Choose Happiness

I came across an interesting focus group study from a psychology professor at Harvard in preparing this week’s sermon. 

It concluded after 2 years of focus groups that people who make a conscious effort to continuously acknowledge the positive things in their life, experienced 3 times more joy than people who dwelt on what’s not working in their life. Yet, sadly the study also documented that over 70% of the people involved in the study felt a shortage of things to be grateful as they tended to be based on promotion, resources, or material acquisitions.   

One of the awesome gifts for us as followers of Christ, is that we have no shortage of opportunities to express our gratitude and thankfulness for what Our Heavenly Father is doing in our lives. 

We don’t have to look very far or for too long to see His blessings, whether on the mountain tops or valleys of life. 

I think we can all agree that our Heavenly Father is constantly demonstrating His goodness and loving kindness toward us. 

The Bible says:

“Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.” 

- James 1:17

Every day and in every situation we can and should find something that we can be thankful for. 

If we want to be experience happiness beyond our expectation in 2022 don’t allow yourself to get into the habit of always complaining about what’s not working in your life. 

Just keep changing the proverbial station back to 101 -gratitude if you find yourself channel surfing in the gloomier stations. 

The Bible says in Psalms 136:7 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Something to ask yourself today, every day and throughout the day. 

What are 3 things you can thank the Lord for doing in your life right now? Even if you are home sick with flu or Covid.

Once you find them, consider thanking God, not just now but as many times you can throughout the day.  

I can’t wait to party with all of you on Sunday.  

Pastor Rick

Peace of God

God wants you to experience that supernatural peace you feel every Sunday at Beach Church every day of this New Year. 

Below, are some ways God wants us to experience and manifest His peace.  

1.     God wants us to experience a spiritual peace with Him.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:18: 

“God ... sent Christ to make peace between Himself and us.”

God doesn’t want us to live disconnected from Him. But let us all remember Peace with God doesn’t come from something we do. Peace with God comes from what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. 

2.     God also wants us to know His Peace within us. 

The Bible has a word for this type of emotional peace.  It’s called the “peace of God”

The bible says in Colossians 3:15: 

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” 

3.     God wants us to experience Peace with others. 

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:16: 

“Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” 

 The further we are from God, the more our relationships with others are strained and challenged. The way to have lasting peace with others is to be united as children of God.

Ask yourself today, what peace above needs strengthening and then ask God for help in that area. I promise you, if you ask Him, He shall deliver. 

I look forward to seeing you all Sunday. 

Pastor Rick

Meekness

I wanted to follow up to Sunday’s sermon on Meekness.  As I highlighted, meekness was historically often associated with being weak and wimpy; for this reason, meekness may be among the most misunderstood words in the scriptures!

Per our operational handbook (The Bible) Meekness is strong, not weak; active, not passive; courageous, not timid; restrained, not excessive; modest, not self-aggrandizing; and gracious, not brash. 

Below are some attributes of the fruit of meekness that will manifest in your life as you grow spiritually: 

1. The Meek Have Self-Control

There are going to be days when things don’t go your way. If, say, you’re driving down the Corridor and someone drives right up to your car bumper going 100mph, how do you respond? You could get angry, yell some profanities, even slow down to further escalate the situation, or give them a hand sign.

Yet, as believers we have another option, as that’s too submit to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to the fruit of meekness.

One of Heavenly Father’s greatest gifts is the freedom to act for ourselves. We can control how we act. We don’t have to yell or scream. Instead, the scriptures say we should interact “by gentleness and meekness” We have a choice whether to surrender or lose control. 

2. The Meek Are Humble and Teachable

When I was learning to drive, my friend Colin wanted to teach me how to jump-start a car. With jumper cables in hand, he opened the hood of our car and told me where the cables go on the engine.

“Yeah, I already know how to do it, Colin.” I said, even though I really didn’t.

A short time later, my friend’s car battery died. He asked if I could give his car a jump. I grabbed the jumper cables from my trunk, looked at my friend’s car, and just stood there. I had no clue how to jump start a car. At that moment, I wished I had been humble enough to listen to my friend Colin.

When we’re humble, we’re teachable. When we’re teachable, we learn. Learning brings knowledge, skill, progress—and strength.

We’re here to learn and prepare for eternal life—something way more important than how to use jumper cables. And our Heavenly Father has a lot to teach us about it. He promises the humble that He will lead them by the hand. Being humble and teachable is essential to our progress and happiness.

3. The Meek Forgive

Has someone hurt your feelings or mistreated or disrespected you? It can be hard to forgive and let it go. But if we don’t forgive, bitterness and anger can grow and become a very heavy burden.

Jesus taught us to forgive. He said, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” With Jesus’s help, you can forgive, rise above the hurt, and move forward with peace. Forgiving is a sign of meekness.

 4. The Meek Say “I’m Sorry”

There might be times when you are the one who has hurt someone’s feelings. Owning up to your mistakes is not easy but saying “I’m sorry”—and meaning it—is an important part of meekness. A genuine apology requires strength of character. It shows that you’re willing to make things right when you’ve done wrong.

