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…
Just like that, summer is over and school is back in session. Wow! It all happened so fast! I found out last week that I’ll be serving campus as a Dorm Leader this year too. I’m excited. I really am. What an honor to play a part in what God’s orchestrating in all of these guys lives. Wow. My senior year is already here! (Didn’t mean to make that rhyme) It feels like yesterday when I moved here.
I was looking at my calendar earlier this week and this next year will by far be one of the most exciting years ever. It’ll be an exciting one as I enter the last chapter of this season of my life. The Lord truly is good and His mercy endures forever.
Oh ya, if you want more updates, follow me on twitter! http://twitter.com/JosephGaribay
Till next time…
I’m slowly approaching the biggest crossroad of my life. When I first moved to Portland, moving back to Antioch when I finished my time at PBC was pretty much a guarantee. Almost four years later, that’s definitely not the case.
I’ve been contemplating with the idea of staying in Portland and planting myself under the leadership of City Bible for a good six months now, mainly because I truly believe this is where the Lord is leading me. However, I’m still not entirely sure.
For months now, I’ve known this trip home would be the beginning of a very exciting season. I came knowing that a few heart to heart conversations would take place about where I would end up after PBC, and now that those heart to hearts have already happened, it’s time to pray, and fast, and pray, and fast!
So here I am, enjoying a quick vacation to Antioch realizing that this may be what all of my trips home are like in less than a year. It’s a bittersweet feeling! I just want to do the right thing. I want to submit myself to my family & leadership, seek wise counsel, and let the Lord reveal the rest. I’m just a young man seeking after the Lord for some serious direction before ANY decision is made! In the mean time, I still have a lot to look forward to as I prepare myself to enter my last year of ministry and college as a PBC student.
I’m not sure what the Lord will reveal to me, but I’m extremely excited to seek after Him like never before during this season of my life.
Recovering from an action-packed weekend which consisted of:
PBC Banquet. With my lovely date for the night.
Bonfire at Manzanita Beach till 5 am. A night to remember!
Sunday night kick-off service down at the Pearl. So good!
Post service BBQ...
Summer has officially started. Rock.
Till next time…
Wow. Just like that, another year at PBC is over.
The end of every spring semester always has a bittersweet taste to it. For me, this was a very unique year to be a PBC student. This past semester was by far the most difficult, and for a while there, the only thing that gave me hope were the promises of God over my life, and of course, a few good friends that loved me enough to help me keep my head on my shoulders.
Despite everything that happened, one thing remains true: Jesus is still worthy.
As difficult as this past semester was, I did my absolute best to make sure I kept my eyes on Him the whole time, and in doing that, this is what I learned: It’s inevitable that life is gonna happen. People will come and go. Some days the sun will shine, and other days, the clouds will linger over your life. Sometimes you’re accused of doing things you didn’t do, and sometimes you’re accused of saying things you didn’t say, placing you in the deep oceans of insecurity. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes all you want to do is quit. But then you close your eyes, and all you can see is Jesus. You start thinking about the cross and all that took place that day, and then it hits you: even our painful sanctification is an act of grace. So here I am, turning the final page of this chapter, embracing the grace of God and thanking Him for His everlasting love.
Life is so much fun, it really is. I’m sitting here laughing just thinking about some of the life-long memories I’ve made this past year and it just feels great. It feels great to know that even though it was a rough road, I still had the peace of knowing that I was right where God wanted me to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Singing for joy because He’s truly done great things,
- Joe
Stayed up till two a.m. finishing up my last assignment of the semester. One more final tomorrow and that’s it! Pretty stoked for Final Chapel too. I get to rock the set again!
The conference has been great in so many ways. I’m getting ready to rock the set for both morning services. It’s gonna be fun…
It’s conference week at CBC. Ahh, the joy of conference week! I’m already addicted to the church, but I seriously love conference week, and not just necessarily at City Bible, but at any church. It’s just great to watch the Body of Christ come together for a few days and focus their eyes on the Lord with the hopes of going back to their respectable churches and advance the kingdom in every way possible.
This year I have the wonderful privilege of being a part of the worship team for a few of the morning sessions and I’m so excited. I’m still amazed by the grace of God and how far he’s brought me as a musician, not that I’ve “arrived” or anything like that, but looking back over the years and all the things I’ve done as a drummer (and I’ve been a part of some pretty cool stuff) there’s truly nothing better than playing for the kingdom. It’s one of the greatest feelings in the world!
So yeah, Great Things, kicks-off tomorrow night at 7pm and ends on Saturday, it’s gonna be great.
A.W. Tolzer once said that Christians don’t tell lies; they just come to church and sing them. The more I think about it, the more I find myself agreeing with his statement. Think about it, we go to church and sing songs such as You Are Here (The Same Power) by Hillsong, but are our actions really backing up what we’re singing so passionately in the church?
My question is this: is it really? Is the same power that conquered the grave really living inside of us? Is the same love that rescued the earth really living inside of us? I gotta be pretty honest, sometimes I have a very hard time believing that we do and here’s why:
The man who had the power to conquer the grave didn’t:
- Speak bad about the church and its leaders.
- Gossip about his friends.
- and the list goes on….
The man who had the love to rescue the earth wasn’t:
- Judgmental towards those around him.
- Condemning towards those who were different.
- and again, the list goes on…
I recently read on Joyce Meyer’s Twitter that our worship isn’t blessing God if we’re merely singing the songs but not living the life. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look back over my life one day only to find that what I sang in the church never penetrated through its four walls to reach the place it needed to be the most: a dying world.
May we be a people who not only sing the songs, but actually live the lyrics out in every way possible.
Oh yeah, the war with the girls dorm went fairly well, but once again, I came out on top. It was short and sweet, but that’s kinda how things have to roll once the dean of students gets involved, right? I commend Sarah for her bravery and all of her attempts to win the war, but let’s ask the magic eight ball what he thinks…
Dear Magic Eight Ball: “Was there any way Sarah would’ve won the PBC/Custodial war?
Shake, shake, shake.
“Very doubtful.”
Nough said. Off to bed. Goodnight!
It’s been a great Friday. Finished the first half of my shift and now I’m getting ready to check out this year’s PBC Dorm Warm. Friends Dorms and Free Food with the possibility of being able to watch the Blazers game = A great time!
