This Sunday December 30th Element Student Church will having our annual Christmas Party! It is from 6-8pm grades 6th through 12th at the UPACC Building at 651 Moore Street. We will be doing the White Elephant game, so kids need to bring a gift no more than $5. It needs to be good for a boy or a girl. Fun and crazy games will be played and plenty of food and drinks to enjoy. Come and join us for an evening of Element FUN!!! Peace out...

Be our guest on Sunday as we continue our message series 2012! We meet from 6pm till 8pm at the UPACC Building on the Texas State Campus. The address is 727 Moore Street, grades 6th through 12th. An encouraging message just for teenagers, bumpin' music, games and more! We are a high energy Student Ministry and we show it, with Jesus Christ being the center of everything we do. Check us out, you'll be glad you did. Peace out.

Week 3 of our message series "2012" continues this Sunday, November 22nd from 6pm till 8pm.
We meet at 727 Moore Street (UPACC Building) on the Texas State Campus.
Grades 6th through 12th are meeting. Come experience church like you've never seen before! That's Element San Marcos...we exist to LOVE and CHALLENGE students to follow Christ.
Peace Out! : P

New series 2012

First don't click on the picture above, lol... it's the only pic I could get for now. Anyway...we kicked off our new series 2012 at Element Student Church this past Sunday. The question that almost everyone is asking... is the world going to end in 2012? What is the big deal with that date? Join us at Element San Marcos as we tackle one of the biggest fears that people have about life. We will discover how we can know what the signs are for the end of the world and what we need to do in order to be ready for when it happens. The Bible is not silent on this issue and neither are we at Element.

What: Element Student Church new series 2012
When: Sundays from 6pm till 8pm, grades 6th-12th
Where: 727 Moore Street (UPACC Building)

Overtime Event at Element

I just had to put that pic of Jesus playing some pig skin up top, lol! Alright folks, if your wanting to know all the details about our "OVERTIME EVENT "coming up at Element Student Church here it is. This Friday, November 6th from 10pm till 12:30am we are hosting "OVERTIME" at Element. What is OVERTIME? It's when students from grades 6th through gather together to hang out after the High School football game and just have good ol' FUN!!! We will have free food, giveaways, games, music, a Velcro wall, fear factor, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2. Our purpose at Element for having this event is simple. We want students to find themselves in a fun, non threatening atmosphere doing church specifically for them in a way they've never seen before, all while glorifying Jesus Christ! I'm pumped up about this Friday and can't wait. So get the word out about what's going down this Friday and let's serve our youth in love. Peace out!

What: Element Student Church, San Marcos "Overtime Event"
When: Friday, November 6th from 10pm till 12am (grades 6th-12th)
Where: UPACC Building 727 Moore Street http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

What's going on everybody! We've wrapped up our awesome series Don't Waste Your Life this past Sunday and it was crazy! In a good way of course. God had heart's stirring and our teenagers thinking. I'm so ready to see what God is going to do with element. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, greater thing's are yet to come! The time is NOW to stand up for Christ and become light to a darkened world. We won't hold back and we will NOT quit what God has already been doing. Now is not the time to get comfortable, that word will not be in elements vocabulary. Times are changing and the church needs to change with it to reach as many teenagers for Jesus Christ as possible. All while giving scriptural truth and biblical principles. Who says student church can't have students bouncing off the walls for Christ? WE WON'T BACK DOWN!!! That's all I felt I needed to say. I'm just stoked that's all. Peace out folks. : P


What-Element Student Church-San Marcos
Where-UPACC 727 Moore Street
When-Sunday, November 1st from 6pm-8pm

Don't miss week 4 of our series "Don't Waste Your Life" this Sunday, October 18th from 6pm till 8pm at UPACC 727 Moore Street. Come join us for an awesome time of church like you've never seen it! Element Student Church...we exist to LOVE and CHALLENGE students to follow Christ.

Check out our Myspace page: http://groups.google.com/group/element-multi-site?hl=en

Sunday, October 11th at Element San Marcos we continue week 3 of our series called "Don't Waste Your Life". We meet in the UPACC building (727 Moore St) on the Texas State Campus from 6pm-8pm. Come be our guest and check us out! Grades 6th-12th grade.

Element...we exist to LOVE and CHALLENGE students to follow Christ.

