My heart is saddenned hearing about Amy Winehouse's death this past week. Death at that age to anyone is a sad thing, but especially when you see someone searching and struggling through life. One of my favorite movie quotes is from "A Bronx tale" and says, "The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent." Amy used her talent but for whatever reason made certain choices to use drugs. And whenever you use drugs , the drugs will always use you.
    

So many people are tweeting "RIP." This phrase has had me pondering all day. Rest in peace. I know people are meaning good when mentioning this but what does this really mean? Do people really know what their saying? What is peace? How do you know you have it?

Well this week has been the toughest week of my life so far. I have learned what true "Peace" is. My wife and i were 12 weeks pregnant and had a typical 12 week check up for my wife. I'll never forget this tuesday in all my life. I woke up excited and ready for the day, having no idea my life would change forever. For the last 3 days it has been a crazy roller coaster ride i wish on no one to experience. As we sat in that doctors we found out our baby's heart stopped beating a week before. Our 1st baby, our dream, our little bean we had fallen in love with. Those 48 hours we prayed, cried, and cried some more. It was like we were in this washing machine with anger, hurt, confusion, and shock all being tossed around. Our baby had been taken from us and we had no time to deal with it. We were pushed from office to office, to waiting room to waiting room. Finally the next day it ended, my wife had one of the most painful procedures as they took the baby out of her womb. Being a minister i have preached on faith and peace many times, yet it seemed so foreign in that moment. And yet now it's more real than ever. So what is peace?

Most people when they think of peace, what they really mean are "CALM CONDITIONS." You see as humans we associate peace way different than how God does. For God, peace has NOTHING to do with the absence of fear, but instead has EVERYTHING to do with the presence of Christ.

"While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frigtened, thinking they saw a ghost." -Luke 24:36-37

Jesus stated a huge fact, that he was now WITH them in the room, and so now peace is WITH them in their circumstances. You see i think what people really want is calm conditions and not peace. And unfortunately God never promised calm conditions, but He did promise His PRESENCE.

"Surely i am with you ALWAYS, to the very end of the age."-Matthew 28:20

And this week it was His PRESENCE that filled me with peace in the midst of my unpeaceful circumstance.You see, peace ISNT a positive doctors report. Peace isn't having no trials or conflict in your marriage. Peace ISNT having a lot of money, and peace ISNT knowing what the future holds for your life. True peace is the knowledge of the fact that Jesus Christ is with you even when you get a bad report from the doctor. That Jesus Christ is with you in those tough times in marriage. That Jesus Christ is with you now, and with you forever in your future.

Jesus said, "Peace be WITH you." He was saying, " I AM peace, and when i'm with you, you can have PEACE!"

God brings His peace into situations where FEAR is the strongest and where we're most frightened. Not where there is no fear or nor trepidation. Steven Furtick says it best, "It's in the moments when we need God's peace the most desperately that He supplies it most abundantly." So as much as in that situation i wanted the calm conditions, i found God's presence, and TRUE PEACE.

 

And it's so funny that the symbol for this world of peace is an upside down "broken cross." In the world things are always backwards. Because of what happenned on the cross, we can have PEACE, TRUE PEACE. Thank you for your PEACE Lord, i can't imagine going through tragic moments without you. Thanks to all my friends and family for your support through this week. The meals, the prayer, the games, the videos, and just your ears have meant the world to my wife and I.

Shalom,
    Chris

Ok, ok, ok, i have to write something about this because i can't believe people are believing Lady Gaga is a Christian. I posted on my facebook about Lady Gagas song Judas and i was so surprised by the Christians who backed her up. So i want to break down her song and video for people so that there's NO confusion.

I have shared my story of how i worked in the music industry for 6 years. And though i wasn't living for God, i noticed alot of evil and witchcraft stuff going on. Everything from curses, devil symbols and devil worship, to perversion, to secret societies to witch doctors. And the gmae hasn't changed, just the faces and puppets that the devil is using.

