The Core

You guys hear this a lot in school, on tv, online and it sounds like a nice idea right? I love singing this song at the ballpark especially around July 4th. But, I think we need to look at this phrase in a different way.
If you compare our way of life to almost anywhere else in the world God has definitely blessed America. We have way more than we need and we can get it faster than almost any country in the world! If you shop online, you can select overnight and get it the next day! If for some reason, you want something specific like a gelato hot fudge sundae, you can go a few miles and get one. Anything we need or want is within reach or just a double click away. In other countries however, people who just want fresh drinking water have to travel miles on foot to get just enough for the family of 6 for a day. As much as you might hate going to school, there are kids in other countries who would die to go to school but can’t because of the family they’re born into or the place they live is too far away from school.
I believe that we’ve become such a consumer minded nation that we’ve forgotten that we weren’t created by God to consume. We were created by God to give. Just as God GAVE His Son for us, we should give to others. Not only give money, but time, love, and most importantly the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We need to rephrase this from a selfish idea of “God please give us more blessing” to a more giving phrase of “America bless God” meaning, what can I do today God to bless your name? How can I love people more?
Let me know what your thoughts are on this. Thanks for reading!

Drew del Rosario

Welcome to planet earth Kai! In case you didn’t know, Cyanna and I were blessed on March 24, 2010 with our first child Kai Andrew del Rosario!

Having a child of our own sure has changed everything. I mean we consider the CORE kids as our kids, but since we don’t change your diapers or have you sleep in a crib it’s just a tad bit different. There are so many things that God has revealed to me about life when Kai was born, but the one that I want to focus on here is this: “How can someone look at a baby and not know that there is a God?”
This person was formed inside the womb! Perfectly made, every millimeter wonderfully designed by God. Even now at 3 weeks old, he is already recognizing when Daddy holds him and when Mommy holds him. (He always cries when I hold him LOL). It’s just amazing to me. What do you guys think about when you look at your baby sister or brother? Comment below!

See ya guys Friday!

Your BFF,
Drew

Yesterday, Cyanna and I were at a beach in Santa Cruz and the weather was amazing. It was clear, warm enough to wear flip flops, and a very high tide. The beach that we usually go to was covered by high waves and rough conditions.

We started to feel bad because we wouldn’t be able to hang out at the beach! We started walking towards the stairs that lead down to the beach which was a good two blocks away and as soon as we got there, the waves and the tide started to go out. The beach that was once covered with water, was now starting to show up!  It was weird!  So we started walking down and all of a sudden there was way more room for Zoe and all the other dogs that came!

Zoe loved it.  She didn’t love the other dogs though. hehe.  While we played with Zoe in the water with her ball, all of a sudden, the clear sky became a think fog!  I turned to Cyanna and said, “Whaaaa?”

Things change all the time, sometimes from moment to moment.  I know I can change so easily.  One day I think one thing, another day I think something completely different.  It seems that as we’re all flawed and imperfect, we can’t stay the same because we are easily distracted and misinformed.  As you know God isn’t like us and thank Him for that.  He doesn’t think, “you know, Drew should be a youth leader” then tomorrow God thinks, “Naw, I think he should be a daredevil motorcycle stuntman”.  That would make it pretty difficult to follow Him wouldn’t it?  God knows the plans He has for us.  It’s for a future filled with adventure and intrigue.  Far beyond our tiny brains can figure.  Passed the borders of our understanding.  But it’s up to us to follow His plan.  Are we going to continue being shifted around by the waves of change?  Or are we going to look at change in God’s eyes and know that there is a plan in place?

Make sure to leave a comment in case you aren’t receiving the CORE newsletter :)  Holler at yer boy!

Thinking back to the beginning of CORE, I remember asking God if this was what He wanted me to do.  I then started thinking back to the old days of being a scrawny, awkward, but super bossy kid in Sunday school.  I remember growing up with certain kids, playing games, memorizing verses, and singing in church in the kids choir.  I remember going to summer, winter camps with my friends at church and how much fun it was to be away from home and just worship God with people my own age.

When the opportunity to do this at MSC was presented, I jumped at the thought of being a Youth leader!  After more than a year of doing CORE, and seeing us grow from averaging 2-3 kids to 10-12 kids is amazing!  In my mind, I would have never thought we would be as big of a group as we are now.  It gets me so fired up to see kids who are hungry for the Word and kids who love to worship!

