Epicenter.

For a couple of weeks, I have been following this guy on myspace. (No, not stalking). After requesting his friendship and doing the whole myspace procedures to become his friend, we started to communicate.

I found out that he is a churchplanter and is launching a church in the State of Arizona. Wow! I have hope. Hehe. I found someone who is doing things in a radical way.

I had the pleasure of talking with him over the weekend and it went great. We clicked and hit it off to an awesome converstaion (My girlfriend says that I need friends. Hehe).

Anyways, they will be launching their first services in a theater. Their name of the church is Epicenter. If you don't know the meaning of that word, look it up in the dictionary. I found out a couple of definitions for the word. I liked this one.
Epicenter:

"A point, directly above the true center of disturbance, from which the shock waves of an earthquake apparently radiate."

There will be a church (Epicenter) that will be the center of disturbance!
There will be a church (Epicenter) that will send shock waves to the people of Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler (Am I missing a city?) and let them know that Jesus still saves!
There will be a church (Epicenter) that will be the beginning point of an eartquake of love, grace and salvation!

You go Josh!
Can you tell I'm kind of excited? Hehe.

Epicenter will have their lauch services in the theatre starting on Janury 6th. They will be bringing sexy back! (Free publicity, Josh. Hehe).
For more info: Go here.

Be there.
I'm out.

SUNDAY THOUGHTS.

Today was a good day!

Church of Champions did not need me to go to Starting Point to preach their Sunday service... so I slept in. Wow! It felt good!
But I missed Starting Point... Really I did. After preaching there for 2 months, I get attached to the people, and I kind of missed them today.

I woke up fresh though and headed over to Iglesia de Campeones to preach for their spanish service. It was awesome! I totally felt confident... and I feel good about what was preached. Thanks to Jesus.
I really love the leadership of Pastor Rios Sr. He has been my pastor for the most part pf my life since I was a kid. I have learned so much from him. After the service, we all went out to Olive Garden and ate and talked. He talked about his early trials in ministry back in the 1980s. Awesome stories. And to think, that people are been blessed by the gifts that God has put in him is unbelievable.

He once told me something that has never left my mind when I think about ministry.
I take this to heart everytime that there is an oppportunity in ministry. Here it goes:
A Lawyer put his mistakes in Jail.
A Doctor puts his mistakes in the Grave.
A preacher puts his mistakes in Hell.

What a responsibility we have!

It takes 4 years to get a bachelor's.
It takes 6+ years to become an engineer.
It just takes someone to raise their hand and say, "Here I am. I will go." to take Jesus' message to people that are in need.
(OK. let me clarify something here. I am all for education, ok? That was not the point of the phrase. All I'm saying is that it's easier to become a preacher than... Never mind, think what you want. Hehe).

I loved it today, but there is some things brewing in my heart. Anyone who reads this... please stop reading for a moment and pray that Jesus will guide me towards His will.

Don't pray with a hidden message.
"Jesus, please make Tony realize that he is wrong."
Haha. No, do't pray like that.
Pray like this,
"Jesus, let your Will be done in Tony's life."

Thanks for your prayers.

The Right Church?

I believe that I am in a transition mode in my life right now. Actually, I've been in transition for the most part of this year. It's been crazy. I've experienced:
-The loss of friends.
-Sitting down for months in church not doing anything at all (the most frustrating ever).
-The lack of a father (mentor) figure in my life.
-Leaving a church that I called a home. ("Leaving" is putting it lightly).
-Finding out who I really am.
-Trying my hardest to accomplish things in my personal life.

All that to say this... it has been a challenging year. It has (Can I reflect?).
What I am battling right now is this...
I need to find a place of worship. I need to find a church.
There. I said it.
I've been battling with this for a very long time. A very long time. More than 6 months.
I have been going to church every Sunday. At first, I sat and relaxed at Church of Champions for a while. I helped out at Starting Point for almost 3 months. I also helped out Iglesia de Campeones as well.

