February 2012
8 posts
“If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit...”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
tumblrbot asked: WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?
“THERE ARE NONE WHO ARE AS DEAF AS THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO HEAR”
– BARRY LEVENTHAL
April 2011
1 post
Great Dating Tip #1
As much as dating has some to do with location… What you talk about, your presence, your focus on who you’re with makes so much difference.
February 2011
1 post
Notes from a sermon I took 3/2/07
** You can take this to the bank **
- The debt that we owe to others (based on Romans)
The debt we owe to others… due to our renewal, comes recognition that we ought to share the reconciliation of Christ with others.
- God turns garbage into glory
Romans 8:28
God will because God has done so in the past
** God is more concerned about the process than the goals… **
Who is...
January 2011
1 post
"(un)Learning Christian-nese"
On a harder note, I’ve been thinking long and thoroughly these past few days on the nature of “my job”, my calling, or what it is that I do. For the past month I havepreached every single Sunday… over and over again, read a Biblical text, exegete it, contextualize it (while keeping the purity and integrity of the Word intact), and I present it to the congregation at...
December 2010
1 post
"Because you're mine"
A couple of months ago at a leadership retreat, Annie made a connection between her thoughts as [then] a soon-to-be mother and her relationship with God. She said something along the lines of God loves does not change even through the many things we may do for him, how much we please him, or even more difficultly through how much we may fail him, his love doesn’t change because of any of...
August 2010
4 posts
"You shall have your reward... your eternal...
Remember that one scene from Aladdin when Jafar tells Al to throw him the lamp and then in one grim moment, he says, “you shall have your reward… your eternal reward…” ? Well this post is about something like that…
Last night my mentor (JonRit) stayed over and we had a talk about life. We talked about beliefs and conversion… and I remember telling him...
How Long Could This Possibly Last?
I was thinking a lot about the word “religion” and how easily it is for believers, Christians just to be more specific to get caught up in the idea of religion and faith that you lose the meaning all together. I have this bad habit (just like all of us do I’m sure :D), but I fall in love easily with “ideas of things”. What I mean is that, for example, I’ve...
5 THINGS I ASK GOD FOR IN THE MORNING
One of the things that spurred on my desire to blog/journal about this topic was the need for more quality time with the Lord. Last night I had the opportunity to be truly blessed by my brother RJ Ganaden, we were able to share more about our desires in our personal relationship with God and in our lives - and out of response, this morning I decided to meet with God and get some good ol’...
Time... Never Enough of IT...
I never notice how much time passes by, and how fast it passes by (to add) when i’m busy. This week in particular has been a lot slower compared to the past couple of weeks. When I have the time to think about time and all the things i’ve done over the past days, weeks, and months, I always end up feeling like I wished I had more - more time to spend with friends, more time with...
July 2010
2 posts
The Character Challenge
I just got off the phone with my mentor and good friend JonRit. One thing I know I shall never regret in my life is the fact that I have constantly surrounded myself with Godly men who are committed to supporting me throughout my entire life. As a tangent, I would say that every believer needs this sort of small group community to really help them get through life’s toughest and greatest...
10 THINGS I REFUSE TO HAVE SCREW WITH MY...
FATHERHOOD REFUSAL #1 - I REFUSE TO GAIN WEIGHT BECAUSE “THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL FATHERS”…
I think i’ve had it with people whom I’ve heard say that fatherhood means getting fat. I will get heavier, but I refuse to let myself go to fatty foods that will serve to destroy my health. Annie and Aubrey need me - and I need them - so I refuse to eat...
June 2010
10 posts
A LIFE, NOTHING LESS.
Hello World, I’d like you to meet Ms. Aubrey Jane Ricafranca. My eyes were watery at the thought of seeing our child for the first time - a human life, made from Annie and I. This is truly a moment that captivated me, it left me in wonder… amazed. Amongst the millions of thoughts that swarmed my mind upon seeing the wonder of this God-given miracle was the thought “how could...
Family: Enduring Revelations
I realize and purposefully did not post this week. I am learning new things about the importance of family. This week we held our church’s annual Vacation Bible School (VBS). VBS has always been a strategic and perfect way of getting deeper involved in student’s lives. It is during this week where I get to train potential leaders in ministry, do more one on one’s with youth...
Learning in Fun Ways
Last night, the Jr.High leaders and one of our worship leaders went on an all-day adventure to Huntington Beach! What an exciting time for young jr. high students to get to know their leaders and not only that, to build relationships with one another. Unfortunately, I did not have the available time to go join them on that adventure and although that was a kind of bummer - that didn’t mean...