Yesterday, my buddy Ernesto and I built a stage for the CORE room(he did most of the work and I just did whatever he told me to LOL) and I am totally stoked with the finished product!  Here are some pics:

I truly believe that when God tells you to do something through the Holy Spirit, the Word, prayer, and through other followers of Christ, there is not a thing in the world that can stop you from being successful in it.  God is the one that builds eternal things.   This verse says it all,” For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.  God’s got the plan, but it’s up to each one of us to say “Yes.”  It’s never easy to follow God, but He gives us the strength to follow Him.  2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” When we follow God, He provides the strength, wisdom, power, and motivation to get the job done.

It is totally awesome building a stage yesterday, totally awesome decorating the room with hanging lights, changing the room to be more of a hangout than ever before, see new leaders join our team.  But without God building it, without God sending kids, without God changing their lives, building a stage in a room with awesome lights is just a room.  The Core isn’t what it is today because of what I’ve done.  The Core is God’s plan to see the kids of the Tri-Cities area come to know Christ and become followers of His so that one day, they will say “Yes” to God’s plan too.

I know some of you told me at church, but I wanted to see who remembers it?  Make me proud people!  Comment to this post and tell me your memory verse and don’t cheat with your Bible or wiki either! lol

This sign was on a window post on the outside of a church that we ministered at.  So you may be wondering what this sign means.  If you are born in India, where their social structure is based on a “caste” system, your life is pretty much determined from the get go.  At least from birth.  The Caste system means you are born into a specific class.  Here is a good explanation of it from www.indianchild.com:

“Castes systems in India and caste like groups–those quintessential groups with which almost all Indians are associated–are ranked. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and people’s behavior toward one another is constantly shaped by this knowledge. Between the extremes of the very high and very low castes, however, there is sometimes disagreement on the exact relative ranking of castes clustered in the middle.

Castes system in India are primarily associated with Hinduism but also exist among other Indian religious groups. Muslims sometimes expressly deny that they have castes–they state that all Muslims are brothers under God–but observation of Muslim life in various parts of India reveals the existence of castelike groups and clear concern with social hierarchy. Among Indian Christians, too, differences in caste are acknowledged and maintained.”

So what does this sign mean then?  If you have any thoughts on this, please share in the comments section below

1st sleepover was awesome!  On to the pics!

More pics to come once i figure how to get the flicker link on here

Yeah, most people won’t remember what phonics were about besides old guys like me, but I do know that the use of electronics that have headphones is everywhere.  Everyone seems to have a pair of ipod headphones stuck in their ears.  I remember the old days when people would carry super big boom boxes on their shoulders like this:

It’s pretty interesting how we always need sound to flood our heads.  Don’t get me wrong, I like listening to music more than most people, but why can’t we have just some quiet time to listen to silence?

I’ve heard people argue that having music actually helps them think better and even talk to God better.  Maybe it’s really based on who the person is.
If you’re the kind of person that likes having music on when they talk to God or when you’re thinking hard about something, comment on this blog and let me know your reasonings.

If you’re the kind of person that needs silence to meditate or think, comment too and let me know why you do it.

Have a great week everyone and see you Friday at CORE.

My wife Cy and I went to the Great Mall in Milpitas last weekend and found that already the hordes (not to be mistaken for the Horde in WoW) of people shopping for gifts were already in full force.  So much for a down economy huh?  What tripped me out was how noisey it was.  I’m not big on noise unless I’m the one making it.  It was tough to get through the whole mall because of the noise.  Kids screaming, people on their cell phones, kids yelling, parents chasing kids, the list goes on.

I think for a lot of us, we get stuck on what gifts to get, how many, who is worthy enough to get one, “We don’t see Uncle (fill in the blank) very often, maybe we can just get him a card this year”….

Gifts are great, don’t get me wrong, but it would be great to hear people say, “I got you this gift just like God gave us the gift of His Son…”  yeah, maybe I won’t hear that this year, but I want to keep it in my mind as I give family and friends gifts this year.

What do you think?

Merry Christmas Everybody!

-Drew