I’m thinking I really need to write something soon. Yup, pretty much…

One of the many reasons I love my life…

With my brother and Grandpa at the 2008 Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Recently, I haven’t had too many moments where I just felt the need to sit down and write. I’m having one of those moments. I just spent a few minutes browsing through a VERY old Myspace profile that was once an active site for my youth group back home. According to its homepage, nobody’s signed into it since February of 2006, which was one month after I moved away for college, four years ago. I was at the brink of tears as I saw so many old photos of friends who were once very close to me. I think I got emotional because it was a huge combination of the Lord’s grace and the inevitable paths of life.

Sometimes I wish when I was in high school, there would’ve been a class to teach you what life would end up being like after you graduate. You know, to give you a heads up about how you’ll rarely every see some of the people you spent almost every day of your life with, or how those closest to you would end up making some bad decisions, and even though everything within you wants to intervene and help, you know there’s nothing you can do.

How did the Apostle Paul do it? How did he press forward, forgetting what was behind him so that he could keep pressing forward to all that the Lord had for him?

You know, I’m not really sure, but I do know this: forgetting what’s behind you and leaving certain people behind (let’s face it, sometimes we have to leave our closest friends if we want to keep moving forward in life) is one of the most hardest things to do.

Caught in the Lord’s grace,

- Joe

In Case You Were Wondering…

I’m kinda sorta maybe looking forward to the return of the Portland rain.

Dorm Life is still pretty fun.

I may die of a heart-attack before this years college football season is over.

Friday nights Mariner’s win over the Yankees was one of the best games Ive EVER been to!

This is the first post Ive written from my iPhone. Not bad, eh?

Till next time…

It’s truly a great thing to have the privilege of going through life with the understanding that the Lord has a plan and a purpose for me. What a great feeling to know that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords knows the plans for my life, plans of welfare and not for evil, plans to give me a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) Moving forward in life with the understanding that I was born with a purpose forces me to place my eyes on what’s ahead, realizing that I haven’t obtained anything yet, but it’s time to forget what lies behind me and strain forward towards what lies ahead. (Philippians 3:12)

- – Life – -

When it comes to my life, I want to live a life that will bring glory to the kingdom of God, advancing it in everything I do. I want to be an individual who’s completely surrendered his life to the Lord in every way possible, always remembering that without Him I can do nothing. (John 15:5) I want to have a sensitive heart towards the Holy Spirit, realizing that it’ll be through those “still and quiet” times with the Lord where my life can and will be changed forever. I want to become a man of integrity, realizing that the anointing is the gift God gives me, but my character is the gift I give back, and if I walk in integrity, I will walk securely. (Proverbs 10:9) I want to become a man who will fall in love with an amazing woman of God and remain faithful to her, realizing that if my wife and family can’t trust me, how will the Lord be able to trust me with his bride, the church? I want to lead my family in a way that pleases the Lord, realizing that if I don’t have any order in my home, I will have denied the faith and will be worse than an unbeliever (1st Timothy 5:8) I want to be the kind of man who doesn’t place his “ministry” over his family. I want to live a prosperous life, but I want to experience prosperity with a purpose, realizing that I am blessed to be a blessing to those around me. If I’ve been given more than enough, it’s because somebody around me doesn’t have enough, and I must do my part to meet the need. I want my life to reflect hard work and good time management skills, realizing that I will never get a second chance to fulfill a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’ll be through my hard work where I’ll find myself preparing to capitalize on the opportunities that come my way, and when they come, I want to be ready. I want to live a life that always focuses on investing into the eternal, realizing that true fulfillment can be found when I live my life for the eternal things, which are usually always bigger than myself. I want my life to reflect the love of Christ in every way possible. I don’t want to give up on people. I want to live my life in a way that will bring hope to everyone around me.

- – Ministry – -

When it comes to my future ministry involvement, I want to first always remind myself that I must serve the Lord, not a ministry. I must always remind myself that there isn’t a “right” or “wrong” way to do church. The church I’m involved in may function one way, but that doesn’t mean it’s the way of doing things. God is much bigger than one way of doing church and I have to realize that people of all ages and all nations across the world will and do experience His presence through all sorts of different kinds of ways of doing church. I want to serve my ministry with all of my heart. At this time in my life, I don’t feel called to be the senior pastor of a church, so because of that, I want to remain loyal to my pastor, believing in his leadership and doing anything and everything to help build the vision the Lord has placed into his heart. I realize that serving somebody else’s vision for a season of life will usually result in my own personal vision coming to pass. If that’s the case, I say let the serving begin! I want to serve my ministry with a pure, genuine servants heart. I want to serve the ministry with passion, believing in every aspect of it. I don’t want to serve my ministry with a bitter heart or with any conflicts involving other people in the ministry. I want to keep a pure heart before the Lord and my fellow leaders and strive for the best and always treat people the way I want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12) If I make a mistake and hurt someone, then I want to do everything I can to fix the problem and strengthen my friendship with that particular person. I want to serve with a team player mindset. I must always remember that what I’m a part of is much bigger than the part I will play. I want the ministry to have a Go Spirit about them; always touching other peoples lives for the advancement of the kingdom. (Mark 16:15) I want the ministry to be a forgiving one, a place where people can experience the love of Christ through the power of the cross and the blood of Jesus. (Matthew6:14) I want to serve in a ministry where it understand that we should do everything as if we were doing it unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17) I want to serve a ministry that isn’t concerned about building up their own name, but building up the name of Jesus. When it’s all done and said, I want to serve a ministry that has a heart for the lost and does its absolute best to function the way the church did in the book of Acts. There is no such thing as a perfect pastor in a perfect church. I don’t want to waste my time finding every little fault in the church. Instead, I want to be a solution to the problem. I don’t want to give my Lord’s bride a black eye.

