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SMILE.EAT.RECEIVE

2012-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Just a few weeks ago we did an amazing event here at Dream Center Peoria. A few friends of our put a short video together and I wanted you to see it. It was an amazing day and we hope that you will be inspired to get involved with Dream Center Peoria this year.

Smile. Eat. Receive link.

2011 in Review......

2011-12-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

What a year! 2011 bought so many surprises, challenges and adventures. Each year at this time I reflect on how God has watched over me, my family and ministry. There are so many experiences to Thank God for and so I decided to do this review.

Memorable Moments:

Going on Vacation with my family to Orlando
Going on dates with Teresa. We LOVE going to One world cafe, 30-30 and P.Heights main street
Building a surprise pergola for Teresa while she was away.
Seeing Ethan (my son) play drum's at Mission Peoria and main Riverside services with the youth worship band.
Seeing Clay (my son) develop tremendously as a soccer player
Reading Joy's (my daughter) AMAZING God inspired songs
Watching Rachel Ray cooking shows with Joy
Taking the boys to see Manchester United play at Soldier field in Chicago (ROONEY!!!)
Lunch time dates with my kids
Mission Peoria 2011/ BackPack Peoria - so many memories
Going to the headquarters of Risen Drums in Minneapolis with Mike Smith from Leeland
Visiting Urban Ventures in Minneapolis
Sitting and chatting with Amy Grant about Dream Center Peoria
Connecting with Bill Allison and the Palco guys monthly
Spending the day with Stu G

There is so many more moments but time and space will not allow.

Top 5 cd:
Switchfoot - Dark Horses
Worship Central live - Spirit Break Out
One Sonic Society - All 3 E.P's(One, Sonic and Society)
Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons
Leeland - The Great Awakening

Top 3 books:

Bear Grylls - Mud, Sweat and Tears (Interview from Hillsongs Part1 and Part 2)

Martin Smith - Delirious

Matthew Barnett - The Cause within you

Top 3 concerts/ Events:

Switchfoot Concert (one of the best shows I have ever seen)

WinterJam 2011

Jars of Clay at Riverside

Top 3 new TV shows:

X Factor

An Idiot abroad

Good Look Charlie

Top 3 movies:

The Kings Speech

Soul Surfer

Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Goals for 2012:

To get closer to God daily

To love, Honor and Cherish my wife, even more, each and everyday

To love and grow closer to my 3 incredible kids

To serve people the local church as much as I can

To impact this City more than ever before

Smile. Eat. Receive - Impacting Families at Christmas Time

2011-12-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to Thank everyone who was a part of Smile. Eat. Receive. What an amazing day.

Here is a few number's for you:

We took 287 family portraits.Each family received an 8 by 10 portrait and 5, 4 by 6's
Hundreds of people walked through the photo studio on Saturday.
Hair stylists and make up artist's helped transform people who were not ready to photographed
We served 250 dinners
Over $10,000 dollars in gifts (1000 gifts to be exact) were give away to the children of the families
100 door prizes during the dinner.
Close to 100 amazing volunteers serving
The Hope store served over 300 clients and gave extra Christmas gifts away to each of them
We bused in 30 families from Taft homes that we work with every week at Metro Kids, to a special Portraits/ Christmas party/ Dinner

The stories were amazing.

One homeless gentleman(in this picture below) had not had his picture taken since 1979. He was a character that I loved having at the Dream Center.

We were shooting video all day with some amazing help from a few couples. One of the couples were Keith Brown and Tiffany Alexandria from Forward // Motion Productions. They were capturing the stories from people. They came to me at one point nearly in tears as they were hearing how people felt about the experience. The words "I feel beautiful and Thank you" kept being mentioned to them.

We will have a video shortly of the event to show soon.

I sat with an older African American grandfather who was there on his own. He said to me "So what else do you do at The Dream Center?" I shared with him real quick about all the kids and youth programs we did. He turned to me and said "I want to be an advocate for you guys, how can I help this younger generation?"

One of my favorite families that I personally work with are a hispanic family who come to our indoor soccer program. The WHOLE family plays with us, including the mom. I told them about it on the Thursday night at soccer and they all showed up for pictures.....In their Soccer uniforms! They loved it! The smiles and appreciation were massive! They couldn't remember the last time they had had a family picture taken.

But we are not finished yet, Robbie Criss and Kim Goodman (two of our youth outreach workers) delivered portraits to the families this week along with a children's bible story book ($50 value) that was giving to every family from Taft homes that were a part of the event, compliments of Hoerr's Berean Bookstore.

In addition they will be giving away a 15lb ham compliments of Family Video. In the end it looks like a very successful weekend.

Here is a blog post from one of our 15 photographers. Many of them came to me and Jeff after they were done and were in tears. They have never been a part of something like this and want to be a part of it again. I believe we planted a seed in most of them. To show them what the Church is actually about.....GIVING!

