My Worship Revolution

Last night in life Group, as we have been going through Ephesians in our current series "Identity Theft," we talked about the truth that you are not what you do.  Your job, your actions, your past do not identify you.  You are who you are in Christ.  It hit me that when we come to that place, we can be who we’ve been called to be even when everything else gets taken away from us suddenly.

At the end of the night, Hector asked us to pray for Ruben.  Ruben has been coming to Revolution for a couple weeks now.  Ruben rides the bus to church.  Ruben is homeless.  Hector has had the chance to get to know Ruben because he lives in the parking lot near Sturdy Furniture, our churches ministry where Hector works.  I found out that Ruben used to be a major league pitcher.  He busted his shoulder, I figure losing his "identity", and life went sideways.

But lately, he has been coming to our church.  He even dumped out a whole bottle of beer because he couldn’t bring it on the bus.  But he wanted to come to church.  Rachel and her mom were at Sturdy on Sunday, and he was so excited to invite them to ride the bus and come to church.  I truly believe, as does Hector, that God is doing something huge in Ruben’s life.  I am so thankful that we have a church community that has allowed him to come and be with us.

I found out last night that Ruben had a stroke yesterday morning.  I don’t know how he’s doing.  I don’t know where he is.  If I find out, I’ll update you.  Please pray for him.  Pray for his health.  Pray that he would continue to draw closer to God.  I thanks Jesus in advance for the work He has began that I believe He will finish.

How many more Reuben’s are there out there?  How many people have lost so much because of their loss of identity?  How many people just don’t know who they are created to be as children of the king of the universe?  How many of them never find out because we are scared to talk to them?  I thank God for our bus ministry and the work they are doing.  I thank God for a place that Reuben can feel safe to be and to seek.

UPDATE: Got this e-mail from the folks at Sturdy today:

Ruben is doing better, He did fall on his face and broke his nose during his seizure.It looks like he will be getting out of the Hospital By the end of the week..If any one would like to visit or call him , he is @ Lakewood Regional medical center…Under Ruben Alvarez…. Let’s Keep praying for him and encourage him, him when we do see him on sunday !!!!

A good start, however, is the e-mail I found in my inbox when I got online this evening.  That’s right friends, after quite a dry spell, I’m back in the game with win #5 at inBubbleWrap.  Check out the book below.  Catch y’all again soon!

[more info]

So I really haven’t posted anything on my blog in the past about my TV addictions. Luckily, all my shows just ended so hopefully I’ll have more time for real life. I do believe though, that the greatest TV show ever to grace the screen of homes across America is 24. During the season I spend my whole week looking forward to getting home from class Monday night to find out what wonders Jack will perform next.

I have seen many great posts concerning Jack Bauer (including a recent post by Jamie). Just today, though, I read a post by Mark Driscoll depicting Jack as a type of Christ. This is something I’ve always known, but never put my finger on it quite the way Mark did. You gotta check out the post: 

With the fifth and arguably best season of the hit television show 24 now concluded, Jack Bauer can take a much needed shower, get something to eat, and power up his cell phone battery which magically lasts forever. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I would like to offer the suggestion that perhaps 24 is incredibly popular because Jack Bauer is a lot like Jesus, as the following correlations indicate: [read more]

Man…I can’t wait for next season to start!!!

Today was a great day:

6:30 am – Surfing at Bolsa Chica State Beach

11:00 am – Spork (church picnic): Fried chicken, flag football, and volleyball at Heartwell Park on a gorgeous summer day with a couple hundred great friends.

5:00 PM – A quick dip in the Platt’s pool to beat the heat (what was left of it anyway).

8:30 pm (now) – Having pizza with some friends at the pad. 
We’ll probably pop in Pirates of the Carribean tonight, during which I’ll get in a little cat nap (seen it MANY times…and love it!) 

After that I’ll finish up some stuff for tomorrow morning, spend a little time with Jesus, and get some sleep for tomorrow.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a fun, active day with lots of friends.  I think it’s been a pretty refreshing day for an extrovert like me, even if it has been slightly tiring and I have a sunburn.  Life is good.  I’m gonna go join the friends for some pizza now.

Right now I’m sitting in the office…errrrrr…single wide trailer. There’s no AC and it has been blazing today! (I’m actually not wearing a tie like the guy in the picture…nor does our trailer look anything like that.) All the windows are open and we have like a seven foot fan for drying carpet and stuff on one side of the room. It’s not helping much.
All that to say…Approximately 13 days til moving day! I can’t wait to be in an air conditioned office! It’s a nice large "ministry center" as opposed to 5 of us all packed into one small half of a dingle wide trailer! It’s amazing how much you don’t appreciate the little things (like AC) until you don’t have em!

