Sunday Night REwind

•Pastor Matt Preached today on: The POWER OF PERCEPTION
•The Youth Joined us for worship, elevated the whole worship experience
•I was nervous doing the slides, had to use a program that I never used before, like Keynote. As much that I was nervous it ended up being easy.
•The Youth worship team took over and tore it up, Milpitas Worship team had their first day off, phew!
•We opened up our new life group series: The Best Question Ever? Want to know what it is? come join us @ 9am in the Milpitas Campus.
•After service we had our 1st Team meeting, which included individuals that carry leadership qualities. We had around 11 future potential leaders, and they all were excited about the opportunities of growth in the church. This kind of stuff excites me! The church will grow as much as the leaders grow.
•After that meeting we had an in house meeting with the Hawaii Team. P. Ant shared three simple prayers that we will be praying as a team:

1. Lord stretch me.
2. Lord ruin me.
3. Lord heal me.

•Went back to CWCSJ to help breakdown. They said that service was awesome, Sean Smith brought it!!
•Our church picnic is right around the corner, sept. 7th! that also means masters commission begins, yesss!!
•Picked up Amanda and headed home. Stopped at BK, only had $5 to spend, thank God for the dollar menu.
•The youth at my dads church was having their 1st Youth service. We had to learn how to sing a song, with that said you know how bad it was, haha j/k :)
•Getting ready for bed. This was a long day, thought it would never end. Gnite everyone!

IT'S SO HARD TO SAY GOOD-BYE

I guess I'd never imagined it to be this hard to say good-bye to my big brother, Orlando. Well of course he's not dead, but he is a couple of thousand miles away as he goes to pursue his college career out at San Diego State University. I know he will do good, there is no doubt about that. But today I want to remember a friend, a brother, and the bestest person I've ever known. Ever since we were small I always wanted to be like Dito (Orlando) whether it was dressing like him, eating the same food like him, or honestly just following him around like his personal physical shadow. He was the coolest person ever to me, and still is, and he always knew what to say. Although He may disagree he was always smooth with the ladies, haha, I couldn't wait to grow up to be just like Dito. He was always a "Husky" kid (those of you that were husky know what I mean, but for those that don't it's just a nice word to say "you're fat") but that never stopped him from pursuing his childhood dreams of being the next Diego Maradona, the next Sammy Sosa, the next Troy Polamalu...there was never nothing to big for this kid. This last year he spent it in San Jose Masters Commission. This is where he grew and rooted his foundation with Christ. The next year or two will be challenging for him, but he will do fine both in class and in his faith. If you ever have a chance shoot him an email at: samayoa43@yahoo.com

Hey Fat Boii I'm gunna miss ya!! love ya BRO... stay strong!

-Chato

EVERYONE

Well as you may all know we are about to start our new series in a couple of weeks entitled EVERYONE (more on this later). I'm so excited and pumped about it, I'm going to have the privilege to start this series out, I'm going to be focusing on EVERYONE : Connected! But before we start anything I wanted to get some ideas to start some type of video that we can play before every sermon. I found this video online which was simple yet got the message across. We can definitely do something like this but we can add more, I just don't know? what do you think? any help/suggestions/or comments are more than welcomed.

What a CRAZY day...