Ricardo's Blog

Thanks again to all who made this day possible. Starbucks, Peoria Color, Walgreens, Panera, Jimmy Johns are just a few companies that really stepped up to the plate at this event.

As I look back on the event, the day felt like the early days of BackPack Peoria. Who knows what will happen in the future at Smile. Eat. Receive

Still Hearing The Effect's Of Mission Peoria

2011-10-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today I awoke to an email that completely made my day. It was from someone who was on Mission Peoria this year.
J.T. sent me his reflections on Mission Peoria. He not only talked about how God had used him to help Impact lives but also how God had Challenged him to live life differently for God.

This short video shows you how God Impacted a City through young people who were ready to "Run Hard" after him.

Below is the email that he sent me.

Mission Peoria Reflections

By J.T. Henderson

As I strolled towards the Dream Center, a tall building with the letters “dcp” plastered across the front, I was greeted by the chaotic lines of an anxious crowd. I was awestruck at the number of people who were attending this community event. When I saw the joyful faces of the children frolicking in the parking lot, my heart swelled with happiness. Winding my way through the masses in the blazing summer sun, I was relieved to step inside the air-conditioned building. Spotting my group leader, I asked where my assistance was needed. When I learned of my assignment, I was excited that I would be working alongside my friends. I climbed the long steps dodging the adults and kids waiting. Entering the gymnasium, I noticed thousands of backpacks lining the walls and stacked on tables. As the children received their backpacks filled with school supplies, I shared in their delight. Realizing the amount of effort that went into this event, I admired those who donated their time and money to make it possible. I thought with amazement, I am actually a part of Backpack Peoria!

Backpack Peoria was the conclusion to the weeklong camp I attended known as Mission Peoria. On June 20^th, 2011, I began an incredible journey from my home in Hawaii to the fascinating state of Illinois. I was thrilled to see family and friends in my former hometown of Peoria. When my youth pastor, Brian, described Mission Peoria, I proposed the idea to my parents. When they said yes, I envisioned all the fun that I would have when the week finally came. Mission Peoria began at 2:00 PM on July 25^th. As I arrived at the Dream Center I was embraced by the bedlam of hundreds of kids milling about. Then a youth leader, Alex, guided me to the nearby church which would become my home away from home for the next week. The room in which I was directed to place my sleeping bag was fairly spacious, but still almost filled to the bursting point.

Afterwards, I made my way back to the Dream Center for orientation. As I surveyed the gym where orientation was being held, I noticed the hundreds of excited kids ready to begin their weeklong journey with Mission Peoria. As I scanned the crowd for a familiar face, my eyes fell upon a group of kids from my church. Suddenly, the sound of a English brogue directed my attention to the speaker, Andy King, Director of the Dream Center. As he welcomed us, I listened intently to his instructions and my enthusiasm to begin helping people grew. My team, Cobalt Blue, boarded one of the Mission Peoria busses to ride to Glen Oak, an area of downtown Peoria. Glen Oak Church, an aged, grand building, would be our post for the children’s program known as “Baseline.” From there, we walked door to door handing out fliers regarding Baseline. I worried that it might not go well, but we were given a very warm reception from kids and adults. Later in the day, we played some games and rocked out with a group of musicians, our “band” for the rest of the week. As I crawled into my sleeping bag, I thanked God for a phenomenal first day.

A light as bright as the sun invaded my sleepy eyes. It’s morning already? I wondered. I pulled myself out of my sleeping bag, glanced around the room, and noticed most people were already up. I then looked at my lanyard and saw that it was time for devotions, so I grabbed my Bible and my devotion book and trekked towards the cafeteria. On my way I tried to wake myself up. I did my devotions and braced myself for the rush of kids coming to breakfast. The cafeteria turned into a madhouse very quickly. After breakfast, I made my way to the parking lot where the busses were kept. There were many kids milling about the busses waiting, like me, for the command to board them. It’s almost time to leave for the service project, I thought with excitement. We were given the signal, so I climbed into the bus and took a seat. Kids flooded into the bus and filled every available seat. Then, we were on our way. At the service project, my job was mostly picking up shingles at a roof repair site. I was impressed with the amount of workers helping the elderly owners of the house. When the service project was over, I was exhausted and famished. When we arrived at our sleeping quarters, I made my way to the cafeteria. I quickly got in line; kids were stacked up in front and in back of me. As I chose my food, the aroma was intoxicating. I sat down by my friends and demolished the meal. Next, I was off to practice for Baseline and was one of the first to arrive. We discussed everybody’s jobs and then, headed back to the parking lot where we boarded another bus. Once at the Baseline site, we set up. One by one neighborhood kids walked over, picked up a toy, and began playing with us. I thought that was pretty fun. After we completed Baseline, we ate dinner. When dinner was complete, we had free time. I played a card game known as Mao with my friends, and then went to the evening service. How great is this? I marveled as the band played. The room was so packed, I could hardly breathe. The message from the guest speaker was phenomenal! After the service, I attended youth group. When the long day was done, night was upon us. I climbed into my sleeping bag, and closed my eyes. This was a typical day at Mission Peoria.

