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Road Trip: Day 4 - Washington D.C.

Today we traveled from Canton, Ohio to Washington D.C.!  Let me tell you it is one beautiful drive through the mountains and the winding roads.  Knowing nothing but the flat plains of TEXAS, it was a nice change.  At one point we drove from Ohio, to West Virginia, and then into Pennsylvania in the span of about 15 minutes, very cool.  Some thoughts so far from the road:  Titan's stadium in Nashville was smaller than I thought.  Vince deserves a better house to play in, like Reliant in Houston.  Louisville is one beautiful city, very old, traditional, clean looking buildings.  Their university's football stadium is tiny-they are a basketball school.  Cincinnatti took me for a surprise.  Very nice, very clean and the view when you come into Cinncinnatti off of a high turn from Kentucky is phenomenal.  The Bengals play in a very nice stadium.  Pittsburgh is one tough looking city.  Very blue collar.  Passed by the Steelers new stadium where God's favorite team, THE TEXANS will open the 2008 season with a WIN.  Another observation, the people in the Canton, Ohio area are some of the nicest people in the world.  We had a blast there.  Driving through those small towns in Ohio I had two thoughts:  1.  John Mellencamp's music makes so much more sense now ("Small Town"  "Pink Houses" "Jack & Diane", etc) and 2.  I would love to ride an H-D Road King through those beautiful winding roads. 

For the next part of our road trip we're spending a couple of days, including the 4th! in our nation's capital.  Why?  Primarily, because my dad is a VIETNAM VETERAN and he hasn't been to THE WALL.  Tomorrow, on the 4th of July, he will.  We're looking forward to taking in a lot of the sites we've always wanted to visit.  Being a History major and especially a freak about Revolutionary History, I'm pretty much in Heaven.  Looking forward to checking out the all of the different memorials, the Smithsonian, the National Archives, White House, and MOUNT VERNON!!  I'm a George Washington fanatic!  He is hands down our greatest President ever.  Lincoln comes in a close second.  Speaking of Lincoln, we'll also be checking out Fords Theater where he was assasinated.  Also excited about visiting National Community Church pastored by Mark Batterson on Sunday (even though he's on vacation) and then heading to Baltimore where I'll check out my dad's old stomping grounds when he was an M.P. in the Army.  Hopefully we can take in an Orioles game at Camden Yards.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that on Saturday, we'll be going to Congressional Country Club to check out the AT&T National, this week's PGA Tour event.  It's the event that Tiger hosts but this year he's not there because he got his knee scoped.  I am so looking forward to hanging out with my dad this weekend! 

ROAD TRIP: Day 2 - Canton, Ohio

Enough is enough.  I have been absolutely swamped the last week and a half and had not been able to post at all so here's a re-cap of what's been going on.

WILD WEEK

Last week we had an amazing week of seeing children and their families connect with God!  We had our version of "VBS", which we call Wild Week and it was AMAZING!  We had so many awesome people step up and serve our kids/families in a HUGE WAY!  THANK YOU!!  We had tons of kids and they had a blast and were impacted in a big way.  This year we wrapped the week up by heading out to Padre Island and celebrating BEACH BAPTISMS for the first time.  We had a great turnout at Padre and it was a thrill to do baptisms in the Gulf of Mexico!  Overall for Wild Week/Weekend, we saw 19 people receive Christ and celebrated 8 baptisms!!  A BIG THANK YOU to Debra our Children's Ministry Director, her awesome team of Coordinators, L.J., Yadira, and Micky, and all of our outstanding leaders.

ONE PRAYER

Craig Groeschel and Ed Young spoke for me the last couple of weeks at church.  Not bad fill-ins huh?  Seriously though, who would have ever thought something like this would ever be possible?  ONE PRAYER has been absolutely phenomenal.  The messages that we have received over the last couple of weeks have challenged and blessed our church in amazing ways.  Our church has received the video messages with a great attitude.  I LOVE THAT OUR CHURCH VALUES RISK AND EMRACING THE UNEXPECTED!!  CORNERSTONE YOU ROCK!!! We have seen people receive Christ as Savior every week, people are stepping up to serve, and tons of people are growing closer to Christ!   Looking forward to having Steven Furtick speak at Cornerstone this Sunday and then I'll wrap up the series next Sunday by sharing with my church what my one prayer is for THE CHURCH.  Our God is truly amazing.

