Aiyana Lee Calderon

Here is a chance for you to hear me 'baby talk.' That's what they'll do.



The love of our life...

Thinking about heaven...

It's funny how the frustrations and burdens of this world make me think most about heaven. It makes me anxious to experience God's fullness and look towards the day we'll dwell with Him forever.

Recently I started listening to 'Rush of Fools' album again and these lyrics have been running through my head. It's a pretty catchy song:

"There is no lovelier sound
To be lost then to be found
Even more than we do now, we will rejoice

Jesus, hurry come back for us we cannot wait
Jesus, hurry come back, we cannot wait, we cannot wait

We will sing, we will dance to songs about all that You do
Evermore to be with You is all we want

Until at last, we see Your face and behold Your glory
Until at last, we see Your face
We want to see all Your glory, all Your glory

Jesus, hurry come back, hurry come back Lord..
I can't wait till You come back for me..."

If you are having a rough time, like one 'bad' thing happens after another don't be discouraged. Think of His promise and the great things He has already done and can do.

Apostle Paul was imprisoned, beat, spit at and stoned, yet he's able to say, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 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."

Let the peace of God abound within you today.

fearfully and wonderfully made...

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

Psalms 139

Baby Aiyana comes into this world and into our lives. I don't know how people do not believe in God? Every perfect gift comes from above.

Aiyana Lee Calderon
DOB: 10.12.07
TOB: 8:19p.m.
Weight: 8.10 lbs

Thank you for all your prayers!!

God's whisper

Even though I tell my self and others that God is in control, I struggle sometimes in accepting it and letting Him really be in control. As I follow His will I try to listen closely and struggle against going with what I think God is doing vs. what God really is doing.

This Sunday I led worship with a guitar and djembeh, of which I did not plan on. During the week God kept whispering in my ear, simple is o.k. just bring me your heart and you will lead my people. God allowed certain things to happen during the week, leaving me with no other option (He really wasn't whispering by then). During worship I was broken and shown God's amazing sovereignty and I felt assured of His promise of being in the midst of His people no matter what.

I don't always bring out the worshipometer but this Sunday I could not turn from acknowledging people's outward expression in worship which broke me even more. I felt God telling me, "You see what I can do?"

So I'm left with a challenge: How can I let God's whisper invade in the midst of frustration, desperation and personal expectations shouting at me?

Worship set 10.7.07:
'Everlasting God'
'Enough'
'Sweetly Broken'
'You Are My King'
'Famous One'

Launch Day at Bridges 9/30 at 9:30

Bridges has launched. It's no longer something we are working on or waiting to see what will happen. Bridges is now a church. Now we are learning to transition from guiding a launch team to running a church.

God was definitely present past Sunday. There were so many new faces, faces of which we had been praying for and God brought through the door. Many of them which had never sang worship at a theater.

We waited for doors to open at 7a.m. to start set up. We were up and ready for sound check by 8:30a.m. Our team did a great job in setting a great environment for new people to feel comfortable and able to worship God. God is faithful and so good to us. I felt a great peace and confirmation of God's awesome presence and hand in all of this. Please keep us in your prayers!!!


Worship set:
'Let the Praises Ring' Lincoln Brewster
'Salvation is Here' Hillsong United
'You Never Let Go' Matt Redman
'Endlessly' Desperation Band
'I am Free' Jon Eagan

Just want to shoot a huge thanks to Crosspointe band from Cary for helping us lead worship. They did a great job! Thank you guys!!

Visit to Elevation Church

I believe God is doing amazing things in Charlotte, NC. Check out this website before I get into all this. www.elevationchurch.org
Elevation church has a mission. A mission to captivate a whole city for Christ, in bunches. Transforming and leading them to a passionate relationship with Jesus, and stripping all the excess to allow a person to know Him personally. The music is dynamic, the vision is obvious and contagious, the marketing is excellent and the power of the Gospel is present. I certainly believe the latter is making this church grow. No watered down Gospel here. They say that it's all about Jesus and if you don't like it, get up from your seat and let someone else have it.