It started Friday morning during announcements. We were informed of the special “surprise” that would occur at the end of the day. The surprise was front row seats to see the famous band, Jars of Clay, perform! Waiting for the concert was tortuous. Finally, we were told to enter the auditorium where the concert was being held. I was almost bursting with anticipation. First, an opening group of musicians played a few songs. Then, Jars of Clay introduced themselves. The crowd was electrified. The rest of the concert was great. After a couple of hours, the night was over. That was an epic last night at Mission Peoria.

Reflecting back on Mission Peoria, I realize that I had many meaningful experiences. For instance, handing out fliers for Baseline helped me see the living conditions of the inner city. Baseline showed me that the Lord can bring joy even in difficult circumstances. Our daily youth group increased my spiritual life substantially. Together, the nightly band and the Jars of Clay concert inspired me to work especially hard on learning piano and guitar with the goal of someday playing in a Christian band. Backpack Peoria really helped show me how thankful the kids were for something so small as a backpack. It also made me more thankful for my possessions, as most of the kids don’t have nearly as much as I do. I’m really thankful for the people that made Mission Peoria possible and I look forward to being a part of it next year!

More information about Mission Peoria 2012 will be available in early 2012

Standing before the Ultimate Creator

2011-10-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Its not a secret, I love Apple products. So hearing the news of Steve Jobs death at the young age of 56 was hard for me. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news of his death and I feel it was significant. I was standing in a worship service at the Dream Center, singing to the ultimate creator of all time. As I stood there a thought came to my mind. Steve Jobs is now standing before God, making an account of his life. I don't know what happened between God and Steve in those last few days of his life but what I do know is that we all will stand before God one day. The words I long to hear are also the words I pray Steve heard from God last night...."Well done Good and Faithful servant."

Steve was a very private man but a man who I feel lived like everyday was his last day on earth. I end this blog with a speech he did at Stanford in 2005. A speech that painted a picture of his life and also showed a picture of death. Steve Jobs, you will be missed

Steve Jobs Speech (Via Youtube)

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

WMBD31 TV Welcome's Dream Center Peoria

2011-07-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was honor to be asked on to the set of a new TV show here in Peoria. "Living- Well" is a new live show that highlights events, personalities and programs in the City.

I was on the show talking about BackPack Peoria. Dr. Lathan, the superintendent of District 150 schools joined me. District 150 asked if they could partner with us this year at our BackPack Peoria event. We are delighted to work so closely with the school district, not just with this project, but with all the programs we have at DCP. Its our 10th year of doing BackPack and we have helped over 16,000 families over the years.

BackPack Peoria will take place at
Dream Center Peoria
July 30th
9am-2pm

This year we will have at the event:

- Over 2000 Backpacks loaded with school supplies
- 1000 uniform gift cards
- 2000 meals
- Medical exams
- Dental exams
- Expo highlighting over 40 agencies
- Kids carnival area
- District 150 new mobile resource center

If you missed the TV show, here is the link:

Living Well Show

If you would like to help financialy with this program, please help by clicking HERE

What! A Hip-Hop Church at Dream Center Peoria!

2011-05-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Time to do things Different!
Since the start of the year, Dream Center Peoria (DCP) has not stopped to pause for a breathe. We live to impact families living in poverty, starting with the kids and youth. Thats what makes us get up in a morning. Thats what drives us each and everyday. Seeing kids and young people changed daily, not just socially, educationally and economically but also spiritually.

Church - DCP Style
So we decided to do something that was totally off the wall. We would start a Hip Hop church called "The Basement." Over the last 6-9 months we had been working with a team of like minded people, from many different churches, to create a Christian Hip Hop experience where there would be a no "Cringe" factor. Where we could address issues that are relevant to a Hip Hop Culture. The Basement would be a place where young people from the inner City would come face to face with the reality of who God is and why he sent his son to a messed up world to die for them.

PROM!!!!
Just days before the launch we realized that we had made a big error. We were launching this on "Prom" weekend. Our hearts and heads dropped. What were we thinking?
I turned to the staff and said "God has called us to do this now, lets not backdown, lets go forward and whoever God want's here, he will get them here"

As we were waiting for kids to arrive, i could sense an excitement in the air, something was about to happen, something that we had never experienced before.

As the kids started coming we realized that Prom was not a factor. We used local christian rappers, DJ's, singers, speakers. We even had a place for kids, who did not go to prom, could get their pictures taken with family or friends.

Lets get this party started!
We were amazed. We had over 130 young people come and experience church like never before. The message was given and over 50 kids responded to the alter call to give their lives to Christ. AMAZING! That would have started a major party in heaven this last Saturday night.