Church of Champions has been good to me. They have helped my ministry in ways they are unaware of. I thank God for them.
Iglesia de Campeones has also helped me as well. Listening to a guy who pastored me since I was born... and still feeling the intensity of his preaching is so awesome. Full of revelation and understanding. I am blessed.

It comes down to this, I told my mentor...
-I need to plant a church
or...
-I need to be involved in planting a church.
or...
-I need to be in a church that is practicing a church-planting metality.

I have been almost agonizing in pain to find a place that is theologically conservative and culturally liberal.
Yes, I said liberal. Is that a sin?

There are not many churches in Houton, Tx. that preach Jesus and also are reaching people in this culture.
This city needs a revolution, I tell you. This city is full of wacked out churches. Let me explain.

We got the legalist churches:
-Ladies... you better wear long stockings when you sing on the stage. (Hehe. That's funny.)
-Men... you must wear a suit and tie to church or else you are not saved... Make that a white shirt. Tucked in. Ironed.

Then, we got the liberal churches:
-There is no sense of commitment. The building is so huge that you can literally walk in and out whenever you want to. No one is accountable. That happens in small and big churches.
-Instead of preaching Jesus, they teach on eating organic foods. It's cool, but at least mention Jesus. Call people to repentance.
Get the picture?

I'm just desperate.
Does anyone know of a church?
A church that is preaching Jesus.
A church that is reaching people.

3 Things I would do differently in Youth Ministry

I worked full time as a youth pastor at a church that I used to attend. After that, I volunteered for the most part as the youth pastor.

We had a great team... a great staff. I remember sitting down for hours coming up with a name for the youth ministry. We believed "identity" was neccessary for this ministry.

We came up with names like... H2O, Elevate, The Dot.
We decided to name our youth ministry Zero Image.

We had failures. Many of them. But I can boast (brag) on the accomplishments that we had as well.
Paul brags. Let me brag.
We had weekly Wednesday services. We had 2 awesome summer camps.
We began in May 2004 with 25 people. In 2 months, we had around 50 young people.
At that time, that was explosive for me. I was 18. Hehe (Revival).

A couple of days ago, I started thinking about things that I would differently in Zero Image.
Here are 3 things I would have done differently.

1). We would have more excellent Follow Up.
We had a follow up system set up. We sent a letter and a phone call every week after a young person visited our Wednesday service. We would follow up with that person just for that week only. It was pretty good. But I would do it a bit differently now. This is what we would do: After following up with them the first week, and not seeing them again for 1 month, we would send another letter ("Missing You") and another phone call.

2). We would create Strategic, Organized, Consistent small groups.
I believe in the positive results of small groups. I just had to state that. Hehe.
Believe it or not, young people will go where there is a vision. I remember seeing this in Zero Image all the time. The most rebellious teen would listen to Jesus' word and be driven by it. What we would do different would be this. We would make a good move towards small froups. Sarting at the church location, we would meet in small groups. After a while of success, we would move some groups to the homes (the producing and faithful ones). The result would be to see the young people in different locations throughout the city in small groups. Little by little does it... cougar. Key words are: Strategic. Organized. Consistent. You will never get anywhere without a strategy (a plan of action). That plan has to be well organized. When that strategy is organized, you have to be consistent and you will experiece success.

3. We would establish a better Discipleship process.
Young people have the power and potential to commit. Let's not undermine them. When they decide to follw Jesus, there must be a process to disciple them. What we would do different is this: We would work alongside the small groups (not so much though). This is what we would mostly do: We would teach the Bible everytime. We would teach Jesus all the time. If you hang around Jesus daily (like the disciples), you are bound to learn something a nd be a true follower of Jesus.

There are more things that I would do differently.
These are only 3.

Since the church that I worked at had a certain culture, these are the detailed approaches I would take.
But I believe that I would do these things in any youth ministry.
The approaches might be different though.

What do you say?
Got any more suggestions to this list?
What would you do in youth ministry?

»Just wondering...

