Video Testimony

One of the most inspiring quotes I have read...


“You really can’t experience happiness, until you have experienced pain, because then you are able to compare the difference”

BROKEN IS BEAUTIFUL from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.

Share your thoughts

Fuego

Are you surrounded by Editors?

Are you surrounded by Editors?
You are probably asking yourself, "What is this guy talking about". I am talking about Life Editors!


We all need one, read below an insert that I read this morning from Worship Leader regarding this...

I had dinner with Max Lucado last year, and he said his editors sent back his latest book marked up in red. Can you imagine? Can you imagine telling Max he needed to change anything? I wouldn’t have the guts, much less the sensibilities, to actually say what of his words aren’t terrific. But Max surrounds himself by editors who will tell him the hard truths. These are trusted friends, and they’ve been working with him for years. And they are also part of the reason he’s sold more than 60 million books. He said the latest rounds of edits were hard to take. He said he thought by now he’d be a “good writer.” But he took them in, he sat down, and he edited the book...

But this isn’t a post about editing books. It’s a post about editing your life. If you are like me, it’s easy to surround yourself with people who don’t tell you about your blind spots, your weaknesses. I told my friend Dave about a piece of criticism that was thrown at me last month, and he helped me dismiss it as a person consumed with bitterness. But he didn’t stop there; he asked me why I was sensitive about it and pointed out that part of that person's criticism was actually true. And you know what? Dave was right. He wisely helped me separate the criticism from the motive of the messenger. A friend who can do this for you is a friend indeed.

Not having people around who can show us our blind spots is a sure path toward self-destruction. I’m not talking about surrounding yourself with critics. People who offer empty criticism, especially if they don’t know you, are of little help. But if you have friends who are honest with you about your character defects, and yet are obviously for you, you’ve been given a gift.

Here are a few tips on editing your life:

1. Ask for criticism from people who care about you and love you.

2. If you are sensitive about some criticism that has been thrown at you, there’s a good chance some of it is true. Analyze that, separate it from the messenger who may not have your best interests at heart, and work on that area of your life.

3. If you suspect a friend is competitive with you or controlling, don’t include them in your circle of editors. They aren’t going to be able to give you objective advice.

4. Don’t get into an editing relationship with a person who can’t see their own faults or admit to their mistakes. These people are usually the fastest to offer criticism of you, but it’s not objective or helpful criticism.

Relationships with good life editors (lets just call them good friends) are gold. If you find one, hold on to it forever.

So are you surrounded with Life Editors? 
Share your thoughts..



Fuego

WRITE & CARRY

Have you ever read the book of Habakkuk? Did you even know that book existed in the Bible? 


Maybe, maybe not, it doesn't matter, what matters is what is written in Habakkuk 2:2-3, that I really urge you to read.

  ² Then the Lord said to me,

   “Write my answer plainly on tablets,
      so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
    ³ This vision is for a future time.
      It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
   If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
      for it will surely take place.
      It will not be delayed.

God has place a vision, dream, goal (whatever you want to call it) in all of us.
Scripture says to "Write the vision on plain tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to other" Two words that stick out to me is WRITE & CARRY.

Why?

1. WRITE: So that you always remember what God has place in your life and never forget your purpose in life


2. CARRY: So that you walk with purpose. Pursuing the correct path towards that vision, dream, goal, etc.

What do you think? Would love to get your feedback!






Fuego

Regrets

Check out this Vid!

What did you regret doing or not doing in 2010?

A regret of mine in 2010 was being CONTENT with how things were in my life. Not having the fire or determination to keep moving forward kept me in a stand still. I feel like I could've done more in a lot of areas in my life. To the more you hold on to your past the less you can move forward towards you future. So this is New Year to believe and move forward in all areas in my life.

Your turn

Fuego

He's in Control..

Hey Guys, I was checking out some vids and ran into this incredible one, which reminded of what God can do when we least expect it and how he is in control.

You'll see in the vid, Carlos Whitaker shooting an EPK for his new track titled, God of Second Chances, and out of now where a homeless man approaches Carlos. He gets on his knees and begins to cry and join Carlos in worship. I don't want to say the whole video but watch for yourself, what God can do when you least expect it.

Check it out..

