Can "Heavy Metal" be about Jesus?
March 02, 2010
I was able to respond via Facebook, to a great parent today on the topic of musiic. http://www.facebook.com/zacgandara
Let me begin this blog by saying that the most successful parents are the most involved parents. She had some great thoughts and questions regarding music. Her son has become quite a metal head, and she’s become a bit nervous due to most of the “negative” propaganda of the world that has been put in the music thats out there.
Being in youth ministry 10 years now, this is most definitely something I have spoken to parents about before. So I wanted to blog abo ... read more
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Geez, been a while.
February 03, 2010
Sorry I haven't kept up on this blog. As on the go as I am its hard for me to log in to the NXL website. It doesn't like my Firefox and Safari browser very much, and I refuse to ever go back to using a PC. Mac's are amazing!!!
So for my more up to date, regular blogs head to... www.loveisnotlost.org
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The Blessing of the Tenderhearted
August 11, 2009
Proverbs 28:14 MSG "A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life; a hardhearted person lives a hard life."
Do we truly have tender hearts? I think every Christian likes to think that they are tenderhearted towards the Lord. But its not shown in our intentions for Christ but in our actual actions. Jesus said to His disciples, John 15:9-10 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
Do you see? This isn't about your ... read more
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The Power of an Un-insulated Heart
August 11, 2009
As I preached a message entitled “Love Is Not Lost” this past weekend I had one of those moments where I am humbled by the fact that the Holy Spirit is actually the teacher and I am just a vessel. It happens every time I minister the gospel, but this time was significant.
The voice of the Lord was so clear in giving revelation to the scriptures, it gripped the hearts of the people, but most of all myself. To maintain the purity of the voice of God let me just share with you the scripture that He spoke.
Matt 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was m ... read more
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Fear or Fear Not
August 11, 2009
The word fear has gotten a bad wrap. Obviously as Christians we are to “Fear Not”.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Such as Isaiah prophesied here. We are not to fear the things of the world. We are to use our faith to “remove mountains”. Faith is our weapon against fear. Faith has hope, faith has power, faith in our abundantly powerful God and His word changes situations and brings us great victory. Faith is the key ... read more
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Finding Yourself?
July 01, 2009
We have heard the phrase “find yourself” from gurus throughout the ages. Parents explain the behavior of their children as, “they are finding themselves.” When someone seems lost in the path of life, I have heard people say, “I am finding myself.” I am not sure why this is such a trend. Probably because so many in the world feel lost. They are unsure of who or what they are. Cross dressing, sex changes. Even Michael Jackson seemed to be always on a quest to find himself. Needing constant plastic surgery to alter his image of himself. Buildi ... read more
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REVOLUTION = CHANGE
June 17, 2009
REVOLUTION: Drastic and Far-Reaching Change in ways of thinking and behaving.
As Pastor Casey always says, “Change is the way of life.” If we don’t change we don’t grow. I was born on April 3, 1977. I know, I know, your thinking, “That guys old!!!” Well that may or may not be true, depending on your current age now. But age aside, what if I stayed the same? What if I was the same size today that I was on April 3, 1977? That would be creepy. I’d be like Stewy from The Family Guy. A creepy baby that talks like he’s 30 something.
&nb ... read more
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Make Your Tree!
April 21, 2009
Matt 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit."
How is your tree?
If your life was likened to a tree, would it be a good tree? A fruitful tree? A life giving tree? Jesus tells us to "make the tree". I think often times we Christians give up accountability for our own lives under the "mentality" that God is in control. If God is in control than why would Jesus tell us to "make the tree"? If He is in control, than He should make it, and we should watch and wait for ... read more
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NAME THE NXL BUFFALO MASCOT!!!!
April 01, 2009
We have a new face on the team! The Buffalo! You name him, we hang him.
COMMENT on this Blog to name the Buffalo!
He will be giving us thoughts of wisdom and encouragement, as well as advertising events and functions that you can came and join in on.
NAME THE BUFFALO BELOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF THIS BLOG!!!!!!!
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Fantasy Factory
March 18, 2009
So my Aunt Debbie in Oklahoma reminded me today that it has been 1 Month and 2 Weeks since my last blog! LOL Thanks Deb.
So here goes, I am blogging again.
We are starting a new series called Fantasy Factory tonight at NXL. Yes we got the name from Rob Dyrdeck's new show on MTV. Which by the way makes me LMAO. Which for you text newbies means Laugh My Butt Off. Ok, for us Christians LMBO.