You have to check out this video we taped to promote Spork this weekend.  Dave took his chickens into a few restaurants to see if they would fry them up for the picnic. Click on the link below to watch.  And be sure to join us this Saturday from 11-3 at Heartwell Park…free chicken!

A few weeks ago, Rachel and I were driving home late on a Saturday night, so we decided to turn on our friend Mike‘s radio show.  I decided to call in for fun when they were doing a giveaway, not expecting to win, and next thing you know I had won tickets for Spirit West Coast.

Unfortunately we couldn’t do the whole weekend, but Friday afternoon we took off for San Diego to catch the night I was most interested in anyway, a set by David Crowder Band, a message from Francis Chan, and then Jeremy Camp.

I figured I am probably the only worship leader left who hadn’t seen Crowder live.  Wow, I thought they were great.  Music was awesome, great time of worship, and David Crowder is such a cool kickback guy.  Really fun to listen to.  That was definitely the highlight.  Francis Chan was pretty good, but it really is just a tough venue to try and give a message at.

Finally we saw Jeremy Camp.  I’ve seen him two other times in the past, once leading worship at Calvary Chapel, and then in the afternoon at Fish Fest one year.  This was a WAY bigger production than those two.  The lighting was amazing and I had no idea how big Jeremy Camp has become.  It was a good show, but to be honest, I think my favorite part of the concert was when he just stood there with his guitar, shared his heart a little, and sang of few great songs. 

Anyway, that’s my quick review on that night.  It was nice to get away for an evening for some good music and a time of worship, too.  Ran into several different people from several different points of my past.  Pretty cool.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, at the end of the night we went to a comedy show to see Ron McGehee who should be performing at an event we will be having this summer called "Hilarious."  He was really funny and I am looking forward to that comedy and music night in August.

Last night was a blast! I think we had around 150 volunteers show up to eat, laugh, be appreciated and dance the night away at our ministry appreciation dinner/80’s prom. The outfits rocked and I know a lot of people really enjoyed the evening.
I think one of the most fun parts for us as a staff/lead team (at least for me) was being able to perform the 80’s medley we put together for everyone. If you weren’t able to join us, we performed a number rewiting the words to Down Under, Whip It, Thriller, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Like a Virgin (featuring Charlie and the parking cones), and Footloose. We made total fools of ourselves and it was worth every bit. Here’s a couple of prom photo’s taken at the dance courtesy of Dave Peeters last night.

Me and my lovely wife.

A portion of our life group that was rockin last night.

Check out a whole bunch of other pictures (and some great outfits) ast Dave’s website [click here]. And congrats to Jerry Stout, who never did have his own prom and was crowned Prom King along with Paula Chism as the Prom Queen.

Anyway, it was just a blast. I really am so appreciative of every one of the people who give so many of their gifts in order to serve Christ. I am also so thankful for all the other staff around me who are so passionate and dedicated in doing what God has made them to do.

Afterward, several of us cruised over to our place and watched some old school MJ videos, starting with Thriller. (Thanks Jenny!) Wow that man was such a genius!!

Thanks again to all of you who showed up last night and made it a "Totally Cool Night to Remember"!

UPDATE: Here’s a couple extra fun pics I had e-mailed to me. Enjoy!

In light of my last post and our upcoming 80’s prom, some of you may want to brush up on your moves by checking out this video. If nothing else, it will provide a fun walk down memory lane!
[Thanks to Jeff Toussieng for the e-mail!]

 
This coming Sunday night we will be having a big 80’s prom as a fun night to appreciate all the people who have helped out regularly in the past year. If you are one of those people and didn’t get an invite for some reason, make sure you let us know so you can be in on the fun.
As I was getting some stuff ready for Sunday, I came across this webpage. Thought some of you might appreciate it. Here’s a few of my favorites:
You might be a child of the 80’s if…

• You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
• You wore a banana clip or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
• You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
• You know what "psych" means.
• You know who Max Headroom is.
• You know, by heart, the words to any "Weird" Al Yankovic song. (I know I’m not alone on that one!)
• You ever had a Swatch Watch.
• You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
• 3 words: "Atari" "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?
• You were shocked and horrified at the Challenger explosion (which you were probably watching in school at the time). (I totally remember watching that at school)
• You ever dressed to emulate a person you saw in either a Duran Duran, Madonna, or Cyndi Lauper video. (I’m sorry to say, I actually did that with Michael Jackson…but that’s a whole different story.)
• You have ever called 867-5309.
• You had a poster of Rob Lowe, Kirk Cameron, or Michael J. Fox on your wall. (BOP magazine?)
• You remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever possibly get better special effects than those in the movie TRON.
  [read more]

Hopefully that helps some of you get in the groove for Sunday night. Anything you would add?