It doesn't end there. Its only the beginning. WE NEED HELP! We saw a massive need to have more adults here to care for the kids, love on the kids and mentor the kids. The service is geared for Junior and Senior High schoolers. If you can help, make a point to be

@Dream Center Peoria, The 1st Saturday of each month from 6pm-8pm

I could not pass up a chance to let you hear some of the music videos that we play at "The Basement"

ENJOY!

FreedomArts Project needs your help!

2011-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Church Art's departments CAN make a difference!

2011-03-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

Just under 2 years ago I remember sitting in the living room of Martin and Anna Smith. We were in England, as a family, on Vacation and The Smiths had welcomed us into their home for a few days. Martin was the lead singer for the worship band “Delirious” and wrote many of the classic worship songs that we now sing in churches like “I could sing of your love forever, Majesty, Do you feel the mountains tremble?,Thank you for saving me and Raindown” He had just announced that Delirious was finishing as a band and that Him and his wife were being moved to help global poverty through the arts and they created Compassionart.

As I sat with them I turned to Martin and said “Compassionarts is an absolutely fantastic way to help fight Global poverty but how do we make it impact on local poverty, using local church musicians, singers, dancers, drama teams, design/ web guys, AV teams, Sound teams?” Martin turned to me and said “I don’t know, but you need to figure it out Andy”

As I looked at what we do with kids and youth at Dream Center Peoria, I felt God challenge me to create a Creative Arts After school program where we could challenge the church Arts departments to give back to kids and youth that are in need and that have had most forms of the Arts cut from there schools.

Showing a kid how to play the guitar or drums, instructing a young lady how to take professional pictures or design a poster. Taking a team of kids and creating a choir that can share the gospel and show Hope. Thats what God challenged me with. Use the greatest resource that the church has(The arts) to Impact kids live’s in the inner City of Peoria.

The Birth of "Freedom Arts Project".

One of the greatest resources that the church has worldwide is musicians, singers, poets, dancers, artist’s, mentors and people who truly care for those in need

Imagine the church stepping out of the church and providing their communities with the resources to allow kids living in poverty, to start to dream or to rekindle that dream again, in the whole area of the ARTS.

Freedom Arts Project aims to change the community by teaching young people, from the inner city, lessons in the arts in a safe environment. Junior and senior high students participate one night a week in an 8-week course. The classes encourage young people, who otherwise would be unable to attend art classes, to pursue old and new passions in the arts.

Get involved and help change a life.

Contact us at info@freedomartsproject.org

If your interested please come to the next volunteers meeting on:

March 15th , 6:30pm

Dream Center Peoria

714 Hamilton Blvd, Peoria, Il

Change!

2011-01-26T11:25:00.000-08:00

"There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction"

- Winston Churchill

Change....

What a powerful word. A word that either challenges people or paralyzes people. It can direct you in a path of frustration or a path of release. The way we view change and more importantly, respond to change can impact the course of our lives.

When I came across this quote from Churchill, it stuck out to me.

Change has been in the air. I hear it from family and friends. People are changing so many things this time of year. Diets, habits, jobs, lifestyles, beliefs and even spouses!

If I was to add something to Churchill's quote it would "There is nothing wrong with change, if its in the right direction that God wants for your life."

If your in the middle of Change, make sure its what God wants for your life. Remember there is one thing that never changes...and thats Gods passion for you and your life. Listen to God, read his word, be challenged by people who you would see as mentors in your life and make a change...If its in the right direction.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011 and to the new blog.

Theres a few changes and I promise more updates than last year.

But till then, its "New Years Day"

Its not a show Andy, It's Church!

2010-06-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but I just felt led to write this entry about Worship. This all started last May. My family and I were on vacation to England and had the chance to go and visit The Smith family down South for a few days.

I remember having a chat with my friend, Martin, (formally with Delirious) as we drove in his mini past the field in Littlehampton, were the famous "Live And In a Can" cd was recorded. That cd, I feel really started to Revolution in worship. It stretched "the church" musically, lyrically and spiritually in worship. It changed the horizon of what we had known as worship at that time. At that time in 1996 Worship had become generic, cheesy, not relevant and to be honest a show that we, "The Church", watched (Sound familiar). Delirious had songs on that cd that would become a soundtrack to a generation who were ready for something new in worship. It had songs like "I'm Not Ashamed, Did You Feel, Obsession and What a Friend I've Found." Plus it had something different on that cd. The spontaneous sections. Delirious phased it "Taking It wherever it goes." They sparked what we know today as "Modern Worship."

There I was at the place were it all started, with the guy who's songs had changed the way we sing about and to God. I was talking to him about worship and how they did worship at his church. My family had just experience being apart of Martins home church where he was leading worship with the guys from Delirious. It was completely different to what I was use to and expecting. It was an amazing time at the church but I noticed something.