So right before easter, Lady Gaga releases her hit song "Judas." Please hear my heart. I PRAY that these artists encounter Jesus and give their lives to Jesus. i do not want anyone to go to hell. God created Hell for the Devil. So in order to fully understand her video and song, you HAVE to understand the Bible. If you do not understand or have knowledge of God's word it will not make sense to you.

So she starts her video and plays "Mary Magdelene" the woman who Jesus saves in the Bible from being stoned to death. Where the classic scipture is found, "He with no sin, cast the first stone." The Davinci Code film tried to imply that Jesus had an intimate relationship with her, which is UNBIBLICAL and false. So Gaga plays Mary riding on Jesus' motorcycle as if to say "I'm with Christ, until i fall in love with the bad guy!" Throughout the video she reinacts different biblical scenes but changes them slightly to give a different false moral story to this demonic video. This video symbolizes her career and personal life. Rejecting Christ and leading into the "Age of Horus, choosing the Devil for fame and fortune." (Devil Worship)



So lets look at Judas from the bible. Why Judas? Here's some key scriptures about Judas.

Jesus replied, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?” -John 6:70-71

Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” So they set out thirty silver coins for him. - Matthew 26:14-15 (Betrayed Jesus for wealth and stature.)

And after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”- John 13:27 (The Devil himself literally took control of his life!)



In one scene Judas and Jesus are having a showdown and Gaga places lipstick on Judas before he kisses Jesus as if saying, "you have my blessing."

Another interesting thing about Judas' portrayal in this video is that he seems to "Do What he wants." He's seen drinking and grabbing girls throughout the video. This is Aleister Crowley's main theme in his satanic teachings. Crowley said the number one law was, "Do what thou wilt." So basically do whatever the heck you feel like. And yes that is also Jay Z's new clothing line as well!

The lyrics explain it all as well.

I’ll bring him down, bring him down, down
A king with no crown, king with no crown

She talking about Jesus. in the video she's actively helping Judas take Jesus out. And we know thats what her music is trying to do as well!

I wanna love you,
But something’s pulling me away from you
Jesus is my virtue,
Judas is the demon I cling to

Do i really need to explain more? If thats not enough there are many occultic symbols throughout. One of her dancers is wearing a shirt with Baphomet on it. This is the symbol satan worshippers use for sacrifices.



And last but not least the closing scene shows Gaga laying on the floor dead with stones all around her. We know the Bible says that the woman was not killed because people dropped their stones and were convicted from the words of Jesus. But Gaga makes a huge statement by trying to convince her audience that "Jesus cannot save you!" Hence she was stoned by the people.

People, the devil is using these celebrities to shape what you think about God.

Do NOT let Godless peaople tell you who God IS!!!!! Read the Holy Bible. Find a Christian church that is Bible believing and is living out the scriptures daily to help you learn about God.

I pray you gaurd yourself from the music and media of this world. I can share stories of artists that i know personally that have been demon possesed and delivered by God that can testify. Remember garbage in, garbage out! Let's take a stand for our Holy God. We are in a spiritual battle. Pass this on. Let the truth of God be put into action so that you can be set free.

Blessings,
    Chris

I love God and i'm passionate about sports and young people. It's crazy because he tied all those things together in what i do for a living. I love going work. And right now sports is crazy. We have the San Jose Sharks deep in the playoffs, and the Giants and A's playing extremely well, NBA playoffs and football about to kick off. If you drive around San Jose, you see people wearing Sharks colors, banners, flags, hats, and more! Stores have signs and posters up, this town loves their Sharks and are not ashamed to represent them! When we think about craziest fans, the Oakland Raiders almost make that list! Fans are exactly that "Fanatics!"

As a matter of fact two crazy Vancouver Canucks fans became pretty popular recently for the extreme they are willing to go for their team. Two men at every major Canucks game dress in a full green outfit and buy the closest seats near the penalty box to distract the oppossing players! It's pretty funny.