ROAD TRIP

O.k., your might be wondering, 1) what road trip? and 2) what are you doing in Canton, Ohio?  I mentioned a while back that I was hoping to fulfill a life-long goal and take a road trip WITH MY DAD.  Lets go back to the beginning, this trip wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for my amazing wife MICHELLE.  She is the most selfless, loving person I have ever known and she green-lighted this road trip long ago.  Last December I shared with MIchelle that I wanted to treat my Dad and take him on a road trip in the coming summer.  It was something that I had wanted to do ever since I could remember and I wanted it to be a reality and Michelle loved the idea and was on board.  We decided we would present the idea to my dad as part of his Christmas present and needless to say he loved the idea.  At first I wasn't even sure where we would go or what we would do.  A golf outing across some favorite destinations?  We don't do the fishing or camping thing, so that was out.  Maybe take in a prize fight somewhere?  DelaHoya vs. Mayweather?  My dad's a fight freak, but no that wasn't it.  Where would we go?  Oh yeah, and it was gonna be a ROAD TRIP; none of this taking the easy way out and flying wherever we were going.  When it comes to this, I'm in agreement with Clark Griswold (one of my heroes) "getting there is half the fun".  The best part of this trip is I got my dad in a car, just me and him for a GOOD AMOUNT of time.  You can't beat that.

Then it finally hit me, there was a place that the two of us had talked about a lot but somehow it always seemed like we would never be able to go... check out he picture below and you'll know why we're in Canton, Ohio:

Is this pic awesome or what?  That's my dad in front of the HOF in Canton!  We've spent the last two days driving and got here this afternoon.  We'll hit it tomorrow!!  This has already been an awesome trip and tomorrow is gonna be awesome.  My dad is the man and I'm fortunate to say that he has poured his life into me.  He's taught me how to be a man, a husband, a father, and a follower of Christ; he has passed down amazing character and convictions, and along with my mom, he's been my biggest supporter in whatever I've done in my life.  Aside from the "important stuff", he also gave me a love for sports and competition.  I grew up watching OUR BELOVED LONGHORNS AND OILERS WITH HIM.  Now, we follow Gods favorite teams, the LONGHORNS and the TEXANS together.  During football season, every Sunday, I'll get his call after the TEXANS play.  Or usually, with the TEXANS playing at 12:00, by the time I get home from church, their game is over (thank God for DVR!) and he'll call me on my way home and just tell me, "call me after the game."  We'll discuss our teams greatness or problems and usually have all the TEXANS problems solved in one phone conversation.  He was my first coach and instilled in me a LOVE FOR FOOTBALL... it is God's favorite sport.  I am so looking forward to tomorrow.  Over the last several years we've seen Warren Moon, Bruce Matthews, and Mike Munchak from the Oilers' glory days go into the Hall and then there is the ultimate Oiler and Longhorn:  The Tyler Rose, EARL CAMPBELL.  Plus, my favorite player ever and the greatest offensive lineman in NFL history:  Anthony Munoz.  As much as I'm looking forward to seeing their HOF busts, I'm just looking forward to taking it all in with my dad.  From Canton we're gonna hit spot #2 in a couple of days.  As the week goes by I'm hoping to share some pics and stories from our trip. 

Happy Birthday Michelle

Today is my sweetheart's birthday.  15 years ago, God brought Michelle into my life and I've never been the same.  13 years ago we were married and began a journey together that has only gotten better and more exciting as the years have gone by.  Michelle is my BIGGEST blessing in life and is one amazing woman.  She is an awesome servant of God, an amazing wife, a wonderful mother, and a loyal friend.  I will never know why she said "yes" to me, but her love for me is one of the greatest proofs of God's existence.  God bless you my sweetheart.  Happy Birthday! 

One Prayer

I am pumped up about our ONE PRAYER series that kicks-off this weekend!  If you could ask God to answer one prayer, what would it be?  That's what this series is all about.  Over 1,480 churches all over the world, representing over 800,000 people are coming together to celebrate and participate in this series.  We will be hearing from some powerful communicators of the Word of God.  For the first three weeks of this four week series, we'll be hearing from Pastor Craig Groeschel of LIfeChurch.tv, Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church, and Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church and then I'll wrap up our series by bringing a message entitled, "Lord, make us RISK TAKERS".  This weekend we'll be hearing from Craig Groeschel as he brings a message called, "Lord, make us ONE".  The next four weeks promise to be powerful and amazing.  See you this weekend.  For more on ONE PRAYER click here.

Random Stuff

Some thoughts fluttering in my little mind:

1.  My sweetie's birthday is in a couple of days!!  Very excited!

2.  I never knew Tim Russert, rarely watched Meet The Press, and yet I feel like I've lost a family member.  What a legacy.  What a life lived. 

