Update from Chicago

Sunday, September 30, 2007

It has been a great couple of the days here in the Chicago area. After the conference on Friday, we drove to Chicago (short distance, long time on the road) for a couple of days in the city. In addition to the weather being spectacular, the team had the opportunity to visit several church services in the area.

On Saturday night we visited www.communitychristian.org (CCC). This church has 8 campuses, according to their website, around the Chicago area. They do a great job with their systems of duplicating themselves for multi-site. After service on Saturday night, we met with a couple of guys on staff. Thank you Sean and Bill for joining us for dinner.

This morning we visited www.harvestbible.org. Raul did a little research last night and discovered they were having the grand opening to their Elgin campus. The campus was impressive in size. At the 9am service, all 2,000 seats were occupied. It was a celebratory service with great energy and emotion.

In order to make it to Willow Creek Church www.willowcreek.org, we had to leave before the end of the service at Harvest Bible Church. We were all extremely excited because Pastor Bill Hybels was going to be teaching.

Willow Creek is perhaps America’s most influential church. I say that not because their size, though they have an attendance of over 20,000 people at 4 different locations, but because of all the church leaders they have been able to train and encourage over the course of their existence. Pastor Hybels was able to share some of his vision today, how his Yes to God has guided him over the years. And how we can recover from having made bad choices in our lives.

He ended the service speaking about his daughter and how she, after several years of bad choices, has been able to reestablish her life with God by saying Yes to God and no to herself. God knew I needed to be there today to hear those words.

On a personal basis, I was encouraged today!

I look forward to getting back tomorrow. To my Grecy, I love you and miss you. Can’t wait to see you and spend time with you. Thanks for holding the fort in my absence!

Going back to Miami,

Ia

Granger Conference

Friday, September 28, 2007

I'm here at Granger Community Church for a two day pastor's conference on innovation. It is always refreshing to come to such events, specially when it provides opportunities to learn and share with others who made the trip along with you.

God is doing a great thing here at Granger Community Church. check out their site at gccwired.com. The staff is a great group of folks who really love God and want to make a huge difference... sounds familiar?

The scenery is nice and open, lots of corn fields. The weather is exceptional this time of year, 50-70, even though in a few month everyone here will be thinking of us in S. Florida. South Bend, Indiana in only a few miles from here. That means this is Notre Dame country. In a way, We have not heard much about the team, it may have something to do with their current record (sorry, I could not resist. In the world of competition, we can easily go from hero to zero. Regardless of the record, these folks really love their team.

Conference has been good so far. After lunch today Pastor Troy will lead a session. If you are able to tune in, check it out at mynakedpastor.com.

For all of you back home @ the Doral Campus, I love you guys. Thanks for stepping up this weekend and making it happen. I look forward to getting back on Monday to my family.

I miss you all,

ia

See the candy...bring more candy

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Yesterday I received a call saying: "where do you want me to drop this off"? The call came from one of our Doral members David Santibanez. David has been so gracious; he is blessing us with about 20 boxes of candy to get us started. Thank you David!

This is only the beginning folks. We need a lot more candy to make this Trunk or Treat event the best ever. Three schools in the area have already agreed to partake in candy drives; Eugenia B. Thomas Elementary, Doral Middle School, and Ronald Reagan/Doral Sr. High School. These three schools will be collecting candy and also inviting all the students to come out and participate in the event.

If you attend the Doral Campus, please bring candy so that we can make sure to have an awesome event for this community. Remember, it is not about the candy or the event, it is about connecting with the people God has placed here for us to reach.

One, two, three, here we go:

1. Bring some candy
2. Register to have your own trunk
3. Invite your friends and neighbors

God's best,

ia

Trunk or Treat...Bring those candies

Friday, September 21, 2007

You guessed it, the time has come to start bringing in those bags of candy. This year's Trunk or Treat event will be filled with lots of candy and an exciting schedule of events. Last year over 1,500 folks come from the community of Doral to partake in the festivities. The buzz already in the area is already creating a lot of excitement and anticipation.

That is why we need all of you out there to start bringing your bags of candy this weekend. A location will be set up to receive all your bags in the court yard during both Sunday services at the Doral Campus.

You will also have an opportunity to register your trunk. Our goal for this year is 50 trunks, and let me just says, they are going fast.

I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday @ 9:30 or 11am. Don't forget to bring your friends as well.

ia

My Dad and the 3 lessons

Thursday, September 20, 2007

That's my dad in the pic. For a few months I had wanted to get with him one on one but had not done it. There always seemed to be something getting in the way; or at least I let it. Earlier this week I finally called him and invited him to spend a part of the day as I ran several errands... he agreed. Actually, my daughter Ashley reminded that I had not called him to invite to a Marlin's game. So with some guilt in my voice, I made the call. He declined my invite to the Marlins game (can't say I blame him), but accepted the invite to breakfast.

