Ragamuffintop Challenge

This ain't nothin' compared to what we did last week, but I want to be faithful to complete what I said I would.

I spent the week in Ensenada with Bajabound Ministries which fed me better than I usually get fed in the states. You're amazing John Rose and Ben Gaines!

Here's where I'm at...

week 1: 179.6
week 2: 175.2
week 3: 169.2
week 4: 172.6
week 5:



The trip would have been worth it even if I had to gain 100lbs!

Ragamuffintop Challenge...

Mexico

I just got back from this...



More to come...

Ragamuffintop Challenge Week 4

There it is... Can I say "I told you so"? Well, after I came off of my fast I went to town and actually at one point this week was back up to like 178 or so. But I made an effort to curb my eating after Wednesdays binge. But yesterday (Friday) we went to San Diego and hit up Belmont Park and the Chilidogs, Fried Chicken & Sodas got to me. I did try to pace myself though.

I ran 4 miles today and somehow over the last few days, even with the Chilidog, I was able to get back down to 172.

week 1: 179.6
week 2: 175.2
week 3: 169.2
week 4: 172.6

We're leaving tomorrow for Ensenada. I probably won't do a whole lot of running and for sure no biking. But who knows what the food will be like. Maybe I'll still lose weight??? We'll see.

Please pray for us! We're going with no Internet on this trip, so you probably won't hear from me for a while.

Ragamuffintop Challenge...

Sock Puppets

We're taking about 20 High Schoolers to an orphanage at Bajabound Ministries on Sunday. We'll be there for a week and one of the things we'll be doing is a VBS (that's Vacation Bible Study for those of you who don't know). As part of our lesson we thought it would be cool to give away some socks. They're not just any old socks though. We're going to be giving away sock puppets!

We'll use our own sock puppets to tell the story of the paralytic as found in Mark chapter 2. And then we'll have the kids make their own sock puppets. At the same time we'll give them all a new pair of socks to keep. Should be a blast.

The rest of the time our team will be helping to build another wing onto the Orphanage. I can't wait to see what God does!

Creative Chaos!

Worship @ Horizon San Diego

I had the wonderful opportunity to lead worship at Horizon San Diego's Second Saturday Singles Group last Saturday night. Now, normally it wouldn't necessarily be something that I would write about, however this weekend was special for me. Not only did I get to take a couple of the students from our High School Team down with me, but my sister met me there and got to sing with me for the first time.

My sister and I go way back... duh! (spiritually speaking). There was a time when both of us were walking in darkness. And then, all of a sudden I got the urge to sing like the guys from Simon and Garfunkel... you know, Simon and Garfunkel? Yeah, the two guys with the killer harmonies. Here's the problem... I didn't know how to sing at all. I'd never even thought of singing before. So two of my friends invited me to join the newly forming choir at Horizon San Diego to learn how to sing (this was in the early 90s). So I did and before I knew it I was giving my life to the Lord. I didn't even see it coming! It was awesome!

Now, my sister was pretty upset with God at the time because she had just gone through a divorce. Well, being the upstanding "Christian Warrior" that I now was, I knew that there was only one thing to do... preach, preach, preach... uhh... not so much. I quickly learned that I had missed the memo. The one thing I really needed to do was not preach, preach, preach, but pray, pray, pray. In fact God made that very clear to me one afternoon while praying for her. So I did. I began to pray, pray, pray. And pretty soon, she began asking questions, going to Church and eventually gave her life to the Lord. Now she's the one who preach, preach, preaches at me. And I love it.

So, you can imagine how special it was for me to lead worship with her by my side. Not to mention the fact that "there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home..." I do miss my Horizon home just a little.

Thanks for setting that up sis...

Illiterate Taggers

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Dad's Rootbeer, Wayne Cordeiro & a Worship Confessional

Yesterday was Father's Day. Everyone on stage was a father... I'm not sure if that was good or not??? Every Father got a Dad's Rootbeer and something to chew on... I think it was beef jerky. Anyway, here was the team.

agtr/vox - me
bass/vox - Dan
egtr - Rob
drums - Robert

Setup was crazy! I thought it would go smooth because I had extra time to setup the essentials on Friday, but I guess I thought wrong. For some reason we're still getting that nasty buzz in the bass channel. I thought we fixed it last weekend, but apparently not. We spent a good 1/2hr. trying to figure that out. We eventually ended up just putting a mic in front of Dan's Bass Amp.

I have a sneaky suspicion that it has something to do with our direct boxes. I don't totally understand them so I'm thinking about ditching them and getting new ones. Anyone know anything about these? Behringer ULTRA

Yesterday also marked the 2nd week of the One Prayer Campaign. We watched Wayne Cordeiro deliver an amazing message. Pastor Dave and the rest of the staff were a little concerned about how everyone would react to watching a video for 35 minutes. I think we were all amazed when everyone applauded the message. That just goes to show how accustomed we are to watching T.V./Videos.

My favorite part of the message was when Wayne shared about a disgruntled staff member who came to him and said he was leaving the Church because he wasn't "getting fed". Over the last 6+ years as a Church Planter, I can't even count the times that I've heard those same words. Wayne related that comment to how ridiculous it would be if his 28 yr. old son came to him and said he was leaving the family because he wasn't getting fed. He then responded with "FEED YOURSELF!" While I'm sure Pastor Dave and I have thought the same thing time and again, I'm not sure if either of us would actually preach such a thing (maybe?). It was refreshing to not only hear it preached but to have it received by so many.

Anyway, here's what our set list looked like...

Awesome is the Lord (Tomlin)
I am free (Desperation)
-father's day video-
-welcome- (Bradley did an amazing job!)
-intro to One Prayer by Pastor Dave-
-video welcome from Craig Groeschel-
-intro to Wayne's video by Pastor Dave-
-"Make us wise" video by Wayne Cordeiro-
-closing by Pastor Dave-
Word of God speak (Mercy Me)
-offering-
From the inside out (Hillsong)

I did "Word of God speak" by myself because Stephanie our keyboardist wasn't able to get back from her trip in time. I have to say, first service was pretty rough. I used to do this song in the key of B but since I've been trying to do everything in it's original key, I did it in A. It has been a long time since I've played that song and the lack of a solid sound check caused a few off notes. 2nd service went much better.

Also, I still struggle with "From the inside out" but we get positive comment after positive comment every week that we do that song. I love it, but I think it's still lacking some punch in the Bridge when we do it. What do you think?

To top off a great Father's Day, the school has asked us to pack up all of our gear (Children's Ministry and everything) for the next 2 weeks while they clean. The cool thing is that after that we can leave everything setup until school starts again. I have to say that I was very impressed with how many dads not only showed up for a Father's Day Service, but hung out to help tear down! We have the best fathers in the Valley!

Like so many other men at our Church I came home to an awesome BBQ with my family (including my 2 dads). My wife made Teriyaki Steak, Zesty Steak, Shrimp, Salmon, BBQ Veggies, Watermelon, Rice, French Bread & Strawberry Shortcake for lunch. I can still taste it! Guess what I'm having for lunch!

How about you, how was your week?