3.  Speaking of leaving a legacy.  Michelle and I have been praying for the Sarver family.  Barney and Cheri Sarver are an amazing couple who serve God in an amazing way.  Cheri went to be with the Lord this past week as the result of a tragic accident.  She was an amazing servant of God who was principal at Covenant Christian Academy in McAllen.  She leaves an amazing legacy.  Barney, our local FCA Director has had a profound impact on my life.  I came to Christ through the ministry of FCA.  Barney and his family's faith are inspiring.  Please keep the Sarvers in your prayers. 

4.  Reading this bookright now and it is AWESOME.  I haven't laughed this much and been challenged at the same time in a while. 

5.  Yesterday, I was in the airport at Dallas, stopped by one of the little stores and I saw it:  The Texas Football Bible:  Dave Campbell's Texas Football.  My friend Johnny will be happy to see his beloved Red Raiders on the cover.  Lot of hype for Texas Tech this year, it's a shame their dreams will be crushed when my HORNS show up on the plains of Lubbock.

6.  Hard to believe, but I'll be cheering for one aggie, and only one, for the next four years.  Very proud of McAllen's Bradley Stephens who should see some playing time as a freshman this year.  He is one of the best players to ever come out of the Valley, and from all accounts, he's an even better person than he is a football player.  That's saying something.  He should be wearing BURNT ORANGE. 

7.  Our last couple of staff meetings have been even more powerful than usual.

8.  Pumped up about Wild Weeknext week.  We had an awesome night of prep for it last night.

9.  I am so looking forward to a road trip I'm taking with my Dad very soon!

10.  I am pumped up about One Prayerkicking-off this weekend!!

The Power of Coaching

Spent yesterday in Dallas at an awesome all-day meeting with some other pastors and leaders that are part of a coaching network.  There were some great leaders in that room and it was powerful and inspiring to hear their insights and thoughts on church planting, coaching church planters, and leading leaders.  I was especially pumped up because the leader leading this group of pastors is Sam Douglass of Just Coach Me.  Sam is a Pastor, leader, and phenomenal coach of other pastors.  Check out his organization here.  Sam's insights and thoughts were challenging; his heart and passion contagious.  I learned a lot from him yesterday and I'm looking forward to great things to come as this network of pastors continues to learn from this great coach.

Weekend Stuff Coming Up!

I'm pumped up about the stuff coming up this weekend!  Check it out:

1.  First and foremost, we're wrapping up our DAZED & CONFUSED Parenting series by celebrating Father's Day weekend!  God has done some amazing things throughout this series and we're going to wrap it up in a powerful way.  I'm pumped up about how we're going to end the message!  Make sure you bring your dad to celebrate this weekend.

2.  Speaking of this weekend, don't forget to bring in your Baby Bottles for the Pregnancy Testing Centers of the Rio Grande Valley.  For the last six weeks we've been gathering our change to fill our baby bottles and this weekend is the time we'll bring them together to bless the PTC.  They are a powerful ministry that reaches out to help support mothers in need and minister to moms-to-be in crisis pregnancies.  Thank you for your heart to support this great ministry.

3.  I'm so proud of and excited for our students!  element student ministry will be having a Basketball Madness Tournament this evening to raise money for the Pregnancy Testing Centers of the Valley.  The main even will be a game between our students and the student ministry leadership team.  I personally witnessed our element lead team practicing this past week and they are blessed with some amazing athletic ability (or lack of).  Our students have nothing to worry about!  The tourney will begin tonight at 6:30 p.m. and will take place at the Summit Sports Club in Pharr.  They will be taking donations at the door and all proceeds will go to help the PTC.  Make sure that you tune in to Hot KISS 106.3 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. as they will be doing a live remote from the tournament!

4.  Our FIRST IMPRESSIONS ministry will be having a training tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. If you have been thinking about getting involved this would be a great opportunity to do so.  Our FIRST IMPRESSIONS ministry is made up of several ministries that all go into creating a special and powerful atmosphere and experience for people to connect with God!  Get involved!

This doesn't even include WILD WEEK, which is an amazing week of fun and adventure for our kids in grades K-5.  It will take place from July 23 - July 27.  The 27th is a Friday and we will do something we're very excited about.  We'll be heading to South Padre Island for a day of fun in the sun, good food, and we'll be celebrating BEACH BAPTISMS!  There will be a training for those involved with WILD WEEK this coming Tuesday, the 17th at 7:00 p.m.

For more info on all the stuff I've mentioned, click HERE.

God Blesses Action Not Intention

Had a great meeting with an awesome member of our church who is developing into a phenomenal leader.  Hearing his journey and the things that God has been showing him was inspiring and exciting.  I love when God gets a hold of someone and they begin to hear Him like never before, follow, obey, and risk to see His vision accomplished in their lives!  I look forward to seeing how God is going to develop him and his awesome family.  His journey is an example of something that we talked about as we met:  GOD BLESSES ACTION NOT INTENTION.

