pictured book list...

yeah so thats my book list... im reading all of them at the same time...

wanted add on my blog...

this was written for me on facebook but it was to funny not to post on here...

WANTED ONE FEMALE MALLARD TO SHARE SMALL BUT GOLDEN POND
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Applications are being accepted for the nesting season that is just around the corner.
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Steve (The Drake) Moore is one High Flying Mallard in search of One High Flying Female Mallard with beautiful feathers of her own.
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Qualifications are as followed…..
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Must be a nester, willing to replenish Gods Golden waters with youthful and energetic quackers.
Must have a humble but attractive quack of her own
Must possess the ability to swim countless hours day and night
Must have a quacky sense of humor
Must love the green and yellow colors of distinction
Blue is color of quality to be cherished as well
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To obtain your application, and interview for this once in a lifetime golden opportunity

Quack in the comment section below

All Canadian participants please no honking

What is the heart of worship?

Sometimes knowing the story behind a song really takes the song to another level.

Here is the story behind the song “Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman (through the words of Mike Pilavachi, pastor of Soul Survivor in London, England)…

Since it began, Soul Survivor has always given plenty of time over to worshiping through music. Over the years, people have poured out their hearts to God through it, and there have been plenty of examples of great things happening as a result. However, there was a season when we realized that something was “up” with out worship.

At first, it was difficult to put our finger on the problem. On the surface, everything was just fine: the musicians were tuning their instruments and the sound men were getting out of bed on time. Each service contained a block of songs that focused on the cross and gave people the chance to get down to business with God. To make this easier, the music was (nearly) up-to-date, the chairs had disappeared, and the lights were low – what better atmosphere for young people to worship God?

Yet, we seemed to have lost the spark. We seemed to be going through the motions, but I noticed that although we were singing the songs, our hearts were far from Him. Was it Matt Redman’s fault? I listened. He wasn’t singing any more off notes than usual. Then one day it clicked; we had become connoisseurs of worship instead of participants of it.

In our hearts, we were giving the worship team grades on a scale from one to ten: “Not that song again,” “I can’t hear the bass,” “I like the way she sings better.” We had made the band the performers of worship and ourselves the audience.

We had forgotten that we are ALL the performers of worship and that God is the audience. We had forgotten that sacrifice is central to biblical worship. We are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices – this is our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). We are called to offer our sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

We were challenged to ask ourselves individually, “When I come through the door of the church, what am I bringing as my contribution to worship?” The truth came to us: worship is not a spectator sport. It is not a product molded by the taste of the consumers. It is not about what we can get out of it. It is all about God.

We needed to take drastic action. For a while, in order to truly learn this lesson, we banned the band. We fired Matt Redman!

Then we sat around in circles and said that if no one brought a sacrifice of praise, we would spend the meeting in silence. At the beginning we virtually did! It was a very painful process. We are learning again not to rely on the music.

After a while, we began to have some very sweet times of worship. We all began to bring our prayers, our readings, our prophecies, our thanksgiving, our praises, and our songs. Someone would start a song a cappella and we would all join in. Then someone else would take it on to another song. The excitement came back. We were not having church; we were once again meeting with God. With all the comforts stripped away, we worshiped from the heart.

When we had learned our lesson, we brought the band back. It was at this point that Matt Redman began to sing the song he had written out of this experience. I wept as we sang it for the first time. The words expressed exactly what was going on…

When the music fades, And all is stripped away, And I simply come

Longing just to bring, Something that’s of worth, Just to bless your heart

I’ll bring you more than a song, For a song in itself is not what you have required

You search much deeper within through the ways things appear

You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship

And it’s all about you, It’s all about you Jesus

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it

When it’s all about you, It’s all about you Jesus

The Bible

I know ive been posting alot, these are blogs I have written over the year and now am sharing htem

The Bible…

Contains 66 different books

Has an Old Testament with 39 books

Has a New Testament with 27 books

There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible

There are 31,173 verses in the Bible

There are 807,361 words in the Bible

Knowing all these interesting facts may make you a baller in Biblical Trivial Pursuit, but are these facts life-changing? Do you look at the Bible as a history book full of interesting facts to memorize or do you look at the Bible as the perfect, infallible Word of God? How do you respond when you collide with the Bible?

Check out these two very different responses to the Bible:

Centuries ago the Prince of Granada was sentenced for life to solitary confinement in one of Madrid’s ancient prisons. Apparently, the authorities feared he might aspire to the throne. During his imprisonment he was given one book to read – the Bible. Over the next 33 years, the Prince apparently read the Bible hundreds of time and read it with painstaking care. But when he did after 33 years of imprisonment, and the authorities began going through his cell after his burial, what they found was striking. All over the walls of his cell, they found that he had etched in the soft stone notations such as these:

The eighth verse of the 97th Psalm is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter “J”; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest; no word or name of more than six syllables can be found in the Bible.

