God is a Flashlight!

First off, I want to say thank you to Ronny, for allowing me to share some thoughts with you today. I know I'm not as good looking as he is, but I'm writing, so...I think it evens out.

Almost!

Have you ever thought about the end results of a task or assignment or goal you've had in life?

So often we have grand ideas and visions of what the future will be and how much God will bless us, and yet we have such a focus on what we will get out of it, rather than what God will! We are only given what God allows us to have, and so often we think we need something and it is completely be God-ordained and right for us, and thus God (though we will NEVER admit it) better give it to us, now! But so many times, we have no clue what is needed for us or not, because we only have a tiny scope of the picture God has laid out for our lives.

God is perfect, and He knows what is best for us, but like my favorite book Tale of Three Kings says, He's not telling!

Remember when Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer, He told us to pray, give us this day, our daily bread. Daily bread! That's it! Only enough for our day today, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but today!

And because of that, God is a flashlight for our path, not a gigantic spotlight showing us everything (though He can if He wanted to), just a flashlight, a Perfect Flashlight, giving us exactly what we need, everyday!

So today, think about how you can bless your Flashlight today! How can you put your own self aside and let God take to where He wants you to go, because that is perfect, not where you want to go because it seems right?

Thanks for listening...err...reading with me today.

Well see ya later...

~Vince

Dont be a donkey

There is a story in Numbers about a guy named Balaam, that makes his mind up before going to God, but spiritualizes it by "Praying about it."

Long story short, Balok the king asked Balaam to curse the Israelites and offered him money for it. Balaam "prays about it" and God gives him an emphatic NO!

I assume that Balaam wasnt as emphatic with his "no" to Balok, and thus Balok offers him more money to curse the Israelites. What does Balaam do? He "prays about it" again, but this time Gods answer is different. He says to Balaam, "If you want to go, then go." In other words I already told you "no" but if you already determined in your head thats what you want, then be my guest!

God cannot violate your will and still call you a free being. He has a plan for good in your life and will do everything He can to get you to see it, but He will NOT force you. Jesus in Matthew 6 reiterated this when He said, "if its the applause of men you want, then you have your reward in full."

If you already know that you shouldn't do something, don't try to spiritualize it by saying "Ill pray about it!" Just dont do it!

Crazy Love Lights

This picture may look like nothing more than a bunch of crazy random lights, but its much more than that.

What you see is love and hope for the family and friends of those junior highers that were invited via simultaneous text message to our "I heart night" at Generate Junior High next Monday. Im excited to meet all the new people!

We just finished up our "Human Torch" series on showing the world how we will LOVE OUTRAGEOUSLY and this is just some of what the students are doing on their own:

- giving to the "Lords Pantry"

-giving up Christmas for others

-1 year without shoes/Soles for Souls

-Linus Project

-Jacket Drive

-Volunteering with elderly

Im amazed at what the Holy Spirit is doing in these young adults week after week.

Pressure Cooker

Do you ever feel as though your life is inside of a pressure cooker all the time?

Are you constantly under pressure to obtain some form of success, a goal or even reach a level in a relationship to prove your worth? I know that I feel this at times.

If so, I want to have you think about something; Soren Kierkegaard defined sin as "not simply doing bad things, it is putting good things in the place of God." Think about that for a second, if the battle is being waged for our worship between God and satan, could satan use something like goals or even success as way of gaining that worship?

Whatever you base your life on you have to live up to that! If you don't live for Jesus you will live for something else, but nothing, outside of Him will fulfill you like the Creator can.

Take your eyes off of everything else in your life that is NOT Jesus and recognize Him as Lord of your life, a Lord that will never fail you, and will forgive you eternally!

This ones for you TARGET

Great post from Seth Godin about doing things begrudgingly. This one is for you Target, and your ridiculous return policy...what happened to you?

I don't know if this happens to you, but I'm noticing it more and more. Someone offers you a refund, or agrees to sell you something or even hires you to do a project, but then spend a lot of time explaining that it's a one time thing, or that it's against policy or it's not even something they like to do.

What's the point of agreeing to anything begrudgingly? Does it get your partner to do his best work? Does it increase the chances that you'll get to win next time?

If you're going to do something, do it. Go all in. Doing it half in makes no sense at all to me. It's a like a store that has so many rules and regulations about sales and exchanges that you wonder if they really want to be bothered to sell you anything at all.

Its a Sham-wow

Have you ever seen the commercials for this product? If you have then you know the salesman pictured.

Ive been thinking about this for a while now, do you suppose that this guy actually uses a sham-wow? With so much enthusiasm in his pitch for the product he must have a house filled with the stuff! What about George Foreman? Does he actually cook everything with his grill? I mean his name is on the cooker, for cryin' out loud!