But the truth is God gives us Fantasies. Fantasies that we are to turn into vision for our lives. God gave Abraham the vision of being the father of m ... read more
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Your Vehicle
February 04, 2009
For the last 6-7 years Jen and I have owned this little 4x4 Suzuki Grand Vitara. We bought it because Jen's Honda Civic was exploding and we needed a working vehicle. It had 2500 miles on it when we bought it, now it is holding on with about 150,000 miles. It is our only vehicle at this time and we enjoy the cheap insurance payments and having NO car payment. So we are not in any hurry to get something different or better. I am total fine being humbled to be the owner of a Suzuki. It has treated us well, much better than we have treated it.
I remember one ... read more
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What do I do when my life is under attack?
January 28, 2009
Today's Blog is a prelude to tonights NXL service, my first service back since the Nov 4th transplant.
I am so excited to share tonight. Jen and I have prayed and prepared a great "Coffee Talk" type night to discuss all we have been through in the last two years. How God led us to victory, and how we overcame emotions and thoughts of death and defeat.
The reality is, just because you love Jesus and are on course with His destiny for your life does not mean you wont face challenges and and attacks on your life. It is so important to live this life with the Holy Spirit of ... read more
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Yeah! Final Health Update
January 21, 2009
Well it has been three months since my Election Day Transplant. I have been problem and rejection free. All check ups have been positive and I have been given the clearence to return to fulltime ministry. Which includes traveling!
I am so thankful to God for how He taught me and got me through this. He truly does work all things for good!
I will officially begin preaching again on Weds Jan 28th. This time of rest and recovery has truly re-fired the gift of God in me. My 09 travel schedule has really been filling up since I want to make sure my focus r ... read more
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Honor the Former.
December 10, 2008
On Sunday Dec 7th, my Grandfather Louis Gandara passed on to be with the Lord. I at first had little emotional reaction. He was 78 years old and had been battling heart problems for the last year. Last week he was brought in to the hospital, and all hell had broken lose in his body. He said to my uncles, "I am ready to go home." "Home", of course being heaven. The bible tells us in Corinthians, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
My emotional reaction came when I had told Jen of his passing. At one moment, I had realized I had ... read more
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For those that read yesterdays blog!
December 04, 2008
So you can see my skills and not laugh anymore. Here is what I made Jen for dinner last night. Pretzel Crusted Fried Chicken, with a Cheddar Spicy Brown Mustard Sauce. BAM!
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Health Update 6, Gone Domestic!
December 03, 2008
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. God is such a good God. Well I have hit the 1 month milestone, And had nothing but great and positive reports from the Dr.s on all accounts. God truly has been glorified in the season of my life, and He is faithful to bring healing no matter what form it may come in. Pastor Seth (Donor) is doing well and getting back to ministry now.
I am feeling great. So great that I just want to get back to the ministry that I love and the calling that God has for me. I miss all of NXL and CFC, the team, the young peo ... read more
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Health Update 5, Plus Life Wisdom
November 13, 2008
As many of you know I had a kidney transplant last Tuesday. God is so good, and faithful. I have been out of the hospital for 3 days now. Feeling good, a little sore, but good. The Dr.'s are all in amazement to how well I am doing and how great everything is working and functioning.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and sacrifice in the spirit on behalf of Jen and I during this time. They were so felt by us through out the last 2 years.
Keep the prayers going as there are 1 month, 3 month and 1 year milestones that we must gain victory over until I am co ... read more
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Testimony of God's Grace
November 04, 2008
Tomorrow is the day. I am going through the process of receiving a kidney from a great friend of mine, Pastor Seth Trenda. I cant even begin to share how humbled I am, and grateful for this epic act of giving he has volunteered for. Truly laying his life and organ down to give long life and sustenance to me as well as to my wonderful wife Jen, my future children and grandchildren.
