Serious Rant…

joepuentes —  April 24, 2013 — Leave a comment

LoveGodLovePeopleDoSomething1I read this quote yesterday regarding a message someone heard this past weekend…” a great way to show your love for Jesus; is to spend time with him.”

Really? Is this what we’ve come to in our Christianity?!? The best we can do to show we love the person who sacrificed everything for our filth is to spend some time with him throughout the day. Of course when it is convenient for us…. Is this just an American church issue or does the Church worldwide struggle with “spending time” with Jesus?

PLEASE hear me… I am not belittling the need to walk with Jesus daily. We are called to do that, but it is not culmination of our Christianity it is the genesis. When I read the New Testament, I fail to see how this is one of the options we can show Jesus we love him. This isn’t a great “way,” it’s assumed that we’d spend time with Jesus. Continue Reading…

In Christian Formation, Church, Discipleship, Gospel, Obedience, Serving, Sin, Theology , , , , , , ,
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A Letter To My Son – “Above All Else, Guard Your heart…”

joepuentes —  April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

(This post will be the first of several randomly placed posts that I plan on writing to my son. My thoughts behind these posts are to archive life lessons that I want my son to grab hold of and live out as he transforms into becoming a man… I will also eventually add posts to my two daughters addressed, “A Letter To My Daughters…”)

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23

IMG_1448Thomas,

There are many thoughts I can say to you, many lessons I can teach you, but there are only few things that you must hold on to in order to live a life that you were meant to live – and that is an abundant life (John 10:10 ESV). If you do not to take these nuggets of wisdom that I am handing down to you, they could be the enabler of many tragic events in your life that can bring about pain, regret, remorse, and chronic stress that you nor any other human is not meant to endure. There are many types and many sources of wisdom, but there is only one type and one source, and that is everlasting and eternal which comes from our Heavenly Father – holdfast too it and impress it in your heart.

The first thing that I want to share with you is the need to guard your heart. For the heart is epicenter of who you are. Who you are and all that your are becoming flows from your heart. Your heart is the very essence of who your are – it is the lock box of your characteristics and values. Be careful to who you surrender your heart too! There will be many things and people in this world that will seek to entice you to handover your loyalty, your passion, your desires, your goodness, your purity, your faithfulness, and your love. It is through this forfeiture of these characteristics and values, the surrender of your heart, that they will seek to mold and shape you into what they want you to become – be who you want to be, not what others expect you to be. Son, do not set foot in the path of the wicked, or walk in the ways of evildoers (Proverbs 4:14). Their ways are treacherous and lead to death. Know who you are, remember where you come from, do not forget who you belong too, and understand where you want to go.

Below are only a four circumstances which you need to guard your heart from. There are many more, but these are the more prevalent ones that each man wrestles in his life time… Continue Reading…

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This Week’s Most Popular Posts

joepuentes —  April 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

If you missed a read this week… Here are the Top 5 most read post for this week:

1. Thoughts On Boston

2. Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson On His Decision to Follow Jesus

3. Who Do You Want To Cry At Your Funeral

4. A Tribute To Brennan Manning

5. Fear and Loving Your Neighbor

Thanks for reading this blog. If your not a subscriber to this blog, I want to encourage you to do so. You can follow along or subscribe here… Please, comments and feedback about this blog are valued and appreciated.

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Who Do You Want to Cry at Your Funeral…

joepuentes —  April 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

2 Coffin-e1342802164862Think about this question: Who do you want to cry at your funeral?

I know it is a little morbid to think about, but I was asked this question yesterday. Seriously think about it for a minute, because the people that you would want to cry at your funeral are the people that you in some way shape or form have left a deep impression on their hearts / souls. These are the people that you did life with, the people that you poured into and they did the same to you. You laughed with them, cried with them, and even became angry or frustrated with them at times.

To be frank, I have struggled the last couple of years to open myself up to people in this way. Sure I have my wife and three kids, my two best friends in Oregon, and a couple of coworkers, and maybe a few others, but the reality is I have been hesitant to be vulnerable to people. It’s doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with anybody, but really with myself… Yeah I know I could put the blame on people, like they are shallow, or you just can’t trust anybody these days – the actuality of it is I struggle with being in the moment and enjoying it. When you struggle with being in the moment you can’t focus on building relationships with the people around you.