If you found out that neither one of these guys, or the countless other celebrity endorsed products in the world were actually used by them, would you still believe in the product or even purchase it?

This has to be the most pressing issue for anyone who speaks the name of Christ today.

If 94% of americans believe in God, 74% claim a commitment to Christ and 34% confess a "new birth" experience, yet we see widespread massive moral failures in every social arena, are WE actually eating what we sell?

Or, is what we are "selling" irrelevant to our real existence and without any real power over our daily lives?

Untapped Power

I cant seem to get away from this study on the Holy Spirit. I mean, its clear in scripture that this incredible power from God lives inside all believer in Christ, yet why are so many people walking around weak and apathetic, addicted and overcome?

Think about this:

1) The sun sends 126 trillion horsepower to earth and thats only 1-2 billionth of its total energy, yet it has no power to move through the universe except as God directs it.

2) The stars have no power or force except that which God infuses in them daily

3) The archangel that stands next to the throne of God, who outshines a comet with its brilliance, who excels in strength, and listens to the voice and commands of God, has no strength except that which the creator gives him.

That same power has been promised to you!

Today, dont be afraid to pray and beg for that. Dont be afraid to pray the big prayers. God can, will and wants to give it to you!

True World Changers

Last night was an incredible display of passionate world change as we watched student after student bring shoes for our "Soles 4 Souls" donation.

One group from El Cerrito junior high got together with their school and started a shoe drive and managed to get 86 pairs of shoes in 1 week and are holding it open until the 30th of October!

I love to see the passion that this generation has to LOVE others above themselves. Thats true Agape love!

Short Accounts

In the first century church of Acts we see that believers and followers of Jesus Christ were selling their possessions in order to look out for the greater good of the body. I believe that this is how the church was always supposed to be, a family that lived together and shared everything in common.

Here is what gets me. Like any family or community the common thread to hold it together is communication, but why is it that when tensions rise, feelings get hurt and expectations dropped we clam up, hold grudges and never work past it?

Proverbs 14:22 tells us that if we seek to do good and be the righteous people God desires, then we need to handle every situation with kindness AND truth.

The idea is that we have short accounts with our family and friends. If you feel that you have hurt someone is some way, dont let it go or wait to hear from that person, go and let them know if you hurt them it was unintentional and you are sorry. Even if they weren't hurt by it, at least that person knows you love them enough to be honest.

Vice versa, if someone has hurt you, bind kindness and truth around you neck and let them know that you were hurt by them. No mitigating speech, just truth to a family member and in love you work through it.

If you have someone you need to have a short account with, go handle it NOW! Don't wait, this is your family.

Act Courageously

Im excited for Monday night as we look at what it takes to have a real Faith that pours out courageous actions in spite of what others or the world might think!

James 2:14-26 has been blowing my mind when it comes to how our outward actions should look if we have the inward connection to the God of the universe! See ya then...dont forget that its barefoot night

Social INjustice?

You have undoubtably seen them...The wristbands for a social justice cause.

Clean water, Feeding the homeless etc... All of these causes and more do incredible work to help change the world and bring "social justice" to those less fortunate.

So here is my question, Is it really justice to provide clean water and clothing for people for a moment in time or is it "injustice" if we dont give them the hope of eternity first?

Thoughts?

Spot Fires

This is the picture of the 21 students that dedicated themselves last night to Love Outrageously and begin to start fires of passion and true Agape love in their schools, teams and families!

I am so proud of their dedication and commitment to love others above themselves and cant wait to hear the stories of lives changed because of it.

PS. I just heard that so many students attempted to go to school with NO SHOES! I love it

Community of Love

Today is a day I will not soon forget!

We are in a series titled "Human Torch" where we are challenging everyone to love outrageously. Outrageous love, the "Agape" love that we see in scripture is only known through the actions it prompts.

It is selfless and sacrificial seeking only to serve others and put their needs above their own. This is what the church was designed to do and its exactly what our communities did for me and my wife this week.

As you know, our refrigerator went out recently and we didnt exactly have the money to buy a new one but through the acts of love from the communities at Generate they were able to purchase one for us!!! I was stunned and shocked and confused all at the same time, but realized this is what the church was designed to do. I was brought to tears as I thanked God for my beautiful family.

Thank you to all of you who serve at Crossroads and Generate, for your outrageous love!

Risky Business

This is a great post from Seth Godin about Actual Risk and Apparent Risk.

There are people who I will never encounter in a restaurant.

That's because when these people go out for dinner, they go to chain restaurants. These are the tourists in New York who seek out the familiar Olive Garden instead of walking down the street to Pure.