5. The Meek Serve Others

When Jesus and His disciples were gathered for the Passover, Jesus took a moment to wash His disciples’ feet. He then told them, “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent is greater than he that sent him.”

The meek consider it a privilege to serve others, and with that get to take the focus off themselves. As too much introspection is unproductive and dangerous.

 PS: Let’s all remember this week that being meek might seem challenging, but we are promised that we are not alone in our efforts. As Jesus said:

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

 See you Sunday,

Pastor Rick

Gobble Gobble

A lot of us from Beach Church celebrate Thanksgiving. 

But let’s all remember; God wants us to be thankful and grateful every day just not on Thanksgiving. 

The truth is, the more deeply you understand God’s love, the more grateful you’re going to be. 

Not only does He want us to be grateful, but He wants us to be radical in our gratitude. 

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: 

 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” That’s radical gratitude. You can thank God in every circumstance because God is in control.

He can bring good out of evil. He can even turn around the stupid mistakes we’ve made. 

No matter what happens, God isn’t going to stop loving us. 

There are a hundred things to be thankful for in any circumstance, even when the circumstance stinks, like all this new traffic on the corridor or the crazy inflation at Costco. The beautiful thing about Gratitude and a Thankful heart, is that also builds deeper relationships between us and other people, and between us and God. Whoever you want to get closer to, start expressing gratitude to that person. 

Whether writing little notes of kindness and encouragement. 

You could start today by sending a couple WhatsApp messages of encouragement to a Family member or co-worker, friend or to Paloma for her awesome prayers on Sunday. 

You could simply say how thankful or grateful you are to have them in your life. 

These little blasts of Thankfulness can transform you heart as well as those you reach out too. The Bible tells us to:  

“encourage one another and build each other up.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11. 

As you build others up, you’ll find that God builds you up through deeper relationships with Him and others.

I look forward to seeing you all Sunday. 

Pastor Rick

Grace-base Discipline

I wanted to follow up on my Sunday sermon on discipline over regret.  

Discipline is often a touchy subject. I guess, it’s because as adults living in Cabo, we want to avoid having to face discipline in our lives, either from a boss, friend, spouse, or God.

As we continue to grow in faith, the Lord is going to lead us to practice grace-based self-discipline, which is a proactive measure in our lives to limit being disciplined from outside sources. 

Grace based self-discipline causes us to make the right choices in our lives that lead to positive results.

The process of exercising grace-based self-discipline is the key for ensuring that we continue down our path of sanctification.

Yet, as I shared on Sunday, the desire to self-discipline is manifested by God’s grace working in us which I’m calling grace-based self-discipline. 

As it’s grace-based self-discipline what allows us to choose what we want MOST over what we want NOW. Without God’s grace we’re led more often to choose now over most. 

The Bible says in Luke 16:10

"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities.” 

Being faithful requires us to participate in our own self-discipline. God knows that if you aren’t willing to partner with in taking care of yourself (not just material things, but also your body, your family, your job) that you might not be ready for too many assignments to help your neighbors.

Thus, it’s so important to practice grace-based self-discipline in our own lives so were practicing what we preach.

Self-discipline also keeps us healthy. It says in 1 Corinthians 9:21

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 

Taking care of our physical health is extremely important to our spiritual lives, because if we are sick and exhausted, we physically can’t do the things God wants us to do as we could find ourselves held back from even walking down the beach to Beach Church in five years.    

By disciplining ourselves to be active and choosing a healthy lifestyle we’ll be able to best serve our family, neighbors, and God.

Obviously, physical health is very important, but it is just one aspect of health in our lives. Spiritual, emotional, and even social health, all bring balance to our lives and help us to live out the lives that God wants us to live. 

We need  grace-based self-discipline to prioritize quiet time with God and to spend quality time with our family and friends. 

These things don’t naturally happen in our lives if we don’t make them a priority. Our flesh is constantly waging war against us and our desires to do the right things and we must fight it every day.

Making right choices takes serious self-discipline. If we want to be spiritually, physically, and relationally healthy, we must do our part in conjunction with God.

Grace-based self-discipline Increases our focus and productivity, it says in Proverbs 13:4

“Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” 

When you exercise grace-based self-discipline in your life, your mind is freed up to focus on what you need to focus on, instead of all the things you feel like you should be doing. Negative thoughts attack us every day, and when we lack self-discipline in our lives and neglect to do the things we know we need to be doing, those negative thoughts attack hard. 

These thoughts can make us feel ashamed of ourselves, and when we walk around with shame and self-hatred, it consumes our focus and steals our productivity. On the contrary, when we feel good about ourselves and most of the choices we are making (since we won’t ever make ALL good choices), we have more confidence in ourselves, God is working through us, and when we put our hands to things, they prosper.

The bottom line is that a grace-based self-disciplined life brings us closer to God and puts us in a better position to hear from Him. It causes us to make better choices and walk in the path God has for us because we take time to listen to His voice. 

We experience His peace when we walk through hard times because we are disciplined to study His word and we remember His promises about carrying us through. We can bless others by making ourselves available to speak God’s Word into their lives. 

A spiritually strong life is a wonderful life to live, but it doesn’t come without our effort and participation with God.  

