The Hispanic Crusader....The Bill Avila Chronicles

Lukewarm or on fire?

2012-10-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years God has lead me on a journey to understand what living a Christian life truly is. The western church has become a haven for "believers" that distort the Word of God and twist scriptures to fit our needs, wants, and desires. Church attendee's look at the church no different than we would a country club we're trying to get membership in. Do you have a youth group? Do you have a nursery? Do you have this..do you have that? In the end is the teaching from God's word enough? At the end of the day how challenged are we with God's word that it changes our lives? Are you lukewarm or are you on fire?

WOD - Angie

2012-03-13T05:18:00.002-07:00

Since my poor wife and I overslept yesterday today's WOD was Angie.

100 Pull-ups

100 Push-ups

100 Sit-ups

100 Squats

Good grief! We couldnt pick an easy WOD instead we went for the 100 Reps of death. My finishing time was 22:08. Probably not going to break any records with that time but the important part is I did finish. Im going to be sore today from the Squats...i just know it.....

Don't Feel Connected To Your Home Church???

2012-03-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been hearing the question, "Why don't I feel connected to my church?" As I speak to folks I've adopted the the "Driscoll Method" which asks two simple questions. How much did you give last year and in what area of the church do you serve in? Usually folks are turned off by the first question that we never get to the second question. The question is simply meant for us to consider the mindset we have in regards to the purpose behind our church family. I'm always amused when I'm being asked about the church budget and questioned on various bits of spending when I know the person I'm speaking to hasn't tithed....anything...not a cent! There's an entitlement in the church which weighs heavy. The consumerism aspect of the church is rampant. Perhaps this small little snippet from Mark Driscoll will put things in perspective for some of you...

Film Review: Act of Valor

2012-02-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

WOW! Yeah...WOW! I'm reminded of the scene from Armageddon when it was decided that it was easier to teach the oil riggers to be astronauts then it was to teach astronauts to be oil riggers. This movie is no different. The Active Navy SEALs in this movie are not great actors nor will they win any Shakespearean awards but when it comes to understanding the depth of what combat is all about this movie puts it over the top.

The movie is based on actual combat missions from the perspective of the SEAL teams in this movie. From the time the movie begins everyone understands that behind the iron clad exteriors are a group of men who have families but are faced with the duties of defending this country in situations most people will never hear about. The tactics employed by these men are incredible. In one scene you see the SEAL team rising out of the water having held their breath over long periods of time. Not one ripple or disturbance in the water..they simply rise our of the water with weapons in hand calm and slow.

Once in their elements these SEALs take the movie to a new level. Very quickly we begin to understand the humanity behind these men and the legend that comes along with being a SEAL. I highly recommend the movie. It gives us a great sense of appreciation for our military and the "missions" we'll never hear about. I think it's best leaving this review with a quote from the movie. As the film begins the SEALs are being introduced to the audience. The Senior is known as "Chief". As he is introduced the commentator simply says, "That's chief, we don't know a lot about him but what I do know is I wouldn't want to be interrogated by him." These are the men and women protecting our country and to them I pray for safety and thank them for their service

Mark Driscoll's Book Review: Real Marriage - The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together

2012-01-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, the book that a great deal of the Evangelical community has been waiting for is here. (Truth be told I'm guessing a lot of pastors were dreading this book as it asks the questions most pastors would cringe asking) For anyone who might not be familiar with Mark Driscoll all you need do is search his name on YouTube and you'll see a man who is not without controversy in his teaching style. He's bold in his teaching and vocal on the lack of real men in the church today. So here are some of my thoughts.

The books begins with Mark Driscoll and his wife explaining how most Christian books don't address the questions most people struggle with in marriage and by that I mean the REAL questions we all wish we could ask but are simply to embarrassed to ask. And..he's right. It drives me crazy how vague premarital counseling has become and how we don't use that time to tackle the tough issues. We're not equipping people into marriage instead we're throwing two people into the deep end of the pool and saying "God Bless, call me if you have any problems."

One chapter I thoroughly enjoyed was "Friendship in Marriage". Mark and his wife make a great point. Too often I see couple's who are so wrapped up in their children's lives they forget what their marriage was forged on. As years pass their children leave and what's left in the marriage are two complete strangers who aren't friends but instead two strangers with little to no friendship. Make those date nights a priority!

In traditional Driscoll format he say's things in such a way where I'm left with the feeling, "did he really just say that?" The following is one of those.