What does that mean?  It means that seeing God move in our lives begins by taking a step of faith, taking action and EXPECTING THAT GOD WILL SHOW UP AND REVEAL HIS GLORY.  What does that look like:

Abraham leaving the only place he'd ever known to go to a place that God was telling him...  he had to take a step of faith before he saw God's blessing (I also seem to remember something about him, his son Isaac, an altar, a knife, and a ram)

Moses had to take action and step into the Red Sea before it parted and He witnessed God's glory (He also had to throw down his rod before it turned into a snake)

Esther approaching the king to reveal a plot to kill God's people, knowing it could've cost her life

Noah starting work on a boat when everyone laughed at him and his family because there hadn't been a drop of rain EVER! 

What does that look like today?

"I'm longing for community but I never take the step to get involved in a C-Team"... God doesn't bless our intention to connect with others, He blesses when we start to connect with others

"When I get back on my feet, I'll start tithing"... God doesn't bless our intention to give, He blesses our giving

"When I have more time and energy, I'll start serving others"... God doesn't bless our intention to serve, He blesses our service  

"I need to lose fifty pounds and someday I'll get around to it"... God doesn't bless our intention to get healthy, He blesses when we begin to sweat

"We never spend any time together, but when things slow down at work we'll be o.k."... God doesn't bless our intention to have a good marriage, He blesses when we take the time to develop a great marriage

What have you been intending to do that you can start doing and start seeing God's blessings?

Sunday Night Stuff

What a weekend!

1.  Our services were amazing!  All three rocked and were powerful.  Awesome to see so many new faces and to see how God is really working in people's lives through our parenting series!

2.  This weekend's message was challenging, exciting, and very well received.  I had an awesome member of our church relate to me how this passagethat I preached on today had a profound impact on him 22 years ago and led to some amazing things in his life... very cool!

3.  Can't wait to wrap up Dazed & Confused this coming weekend as we celebrate Father's Day!  We have an awesome Father's Day weekend planned with some cool surprises.  It's gonna be great!

3.  Can't wait to kick-off our One Prayer message seriesin a couple of weeks.  Over 1,300 churches, representing 750,000 people coming together to worship God with the same series.  Unprecedented in the history of the CHURCH!  We will be hearing from some amazing pastors and preachers of the Word of God during this series and it will be lifechanging!

4.  Our band was amazing this weekend with Lifehouse's "Broken"... it went great with the message!

5.  It's been great over the last couple of weeks to welcome back some "old faces" to our band.  They are sounding amazing!

6.  June is going to be jam-packed.  Tons of stuff coming up and I'm pumped up about it.  Usually in church world, things kind of slow down in the summer; not at Cornerstone, we are RAMPING THINGS UP!

7.  Excited about Wild Week coming up at the end of June.  It's going to be one awesome week!

8.  We'll be wrapping up Wild Week in a way that we never have before!  It will be awesome to head to South Padre as a church, have a great time, and celebrate with BEACH BAPTISMS!

9.  Don't forget to bring your PTC Baby Bottles this weekend as we collect them for our donation to the Pregancy Testing Centers of the RGV and their awesome ministry.

10.  Excited about connecting with some church planters and some church planting coaches later this month in Dallas.

11.  Awesome to have my beautiful Michelle and my four babies home.  Gonna be a great summer; Michelle and I need to get out on the golf course.

12.  I had a very memorable date on Friday night with the most beautiful 10 year old in the world!  My date with my oldest daughter, Clarissa, is a night I will never forget.  I AM BLESSED

13.  I never thought I would be cheering for the celtics, but it is awesome to see them up 2-0 on the lakers!

14.  When does football season start!

15.  Summer is gonna rock at Cornerstone!  We are going to GROW this summer!

16.  I am VERY EXCITED about something I got coming up at the end of the month!!  It is something I have been thinking about, dreamed about, and planned for a while and I can't wait... more later.

17.  We had a great IMPACT class on Saturday.  I love teaching our Core Classes!

18.  I finished this book last week.  Great read and lots of interesting behind the scenes stuff from someone who has had the best seat in the house to some of America's greatest sporting events.  All against the backdrop of a debilitating disease that his father got and how it affected him.  Great stuff... review coming soon.  Great Father's Day gift idea.

   

The Lone Star Showdown Goes Into Space

Check out this picture of our current NASA crew in space right now.  As you can see, the Lone Star Showdown has gone into space but this time I can't slam on the aggie too much because he's a fellow McAllen Bulldog, our hometown hero, Mike Fossum.  Awesome to see the Hook 'Em Horns symbol in space!