I promise you, if you are willing to partner with God in choosing what you want MOST over what you want NOW, God’s grace will lead you to victory.

I look forward to seeing you all Sunday.

Pastor Rick

Let Jesus Drive

Hello, my beautiful family of faith,  

I wanted to follow up to my Sunday sermon on “Surrendering Our Will to God’s Will” in accordance with Luke 9:23 

And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” 

The holy grail of sustaining peace and happiness in our life’s is derived from giving God the proverbial wheel of our life and getting in the passenger’s seat. Trust me the guy can drive! 

As, it says in the book of Mathew: 

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” - Mathew 6:33

From my experience, I believe most people resist the idea of surrendering to God because it means giving up control or our individuality. 

Specially in our culture that places such a great emphasis on individualism and self-reliance. 

Heck, Mr. Blue Eyes even wrote a song about it. If that doesn’t make any sense to you send me a WhatsApp. I’ll explain it. 

The idea of surrendering control to someone else, even God, can feel very unsettling and unnatural even in Los Cabos.  

So many of us have been going through life, carving their own path, constantly trying to piece it all together, in the midst of all the struggles we face as consequences of trying to control everything. 

As I said on Sunday, doing it “my way” didn’t work out very well for me as a lot of the chapters of my life before truly surrendering to God were right out of a Stephen King horror novel.  

Thank goodness I met Paloma after I stopped trying to do it “my way“ as she would’ve kicked me to the highway.  Hey, that rhymes! 

I guess, part of the human experience is to try to do it our way until we realize the end results are less then desirable. 

While process of elimination is one way about going after growth, we don’t have to keep experiencing challenges of doing things by our own self-control in order to be convinced surrendering is the way and path of least resistance.  

Save yourself a lot of trouble, confusion, and brokenness, by simply surrendering your will to God this morning and everyday thereafter to your Heavenly Father 

When we truly surrender our will over to our Heavenly Father every day, we realize pretty quickly that joy isn’t about serving ourselves but serving others. 

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”- Acts 23:25

Life is about living from the source of all life, God himself.  When we’re plugged into Him and His Will, we’ve tapped into the holy grail of happiness and peace.

As, it says in the book of Romans:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I encourage you to take some time in silence this morning and ask Jesus to take the wheel. Turn it all over to Him.  Get yourself in the passenger’s seat.  Kick your feet up, turn on some Bob Marley or the Eagles and enjoy the ride. 

“Don’t worry, be happy.“ 

https://youtu.be/L3HQMbQAWRc - By Bob Marley and the Whalers

 But give God your everything, Including your gifts, your talents, your accomplishments, and your failures.  The more you surrender, the more joy you’re going to have. 

Below is one of the scriptures from last Sunday: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” 

Remember, you can Speak to Him as you would to any good friend. Tell Him you are tired of trying to do this life all alone.  

As, it says in the book of John:

“If we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”

I promise you that you’ll experience a giant and immediate relief as God didn’t intend for you to drive life alone! 

“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11

Can’t wait to see you Sunday, 

Pastor Rick

Don't Forget to Recharge Your Batteries

Don’t forget to recharge your batteries!

The other day, I forgot to charge my cell phone overnight and woke up to a dead battery. As a result, the alarm on my phone never went off and Luke was late to school and the morning was in that finally panic mode. 

Have you felt out of a spiritual juice and feeling like you needed a good recharging?

There are going to be times in our lives when we feel charged and full of joy and zeal. We’re also going to go through times when, like my cell phone, we will feel drained of energy and overwhelmed. 

Here are some common ways we can drain our batteries, at least this is my own experience. 

1. Forgetting to recharge. Just like I forgot to plug in my cell phone, we often neglect to plug back in, whether by talking to God, reading our operational handbook (the Bible) or fellowshipping when our lives get so busy.  I’m going to talk more about this on Sunday at Chileno Beach at 10:30am.

2. We often go over our minutes. The Bible focuses a lot on developing positive relationships with other believers to bring us closer to God’s Kingdom. Yet, unfortunately, we can sometimes spend a lot of our time with people who just drain our batteries. We need to use good discernment when dealing with worldly people.  Don’t get me wrong, we need to love on everyone, but at the same time, remember we are no good to anyone if we are out of battery. This is one of the reasons Jesus was always walking off to have quiet communion with His Father. 

3. Blowing a fuse. Have you ever tried to plug too many things into one circuit and blown a fuse? When we are trying to do too much at once it’s easy to blow a fuse and fully disconnect. That’s why it’s so important during times of increased stress to make time to plug into and maintain our charge by giving Jesus Christ the burden or worry we’re trying to carry ourselves. Mathew 11:28 is my go-to verse to lift up my cares. 

The Good news for us is that God’s spiritual strength is made perfect in our human weakness, even when we’re feeling drained and distant from God. His strength charges us when we plug back into His power, mercy and love. 

As, it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9

"My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness." So, I'll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ's power can rest on me” 

Yet, He needs us to plug back in. Thus, it becomes crucial to know when and how to plug back into God’s Kingdom.  