Yesterday we started our new series titled "Don't Waste Your Life". In a world that consumes teenagers with so many other thing's that just don't fulfill they are left with questions on why their lives feel like a bad roller coaster ride. Often seeking happiness in relationships, worldly pleasures, and other thing's that ultimately let them down. So they go about living their lives wasting time, money, energy on people or thing's that only God Himself can complete and fulfill. This often times happens unknowingly with teenagers, when all they need is someone or something pointing them in the right direction. Don't Waste Your Life is a series with the sole purpose of helping our students live lives with purpose and meaning, putting God at the center of it all. An "un-wasted" life if you will. This past Sunday at Element was the first week of our series and after the message 7 students made decisions for Jesus Christ!! To God be all the glory folk's. We continue week 2 next Sunday, October 4th. Can't wait to see what God does again! Peace out.

What: Week 2 of our series "Don't Waste Your Life" When: Sunday, October 4th 2009, 6pm-8pm Where: UPACC Building 727 Moore Street

New Series!!

This weekend Element Student Church San Marcos will be starting our new series called "DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE". Your life has the potential to be invested or wasted? But how do you know if you are wasting it or not? You are currently living for a cause or purpose that will one day speak for you after you are gone. Others will say of you man she really lived a good life or worse yet man he really wasted his life. Join us in this powerful series as we journey into learning how we can invest our lives into the greatest cause in the world and have the highest level of satisfaction and joy.

What: New Series "Don't Waste Your Life" Where: Element Student Church-San Marcos When: Sunday, September 27 from 6pm-8pm at UPACC 727 Moore Street

Good Vibes

What is up? I'm going to have to catch up a little on what's going on. First... God is GOOD. And right after that...I love my wife! She's super incredible. I can honestly say I don't know what I would do without her. I love our daughter who is just craaazy, but I love that about her. God has certainly made her one of a kind. I was thinking about when was just the size of a football. Alright, maybe not that small. I really need to get back into the groove of thing's with my blogging. My blog is meant to be for our Element, but I've made it something else. Oh well, they'll still be some updates and reminders and all that other stuff too. But for now today, I wanted to share what was on my mind briefly. Till next time, hopefully soon. Peace out!

Is now meeting at the UPACC building at 727 Moore Street. The times are from 6pm-8pm on Sundays. Join us for an experience you'll never forget and want to come back to! You'll be glad you came. It's happening at Element...were our purpose is...To LOVE and CHALLENGE students to follow Christ! We'll meet you where your at. Peace out. : p

Greater things are yet to come.

It seems like forever since my last blog post. To be honest I just haven't felt like writing anything, but so much has been going on it's crazy. I'm taking the time right now as I wait for my daughter to call me to go pick her up. It's 12:30 and shes on her way back from Waco from a football game. She's a freshman cheerleader and drove out with the rest of the squad. Well, what's been going on? First were in some exciting times as a church. We've started our transition from Fellowship of San Marcos to Bay Area Fellowship-San Marcos! We are now a multi site church of BAF and were all pretty stoked about it. Our student ministry also has made a move as Element Student Church. Keeping the same vision and goals as before and always. To LOVE and CHALLENGE students to follow Christ! Helping those who are far away from God come to a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That NEVER changes. Like I said, it's some exciting times right now. God is doing some awesome stuff already and we are honored to be a part of it. Our city is crying out for answers that only God Himself can give. And as BAF-San Marcos we want to be obedient in following the great commission ( Matthew 28:19-20) and do our part as His ambassadors. It's going to be a ride that has every turn imaginable, but when people come to know Christ...it's all worth it! Peace out..

Element SM Kick-Off

Sunday night we had our Element Student Church-SM launch at UPACC and it went awesome! We had 43 students who came out and got there socks rocked off. We couldn't have done it without parents taking time out of there evening and helping where needed. Great job! The most exciting time of the evening by far was the 4 students who made first time decisions for Jesus Christ! That folks never gets old folks. : ) Great things are yet to come and it's an honor to be apart of it. All praise go's to our King...Jesus! It's time...let's run the race and build up the kingdom of God. Peace out.

Element San Marcos Tx

We are hitting the ground running! We are going through an exciting time in our church by merging with Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, Tx. We will become a multi site church here in San Marcos with the same vision and purpose as before...to reach the lost in our community and beyond for Jesus Christ! To love and accept all, just as our Creator does. It's getting really exciting around here and I believe with all my heart that our town is going to experience a God size quake in San Marcos. I mean people being shaken up by the power and spirit of the Lord! This also brings an exciting time for our students as well. We will be kicking off our new school year as Element Student Church by having an event on Sunday, August 16 from 6pm-8pm at the UPACC on 724 Moore St. Our rocking worship band will bring there God given talents to the Lord that evening along with a real, relevant, practical message just for students. It's is... with out a doubt going to be a time of bringing our worship to the Lord. Through everything that is done that evening. So get the word out! Tell everyone you know with pre-teen/teenagers 6th-12th grade. Peace out!

