Pelican, Circa Survive, Thrice

 

So last night I took a nice drive over to Ft. Lauderdale to the Revolution to see one of my favorite bands called Circa Survive. It has been about 3 years since i have seen them perform! I had an amazing time I did get to hang and talk a bit with the bands which was really cool, but overall Circa Survive was the band of the night! The other 2 bands were cool, and it was the first time I saw Thrice and there set was pretty awesome! There sound was great and there stage presence was pretty awesome too. I think I needed to go to this show last night things like this totally inspire me, it was definitely a good experience! Well until the next show which is tonight with The Saturn Project! haha We play tonight at 11pm @ Circa 28! This is going to be a good day! When you guys have a chance check TSP out along with Circa Survive!

www.myspace.com/thesaturnproject

www.myspace.com/circasurvive

Darkest Of Nights

 
You know Job described his pain and suffering as a “Dark Night” and I think I can relate to a certain extent. I think my current situation does not compare to his, but would I curse God in my time of pain and silence? or will I embrace it all with arms open and a smile? That’s something I am learning to do, there are things I am learning about myself that I never thought I would ever see. So many things I need to work on as an individual that have totally shocked me. Its like looking in the mirror and saying ” wait… That is me? I would never be like that, or I would never do that!” It is so weird and difficult to come to grips with your faults and the things you thought you would never allow or the person you thought you’d never be, that guy is facing me in the mirror. This has allowed me to see things differently than before, and I think it is a beautiful thing. Silence is golden right now, tons of unanswered prayers, so many requests, but what am I doing in the midst of all this? “As long as it is day I must do the work of him who sent me.” That hits home to me every time I see it on my arm. It is a reminder that God is working even when he is silent, he is still involved in my life and has allowed this for a reason! This dark night will soon come to an end, and I know that when I look back at all this It will all make sense to me.

Expanding Your Leadership Capacity

The 6C Model

 

1. Knows God Intimately (Christ)

2. Lives In Supportive and Accountable Community (Community)

3. Demonstrates A Clear Calling  And Sense Of Mission (Calling)

4. Has Integrity (Character)

5. Knows The Purpose of God And Presents It With Credibility, Clarity, and Passion (Communication)

6. Has the necessary Gifts, Skills, and Knowledge to Lead People in the Accomplishment of this Purpose (Competencies)

 

How Leaders Are Built

Mark 3:14-15

“And he appointed twelve, so that they would be with him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.”

 

A Spiritual Environment

A Relational web

An Experimental context

 

Transformational context+ development = the process of leadership development

 

Five Specific Areas for Leadership Expansion

 

Security of the Leader

·      Understand who you are in God

·      Your security will expand

·      Insecurity will be cancerous and will spread to the people around you

·      Second guessing can hinder your credibility

·      The need to control and have your hands in everything doesn’t allow others to develop

 

Training Others to Exceed You

·      Passion to help others grow and go beyond what you have accomplished

·      Mentoring others and the finding mentors in your life will only help you and others grow around you

 

Passion for On-Going Learning

·      What are my strengths

·      What makes us unique

·      Believe in others

 

Humility and Willingness to Repent

·      Knowing where we have come from

·      Going back and asking for forgiveness/ we all fall short

 

Articulating the Vision with Clarity

·      Know and be clear of what God wants you to do.

 

The 5 Greatest Challenges A Leader Faces

This was from my last session from yesterday, with Mark Batterson. Good Stuff Enjoy!

Lead pastor national community Church in Washington D.C

 

The 5 greatest challenges we face as leaders

 

1 Emotional Challenge

·      Managing all the different emotions

·      fear, discouragement, and jealousy

·      Leads to 2 roads

·      Pride or jealousy

·      Jealousy: why is that happening to them and not me

·      Pride: comparing yourself to someone who is like you

We each have a view of what success is

·      Caring about numbers rather than people

·      Or having a goal like 1000 members by the age of 30

·      Enjoy the 25 or however many you have

·      Enjoy this journey and stage

·      Embrace where you are at/managing your emotions.

The fear of failure

·      The cure is failing a little bit, by the dose

side note “if you want to make God laugh tell him your plan

 

the best thing that could happen to us is for us to fail and fall and let God pik us up. We will look back and laugh at it

 

your emotional health will dictate who you lead.