Below are some basic ideas to get re-charged when your batteries are low:

1. Go somewhere away from all distractions. Many times, I go for a walk at El Tule or in the mountains to reconnect.

2. Grab coffee with a fellow believer. 

3. Find a cozy corner in your house and read the Word.

4. Listen to some worship music.

5. Come to Beach Church this Sunday.😉

6. Have a conversation with God out loud. Let Him know what’s been going on in your life.

Remember, God needs us to stay charged so we can know His peace and joy and fulfill the great commission.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Pastor Rick

Oil Change

Who wants to change their spiritual motor oil today? 

I was laughing to myself on Monday as I started drafting this week’s mid-week message on how I got caught up in all these car analogies the past 3 weeks. 

FYI: For all those non-car enthusiasts please bear with me. I’m sure I’ll switch it to surfing or snowboarding soon enough. 

Back to message: When you finally get a chance today to sit and have some communion with God after work and all your to-dos are checked off. 

Find a quiet place in your house and simply say to God that you want to have Him make you aware of anything that you could be doing or not doing that could be interfering with you experiencing the abundance of His peace and joy. 

Thereafter, repeat the following scripture from Psalms 139:

 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” 

This spiritual exercise can help create some awareness that have perhaps blocked your spiritual engine from running smoothly down the highway of life.  

Upon sitting quietly which isn’t always easy to do as our mind is still running mental errands try to listen or feel what God puts on your heart:  

(This deeply rewarding spiritually cleansing exercise can take some practice and patience) 

Once God speaks to your heart whether He illuminated some sin or resentment or perhaps He just reminded you He wants you to be in His Word more, follow His directions! 

Do what you need to do whether repenting, apologizing to someone, or even carving out more time for Him tomorrow. Just remember, the longer you put off whatever He puts on your heart the greater probability you are going to breakdown on the side of the road. 

This spiritual exercise will help you find and experience more joy and peace from bad habits, resentments, covert or overt sin, hurts, strongholds that are clogging your engine. 

Remember, like your car, it’s all about maintenance that keeps it driving well versus waiting for it to breakdown before you give it attention.  

I look forward to seeing you all November 7th at Chileno beach. 

Pastor Rick

The Corridor

This might be one of strangest Mid-Week messages on my heart to share as driving safely traditionally doesn’t usually fall under the umbrella of pastoral care. 

Yet, your well-being behind the wheel has been on my heart especially as the Corridor between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas has become equivalent to Germany’s autobahn. 

As Los Cabos gets more crowded, driving on the corridor gets statistically more dangerous. The Corridor in Los Cabos is considered one of Mexico’s most dangerous highways by the number of accidents per kilometer.

Upon God watering my desire to-share something on this subject. I turned to our operational handbook (Bible) for wisdom and direction on how we could all safeguard ourselves while navigating the Corridor. 

I was led to the Great Apostle Paul’s wisdom in the book of Philippians:

 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others”

I found this verse to be applicable to staying safe on the Corridor not only for ourselves but others.

As, God wants us as people of faith to do our part to keep the highway safe by not driving selfishly or with pride but to be humble and consider our actions and those of other drivers around us. 

I believe by taking this spirit led approach while driving in the hustle and bustle of the Los Cabos Corridor it should help ensure our safety and others.  

Yet, regardless of how safe we drive, it’s important to look heavenwards for help whenever you get behind the wheel. After all, asking the Lord for guidance and safekeeping can provide a valuable sense of comfort on the roads.

Below is a simple prayer that perhaps you could read before you start the engine or some variation of it that the spirit puts on your heart.   It could simply be a new routine of buckling up and praying up.  

“Our Father who art in Heaven, I pray to you for assistance as we start our vehicle today. Keep us safe on the Corridor. Surround us with your love, shield us from harm. As the driver of the car, I pray that you’ll give me patience too. Patience with dangerous and selfish drivers! Please, Father, help me stay alert one the road and alert for my fellow drivers and me, please protect and keep us all safe.  In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.”

Lastly, I just wanted to share a couple simple driving suggestions for the Corridor.  As you probably know, the left lane is the fast lane. Those wanting to drive fast have the right of way even though you might be going the legal speed limit. If you’re in left lane and driving the speed limit and have a driver speeding right up and on your back bumper, which by the way is very scary and intimidating. The safest and simplest thing to do is put your right blinker on letting them know you acknowledge them. Upon it being safe move into the right lane to let them pass at your soonest opportunity.  

Don’t let your pride keep you in the left lane as it will only escalate a dangerous situation.

The bottom line is that a lot of those horrible accidents we’ve all seen on the Corridor happen by cars following too closely. 

Remember, smartphones keep us connected, but also lead to a lot of accidents.  

Smartphones have something called “Car Mode” which turns off notifications from social media, texting, and WhatsApp while you’re moving.  So, you don’t feel compelled to check you phone while driving on the Corridor.  Sadly, cellphone usage caused 1.6 million accidents last year up North with one out of every four crashes being caused by texting and driving.

I hope this unexpected message is received in the spirit as it was written as your well-being is of the utmost importance to me. 

Pastor Rick

Godrail

I wanted to follow up to my Sunday sermon on how to find sustainable happiness regardless of circumstances.  I titled last Sunday’s message “Your New Zip Code.” 