My dad is 79 years old and going on his 50th wedding anniversary in January of 2008. His real name is Ramon, but we call him Mongo. By the way, every one named Ramon is also called Mongo. Don't ask me why, that's the way it is for Cubans. I'm proud of him because unbeknown to him, he has taught me the best lessons of my life. Here's a short list:

1. The value of commitment. I have seen him being committed to my mom when things were really tuff. I experienced his dedication to his job, even though it was not too glamorous or exciting. His work ethic went beyond the call of duty, passing on having fun for doing what the job required him to do.

2. The value of serving. Faithfully and without complaining, he has served his wife and family all these years. Never complaining or expecting people to do the same for him. He is still doing it!

3. The discipline of self-control. When faced with the temptation of lashing out, his example is always vivid in my mind. Be quick to listen, and slow to speak.

These are just a few of lessons my dad taught me. I'm still learning them as life passes by. I'm glad to have spent a few hours with him this week. It helped me reflect on who I am and the impact we fathers have on our children.

Most of all yesterday helped me to experience the bond that exists between the father and the son. If you do not have a close with your father, and are able to reach out to him, make the call today. Please don’t get me wrong, our relationship is not even close to what I would have hoped for, but it was a special time nevertheless. I hope to continue to make that call.

Remember, our heavenly father who is always willing and able, is waiting to comfort you when we call on Him. If that is you right now, just take the time and ask him to do that... and He will.

ia

A NAKED weekend

Monday, September 17, 2007

This weekend we kicked off our new series mynakedpastor.com. Pastor Troy and Stephanie spoke about commitment as an antidote to fighting. It was really cool to see all the people’s response to making a commitment in their marriage, relationships and to God. This weekend we had 277 folks in attendance, many of you stepped up and came forward… way to go Doral!

This sets us up for a historic 5 weeks in the life of the church as we start 15 small groups at our Doral campus and get ready for beach baptism this weekend.

Remember:

Attend all five weeks
Join a Small Group
Invite a friend

I will be posting more this week about some of the cool things we are planning for this fall. Hint… we had this event last year here at Ronald Reagan/Doral Senior High School. Stay tune… more to come!

IA

The time to join a Small Group is now!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

There is no reason not to join a Small Group in the Doral Campus. We have 14 Small Groups starting on the week of September 15th. This is also the week we kick off “mynakedpastor.com” series. I want each of you to make an extra effort to come to church this weekend and meet those who will be leading these groups. There is a group for everyone regardless of what your age or marital status. Here a short list for your consideration:

Small Group Facilitators:
Couples: Robert and Maria Selecky, Roman and Miriam Iselin, Peter and Mirna Melo, Michael and Connie Fernandez, and Cesar and Tainna Tapanes
Singles: Francisco Sastre and Julieta Reyes
College: Kyle Johnson and Ana Sanchez
Ladies: Sara Reyes, Silvia Pastor (Spanish)
Coed: Alejandro and Silvia Meza, Valois Colmenares (Spanish), Angela Sanchez (Spanish), David and Janell Ray (Winter Park, FL)

Like I said, there is a small group for you. These leaders will be available this weekend after each service to get to meet you. Please stop by and say hello and sign up to participate starting the week of 9/15.

My thoughts on diversity

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

What is diversity? Is it:
Acknowledging the difference of people around us?
Accepting it?
Celebrating it?
Coexisting with them?
Sharing time?
Collaborating?

… it is all of these and much more.

The key word in understanding diversity is different. The challenging piece for all of us in this is that we do not do different well. Different means something I do not understand and because I do not understand it the best I can do is separate myself from it.

For some of us going to Miami is being diverse. The same is true for those in Miami crossing the Miami-Dade/Broward county line. For others it is going to a Chinese restaurant, or some other type of restaurant that serves something other than what we are used to. I think the key is that being different takes us into the unknown... out of our comfort zone.

Personally it looks like this: when was the last time I spend time with someone different than me? Ouch! To think of it, I can’t really remember. I’m tempted to go to the same places to eat, with the same people and order the same old boring stuff I had the last time I was there.

Organizations that are smart are recognizing that diversity is more than skin deep. Not because it is politically correct, but because it is the right thing to do. When I interview for a job, I want to be recognized for what I can offer the organization with my talents, not the fact that I’m a male Latino.

Here are America’s top Diversity Companies rated by Diversity Magazine.

No. 1: Bank of America
No. 2: The Pepsi Bottling Group
No. 3: AT&T
No. 4: The Coca-Cola Company
No. 5: Ford Motor Company

For more information on this topic go to www.diversityinc.com