FREEDOM

Master's Camp is done for the year!! Man, it seems that it just came by so quick, and yet went by so fast. But, needless to say...what an awesome week it was! I mean what more can you ask for, changed lives, Christ being the center of everything that was experienced all week. My student's along with many other's were challenged and encouraged to live of life of FREEDOM In Christ. Free from those thing's in our everyday lives that hinder us from really knowing and pursuing the life He so badly wants each of us to have. It will be a challenge for many, but just as it is said in Gods word...I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me(Philippians 4:13) we have that hope in Christ alone. It's good to be back though, God has worked not only in our student's lives, but mine as well. It was gut check time, that's for sure! I can't wait for the new school year this fall. Yeahhh baby, it's gonna be off the hinges!! Till then it's time for my family hang back for a while to re-flect, re-focus, re-energize. Thank you God for everything you do and everything your going to do! Peace out. reflect

Camp's in full effect.

Next week we head off to Master's Camp with Firehouse Students!! I'm getting really excited now and can't wait. There are several first timers going this year with us to camp and I can't wait to see what God is going to do in all of there lives. More than anything my prayer for everyone is that God invades every part of there lives and that they have a clear understanding of the love God has for them. There are thing's in there lives that need to change that's for sure... were not perfect by any means and don't claim to be, so may they give up those thing's that are keeping them away from pursuing a real genuine relationship with our Savior. I'm in love with God and sooo thankful that I get to teach students about Him. I know many Youth Pastors say that they have the best group of kids, but I'm going to say that too because I believe that with all my heart with mine! MASTER'S CAMP HERE WE COME...YOU BETTER BE READY FOR US..LOL! Peace out folk's.

Weekend Shots

I wanted to talk a little about this weekend. Well, as you may know it was the fourth of July and there were many thing's going on during the weekend. Lot's of people on vacation...then there was BBQ....and fireworks, but most importantly,there are those who we are so thankful for to even begin doing any of these things. And that is our men and women in the military who serve our country proudly! We are so grateful for everything they do and thank God for them. So...as I'm writing this I can't even remember what I did on Friday...oh well it'll come to me. I do remember Saturday though. We hung at the casa pretty much till 4pm, then went to BBQ with Greg and Cathy and pretty much everyone else. Ate some gooood Q and watermelon, played some card games then headed out to watch the fireworks with our church family. Yep, it was FOSM tailgate party time! We played more games there and hung out with all the peeps. Then it was time for the big bangs in the sky! FIREWORKS!!! Which, by the way was THE very best in a very, very long time. They put a really great show for the community of San Marcos. On Sunday it was a day at the church house. I had the privilege of assisting Pastor Randy with the sermon, and boy it was a BLAST! We've started a new series on Elijah and the story of God doing His work in him (Elijah) so that He can work through him, all to prepare him to make a Big difference for His kingdom. This is going to be a great series these next few weeks. I'll be taking over while our Pastor and his family go off to a much needed vacation. I'm super excited about doing this series on Elijah. I do believe that through this series, God will do a good work in the lives of many people. More later, till then peace out!

Weekend

wWell, were back from a little mini vacation we took in Corpus and Port A. My wife and daughter and I had a wonderful time together. We went to the beach, did some body boarding( at least tried) made some sand castles and swam of course. Had lunch next to some skeleton pirates, pretty cool. Did a little shopping and site seeing. Sunday we attended church at Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus and had our socks rocked off! We first attended there student church Element, then afterwards went in there regular services. Man...there all about reaching the lost for Jesus Christ! It's really exciting. After church we had some lunch with John Atkinson and his family. That guys so encouraging to be around, we all talked about things within our church and student ministry. Some really RAD stuff is going down that's for sure! Loved every moment of it. Now it's time to get busy. That's all for now , peace out!

Ready...Ok!

My wife and I have an awesome daughter who's 14. She's full of life and really loves being who God made her to be. It's hard to believe already though, that she's going to be in High School. A FRESHMAN at that!!! Ahhhh....yep it's already here...those High School years! She went through her Junior High years with the Dancing Diamonds Dance Team and now going into High School she's going to be a JV cheerleader. Were really excited for her and we can't wait for the upcoming year. Folk's... I have to admit something, all though others would probably disagree, cheer leading IS... a sport. It's just as competitive as anything thing else out there and requires so many thing's mentally and physically. Our daughter has our full support that's for sure. Oh...and did I mention that she's going to be the one that gets tossed in the air! Not to excited about that one. All I know is that they better catch her or some heads are gonna roll. Just kidding....no I'm not! Nevertheless it's going to be very interesting to say the least. Although... it's been interesting already! Example: Monday there was a cheer camp performance at Strahan Coliseum we attended and man....I told my wife I felt like I was in the "Bring it on" movie. Tip...DO NOT sit close to cheerleaders if your just going as a spectator...THEY WILL SCREAM IN YOUR DANG EARS!!! Totally caught me and my wife off guard, but that's cheerleading folks. Peace out...

