COMP

It's going to be a long day tomorrow. The familia is going to Akins High school for Elena's dance competition. We had the chance to see a preview of everything last month and it was awesome! This time it counts and everybodys ready. Elena last year on the dance team as a 7th grader did pretty good...as did the whole team, so we're pretty pumped for Saturday. Were going to be at competition pretty much all day so say a prayer for us and the dance team will ya. Let's bring home some trophy's people! Peace out folk's....

[BIG MOUTH]

I'm really stoked about our topic tomorrow at Firehouse. Were going to talk about taming the tongue and the force it can be in our lives when used in a destructive way. Today our youth hear harsh gossip, abusive words, and vulgar language everywhere. It's nut's because most of our youth today consider this normal in our culture. It's everywhere...movies, TV, radio, in songs, and in our schools. Words can hurt real bad! It's important to learn how to control our words and prevent any kind of hurt in the lives of those were around everyday. Some awesome scripture we'll be in that God talks about concerning this topic are in... Proverbs 13:3, James 3:5, and 2 Timothy 2 :16. I can't wait! Till tomorrow...peace out.

[Death by Grinding Stone]

I've been reading the book of Judges and theres one part in it that got me wondering. In the end of chapter 8 Gideon dies and in the beginning of chapter 9 his son Abimelech becomes king. Ok...it's not so much all that,but just one thing that turned the cogs in my head. Ok, Abimelech ended up murdering his brothers right? All seventy of them to be exact...so heres the thing, he murdered them with a stone(verse 5). My question is...how big was that stone dude? I know it probably sounds like a crazy question,but that's the kind of stuff I sometimes think of. Really...was it small, medium, or large? Have you ever thought about that? Yeah, I know I'm probably the only crazy one to think this, but the real kicker about me writing all this is how Abimelech himself dies. After Abimelech's brother Jotham escaped death( from his own brother by the way) you can imagine that he was pretty ticked off. I mean, why was Abimelech made king anyway? There were all kinds of questions being asked as you can imagine. So, anyway...heres were I'm getting at. The death of Abimelech was...by way of a grinding stone! That's the way some versions of the Bible describe it as.(NCV) A grinding stone folks. In the same chapter verse 53 a women dropped it on his head from a roof in a tower she and others were in. DOINK! While seeing stars for a brief moment, it ended up crushing his skull big time. What are the chances of that? He kills with a stone... and dies by a stone himself. That's were all this is going. I guess you can say he had it coming(verse 56). Peace out!

[Anger]

How do you deal with anger? Yesterday at Firehouse we discussed this very important topic. How can we deal with anger in a way that is healthy? They say that anger,like fire finally dies out,but not before it leaves a path of destruction. There are teenagers out there that simply don't know how to handle their anger,so when circumstances come that bring the anger... the damage and destruction begins. Through their words and actions self control is out of the question,when self control is the very thing they need. Could there be something deeper that uproots this anger? Maybe something from their past? Issues that are still being held on to. Anger is a powerful emotion and often times a difficult one to handle. If you read James 1:19 it say's-

19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

Easier said than done right? Yet, Jesus wants us to rely on Him and show self control during these times. Being angry is perfectly normal thing in our lives, it's simply an emotional reaction that teens and adults often take way overboard and can get us in trouble. It's what we do afterwards that counts. Take the whole Chris Brown and Rihanna incident. CRAAAZY! Our teens need to learn how to deal with anger in healthy way's. One of the questions that was asked yesterday was... is anger a sin? Anger is not sin. Those angry feelings aren't sinful-it's the reaction that we need to control. Anger is an issue of self control which if were honest with ourselves is hard to have sometimes. After all Jesus Himself got angry(Matthew 21:12-13). Sometimes we just need those times to cool off and gather ourselves and know that Jesus gives us peace and is able to take the anger away. Theres always healthy solutions out there. Christ is one of them if not the one! Peace out.

Firehouse and Focus

This weekend we had Focus with Firehouse. We had a blast at my home hanging out and worshiping the Lord through small groups. There were also times... as expected of late nights and insane games. I had so much fun with my students. God is great and I'm so blessed to take part in building His kingdom. Yes, at times it can be pretty crazy and you wonder at times what did I get myself into,but God knows exactly what He's doing. So now it's times to rest up...but meanwhile check out some pics from Focus 09! Peace out

Really Bugged

Does it bother you when your driving with another car behind you and just when you turn in somewhere they decide to go around you in the middle lane? I mean why not wait for me to turn ? I'm thinking your driving behind me this far only to go around me for just for that one second. Yeah, I can maybe understand if I kept driving, because I admit... I tend to drive a little slow sometimes. I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me going home. I'm going the speed limit dude. Some people just aren't patient. I turn in... and they go around. What gives man! What thing's bother you on the road?

Through the Flames

God works ALL thing's for good! Can I get a AMEN! I tell this past week it was rough Satan was attacking me every which way he could. It seemed he was getting me from every single angle. But God being mighty in all His ways again overpowered Satan and his deceptions to pulled me through the flames. God is absolutely AWESOME. We learn so much from the storms we go through however small or big they may be only to be reminded that God is in full control of everything. I was able to look past my lion(2 Samuel 23:20-21)and see Gods mighty work! We face lions in our lives all the time... more than others it seems,but setting our minds and hearts to God and viewing Him in a way that He becomes our deliverer and our refuge allows us to become totally dependant on Him. Man...I can't even begin to tell you how important that is for our relationship with Him. Trust Him. Sometimes they don't go as we expect them,but then again it's not about what we want in the first place. More later...Peace out!

Hot Winged Out

Man...did anybody catch that awesome Super Bowl game yesterday? Of course you did, what was I thinking. I was so pulling for the Cardinals to win it, but... a touchdown in the corner of the end zone changed all that. Great effort though by Arizona. Oh..and another thing did ya'll take down some hot wing's? Of course you did! Among other thing's right? Over at my house we had a pile of wings, some boneless ribs, rice, beans, chicken ahhh man I could go on! Super Bowl Sunday was so much fun. I get to BBQ which I just love doing and feed people another thing I love doing. And what about those commercials? Any favorites anyone? I got to say for me it had to be the Pepsi "I'm good" commercial. Theres just something about people making me go ohhhh, ouuuuch. Bowling ball to the head, board to the back,come on people admit it....it was funny! The second one for me was the babys chatting online. Fuuunny! So..Super Bowl Sunday started by playing some flag football in the morning at our annual FOSM FOOTBALL FRENZY GAME!! Right after that went to church and heard an awesome message from Pastor Randy. God is moving ya'll! Our new series FEARLESS is just so practical. Regular Joe's being used by God to do extrodinary things. How awesome is that. I'm learning so much from God right now. It's all good in the hood! Peace out.