Truth Is Alive

It's crazy when God shows that he believes in a world who doesn't believe in him.

Gift Revolution Update

TGR - Road Trip Nov 23-26, 2008 from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

TheGiftRevolution.com!!!!

Hey Blogville,
Christmas is upon us and it is GLORIOUS! Which means one thing... THEGIFTREVOLUTION.COM!!!!!! The tours have been crazy, the events have been amazing and the rides in the van have been insane! I hope you guys have been keeping up with the van cause this thing is crazy. Peoples lives are changing all over the world and you need to be apart of it. From paying for strangers' dinner at a TGIF, to driving down Duvall street in the gift revolution VW van with the door open whyle throwing out water to people and blasting music. This thing is much bigger than Flamingo Road Church, as a movement to change the world should be.

Here's a quick glimpse into the world of TheGiftRevolution.com and our tour crazyness.
http://www.vimeo.com/2378112

Nov.22 & 23! Wherever You Are, Be There!

Don't Miss Nov. 22. It's gunna be crazy out of this world ridiculously nuts! Wherever you are, no excuses, be there! Now watch as my boy Kenny represents.

FRC TV PROMO from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

What are we afraid of?

Last week a good friend of mine, Brian from NBPhotograpix.com, came in and was taking pictures for his new project he was working on. His idea was to take high definition face shots of people. The shots would show every detail of the face that we don't see very often. In fact, he is showing the opposite of what we are used to seeing in pictures. 

It's remarkable how we spend so much of our time covering up what we really look like. Layer after layer, wall after wall, we hide who Christ made us to be. Insecurity after Insecurity. What would happen if no one was afraid to be who they are. If they were okay with being...them. Here's a question, what are we so afraid of?

Chuck Norris At His Finest

The Time Has Come

That's right world, Mike Coia finally has a Sunpass! Now I have the opportunity of being sucked into a world that never stops moving. What a relief it will be to never have to take a step back and see what God is doing in our world.  (really take in the sarcasm)

FRC Friend Day -Doral Campus

Thanks to everybody who made friend day happen. 

Watch and Enjoy

Love Song For You

Recently I have had an amazing amount of posts/comments/requests of how people can buy/play/dedicate "Love song for you". First of all thank you to anyone who thinks that my music is worth dedicating/buying/learning. This is the shear reason I picked up a guitar in the first place. I only hope that the song pushes you to collect your own words and express in your own way how you feel about whatever, not just give you the drive to copy me. So to everyone in blogville, I hereby raise my glass to creativity and writing things down. Thanks again.

Sing Sing Sing

......We've gotten past the first verse and the chorus, "almost done, keep it up" I think to myself. Here comes the 2nd chorus, "nail it and you're home free". Then suddenly he 2nd chorus ends. Electricity fills the air as the last note on the lead guitar rings out with the symbols. For some reason I'm led by the Gods of rock to ditch the guitar an engage with a crowd who is sold out for nothing short of face melting. Suddenly I find myself center stage in the very front with one leg pounding the floor and both hands clapping, ready t sing at the top of my lungs with a sea of people. Here it comes, 3, 2, 1,.....

 

Who is this God who rocks so hard?

"we will sing sing sing, and make music with the heavens,

  we will sing sing sing, grateful that you hear us,

   when we shout your praise, 

   lift high the name of jesus."

      -Chris Tomlin

I wear my sunglasses at night

people in blogville, meet some of my co-workers.
The picture says it all. 

              I don't mean to drag a deep moment out of a surfaced comment, but for the sake of coiaism I will. Why do we feel the need to wear our sunglasses and cover what makes us us. Are we afraid, are we shy, are we lazy? Why not expose ourselves and be open to whatever comes our way. Why not take off the glasses that hold us back and be not afraid to expect something more than just okay. 

Shake and Bake

This weekend I had the pleasure of going where no man has boldly gone before. That's right I whipped up the ol' alfredo penne pasta and purple chicken coia salad. It was happily followed up by andres' tomatoe creation for dessert. I'll let the pictures do the talking this time. 

Could it get any better?