- – Future – -

When it comes to my future, I want to set an example for a younger generation and I want my generation to say “thank you” because of my obedience to the Lord. I want to be a leaders leader. I want to travel the world and equip the local church in any and every way possible, helping them become everything they’ve been called to be. I want to travel the world with a genuine, humble, servants heart. I want to be married to only one amazingly beautiful girl my entire life. I want to be a loving husband. I want to be a loving father to my children and lead my family in a home that always moves forward with biblical principles. I want to make a difference in this world. I want to author books. I want to be interviewed on television and radio stations, not to make a name for myself, but to make His name known. I want to become a man who will forever be known as someone who never gave up on anyone and always loved them unconditionally, regardless of what they were going through. I always want to live life beyond myself; I always want to invest my life into the things that are eternal.

I want to fulfill my God given destiny, because when my time is up, I just want to hear, “Well done thy good and faithful sevant…”

Book #2 for Book Review Bloggers…

Fearless written by Max Lucado:

I expected to enjoy reading Fearless. I’ve personally never read a book written by Max Lucado, but I’ve enjoyed hearing about his writings from people who have. This book went far beyond my expectations. This is a great Max Lucado book. I believe it has changed my life for the better. Throughout my life, I’ve never really considered myself to be a fearful person. He writes, “Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of our house, the armrest of a plane, or in many cases, people.”

Max also takes a different spin on the paraplegic who was dropped through the roof of a home where Jesus was speaking. Most would think that when Jesus saw this man who couldn’t walk, He would heal his legs. Jesus had different thoughts and dealt first with this young man’s greatest fear:

“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matt. 9:2 nasb). Wouldn’t we anticipate different words? “Take courage. Your legs are healed.”"Your paralysis is over.” “Sign up for the Boston Marathon.” The man had limbs as sturdy as spaghetti, yet Jesus offered mercy,not muscles. What was he thinking? Simple. He was thinking about our deepest problem: sin. He was considering our deepest fear: the fear of failing God. Before Jesus healed the body (which he did), he treated the soul. “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Max Lucado’s book, Fearless, showed me that everyone battles fears. He described what fears are common to all of us and how those fears can destroy our lives. He also showed in a very practical way how we can have victory over fear. God doesn’t want us to be fearful. He wants us to give our fears to him. I would recommend this book. Even if you don’t believe yourself to be fearful, this book will help you.

Dear Friends and Family:

I pray the Lord is continuing to show Himself faithful in your life as He is in mine. My senior year at PBC is underway and I am enjoying a wonderful start to another promising semester. I’m truly amazed by the Lord’s grace!

I want to share with you a ministry opportunity that God presented to me: He has opened a door for me to go to Japan on a 6-day ministry trip with one of my pastors at City Bible Church. From December 9 through December 14, we will be reaching out and spreading the gospel to the Japanese people while building the local church in any way possible. Ever since I became a PBC student back in January of 2006, I’ve been praying for an opportunity to go over-seas to do a ministry trip. The Lord couldn’t have opened the door at a better time!

God has opened up a door for me to develop a greater heart of compassion for His people around the world and I would love for you to share in this exciting opportunity.

I invite you to pray for me and my Pastor. We need people to pray that God will prepare us for our visit and bless our efforts as we minister to the people of Japan. I also need prayer for my financial needs to be met. I need to quickly raise $1,360 to attend this trip, and with my current school and work schedule, that is quite a challenge! And so another way you can partner with us is through your financial support. Would you prayerfully consider giving a small donation? I need to raise the full amount as soon as possible in order to cover the airfare. Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, your support is greatly appreciated.

I look forward to advancing the kingdom and building the local church in Japan and letting you know all about how God has worked through the two of us when I return in December. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

God Bless,

Joseph Garibay

Sat down and started to write a new post, then writers block kicked in. Dang. I’ll give it another shot soon…

Back from camp. What an awesome week. The End.

Off to Wild Horse Canyon for the week. Dang, my last kick-off retreat as a PBC student! I’m looking forward to it. Rockin the set for three services, serving as a cabin leader for a few guys in my dorm, and REALLY looking forward to dominating in Ultimate Frisbee and Frisbee Golf. Good times.

Till next time…