UPDATE...

I have not done a lot of blogging in a long time. So lets do this. Here goes.

- I had an awesome but short weekend.
- I was supossed to meet a pastor friend of mine on Thursday, but he ended getting nasty flat tire and did not get home until 2 AM.
- I got a call on Thursday from a church leader asking if I could preach at his church this Wednesday (tomorrow). I said yes.
- My best friend and love all in one, Ruthie, and I went to Joe and Priscilla's wedding on Saturday afternoon. Congrats yall. Time to reproduce and fill the earth.
- Sunday! We went to Pastor Daniel Espinoza's church. I wore a sweater... It was kinda cold when I left the house. When we got there, I was told that the church was having service outside in a tent because hurricane Ike had flooded the sanctuary. So, then it got hot! Dang.
- Daniel took us to Pappas. Dude, thanks bro.
- My mother's birthday was on Monday.She does not read this, but Happy B-day mom!

Well, I have not preached in a while. But I will be doing so at an "apostolic" church tomorrow night.
We'll see how that goes over.

I got some people coming along with me.
Thanks, your support is welcomed...... and needed. Hehe.
I need to see some familiar faces

Preaching The Cross.

What a day!

Rainy and humid... Thank you Jesus.

Hey, if we can give thanks to Him when its cool and nice, we gotta thank Him when its... um.. ugly outside? Hehe.

Well, I finished reading "He is not Silent: Preaching in a Post Modern World" by Albert Mohler. The guy.. oh man. That man can break expository preaching down. Before finishing that one, I read "What is a Healthy Church" by Mark Dever... All I can say is Wow!

Because I loved the passion that these men have for a healthy church and biblical preaching... guess what I did today?

Yep, I walked into Lifeway Christian Bookstores and looked these guys up...

I was in for a TREAT, No tricks... Huh?

I guess Halloween came early. Haha..

Uh-oh. Watch out for the Religious people.

They'll have my head because I mentioned "Halloween". Hehe.

Anyway, I got a book that Mark Dever, ALbert Mohler, C.J Mahaney and Ligon Duncan wrote together.. The bits and pieces that I skimmed reading it, made me rush to the cashier and buy the book.

The title of the book is "Preaching The Cross"

Its dedicated "...For the next Generation of Preachers of the Cross." Oh man!

Gotta get back to that fundamental truth.

We have been so used to preaching about the power and the manifestaions of the Holy Spirit that we see in Acts... and thats ok, because 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,"

...but we have skipped over 4 major accounts of the humbling experience that Jesus endured to give us that power... which is the suffering of the cross.

Can preachers bring all their preaching back to the cross?

Can we bring everything back to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross?

Can we be reminded that we have 1 purpose in our preaching... and that is to "preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, " 1 Corinthians 1:23

Im going to enjoy this book.

Starbucks and Citizen Cope.

Its the weekend!
Wheew... Finally! Hehe.

I'm meeting a friend at Starbucks and go over Acts 1 to 5. Some call it the Birth of the Church... and I'm excited!
It's an awesome feeling that you have when you meet with people during the week and share the words of Jesus. You don't only get a sermon, but you also get prayer for people's needs.. and I tell you, prayer still works.

Later on today, Ruthie and I will go to a concert at the Verizon Wireless theater, where Citizen Cope will be singing. We got hooked to his song "Sideways" a long time ago... We found out that he was coming to Houston, so we bought the tix a couple of weeks ago. My girl is super-excited and I am excited too! Haha. No... We will have a good time. Any day with my love... is a good day.

So, everyone...
Good day!

Open the Bible.

I'm sitting at Starbucks right now... I came here after work to relax and wind down. What a day!
What I'm looking forward to tonight is one of my passions.

Last week, I met with some friends at their home to read the Bible and dissect the book of First John (Thanks Bill for the outline. Hehe).
Today I will go back to Josh's house and open the scriptures and go verse by verse and study them.
I enjoy getting together with people and opening God's word to read and explain what it says. God's word is amazing!

It helps you, it comforts you, it guides you... but it also convicts you, puts you to shame and reminds you that we are just sacks of dirt. Ooooh. Hehe.
It messes you up and stirs in you a change.

I'm excited for tonight.

The book and the date!