Today was an odd day but none the less it was eventful in every way. After work I had the privilege to meet with my good friend, Jimmy. We go way back, actually there was a time where we hated each others guts but now I consider him one of my closest and truest friends. Anyways our day was supposed to be ordinary but it ended up to be weird, crazy, but cool all at the same time. Jimmy met me at the SF public library (it's my new studying spot) but he didn't come empty handed. He works at BLONDIES PIZZA, one of the best pizza joints in San Francisco (I've had better, but don't tell anyone) this isn't your regular Lil Caesar slice either, it was HUGE. Now there really isn't no place to secretly eat this huge slice without anyone noticing. I didn't want to go outside either, I was on the 3rd floor. So I did what I hope any hungry person would do, I ate my slice of pizza in the bathroom. Yes I got strange looks from people I even got a remark from this old Asian man who reminded me "This is a bathroom." thank you Asian man, I tend to forget where I'm at sometimes.
From then we ventured off into the busy streets of San Francisco. It's been a while since I just walked downtown, this used to be something I did regularly. Seeing the familiar sites and smells gave me the home feeling, like I was back in my natural habitat. I told Jimmy, "man it would be tight to just be walking with a video camera here, you'll record some crazy shtuff!" I felt like a total tourist, but then the craziest thing happen...an older gentleman suddenly collapsed right in front of us! I mean I didn't know if to laugh or help him at first; but once I saw blood I knew this was no joke. We helped him as much as we could, as spectators just viewed this man struggling to get up again. We thought he was fine because he stood up and started speaking, but not even 30 seconds after he stood up he fell backwards, his head jumping off the cement. I was scared this time. I'm no medic but this man needed some help. Someone called for an ambulance which thank God came in a heart beat. They finally strolled this man away, wherever he maybe tonight my heart goes out to him and I hope he is doing well.
Yes today was a crazy day, nothing was planned it was just plain crazy! but in the end I know I felt like a better friend, a tourist, a hero, and a city kid!

What are you reading?

Growing up I hated to read. I always thought it was boring and something old people do. Ever since I went to Masters Commission I've discovered a passion to read not just the bible but also BOOKS. WOW I can't even believe I just said that. I don't know if it is because I'm getting older that I'm growing fond of reading or what? but every time I pick up a book I remember a poster that hung on my middle school library wall, it read "LEER ES PODER" which in English means "Reading is Power" what once was something boring and dull has now become something that I do constantly. Besides Journaling I try to stay active with reading books. Since this new year has started I have planned to read atleast 1 book a month, so far so good! I'm really proud of this achievement but still have 4 months left and I don't plan on stopping this success. To give you a closer look here are some of the books that I have read this year:
1. UPRISING By: Erwin McManus (Jan.)
2. QUIET STRENGTH By: Tony Dungy (Feb.)
3. TWELVE WHO WERE CHOSEN By: William P. Barker (Mar.)
4. THE DEVIL'S DOOR By: John Bevere (Mar.)
5. TRANSFORMING DISCIPLESHIP By: Greg Ogden (Apr.)
6. PORTRAIT OF A FATHER By: Bishop Steve Perea (Apr.)
7. WINNING THE BATTLES OF LIFE By: Paul E. Toms (May)
8. DO YOU! By: Russel Simmons (June)
9. ONE MONTH TO LIVE By: Kerry & Chris Shook (July)
10. IN A PIT W/ A LION ON A SNOWY DAY By: Mark Batterson (Aug.)

I have four months left, do you know of any other good books I should check out?

Lose yourself

Jeremiah 38:7-8
But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite and a servant in the palace, heard that the officers had put Jeremiah into the well. As King Zedekiah was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech left the palace and went to the king. Ebed-Melech said to him, "My master and king, these rulers have acted in an evil way. They have treated Jeremiah the prophet badly. They have thrown him into a well and left him there to die! When there is no more bread in the city, he will starve to death."

• What happens when you have only 1 OPPORTUNITY! one opportunity to shine, to be the man/woman, to put your name in the history books. Would you take it? Or let it slip away? There is part of Eminiem’s “Lose yourself” song which describes this moment “Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment Would you capture it, or just let it slip?” this is where Ebed-Melech finds himself. With sweaty palms, stomach turning, thoughts about “should I do this or not?” Look, I believe God ordains opportunities in our lives not for us to go through but to show Gods power. See the bible is filled with men and women that are preached about every Sunday that seized their opportunities. But one name you and I might have never heard before is Ebed-Melech. He was a lonely Eunuch, a servant of King Zedekiah. Humble beginnings lead to powerful endings. E-man (Ebed-Melech) might have not known how to save Jeremiah, might have never had the guts to ask the king a question, or might have never had to take a step out of the comforts of the palace. But what happens when God opens that window of opportunity, will you take it? Or will you coward down because you decide to take inventory of WHY YOU CAN’T? God creates opportunities, it’s just up to us to take them.

