I know it has been forever

First of all, I am glad to be back in the land of the living. Last week, I got really sick and was crashed out in bed for a few days. By the way, this never happens. This past week, I have super busy with church, the bookstore, and a new project I am working on. More to come on that.

Tonight, Lora and I are going to the Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Louie Giglio concert in Woodbridge, VA. I am very excited about that. Tomlin and Redman are two of my favorite worship artists and Giglio is one of my favorite authors and speakers.

Even though I have been sick and busy I have felt like I have been on a spiritual high, we creative "GOD" ideas. (Quoting Pastor Mark Batterson) I love those times when God really allows me to dream and have vision and gives confirmation.

Here is one of those confirmation from Pastor Mark Batterson's blog, to me this post simply resonated within in my soul.

C3 Session II

Here are some thoughts from Session II @ C3:

This session is taking me back to basics! I Timothy 1:12 is an important reminder for pastors. Man doesn't appoint. God calls.

If we forget that we're "appointed by God" then we start serving the "wrong they." All of us have ministry scars. 9 times out of 10 it's the result of listening to the wrong people!

Ed said, "The majority is usually wrong. God always works through a remnant."

Only 2 out of 6,000,000 made it the Promise Land. Israel didn't fulfill her destiny because she listened to the "wrong they." They paid attention to a bad report from the majority instead of ignoring it. They listened to the 10 naysayers instead of the 2 visionaries who claimed the promises of God.

Here's the bottom line: we've got to move the pronoun from THEY to ME to HE.

It's not about they. It's not about me. It's about He.

Here are two thoughts that really challenged me:

Ed quoted someone who said: "Sometimes I want to resign from the ministry so I can read my Bible and pray for the right reasons."

Ed gave great advice: "You be you under the authority of God."

I really wish I could have personally been at the C3 conference and heard it live myself. How true this is... I feel like Joshua and Caleb and no one listens.

Another great confirmation I have received recently is from a message I heard through a Podcast by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, (I will forgive him from being in Seattle, you know Pittsburgh vs. Seattle, Superbowl, anyways :-) ) The message is the begin of a series from the book of 1 Corinthians - "Christians Gone Wild" In the message he talks about church planting and all the failure he had starting off and that no one gave him a chance. Well today his church is a vibrant church in Seattle with a great reach to the community there. If you have never heard Pastor Mark Driscoll preach is very engaging and hilarious.

I really feel God has been speaking directly to me recently and not only speaking to me but also making me really restless to pursue my dreams and not be afraid to fail. I am looking forward to challenge ahead of me, I also know if it is a God thing it is a good thing. It is only through Him that any plans will succeed, just as Paul from the Bible.

Anyways, that is about it from here, oh I think I fixed my sidebar. Can someone let me know if I did or did not. I appreciate it.

Later,
Chris

OH Yes!!!!

Pittsburgh Steelers are going to the Superbowl!!!! I am so happy right now. Only if you all can feel the excitement and the vibe in my house!!! Oh yeah I also preached this morning, we had an amazing service. God is so awesome!!! I am not sure if you can tell that I am very pumped right now. :-)

Later

I am back online

I am back online, better and faster than ever...YEAH!!! :-) I need your assistance though, when I was on another computer my sidebar seemed to pushed towards the bottom. Now that I am back on my computer it looks fine. As you view this blog is my sidebar pushed to the bottom? I really can't tell. If it is can someone help me fix it? I am not sure what to do. I am truly perplexed.

I am so glad to be back online!!!

Later,
Chris

Away from the Blogospere

Over the next few days I will be away from the blogosphere. One of the reasons will be, I have the opportunity to preach at my former church Harvest Church on Beaulah Rd. right near Kingstowne in Northern VA on Wednesday night at 7:00. if you are in the area come out. The youth pastor Brett Cuevas was one of my youth leaders when I was the youth pastor there. So I have the personal honor to preach for one of my young mentorees. :-) I feel like a proud papa.

The other reason I will be away is because I will having my computer upgraded. YEAH!!!!