I just wonder.
Right now I am in a wondering mood.
I mean, sitting at Panera Bread, after some of the best soup around... and some piano playing in the background...
Who would not be relaxed?
I just wonder.

What if someone gets a radical idea of starting a church in Houston, Tx?
A church that serves the community... A church that the city asks for help when its people are in need.
You get that?
The church doesn't ask for help... the city asks for the church's help.

A church that lets anyone come to its services... gatherings... celebrations.
Teenagers, college students, young married couples... old people.
Hey, come on... everybody!

What if someone could launch a church that would get away from the traditional and the routine?
A church that would do things so different that religious people would criticize and the unsaved would meet Jesus.

What if this church would not be personality driven... but a team of teaching pastors would care for it?

What if this church would be able to launch with 150- 200 people in its frist service?
Am I thinking too small?

A church that would not get comfortable and stop growing when it reaches the maximum number of 350 members... Haha!
Seriously, not to poke fun at anyone, but most churches in the Houston area... as soon as they hit 400, they feel that they are the church model. Hehe.
400 people? That should be your volunteers!
Let me remind you, I am not mocking anyone. I am just asking... what if?

What if this church would open different campuses in Houston... maybe some satellite campuses? in schools, theaters... and you're going to like this... in the clubs?
Uy no! Haha. (Narrow minded people. Get out of your box).

What if some young kid in his 20s with no pastoral experience, no Ph D., no nothing, would be able to gather other young men... other families and launch a revolution of church planting in this city of Houston?

I believe it. One day.

You might say, "Well then, stop dreaming and start doing!"
To that I tell you, "Slow down cougar, slow down."

If you want to be a part of this revolution... please be praying for it.
If you want to be part of a team that will DOMINATE this city for Jesus' glory, pease be praying for it.
I believe that people will come out of nowhere to stir one of the greatest times of our generation in Houston, Tx.
I don't just feel it. I know it.
It is just a matter of time... of putting certain order in our lives... of organizing a couple of things... of gathering candidates that need Jesus do something big in their lives.

For the others, I pray for you.

I was just wondering.
Can you help me woder too?

What if...? Hehe.
What do you think?

»STARTING POINT UPDATE

As you all know... it has been a pleasure to be at Starting Point Church every Sunday to help out in the pulpit, preaching.

These last 2 1/2 months have served me as an awesome experience.
Today, we went into our 3rd teaching with the title, "A Disciple Of Jesus Breaks Bread."
Hopefully, next week will be the econclusion of our series, "The Simple Journey Of A Disciple."
It has been great.

We will be talking about evangelizing... going out and telling others about Jesus.
It will be awesome.

I am so glad that I have helped Starting Point as a preacher. I'm looking forward to continue helping. I believe that there are people at the church that have a huge potential and can do something in their community.

I am excited.
Please pray for me.
I will be meeting with the leadership of Church of Champions. They have taken an interest in the gift that God has given me and I hope that I can use it for his glory.
I don't know in what way I will be helping them out, but I look forward to hearing them out and making a good decision.
Please pray for me.

Either it be helping Starting Point's pulpit for a couple of more weeks or just using me to help somewhere else, I am willing to listen to them and looking for what is ahead in 2008.
Then, I will amke a wise decision.
I ask for you prayers.

I am glad that Jesus still does miracles.
I am glad that Jesus is still showing up at Starting Point.

»What a LAZY DAY!

This is the day that the Lord has made!!! Woo-hoo!

-Made some final touch ups on this Sunday's message.
-Thanksgiving leftovers... Mmm!
-Some college football, I rarely watch it, but when I do, I'm hooked. Right now UT is getting whooped by A&M...
-A date with the best girlfriend later...

I'm telling you, it could not get any better, and it's only Friday! Oh man, this is awesome! Hehe.

I don't have a lot to blog about. Actually, I do... but I'm just going to relax today.

OH SHOOT! UT just made a 91 yard run for a TOUCHDOWN!
Ok... there is hope!