Mentoring
Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down with the senior pastor and talk to him for several hours on the topic of ministry. Youth ministry, in my honest opinion is a completely different beast (a pretty beast for the record) compared to when he served with Youth For Christ back in the 80s. BUT - as we sat down and discussed ministry talk for that duration of time, I was reminded of...
Getting Alone With Christ
I seldom ever get a consistent flow of getting out here. I usually come out to this park to think, to pray, to journal. I remember thinking of the many different wants, requests, petitions all of which were brought to this one place. I thought about all the needs I had in my life prior to graduating, the time I spent asking God if getting married was in His right timing, coming to Christ...
Not Worth Losing A Friend
It’s finals season! And after a very tough loss last night against the Celtics I really thought long and hard about how quickly I lose my mind when watching the game! The games have been so intense and the series so competitive that I skip my usual routine of recording the games and sometimes I can’t even watch! Last night after watching the game and driving home from Garden Grove...
Numbers Driven Ministry
Have you ever thought about numbers and how they seemingly play a vital role in ministry? This past weekend I was reminded about how numbers mean next to nothing in the realm of spiritual growth especially in youth ministry.
For the longest time I’ve been reporting to the other ministry leaders at Cornerstone about past events. For example i’d say something like, “we hosted...
Intimacy
— Annie and I dated this past Friday and walked by Marceline’s. The smell, the lighting, everything about this place reminded us of some of our earliest dates spanning over a couple of years ago! It got me thinking of how important it is for us not only as a young married couple (newly married at that too!) to continually pursue dating one another. I’m no pro but I do enjoy...
“Let your friend’s honour be as dear to you as your own”
– m.Abot 2.15, R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus
Earning Favor
I constantly have the idea that the more I do this… I get more of that… very similar to this random kid I found on the internet…
I grew up with the mentality that my parents instilled in me (God bless them, I love them very much), “do this, and earn that”… this mentality works really well in the job force, you pretty much get paid what you work for (at...
April 2010
1 post
Self Power / Christ Power
I guess I felt the need to blog again. Realistically, I should be working, but there is something lingering on my heart that needs to be diffused. Lately I have been wrestling with the idea, “how is my perspective of Christ altered by my upbringings from my parents?”
Interestingly enough, although I gave my parents hell all throughout my teenager years (and more), I consider myself...
February 2010
1 post
Thriving in Awkward Situations
I would like to think that I thrive in awkward situations. Sitting in my hermeneutics class, one of my friends turns around to say hi to me…
friend: “what up ‘g’?”
me: “huh?”
friend: “what up ‘g’?”
me: “oh”
friend: “huh”?
me: (with eyes wide open, smiling and shaking my head left to right in response)...
October 2009
1 post
"Social NOT-working"
As I was driving to church today, a 25-minute drive that turned into an hour, parking into the church I had the sudden urge or craving to whip out my cell phone, blog, twitter, and facebook how frustrating it was to have hit every single red light imaginable on my way to church from Biola (w00t).
But as I got out of the car, caught a wiff of the cool breeze from the incoming fall season - I...
September 2009
3 posts
GOD, here's my prayer
Lord, I pray that I may be deeper in my relationship with you,
That I will thirst more for your WORD,
That I will hunger more for our relationship,
I pray that you will give me a heart that’s bigger than me,
Give me a heart for those that are broken,
Those in need of you,
I pray that I might seek you,
All of the days of my life,
I pray for character,
That I may be more of the person...
Contemplation
I had the opportunity to see a video of a baptism done by our old youth pastor Josh Tongol on facebook this morning. It was so beautiful it almost led me to tears, person after person screaming their love for Jesus just before making a public symbol of the dying of their old self and the rising of the new in Christ. I couldn’t help but think to myself that Christians like these are going...
August 2009
8 posts
What Do the Fins on the Surfboard Do?: How to... →
Compton Pastor Embezzles →
Youth Group leader accused of having sex with teen →
Pastors and Moral Struggles
I just finished reading two articles within the LA times about the fall of two Christian leaders. One, a senior pastor, the other, a youth pastor. What hurts the most is that not only does news like this affect people’s perspective on organized religion, but what it does is also shows us serving in ministry how personal sin can easily blow out into bigger proportions.
I am truly humbled...
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;...”
– 1 Peter 1:24-25
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
– Jim Elliot
God uses others...
Today, as with every (if not most) Tuesdays, I met up with Tony at Ihop on Fullerton and Gale. Every single week we talk about issues going on in our lives and share what gets in the way and what doesn’t in our personal walks.
Because last week I was at a youth retreat, I had so much more to share to Tony - As it turns out - ministry is getting really busy. However you take that, it has...