Anyway, if you haven’t seen it and want to, click on the below link.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjjwr2Vg96U

My apologies if that came across like a bad info commercial. 

Moving on - Did you know God tells us to be happy more times in scripture than any other command with words and verses like “rejoice,” “be of good cheer,” “do not be afraid,” “give thanks”? 

As I said in last week’s Sunday’s message, the first thing Jesus taught the disciples was about happiness. 

What a cool Lord we serve. So Cabo and in-line with our very own “No Bad Days“ saying down here! 

One of the things that Paloma and I were talking about all week is just how much our son needs our help as parents to develop boundaries, so he experiences true happiness from social media, T.V. and all the other screens of life that are trying to tell him who and how to be. 

It led me to deeply meditate this week on how much God knows our own happiness, as adults can only be found inside His boundaries for our live. 

If you think about it - all of God’s commands are all instructions for us to stay happy and in our new zip code.  

The things in our lives that leads to misery are all things that happen outside of God’s zip code like pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, anger, resentment, and the multitudes of other sins.  

However, the things that leads to sustainable happiness, regardless of circumstances, are all part of following and obeying God. 

Think about it for a second, God is about love, healthy relationships, community, unselfishness, gratitude, resilience and grace. 

I’m a “keep it simple stupid kinda guy” and all I know is that my own happiness comes when I simply seek God and obey Him! Thus, staying in His zip code. 

Yet, in today’s world, happiness seems so elusive, doesn’t it? 

There are so many books that have been written about finding happiness, websites, seminars, movies, songs! Why? Because so many people are still searching for it.

But, I believe, along with all of you from Beach Church, that not only does God want us to be happy, but He also gave us the instructions to find it and live it. 

Remember the Word of God is transformative. Meaning it has the power to leap from the pages into our heart and regenerate our spirits to better receive and exude happiness!

For example: in Psalm 84:5, God says our happiness is in His strength. 

Once we absorb the below scripture and let it permeate in our heart we start walking in victory and not defeat. 

Here’s the scripture:

“Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage” Psalms 84:5

When we try to live our lives on our own strength, we won’t find happiness. God’s strength allows us to surrender the weight of our worry and anxiousness to Him and walk in the joy of freedom, versus being bogged down in the heaviness of life. 

Let me close by sharing that deep, profound, and unwavering happiness is in our obedience and desire to live under God’s authority and in His zip code. 

It says in proverbs 29:13 

“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.”

The above scripture was illuminated on my heart the other day as I drove past the Cabo Surf Hotel - along the cliff that has thaw guardrails. You know the spot where they sell

Coconuts.  The guardrails brought me comfort knowing if someone swerved into me, as we cornered and passed that vista that the guardrails (boundaries) would prevent me from veering off the edge of the cliff. 

My point is, without the restraint of those guardrails, I would experience a certain level of fear and vulnerability.  

Similarly, to how my son Luke would feel if he had no boundaries or rules growing up regarding the internet and screens.  

Well, that is how I feel about God’s laws He have given us.   It is not a set of rules to keep us from enjoying life. On the contrary, they’re there to provide us security and tons of happiness as He knows what is best for us. 

I’m simply saying “Father knows best. “ 

Have a super happy day coming under God’s authority!

Pastor Rick

IN STORMS: WHO HAS THE WHEEL?

I wanted to follow up to my Sunday sermon “Walking on Water,” by breaking down the Word of God from Matthew 14:22 with a little more detail. 

1. The Word of God from Matthew 14:22-26

“And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”

💜In many regards, I believe like the disciples this season of life has put the entire planet on a boat in a storm. It seems like you can’t open a Newspaper or log into the internet anymore without reading about a new storm forming or brewing.  Yet, we need to continue to replace our fear with faith and know the Lord is in control and in the boat with us.  

Question: Where can you replace fear with faith in an area of your life? 

2. The Word of God from Matthew 14:28

“And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.”

💜There are people who want to focus on Peter's lack of faith, but in my humble opinion, he modeled incredible faith in just wanting to walk on water. Yes, he sank as he took his eyes off Jesus, but he went for it.  You can expect great things of God when we step out in faith in the name of Jesus, certainly Peter did that! As Moses did when he stepped off the bluff in faith to have God part the sea. 

Question: Where can you take that leap of faith in your own walk? 

3. The Word of God from Matthew 14:29

“And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

💜It's no wonder that God used Peter in such mighty ways even after his bouts of doubt. God knew Peter might have his moments of struggle, as we would, but at the end of the day Peter's faith and ours would persevere.  

Question: What set back in your own life turned into a comeback and major steppingstone of your faith?  Remember if He did it before He’ll do it again. The more we trust God, even in our moments of doubt, the more assignments He’ll give us to enlarge the Kingdom as did with Peter.  

4. The Word of God from Matthew 14:30

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. “

💜Remember, it’s not how long or perfect your prayers are, it’s the heart and trust of how you ask those matters. When Peter began to sink, he prayed the shortest prayer in the Bible, “Lord, save me!” If Peter had prayed longer that night to show off how knowledgeable and spiritually enlightened he was, he would have sunk before Jesus saved him. When we feel ourselves sinking, all you have to say is “Lord, save me. “ 

Question:  What do you want to ask the Lord for help with today?  Be direct and keep it simple.  He just wants you to ask! He’s not looking to be wowed by your words.  