Incredible right? Man, this really moved me this morning. Sometimes we invest so much time into trying to change lives, make an impact in and around us or do something great for God, (and don't misinterpret me, we have to take the appropriate steps to achieve what God wants us to achieve) but we need to understand that when we are walking in God, great things will surround us. We won't have to do so much to make an impact in peoples lives, God will allow it to take place in and around us. And when it happens it will be to let us know that He is the one controlling our lives.

Think about that today.

Fuego

Nothing is Impossible!

Are there times where you feel like things are Impossible? We all go through that time in our lives, when we feel like there is no possibility of change. When you don't know how the bills are going to be paid, when you don't know how your goals will be fulfilled, or how your dreams will be accomplished, or how your marriage is going to work out, or even how school is going to turn out, etc...

But let me encourage you today to keep pushing through. Don't give up, don't give in. Your finances will come together, your goals will be accomplished, your dreams will be a reality, your marriage will be restored. All you have to do is BELIEVE. Believe in GOD and YOURSELF. Jesus says this..."“What is impossible for people is possible with God.” This is a message that I remind myself daily.

Take a look at the video below and let it be a motivation for you to push through in your life.

Fuego

A View from the Pew

Hey everyone this is Fuego and I wanted to share an article that I recently read. Very powerful and full of great insight.

As worshipers we need to understand our church/audience that we are ministering to and understand there view of worship. I hope it blesses you as it has blessed me. Enjoy

See you soon

Fuego

Written by Jan Owen

I had spent the last fifteen years of my life on staff as a worship pastor. Until November 8, 2009. At that time I resigned my staff position in order to start a mission organization aimed at equipping worship leaders around the world. And for the first time in 26 years I went to church each weekend and did nothing. I sat in a chair just like everyone else. I visited churches and felt out of place. And I struggled. As I sat “in the pew” each weekend I would often think of things that all worship leaders do – “that speaker has a hiss” or “Hmmm….that transition should have been tighter” or “oops, that cue was off”. It was hard to worship from an entirely new place – the place of an average church attendee.

Oh, I’d taken a sabbatical for three months. I even trained a group of worship leaders and had them lead regularly. I purposefully sat under other worship leaders so that I could be filled and have a chance to “just worship”. And as much as I wanted to learn from each of these experiences, while I was a worship pastor I could never experience worship from the perspective of your average church attendee and learn what it might be like for them.

A few weeks ago I was having coffee with a friend at Starbucks. I was sharing some of this with him – how I hated visiting churches, and how awkward everything felt for me, and how vastly different it was to come to church to worship and instead to cry the entire time because it made me so homesick for my team, for my old church, and for everything else I said good-bye to on that day. Church became a painful reminder of all I had lost and so every time of worship felt filled with grief. Harry, who is a fellow worship leader, sat forward and said “But Jan, have you realized how much God is teaching you about leading worship during this time?”.

I realized he was right. I’m learning things right now that I would have never learned if I had stayed where I was. I thought you might benefit from all that I’m learning as well. So here goes…..the top things I’ve learned about leading worship from NOT leading worship!

1) While crowded churches might make for great energy in a worship set, they are terribly uncomfortable for the attender. And nothing makes for an uncomfortable time of worship than sitting squeezed up next to an absolute stranger. As a worship leader, I loved a big crowd. As an attendee, I’d prefer a little more personal space .

2) I don’t care if you sound “just like the recording”, if I can’t sing with you I cannot participate in worship.I have always been extremely conscious of putting worship songs in “friendly” keys, but my experience from the pew showed me how vitally important this is. I’ve listened to many beautiful worship songs in the past seven months. If a song is too high, I’ll jump in and sing harmony, but I have been reminded that most people do not have that option. So guess what? When they can’t sing, they just stop singing. So remember – we really do want to participate and sing and worship with you. Please keep that in mind when you choose keys for songs.

3) Church is all about relationships. Most people come in the door of church looking for one thing – a chance to love and be loved. I learned a startling truth while visiting churches. People love the music and need life giving sermons, but they may be more interested in being known and being loved. They are less interested in being “wowed” and more interested in drawing near to God. They are not impressed with a grand performance where we all sit and watch. What will impress them is a sincere hello, taking the time to remember someone’s name, giving them time to be with God, and helping them find a friend and a place to serve quickly. Take your leadership off the stage and into the congregation!

