WE did it!!!

I just wanted to let you all know that WE did it! On Sunday I completed my first marathon. I met my goal and finished just under five hours. It was a beautiful and extremely emotional day. Crossing the finish line yesterday and seeing my wife, Pam, cheering and thinking about what all this was for was to much to keep inside. It was a moment I will soon not forget.

I wanted to thank the many of you who were a part of my team. Your donation meant more to me than you could ever know. Thanks to your donation, I managed to raise $1,562.00 for Organization for Autism Research.

But, above your financial support in this endeavor I could never thank you enough for your prayers for my son, Max. You are greatly appreciated. God Bless You!

Grateful Beyond Words,

Orlando Cabrera

"Running For Max and the Many Others Like Him"

Today my family and I head to Miami. Sunday is the Miami Marathon that I will be participating in. There are over 15,000 people registered for this race. It's the largest marathon to date ever held in Miami. It should be quite crazy. I am thrilled that my friends Todd and Jonathan will be running with me. I am running in honor of my son, Max, who lives and continues to strive through his diagnosis of autism. God has taught me so much and continues to show me so much through my son's life. I will be running for Max and for the Organization for Autism Research. I am very close to my fundraising goal. If you would like to be a part of the team please visit my fundraising site at http://www.firstgiving.com/orlandocabrera. It should be a challenging day, but I am looking forward to it. I would covet your prayers.

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

I pray that this verse will bring you comfort and encouragement today as it did to me.

Experiencing God

This week as a staff we committed to go through Henry Blackaby's study "Experiencing God". For the next twelve weeks as a team we are committing to invest the time to this study and discuss as a staff in our regularly scheduled staff meetings. I am pretty pumped to go through this study. The last time I went through this study was seven years ago and shortly after it, I knew God was leading my wife and I to leave Miami and move to SWFL. I find myself in this stage of my life and ministry in a similar state as I was seven years ago. Don't get me wrong, I love what I am doing and I love where I get to do it, but there is a little restlessness in my spirit and I am hoping that through this study God will reveal to me what He has for my wife and I in the near future.

As much unrest I may sense at times I was so glad to get the word I did today from the study and it was this..."My primary concern should not be, what should I do with my life tomorrow? but, What does God want me to do today? As you follow Jesus one day at a time, He will keep you in the center of God's will."

Reading that today was like finding my keys after one of toddlers had hid them and could not tell me where they threw them. It was complete relief and joy. It was a powerful reminder to me that though there maybe some unrest because I so desperately want to know the step by step plan and full picture of what God is going to do with me, the key is to trust Him and follow Him today. Now of course I knew this, but for some reason I had forgotten it, or neglected it. God in many ways is more likely to call us to follow Him daily than He is to give us the detailed plan before we begin to obey. The challenge for me is to follow today and believe that as I do that God will lead me to the center of His will. Sounds simple enough...right, but as you know the key is to put it into practice, to live it out.

So if you find yourself today, in a place where you are desperate to discover God's full plan for your life, don't allow your heart to grow so frustrated that you forget that God has called you to follow Him today and today's obedience will lead you closer to what He has for you. Just another rambling...God Bless!

Snap Shot

Sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words...I am feel so blessed to be dad to two amazing kids. God is so good and I pray that He would continue to give me wisdom and strength to steward my kids, these precious gifts well. If you keep up with these ramblings then you probably have read about "snap shot" moments, moments that you just know you want to capture in your heart and mind because you don't want to forget them and because you know that when you think of this moment it will always in some way warm your heart. This picture is one of those moments. Yeserday, my daughter received a package from her birth father and as you can see from the picture she loved the gift. The Elmo doll is almost as tall as she is...As she embraced Elmo, I could not help but to think and hope that she would also embrace her adoption as God's story. I know that God has great things in store for her life and I pray that she would pursue Him as her greatest need and greatest treasure.

Happy New Year

I am currently reading through the book of Genesis. And right now I am reading about the life of Abram as he was known before God changed his name to Abraham. He has always been one of my favorite old testament characters. I have always found his faith and trust in God to be inspiring. This morning I was reading in Genesis 12where God comes to Abram and says "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you." Crazy stuff right off the bat. Abram's entire life was grounded and centered in his home land of Ur of the Chaldeans. Yet in a moment his entire world is flipped upside down. He has to make a decision to let go of all that he had found his security in and follow God. Now there was a great promise given to Abram from God...
"I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the people on earth will be blessed through you."
Now I would say that is a huge promise given to him by God. But the fact still remains it required some things of Abram. I believe that God is going to do some amazing things this year in the life of our church, in the lives of our people and in me and my family as well. But as I read and meditated on this passage this morning the Lord showed me some principles that I need to keep in mind if I truly want to see God's plans for my life come to fruition.