I came across these verses in the Bible the other day and it made me think about life.

"And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
                                         - 2nd Corinthians 5:15-21

We are Christs ambassadors or "Representatives" here on this planet! What a privilege and an honor!  God chose us to do that job, which means he believes we can do it with his help. Our job is to tell other people about Jesus and the opportunity to experience reconciliation—to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins and to begin a lifelong friendship with Jesus.

It’s great to have a favorite sports team. As a matter of fact it gives us a cause to support and a connection to other fans. Most sports fans proudly display their support! They even go to games! Maybe you haven’t thought about it before, but being a follower of Jesus is similar to being a sports fan because we have a cause to support! And i believe an even BIGGER reason to boldly declare that support.

So how do we represent Jesus to this world!? I have and love christian t-shirts, hats, bracelets, and even a nice necklace, but does that make me a representative of Christ? Not necessarily. I even attend weekly services. Does that make me a representative?  Not necessarily. Don't get me wrong those things are important but i believe there are two HUGE things that matter most to Jesus....our ATTITUDES and our ACTIONS.

You and I have the chance to be positive, solid representatives of Jesus through our actions and attitudes. This doesn’t mean we have to be perfect. It simply means that when we love people, when we display compassion, when we meet needs, when we forgive, when help the needy and hungry—when we do these Christ-like things and have a Christ-like attitude, we are revealing Jesus to our world. It's interesting because Jesus never called his followers "Christians." The word Christian was given to people from non believers who acted and followed the teachings of Christ! They didn't know how to describe these people who were so different than everyone else. All they could say was, "They're Christians!" (Followers of Christ!)

Following Jesus starts on the inside, and works it's way to the outside. This world says the opposite. "Hey if you have money, power, great job, fame, THEN you will have joy, peace and happiness!" So let me ask you something? Who do you represent!? Who would your friends and co-workers say you represent? You see if Christ's teachings don't turn into action, it's just theory. And theory doesn't change lives! Let's rep Christ this week and every week! It's the best life you could ever live!

      Team Jesus,

           Chris

So i officially caved in and started my own blog. So thanks for joining me on this journey and i pray this encourages you and pushes you towards a life with Jesus, the one who changed my life.

"Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered." - Matthew 21:18-19

For years i struggled and searched for purpose in this life. I grew up like many of you in a dysfunctional home, ripped apart by divorce. My Mother did her best to raise me as best as she could. She was my world, that is until she was taken from me when i was 11 to cancer, and my world went into a downward spiral. I had no clue where i was going in life.  I was lost, hurt, and confused. This passage in the Bible probably boggles my mind more than any other in the whole book.

Jesus is hungry and comes to a tree that God himself created! Yet it had NO fruit, but it did have leaves! Basically this tree was not doing what it was created to do, and Jesus cursed it. A fig tree is suppossed to have FIGS. In another words he didnt want anything to do with it. He found it useless. It's crazy how something in life can exist and not know it's purpose. But whats more sad is for something to exist, KNOW it's purpose and not function in it! We can have "leave's" like nice cars, homes, big bank accounts, designer clothes, but are we doing what we're suppossed to be doing!? Are we producing fruit?!  In the end, what will matter most?

In John 15, we learn Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. If we stay connected to Him we'll produce fruit! (Or find PURPOSE!) Another illustration is He is the Potter, we are the Clay, either way you look at it, a life in His hands will produce purpose! God desires to use your life for His plans and purposes, outside of that you'll be left empty and lost. When i surrendered my life to Jesus, not only did i find purpose, i found forgiveness, peace, joy, and love.

I pray today you turn to Jesus, He's waiting, and so is this hurting world. You have to live your life like someone's counting on it, because they are. There's many ways to Jesus, but only ONE way to God...Jesus.

One Love, One God, One Way,
                    Chris