4) New songs are fun, but we need some familiar songs each Sunday as well. I used to tell my team, “By the time we are tired of a song, the congregation can finally sing it without having to concentrate. And that’s when they begin to worship!” It takes a member of the congregation much longer to learn a new song than it does our worship teams. Remember that I am a musician and it still takes me several Sundays to learn a song from the congregation. If every single service is filled with new songs I spend my time reading the screens and trying to keep up. As much as I might long to really enter into worship, it is much harder when nothing is familiar.

5) Please give me time and space to worship. Sing long enough that I have the chance to turn that corner from a crazy busy week to being still before the Lord. Don’t interrupt me over and over again with instructions to sit down or stand up or moments where I have to learn a new song. I need a few minutes where I can forget that you are on the stage. I need time to shut my eyes and get lost in the presence of God. His voice is most important of all! I’ve realized that sometimes our worship services are not really designed for this. That leads me to the next point….

6) Honor the move of the Spirit. I know you’ve experienced it. That sweet, holy moment where God is moving and there is a sacred hush. But guess what? We have a funny skit or video set up to follow RIGHT NOW. And so we move on, disregarding what God is doing in our midst in order to move on with our own plans. I’ve done it and you’ve done it. And I’m sure your pastor has done it. (Big smile!) While this is awkward when leading from the stage, it is brutal when you are following from the congregation. There is a huge disconnect at that moment and we feel jerked awake by a splash of cold water. Worship leaders – and pastors – leave room for God every Sunday and be sensitive to where HE is going! Isn’t that what leading worship is all about?

Thanks for listening to the hard lessons God is driving home for me during this phase of the journey. As I travel around the world to train worship leaders, and as I sit in the second row each Sunday morning and follow our worship pastor, I am always aware of one vital truth: God is the one that does the transforming. I think the greatest gift we can give our congregations is the chance to simply be with God.

God bless you my friends! I pray God moves in your churches in a mighty way as you worship Him!

Fasting 2010 - Day 2

Hello everyone!

Here we are in Day 2 of this 21 day Daniel fast. Woke up very refreshed, inside my warm home. I live in Florida and I have the heater on in my home! I am not kidding!, it is reaching the 20's at night here in the Sunshine State. Cold weather and fasting is not a very good mix, trust me!

The work day was great. I am blessed to have my supervisor a part of this fast with me. The temptation level is way down this year than the last two years (maybe I am talking to soon!). The most difficult part probably has been my addiction to munchies. I am always munching on something while at work, so in this fast my munchies have been limited to strawberries, bananas, and peanuts. Thank God for Peanuts!

Service was very good. We sang four songs, 1. El Senor esta en este lugar 2. Friend of God 3. Jesus lover of my Soul 4. Jehova es mi Guerrerro. Our pastor did not preach, sister Mary preached. She was surprisingly funny. She touched on Isaiah 58: 5-7. Her word complemented what our Pastor has been bringing to the church.

We finished off the night with some smoothies! Great day

IN THE START OF THIS NEW YEAR, WHAT ARE YOU AND/OR YOUR CHURCH DOING DIFFERENTLY? (Fasting, New Services, Goals, Strategies, etc) Please feel free to share.

Well I hope that you continue to stay with me in my 21 day Daniel fast journey, as I share with you my heart, day, services, foods, etc.

See you tomorrow



Fuego

Fasting 2010 - Day 1

Holla everyone!

Wow, it has been a while since I have blogged. You know how life can get, busy! But I am back and nothing better than to begin my blooging this year on my 21 day fast! Yes, it's that time again! Where did 2009 go? If feels like I just finished my last years fast a week ago! But now I begin my 3rd straight year in the Daniel Fast. What is the Daniel Fast?you might ask, well we have incorporated Pastor Jentenzen Franklin's fasting to our church. To check out the details of this fast check out Jentenzen Franklin.org

As I began this fast I started taking a glance at Pastor Franklin's book titled, "Fasting" and I love what he says in his opening paragraph

"Corporately fasting in January is much the same precept as praying in the morning to establish the will of God for the entire day. I believe that, if we will pray and seek God and give Him our best at the first of the year, He will bless our ENTIRE year! "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). "

Isn't that awesome! I makes sense. Just like a farmer plants a small seed, but expects a great harvest, we plant a small seed in the beginning of the year in this fast but expect an amazing harvest the rest of the year.

Well today was smooth (only cause it's the first day) but I found myself munching a lot more than I usually do. Peanuts and Natural blue corn chips. That will pretty much be my munching food for the next 20 days but I will be alright.