What do you do when your life changes. What do you do when everything you've worked so hard for gets flipped upside down. Maybe a more appropriate question would be "what do you do when life gets a purpose?"  How do you respond? What would you do if you found out your life had a purpose? We would be crushed to find out we had none, but yet we live like purpose is the last thing on our minds. what if we knew every breathe was the spirit of God flowing through us, what if we KNEW there was a saviour who died for us and there is nothing we could do to change that? Would we rise to the occasion and act accordingly? 

   If we knew we could make the world a better place, would we?

"there's nothing wrong with me,

It's just that I believe things could get better"

              -David Crowder

And so it is...

Today I was reminded I am blessed. Straight from the get go at 8am I was given the opportunity to take part in 2 amazing events. 1. I was wable to play music with mystery man Yoel Torres and living legend Marc Millan. 2. I played the craziest guitar ever. The adventure started when me and Alex Salcedo and I went looking for guitar to play. We came back with probably the sickest guitar ever. Complete with 4 strings, and 1 shoe string hand tied guitar strap. My guitar skills were truly tested. Although I was not set up for a u2 cover show I made due and shredded none the less.
How many times due we feel like we're under equipped to solve the task at hand. Maybe you're dealing with a 4 stringed guitar. I think God wants us to be prepared so that we may be able to shred as it were under the worst conditions. I realize that I sound as though I have mastered this, but I assure you, this is not the case. I will say this though, I stinkin' worked that guitar to the bone.

"either be prepared or get left behind"
-Pastor Troy

In Praise of The Vulnerable Man

"Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face"

                              -Alanis Morissette

This weekend I had the pleasure of playing music with my favorite guitarist. It was quickly planned with no struggle attached, the way most perfect things are. I don't know what it is that I love more about playing music with him; the fact that at any given moment I can look over at him and know that everything's alright in life, or how whenever I feel Steven Tyler's thunder running through my blood I can always rely on my faithful guitar player to be on my right side just waiting for me to jam with him. All in all, it was and will always be amazing to have Kenny Blanco on stage with me whyle music is being released from our finger tips and offered up to the god's of rock.

It's insane how life/perspective can change so easily from such a small source. From a song heartbreak can turn to "I am blessed to have the chance to grow". From a single piece of advice annoyance can turn to "Pour into me". And sometimes, given the right atmosphere, seeing a dear (sometimes unexpected) friend can help you see that life is okay, and maybe after all you will pull through. 

As I get prepared to step into a meeting I think to myself is there someone who will impact me, someone who will make me realize that I will indeed pull through whatever I'm going through? Will someone change my life in this meeting, or will I walk out with the same, but not always bad, mindset? Or maybe the more appropriate question is will I change someone's life at this meeting?

But then the floodgates are opened and the questions pour in: Can I? is this possible? what would it feel like? will it be tedious and boring? will I have to go out of my comfort zone? will they repay me for my efforts? what if I fail? will they care that I tried?

breathe of fresh air

"Say what you need to say"

              -John Mayer

I had the pleasure enjoying a great conversation with an old/young friend last night. She called at 12:30 am and we hung up at 1:33 am. These times are important for the reason that I was scheduled to go running at 5:45 am. To make a long story short, we didn't go running. (I digress). It's funny how the right conversation, or the right song, maybe even the right joke can remind you that everything will be okay. Or how running into the right person after a long tiresome day can make you believe that it was all worth it, even if your not totally ready to go back into the grind of things, you believe and you have faith that you can. 

I feel that we sometimes trust God just to trust God, no one questions God anymore, no one is curious about why God is God. I wonder why God puts values in conversations, in relationships, in meals with friends, in late night phone calls with dear friends. Maybe it's because he knew it would be those things that in the end get us through the day. And why is it that God created us to need to get off our chest what was never intended to be on it in the first place. John said it best, "say what you need to say". Sometimes no matter what it is, or how ridiculous it may sound, (even if we run the risk of standing in front of the one's we love looking as pathetic as possible with nothing to offer but your love, ((which isn't enough, and it never will be, it never is)),  dropping the load of bricks from your shoulders is always worth it. 

So whether it's an unexpected phone call, or the "I love you" you need to yell, I think we need to find our breathe of fresh air.  One way or the other.