Prayer Request!

Hey every one, how has your week been? well i just wanted to ask everyone for a huge favor if you can keep me in your prayers. For the past week i've notice my eye has been gradually hurting me, i don't know what it is and i didn't care to think of it as nothing serious, but recently my eye has been really hurting so i just want to ask if you can keep me in your prayers. Pray that God may heal my eye. I remember last year I wrote a poem about My Stye that i had. Now I don't know if this is a new stye or it's something else but if you ever have a chance please shoot a quick prayer for me, thank you all. oh yeah here is the poem i wrote:

who gave me my stye!

please dont make fun of my stye, its only one & it's here to stay,

round puffy n huge kinda like your...oh wait, i rather not say,

yah, me n my stye go along way,

remembering the begining of that miserable day,

was it da wind or was it da prophets

i'll never know until i pop it!

i have a hunch n not on my back,

the one who gave it to me drives like a maniac!

i believe his name starts wit a B n ends wit a J

its hard to tell as he waddled away

BJ's the one who gave it to me!

yes he's the one that gave me my stye,

now i lay here alone in the dark

with a patch on my eye,

like captain Jack,

or should i say like the Hunch back

of notre damn damn damn damn YOU BJ!!!!!

Well done

"and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself." John 20:7

Peter and John finally get to the tomb after a long sprint, To there surprise the words of Mary Magdalene were true when she told them the body of Jesus was missing. Although they could not find His body they did find something else. They found a lonely handkerchief. Now what kind of significance does that have? I'm not proposing those healing handkerchiefs on tv or anything, but this handkerchief represented something else. I heard it say that in those times the carpenters would carry some type of handkerchief or cloth, and after hours spent working on their project whether it was a desk, chair, or a table to show that they were complete with this project they would fold this cloth or handkerchief and lay it on the finished item to show that they had completed this project. So in Jesus' case the tomb is empty except for this lonely handkerchief that has a whole lot of meaning. Jesus' project was complete, what he came on earth to do wasn't to design another dinner table but to die for you and for me.

God is still moving

God has been moving all over CWC! both in San Jose and Milpitas. We have been hit by waves of the Spirit every Sunday and all we can do is ride them. Amanda, my girlfriend, just recently started blogging and she posted a blog about her experience last Friday. It was one of the BEST reads i have ever read. so if you have time go ahead and check it out and see what God is doing here. I remember talking to her and saying, "Wow every ministry is getting hit by the spirit of God! first the youth, then the whole congregation, now the single adults! who's next? the Kids Club! I can't wait to see the children impacted with the spirit of God, imagine what they will be able to do?"

Smith Notes

Sean Smith is a powerful speaker , and every week it seems like the word gets better, but most of all the practicality that he brings to the table makes you want to prophecy over people. Here are a couple notes I jotted down on Wednesday at our Prophetic Evangelism Classes.
•Numbers 11:16-29- The story of the 70 elders who kept prophecy in the church but never took it out.
• When every one else was inside, Eldad & Medad were the only ones who took Prophetic Evangelism out to the camp (Streets, Market place, outside the church)
• "They're not the enemy, they're captives of the enemy."
• Prophecy is divine encouragement not human encouragement.
• It's a tragedy to keep prophecy only in the church.
• Prophecy- Knowledge imparted by revelation.
• Insecurity is PRIDE in reverse! (WOW) because you are still looking/focusing on yourself. God calls us to be humble. Humility is looking/focusing on God not you.
• Get Zealous for God- "God I refuse to live without you."
• Invite the Holy Spirit to interrupt your schedule
• "Bring the Experience, Be the Experience!" (this should the purpose of my blog)
• Be more impressed with the word going into you than with the word coming out of you.
• God is not expecting instant maturity.
• Obedience sharpens hearing.
• When we can't track God we can trust Him.