·      A common struggle is insecurity

·      Coming to terms of who you are and who you are not

·      Have and finding security in vision God has given you

When you’re emotionally drained

·      Go see a movie

·      Go running

·      Go to sleep

Begin everyday with 3 things you are grateful for

 

2 Family Challenge

·      early on you will have to make some sacrifices

·      you may feel like you have sacrificed your family in the midst of ministry

·      your family is your priority

·      set the example for your congregation

·      NCC saying “Family First”

·      When someone on staff is going the extra mile give them some type of certificate that doesn’t kill your budget. But give it to your spouse for lending time

·      Take care of your people

 

3 new years resolution

·      don’t check your work email on your day off

·      don’t be away from your family more than 30 nights

·      use all of your vacation days/ you owe your family and you owe it to your church to be gone.

·      This works so your church doesn’t take you for granted

·      When you’re away your return is a bit more fired up

·      Train your children in ministry, do things together

·      NCC can find another pastor but you are one dad you have one shot to be a good father

·      Don’t sacrifice your family in the process in leading your church

Put a book in your bathroom!! haha

 

4 Criticism Challenge

·      though shall offend the pharisee

·      who are you going to offend?

·      Stay humble

·      Don’t play defense/ too much sideways energy in the kingdom never get negative. Fighting with each other.  You don’t have enogh vision reaching the lost

·      If someone has a problem with the way you give your message: are you deep enough?

·      We are educated beyond the level of our obedience

·      People need a genuine relationship who is far away from God to keep them close to God

·      When was the last time you brought someone to church if you’re complaining about its message

·      If its someone close to you pay attention but if it’s a self proclaimed prophet make sure it passes through the surface of scripture

 

Unpluggedconversation.com

 

Staffing Challenge

·      Who you do ministry with will determine how much you enjoy it

·      #1 thing in hiring is sense of humor!!

·      Ministry is too hard to not be able to laugh together

·      Time flies when you are having fun

·      Begin every meeting you have by sharing WINS

·      It will help deal with the challenges you are facing, this will create healthy staff

·      If you need t fire someone fire them!

·      You cannot let negativity compromise the entire team

·      As a leader you don’t get paid to do the fun stuff you get paid to do the tough stuff

Spiritual Challenge

·      Read the bible

·      Have some type of mentor that can speak in your Life

·      There is someone in your circle to talk with and have a cup of coffee

·      Every paul needs a timothy and visa versa

·      You need that person in your Life

·      Caring about personal growth not church growth everything else will work itself out

·      When your spiritual walk is shaky you feel guilty

·      Can you believe you get to do this and get paid for it!!

·      It’s a privilege

 

 

 

Awesome Stuff

This session was pretty awesome. It just motivated me to work harder! To really bring the Jesus back to my life and be like him in every way possible. But here are a few notes from Alan Hirsch that I took from the session. Jesse and I were able to talk with him a bit about what we were doing with the music and the church and it just woke us up and it was a reminder not to forget where we are going and where we have come from but most of all it reminded me that I need to embrace the calling God has placed over my life. This kind of goes with the notes from the early morning session. I bought his book “The Forgotten Ways”

 

The Missional Magnet

 

What is in the nature of growth from 100 ad to 300 ad.

Growth rate from 25,000 to 20.000.000.

 

Jesus is my lord, if he is my lord then he’s my savior

These were Jesus movements.

 I cling to Jesus

·      simple relationship that was built, a life style that needs to be lived out.

o   It’s a sneezable message

o   But it takes you a life time to live

o   How bad can you become if you become like Jesus?

o   What if we only had the gospels would we be that far off?

 

The Chinese didn’t have a bible.

 

Rediscovering that jesus is lord is not the only thing there are other things that need to follow. Simple but complex. Simplex

 

Christology=X Missiology=M  Ecclesiology= E

X > M > E

 

You always have to go back to the X. if we get X wrong then the rest will be wrong.

 

If the idea of God is wrong or flawed! Then how can you know God? Jesus said I am god if you want the father than you can see him through me.

God is like Jesus.

 

They took on Cesar saying Jesus is Lord, Cesar was not there Lord!