Rise Above

The summer is in full swing and that's means Master's Camp in Leaky, Tx!!! This year were expecting anywhere from 18 to 20 students attending. Which, by the way is simply AWESOME! We've got new and old faces going this year so I can't wait to see what God is going to do in every one's lives. You know, I love the memories from the previous years at camp, both the good and bad. Yes, there can be those issues at camp than can be both challenging and encouraging and you just learn from them. The time we spend with student's for a whole week is simply a blessing and I cherish every moment of it. From activities, to eating at the cafeteria, to worship in the tabernacle. Every part of this experience is precious to me and that's the truth! It's June already and next month is camp, it came up so fast it seems, but I guess it always feels that way. My prayers and thoughts go out to every teenager that attends camp this year, that God would break all barriers that can hinder students from experiencing God in a Real and Personal way! It's time to encourage this generation to rise above any issues that press down on them. God is BIGGER than any of those thing's and can work thing's out for good. I love what this Sundays One Prayer message talked about. Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church said in his message..."God takes those thing's out of your life whatever it may be, only to replace it with something even better!" That is so true in our lives. God is not against us, but for us! How sweet is that? There are always better thing's that God wants to give us. Especially when we have those issues in our lives both teenagers or adults that are not for God. We know what they are and God does too. We all have them, yet at the same time we also have the power to rise above those issues that tells us otherwise, but only if we put our trust in the Creator Jesus Christ alone and nothing else. RISE!!! Teenagers need to know this and understand it with clarity and confidence and so do we as adults. Master's Camp...here we come!!!Peace out...

Last Sunday Pastor Randy mentioned some scripture in Mark 11:15-17 that brought up a thought. First check out Mark 11:15-17

15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers."

After he read the scripture Sunday this is what I starting thinking about....what about the churches that have bookstores, coffee shops etc? What would Jesus' reaction be to all of it? Now, I don't have anything at all against this, after all I've bought Cd's and other items from churches I've visited before. Frankly I'm cool with it. It's just one of the many crazy thoughts I have from time to time. But do you think He would do the same as in Mark? Personally, I don't think He would, but I guess the purpose of posting this to hear other thoughts and opinions. I'm very curious right now. And on another note...why don't we see many pictures of the events that took place in Mark 11:15-17? Jesus over turning tables and stuff! Peace out folk's....

You did what?

Thing's that happened this weekend...sucked some birds out with a shop vacuum. Yeah,we've had problems with some small birds getting inside of our dryer vent. They survived, I opened up the vac and there they were. I also put some rubber snakes in the vent holes. It works folks! I thought it was crazy, but yes... it really works. Went to Kyle to watch my nephews all star game in the morning. Ate some good tacos before the game. Saw Terminator Salvation. Church on Sunday, which is always great! Up was a very funny movie too. Chilled out at home the rest of the day. That's all folk's! Peace out.

Just thoughts...Hmmmm

What's on my mind...thinking about some students of mine that need to reconcile their relationship. I had a talk with them and they're for it,so that's always good. Things like this always have me scratching my head. Ready for the summer to start,I'm going to take some time off after a few things were doing with Firehouse to recharge,refuel,and reconnect. Theres a lot I need to reflect on for the new school year for our ministry. I need to look back at this past year and see what can be done better or not at all. It's going to be a great time to get to do all this,it's going to be great for everybody! Also thinking about the Dj gig's I got for the next few months. AWESOME! Thinking about where vacation is going to be this year. Thinking about Masters Camp, summer schedule,finding my lost pair of head phones,what color to paint the kitchen(yippy skippy)and that's all for now. One last thing...very thankful for everything in my life,my God...my Savior...thank you for all of it!! Peace out people

Give thanks

Before we light the fires in our BBQ pits, get the meat ready and plan a weekend at the park, let's not forget our troops. It is because of them, we have the freedom to enjoy this weekend and everyday after that. We thank them for there sacrifice and commitment to our country. We honor those of the past and present. Thank you God for our heroes.

Weekend Shots

Saturday my family and I just hung around the house watching TV and stuff. Later on in the evening we went over to have some awesome homemade fried chicken at my in-laws house. Man...you can never go wrong with some homemade fried chicken! I also helped my father in law put his new surround sound system together. There big time movie buff's, so having surround sound was going to happen sooner or later. Sunday was Mothers Day and we had a great service at church. We have 2 services so Sunday I had the privilege to teach in our children's church! Our kids are simply awesome and LOUD!! It was cool hearing them memorize bible verses that we learned and to hear them pray. Joe our children's pastor is doing such an awesome job with all those kids. Great job Joe! After church we had a time to relax, then went over to my brother- in- laws house. We had all the family there including my mother joining us. We had fun out in the back yard with BBQ going, and family...it doesn't get any better than that folk's! Peace out.