5. The Word of God from Matthew 14:31

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

💜Peter’s problem was that he took his eyes off Jesus when his fear led him to focus on the big rolling waves come in. As I highlighted in the introduction, it’s so easy to take our eyes off Jesus and get caught up in the waves of the fear-provoking news cycles and the spreading of fear that gives us that sinking feeling. So, let’s change the channel and start filling our minds with God’s Word and less of man's words. 

Question:  Is there any room in your life to reduce your screen time and replace it with quiet time with God? 

6. The Word of God from Matthew 14:32-33 

“And when they came into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. “

💜Let us all take stock that our Lord and Savior has rescued all of us at one time in our life or, like me, many times.  He’s always been there, yet we need to relinquish the wheel to Him and allow Him to charter our boat.  The big question that is often asked is whether we need to hold or let go of the wheel of life? Let me answer that spiritual riddle by saying when I’ve held on to the wheel to tightly out of fear or not wanting to relinquish control to Jesus, I was often shipwrecked, marooned, and led to isolation and depression.  Thus, for me, I’ll gladly give the wheel to Jesus.  I like the saying “let go, let God. “

Question: Is there an area of your life that you could relinquish the wheel to God, perhaps in your marriage, work life, or how about a friendship with a friend or child? 

Have a blessed week and don’t forget Jesus is in the boat with all of us - give Him the wheel!

Pastor Rick

GRATITUDE

First, I want to start off with giant round of gratitude for our awesome Lord and Savior for protecting Los Cabos from yet another hurricane!  Can I get an amen? 

In last Sunday’s message, I was highlighting that disappointment is just a part of life but that it doesn’t have to cut us off from experiencing Heaven on Earth if we stay in that attitude of gratitude.  I know it’s easier said than done! 

Below are some reasons why having an attitude of gratitude and why creating a daily or weekly gratitude list, can sometimes be the best antidote for a bad case of disappointment.  

Before I breakdown the reasons why gratitude can break the handcuffs of disappointment, how about we first loosen up a little bit with a joke on disappointment.  Ok, here it goes.  

“I recently ordered an online Bible course on how to deal with life’s disappointment”

Yesterday I got the first lesson by email, “It was blank!”

Are you laughing? Or was it another failed attempt like so many of my flops on the beach? 

Ok, let’s get back to our list on how gratitude can fend off disappointment and return us to our lifecation of Heaven on Earth. 

1.    Gratitude opens our spiritual eyes to Heaven on Earth. There’s a beautiful cycle in giving God thanks: the more we thank God, the more we see Him working in us and around us. Gratitude helps us experience Heaven on Earth even in the eye of a hurricane, albeit it took a tad more effort during hurricane Odile as we huddled in the closet in 3 inches of water. Yet eventually the Lord led us to be grateful for our safety, our family being together, and that we had a lot of dry towels. 

2.     Gratitude puts us squarely in God’s will. We often make God’s will out to be some big, mystical plan, when sometimes, it’s simply obedience to our operational handbook of life (the Bible) we then, out of love for God, need to be obedient in being thankful, not just on the sunny days but also during hurricanes. 

Sorry, for all the hurricane references. I’ll try to stop. 

Regarding God’s will about us needing to be thankful, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

3.     Gratitude brings the presence of Heaven on Earth.  As I highlighted in last Sunday’s sermon, gratitude helps us see that God’s hand is all over our circumstances and that we can trust Him with the things we don’t have control over, like people, and circumstances like hurricanes (hahaha) that cause disappointments or slow Telmex internet or the schools not being fully opened yet. 

The Bible says in Philippians:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”

4.     Gratitude brings contentment.  If we aren’t grateful for what God has given us, getting more won’t satisfy us either. Being thankful is the key to contentment and overcoming disappointment 

This is what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:6 about contentment: 

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.”

5.     Gratitude guards against envy, which is a big cause of creating disappointment in our life. Envy makes us want what someone else has. Gratitude makes us realize God has given us far more than we deserve. It says in Psalms 138:1

“A heart wholly grateful has no room left for envy. I will give You thanks with all my heart”  

6.     Gratitude helps us live in the present and not in the past where disappointed can live, or the future where fear exists. Gratitude opens our eyes to the simple beauty of the present moments of life. It lets us see this day and this moment as gifts and to take in the abundance right now of living in Heaven on Earth. 

I wanted to circle back for a minute to my message a couple weeks ago on the importance of preparing our own testimonies to lay witness to what God has done in our life, by wrapping up today’s message with highlighting that having non-believers see us having gratitude during a season of disappointment or a hurricane of life, is one of the most powerful testimonies to how great and big our God is.  Your ability to walk through adversity knowing God’s grace is upon you, can be just the signpost that someone needs to start their own faith journey. 

The bottom line is when we thank God openly and acknowledge what He’s done for us, we proclaim a personal, caring God to the world around us. We show that contentment and peace come not from what we have but Who loves us (God.) 

