I was recently in a wedding. My buddy was Scottish, actually, he still is Scottish, so the groomsmen wore kilts! It was a great experience.

Wanna see pics? Go here.

I’m coming to the end of what’s turned into one of the greatest weeks I’ve had this summer and I’m honestly at a loss of words, well, not really, because I’m writing this, but this post really doesn’t do it justice.

Boise, Idaho is my “3rd Home”. That’s all there is to it. I love it here. I love everything about it.

This past week I’ve had the wonderful privilege to serve my brothers and sisters at Family Life Church and it’s changed my life in so many ways, and I don’t go back to Portland until Friday! It’s been fun, challenging, funny, convicting, inspiring, and so much more. Plus, it’s been an honor to have been a part of Pastor Doug Lasit’s last official summer camp as a Youth Pastor. What an experience.

I’ve learned a lot about life and ministry over the last few years, but the thing that’s changed me forever is the love that’s been birthed in my heart for the Body of Christ. I love it, with all of my heart, and I can’t get enough of it. Being at this camp this past week reminded me that I’m nothing but a humble servant on a team that is so much bigger than me, and it’s not that I forgot about that principle, but it’s been very refreshing to be reminded of it.

I wish I could take still shots of the faces I see from the drum-set during the worship services. The smiles, the tears, the jumping, the hands lifted high, all priceless memories of my brothers and sisters, people I may never see again, but I know they’ll be out there fighting the same fight and singing for joy because He’s truly done great things. It’s all been engraved into the deepest part of my heart.

What I belong to (The Body of Christ) is so much bigger than myself, and I love it.

I love that life is truly better together.

Off to Idaho for a week.

Heading back to this church (which has seriously become another family) and rockin the set for their summer camp.

Today & tomorrow are hang out chill days. Sunday-Friday are “get down to business” camp days. So excited.

Feeling tremendously blessed to have so many great friends in the Body of Christ!

Till next time…

My new i-Phone continues to make me happier than a gopher in soft dirt. This thing is seriously too cool…

So I signed up for this thing where you get free books. The only thing I have to do is read the book, and then write a two hundred word review of it and post it on two different sites, my blog being one of them. It’s actually pretty sweet.

SO, the first book that came my way was titled She Still Calls Me Daddy: Building a New Relationship with Your Daughter After You Walk Her Down the Aisle.

I thought this was a very insightful book, and I’m not even a Dad. I thought the author did a great job of dealing with a few different touchy areas of life when it comes to how a Father will handle his relationship with his daughter once she becomes a wife. Even though she will be married and the support she’ll need will mostly be found through her husband, she is still her Daddy’s daughter. Author Robert Wolgemuth suggests that using seven different steps, which consist of protection, conversation, affection, discipline, laughter, faith, and conduct do deal with this new woman. Even though I’m not a Father, I found it insightful to understand what would be going on in the mind of one when it comes to his Daughter. It’s great because it gives the reader logical steps to follow and the author hits on the things that daughters want to tell their Father but don’t know how, like how they still love their Dad, but at the same time, they are no longer a little girl, and they want his support in a different way, because when they do this, they are showing their daughter that he trust them and believes in what they’re doing.

Overall, great book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the Father/Daughter relationship.

Should Christians Listen to Secular Music?

Do you agree or disagree with the common philosophy that secular music is improper for a fully devoted Christian lifestyle?

I personally believe this is the wrong question to be asking. If we were to place a group of Christians in a room and ask; “Is it wrong for a fully devoted Christian to listen to secular music?” we’d find that they would be there for a very long time, and not only would they be wasting their time, they wouldn’t get anywhere. When it’s all done and said, there really isn’t a “correct” answer because this is one of those “grey areas” of life and nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that a fully devoted Christian shouldn’t be listening to secular music. However, it does tell us that a believer in Christ should avoid ungodliness and stay pure in everything he/she does.

I’ve always had the desire to live life beyond myself, because if I don’t, I personally feel I’ll be wasting my time. I just want to love people. I want to care about them. I want to bring hope to a dying world. More than anything, I want to be authentic before the Lord. I don’t care about making a name for myself; it’s not about that. It’s about going into the nations and baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I couldn’t help but think about all of this while watching this clip yesterday morning during the Michael Jackson memorial service.

First of all, wow, talk about a guy who made an indelible mark on society. Secondly, there were so many people who took time out of their day to “be a part” of the service!

There was an estimated 16,000 people in the Staples Center and millions more all over the world watching via television and internet. Just take four minutes of your day, watch it, watch the people, and ask yourself: “What can I do to make a difference?”

It’s all about people.

I’m reading through Talent Is Never Enough by John Maxwell and it’s pretty good stuff.

The thing that’s challenged me the most so far was the chapter on preparation. Not only do I have the desire, but I fully believe the Lord’s called me into full-time ministry, and because of that, preparation is a pretty big deal.

I often wonder if I’m doing enough of it.

I know I’m not perfect, so what is it about my character that sucks that I should work on? Am I reading enough books? Am I reading the RIGHT books? Am I spending enough time with the Lord? Am I praying enough? Do I love people as best as I can? Am I taking the time to work on my preaching skills?

It’s a never ending list…

“People don’t get a second chance to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” – John Maxwell

Having the desire to capitalize on every once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that comes my way,

- Joe

PS22 Chorus

My new favorite choir in the world. I love em!!

Leaving home always comes with a bittersweet price-tag. I mean, it’s Antioch, CA, the place I called home for eighteen years before I packed up my bags and moved to Portland. It’s just one of those things. Coming home this past week was so refreshing. It was so nice to spend some quality time with my family and catch up with so many old friends.

As always, I can never come home without being caught by the Lord’s grace. It’s just, I have so much to be thankful for. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why the Lord spared me from suffering the consequences of some my pre-cross actions, but He did, and I’ll forever be grateful. Sometimes the hardest part about coming home is finding out what some of my old friends are doing and hearing about how hard “life” is. My heart just breaks for them because I can remember the good ole days, you know, when the only thing we had to worry about was making sure our teeth were brushed before we went to bed. The days when we would share our quarters so that we could have an extra chocolate milk during lunch, or the times when we would tear it up on the kick-ball court.

Now some of those same people are running from gangs because they got caught up in the drug life, some of them are struggling to make ends meet as they parent their child alone, and some of them have just given up on life completely, doing absolutely nothing of significance. At times it’s just, hard, to accept the fact that some of my closest friends have made some very unwise decisions and are now “paying the price” because of it. It’s just a tough one to swallow because each and every one of them have a special place in my heart and I just wish I could “rescue” them, instead of watching all of us walk down the different paths life has to offer.

As for me, I’m sitting in the Sacramento airport waiting for my flight to Portland. In just a couple of hours, life as I know it in the beautiful Northwest will continue and everything will get back to normal. I’ll unpack my bags in my nice little room, probably hit up WinCo, because that’s just what poor college kids do, and then continue on with my week being captured by the Lord’s amazing grace.

I’m just, thankful, in every way possible.