Through the Lens of a Dad

I just finished 3 straight weeks of anchoring our worship service: programming them, organizing them and speaking. Yesterday was the last day and my body rejoiced by taking a very short nap in the afternoon. I also celebrated by buying a new lens at night. Ha!

Anyway, just thinking about the last three weeks and how we put things together is a real encouragement to me. I just enjoyed working with others in the church, putting the services together and weaving our theme through the three weeks: becoming a church transformed by Christ so that we can transform other communities in Christ’s likeness. I really enjoyed organizing a month with a cohesive theme and speaking about it for three Sundays. My joy and my satisfaction from it is encouraging because it makes me want to become a lead pastor of a church some day even more!

But, for now, rest and preparing for the next set of messages. God is good.

Thanks for reading.
Joe

Okay, now that I’ve set up a separate website/blog for my photography gigs, I can now write about my life here.

So, today, I’m trying my hardest to take a Sabbath. I’m still not very good at it because I keep thinking about work and work around the house. I want to be productive at home but I know it’s better to just enjoy what God has given me and reflect on what He’s done. But, it’s difficult.

Today, I’m going to spend lots of quality time with my daughter while trying to be still before God. How do I do that?

Anyway, I hope you’re having a great day!

Thanks for reading.
Joe

So, I did it. I started a new blog of only my photos, projects and gigs. It’s not the best looking site but it’s a start. Shot my first wedding yesterday (10.10.10) and had a blast. The pictures were just so-so, but again, it’s just a start. I’m excited about it.

Here’s my new blog of only my photos: www.joecastillophoto.wordpress.com

Thanks for reading.

That seems to be the growing tension inside me. I want to plant and pastor a church, yet there is a growing need in me to take pictures of people. The last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking more and more about planting a church and what that would look like and how. No answers yet, but I do know it’s been a growing desire since I was in Iowa from 1997-2000. But more recently, the desire has been more intense. Will this actually be realized? I will keep sending this back up to God and see if he sends it back to me.

Photography has also been on my heart lately. I spoke with an actual photographer a couple of weeks ago over “happy hour” and we just chatted about the feeling you get from having people get blessed by photos you take. He and I love sitting down with people we’ve taken pictures of or pictures we’ve taken of their family members, and seeing their joy. I love that feeling – the ability to bless another person.

So, I think this is what I’ll do while waiting for God and this church-planting thing. I’m going to move forward with a photography business. I will begin working on a brand identity and a marketing strategy. I will keep taking pics of people, events and gigs, and see where that goes.

How does that sound? Feedback?

Thanks for reading.

Joe

I remember a number of years ago being asked by my pastor from the pulpit, “What would you do for God if you knew you couldn’t fail?” My immediate thought was, “Plant a church. I want to plant a church.” That was in 2000 or 2001. Actually, my desire to plant a church came a few years earlier when I was still living in Iowa. Anyway, I saw how the church I was a part of at the time (Lighthouse Christian Church) was used of God so mightily to affect the lives of hundreds of people. I remember having baptisms, celebrations and faith stories of people who have come to know and live for Jesus. A lot of years have passed since then, and a lot of ups and downs to fill in those years. But I think things have stayed the same for me. I still want to plant a church.

Why am I thinking about this impossible idea? At the end of June, I graduated from seminary and came on board full-time at the church I’ve been at since 2006. My title went from Director of Student Ministries to Associate Pastor. We decided on “Associate Pastor” and not “Pastor of…” because I didn’t really know how to finish the latter title. So we went with the more generic “Associate Pastor.” Currently, I oversee the student ministries, with the possibility of someone else taking it over. I also oversee the Compassion Ministry and somewhat oversee the worship service for Sundays. I love doing all of those tasks but I don’t see myself doing only one. I love all of those ministries and I love doing many parts of those ministries. But I just don’t see myself as the “Pastor of Compassion Ministry.”

So what is it that I really want to do? I want to lead a church that does those ministries as well as other ministries so that lives can be affected and transformed by Christ. I want to lead a church. I want to lead a church that places great emphasis on youths and students in college. I want to see people developed into who God made them to be. I want to lead a group of Christ-followers who are active about their faith and living out their faith in tangible ways. I want to lead a church that has gatherings where people who are tired, hurting and hungry can be refreshed, restored and replenished. I want to lead a church.

But I need to stop here because I’m tired and it’s getting late. My desire to lead a church or plant a church is not coming from a place of ignorance or naivete. In the years since God has placed on my heart to plant a church, I have seen and experienced many things about church. The good, the bad, the ugly and the really ugly. I know it’s not an easy thing to lead or plant a church. But still, I want to plant a church.