You know your in Student Ministry when...

The other day I was cleaning my garage when I started thinking about something. You know your in Student Ministry when...

Instead of a Dodge Truck in the garage, there are dodge balls. You have some kind of fun noodle and no pool. And even if I did have a pool, I still wouldn't use it. Noodles are awesome for smacking kids! I'm kidding ya'll... they smack each other, even better. When you have a skate rail and skateboards lying around that I can kill myself with (I'm not that young anymore for boards). "Hey Ralph can you ollie?" When you have every kind of ball in the book...baseball, basketball, golf ball, football, wiffle ball, Foosball, etc. When you have all kinds of make shift items for games cause your always on a budget, so why not make it yourself. When your work table is a pool table all at the same time. When you get fined 50 bucks for having out a basketball goal in the street for our youth to play with on Wednesdays...that sucks. :( Stupid home owners association J/K. :) They need to understand...IT'S ALL FOR THE KIDS!! When you have a laundry bag with no laundry in it, but instead...you have flags and cones for flag football. When you see that sno cone machine in the garage and you know summer is here! Time to bust it out... who wants SNO CONES!!! That's all I can think of for now folks. Oh yeah... you know your in Student Ministry when you can't wait till Wednesday rolls around, because you just love being around the best group of kids God has blessed you with!! AMEN. Peace out

[ Shake... it...up! ]

I've been having a lot of thoughts about the vision of our Student Ministry, Firehouse. Last week at our leadership meeting everyone was challenged and encouraged to think about what we can do to take our ministry's to a whole new level. It got me thinking even more about what I see for our students and the community of San Marcos. My heart and passion is to see real life change in the lives of every youth in our town and beyond. Change that can only take place when the Creator of all thing's Jesus Christ totally invades lives one by one. Were a GOD sized quake takes place and is felt in San Marcos by Moms, Dad's, uncles, aunts, brother's, sister's, grandpa's, and grandma's. A quake of transformation and obedience that only Jesus alone can do in the lives of our youth! I don't know exactly what will take place or even when it will, but I do know this... Gods love is by far greater than mine when it comes to our youth, and He wants life change to take place just as bad! He is all mighty... the strong tower...and the most powerful, there is nothing He can't do. I believe, trust and have faith with all my heart that His will and not mine, will be done. It's times to shake up this town and everyone living in it!! Giving God ALL the glory. Thank you Lord and...peace out folks ; )

M.C Zavala!

Yeah, yesterday at Firehouse I had the stage! Well... maybe not a real stage, but you know what I mean. After an awesome evening of worship,crazy videos of fighting cat's and my message, we ended the evening with a rap performance by...me. The camera phones were out and students were some what entertained(I think)and it was on!! You see my nephew who likes to freestyle rap has been writing out some lyrics of his own for some time now, and I've been encouraging him to spit them out. After nagging him over and over to bring it on Wednesday, he still hasn't mustered the courage. So I decided to write out my own rap song with my own original lyrics. This past weekend is when I started writing them and boy... I did some thinking. Putting down lyrics on paper is not as easy as I thought it would be. I did this to give my nephew that extra push to show us his stuff. And what do you know...it worked! He now wants to rap next Wednesday. It was pretty crazy I have to admit, but it was all worth it at the end. On top of that my students actually enjoyed it! I have video, but I don't know how to post it on my blog. Maybe later when I learn all that stuff, but for now here are my lyrics to it...enjoy!

It was once said about a man on the cross, He died for our sins so we can call Him the Boss. He ain't no Rick Ross, He suffered the loss, so we could be His and believe in the cause. Creator of all this man is holy, He went from death to life so we wouldn't be lonely, His presence that I feel I'm eternally grateful, the love I have for Him I'm forever peaceful. So many times my life has it's ups and downs, but I put em on the cross to relieve all my frowns. You can have this life if you want it go get it, Jesus Christ is King and don't you forget it. Just reach out your arms and release all the baggage, He'll meet you were your at it ain't even a challenge! Forever you are His where ever you go, just give your love to Him and go with the flow! All glory to God...peace out.

You want the Good News first...

Salvation is for all! You know what excites me every time? When someone comes to know the Lord for the first time! Man...that never get's old. Never leave out the gospel folks, if your a Student Pastor you need to know this! Give everyone the chance to make that decision, even if you know they already have. It's shows your serious about who Jesus is and what He can do in our lives. You never know...a friend that someone brings may have never heard it in their life. Let your students get used to it, so that they know that it will always be presented. Sometimes we may leave it out because your group has already made that decision. Do it anyway! Peace out...