My previously free and fun girlfriend was suddenly my frigid and fearful wife. She did not undress in front of me, required the lights to be off on the rare occasions we were intimate, checked out during sex, and experienced a lot of physical discomfort because she was tense...One night, as we approached the birth of our first child, Ashley, and the launch of our church, I had a dream in which I saw some things that shook me to my core. I saw in painful detail Grace sinning sexually during a senior trip she took after high school when we had just started dating. It was so clear it was like watching a film — something I cannot really explain but the kind of revelation I sometimes receive. I awoke, threw up, and spent the rest of the night sitting on our couch, praying, hoping it was untrue, and waiting for her to wake up so I could ask her. I asked her if it was true, fearing the answer. Yes, she confessed, it was. Grace started weeping and trying to apologize for lying to me, but I honestly don’t remember the details of the conversation, as I was shell-shocked. Had I known about this sin, I would not have married her.” (p. 6, 11-12)

The part that bothers me the most is the last sentence..."Had i known about this sin, I would not have married her." Lots of other blogs and boards have had conversations on just this one sentence alone. He and his wife have been married from quite some time and have 5 children together. Conversations ranging from, "is he saying he regret's marrying her" or "had I simply known I never would have pursued marriage" or something else entirely. In my eyes forgiveness is the key thing. She clearly loves the lord and regrets the decision she made. I struggle with what he wrote and wonder how his wife reacted to the sentence. It seems bullish and down right un-compassionate to say such a thing as he reflects back on his time with is wife. The paragraph is followed by some other key sections in the book which reflect the mindset of Driscoll.

He notes: “I grew more chauvinistic. I had never cheated on a girlfriend, but I never had a girlfriend who did not cheat on me. And now I knew that included my own wife. So I started to distrust women in general, including Grace. This affected my tone in preaching for a season, something I will always regret.” (p. 14)

and

“In the second year of the church we had a lot of single people getting married," he writes, "so I decided to preach through the Song of Songs on the joys of marital intimacy and sex. The church grew quickly, lots of people got married, many women became pregnant, and my counseling load exploded. I started spending dozens of hours every week dealing with every kind of sexual issue imaginable...Although I loved our people and my wife, this only added to my bitterness. I had a church filled with young women who were asking how they could stop being sexually ravenous and wait for a Christian husband, then I’d go home to a wife whom I was not sexually enjoying.” (p. 15)

I have to give Mark Driscoll kudos on his candor about the state of his marriage during this time. Maybe I'm reading into it...maybe I'm not. But as the book is based around openness and honesty I suppose these are his feelings about the period of time he went through. My hope is that for most people, despite whatever mistakes we made in relationships before our marriage, it wouldn't keep us from marrying someone.

Last is the piece most people would be drawn to....the chapter called "Can we...?" Let you mind wander and that's pretty much what they tackle. The chapter is devoted to the commonly asked questions about all things sex. For any further detail BUY THE BOOK!

So, my recommendation is...

If you're light of heart the book is probably not for you. If you have a heart condition, the book is probably not for you. If you still sing hymn's in church and wear sock garters, this book is probably not for you. However, if you're open to reading and tackling some very real issues surrounding your own personal relationship with your spouse this might be a good read. It's RAW..very raw. I don't agree with 100% of the book...nor should anyone. But read it with a prayerful heart and perhaps you'll find some nuggets that could really make a positive impact on your marriage.

Crossfit - 1-11-2012

2012-01-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Today's workout made my heart RACE! I used 52 pound KB's and we went for 6 rounds having to hit 30 swings in a minute. If you didn't make your 30 swings you had to do 25 Knee's to Elbow's after the workout was done. Remember, that's 25 knee's to elbows for EVERY round you don't make 30 swings. That means it was feasible a person could do 150 Knee's to Elbows after the WOD! Good grief. By the end of 6 rounds i was exhausted. I could barely grip the KB much less swing it up. Great workout!

WOD 1-4-12

2012-01-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

Awesome work out this morning. The WOD (Workout of the Day) looked easy but at round 3 my heart was pounding. Burpee's always slow me down but...I beat Elaine by one second. And really, isn't that what's important? :) The Hang Cleans were tough to do by round 3. Overall, awesome workout. I'm sure I'll feel this later on this afternoon.

12 "Pains' of Christmas

2011-12-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

This was an incredibly fast pace workout. I hit a brick wall at burpee's but suffered through it to finish at 33:40. By the 12th round the Hang Snatches were becoming difficult to even pull over my head. All around...a great workout!

Mark Driscoll On Yoga....