Nothing! Thats right, Nothing!

There was no cool backdrops, no lights, no lasers, no stage set. It was just them cramped on a 15 foot by 15 foot corner of a 40 foot stage. The rest of the stage was empty, completely bare which later was used for spontaneous dance. Dance that felt right and in order.

There was no slick power points, the words of the songs were white with a blue background, no moving images or video. There was only chairs around the outside of the room. Most people sat in the middle on the floor with their family. Over 400 people came to church that day, which is a good size church in England considering that less than 1% go to church ONCE a year in England.

So what did I experience..."Everything"

It was fresh, unexpected, spontaneous, real, uncluttered and authentic. People were there expectant, ready and willing to hear from God. As kids ran around the church while service was going on, it was as though we were in a living room with a service going on. The people were real and so was the church service.

The atmosphere was thick with something that "The Church" has lost over the years. It was thick with the Presence of God. I knew that God could break in at any minute and that was cool with them. In fact, thats what attracted the non christian to that church.We worry about what people think of the Presence of God if his presence appears in a church service. Now I know that this does open a door way to the weird and wacky. Thats where Good leadership should kick in. If it pull's attention from God, then it's not God.

In the Presence of God things happen just like in bible times. People were healed, lives were set free, chains were broken in the presence of God. It was at this point when people really saw who Jesus really was and they turned and followed him after being in his presence.

That morning the church had no script, no minute by minute order, no loops or click tracks to make sure the songs weren't to fast or too slow, no cool videos and no trendy newsletters.

I'll never forget those words from Martin that day as I asked him if the worship team used click tracks, loops or videos during the songs that morning.

Martin turned to me and said "It's not a show Andy, It's church!"

The following Link(Songs for a Movement workshop) was recorded this last spring in London at a "Worship Central" event that Tim Hughes (Here I am to worship) heads up. Martin speaks on this whole topic and also does a Q & A with Tim and also Phil Wickham.

Martin Smith at Worship Central

What a Sunday!

2010-05-16T15:43:00.001-07:00

Today Dream center were given the great opertunity to take the services at Riverside.With the mayor and council members in attendance, we were ready to challenge everyone there. The message title was "Broken Hearts...Making History"

I challenged people to become history makers. I challenged people to never settle, look for a Big challenge and live for a cause. I was a wreck all morning. Seeing the DCP youth choir and dance team worshiping was priceless. God is changing lives before our very own eyes. History makers in the making!!!
What a morning!
I now need a nap!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N North St,Peoria,United States

Can it really work?

2010-04-27T14:05:00.001-07:00

I am trying something completly new and it's not finally doing a blog entry(although it has been over a year, my bad)

I am doing this blog from my iPhone. Does it work? If your reading this, I guess it does.

More to come, I promise

- Andy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:NE Glendale Ave,Peoria,United States

Mac, Fee and England!

2009-04-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I say this at the start of every blog. It's been ages since I have blogged but I need to get back to doing this. Its been a crazy first few months of 2009. So here's a few highlights.

It was at the beginning of the year that we had the opportunity of one of Christian music top artist's and pioneers come to the Dream Center. Toby Mac was in town for winter jam and I got a call from his manager asking if he, his band and a few other could come and play Basketball at DCP for the afternoon. After picking myself off the floor I said "Sure" in a real cool, non groupie voice. He was brilliant with us and loved the Dream Center and all we do. He said this place is truly "Diversity" It was a great day and amazing concert that night.

Talking of concerts we also had the opportunity of having Steve Fee with us.Steve has been with us twice before with the Passion worship tour with Chris Tomlin and others. It was great having Steve with us again. Over 800 people came out to worship. The dynamic duo, as we have been nicknamed, for concerts is myself and Austin Lehring. Austin is also our new Worship director @ Riverside. Austin is a great friend and an amazing Worship leader and song writter. We worked hard in pulling off an amazing night with Steve Fee with just 4 weeks notice from Steve. Steve contacted me through Twitter and we were able to make it happen.

Well on May 1st we as a family will be in England. Its the first time back in 13 YEARS!!! Yep, I am ready to go back for a visit. We have ton's planned from Cadbury's world, A premier leauge football (soccer) game, reunions (Invitation link), a wedding english style, Wales, Castles, London and even a trip down to Littlehampton to stay a few days with our friends Martin and Anna Smith.
We can not wait and we will be blogging and twittering during the trip.
As a family we are so excited about the trip. Only a few more weeks till we go.
Till next time, see you then....

Goodbye Google, Hello "Goodsearch"

2009-01-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged for a time. I apologize but here we go.

This is huge - If people go to www.goodsearch.com, then on the opening page
type in under "who do you search for?" then put in dream center peoria, then
every time they do a search and use this, DCP get 1c a search. This does not
sound a lot but if we can a few thousand people doing 10-50 searches a day,
this will add up very quickly, and iits free money to us and them. Not
costing you anything to do it.