Our service tonight was awesome. Pastor spoke a word on Psalms 42 mainly on verse 7. He spoke about a mans need for God and how man has a deep desire to know a higher power (God). And how we should strive to be more united with the Father more than ever. More intimate, more deeper. Worship was great all we did were two songs 1. Blessed be the name, 2. My Soul longs for you, but the presence of God was so heavy in the room. You could feel this peace in the room, something very different from what we are use to. It was such a beautiful experience that I hope will continue throughout this fast.

IN THE START OF THIS NEW YEAR, WHAT ARE YOU AND/OR YOUR CHURCH DOING DIFFERENTLY? (Fasting, New Services, Goals, Strategies, etc) Please feel free to share.

Well I hope that you continue to stay with me in my 21 day Daniel fast journey, as I share with you my heart, day, services, foods, etc.

See you tomorrow



Fuego

God's Original Masterpiece

When you look at yourself in the mirror what do you see?

Do you see:
Liar Cheater,
Imitator,
Lost,
Sickness,
Hurt,
Anger,
Confusion, etc

Have you ever taken a minute to see what God sees in you or even what He thinks about you?


These next 9 minutes will change your perspective and life!





Think about that!


Fuego

Poetry Night

What is going on eveyone!

Check out Raze Youth Rally Poetry Night.
This is one of the songs, titled Understand by Jeremy Camp


Understand Cover Song



That night was awesome and unique.
We had a cafe/lounge setting, and just really brought in the poetic atmosphere to the service.


What different style of services has your church done?


Fuego

7 Keys to Starting a Movement

What is going on blog nation! I read this post a couple of weeks back at Ragamuffinsoul.com, check it out.



[The best 3 minutes of your day]

A few things I think we can learn from this video.
1. One man can start a movement.
2. A movement need not be started by the most skilled member of the movement.
3. When beginning your movement and you look around and no one else is joining the dance, just keep dancing.
4. When the one guy who joins your movement slowly fades away, keep going.
5. Before you know it, the people joining your movement won’t even know you started it.
6. When your movement takes a life of it’s own, just let go. There will be no stopping it.
7. The very people who are staring at you like your nuts as you movement alone, will be the very same people dancing the hardest in the end.


Fuego

Spoken Word Wednesday!

Welcome to our 7th quick off of Spoken Word Wednesday hosted by johnnysierra.blogspot.com.

This week's Spoken Word is by a christian brother, titled "Jesus Peace". Check this out!



_____________________________________________________________________________________

What is a Spoken Word? Spoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. So if you are gifted in writing, poetry, story telling, rap, etc then please feel free to participate.
There are 2 ways you can participate.

1. You can simply just comment back to this post with your spoken word.

2. Or if you have a video or audio (mp3) or simply just want to post your spoken word on your blog page, website, etc, then post your spoken word on your desired site, but make sure that somewhere in your post you link back to this blog post. You can say something like, "Join me and others as we share our spoken word at johnnysierra.blogspot.com", and make sure you use the address of each new Spoken Word blog post, which today will be:

http://johnnysierra.blogspot.com/2009/05/spoken-word-wednesday-you.html

Also, Come back here and fill out the “Mister Linky” box below. For “URL”, you should enter your blog post’s URL - not your blog’s homepage - but the actual URL (address) of the single blog post entry.

So, What is your Spoken Word?


"Fuego"

Break Free

Happy Friday blog nation! I know I have been MIA (missing in action) lately, but I am definitely making my way back in to the blogging world.

I was checking out this video this morning and I wanted you to watch it as well.
Check it out.


"Break Free" Series Intro from SSCC on Vimeo.

No matter what situation, problem, or even crisis you find yourself in, Jesus said this, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20


Fuego

White Man

Happy Friday everyone!
I saw this video earlier today and thought you might want to watch it. Check it out and let me know what you think.



Fuego

"Number One" Song

What's up blogga's! This morning Fred McKinnon.com had an article titled "Inspiring Worship - One Song", which made me ask and ultimately where I am getting this post from.

What is your #1 song?

What song has impacted and inspired you? Name only one song.

Alright go ahead, what is it?

How does God answer prayer?

Isaiah 55:8,9
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

So, ever wonder why sometimes things don't go your way?

Share your thoughts or experiences!



Until next time blog nation!