Elevation has grown very quickly. It started 18 months ago with 19 people; now it's a mega church with 2400 attending last weekend! But they don't care that they're a "mega church". They're growing; that's obvious. They're growing because they're a living organism; there is no time to take breathers. They grow because they are always making room for more. This church's biggest worry is having someone get back in their car and drive away because there were no open seats.

Three key things a church plant needs to succeed, according to lead pastor, Steven Furtick:

1. the power of the Gospel
2. empty seats
3. to have both 1 and 2 provided at an optimal time

It's all about the numbers.
What? Did I just say that? If you think about it, it really should be about the numbers. As it says in Acts 2, "3000 were added by the Lord and others were added daily." We're not talking about numbers showing how well a program succeeds. We are about the number of marriages being saved, the number of drunks finding Christ and the number of people being transformed daily by the Gospel of Christ.

Church planting is great, but we ought to let the power of Christ overshadow all of the things that we as humans can do. It's not about how well we market, how great (or how loud) our music is, or how cool the Pastor dresses and speaks. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE POWER OF CHRIST EXPOSED IN A RELEVANT WAY TO SEE LIVES TRANSFORMED by THE LORD. The gospel is God giving His spotless Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we can rise again as He did and live with Him forever. Let's get the Word out there.

May God continue blessing Elevation church!

Non-believing musicians on Stage???

Non-christian musicians on stage??? It's amazing how contradictory this issue can be. When I first heard the concept of inviting musicians from the secular world, to tell you the truth, I was not all on board. It seemed so strange having "worship leaders" on stage that weren't Christian. It's pretty simple actually. If you believe in the philosophy of "everyone on stage is a worship leader", you might as well stop reading now. But keep reading if you're curious.

I first heard this concept in California. You guessed it, Saddleback. I was able to see an enthusiastic born again Christian talking of his journey with Christ. If it wasn't for someone who invited him to play trumpet for Easter, he would of still been playing at bars. But there he stood, before other music leaders and musicians training, building and encouraging them. He had an awesome testimony. This gave me a new perspective. That one person, being saved by embracing his musical gifts and by offering relationships and acceptance. He ended up being the horn section leader at Saddleback.

In order for this concept to work you should break away from the philosophy of 'everyone on stage is a worship leader.' I do agree that there should always be a 'lead worshiper' who leads not only the congregation but also the accompanist in a time of worship. It is during that time that everyone around is impacted by God's presence, even the 'non-believing' musician. I believe environments influence people. Why not bring your unbelieving friend to this environment? That's if you can stay strong and able to influence them, not the other way around. Allow them in the door, let them use their gifts and lead them towards intimate relationship with Christ through acceptance and witness.

Ask God for discernment and strength. Of course there will be those who you might have to turn away (no Satan worshipers on stage). Get me right, it is those who are seeking, those who've had a bad break or a bad experience that you want to bring back to Him.

We were all wired in a unique way. Your gift might be something else, like technology, website design, graphics, hospitality. Why is it ok to hire these things out and allow non-christians to handle these areas, yet not able to use gifted musicians non-believers on stage? Musicians need acceptance and good influences too. I encourage you to move politics and tradition aside and let God's craftsmanship be used for what it was created for. Guide them and thank them for their time and gifts. Usually, if a non-believer agrees to play at a church, they know what they are getting into and it might be safe to say that they are certainly seeking for something. It will be a new experience for them in their journey of faith.

Remember the curtain is broken when Christ laid on the cross. Not only the priest are allowed in His Holy Temple. No more rituals or man made cleansing is needed.

Let's bring people to His presence, for it is by being in His presences and through Christ's blood that we are all cleansed. The barrier was torn away! Let's lead those who are seeking in the right direction, just a step at a time. Remove any man made barriers. Let's use God's given gifts to bring Him glory. He didn't ask us to screen or filter, He asked us to lead and make disciples. Music is a great tool for both believers to worship and non-believers to experience. Stay strong and break away barriers!

Don't limit your music ministry. Believe it or not, this might bring your music ministry up a notch in musicianship.

What are your thoughts on all this? I'm just throwing it out there....