Gone Fishing

If you love to fish then you know what this picture above is all about. Yep...the dreaded, horrible, headache causing backlash. Monday morning I went out to my favorite fishing hole and enjoyed a great time fishing until...the backlash. Again, if you fish you know what I'm talking about, but just in case you don't know, it's when the fishing line in a reel gets all knotted up. Simply put...it's a big mess. After spending some time fixing the thing, something occured to me. The Spiritual Backlash. What would that kind of mess look like? And what are some ways it can be fixed? Unlike using knives, scissors, picks or whatever I can find in my tackle box, fixing a spiritual backlash can be a totally different ball game. One thing is for sure, it takes effort from us and the help from our Creator. It would have been way easier to just put down my reel and skip the pain, but if I did that I wouldn't' have anything to fish with and my day on the water would have been wasted. The backlashes in our own lives can sometimes be overwhelming and may cause us to give up and give in. Yet...when we put our confidence and trust in Christ, all the knots and pains start looking better. Were always going to have those spiritual backlashes from time to time, but knowing that Christ Himself knew a thing or two about Fishing (Luke 5:1-7) we can be sure that hope and perseverance can be found in Him alone. Peace out

Y4Christ Pics

[ UNITY ]

Last night was the bomb! Our student ministry attended the Y4Christ youth event at Promiseland Church. Over 200 plus students from our area come out for a time of worship, games, and a powerful challenging message, all to encourage unity within students. Unity in their schools, homes, and everywhere else they are. Last night we all came together as one. All for ONE purpose...to worship our Creator Jesus Christ! Teenagers were given the opportunity to extend their hand to a God who forever extends His to them. Many students responded and it was AWESOME! At the end of the evening we all broke up into small groups and I talked with a girl who hadn't been to church since the 8th grade and she was in the 11th now. That's what I'm talking about folks! Reaching those who are far from God who pursues us with a passion. I know without a doubt that God spoke to her that night. It was a great night and there will be more of them as we plan to make this a habit. All to Honor our King with...UNITY!! I'll post some pics soon. Peace out...

[ Y4Christ ]

Tomorrow is the day! It's Y4Christ..."Youth Uniting For Christ." It's a chance to meet up with other local teenagers for some fun, food, fellowship, radical worship and a relevant message given by my friend T-Bear. Myself and other Student Pastors have been praying over this for some time now and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for our youth. It's going to be off the hinges folks! The event will be hosted by Promiseland Church San Marcos. It will begin at 6:30 and will end at 8:30. All students ministries are welcomed to attend. I pray that teens bring there not yet believing friends with them so they too can experience Gods grace and love. This event is for EVERYBODY folks and it's free! So come on out, I hope to see you there. It's Y4Christ..."Youth Uniting For Christ." Peace out...

G Sale & Church

This morning we had a garage sell at my house. It went great, made some money and got to invite some neighbors to church for our Easter services. One of my neighbors has a son that I invited also to our student ministry on Wednesdays. I hope he comes. It was good talking with them. Man...today is one of those days that's just dragging. Anyway, it's going good! I can't wait till tomorrow, were having 4 services and people are getting baptized...SWEET!! God is going to do some awesome things in the lives of people, I just know it. Peace out folks.

One Mission

I'm pretty stoked about this coming week and weekend! This Wednesday at Firehouse I'm going to speak about something that's off the hinges people! Our gratitude towards Jesus Christ as our Risen Savior will definitely be expressed this Wednesday. As you may also know Easter is just around the corner and it's going to be an exciting time for our church. This past Sunday we went to 2 services for the first time at FOSM. My wife and I were really excited in doing this! It was all God folks . Hes doing these things and were just so honored to all be apart of it. Glory to Him...for real! This weekend for Easter we will be doing 5 services. One on Friday at 6:30 and the others on Sunday morning starting at 7:07am, 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:30am. Again...it's ALL GOD! I look forward to inviting people as our special guests. Man...did I mentioned I'm JACKED UP right now! Pray people for changed lives not only in our church, but for others as well. One mission, One Savior, One goal...to reach those in our community who are far from God... with a REAL REALTIONSHIP WITH GOD! Peace out.