2011-11-30T05:53:00.001-08:00

Deck of Death! 11-30-11

2011-11-30T05:15:00.001-08:00

Incredible workout! If you've never done a workout like this you're missing out. This one will make your heart race for the entire workout. I finished at around 32 minutes. The action is non-stop as you keep going as each card is pulled. If you fall behind you have to push forward as you make up the cards those in front of you have already done. Quote of the day is from Lance Armstrong, "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever."

Monday's WOD 11-28-11

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

At first glance it looked like an easy workout. When I was finished my legs were wobbly and shaking. The next day my legs were SORE! Ah, but as is the motto in CrossFit.."BRING IT!"

On the park bench

2011-09-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

This was a quote I found from Connor 1 year ago today.

So we're at the park today. Connor is sitting on the park bench with me and he says "daddy, I know 2 things that would make men happy" So I asked what it was...he replied "A comfortable bed and a clean bathroom". He truly is my son :)

You're Old!!!

2011-08-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Connor: How are you daddy?

Me: Good, why do you ask?

Connor: You look tired. I heard people get tired when they're old.

Me: I'm not that old.

Connor: YOU remember the 80's...so yeah..you are old.

Me: Good point. Go to your room so the old guy can sleep.

Who do you lean on????

2011-07-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Marriage and Men: I Peter 3:7

2011-07-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Last night my lovely bride and I watched this powerful sermon by Mark Driscoll. Warning: He's harsh, upfront, and honest. Perhaps to honest. At the end of the video I asked my wife what she thought of the video. She replied, "it's a video every woman should listen to and every guy should watch." I agree.

Dedication to any fans of the short lived series "Firefly"

2011-07-18T11:19:00.001-07:00

Look me in the eyes...

2011-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

As I celebrate 2 years of training I've been trying to refocus and set new goals for myself. Then, I heard this blurb from Michael Jordan and it pretty much said it all.

"Look me in the eyes. Its ok if you’re scared, so am I. But we’re scared for different reasons. I’m scared of what I won’t become, and you’re scared of what I could become. Look at me. I won’t let myself end where I started. I won’t let myself finish where I begin. I know what is within me. Even if you can’t see it yet. Look me in the eyes. I have something more important than courage. I have patience. I will become what I know I am." Michael Jordan

MacArthur and Osteen are Pastors of the Same Type Church

2011-07-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Interested in your thoughts from this article from ChosenRebel's Blog.

Mark Driscoll: Ashley's Tips for Daddys

2011-07-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as Lauren and I were going out for dinner I noticed that "Perkins" was closed down. I'm not going to lie, and this might seem sappy, but I was really sad. Since the girls were very young I had taken them for breakfast at Perkins on our father/daughter dates. The girls would order their "Perky Bear Pancakes" and get chocolate all over their mouth and face. It was a place with a lot of good memories.

Dads, I'm not sure how many of you truly understand the role you play in your daughter's life. Daddy/daughter dates are so important. You set the precedent for the type of person they'll end up meeting some day...scary isn't it? Watch this lil blurb from Mark Driscoll...and...maybe you might want to consider some of Ashley's tips to daddy's....

Bill

Francis Chan Responds To Rob Bell...

2011-07-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

Driscoll's review of "The Shack"

2011-06-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

Evangelistic vs. Doctrinal Preaching —part one

2011-06-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Something to consider. Two different styles...but...what does scripture say about it? Do we teach to draw attendance or do we teach to those in attendance...would welcome your thoughts.

Evangelistic vs. Doctrinal Preaching —part one

Congregational Government is From Satan

2011-06-21T05:50:00.000-07:00

This is from James MacDonald's Blog...interested to hear feedback on this...

NOTE: the tone of this post is intentionally aimed at influencing those who are engulfed in this system of church government that neither honors the Scriptures nor advances the gospel.

That’s right! It’s actually the title to a book I have had percolating in my mind for a long time. After almost 30 years in ministry I have come irreversibly to this conclusion: congregational government is an invention and tool of the enemy of our souls to destroy the church of Jesus Christ. So there, I have said the strongest part of the message first; now some commentary.

1) Congregational Meetings Are Forums for Division:
When church life is going well, the leaders of a church struggle to get a quorum for decision making. When things are going wrong, every carnal member lines up at a microphone to spew their venom and destroy the work of Christ in the church. I saw it growing up, and I have seen it since in churches that are fighting to survive and do something courageous for their future. Good people being held hostage by bad people, minorities hijacking the majority because a set of ‘by-laws’ get higher regard than the Scriptures. Satan does want to rip church unity to shreds like a devouring lion (1 Peter 5:8). He is accomplishing that again and again through a system of church government which elevates the fleshly and the worldly—often even those who no longer attend—to a status of influence equal to the most spiritually and biblically-minded in any congregation.