It is incredible that this man spent more than 33 years carefully studying this one book that has been described even by its critics as one of the most amazing pieces of literature ever written, and all he got from his study was a few isolated pieces of Bible trivia. (from The Ministry of Nurture by Duffy Robbins)

Compare the Prince with the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8…

In Acts 8:26-40 an Ethiopian man was traveling home in his chariot reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. The man needing help understanding what he was reading asked Philip to explain God’s Word. Through looking at the book of Isaiah, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Immediately he responded by pulling the chariot over, asked Philip to baptize him right then and there, and gave his life to Jesus. The eunuch’s life was forever changed after encountering the Word of God.

Two stories. Two different encounters with the Bible. Two very different responses.

______________

Which story do you relate more with? Is the Bible just a history book filled with trivia answers and cool facts to you? Is the Bible simply decoration on your coffee table or night stand collecting dust while making you look “spiritual”? Or is the Bible the “sharper than any double-edge sword” Word of God that is your life guide that when you encounter it, it forever changes you?

shhhhhhhh

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” - Acts 17:24 (NIV)

Turns out God doesn’t live at the church after all. By the very logic of His immensity. He refuses to be contained by any temple or structure.

What a shame. I guess we have to say good-bye to the admonition we often give kids who get too rowdy at church – “SHHHhhhhhh! You’re in God’s house.” Do we really believe that, or is it just a clever threat, a last resort after we’ve long since counted to three and still can’t get the kids to settle down?

It does make for a nice image, though. Can you see Him at the door after the service, greeting everyone? “Thanks for coming, appreciate you coming, thanks for being here, glad you made it, hope you enjoyed it. Was everything okay? God bless. Oh yeah, I’m God – so, just…bless! Come back to see Me! Have a nice week!”

Is that God? Watching all the cars drive away, turning the church lights off, settling in for a long and quiet week, maybe playing a little on the organ, only to fling wide the doors again in seven days. “Hey! Glad you’re back. Good to see you. Come on in!”

I don’t think so. God doesn’t have a church fetish. He probably cares less about the carpet color there than we think. Why? Because He’s huge. Creator, Initiator of all things. Way too vast to be stuck in some building all week. Far too interested in our lives to simply watch us drive away from Him. Much more worthy of our time than just one hour of just one day.

thoughts?

Merry Christmas

this says it all... MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!!!

2009 in review

Wow its crazy to think that in a short week 2009 will be over. It’s been a great yeah, filled with many firsts for me as well as a lot of transition. I have moved three times this year, had two jobs and started a ministry. 2009 has really been a year where I learned to trust God more and with everything I have. It’s been a year where I figured out what it’s like to have God number one in my life. It’s been a year where my priorities have finally been put in place. It’s been a growing year; this summer was a real maturation process. I took my first ministry job in 2009, its been amazing…

- I turned a quarter century old
- moved back to BU to finish my last semester at college
- God back from an awesome mission’s trip
- received my license to preach from the AG
- was able to preach from time to time at revolution one80
- graduated from college
- had to say goodbye to a lot of amazing people at Bethany
- Finally put God number one in my life
- moved to Sacramento
- Had the greatest summer ever getting to do ministry
- God placed a great deal of amazing leadership in my life at the DRC
- started a youth ministry in Fairfield!
- moved to Fairfield
- my son got married
- finally got a blackberry! Small thing to some but I have wanted one for a long time
- fell more in love with coffee than ever before thanks to free wifi at starbucks

Crazy year eh?

Hello my name is...

Hello, my name is…I AM NOT.

Let me explain…

In Exodus 3, Moses has a conversation with God through the burning bush. After God tells Moses that he is going to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, Moses asks Him to say who is sending him. God answers with His name, “I AM.”

As God’s name, it declares that He is unchanging, constant, unending, always present, always God.

God was telling Moses:

I AM the center of everything.
I AM running the show.
I AM the same every day, forever.
I AM the owner of everything.
I AM the Lord.
I AM the Creator and Sustainer of life.
I AM the Savior.
I AM more than enough.
I AM inexhaustible and immeasurable.
I AM God.

In a heartbeat, Moses knew God’s name – and something more. He finally knew his. For if God’s name is I AM, Moses’ name must be I AM NOT.

I AM NOT the center of everything.
I AM NOT in control.
I AM NOT the solution.
I AM NOT all-powerful.
I AM NOT calling the shots.
I AM NOT the owner of anything.
I AM NOT the Lord.

That’s my name, too. And yours. I AM NOT. Just try it under your breath, “My name is I AM NOT.”

I AM NOT running anything.
I AM NOT the head of anything.
I AM NOT in charge of anything.
I AM NOT the maker.
I AM NOT the savior.
I AM NOT holding it all together.
I AM NOT all-knowing.
I AM NOT God.

Sure, people might call you Tommy or Eddie or Amanda or Scott or Michelle or Erin or Kyle. But, let’s face it, when you get right down to it, all of our names are I AM NOT.