Anyways, take care I will blog when I get back online. Peace!

Chris

Amazing Week Of Football

Wow what an amazing week of football. First of all, on Tuesday my Nittany Lions won over FSU. Wednesday I watch an amzing game with Texas and Vince Young beating USC, it was simply an amazing game. Yesterday, Washington Redskins beat Tampa Bay OH YEAH!!!!

To top it off, my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cinncinati Bengals!!! Let's Go Steelers, and yes I was waving my Terrible Towel!!! I am looking forward to next week, hopefully the Redskins and Steelers and keep it going!!!!!

Music Recommendation for the week of 1/1/06-1/7/06

The following is a list of female artists that I would highly recommend including the CDs I think are worth checking out that they have done. Again, these are simply opinions.

1. Jennifer Knapp - It my opinion the greatest female musical artist. Her music, her lyrics, and her vocals are incredible. I know she has been away from the music scene for awhile, but she is coming out this month with a new live CD. Every CD she has done is excellent. Of course, The Collection is a great best of...album with raw acoustic and original tracks. Also, check out her debut Kansas. Her other two albums Lay It Down and The Way That I Am are superb albums. She is an amazing guitar player and oh did I mention her vocals. I hope she puts out new material soon.

2. Sarah Kelly - Raw vocals and incredible talent. She plays the piano/keyboard and the guitar. She reminds of the aforementioned Jennifer Knapp mixed with Janis Joplin and a little bit of Alanis Morissette. Many of her songs are songs of worship, catchy tunes and good lyrics. Check out her debut album Take Me Away, I bet you will be addicted this album after the first listen. She is supposed to be coming out with new material within the next few months. Check out her myspace and listen to her new demos.

3. Ginny Owens - Ginny Owens is amazing her music is honest and raw. She sings with passion. I have always enjoyed her music and vocal, but her newest album Long Way Home is by far her best and most complete album. It is a much more mature album with such great authenticity in her writing. I also really enjoy her Live from New Orleans album, it has some of that New Orleans jazz sound to it, also it is kind of like a best of album. Check out Ginny, you won't be disappointed.

4. Bethany Dillon - She is young artist at the age of 18, she got started in the business at 16. Her music is awesome. Her lyrics are deep and masterful and she is great at playing the guitar. She reminds me of a young Jennifer Knapp. I really do love her music. She has to great CDs self-title debut and her newest is Imagination. Check out this incredible artist.

5. Sara Groves - You won’t be able to get the songs out of your head or the message out of your heart. I dare you to try! Her style is smart adul pop and with a deep sound and though provoking lyrics. Her newest album Add To The Beauty, is tender, artful explorations of life and faith. This album is truly one of the best CDs, that I have purchased of the last year and one my first downloads into my iPod. Incredible music worth listening to any music fan. She also has a new EP on iTunes Live from Messiah College. Oh by the way she was was selected by CCM Magazine as the album of the year.


I know there are other great female artists out there that I am sure I will tell you about. I just wanted to share my person favorites. Each one is definitly worth listening to. Tell me what you think, let me know of some of you favorite female artists. I would love to hear your feedback and responses.

Next week, I will give you a list of five of my favorite worship artist and their CDs.

Later,
Chris

The Past

It is true what they say, "your past will always catch up with you." For those who read my blog and are scratching yourhead from my last post, this is exactly what happened. In my teenage years, I was really messed, I had a lot of abuse from my mom, I did a lot of drugs and I drank. I also hurt a lot of people through physical or verbal bullying. I honestly regret, what I did as a teenager. When I was 18 God changed my life through His Son Jesus, I have since repented and sought forgiveness of my sins. I am a completely change individual. God has restored me. God has given me a deep love for people that replaced anger, hatred and bitterness that I felt for those as a child and a youth.

It is my heart, passion, and goal to connect people back to God through His Son Jesus, if that means that I must be humbled and broken from my past mistakes I am willing to accept that. Again, I offer my sincere apology to not only the one in particular who is still carying around the hurt I inflicted, I am also truly sorry for all those I hurt with my words and actions, I do take personal responsibility for my past action and every wrong choice that I have made.

