Influencers of the Central Valley

The Present of Present​ This past Monday morning, I had another great opportunity to gather with a few brothers for fellowship and prayer. First off, I am not a morning person. Every Monday, my alarm goes off at 5 a.m., and I push the snooze button for 30 minutes. Finally, I get out of bed, throw on some shoes and a hat, and head over to the shop to meet the guys for our Monday morning men's fellowship. . On the way over, I’m always tired, and at every traffic light, I can feel my eyes grow heavy longing to go back to bed. Still, when I arrive at the shop, I unlock the building, turn on the heater, grab a cup of coffee, and wait for the men to show up, not knowing who God was going to bring to the shop this Monday morning. But as always, He was faithful in bringing three other men today, and as we shared and discussed what God had shown us this week through scripture, prayer, and my favorite ”life interactions.” we discovered that God had shown us a common word in our weekly expe...

​ I:60  BE INVINCIBLE NOT VULNERABLE  Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 It’s the verse that comes to mind for all who have experienced times in our lives when we realize we have no other options in the situations we're facing. It is then that we realize we have very little control over what happens in our lives. We can be in perfect rhythm with God, with our family work, and relationships. Everyone we care about is healthy and all seems to appear in perfect sync and we are content. Then it happens, we hit a bump or are knocked a little off balance and everything seems to spin out of control and we crash. We suddenly experience how quickly good can be stripped from us ; leaving us in a place that at times we can’t find our way out or a rhythm that we cannot seem to get back. Be still and know that I am God. Eight simple words, each word containing no more than four letters, that are put together to form the most powerful and comforting verse in the bible. Below is ...

​Forever On My Lips Psalm 40 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I ha...

​ i:60 - Tumult Heart Emotions are not a measure of your faith. “I  groan because of the tumult of my heart.” There is a man in the Bible named David. His story is one of an underdog rising from a shepherd to a king of a great nation. What makes David different from other men in the Bible is his honesty with God and his authenticity as a man who loved God. David's entire life, including the good, the messy, the embarrassing, and his emotional vulnerabilities , it’s all there for us to read!  David shares these intimate moments with us, exposing the man he was through his psalms and personal stories, which is a gift to us. David was a man after God's own heart; God himself said this about David, and despite David's many failures and a rollercoaster of emotions, God showed mercy and grace to him. God anointed David to become the King of Israel and to lead and counsel God's children. Unlike the king before him, David pointed the people to God, not to himself. When he reali...

Warriors in Prayer-Like the Wave of the Sea... A few months ago, I heard a song with a lyric that caught my attention - empty prayers. I couldn't help but think back on my prayer life. How many times had I prayed to you, God, out of obligation, going through the motion without sincerity or consideration of the honor of whom I am able to petition to? I became a man who would approach the throne of the Almighty God, offering empty prayers. I was the praying warrior tossed by the waves of James 1:6. I became resentful when always being asked to pray at events and family functions. I started slipping more and more in my prayer life, convincing myself that I wasn't gifted in prayer, so I excused myself from it. When I did pray, I became more than the demise of the praying man described in James 1:6. My mind became affixed on Matthew 6:7, best translated in the CEB translation, which reads, "When you pray, don't pour out a flood of empty words as the Gentiles do." I bec...