The Greatest Coach Ever

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33 (NIV)

• A couple of months ago I was able to finish Tony Dungy’s book “Quiet Strength” a quick commercial: this was a great book for leaders both in the church and in the market place. Yes, ladies it’s football, but there was a lot more than that it included: family, struggles, joy, death, victory, and JESUS. This book really touched my life especially seeing the values of a man of God being implemented onto the field and into his players. In my eyes, Coach Dungy was and still is one of my favorite coaches of all time. There are other several coaches that can arguably be the greatest coaches ever like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, John Wooden are just a few that are on the top of my list. But to say these men are the greatest coaches, but not mention this one name is an understatement. This man never played on a field, probably never had to wear a cup, and maybe never had a chance to hold up a trophy in front of millions of people; yet this man goes down to be the GREATEST COACH EVER, His name is Jesus.
• In my life I have had the privilege to play a lot of sports and have had several caoches but there are only a few that were able to bring out the best, and those few had a couple things in common. I think my top 3 coaches had to be:
1. The first team I ever played in was bronco league, I played on the Daly City Royals and my coach was this young man named Anthony.
2. I decided to muster up some courage and finally play football my junior year, I was a linebacker, but a small one, our assistant coach was this short Mexican named Coach Rick, he was small but don’t be fooled by his size.
3. The last person on my list never had the title of “coach” but he always trained with me and worked out with me, and that is my brother Orlando, a.k.a. O-Dogg. What made these coaches so great in my life? Well...
o They believed in me - I was never good in sports, I was always the chubby kid in the back that couldn’t wait to get home to watch cartoons. I never saw myself as an athlete.
o They spent time with me - Time is so valuable nowadays that you wouldn’t just go spend it on something that isn’t worth it. These men spent their precious time with a kid who at times got on their nerves.
o They shared - I love hearing stories, especially stories about real people who defeated real odds. These coaches always shared their stories of when their back was against the wall, but somehow, someway they overcame... now that’s inspirational.
o They got in my face - Like I said coach Rick was small, but when we failed an assignment he let us know, and I swear this little Mexican became HUGE. Although I never enjoyed when they got in my face, it made me more aware not to blow my assignments.
o They encouraged - No matter how bad the score was, no matter how hopeless I might have seemed, their outlook was different than mine. Their words lifted my confidence when I was facing guys who were twice my size.
• I have been given the chance to be under many great coaches, but there is one Coach that is above the rest and that is You, Jesus. As a player I know I can get hard headed but allow me to follow You, listen to Your plays, accept Your confrontation, and believe in Your words.

Phillip-ino

There is something about "Phillip" that's just been bugging my finger tips. Phillip was a chosen disciple, which was an honor but several things about Phillip made me think that he was more than a disciple he was a thinking man, a business man, and a busy man. As I'm reading through this book of John, Phillip is starting to seem more like me, or vice versa, my life looks a lot like his. Recently I bought a planner in hopes that it would schedule my life: God, family, relationships, life, school, and work.(let me tell you that the planner isn't working my life is still in chaos) why did i come to the conclusion that Phillip was the thinker or the planner of all the disciples? In John ch. 6 Jesus and the disciples come face to face with yet another so called impossible task. they have hungry folks but no food! what is there to do? while the 12 worry, Jesus is calm and asks a question. Now he doesn't ask it to anyone else but Phillip. "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (why does Jesus ask questions He already knows?) looking at this unscheduled task Phillip rapidly pulls out the facts. The facts that say we CAN'T do this, the numbers don't match, the task is to big... I started thinking how many great moves of God have been stopped or delayed because our schedule does not match Gods scheduled assignments? In the book, "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day," Mark Batterson says something that could have eased some stress from Phillip. "Faith is embracing uncertainty." Living by faith doesn't always mean we are going to live by the plans we've made, the goals we've set, or the schedules we've marked. Living by faith means we are uncertain of our next step, our next meal, our next everything. But when you have Jesus on your side of this life lived by faith, uncertainty starts to get a little clearer. if you are like Phillip be ready to embrace uncertainty and write your plans with pencil, because you never know when God is going to ask you to feed 5,000 people.