I am so thankful that God allows to look forward with a changed heart and mind and make right choices so I can live out a redeemed life as a Christ-follower. I am so thankful that God has given me an opportunity to positively influence and invest in the lives of people who gone the things I have gone through or this I used to do to others. I do not tkae for granted any opportunities God has given me to connect those He loves back to Him in an intimate relationship.

Enough said, I do have a heavy heart.

Chris

Broken

I am honestly at a lost for words, I am in shock. Someone I hurt from my past, someone I can't even remember the person's name have left me a comment from something I did when I was in middle school. This person is still carrying this with them today. I am truly sorry for what I did, I am asking for your forgiveness. From that time in my life I am truly a changed individual, I know this can't possibaly change what I did to you, I am truly sorry for my actions. I do remember vaguely the situation.

I would like to make this right, not sure how I can do that, I do want to move forward from here. Please contact me further if we can talk about this on a deeper and more meaningful level my email is revivalgeneration@comcast.net. I agree with you in that I "hope that we can either enrich eachother's lives or SOMEHOW make the world a better place."

Again, I truly apologize for what I did. I honestly want to do all that I can to help you through the healing process.

Chris

Prayer time

After two really late nights in a row watching two excellent and exciting football games, by the way yeah for the Nittany Lions again, and also yeah for the Longhorns beating USC. :-) Yesterday I went to our district's prayer meeting at our district's campgroung and conference center. There were about a 150 pastors there seeking the Lord and lifting various needs. It was really awesome.

One thing, that sticks out is that our district's superintendent Dr. Rhoden, shared about our theme for this year, "Being People Of The Harvest." He closed with a prayer releasing us. He said it is very important that we be released with God's anointing to minister to our community and the people to which we are called.

All day yesterday and all day today, that one word release has been echoing through me. I am not sure what that means for me quit yet. I do know however, I do want to be released to step closer to my dream.

If I can be candid and honest for moment, I know God takes us through stages and different experiences before He puts us where He wants us and where He desires us to be. I also know through personal experience, He desires to grow and mature before we can go to that next stage or level of ministry. I have learned so much from my experiences and from the places I have served in ministry and the pastor I worked with. Every place I have been called to I built me up and allowed to grow in different areas.

With all this said, I don't want to be too specific here, a few months ago I had the honor and opportunity to talk and hang with a great pastor of an amazing church that I have a great desire and passion to be on staff for several reasons. 1. It would be an awesome growth experience for me personally for ministry. It would be like being an assistant coach at a college level and going to the pros and being a quarterbacks coach. Too me it will help down the road to be better prepared to do a church plant successfully while I learn from one of the best head coaches in the league, (Joe Gibbs). 2. I would be such a great asset to this community because of my love and passion for this area, I have a lot to offer but beyond that I have a lot to invest into a community and an area I love. 3. A position at this church would nuture my creativity and it would allow me to be free to be the type of pastor I desire to be. 4. It truly is a dream for me to work at this church and this pastor, it actually has been a dream of mine for about six years, so to me it would just be an honor to serve this pastor.

I know I am actually being transparent. To be honest this has truly been my heart for quite some time, God layed this dream on my heart and the vision for a church plant about two years ago, I really feel I want to be released to take that next giant step forward, if that means God uses me at another church to gain this experience or that He would have just take the ultimate risk and do it now. I am totally open and ready to be obedient to whatever God would have me to do. Even if that means, I need to serve somewhere else for five years to grow and gain needed experience or jump out of the boat and walk on the water and trust Him.

Please pray with me and for me for God's clear direction for me so that I would know. Thanks!

Chris

Stayed up way too late :-)

GO PSU!!!

I stayed up until 1:00am to watch my Nittany Lions beat Florida State in triple overtime in the Orange Bowl. Now hopefully, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Redskins will do well in the playoffs.

Anyways, GO PSU and Joe Paterno

Later,
Chris