#1. Faith must be put into action...Abram had to obviously step out in faith. He had to be willing to let go of the things he found security in and place his life in God's hand. Remember God said I want you to leave your country, your friends, your home, everything. Basically God was looking for full surrender. We see in verse 4 that it states that "Abram went, as the Lord had told him;" I love that. No delay, just immediate obedience. When God speaks there must be a response from us. God doesn't reveal His heart and will for our entertainment, but for our benefit, obedience and His glory. If we are going to get to the place God has called us to or achieve the things He has placed on our hearts, its going to have to start with faith that leads to movement. We must be willing to live a "no safety net life", a life that rest in the fact that He who has called me is faithful to see me all the way through to the other side.

#2. The journey and the vision that God calls us to is one of worship...I think we sometimes confuse worship with just being the songs we sing in church. That is only a small piece of worship. Worship is my entire life lived in response to God. Worship is giving God the honor He is due. Worship is recognizing that there is a force much greater than me that is worthy of my life, devotion, gratitude and attention. Throughout this journey that Abram is on you will read this statement "So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord."Abram never allowed the vision to overshadow the One who had given him the vision. Abram remembered that as great as the promise was, the One who had made the promise was and is much greater. Sometimes we can become so fixed on God's plan that we fail to acknowledge God and worship God through the journey. If we are not careful the very promise and plans of God can become the idols that keep us from Him. It is important that we recognize that God is and will forever be our greatest need, our greatest joy and our greatest delight so therefore we must make sure that daily God remains our greatest pursuit.

#3. The plans that God has for us stretch a lot further than us...In God's promise to Abram He states "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." What God wants to do in us and through us stretches much further than we can imagine. Our faith today and our undivided worship of God can be blazing a trail for generations to come. I know that may sound crazy, but just imagine this for a second. My faith and life of worship today will have an impact on my wife, my children and my friends. My obedience to God's call and His Truth will affect the lives of those I am intimate with. Leaving a legacy of faith is just as important if not more important than leaving a will. Don't minimize the fact that what you are doing today in the realm of obeying and worshipping God will echo loudly long after you are gone.

Just another rambling, but I pray that you are expecting God-sized things in this new year of 2009. And as you seek those things remember some of these principles, they may serve you well. God Bless.

Merry Christmas

I pray that each of you who stumble across these ramblings have a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I pray that each of you enjoy the time with family and friends and in the midst of all it not miss the significance and power of this time. May Christ be and continue to be the greatest gift your treasure and worship.

Last night we held two Christmas Eve services. We were blown away by the response. Both services were packed and there was such a great spirit. We had six individuals trust Christ as their personal Savior. It was truly a wonderful time. Please pray for these individuals as they begin this new journey with the Savior, Jesus Christ. Our Naples Campus held their first ever Christmas Eve service and it was also well attended. Hats off to Crossroads Church for allowing us to use their facility for this service. We appreciate their Kingdom mindedness.

As I write this I am enjoying time away with my family in Miami. In just a few moments we will be gathering around the table for a special Christmas meal and then we will move into the family room where Papaw, as the grandkids love to call him, will read the Christmas story, and then we will tear into presents deep into the night. You have never seen so many gifts. Papaw and Memaw begin buying gifts December 26th and store them through out the year. It is quite the sight. Whatever your traditions are I wish you a blessed Christmas.

My son, Max, and I just returned from the park. A park that I spent a lot of time myself at as a youth. As I chased Max around the park I began to think about how much I miss the diversity of this city. My family and I love living on West Coast but it doesn't have the flavor of Miami. The diversity is certainly one of the things that I miss about this coast.

What is God Teaching You In This Season?

Today we had an extended leadership team meeting. Because of the craziness of our individual schedules we have not been able to sit, discuss, dream and plan as a team for about a month now. One of the things that we talked through today is the fact that God has definitely been revealing a lot to us individually. Some of the things are extremely exciting, some are a little scary and all of it is going to stretch us and require faith. We challenged each other to take the next couple of days to sort it out and do our best to jot our thoughts down on paper. I personally feel like God is doing something new in me in this season. I am excited to spend the next couple of days sorting out what I feel God has been revealing to me in regards to my life, my family and my personal role in ministry.

Spending the time to be still before the Lord is worth the investment. We are quickly coming to the end of another year and it may not be a bad exercise for you to take an extended time to sit and reflect on what God is teaching you in this season of your life. What is it that God has been revealing to you about His plans for your life in the coming months and days? What types of things does He want to strip and chisel away from your life? What are the things that He desires you to pursue in this season with wreck less abandon? What are the things that He is asking you to trust Him with? So here's my challenge grab your bible, your journal, your pen and a couple of coffee and begin reading, praying, listening, meditating, and writing down some of the things God is revealing to you. I guarantee you it will be worth the investment of time.

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13