That's fine. It's a personal choice.

But it got me thinking about the difference between apparent and actual risk, and how that choice affects just about everything we do.

The concierge at a fancy hotel spends her time helping tourists and business travelers avoid apparent risk. She'll book the boring, defensible, consistent tour, not the crazy guy who's actually a trained architect and a dissident. She'll recommend the restaurant from Zagats, not from Chowhound.

Apparent risk is what keeps someone working at a big company, even if it's doing layoffs. It feels safer to stay there than to do the (apparently) insanely risky thing and start a new venture.

Apparent risk is what gets someone who is afraid of plane crashes to drive, even though driving is more dangerous.

Apparent risk is avoiding the chance that people will laugh at you and instead backing yourself into the very real possibility that you're going to become obsolete or irrelevant.

When things get interesting is when the apparently risky is demonstrably safer than the actually risky. That's when we sometimes become uncomfortable enough with our reliance on the apparent to focus on the actual. Think about that the next time they make you take off your shoes at the airport.

Love Outrageously

This Monday night we will be launching our new series called Human Torch "Some people start fires, while others look for matches!"The whole idea being that plenty of people talk about changing the world, while others are out there doing it.

Love as the world defines it is a selfish act, done only out feeling or emotion yet when we see the Agape love of the bible it is completely unselfish and done for the welfare of all men regardless of ones own personal feelings (Romans 15:2).

We will be interviewing Howie our drummer that started a cause called "A Year Without Shoes" designed to bring awareness to the majority of the population in the world that doesnt have the luxury of shoes...thats unselfish Outrageous Love!

Broken Fridge

It happened once again...The refrigerator that we just spent $160 to fix 3 weeks ago went out again this morning!

To top it all off it was one of those mornings. I had to run to the store to buy ice, when we were already running behind schedule, then the grocery store only had one check out line open at the time and everyone in the city was there to buy food for some odd reason.

On my way home the pressure began to build up like a boiling pot, but just then I had a thought. What if this is just one of those little irritating ways that satan uses to get under my skin, take my joy then cause me to quench the Holy Spirit?

Isaiah 54:17 says "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper" and in that moment I knew that the battle that satan was trying to wage against me has already been won by the Cross. If your having one of those days, just remember that "no weapon" that satan has can beat you...Not even a broken refrigerator!!

"General" advice

I thought that this was amazing leadership advice from one of the greatest leaders of our time General Tommy Franks. Michael Hyatt got a chance to speak with him on leadership and he gave a lesson that he learned from his father before he left to the Army.

If you are a young person wanting to get into leadership and ministry than pay close attention.

I love the last one on his list :)

I will tell you one story that I recorded in my journal. He flunked out of the University of Texas in 1967. Rather than wait to be drafted to fight in Vietnam, he enlisted in the Army. As he got on the bus to leave for boot camp, his father said, “Son, I have one piece of advice. Be feisty.”

He replied, “But Dad, I am feisty.”

His dad said, “Son, I know your feisty, but I mean it as an acronym. F-e-i-s-t-y.” He then went on to spell it out:

“F” is for focus. You need to get focused on what is important and stay focused.

“E” is for energy. Bring all the energy you can muster to every situation.

“I” is for integrity. This is your most important possession. Don’t ever compromise it.

“S” is for solve the problem. Don’t argue. Don’t make excuses. Just solve the problem and get on with it.

“T” is for take the blame when no one else will. Accept responsibility and be accountable.

“Y” is for “Yes, I do windows.” Don’t ever say, “That’s not my job.” Do whatever the boss asks you to do and do it with enthusiasm.

360 degrees of worship

Just a few thoughts about last night:

1) Being able to worship together in a 360 degree platform was incredible!

2) Some great questions were asked last night by the young adults...we were actually stumped when someone asked the total number of prophecies from the bible!

3)So excited about the next series "Human Torch" as we begin to set our schools, homes, teams, families and friends on fire for Jesus...literally! :)

Can You Change The World?

Francis Chan had an interesting question that was asked of him by a youth pastor once that he felt changed him.

Before I ask you the question let me tell you that I have come across many people in church that say they want to Change the World, yet I simply don't see the passion or drive that it takes to make this happen. I believe 100% that God has predestined us for incredible things in this life (Eph 2:10) and has even given us His Spirit to empower us, but here is the question.

If you are ready to change the world then ask yourself this; what would your church look like if everyone was as committed as you are? What if everyone gave, served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered or weak and listless?

Praying this week that we take up God on His offer of the Holy Spirit and work like it all depends on us, and pray like it all depends on God!