2) Voting Is Not Biblical
The right to vote may be an American right given by the Constitution, but it is not a kingdom right given in the Word of God. It may be a tradition of some wonderful streams of church history, e.g. Baptist, but it is not biblical. There is not a shred of biblical evidence for a congregation voting on what its direction should be, but many church members believe it is their ‘God-given right’ to stand in judgement over the Pastors and Elders that are seeking to lead them. Even Mark Dever, a personal friend, champion for congregationalism, and credible scholar admits, “But the functioning of a purely congregational system is both unwieldy and lacking biblical support. Instead the establishment of a body of elders to serve in the day-to-day leadership in spiritual matters, serving at the pleasure of the congregation, enables us to maintain both the traditional distinctive of congregational life and the clearly biblical structure of elders.”

3) Eldership Is Sometimes Unpopular
Elders are responsible to “shepherd the flock” (1 Peter 5:2), which is often a very dirty job. Calling out sin, dealing with those who have fallen and seeking their restoration (Galatians 6:1-4), these responsibilities put Elders in positions where doing the right often means doing the unpopular. To then force the Elders to submit to a referendum on their actions is crushing to good men and destroys the work of God in a church. Rather, coming under a group of godly men will always be the best opportunity for a church to live in submission to God’s Word and Spirit. In recent years we have seen many churches taken captive by a few vocal people who, like Alexander the coppersmith exposed by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:14, do “much harm.” The Elders spend the majority of time trying to keep these blasphemous enemies of the gospel in line and often finish their term of leadership crushed by the weight of unrelenting criticism.

4) Congregationalism Crushes Pastors
Statistics tell us that Pastors move every 2-3 years and that a pastor typically leaves a church because of 8 people. If you wonder how just eight people can so resist and refuse and ruin the calling of a gifted and trained messenger of the gospel then you have not spent much time in congregational settings. Just one elder’s wife, or one women’s ministry director, or one chairman of the building committee can consume a pastor and erode the support he needs to serve the church well. A lot of the men writing today in favor of congregational government defend it as a tradition, and are so effective as leaders that they are able to suppress the inevitable uprising of carnality—but that is not so in the vast majority of small congregationally-stifled churches. I could retire now if I had banked a hundred dollars for every time a Pastor wept to me on the phone or in person about the crushing weight of a local ‘church boss’ who would not listen to Scripture or reason or God’s Holy Spirit. Many of the Pastors who have come into Harvest Bible Fellowship these past years have come seeking a new model of church government that frees them from the tyranny of the untrained and untrainable.

5) Priesthood Not Eldership of All Believers
A significant plank in the platform of biblical protestantism has been the priesthood of all believers. This is the idea that all of us as followers of Christ have equal standing before God and do not need a clerical intermediary in our relationship with the Lord. Sadly, though, this has led in many congregations to the Eldership of all believers—where each person, regardless of training, giftedness, fruitfulness, experience, etc., considers their thoughts about the future of a given congregation to be of equivalent value. Satan uses this expectation to create in people a demand to be heard, an insistence that their thoughts on the future of a church—no matter how quickly formed, or singularly held—receive validation equal that of a Pastor/Elder. When the vote takes place people are polarized, and factions sit back and wait for the plans they did not support with their vote to fail. (Sadly similar to the way most people view a president for whom they did not vote). It’s impossible to reconcile that process with:
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”
Down with congregational government. Not the people who believe in it or appreciate its history, not the good or bad people who try to function well in a bad system—down with the system itself. Let’s send congregational government back to hell where it came from. It’s unbiblical, unhealthy and too often a tool of Satan for the discouragement of good Pastors, godly Elders, and local churches everywhere.

You are welcome to engage in this discussion. Let’s stick to biblical defenses of congregationalism (which should be a short section) and anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness. I expect also to hear from Pastors who have suffered under its tyranny.

Mark Driscoll On Twilight Series....

2011-06-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

US News Ranks the Top Diets...Where They Went Wrong...

2011-06-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Original US News Article: The article made a pretty major mistake, in my opinion. It didn't cite any references or studies in its criticisms of Paleo.

1st and 2nd rebuttals to the US News Article: This is what the original article should have included but didn't. Dr. Courdain makes a wonderful case for Paleo along with independent research and citations to other studies that were done. Paleo may not have a national spokesperson to carry its torch but as a Paleo man I can speak to it's validity.

Enjoy!