Also there is a huge list of stores like ebay, apple, gap,best buy, Amazon, barnes and noble and tons
of others. If you buy with them on line through good search, we get from 1%
to 30% of the amount spent. This could be huge
So go ahead, give it a go. What have you got to loose, its FREE!

Also follow Dream Center Peoria now on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dcpeoria

Tea Bag's, TV stand and Twitter

2008-12-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

The last 3 weeks have been crazy around here. From thanksgiving, Dream Center events, visitors from England, shopping, Dream center presentation,drumming, sickness, tree decorating, Christmas shopping. The list can go on and on.
So we decided, before Thanksgiving, to get a new TV. Finally, after years of having our 27 inch tv, it was time to go big and go bold. We ended up with a 42 inch, plasma, HDTV. The only problem was we had no stand for it to stand on. We did not want it on the wall so it was time to improvise.
Now I am not known for my handyman skills. In fact I HATE painting. I'd rather have teeth extracted than paint things. It all came from when my dad and I decided to paint our previous entire exterior of our house. After 4-5 coats of primer and paint, I was done, forever.

So I found this old, broken and out of date chest of draws. I love to dream and see things in a finished state and I saw what I could do with this.
It was a race. You see I could not get the TV out of the box until the stand was completed. So I got to work. My wife sanded the whole thing. Then I started to shake as I got the paint can out. Memories of the previous house painting project started to flood back but I pushed through and as you can see, I converted a chest of draws into a killer entertainment center that everyone that has seen it has been impressed.

As you may or may not know but British people love Tea. Hot tea. So I had my friends from England to bring me a bag of tea bags over as I was running low. Normally there is 80 tea bags in a box/ bag. So my friend, James, walked into our living room with a MASSIVE bag of tea, 1150 tea bags in the bag. So I guess it will last me and Dave Jane until...Christmas.

Well I am not know as the most technical guys in the world but I do love my electronic gadets. From my Macbook pro, iphone, tivo or ipod I love messing around with all this stuff. So I decided to start Twittering. Twitter is a mass way of group texting or communicate. Its been great to follow many people and also get comments on what I write about. Check it out and start to follow me.www.twitter.com/andybrit

Inspired by my brother in law

2008-11-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new office. OK so it's the same office with a couch I stole from one of the rooms at DCP. It wasn't being used to I "borrowed" it. So with a new office comes a new blog.
I am such a bad blogger I know. Its been over 3 months since I last blogged and in the Tech world, that an eternity. SO I have been inspired by my brother in law about blogging. Not for his big theological writings or his thoughts on life but from his real encounters. I don't know how many nights my wife and I have sat and just cried at the funny stories that he has written about. I warn you, you will need a tissue for the tears you will cry in laughter. He knows how to write. He's a teacher and so you can imagine, he has events happening every day. I was thinking last night of how we should write a humorous book called "The real life stories of a teacher and a pastor". Check his blog out at http://mritchason.blogspot.com/

One thing that happend to me a few weeks ago was I was even awarded with the "40 leaders under 40" award in the city. I was totally surprised by it and honored. I totally felt out of my element at the awards dinner with all the doctors, CEO's, buisness men and ...me. Anyway, someone wrote a nice article about me which is here for you all to read. Andy's 40 under 40 article

Well I must close but I have a feeling that Michael(brother in law) and I will have a few things to write about as its a "Family get together for Thanksgiving" this Thursday. Should be fun. I love this time of year

michael Guglielmucci fooled us all, even his family

2008-08-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

It was a sad day yesterday in Australia and around the world when Michael Guglielmucci confessed to making up the whole story of having terminal Cancer for the last 2 years. You may remember I wrote about a powerful song sung by Michael on the latest Hillsongs cd/ dvd just a few weeks ago called "Healer". He even sang it with oxygen tubes in his nose.
Here is the article that broke the news in Australia "The Australian article"

When you talk to people who were close to him, they are shocked and hurt. Even his wife, mom and dad did not know. How hard is it for them? On the one hand they would be ecstatic that there son or husband was not really going to die but on the other hand he had just lied to them and the world for 2 years and has wrecked there lives. Mike will not have a future in ministry, at least in the near future. I say near future because I feel the Christian community in years has changed. I feel we have gone so Grace driven that allows fallen men back into the pulpit way to fast. I know this first hand as a friend of mine was a victim of a pastor who had an affair with my friends wife. Its been 3 years since that and my friend is still battling with the affair. Yet the pastor was back starting a new church with in 2 years of the affair. It was and still is completely wrong.

