I was driving to work this morning, minding my own business, not worrying about anything; actually I was zoned out in autopilot drinking my Cinnamon Dulce Latte with soy, no whip. I saw some cows on the side of the road and thought “they have it easy, no cares or worries, their master provides everything”. I saw them walking around carefree, not anxious about their lives or what tomorrow might bring.

Then God reminded me about Matthew 6:25-34, and like the cows we should “not be anxious about tomorrow”, when you give everything to Christ, there is freedom & peace to live knowing He’s got it. We often only refer to verse 33 “Seek ye first the kingdom…“, but the whole chapter is awesome. Christ is asking us to have faith in Him, to  let go and give everything to God; if we trust in Him, He will keep us in everything. read more »

There is a danger with pushing for “crazy praise” in our worship. Why? Because pushing performance based worship, meaning, “what I can do”, rather than “what He can do”, puts the focus on self rather than the cross. I am not saying lets not worship and praise God joyfully with all of our heart and all of our might, but let us use wisdom and not use the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues as excuse to go nuts to satisfy our flesh. read more »

Do you really believe in the redeeming power of Christ’s blood, the cross and His grace? Do you truly believe that Jesus Christ can change your heart and save you, or are you trying to be your own savior and manage your own sins? read more »

For a while now the idea of a “breakthrough” has bothered me. I have always heard: “I had a breakthrough“, “they had a breakthrough“, “he/she finally broke through“. I thought to myself, what is this constant need for a breakthrough from the saints who have been church all of their lives, and what are we breaking through? Bear with me I am going somewhere with this, I promise.

Here is my trouble with “the breakthrough“. Aren’t we supposed to be living for Christ daily and not just on church days, so why do we need to start over every service? Shouldn’t we be living consistently for Him, rather than from breakthrough-to-breakthrough? read more »

A few people have been asking about my recipe for gumbo, so here it is. This recipe is just enough for 4 people, so you may want to double it, but you’ll need a good size pot. I like to use a Cast Iron Dutch Oven to slow cook my gumbo, but any slow cooking pot will do.

read more »

I have been reading various articles on the word church and its original meaning. Some articles have bashed the modern concept of church as a departure from the original Acts concept of church, while others have addressed some of the problems of the modern church ideology. I thought I would share my two cents and my perspective about the buzzword “ecclesia” or “community”. You may think I am jumping on the “ecclesia” bandwagon, but I am just sharing my thoughts and my heart.

The word church from the original Greek is “ecclesia”. This Greek word appears in the New Testament approximately 115 times. “Ecclesia” is correctly defined as: “The called-out (ones)”. Originally the word was used to indicate a community of select (called) people. read more »

It is our goal as Christians is to grow up into Jesus Christ, seek after His will and to please Him. We should desire to get closer to Him and Him alone with regards to growing spiritually. It is not our commission to get closer to our church, our pastor or seek to be connected to Christ through a church or pastor. Our ministry and gifts should be unto Jesus Christ and Him alone. Men will fail us, churches will pass, but Jesus Christ and His love will endure forever.

Lets take a look at what Jesus instructed us to do (ESV). read more »

To All My Friends and Whom it May Concern,

Asha and I had every intention of waiting until after the Christmas service to dismiss ourselves from the Rock Church, but some little birdie found out that we were leaving and decided to make this very personal decision for us by relaying it to the Pastor without checking with us first or finding out what we were doing. This left us in an awkward place, but here we are and this is our heart.

Throughout my life God has been calling me to ministry and not just to music ministry, but to teach, mentor, disciple and help people grow into Christ. There has always been a hesitancy to completely let go and trust God’s direction in my life and pursue my complete calling. Over the years Christ has been showing me, teaching me and pruning me to trust Him completely and I have learned to trust Him when I don’t understand and even if I may not agree. Now, for the first time in our lives my wife and I are completely open to whatever God has for our family. read more »

This dish is very similar to the Sesame Seared Ahi over Spinach (if you are keeping track), but this is without the salad and is served with asparagus and/or white rice. Its another very quick and easy dish to make that tastes great. I also posted a video to accompany the recipe. I hope you enjoy it. Serves 2 read more »

Here is a quick and simple little recipe for all of you sushi lovers, its call “Poke”, a Hawaiian Ahi dish served as a “pupu” or appetizer.  Asha and I came across this version of the dish while staying on the island of Oahu, at a luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  I figured out how to make with with many trips back to the buffet for this tasty dish.  Hey it was research, I didn’t know the name of the dish until recently.  This recipe differs from most traditional recipes because it uses crushed red pepper. Enjoy.
read more »