I'm Back!!!

A lot has changed for me and my family since my last post. For instance ,we no longer live and pastor in Georgia. This past summer we moved to Jacksonville Florida to pastor our new church Faith Temple Assembly of God. Our transition to FL has been amazing! Although we terribly miss our friends and family in Georgia we are loving our new city and our new church!!! So now that we have settled into our new life in Florida I was thinking it was time to start blogging again.

Just so you know what to expect on my blog. I'll be writing about all kinds of stuff like...family, being a husband, a daddy, and a Pastor, ministry, movies, sports, leadership, church, Jacksonville, my dreams and goals, hobbies, the beach, books, food, and every once in a while I'll repost others leadership articles or blog posts.  

So hope you enjoy my random rants and thoughts as I live in the moment here in Jax FL!

New Sermon Series Starts This Sunday

“Does the brand of faith you live by produce the kinds of results in your life that you read about in the biblical stories of men and women of faith? Chances are, not even close.” But it doesn’t have to stay that way. My goal throughout this new sermon series is to challenge you to believe that the audacious faith that we see in the Bible, the faith that caused a man to pray and see the sun stand still in the sky, is the same faith we can claim for ourselves today.

In week one we're going to discovered how Joshua prepared for the longest day of his life. So I hope you don't miss this brand new message series as we dare to begin to ask God for the impossible! 

Final Week of Sermon Series

Just wanted to invite you to Dahlonega Assembly for the final week of "the litmus test of love". I promise you will walk away from DAG feeling inspired and challenged! Hope to see you this Sunday morning at 10:30AM!  



running thoughts: press through the crap

FRIENDLY NOTICE if the word "crap" offends you, you probably don't want to read this. Sure I could use different words to describe "crap" like "poop" or "mess" or "stinky stuff" and well I won't type it but I'm sure you know what I mean...the bad word version. But I think once you read this you will understand why the word "crap" is most appropriate for this post.

Anyway...I started running again today. Actually I don't even know why I stopped because I really do like to run. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm not looking forward to the aches and pains during the first couple of weeks. Never the less I got my out of shape self out of bed, got my running gear on, stretched, walked out the door and ran/walked for about 2 miles.

At first it felt awkward. It's been a while since I had been on a good long run. It took a moment or two for my body to understand that this was going to happen whether it liked it or not. After the first mile and a half and getting into my stride I was running up a hill when the strong smell of cow manure filled the air. Then I looked down on the road and realized there was dry manure scattered all over road. Right then a strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and suddenly I find myself running into the wind, running on top of dry cow crap, while the smell of cow crap attacked my sense of smell.

My first thought was to run faster and get past this crappy situation. Right then the Holy Spirit thought it would be a great teaching moment for me. The Holy Spirit reminded me that throughout life we will be faced with "crappy" situations. The reality is that there will be times in our lives that we won't be able to out run them or avoid them. So what do we do when we are facing one of these moments...you press through them.

The problem is many of us won't press through because the price is too high, it's too messy, it takes too much time, the pain will be too much, and the list can go on and on.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and STRAINING FORWARD to what lies ahead, I PRESS ON toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

It doesn't say SKIP...it doesn't say HOP...it says STRAINING FORWARD! In other words you have to put some effort into moving forward. You see if I stopped running at that moment I would have never gotten past the crappy situation. Sure I was tired and my muscles were sore but I knew I didn't want to stay there so the only option I had was to strain forward.

The moment we apply some effort and press on toward the goal we will get past our crappy situations. At the end of my run I was so thankful for the smelly reminder that crappy situations don' last forever! Looking forward to my next run! Hope you were encouraged with this running thought.

Sunday Rewind

• Sunday was AMAZING!
• In fact every Sunday since January 2 has been AMAZING!!!
• I mean it's been good in the past but God is definitely up to something at Dahlonega Assembly right now!
• Every Sunday our worship team is taking up another level.
• Thanks KT, Brent, and Laura couldn't do it without you guys.
• One of the things that I'm lovin' right now is the caliber of people visiting DAG.
• The folks visiting are not just satisified with sitting on the pews.
• They want to get involved and change the world!
• LOVE IT!
• I love to preach but lately I've been having so much fun sharing God word!!!
• It never gets old to see how God's Word inspires and changes lives.
• Mark your Calendars because April 23rd is the day of North Georgia's Biggest Easter Egg Hunt!
• We had our first community Easter Egg Hunt meeting after service.
• This year we're doing 30,000 eggs!
• THAT'S RIGHT 30,000 EGGS!
• It was a great brainstorming/planning session.
• I'm meeting up with some folks this week that are going to help us take our event up a notch.
• This year's event is going to be BIGGER and BETTER!
• Get ready North Georgia you are about to experience AGAPE LOVE at a whole nutha level!
• Another great thing happening at DAG is KAIO Youth Ministry!
• Our Youth Pastor Darryl Prince has been doing a fantastic job.
• It's never gets old see teenagers fall in love Jesus.
• Like I said God is definitely up to something in the mountains of North Georgia!
• Just putting this out there if there is anyone out there that has a portable basketball hoop that you don't need or want our Youth Ministry would love to take that off your hands:) Just let me know. THANKS!

New Series starts Sunday!

Want to invite everyone to church this Sunday the 20th as I start a brand new sermon series. Before we can ever share or show love we need to understand what really is love. Hope to see you there! Come early and enjoy some donut and a cup of joe in our missions cafe!

NO SERVICE ON WED NIGHT

Hey DAGer's just wanted to let everyone know that we are cancelling all activities on Wednesday January 12th. I know that y'all are probably having a serious case of cabin fever and would LOVE to come to church but the road conditions are still dangerous. So although I would love to see y'all your safety is more important to us. Don't worry we'll see each other on Sunday! Until then enjoy this time with your love ones and if you have to go out PLEASE be safe. See y'all Sunday at 10:30am!!!

