools waste their lives in fun and games…. Endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out.” I long for more wisdom and discernment from the Lord. I know He has Darrell and I exactly where He wants us but sometimes I want to see more results sooner. I fail to realize that sticking to it is better than standing out at times. We have all heard that perserverance builds character but, you know what, sometimes I don’t want to perservere. I want INSTANT GRATIFICATION so I can move onto the next project on my calandar! That is what our society tells us we deserve… even the church has fallen under a hyper-prosperity doctrine. What is wrong with me? I am realizing that I need to put my timeline down and focus on the here and now. Here- C3 Church reaching and connecting Orlando to Christ like never before. Now- Almost 200 new believers that are a part of my family that I will spend eternity with. Lord, scour my heart even if I have to cry a million more tears. I want to grieve for those who are lost and hopeless without you even if it means missing a thousand of my self-gratifying deadlines. The only hour that matters is the last. Lord thank you for the promise of the end being far better than the beginning. With that promise I live in the now.
loveworshiplovelife 