So what do we do now. Well we must pray for Mike and his family. It is times like this that he needs Gods help and guidance. Perhaps "Healer" was written not for the fake cancer but for his, as well as everyones, sin and wrong doing. We all still need a healer, we all still need a savior. Lying small or lying big , its all sin and we all need a healer for that. Thank God Mike know 's the true healer, Jesus, and can still call on him for healing and forgiveness.
Yes, I am hurt and upset. I am really upset for his mom and dad as Danny(his dad) is an amazing man who will take this hard. A friend of mine had emailed me who has friends at the church saying that Danny may be taking 3 months off work (he is a pastor of one of the biggest and fastest growing churches in Australia) due to the effect of this on him.

Over the years we have seen good, Godly men rise and fall. We must focus on the one and only man who will never fall and thats Jesus. Even death could not make him fall and give in.

I just ask that even though we may be upset, mad, frustrated or angry, we must still hold the family up in prayer, especially Michael Guglielmucci.

A Prayer to make you "uncomfortable"

2008-08-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of attending the Willow Creek Summit, via satellite, last week. It was an amazing week and I got challenged in many different ways. One of my all time favorite speakers was their, Craig Groeschel, from Life Church. (www.lifechurch.tv )
He spoke about the 'IT' factor in life and ministry. He was challenging, thought provoking and direct. He left the session with this Franciscan prayer that I feel I pray every night for all that are, or need to be, involved at Dream Center. I pray it bothers you like it bothered me.

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

- A Franciscans Prayer

Teens impact Peoria and its only day three

2008-07-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

I am writing to you all on Day 3 of Mission Peoria to keep you updated.

It has been an incredible week so far. Over 160 students and adults are here (our biggest crowd ever) from 11 different churches. Most are from the Peoria area, but there are kids here from churches as far away as lake Zurich, Tinley Park and Rock Island. There are even two teens from England(!!) who are here on vacation staying with their cousin who happened to have signed up for Mission Peoria ..... so they came along too.

Each morning the students have been in 3 different district 150 schools (Manual, Woodruff and Peoria High) doing service projects (laying mulch, weeding, painting). The maintenance staff and media that have visited are all amazed by the fact that all these students are taking a week out of their summer break to do this; that they’ve paid to be here; and that they’re smiling while they do it!! They are all a great testimony to Dream Center and Jesus.

http://centralillinoisproud.com/media_player.php?media_id=20181#

In the afternoons they are running 6 different baselines (kids outreach programs) around the city. From the South Side to Taft to Morton Square Park, we have seen 100’s of children come out to play games, ride water slides, get their face’s painted and hear a fun presentation of the gospel message. One of the groups showed up at Martin Luther King park yesterday on the south side. We have never run a baseline here before. Slowly kids started to trickle in from the surrounding community as the word got out of what we were doing. By the end of the afternoon we had 70 kids at that one baseline!!

http://www.week.com/news/local/26072834.html

Each evening we have been holding services for the Mission Peoria students in the sanctuary at RCC. Through intense worship and powerful messages we have already seen God challenge and change the hearts of these students. It’s hard to say that I have a favorite part of the day, but I do love watching teenagers who have been working hard and giving out all day go running to the altar in the evening to dance and sing and worship God.

If you are in need of a spiritual boost, and would like to get a little taste of what Mission Peoria is all about, please feel free to come along to one of our evening meetings at RCC tonight and tomorrow. The meetings begin at 7:15 and normally wrap up at 9:00. There are plenty of adults there, so you won’t stick out :) If the message or music don’t move you, the response from the teenagers will.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support this week (especially with the office being a little more hectic than usual with teens running up and down the halls). Please continue to pray. Friday night is our final big outreach where we will bus all these kids into the Riverplex and Aubrey will present the gospel. Then Saturday morning we will be giving out 2500 backpacks to families from all over the city. Then Sunday we plan on all going to bed and sleeping for 24 hours straight!!(after church of course).

Written by Dave Jane

No Blood clots, just screws

2008-07-24T15:17:00.001-07:00

So here is a quick update. Due to massive pain and swelling I was rushed to methodist hospital to check for blood clots. In the end we found out I had a bit of infection but no blood clots, Thank God. I snapped this as the doctor left me on my own in the room with my camera phone. As you can see, there is now 2 screws in my leg(they are the white bits you see in the leg) Hope I don't set any alarms off now at airports.

Knee Surgery #3

2008-07-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

One of my loves in life is playing and watching football (soccer). As I am writing this I actually watching a pre-season Liverpool game. I must admit, I am football crazy. From my youngest memories that I can remember, I have been kicking a football around. 14 years
ago I was involved in a horrific football tackle in Australia. I ended up having surgery on my meniscus back in England just weeks after the incident.
A few years later, after moving to America, i was coaching the PCS soccer team here in town. While showing a football move to the players I fell to a heap on the ground and my meniscus had moved and I ended up having my second surgery.