To God be the glory. 2 Cor 12:9, "My Grace is sufficient, My strength is made perfect in your weakness." This is the word God gave me at the beginning of this attack, and it still bring ... read more
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God is Such a Good God
October 15, 2008
I was once again reminded today what a good God he is to us. I was having a fairly normal Wednesday. Woke up early, prayed in the shower (it's one of my secret places), got dressed, taught some interns at a local church, had lunch with a youth pastor friend, etc. The list goes on. I had my normal prayer and study time for our Revolutionary Youth Services that we have tonight. As I was finishing that time a Youth Pastor Friend of mine kinda jumped on my heart. I was close by his office and asked him if I could stop by and say hi. We chatted for a f ... read more
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Media and Politics
October 11, 2008
I have been seeing and reading so much garbage in the media lately. We must remember that the Bible tells us the devil is the god of this world, he is the prince of the power of the air. Which means he will be controlling the main forms of media and communication here on earth.So we must all the more get our information from the Bible, not main stream media. As this years election comes closer. We must understand that this is not an election that is about Democratic/Republican, it is not about Male/Female, it is not about Black/White, but this election should have Chris ... read more
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The Goodness of the Lord of the Harvest
October 03, 2008
This week we had our annual Back to School Night service. It went great and was a wonderful success. I am always reminded how good God is and how stupid the enemy is. As a Youth Pastor who is leading our young people to be Christ like on campuses, and infiltrating the enemies territory weekly with service and love. I have come to the realization that when you mess with the enemies territory, then you really come under attack. The enemy does not want us to continue this movement to reap the souls of young people.I can list the ways he has tried to stop me in my bod ... read more
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Friendship. Honest or Political?
September 16, 2008
So often in this life, relationships are complicated. There are relationships you see people use for status, popularity or politics. There are relationships that are completely self-pleasing. There are relationships that are hurtful. It's just so complicated. Do you ever ask the question, "Why is this person being nice to me? What do they want?" I know I have, and the sad realization is that we are asking that question because we have been hurt in the past by someone who used us to gain status, political position, or just selfish ambition.But there are ... read more
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Health Update 4
September 07, 2008
God is so good. Each day I walk through this Kidney stuff, God shows me even more how much He has paved a way for me to walk, and His grace is overwhelming.
We are moving forward with the transplant process. The date of the surgery is now set for November 4th, 2008. Please keep those prayers coming. There is so much peace in Jen and I about all of this, but we need your prayer support even more now as the time gets closer.
Thank you all.
P.Z.
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The Comforter God
September 03, 2008
I have been reflecting for the last couple of weeks on the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I periodically keep a prayer journal. It's a little notebook that I write my prayers in as I pray them. For the last two weeks, I have began to see God bringing answers to those prayers. It has been so great to see Him hear and work in my life.Where are you in this journey of life with God? He wants to walk with you, He wants to work for you. It is so exciting. It is easy as saying, "Lord, I know you see this issue in me. Help me to fix it, work it out ... read more
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Jesus Christ and Him Crucified
August 22, 2008
Many times in life we are disappointed in people. We look to them for guidance, example, and wisdom. We hope in our hearts for a mentor, a father figure who is living the truth of God's word. We so desire to see their path and follow in their footsteps. It is a natural desire, because we were created in the image and likeness of our Father God. We are meant to follow Him, we were created to follow.But we must always remember, He gave us His Son. Our savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is our example. Romans tells us that we are "pre-destined to be ... read more
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Health Update 3
August 19, 2008
Hey guys, thanks for the prayers. The Doctors have given the word that the my body is infection free! We can now start planning the transplant.Thank you for your continued prayers I covet them and receive them. The next few months are crucial. Please pray my body is strengthened and strong for the operation. That it stays infection free and that all my body grows strong and stays healthy. That the procedure is guided by the Holy Spirit and is a success and a an easy, fast recovery.
Jesus is so amazing. His grace has shown through this entire process.
I ... read more
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Prayer for My Friend
August 04, 2008
When we go through this life we all go through test and trials, tough times, even spots where we feel like God has left us. It's apart of life. Sometimes the enemy is just pushing on our life because we are invading his territory. Then sometimes it's just as Jesus said, "in the world you will have tribulation, but fear not. I have overcome the world."We must always remember that He has promised us that, "His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness." As we fight for the souls of this generation, as end time warriors we must always lean ... read more
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Revolution Conference Testimonies
July 22, 2008
WOW! It was awesome! I am in AWE of the greatness of our God. As the Youth Pastor of NXL for almost 6 years now it is inspiring to see the visions and dreams that the Holy Spirit placed in me almost a decade ago coming to past in 2008! Many of you have no idea what I am talking about, because the NXL you see now is all you know. But I remember my first service, we had 75 kids in it. That was the SOUTH location. When we started up NORTH we had 12. To see now we are reaching almost 500 a week, is just amazing, and it still feel to small. We w ... read more
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Health Update 2
July 15, 2008
Hey everyone. I just returned from Baton Rouge, LA. Where I visited my good friend Joel Stockstill. He is such a blessing to me. I thank God for him, his wisdom and friendship through this entire health battle has been so God ordained. It's awesome to see God moving in my life, He knows everything I need and provides it so gracefully. Although I am feeling great and in good spirits as we prepare for Revolution Conference. I did want to update you on a little setback we had a couple of weeks ago. So that as you pray you can pray informed. Tw ... read more
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NXL in Everett Herald
July 14, 2008
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Great Commission! or Great Commission$?