Well, I actually finished "What is a healthy Church?" by Mark Dever. What a book! I really enjoyed and took some things from it...
Here are the 9 marks of a healthy church and my thoughts are in parenthesis:

1. Expositional Preaching. (Lets get back to what Jesus has to say and not your bad feelings that you got when you woke up on Sunday morning concerning "that" pastor that dissed you. Hehe)
2. Biblical Theology. (we desperately need SOUND DOCTRINE)
3. A Biblical Understanding of the Gospel. (What really is the good news?)
4. A Biblical Understanding of Conversion. (People need to know what does Conversion hold you to)
5. A Biblical Understanding of Evangelism. (Is evangelism a department or a lifestyle. Oooh!)
6. A Biblical Understanding of Membership. (is there a need to BE a member of a church? Yep)
7. Biblical Church Discipline. (Umm, this chapter should be read by many people in church leadership... all I have to say. Hehe)
8. Biblical Discipleship and Growth. (The church has to grow in numbers but also in holiness, grace... Peter said, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord..." 2 Peter 3:18)
9. Biblical Church Leadership. (Elders and Deacons. Blows me away every time I read about this model of Leadership)

Well, I'm done with that one! Hehe.
All I know is that I will reference to that book many times in ministry and apply those marks to the church. We gotta be in healthy churches.

Switching the subject, I'm ready for the weekend!
I'm taking my lovely lady out on a date to a "surprise" restaurant and catch "Nights in Rodanthe" starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane (talk about a chic flick).
They say it is "The Notebook of 2008". We'll see.
Hopefully, Gere does not start forgetting Diane Lane at the end of the movie and I find myself sitting in the middle of the room with people crying all around me... Hehe.

Goodnight.

I have a Problem!

Ok... I have a Problem. I need some self-control in an area of my life. I really don't know why I do this. I am starting to act like I did before.

I am starting to read one particular book and have not even finished it when I pick up another book!

That's not a very good problem, because I get confused. Hehe.

No really, in all seriousness... I started reading "Elders and Leaders" by Gene Getz and got up to Chapter 10 and I picked up another book. This book is like a textbook because before reading every chapter of the book you must read large portions of Scripture. For example, a chapter from Titus where he talks about Elders in the church.. or Acts where Paul goes on his missionary trips. I only made it to Chapter 10. Ugh...

The next book that I picked up is called "He is Not Silent" by Albert Mohler.. This book deals with the art of Preaching in the Postmodern World and its one of those books that you really need to focus on what the author is trying to let you know. An amazing book that you will not understand if you are reading another book. In other words, I'm screwed.

This Monday, I was drawn to buy and start another book called "What is a Healthy Church?" by Mark Dever.
Dude, I should not have picked it up!

This book has only 120 something pages (small and short). This book answers the question of what is a healthy church and how can you tell that it is. Its one of those books that once you start reading you get momentum and suddenly I'm halfway done with the book... a very practical book.

So, I am reading about Church Leadership, Preaching, and Church Growth, along with my daily reading of 1 John. I need to focus, right about... NOW!

Pray for me.
I think Ill finish "What is a Healthy Church" first, then work my way up.
I need to stop buying books.

Did you know that Mark Driscoll came out with a new book called, "Death by Love -Letters from the Cross"?

Uh-oh.

Fema Pod on Saturday.

What a weekend!

I tell you, when you have electricity in your house... when your TV works, when you can charge your phone, when you can flick the light switch on and the light comes on in your closet, we sometimes forget what it is not to have that luxury. Well, because of Hurricane Ike, my family and millions of other homes in the Southern part of Texas did not have that luxury. We were without power for 6 days, until all the lights came on Friday around 2 AM. Thanks Jesus.

Saturday morning, I decided to go to a FEMA POD and help out by passing ice. I loved it. Its priceless the look on people's faces because they are getting a couple of bags of ICE.

I got to meet so many people that were volunteers. I met a guy that his power had not even been turned on and he decided to come out and help.

I met 2 Hispanic guys that were there volunteering and went to Lakewood Church (Spanish service, of course).

To see so many cultures and races... so many types of people with different backgrounds really sets your perception on another level concerning "your community."

I think I will do it again this Saturday coming up.
Wanna join me?

Let's see if they have the PODs up this weekend... then we'll go.