And God’s name is still I AM.

the measure of a man

Am I a real man? That is the comical question I am bringing up for you to ponder. The online urban dictionary defines a real man as “a true man can be best described as rugged and that does not have any fears. A man has a good deal amount of knowledge about tools, cars, the outdoors, knows how to act around women by being a gentleman, but is not always serious and can have fun with them. Men financially provide for others and themselves and are overall responsible. Men are clean, well groomed, and can have a very short beard to portray that image of ruggedness. True men do not think about themselves. They do not always think about sex. They stand up for what they believe, take responsibility for their actions, help others, they are self confident, physically strong and in shape, have a sense of humor, generous, honest, and are considerate. They provide a sense of security. Men are brave and do not need to show off for their friends nor do they sway their opinions because of their friends. Now even if you are biologically a man, this does not mean you fit my definition of all the components of what a real man is.”

It follows that hilarious definition by saying, “A ‘Real Man’ would be like the Brawny paper towel mascot. He has that image of outdoors, strength, confidence, and ruggedness, but what about his character?”

Hilarious. Nothing screams strength, confidence, and ruggedness like a cartoon man plastered all over paper towels. Honestly what man can live up to “cartoon-paper towel-guy”? Well, here are some reasons why my manhood would be in question and then some reasons why my manhood is completely intact:

REASONS FOR ME NOT BEING A “REAL” MAN:

My lack of tools. If you looked around my house for tools, you would be lucky to find a tiny screwdriver, a pathetic hammer, and well…that’s pretty much it. I do have a power drill, but I think it is still in its original box. Every tool I own was bought for me by my dad when he was fixing something at my house and I obviously didn’t have what they needed.

I know nothing about cars. I don’t change my own oil. I don’t rotate my own tires. I couldn’t fix anything on my car if it broke. My check engine light is on right now in my car and I have no clue why. I basically know how to put gas in, take it somewhere for oil changes and repairs, and how to use my iPod hook up.

I don’t do the outdoors well. I’ll be honest, I am kind of a divo (the guy equivalent of a girl who is a diva). I don’t like to camp. I like to shower and be clean. I like to sleep in beds. I don’t like getting bit by bugs.

I shave my armpits. There is great logic to this though: it keeps me from having an obscene amount of underarm sweat. Think about this, guys in the summer shave their heads to stay cool. The same principle applies to your armpits. You will have less sweat and heat bald rather than an afro down there. No lady wants to feel a swamp whenever you put your arm around them. Underarm hair is gross anyways.

I enjoy watching chick flicks more than other movies. say what you want but they are great movies. and I cry sometimes at the end.

I use a loofah. I got hooked on using them a few years ago.

REASONS FOR ME BEING A “REAL” MAN:

I can grow a good beard. Yes, currently I am growing a mean beard for the first time. That’s manly right?

I know a lot and can figure out most technology. Where I can’t fix cars and house stuff, I do know technology. I can now work on both PCs and Macs. I’ve got lots of toys.

Good at Madden. Enough said on this one

I know a lot about sports. ESPN can be found on my televisions a good percentage of the day. I can tell you too much about most every sport. It’s pathetic really. I also have played a lot of sports in my life too, including making an actual 3 pointer in a basketball game and hitting a homerun.

I treat women right. I’ve got to really because my dad taught us well.

I carry a wallet. No man-purse or (for those Seinfeld fans) European Carry-all.

I have a “man-room” in my house. This room includes a border of framed memorable such as a sandy koufax autographed lineup card, a manny Ramirez autographed photo, old news paper clippings of great moments in sports, and sports teams flags.

I can belch really loud. I used to embarrass my mom even when nobody was around.

I use Brawny paper towels.
So what do you think? Real man or not?


(By the way, this was entirely written for entertainment. I am not questioning my manhood. I am have enough self confidence to laugh at myself. Please don’t take this too seriously. It was purely fun. However, all the contents of this post are completely – and sadly – true.)

what I love about scripture

I love that when you read scripture it comes alive to us. I love how scripture rejuvenates us, how we can be going through a situation and the bible covers it. Scriptures teach the Godly way to do things. I love that the Bible is a big book that is essentially a love story from God to us.

Here are some of the scriptures I have been reading and some of my favorite I have.

Proverbs 10:17- the message
The road to life is a disciplined life;
ignore correction and you're lost for good.

I love how it teaches us very plainly to be disciplined, and what happens if you are not disciplined in your life.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

This is one of my favorite of all time, this proverb passage teaches us how to live life. If we trust God he will be with us at all times.

Ephesians 5: 1-2
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Besides this scripture having a great impact on my life, I love how God says to imitate him, and for us to live a life full of love, just like Jesus did.

2 Samuel 14:14
14 Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.

I really just like this scripture and how God tell us we are not banished from him.


let me just say I love many scriptures but these few are what is really hitting me hard right now and I love to dig deeper and deeper in scripture.

sitting here thinking...

The saying is hindsite is always 20/20 vision. What would this world look like if at say age 25 we could go back and change one thing about the past? What would someone go back and change? When they decided there major? When they chose one job over another? How they acted in a situation? What would I change? I would have listened to the leadership in college more and followed the leadership God put in my life alot differently and better. I would have asked more questions to my leadership. questions like I see how to get the money together to do an event but help me understand the planning and how you decided what amount to charge? how did you budget that? There is still one thing that bugs me to this day that I would want to do differently but I know I cannot change it, and even if I could Im not sure I would. I learned alot about myself through it and grew stronger because of it. this probably doesnt make sense to anyone but me.