A little taste of Heaven through music

In February I had the privilege of joining BOSS Church (Bayside of S. Sacramento), along with some other PCC Young Adults, on a retreat. Not only did we experience great connections with each other, we connected with God in beautiful ways through music. I have to admit, and I hope I don't sound harsh or judgmental, but I get surprised when the church-GOD'S PEOPLE, doesn't respond in such an outwardly expressive way. (View via FB here). I know that we all have different ways we worship, but imagine standing before our great God...and checking your watch, or playing with your cell phone. I find it hard to believe that when captured by such love, beauty, purity, and HOLINESS we won't just burst out crying, dancing, and/or fall flat on our faces. I think encountering God must be expressive, that's why I loved this time worshiping with song and dance. And I am so excited that Sam, the leader of the band, will be joining us for our Fall Retreat in September (17-19). What made this gathering time so meaningful for me was the way we worshiped our ONE God together, being that some of us didn't even know each other, and came from different places, and ethnic backgrounds, but it was God's love and a love for him that brought us unity. I'm really looking forward to being together at this retreat in the fall.

2009 in Review

Every year I do this for my family, both of them. Every year for the past 6 "New Years that I've had with Wendy and now my two kids, I put together a year in review. I edit together all the videos from our year and we watch it around the end of the year. I also began to do it with our PCCYA church family and our tradition has been to watch the footage at our Winter Retreat in January. It's a look over the whole year in retreats, times together, and the fun of living community and serving community! I'm so stoked and blessed to be a part of our church family. It seriously is amazing to watch what God did over the year and to be reminded of all those who have come and come. Sometimes it's hard to watch, knowing some have walked away from God and our community, but other times our eyes filled with tears knowing some of those who've left have been called by God to other churches, jobs, and the mission field. This past week we watched this video. I was truly proud and thankful. Here's the link.

PCC Young Adults 2009 in Review from PCC Young Adults on Vimeo.

Fencing lessons 101

1 Timothy 2:15: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
The only weapon God encourages us to wield is the sharped sword of his word. How are you doing in your fencing lessons? It's sad that most of us can quote sports stats, historic dates, and lines from movies more than we can verses in the Bible.
Remember how Frodo had no idea how to defend himself. As a Hobbit, he wasn't trained how to use a sword so he was at the mercy of his enemies. And we know how he spent much of his time running from those who were after him. This is true of many followers of Christ. We end up weak against worldly pressures, with out integrity, void of God's power, and defeated by our enemy. It's our privilege and responsibility to read, study, memorize, apply, and share God's word. How are you doing in this area?

My wife has spiral bound index cards next to our bed.
A few weeks ago she pulled them out and challenged my knowledge of scripture. She uses each card to write a verse that speaks truth in her life, reminds her of her identity, and points her to God's love and purposes. This little spiral thing now acts as training in the sword to combat lies. Now, I am doing it and I also passed out 30 of these spiral guys to those who attended our fall retreat. My small group is using it as a way to memorize the word, find truths that apply to specific situations, and keep accountable. I encourage you to be proactive and accountable about learning and applying God's word. Too many of us are believing and living lies when we have full access to God's truth at our finger tips to right our mind.
If you have other ways of memorizing God's word please share.

Fall Retreat Video, 2008

From last week's retreat in Twain Harte. Can anyone help me? Why is the video so fuzzy--and other youtube videos seem perfect?

Fall Retreat 2008

Here are almost 200 pictures. No joke. They aren't all mine but I shared a USB cable with two other cameras (see if you can guess whose) to expand the selection!

A video will come soon. 

I'm tired. It was good. It was really good. 

Loved being with our community. Loved being able to have my family with me. Loved having other couples join us. Loved being in the word. It was good. 

Btw, Crazy Hats won for the theme.

Valeri Lopez

Have you heard of Val Lopez? She was a huge hit when she joined us on our summer retreat, and she will also tag along with us next weekend to Twain Harte. If you are a PCC young adult are you going? Have you signed up? (November 7-9).

I love this song of hers. It's a great song for marriage but also a great song in relationship to God. Listen and see what you think. She will also probably be playing at La Tartine on Sunday night, 11/9, too. She sings some Italian in this song, too. Cool.

Fall Retreat 2007

Amazing weekend.

Why?

God. His Love. People responding to his love. People loving each other.
And Tater Tots.