June 27, 2008
Ok, Sorry this took so long to fix...So here I am, in a hotel room in San Antonio Texas at 4:30 am. I can’t sleep, in fact I’m not even tired. Not sure why, other than I am buzzing since I preached at the new Summit Christian Center. Beautiful new 5,000 seat sanctuary, a building ready to reap the end time harvest of souls for the kingdom of God. I can’t get souls off my mind. Its like the Holy Spirit keeps throwing the lives of people on my heart. Since I am awake I figure why not watch some TV. As I channel surf I keep running into more Christian TV ... read more
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An Excuse...Or a powerful life change?
June 24, 2008
For years Pastor Jeremy and I have witnessed people who make excuses every year about why they cant attend Revolution Youth Conference. I have heard them from kids, parents, youth, young adults, Youth Pastors, even Senior Pastors. The crazy thing is, we have also witnessed the people that truly make sacrifices to be able to come. People who have quit jobs, stayed home from vacations, changed major plans, dumped girlfriends/boyfriends, got off their couch (LOL), etc. And every year we see those people blessed beyond measure. And when we ask them,"Was it worth it?"& ... read more
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Praise God - Health Update
June 15, 2008
Hey All, I know so many of you have been praying for me over the last year. Thank you so much, I can feel those prayers as I walk out this victory over the kidney failure. I wanted to give you a little update as to the progress. As of now I am still on dialysis, but I am feeling strong and am regularly reminded that God's Grace is truly made perfect in my own weakness.Four very great friends stepped up to be possible donors for my future kidney transplant. We have narrowed it down to one, one of my closest youth pastor friends. (You know who you are, I love ... read more
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The Warrior
June 05, 2008
So I started a new series last night entitled "The Warrior-The Cause and The Cost". I'm am really stoked to be on this topic because it fits so well with the anthem of "The Revolutionary" that I feel God has placed on my heart and ministry.Based on the scripture in 2 Tim 2:3-4 "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.""Endure Hardship", that sounds at first like a rough calling. But if you look in the margin of your Bibl ... read more
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Generation Revolution- For Youth Pastors
May 28, 2008
I feel so blessed to be called to youth ministry in this day and age. God has given me such a vision for the future of Next Level Youth at Christian Faith Center, and it’s big, very big. Can we make a dent in our generation? Not a ripple, or a ding, but a serious dent. There are 75 million young people in our generation. And we have to believe that they are crying out for a God to intervene in their lives and rock them with His power, love, and a movement of a generation that will actually fulfill Matthew 28, “the great commission” of making disciples. Youth ... read more
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Deleted from the Friends List
December 10, 2007
Being a Youth Pastor on myspace I see and chat with a lot of young people. It's awesome to see how many truly have a heart for God, and openly display it on their pages.
Then there are those individuals that I find myself deleted from their friends list and their page has gone private. I have over 1200 friends on myspace, i barely have time to check my own in box and friend requests, let alone look at other people's pages and judge their live's based on their page.
My only thought is..."Why would someone delete their Youth Pastor from their friends list?"
Not sure I want to know ... read more
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The Revolution of Self Confidence, Just some thoughts, dont freak out about this.
December 10, 2007
For the majority of my life I have relentlessly pursued the Ideal of Success. I have (for as long as I can remember) had an unquenchable thirst more information, more books, and writings, studies, and psychological findings on the nature of the human mind. To understand what this gift God has so graciously given us. The gift of the sub-conscious mind. The mind that works when you dont even realize it. The "spirit" of the mind. Each of us is programmed. We are programmed to operate with certain believes, of life, of God, of spirituality, of money, of health, of ourselves, of others...etc. We ... read more
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