Ok so the # 1 issue in america is the economy, clearly understood. Everyday if you tune to the news you’ll always hear something in regards to the economy. I mean gas, foreclosures, food and all sorts of other items keep rising and rising and the dollar keeps falling and yes in some shape or another it effects all of us…and as fear rises within us or amongst our surroundings lets be reminded of what the Bible teaches us in Psalm 112

1 Praise the LORD. ^[b]
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.

2 His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.

4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. ^[c]

5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.

6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.

7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn ^[d] will be lifted high in honor.

1st: Aim on fearing the Lord more than the economy. 2nd: We should NOT STOP giving financially to the organization(s) God has put in hearts, b/c it is these financial offerings that convert into blessings. Though amounts may change yet the act of giving should not be omitted. 3rd: when it says “conduct your affairs with justice”, that means be wise with tu dinero (money), like not spending more then what you can afford.

So this guy named Bill James, Commissioner of Mecklenburg County, apparently has issues when it comes to speaking about immigrants, like many others do, and also has issues watching his mouth….his comments or comparisons he makes concerning immigrants is quite ignorant and I wonder how we can allow someone like him to hold such title as “commissioner” of one of our counties…He compares immigrants to “prostitutes and drug dealers” …..and finds nothing wrong with his public statement….for more on this story check out the link

http://www.wbtv.com/home/18059374.html

       So we had band practice last night, and before anything we hung out and had some Bojangles (yes sir!)…After wards I just shared with band a quick devotional from Mathew.

       Mathew 7:21-23:    21″Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ 

       So how can we as worship leaders/band members relate this to our lives?  Well, the skill IS NOT ENOUGH!, just playing or singing “Lord, Lord” does not mean that you are a true worshiper. By this I refer to that image that you tend to portray when you are holding that mic or playing your instruments. We have to understand that although skill is important (Psalm 33:3), the priority of a worship minister (as any other christian) is to personally be hooked on Jesus. Because if a christian’s foundation, meaning purpose/reason/life is not solely gospel centered then just as Psalm  127 says: “It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone…if God (Jesus) doesn’t build the house (ministry)”.  So let’s go ahead and allow Jesus to be the Builder of His worship bands.

     All I request is for time to be extended…The leadership team is currently facing a season in ministry where we are learning how to work with time. As some of ya know all the leaders are full time college students, with jobs. And so we are on April and boy we have a busy month. We came to realize how swamped we were as we attempted to plan out April.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           First, we have picnic in about a week, which means band practice (2x week)…2nd we are introducing “unplugged” which will be weekely sunday services starting the 20th…. 3rd, we have our monthly gathering (full band service) on the 27th…But have I mentioned school yet? and work?…..                                                                                                                                                           

          Yes sir, WE ARE SLAMMED, BUT, WE LOVE WHAT WE DO, and God says in Mateo 6:33-34   33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ……and so I ask you to pray for us to be reminded of this scripture so we may be victorious.

 Shout outs to Brad, and his passion for leadership, you are amazing homes.

Memphis chose to give that up……but it was still not the same w/out Carolina

Tonight was great… I just got back from dropping of Mike and Bernie from Echo group Campus. We had big turnout, like 3 new faces. So in total there were around 13 people chilling eating donuts (ya tu sabe)…..towards the end we opened the floor for questions and thank God we had some and they were answered to the best of our ability. In addition to the questions, Derek went ahead and summarized the Naked Jesus message from our Easter service which was great.

Overall, it was really cool seeing such a big crowd with a desire to fellowship and speak about Jesus. And I think the main item that I can remember from tonight’s meeting is the demand that was brought up from our partners to have weekly services, b/c currently we are meeting once a month…So all I can say is, “dog, we got to feed them.”

So it’s about 1am I am here at the campus library , just finished taking a quiz and doing some work items and now it’s time to head home and hopefully get atleast 7 hrs. of sleep. But b4 I head out I wanted to say that today we had an incredible jam session at the “trailer house of blues” (it’s the name that I think we went ahead and gave to the trailer where band practices, which is also Derek’s living  place).                                                                                                                      

                This afternoon Donald and I had the company of “Ian”, who is going to be helping us out on the keys. So I am happy to say that for this coming service WE WILL HAVE A WHOLE BAND!..So what’s it going to look like?

                                                Acoustic guitar: Pablo

                                                Bass/keys: Ian

                                                Electric guitar: Donald

                                                Drums: Brian

                This is amazing I am really pumped and cannot wait to practice with everyone, b/c it is going to sound great, God has giving us massive I mean MASSIVE talent and we will take advantage of it.

Last night I got to attend the echo group on campus (bible study) and had  so much fun reading la biblia with donuts and milk. The conversations that went on were good and the questions were great. But one annotation/comment that I found interesting came from : Mark 3:31-34

31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

…..Miranda went on to present it as a description b/w religion and relationship and once we all heard her breaking it down, we were all amazed.

Shout outs to all the girls in Homestead : Becca, Katy, Jessica. Your love for God is just contagious. And thanks Miranda for the teaching. Also it was great having John, Bernie, Liz and Mike over, mad love to all ya.

all I ask is to have the skills to play like this broder…