The Bible says in the book of Psalms: 

“Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done” 

Ok, so, who’s ready to list 7 things your grateful for today?  I’ll give you 1 to get you started.

1.     I’m grateful for spellcheck and grammar check and would be even more grateful if Pastor Rick used it. 😂

2. 

3.

4.

5.

Have a super day everyone! Remember to show your disappointment how big your God is! 

Pastor Rick

Be a Witness

Gretings,

I wanted to follow up to my message last Sunday titled “How to Enlarge the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth“ 

As I stated in the message, when  you became a believer you also became God's messenger here on Earth. God wants to speak to the world through you. The great apostle Paul said, "... we speak the truth before God, as messengers of God."

You may feel you don't have anything to share, but that could be your insecurity or the enemy trying to keep you silent. You have a storehouse of experiences that God wants to use to bring others into the realm of Heaven on Earth. The Bible says in 1 John 5:10:

"Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them.”

 Your testimony is the story of how Christ has made a difference in your life. The Bible says in 1 Peter: 

 “You were put here to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you."

This is the essence of “witnessing“ simply reporting your personal experiences with the Lord and what He’s done in your life. 

That’s exactly what Jesus meant when He said “you will be my witnesses.“ 

Similar to  a courtroom, we’re a witness tells what he experienced - Jesus just wants you to tell what happened in your life from your relationship with Him. 

Just remember, Jesus didn’t say “You must be my attorney and defend me.“ He just wants you to tell your story to others about what He did in your life, that’s what being a witness is here on Heaven on Earth. 

Remember, there's no other story just like yours, so only you can share it, and if you don't, it will be lost forever. 

In my humble opinion your testimony is more effective than any of my sermons or mid week messages, as unbelievers see pastors like me as kinda like salesmen of the Faith, whereas people  experience non-pastors  as more satisfied customers, if that makes sense. 

Your  story is more than a story but  a relational bridge to Heaven on Earth that can help your family members, friends or even strangers cross. 

The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15:

“Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect." 

The best way to "be ready" is to think through your testimony and even outline it in a journal or even in a word document. 

I have this crazy surfing pastor idea for Beach church that we could gather all our testimonies and put them online so that visitors , potential new congregants or your grandchildren and great great grandchildren  could read to learn what Jesus did in our life’s. Ok, don’t worry it’s just an idea. 

Once again , here are some basic ideas to frame your testimony: 

1. Tell people a little bit about yourself (birthplace, parents/siblings, interests, etc.).

2. What was your life like before knowing God personally?

3. How did you come to know Jesus in your life? 

4. How are things different today?

 5. Maybe share some supernatural Stories or miracles that have happened to you? I love these stories.  

6. Do you have any wisdoms about day to day life that God has illuminated to you?

Have a wonderful rest of the week here on Heaven on Earth. 

Pastor Rick

Serenity

Today’s midweek message will be a departure from my normal recap of the previous Sunday’s sermon.

Today, I wanted to look at the Serenity prayer again and see how we could apply it to our own life situations.

As I’ve highlighted at Beach Church, you won’t find the Serenity prayer in the Bible. 

A little background on it - It was written around 1940’s by Reinhold Niebuhr a highly educated theologian. 

It’s a timeliness and powerful prayer that is rooted in scripture and biblical truths.

I’m going to break down the prayer in this weekend’s sermon with all the supporting and confirming scripture to this timeless prayer.

The Serenity prayer can be applied in every area of our life, in every season, even in the things you might be facing as you read this.

Let’s start by reading the entire prayer:

“God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can; 

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 

enjoying one moment at a time; 

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 

taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it; 

trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will; 

that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

forever in the next.”

The basic spirit-based concept of the Serenity prayer is that when we try to change things or people that we shouldn't, or can't, we invite chaos into our lives.

Let’s breakdown 3 Biblical truths in the Serenity prayer that we can:

1. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change."

As the prayer highlights, when life feels out of control, it’s easy to try to work harder at controlling everything and everyone around us! Some of us do the opposite and just throw our hands up and give up on the situation or person. Whichever extreme you go to, peace and serenity continues to move further from your life when trying to over control the situation.

Accepting and submitting to God’s control and plan for your life is the only way to find peace in situations you cannot control or change. We may not always know God’s plan, but we can let go of trying to orchestrate and manipulate events and people and let God work through us.

God promises a supernatural peace when we bring our worries and concerns to Him.

2. "the courage to change the things I can"

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have received the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is able to supply you with the courage to follow and act upon God’s plan for your life. Instead of fearfully ignoring hard decisions or running from what seems too difficult, we can call upon the power of God for courage to move forward into the full life He has planned for us. As we keep our eyes on God and stay connected to the vine, God’s courage will supernaturally pour into us.

3. "and the wisdom to know the difference."

As discussed in last week’s sermon Wisdom is a gift that God promises to give to those who connect to the vine. You can add to the growth in wisdom each day by spending time reading our operational handbook and communicating with God through prayer. God will tell you through the Holy Spirit and His Word, when to accept things and when to take courage to change them.

The Serenity prayer acknowledges that God is the ultimate source for wisdom.