It took me a little bit to answer the question. I guess I would want my family, my friends, people that I may have had some type of impact on (former students, past and present neighbors, and etc…). Anybody from anywhere needing a meal, I definitely would want food there and food to feed an army. I would want people who need to hear a good story or two and needing a good laugh.

nap and laugh- irish-thumb-500x471-288004When I hear the question, “Who do I want to cry at my funeral?” I don’t really want anyone crying, I would rather have them laughing, either at me or with me… That’s my goal now – I hope to focus on the moments and work on the relationships around me, and have a good laugh.

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Remember the 80′s? Mid-Afternoon read…

joepuentes —  April 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

Image

I read this post today from WIRED Magazine and it brought back some memories of growing up in the late 70′s and early 80′s. The article titled “Why Amazon Could Start Taking Business Cues From the ’80s” brought up memories of when I was a wee little boy of 8 years old growing up in Santa Rosa, CA.

cdn_cd_5pack_bAs a kid growing up in the late 70′s and 80′s time was simpler, by yet fascinating at the same time. Star Wars was in full swing and action figures were in their heyday. The only place I knew where to get them was at the Consumers Distributing catalogue store on 4th St; there was no such thing as online shopping, the internet hadn’t been invented yet. I remember walking into the storefront with my mom, grabbing a short stubby eraser-less pencil, an order form, the “bible” a Consumers catalogue, and frantically mark away on the order form as if I didn’t hurry all the Star Wars merchandise would be gone… Whew… I would then march up to the counter, turn in my form only to have my mom take it back and tell me too pick only one! I’ll never forget the time I got Han Solo and the Darth Vader Action Figure carrying case, both at the same time… I got TWO – I’ll always cherish March of 1983, I turned 10 years old…

I could look at the Consumers Catalogue for hours… Read the WIRED article and get ready to ride down memory lane…

What memories do you have going to a Catalogue store as a kid? PLEASE share… Rock on 80′s! My first two Star Wars figures were Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, I was partial to the darkside as a kid :)

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Thoughts on Boston

joepuentes —  April 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

location_0000_mapI am saddened by the events in Boston. The dozens injured and the growing number of fatalities cause us all to pause and reflect on how life is so fragile and how a terrible tragedy can forever change individuals, families, and a nation.

When I think of Boston several things come to mind, the Boston Red Sox, a colorful fall, and the 80’s TV show called Cheers, the 70′s & 80′s band Boston just to name a few things. We can also think of The Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, and The battles of Lexington and Concord (The first military engagements of the American Revolution that set in motion the creation of this great nation). In a sense, Boston is an American icon, the genesis of an American break from tyranny and the cradle of American freedom.

Monday’s tragic event will also put one other thing in our memory bank of Boston; the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon. So much is going on right now in all our thoughts. As I write this blog post, authorities are still try to piece together what happened today. While we all speculate who, what, and why this horrific event occurred, we must all remember that there is evil in this world and evil desiring humans bent on causing destruction and mayhem.

THREE things immediately come to mind that I would like to share with the readers of this blog:  Continue Reading…

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Fear and Loving Your Neighbor…

joepuentes —  April 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

neighborIs busyness the root cause of why people have difficulties in loving their neighbor. I have asked myself this question and have even used it myself on numerous occasions for reasons why I couldn’t help my neighbor. In-fact my neighbors have said this to me.

Not too long ago one of my neighbors had surgery and while he was on the road to recovery, he had a landscaping project that he needed some help with, especially with moving heavy rocks and dirt. Of course I offered to help him and told him so. My only caveat was that I couldn’t help him until the following day to which he agreed; three days later I noticed that the work he needed help with was already accomplished. In-fact he was finishing up with what was left of it. I went over to him and asked him why he didn’t get me to help him. His response haunts me to this day… He said that he would have, but he noticed that I’m busy all the time and I’m never home – “you know” he said, “your always busy with that church stuff.” I just took a straight punch to the gut, a right-cross to the jaw, and was finished with a swift upper-cut.

FEAR AND SELFISHNESS… I couldn’t believe it! My neighbor was kind enough to give the out I needed… In all seriousness, I felt really bad that he had to finish the project with the help of our other neighbor and himself, but I also was relieved that he allowed me to hide behind the excuse that I’m a very busy person and rarely home during sociable and functional hours of the day. I got to tell you though that after much thought, busyness isn’t an excuse, or at least one that holds weight with my neighbor, myself, and especially Jesus… No, my real issue isn’t busyness, but it is fear and selfishness… Continue Reading…

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