Water

This Sunday we will be doing baptisms at Faith Community. Baptism is an outward visible statement to the church that one has committed their life to Christ, and that they are a new creation through Christ. Being immersed into water, and then coming up out of the water represents Christ dying for our sins and then being resurrected on the third day. This also represents our future resurrection. As N.T. Wright would say, life after life after death.
I grew up in the Friends tradition where baptism was not practiced regularly. In the Friends tradition baptism happens through the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 28:18-19 Jesus says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit..." In 1 Corinthians 12:13 "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-weather Jews nor Greeks, slaves or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." Scripture seems to point us in a direction that baptism has nothing to do with water but has everything do with the Holy Spirit living in us and through us.
So why baptize with water? I think it is important that as believers our lives be a testamony for what Christ has done. Water baptism is a great outward sign and is a very physical visual way of showing the community ones commitment to Christ, however ultimately our testament to our baptism is what the Holy Spirit does through us and living free from bondage and death. Our testimony is not that we are baptized with water, but that through Christ we are set free.

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My Computer

I have recently noticed how much I use my computer and how valuable it is to my work. My Mac Book Pro has a 320GB hard drive with 4GB of ram and a 2.16ghz processor. On an average week I will use my laptop to edit video, edit photos, record audio, work on the church website, run guitar effects using Mainstage and of course blogging. I love the versatility of my computer. The best part about my laptop is using it for running my keyboards and guitars for worship on Sunday.
I have an 88 key full weighted M-Audio keyboard that functions as a controller. Through the power of Mainstage it gives the keyboard player in the band the ability to create any sound desired. Another great use for Mainstage is running my guitar rig through it. I usually run my electric guitar into my Line 6 floor Pod into an Alesis firewire to a tube preamp to my MBP and into my Line 6 AMP. Oh what power! I have so many options for sounds and tones. I wish I had a whole day where I could just sit in front of my rig and play and create fun sounds.
I am always worried for the day my computer crashes. I back all my stuff up at home onto a hard drive but the thought of loosing the functionality of my laptop scares me.

I can't stand listening to Rodger Lodge on AM830. Go back to hosting dating game shows.

I spend about 10 hours a week in traffic

In traffic on the 210

Woke up at 5:45, updated the church website, ate oatmeal, now I'm off to pasadena

I'm sitting on trafgic on the 210.

I am sitting at my desk, drinking sparklets water

Follow Me for a Week

Heat

What is the point of having the air on if it isn't blowing cold air?

Kingdom

How often do we fail to see the movement of Christ in our lives? As Christians we tend to have this position that Christ came and that he is coming again. What about now? In Mathew chapter 28:18 Jesus says "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Jesus is telling us don't worry I'm the authority in this world. Do we truly believe that Christ is Lord of all right now? Then Jesus follows up this statement with "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations..." If we truly believe that Christ has come and conquered death, he is here with us now as the true ruler of this good world that he created, and we are participating with him in the building of his kingdom, why do fail to recognize Christ in our everyday lives as the true ruler of this world? We get so caught up in what we hear and see in this world that seemingly has endless problems, but fail to act as people who believe that Christ is Lord and ruler of all.

How should we respond to this world in such a state? We are to practice justice and mercy and act in love. We are to serve the poor, feed the hungry, help the helpless, love the drug addicted, care for the sick and the list goes on and on. This is what the kingdom of God should look like. The kingdom of God is not in a far off place that one day we will get to, it is here and now and we get to help bring it into this world.

Maybe we fail to see Christ in everything because we are not fully participating with him in the building of his kingdom?

Blogging just got a little more cool. I can now blog from my phone!

Everyday Sunday

Church on Sunday is not just something I do, but it's at the core of who I am. I grew up in a family that attended church every Sunday. There was never a Sunday where my parents said, lets just stay home and have family time, because church was family time. As a child growing up I would have thought it to be strange to talk to someone who didn't go to church. What else would a person do on Sunday morning?

Working in a church setting for about seven years, I have noticed the lack of commitment among church goers. Church has become something that can be tossed to the side for anything that may get in the way. I know for a fact that if I was not actively involved in church I would not be the person I am today. It's through the life long relationships I have built over the years of going to church that have molded my walk with Christ.

As Christians we must understand that it's through community that we are held accountable and grow in our walk with the lord. The church is made up of people and without committed people the church can't function as the church should in this world of hurting people. The church is not just a place or a secret club meeting, it's not a watering hole or a good looking worship leader, it's not a preacher with a message. The church should be a movement of Christians that can't sit quietly or be contained in a building. I think the church movement is soft right now because of it's lack of committed people. We want to proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ has conquered death and he is the true Lord of this world but the church can't be the church with people who choose to only be apart of the church when it is convenient for them. Imagine a relationship with someone who only wanted to be part time friends or part time husband and wife. The marriage of Christ to his church is so powerful because it implies commitment. We know that Christ is committed to us, but are we truly committed to him?