 

Jesus was fun

·      He was hanging with the religious people wouldn’t

·      They called him a drunkard

·      He hung with unrespectable people

·      There’s something about Jesus that doesn’t sit well with religious people

 

What is something we could say good about the Pharisees

·      Zeal

·      Loved God

·      Disciplined

·      They Prayed

·      The Loved the Bible/ Searched it constantly

·      Pharisees held the bible as a whole

·      Very Consistent

·      They were custodians with the identity of Israel

·      They tithed beyond what was required

·      They believe in the resurrection

o   God intervenes in history

·      They were missional

 

Who is this today? US!!!

 

Jesus was a pharisee

Its how you inhabit the doctrine that makes a difference.

 

What would Jesus do if she showed up in our church?

·      We would probably kill him again.

 

What are we reproducing if we are not like Jesus.

·      We have become religious people

·      Oppressed people

·      We have become the people Jesus spoke against

 

We need to go back to Jesus to get to know who he is.

 

Before we get missional we need to Find Christology first.

 

Where would you go to find Jesus?

The Church

 

There’s a herisee, we get the spooky Jesus because we really don’t know who he is.

 

Then mission becomes a sub committee.

 

Institutions will cause us to conform.

We need revolution not conformity

 

If we become like Jesus then the religious people will hate you, but Jesus said if they hate me then they will hate you.

 

Everyone of us have the capacity to go back to rediscover who Jesus is, because its there.

 

Its our job to awaken ethos.

We just forgot how to do this.

 

We have imposed our ecclesia first. Mission is prior.

 

If you plant the Gospel the church will come out of the Gospel.

 

Most potent slogan. Every believer is a church planter. Its expected.

 

Its not how big you can grow, the trees success is the amount of trees it will reproduce from seeds.

 

How will we impact Generations! Not how big can we grow!!

 

The Church is a manifestation of the kingdom of God. It isn’t the kingdom of God!! The catholic herisee said the church is the kingdom and it is not.

 

Lets put Jesus in his place #1

Then the Mission will follow#2

Then The Church Will Manifest itself with the right foundation#3

 

Decentralize power functions. The danger of institutions is:

 

Power becomes an individual or some headquarters.

Power Changes “my precious”

 

Every unit can reproduce itself. Keep a constant eye on it!! We have a huge tendency to become control freaks!!

 

The Lordship principle

·      Its all about Jesus. A peasant can do that

·      Jesus has tons of appeal.

·      Simplex the plex side

The Missional Magnet 

 

 

There is a God over everything in life.

·      Government

o   Will not allow Jesus in as God.

There should be no area in your life that the same God does not or should not rule over.

 

What we are called to do in life is offer ever single thing in it up to God.

 

Jesus becomes the central focus in our life no one gets to the father but through him.

 

Jesus is who we owe our allegiance to.

 

Jesus Is Lord!!! It is something that sums everything up and it reaches as far as you want it to.

 

Healthy Leader… Healthy Church

Here are the notes for this mornings session its called “Healthy Leader… Healthy Church”

I got in a bit late but good stuff none the less

 

 

Doubting ourselves can cause us to begin:

·      Condemn other leaders (or ourselves)

·      We doubt the calling in our lives

·      Every leader in the bible has doubted or tempted to doubt there calling

1 Samuel 17:38

·      David had a choice to fight the battle his way or someone else’s way

·      We are wearing someone else’s armor.

·      We have been trying to wear someone else’s armor is hurting ourselves and doing ministry someone else’s way

o   1. Someone else’s armor can be someone else’s personality

o   Saul needed a David to keep him sane

o   Some of us are great shepherds and we are trying to be soldiers

1 Samuel 17: 34-37

·      we have forgotten our past

·      we have forgotten our testimony

·      churches that are doing great things, have reflected there leaders testimony on why they are there.

·      You need to go through the painful process of what God is doing in your life.

 

Using someone else’s context

·      we cant just go out and get advice and add it to our own

 

Side Note: I think I have been a victim to copying, even as far as questioning why I am here, and not trusting God to develop a new vision for homestead a new vision for my life.

 

4. Someone else’s armor can be someone else’s expectations.

 

Get behind the vision of your church, quit comparing your pastor to other pastors you like listening to. Gods calling is different in everyone.

 

5. Someone else’s armor can be someone else’s talent.

 

In my life I have been one to compare myself to others. Wanting the talent that others have but the reality is God has blessed me in other areas that I need to develop.