Over the last 2 years we have done an indoor soccer league at DCP but we felt it was time to take the guys to the great So now jump forward with me 14 years. I am now married, i have 3 kids, i run the Dream Center and life is very hectic. So what do I decide to do? Put a Dream Center soccer teamoutdoors and play in the outdoor league. The guys(and girl) had a great time and we ended up 4th in the league but we then went on to win the playoffs with some controversy that made the NEW YORK TIMES.(thats another story on its own)http://jmpradio.com/pods/gd/Ethicist%20072208.mp3 - podcast from wmbd today
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20wwln-ethicist-t.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=dream%20center%20peoria&st=cse&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

So 2 games before the final, I went in for a challenge and all of a sudden heard and felt my knee click in and out about 5 times and I ended up on back in terrible pain. I knew it was worse than the previous injuries. I ended up tearing my ACL and also messing up my meniscus again.

Last Friday I went in for surgery and for all you nasty people who love seeing surgeries, here is a link to an animation of what they did to my knee. http://youtube.com/watch?v=q96M0jRqn7k

So how am I now. Well its been 4 day's since surgery and I am still in alot of pain and discomfort. Still trying to work from home as it is a very busy time of year at DCP with Mission Peoria and BackPack Peoria next week. It has been tough as I am so medicated, i am not sure what i am telling people or email people. Rehab will take two and half to three months. Right now I am still iced up and the knee is very stiff. Last night while taking a night trip to the bathroom I took a fall and hurt the knee again. It should be ok, just added to the pain.

So am I done in playing football? Well, all i want to be able to do is play football with my kids, thats it. This has been too painful to go through again. Plus my wife has been amazing in taking care of me but it is just not fair to put them through this again. I think I may try refereeing, i hear its good money.

Healer - Worship and faith collide

2008-07-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

What you are about to see will effect the way you worship next time, I promise you. I saw this last Thursday on youtube when it only had 30 or so hits. Its now been a week and its nearly at 15,000 views.

So what is it. Well let me take you back a few years. 14 years in fact. I was about to go on ACE teams and help set up the program in Perth, Australia. Just before I went we had an Australian guy called Danny Guglielmucci stayed at our house and preach in our church. He was brilliant. One of the best youth speakers in Australia.

Anyway, I took off for Australia and a month into we were working at a youth convention with Youth Alive and guess who was speaking, Danny. So we spoke he told me I was stalking him as he had just stayed with us in England just a few week's earlier. Anyway, a few weeks later, I got hurt playing soccer (still happening today) and I had to fly home to England for surgery. While home, guess who is back speaking in the next town over from us... Danny. Now he was getting worried about the stalking.
So a few months after this I flew back to Australia and I am now asked to help at a Hillsongs conference held in Perth. You got it, Danny was there preaching. I saw Danny 4 times in 5 months
in England twice and Australia twice. Crazy.

Well everytime he spoke he talked about his son, Mike, and how he was an amazing evangelist at school and he would have prayer meetings in the field at school and would have hundreds of kids show up to cry out to God and other kids turning their lives over to Christ.

Mike, Danny's son, ended up being one of the top speakers in Australia and was behind the Planetshakers movement over in Australia.

Just 3 months ago Mike was asked to be apart of the new Hillsongs cd/ dvd recording. Why? because in late 2006 Mike had been diagnosed with Terminal cancer.With in minutes of hearing the news Mike went and wrote the song you are about to hear (if you click on the link) It will show a side of worship that I have never really seen before. Seeing people(over 20,000) crying out to God for help and comfort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4xsWldmqAo

I also attached the "story behind the song" that has Mike, Darlene Zchech, Brooke Fraser and others talking about the song and the recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_ny8hMgRY&feature=related

I warn you, have tissues available. The song will stick with you for days, and so it should. Its where Worship and Faith collide.

Worship Central Peoria

2008-06-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Just over a week ago Riverside Community church welcomed Worship Central. Worship Central is a conference designed to help equip the church in Worship. It was created by Tim Hughes, who wrote "Here I am to Worship" and Al Gordan who are both based in London. Also with them was Brenton Brown, who wrote "Everlasting God" and also Theologian JD Walt from Asbury seminary in Kentucky. It was an amazing day.
I worked hard with the guys leading up to the day and was totaly blown away by there humility and servants heart to worship and to serve our church. They all, including the band, were the real deal. Over the years I have worked with many Christian musicains and artists and have seen a "Dark" side to the Christian music industry but not on this day. We laughed and challenged each other all day.
One of the highlights, off stage, was seeing Tim, Al and the band trying to make over 20 steps on the stairs, in one step. Very funny, especially as I was standing there with a torn ACL knee. I was thinking what would happen if I witnessed one of these guys do the same to their knee, due to.... stupidity. Also sitting and chatting with JD Walt was a privilege and look forward to further our conversations on Worship and Compassion. JD's blog is also wort looking at.
http://www.farmstrong.blogspot.com/

It was a great time and stay tuned, we plan on having them all back soon. But until then, check out the Worship Central site, the podcast is brilliant.
http://www.worshipcentral.org/