Revolution Church in Long Beach is a huge part of what made me who I am.
Almost 4 years after leaving there those people still feel like some of the closest church family I have.
The past 3 years have been a lot of hell for them and I think of them almost daily.

In 2010 they celebrated 7 years as a church in Long Beach.  To celebrate they decided to bring back all the former worship leaders for a special night of worship and celebration.  After 7 years you wouldn’t think that was a lot, but there were 5 of us on stage: Andy Sulzman, myself, Elijah Young, Jamie Stavenger, and Keith Dickson.

Seriously, one of the most epic nights of leading worship ever for me.
Why?
For one, getting to lead worship with some of the most talented worship leaders I know.  Forget Tomlin, Redman, or United.  Very humbling to get to lead alongside these peeps.
Also, I love that community.  I love getting to be with them, and getting to lead worship for them again was a blast.
And those peeps came to worship.  The energy was crazy in there.
I think it was a healing night in a lot of ways for a lot of the people there.

One of my favorite moments was after How He Loves Us, when Keith starts to pray and says, “God, you truly must love us, cause…well, we’re still here.”
And everyone just kinda laughed.
So many churches would be gone after all they’ve been through.  But they keep on truckin.
I pray God does some serious business in them and then through them this coming year.

I can’t put all the songs on here, but here are some of my favorites from the night.
Thanks for letting me celebrate with you family.
Keep on keepin on.

02-Marvelous Light (Bobby) from Angelo Alberico on Vimeo.

08-Mighty to Save (Jamie) from Angelo Alberico on Vimeo.

15-Indescribable (Bobby) from Angelo Alberico on Vimeo.

16-Victory (Elijah) from Angelo Alberico on Vimeo.

I’m assuming this is blogable as it was announced at Revolution Church.  If I’m mistaken, I’m sure I’ll be told and you won’t see this post for long.
Some of you have joined me on this blog in the past year, while a number of you started reading when I was at Revolution Church.  This is a faith community I was a part of for over 2 1/2 years, coming onboard 9 months into it’s existence.  I still am intimately connected with many people there.  It is a family I love dearly, and while I know I am where God has called me, I have also had days of missing them intensely.  I love them a lot.

And now their world has been turned upside down in so many ways.  This week it was announced that the pastor, a former friend of mine, has left his wife to be with another married woman from the congregation.  I caught wind of the situation early on Friday, and in many ways it has consumed my thoughts and my energy this weekend.  As the title of this post suggests, the three major emotions to hit right off the bat were anger, hurt, and oddly enough, hope.

Angry that two people could be so selfish.
Angry that the body of Christ gets another black eye.
Angry that a ministry that so many people, myself included, have poured so much of their heart and soul into is being severely damaged by the choices of a few.
Lots of anger for an unrepentant, uncaring "friend" who seems to have lost his mind.
Anger that there are Christians young in their walk closely involved whose faith will be challenged in huge ways.

Hurting for the multiple kids from both families who are losing their parents.
Hurting for a husband and a wife who really are, in this case, two of the most amazing people you’ll ever meet.
Hurting for extended family involved who I am very close to.
Hurting for a faith community that is going to have to walk through a very dark season.
Feeling personally hurt in some weird way that a man I trusted and called a friend and a partner in ministry would be capable of the things he’s doing.

Yet in the midst of all that, I also feel hopeful.
I have hope because I know Christ is still on the throne.
Hope because God is in control, even when things seem like things are spinning out of control.
Hope as I watch that church family rally around the innocent family members to care for them.  To watch their kids.  To pray for them.  To love on them.
Hope that as this church goes through these trials they will come out the other end far healthier and stronger than they ever were before.
Hope because I see a leadership team already in place that loves Jesus and is going to lead incredibly through this crisis.
Hope that what Satan means for evil, God will use for good.

Revolution family, stay strong.  You are an amazing community where God is still at work.  Revolution was never a movement about following one man, it was always about following one God.  And He’s still God.  Trust in Jesus.  I truly believe he will use this in mighty ways.

And the rest of ya, please say a prayer for that community.  That God would bring about restoration and healing in the lives of that church and the families involved.  Thanks a ton.  I know the leadership appreciates it.

Bugaboo 2005 game booth – LBC Life Group

Bugaboo 2006 game booth – same life group, Cerritos

Bugaboo 2007 game booth – same life group, Belmont Shore (minus us, of course) 

Way to carry the torch Charlie (who never blogs) and crew!  Trophy or not, way to be the best booth there!  Miss you guys!

Check out the video and see how it went:

So that was my Sunday!  Bellflower team – you rock!  Lakewood peeps – way to hold down the fort!  It’s fun sharing my Sunday with you.  Hope yours was great!

Yesterday at Revolution Church it was announced that my wife and I are once again about to enter another season of transition, this time along with the newer family addition of Caleb.  If you weren’t there, we recently accepted a new position as Worship and Connections Pastor at Christian Life Center in Santa Cruz, CA.  Our last Sunday at Revolution will be March 18th.  Two more left.

It has been an amazing two years and nine months at Revolution Church.  I have grown exponentially in a number of ways.  I have become a better leader. A better time manager.  I discovered gifts I didn’t even know I possessed.  I’ve learned to navigate different aspects of ministry through great times and through really discouraging times.  My knowledge in areas of production, team building, and worship leading has increased.  And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.  Man, I am stoked for the time I’ve had here to prepare myself and my wife for our next adventure in life and ministry.  Above all, we have met numerous people who have touched our lives and our souls in ways that will change us forever.

And now, God has guided us north.  This transition is one of the big ones for us, and it brings about lots of emotions, including excitement, fear, and sadness.  I am so excited to see what this next season brings, to discover all that God has in store for us as we move forward.  Afraid at times of the unknown – area, church, people, expectations.  And, of course, bummed about many of the friends who mean so much to us that we won’t see every Tuesday at Life Group or every Sunday at Artesia High School, in addition to our families that all reside in Southern California.  But I know that God has brought us to this point to use us in incredible ways.  I know that he will continue to bring people into our lives that we will love and that will love our family, and I am pumped as I see how he has used our prior ministry experience to prepare us for this next move.

A few friends have actually asked me if I’ll be keeping this blog.  Heck YEAH I’ll be continuing to blog!!  And I hope that you all stay tuned to share with us all the ride that will be this transition.  So there’s our big news.  It should be a blast to see where things go from here!

Click here for Christopher Lytle.

Click here for Annalynn Catalasan.

P.S. – Sorry to any of you that didn’t get a special shout out in the past.  I should have your link on my side bar, though.  If I missed you, though, let me know and I’ll be sure to get you on there.

Yesterday at all three services we prayed over and comissioned our 2007 India Team.  They are currently on their way to Southern India to spend two weeks ministering to the people there.  I had the privledge of going on this trip with the first team we took over there as a church about a year and a half ago.  It was an amazing trip and I know that God is going to do amazing things in the hearts of the people who are going.

Keep track of what the team is up to while they’re there at the India team blog here.