Jeremiahs Vault pt. 3

The last part that I want to focus on is When God commands "J" to do 4 things in 1:17
1)Get ready- before any great battle or great event you need to get ready, you need to get prepared.
2)Stand up- well try doing your daily routine sitting on the floor, it's going to take extra effort. No great achievement was accomplished sitting down. Stand up and fight.
3)Tell them everything- If we fail to tell people about Gods love and sacrifice we may delay their destiny and ours. Who knows, maybe the next words that come out of your mouth will shape the world of someone else. Don't cut corners with the word of God.
4)Don't be afraid- In this world there are over 1,000 phobias (some ridiculous ones too) but God has not called us to be afraid. You look throughout his word and before any great man/woman did something impossible for God they face their greatest challenge...FEAR. remember "Your GREATEST fear sets up the stage to show how GREAT your God is!"

Jeremiahs Vault pt. 2

A couple of verses down God asks a question that raises a couple of eyebrows, an unexpected question "What do you SEE?" (1:11) why would God ask such a question? why is it important to be able to SEE? I believe a big part of leadership has a lot to do with how you see! now I'm not just talking about having 20/20 vision but about having EYES OF FAITH. An eye to see God bigger than your problems, to see yourself as a leader, to see your people not as they are but as the individuals God designed them to be, to see the vision/plan that God has laid out. Vision impaired means destiny derailed. Leaders need to have great vision. "What do you see?" is a question you and I need to ask ourselves daily.

Jeremiahs Vault

The book of Jeremiah is one of my favorite books in the bible, the story reminds me a lot of "me!" as I journey in the this book I want to venture off in his footsteps. Just in the first chapter alone we see the birth of a next generation leader. I will be sharing 3 things that caught my attention from the 1st chapter of Jeremiah throughout the week:
•Jeremiah 1:4-7- We all have heard this story plenty of times, but if you haven't then give it a read. The call of Jeremiah is like no other. God goes back to the beginning as He gives Jeremiah specific details of how and when he called him. These scriptures also reminded me of another thing (which might seem odd) but it reminded me of the "ROCK!" The "Rock" has a famous line that is small but straight to the point and that is, "IT DOESN'T MATTER..." I could just picture "J" (Jeremiah) giving God an excuse "But God I am only a boy" and as he was getting prepared to give his next excuse, God interrupted him with a loud, "IT DOESN'T MATTER!!" See with God no excuse is valid, no excuse is to great, no excuse is worth it. I'll always remember what Fernanda would always tell me when I wanted to slack off in my scripture classes "No excuses just results." as much as I hated hearing that, it was true. "Excuses birth complacency!"

BIBLE JOURNEY...

HEBREWS-
1:4- doesn’t it always seem like good guys always end up last
1:5- do you believe God can do the UNBELIEVABLE?
2:2- the birth of my vision starts when I write it out
2:3- vision is not an overnight thing, it takes time to develop.
2:4- how do you know if your right with God? You live by faith! How does a life that’s lived by faith look like? 1. You live in the uncertain 2. You live facing your fears 3. You live totally depended on GOD.
2:5- death always wants more! More dreams, more un-purposeful lives, more of US, don't give death what it wants, "DIE EMPTY"
2:8- what goes around comes back around.
2:18- where is your power coming from? God or your man made idol(s)?
3:2- “Lord, do great things once agin in our time.”
3:19- “a deer that does not stumble” Lord keep me from stumbling, please!!
JOHN-
8:2- dang people were willing to follow Jesus even early in the morning.
8:11- how do you build people up, just like Jesus did right here.
8:20- God has perfect timing, never to early never to late but always on time.
8:29- “I always do what is pleasing to him” the bible talks about pleasing God in the book of Hebrews when it says “without faith it is impossible to please HIM…” this shows that Jesus lived a life full of Faith.
8:32- MC 1st year, the Truth has set me free!!
8:35- no matter how bad you screwed up, how far you moved, how many disappointments you have caused you (son/daughter) will always belong to the family!
8:42- who’s your daddy?
8:54- give honor where honor is due. GOD I honor YOU!