Shattered Dreams

Yesterday and this morning I had the great opportunity to be apart of something special. I had

the privilege to be apart of the Shattered Dreams program at San Marcos Baptist Academy. If your not aware of what this program is all about, basically it is designed to increase awareness of the consequences of drunk driving and the effects it can have to those involved. http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/educa/shatdreams.htm There was a staged mock crash accident at the school on Thursday with all local law enforcement, fire department and so on. A total of 25 students from the academy voluntarily participated playing the parts of victims in the crash, the living dead which were students who's faces were painted white with black around there eyes...very creepy. The whole mock crash took place during school while students watched the events take place. Needless to say... it was some pretty powerful stuff to witness. Myself along with others were in charge of facilitating a retreat at the T Bar M in New Braunfels. The students who volunteered in the SD program were the only ones who went to the retreat . We had the privilege of getting to know the students a little better and just hanging out. Through out the evening on Thursday we did an ice breaker, had a few guest speakers and discussion times concerning the program. Things were funny and fun at times, while others were more serious and life altering. For example, there came a time during the retreat when students read letters from their parents. These letters were written as if there child was deceased, and had in them from everything from feelings,to wishes and encouragements towards them. As you can imagine, it must of been really tough for them to read those letters...and it was definitely that. Emotions were all over the room, students hugging each other others holding it in. It was one of the most emotional things I've seen. After that we did activities to encourage each other and had them write a letter back to there parents in the same way there parents wrote to them. The next morning we drove back to the academy and concluded at the chapel. During this time students got to read their letters while mom and dad where present. Yeah...again very tough. It was an experience I'll never forget and one that I'm very grateful for. I enjoyed everything about it and feel very blessed to have taken part in it all. Thanks to all the others who were involved as well, we made a great team guys God bless ya'll!

Dodging spears

I've been reading 1 Samuel and I found something crazy.Imagine yourself dodging spears people! Yeah, I'm talking about those war fighting weapons that are tossed about from here to there. That's what David had to go through on several occasions. Every now and then Saul would be overcome by an evil spirit from the Lord ( 1 Samuel 19:9) while holding a spear in his hand. Ok...why did he have a spear in his hand in the first place? Every time this happened David would have to play the harp to calm the dude down. Talk about obedience. I think if I saw spears zipping past my head I'd be out of there! He ended up bookin anyway. David had some good people on his side though. He got out of some sticky situations. You should read this chapter. The Bible is sooo cool man! Peace out.

Weekend Shots

Let's see, what went on this weekend? Well...Friday I stayed up till about 2 or so in the morning watching the Twilight movie. I can see now why it's so hyped up. To teenagers like my daughter it's way cool! I mean what more can you ask for...vampires and a love story. And not just your regular vamps, but pretty trendsetting ones! Yep, no capes or fangs in this movie just style and looks. Vamps that teenagers go, goo-goo-ga-ga all over. Other than that it was a good movie I didn't fall asleep so that has to say something, at least for me. Saturday my awesome wife and I spent the day in San Antonio to celebrate my birthday slash anniversary. That was way cool! We took some long walks and ate some good tacos at market square among other things. Went to the Alamo and had some sno-cones. Did a little shopping and then came back to the hotel. We enjoyed our day together very much, it's always a good thing to get away for a little while. We came back in from SA in the morning just in time to make it to church. Church was awesome by the way people! Pastor Randy is doing such a great job in communicating Gods word to the church. I always leave challenged and I'm sure others do to. I'm really stoked about what God is doing with our church, big,big things! God is Good y'all! Peace out.

Celebration...

Tomorrow is my birthday and it's going to be off the hinges! My awesome wife and I are spending some time in San Antonio on Saturday. It's kind of like our anniversary and birthday celebration thingy all in one. Back in February Clarinda and Elena were out in Houston for a girls conference so we really didn't get to celebrate that weekend. So that's what we'll be doing this weekend! I can't wait really... it's always a great thing to get out with your wife even if it's just for a day or two. We'll be back on Sunday morning. Ready,ready, ready! Peace out folks.

Stuck with no instructions:'(

Have you ever bought something like hmmm.....let's say furniture and when opened didn't have the instructions in the box!! That's what happened yesterday night. We recently bought our daughter Elena some new furniture for her room and we were ready for some good ol' wood work construction, but... no construction without instructions no what I mean? Bummer cause we were ready too! After taking everything out of the box too. So for now our bedroom has an incomplete dresser up against the wall. Tell me what are the chances of that. I guess theres always a first for everything huh. Anyway, that was the conclusion of a great weekend. You want to guess what we'll be doing for Spring Break? Bring it on! Instructions or not. Peace out ya'll.

Big Text...