Questions to ask yourself this week:

1. What situation in your life are you trying to control the outcome of? 

2. Are you willing today to lift it up to God? Thus, following our instructional guides directed from Mathew 11:28?

Take some time to ponder these questions today or this week. As, learning to discern what you can and cannot control will have a huge impact the serenity you desire for your life.

Pastor Rick

God's Wisdom is Transferable

Last Sunday, I spoke about how the genius of Jesus also known as “God’s wisdom” and how is transferable into us if we stay connected to the vine.  

Thus, if we mature in our faith and stay connected to God, God’s  wisdom will blossom in us. 

So, what is God's wisdom?

Well, if you look up the definition for wisdom, you’ll find this: 

“Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with action”

You see, we can have all the knowledge of what is good and right stored in our brains, but if we don’t apply it to action, we don’t have wisdom.  

That's why at Beach Church I talk a lot about how the bible is more than an history book but an operational handbook. As, we want to walk out God’s wisdom in our daily life. In order to experience the victorious life He planned for us. 

In Psalm 111 its written that we “grow in wisdom” when we obey God. 

In James 3:13–18, godly wisdom is explained in detail:

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”

This passage is full of rich actionable wisdoms so let’s break it down: 

Honorable — We show honor to everyone.

Humble — We don’t draw attention to ourselves.

Selfless — We think of others more than we think of ourselves.

Pure — We strive to have untarnished motives.

Peace-loving — We agree to respectfully disagree.

Gentle — We consider the feelings of others before acting.

Merciful — We give second chances because they’ve been given to us.

Impartial — We show fairness to all we encounter.

Sincere — We are authentic, honest, and full of integrity.

The more we keep plugged into the kingdom and connected to the vine the more his wisdom (genius) flows into us as we're the branches.

The added bonus of being connected to the vine is that He's always busy using His cutting shears to prune back weeds in our life whether it be sin, hurts, resentments or removing our old masks so that the full nutrimental value of His wisdom is experienced in our life.  

That's the Genius of Jesus is that His wisdom is transferable not just in knowledge but that it leads us into actionable wisdom. So, that we can go fulfill the great commission and share the good news. 

Have a super day! 

Pastor Rick

Spiritual Pruning

I wanted to follow up to Sunday’s Sermon on Spiritual Pruning. 

Before Jesus went to the cross, He shared a message to His disciples in which He used a gardening metaphor to describe the importance of growing spiritually and drawing strength from Him (the true vine). He said:

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” - John 15

Jesus was telling the disciples and all of us at Beach Church that by staying connected to Him we would all bear great spiritual fruit.  Yet, that He would need to do some pruning in our lives to bear the abundance of fruit He desires for us.

The fruits are described by the great apostle Paul in the book of Galatians.

(love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)

You see, a vinedresser doesn’t let his fruit grow wildly on its own. In order to produce the best fruit, he must follow the established rules of pruning by cutting away dead or overgrown branches to encourage growth. 

Like the branches in Jesus’s story, we’re all unique, and our pruning won’t always look the same. Yet, some of the weeds are universal. Remember, pruning is part of our spiritual maturing process. Thus, we need to trust Him and know that He is doing it out of love.

Below are just a some of the reasons God prunes us.

1. God prunes us so we become more secure in our Christ identity. He prunes back our insecurities and labels that have been placed on us to become who He designed us to be.

2. God prunes us so that we will bear more fruit. God looks at our lives and concludes that we are not bearing as much fruit as we could. We are out of balance, have dead weeds the are sucking the good nutrients away our spiritual vitality.

3. God prunes us so that we will become more dependent on Him. God does not prune us in order to discourage us; He prunes us so that we will learn to abide in Christ.

4. God prunes us so that He is free to answer more of our prayers. Divine pruning results in learning to abide in Christ, which in turn results in our weeds not blocking God’s prayers for us. 

5. God prunes us so that we will glorify Him.  As believers in Christ, we do not live to draw attention to ourselves, but to our glorious God and Savior. 

As I highlighted in my sermon last Sunday from outer space, we need to trust the process of pruning.  If God is going to prune something from you it means He sees an opportunity to help you mature. 

Don't fight the pruning process. The longer you try to hold onto dead branches like broken relationships, sin or insecurity, you prolong the inevitable. By allowing things to be trimmed off you and letting yourself be pruned, you will be rejuvenated. You will gain clarity and purpose

Yes, as I said on Sunday, pruning can be painful. The cutting away is almost never pleasant. You will experience loss and grieve over what can no longer be and that is okay. However, there is great joy ahead as God removes things that are holding you back from walking in your Christ identity. 

As God knows when we’re well pruned, we’re better equipped to receive the rich nourishment that flows through the vine. When we’re well nourished, we will bear vibrant, beautify, juicy fruit like a perfect Baja mango.

As children of God, I pray we may all closely connect and abide with Christ and willingly submit ourselves to the process of pruning by being humble and obedient in heart.

As we don’t want the dead, diseased, and unruly weeds in our lives to deter us from receiving all He has for us. 

As the more abundant the fruit of His Holy Spirit is in us, the happier we’ll be and more we can influence and impact our families and our community while bringing God all the glory He deserves.

Have a super day,

Pastor Rick