AWAKENING 2011

Don't miss this Sunday as we begin the New Year with a brand new series called AWAKENING!!! I be sharing why it so important we start this new year with a season of fasting and praying. Hope to see you there!

God At The Movies Wk 2

Join us this Sunday at 10:30am during week 2 of God At The Movies as guest speaker Marty Dunkerly shares a powerful illustrated message. Hope to see you there!

Living in the Sweet Spot wk 3

From the very first week this series has been challenging me like crazy! It's funny how Pastors get excited about messages thinking that it's going to minister to those in our church and all of a suddenly we're the ones on the floor crying with snot all over our faces. God truly has a great sense of humor.

I hope to see you this Sunday at Dahlonega Assembly at 10:30am as we continue on this journey to living in the sweet spot!

The Highs & Lows

Just read this great post by Hebert Cooper of People's Church in Oklahoma regarding the highs and the lows of ministry. If you're in ministry print this out and put it on your desk and read it after every worship service.

Living in the Sweet Spot wk2

Don't miss week 2 of Living in the Sweet Spot! Come early grab a doughnut and a cup of coffee and enjoy some great fellowship with the amazing folks at Dahlonega Assembly.

Last Week of ONEPRAYER series

Well tomorrow is the last message to this year's One Prayer series. I pray and hope that you have been encouraged and inspired by this years messages. Tomorrow I'm ending the series with a message entitled Unstoppable Grace. Hope to see you there at 10:30am!

If you've missed any of the messages in this series you can find them at our website www.dahlonegaag.com.

NEW MESSAGE SERIES STARTS TOMORROW!

Don't miss this new message series starting on Sunday March 7th at 10:30am. Also be sure to get to church early and enjoy a cup of joe, a donut and for you healthier folks some fruit. Hope to see you there!

NEW MESSAGE SERIES

NEW SERIES STARTS THIS SUNDAY! COME DISCOVER WHAT REAL COMMITTMENT IS ALL ABOUT. HOPE TO SEE YOU AT 10:30AM!!!

Sunday Rewind: Monday Edition

• We had an awesome worship experience yesterday!
• From the moment I drove on the campus I knew it was going to be an amazing day.
• On top of a our regular service we had a wedding with a reception afterwards, and then I had a finance meeting.
• It was a very busy but extremely productive day.
• I wanted to give a special shout out to my beautiful bride Tami, Mary M, and Linda A. for all of their hard work this passed week.
• You ladies inspired me this weekend with your drive to get the job done.
• Our 21 day fast ended on Saturday so I know that people were ready to eat "regular" food.
• This is our second year doing a church wide fast.
• I love starting the new year off with our church wide fast.
• A couple of the benefits I've discovered regarding a fast is that not only does it clean out our physical systems but also our spiritual systems.
• I know that sounds simple but there are some really cool thoughts about this fact.
• First, the health benefits of fasting are incredible. It sucks in the beginning...but after a few days you begin to see the and affects and benefits.
• Fasting helps you begin to understand what your body really needs to operate at maximum levels.
• I've discovered as a leader it has the same affects and benefits on my spiritual life.
• Now a 21 day fast is nothing more than a glorified diet if you don't spend time focusing on your relationship with Jesus.
• The spiritual benefits that I have experienced during these last 21 days have been incredible.
• It re-ignited a passion in me to honor God with every area in my life.
• I remember one Sunday morning where it literally felt like the cotton was taken out of my ears and I could hear God more clearly.
• There were moments during this fast that I had to make some tough decisions for our church and without hesitation I was able to step up and make them.
• I totally attribute this decisive action to fasting.
• These last 21 days were a stretching, pulling, growing, re-prioritizing season but it was totally worth it!
• DAGer's I am so proud of all of you that took the fasting and praying challenge. I know it wasn't easy but I'm sure you would tell me that it was what you needed.
• We can't not stop here we need to keep seeking Jesus with all of our hearts, minds, and strength.
• I believe that 2010 is going to be an unforgettable years for me, my family, and our church.
• I think what one of the first time guest said yesterday says it all, "there's alot of potential in this place."
• We're taking it to a whole nutha level at DAG and the Trevino household.

WEEK 3 - God is Big Enough!

Pastor Gabe is continuing his teaching series "God is Big Enough" this Sunday. How many times in our lives have we looked at our past and present and said to ourselves "how could God love a person like me?" I think we're all guilty of saying this. This Sunday Pastor Gabe is going to reminded us that God is big enough to love us. We hope you join us at our 10:30am Worship Experience to be inspired by this life changing message.

WEEK 2 - God is BIG Enough

DON'T MISS WEEK 2 OF THIS LIFE INSPIRING SERIES. THE PARTY STARTS AT 10:30AM. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

NEW BOOK!!!

Just got Bob Franquiz's book Zero to sixty this past week. I was looking for a book that would give me straight to the point information. After reading several reviews of this book I had to get it.

So far I'm really impressed with the book. When I'm finished I'll share my thoughts a little more.

New Message Series starts this Sunday

I wonder what the church would look like if we adopted this statement "GOD IS BIG ENOUGH" as our new mantra in 2010. I wonder how we would live our lives if we actually believe the statement "GOD IS BIG ENOUGH".

This Sunday we'll begin to look at the lives of people in the bible that lived this statement out. Ordinary, everyday, average people that not only said GOD IS BIG ENOUGH but acted like GOD WAS BIG ENOUGH.

We dare you to show up on Sunday @ 10:30am and shout with us that GOD IS BIG ENOUGH FOR 2010!