Yeah...I'll admit I'm a slow texter! Unlike my 14 year old daughter Elena, I tend to take my time at some thing's. Yesterday after picking her up from the bus stop I was texting a few of my student's about Firehouse. We'll, she happened to catch my brilliant texting ability's when we got home. And this is what she said....simply this... "Ga Dad, you text slow." Yeah, I do and I'm quite fine with that thank you very much. I guess I'm definitely out of that texting championship. Yep, in case you didn't know this already there are competitions on texting! Back in 2007 a 13 year girl won 25,ooo dollars at the LG National Texting Championship in New York. Yes folks, you heard me....25,ooo !!! Heres were it's crazy...she won by typing "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"(guess how long typing that was) from "Mary Popins" in just 15 seconds! So nope, you won't find me at no texting championship. I'll take the "Ga Dad you text slow" comments any day. Peace out!

Crazy Amor!

• It was a great weekend. Man...why do they have to go by so fast? I started reading a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love." Let me ask you this... how many times in our lives do we really forget who God is? I mean really think about that for awhile...we know that He is the creator of all the universe and that He' all knowing and all powerful in everything He does, but do we really know that? If so how do we know? What things in our life confirm that? These are a lot of questions to think about aren't they. I was reading the first chapter of this and I was constantly looking up in wonder. Why? Because I was looking at my own life and asking myself these very same questions. I forget that I'm just little 'ol me being used by BIG 'OL HIM!(God) I'm nothing compared to His glory and majesty! He doesn't need to use me, but He does. Just as Francis say's in his book...God is holy, God is eternal, God is all knowing, God is all-powerful and lastly God is fair and just. But can we explain these beautiful attributes about how we know who God is in our own lives? Let me share with you some thing's out of this book Crazy Love, and there the very thing's I've mention already. Here are some thing's from his book that Francis Chan communicates regarding these attributes. Thing's that hit ME like a ton of bricks.

• God is holy-"To say that God is holy is to say that He is set apart , distinct from us. And because His set apart-ness, there is no way we can ever fathom all of who He is."
• God is eternal-" Each of us had a beginning; everything in existence began on a particular day, at a specific time. Everything, that is, but God. He always has been, since before there was an earth, a universe, or even angels. God exists outside of time, and since we are within time, there is no way we will ever totally grasp that concept."
• God is all knowing-" It is sobering to realize that this is the same God who is holy and eternal, the Maker of the billions of galaxies and thousands of tree species in the rain forest. This is the God who takes the time to know all the little details about each of us. He does not have to know us well, but He chooses to."
• God is all powerful- "Colassians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones? Psalm 115:3 reveals, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." Yet we keep on questioning Him: "Why did you make me with this body, instead of that one?" "Why are so many people dying of starvation?" "Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?" "Why is my family so messed up?" Why don't you make yourself more obvious to people who need you?" The answer to each of these questions is simply this: because He's God. He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving. As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us."

God is just and fair-It takes a lot for us to comprehend God's total hatred for sin. We make excuses like, "Yes, I am prideful at times, but everyone struggles with pride." However, God say's in Proverbs 8:13, "I hate pride and arrogance." You and I are not allowed to tell Him how much He can hate it. He can hate and punish it severely as His justice demands.

That's a lot of stuff I know! But it had me thinking fore sure. I know it may sound like man...well WHAT can I do then? I believe the purpose of this book is not to show us what were not doing, even though it's easy to take it that way, but to remind us of what we should be doing! God wants to totally invade our lives. Let's not forget that and let Him. What a wonderful God He is! Peace out ya'll.

Crazy Standup

Ah, man tonight we had some friends come over and together we laughed our butts off! I bought the new DVD by Tim Hawkins"I'm No Rockstar", and boy it was all that people said it was. Seriously, you should go buy it like right now! This guy is twisted with his comedy and the awesome part of it is... it's all clean and fun. He does these insane crazy full blown concert bits that are just nut's dude! You just need to go out and get it. Peace out!

The Weekend Run Down

It was a great weekend for me and my family. Friday after work we just chilled at the house. It was Saturday that was looong and awesome at the same time! Elena our daughter had her dance competition at Akins High School from 9am till about 9pm or so. Man...were we tired! The awesome part of though was they won several trophy's in different dance category's. For the first time in school history at Miller Junior High they were presented the Grand Champion Trophy! The BIG 5 footer. Along with several others as well. It was a total team effort and all that hard work paid off at the end. Elena is one of the officers and out of the three dances they took to the tournament, they came home with 2 first place trophies. What an exciting time for all of them. It's Elena's last year in Junior High so what a way to finish with her dance team. Were so proud of her! After it was all said and done as you can imagine we were ready to take it to the house. Wheew! That was Saturday. Sunday was church in the morning. I was challenged big time! God revealed somethings to me that made alot of sense folks. God is good ya'll, I'm telling you. Zach our worship intern is bringing it! God bless him for his loyalty and obedience. Playing for an audience of one! That 'bout wrap it up people. Peace out!

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