Sometimes we are focused on what we are not good at and avoid or ignore the things we are good at.

God has placed vision in our hearts but I think we are too focused on what other people are doing and how? when? where? I have to learn to grow into my calling.

 

What would have happened if David fought the fight with Saul’s armor? He would’ve gotten killed.

How do we apply this to today?

Many of us have been trying to wear someone else’s armor and have been holding back the work of the spirit.

We feel like we are the ones waiting on God, and its God waiting on us to finally step into our own calling! Our own uniqueness!!!

 

Here are some self assessment questions for ourselves.

 

1. Who am I? Really

2. What is my testimony?

3. What are my strengths? What am I good at?

4. what is unique about where God has placed me?

5. How does this make me unique?

6. am I soldier or shepherd

7. How does this affirm how I am doing ministry right now?

 

 

This totally makes sense for me personally I know the notes are here and there but its simple. Step into what God is trying to do in your life right now! Your past, your testimony is what brought you here. Don’t forget certainly don’t dwell on it, but God allowed all those things in your life for a reason! Take off the wrong armor you are wearing.

 

We don’t need some one else’s armor to live!!

We need to come to end of ourselves and embrace who he made us to be.

Recap 4.20.08

Ok so leading up to sunday there were tons of things on my mind from the personal stuff I have going on to the work that needs to be done to my band. I kind of stressed myself out a bit which was my own fault. But Saturday night setup was so smooth! I mean there were like 8 of us and it felt good to have Casey back with us. That whole week I had worship on my mind. From what songs to sing to what chords I can play on the guitar I mean I don’t play guitar, even in sound check I didn’t want to sing out loud I was looking back through the songs and I was like man I don’t think I can do this. 10:30 hit and the show had to start so there I was singing and playing guitar all by myself and it was a breath of fresh air. Its one of those things that’s like you don’t know something until you actually go ahead and do it! And for me it was so awesome. There was a sense of awkwardness in the air and it totally changed once everyone came up to the front and sang with me. Slowly but surely we are building, and seeing more involvement with the youth. I see the mountain top. LOL but it will take some time to get there. We will have a full band and I truly believe God will supply and bring those who will run with us and keep The Cure moving. The message was different this time around, Jesse and I put together a video that tied in great with the story of Job that I spoke about. Nothing is ever easy, there has to be pain there has to be a struggle of some sort there has to be a wanting to grow! That is where I am finding growth. I’ve put limits on myself and I want to break those. There are no boundaries to what we can do for the kingdom. 

Feels Like Home

 
  Well as you have heard The Saturn Project my band we just had our first show at Jazid this past Monday night, And let me tell you it felt like I was in Chicago again, being able to meet different bands and different artists trying to make a difference in some way or another. The excitement was in the air for me, I love being able to play with my band and the chance to be light in darkness is so awesome! We went on stage roughly around 1230 or 1 am and played a 30 minute set. The response we received was so cool, I mean everyone in there was a stranger to us, And that is usually the case when we play in the Chicago clubs. I mean if people don’t like your music they’ll leave and not say anything to you but for us it was more like people were walking out as we set up and mid way through our set they were walking back in and just starring at us like we were some aliens!! haha It was cool though to hear there response to our music. It was so awesome to see how through our music people were able to see a difference without us saying a word of what we believe or who we really are, it reflected through our lyrics and music. The next day we got called for more shows, and I trully believe this is God opening the doors for us to go in and spread christ through our music. and It is so refreshing to be able to do that. It feels like home! But a warmer home! until next time.

 

Alex The Beat Machine

 

Cool Stuff

Hey I have some cool stuff you guys can check and spread the word. Go Visit www.salvadorlive.com and watch the new video I was in with Salvador. Also, check there myspace with your very own Life Pointe Youth pastor on the front page! I am excited about this so spread the word! It is going to be a great year!!

Life Pointe Fight Club

Ok so I joined the band wagon with Jesse And Reina with the P90X Workout. I’m going for this look minus the cigarette maybe a few fights to release some tension, but anyhow I think I can do it. I’ve Shed some pounds already but I think In about 2 months I can get there!! Life Pointe Fight Club coming soon. haha Just Kidding.