I’ll write more later. But I think this is a good place for me start writing again.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

So I was privileged to do a photoshoot with a wonderful family last week. I had a lot of fun taking and processing these photos. I’ll post more on my facebook and flickr, too. But for now, enjoy.

In December, 2008, after saving and scrounging, and after trying to subtly convince my wife, I bought my first DSLR camera. Since purchasing it, I’ve taken more photos of my family than any human being would ever need in a lifetime. It has also consumed my time, when I’m not Facebooking, reading, or hanging out with my family. It has become my new “obsession.”

Burdened with guilt, I was thinking recently why I am so drawn to such a fancy and expensive camera. I think the answer is that I am a “creative.” A friend of mine from high school visited me last summer and asked if I was still making artwork. My friend and I spent a lot of time together painting, playing the guitar and “waxing poetic” about art in high school. He is still doing and making art in the Chicagoland area. I, on the other hand, am working for a church in the Silicon Valley. A different path from what my high school days would have predicted. But my friend’s visit helped me to realize that I am a creative person. That’s just how God the Creator wired me. I have a great need to create. As someone created in God’s image, this is what I am reflecting from my God. So, I take pictures. I take lots of pictures.

I guess I look at it as not so much the camera that has become my obsession, but the images it produces. I started a 365 Project on January 1st, taking and posting a picture a day on flickr.com. If you want to see it, click on the photos to the right of this post. I also really appreciate documenting my little girl’s life. I think I’ve only missed 3 days where I didn’t take a picture of her during the last year and half or so.

What about you? Are you a “creative”? What is it that you JUST have to do because it’s in you?

Thanks for reading.

Joe

My wife and I have been off of Facebook since Lent started. That’s a grand total of 12 days. It feels like a month already. A big reason why I’m doing it is because I am on the internet too much. I am trying to limit myself to checking email, posting pics up on flickr, and updating this blog. I’m also on espn.com a lot. But Facebook was up on my computer almost any time I was working. So, for Lent it was a good idea to “fast” from it and redirect my time more productively.

The Source of My Exhaustion
The past two weeks have been crazy. Crazy because it’s been busy. My work at our church has extended into Compassion Ministries. A few weeks ago we decided to start one and I was asked by the Missions Committee to head it up. I gladly accepted because it is where my heart is right now. Since our initial meeting/dinner a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking, praying and trying to figure out what to do next with this ministry.

Another thing on my plate is what my job is supposed to be at my church. I’ve been doing much more for our youths and our youth group than I have in the last 6 months. A huge surge of inspiration and ideas has hit me since the end of last year, when a friend of mine spoke at my church on Sunday. Suddenly, I feel more alive in ministry and more in-sync with God. I am excited for where our youths are at spiritually. I see so many more of them thinking not just of their own spiritual condition but the rest of the group’s state too. About half of our student population want to get involved serving and growing in some capacity at our youth group and in church. A number want to go on a mission trip to Mexico, while a number want to do something significant for God at the church. What a huge blessing this is for us. I pray God would lead them to that place where they can experience Him the most.

The third thing that’s kept me busy is the sermon I gave yesterday. Preparing, writing and thinking about a sermon is in itself a full-time job. I am amazed at pastors who can do it week-in and week-out. Last night, laying in bed while my wife was on the computer, I said, “I’m exhausted. Preaching is a lot of work.” My wife said, “Get used to it. You might end up doing it every week some day.” My sermon yesterday is only the 26th I’ve given at our current church since 2006.

And finally, school. I had class all day on Saturday and that too was exhausting. It was good, but exhausting. I will surely be glad when I graduate in June! Hope I can make it there and finish strongly. A completed Master of Arts in Theology and Biblical Studies, here I come.

Well, that’s me in a nutshell. Thanks for reading.

Joe

Last weekend, my wife and I decided to offer up our Facebook usage for Lent. This means, no more Facebook beginning Wednesday, February 17, until Easter. We could have picked something else but we know that Facebook is, at this point, the only thing we can offer up that is of any significance. How will it go?

On July 2, 1982, truck driver Larry Walters attached forty-five, helium-filled balloons to his lawn chair, put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair in the backyard of his home in San Pedro, CA. He also took with him a pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, cold beer, and a camera. Walters rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and floated from his point of origin in San Pedro into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport.

He slowly drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach Airport. After 45 minutes in the sky, he shot several balloons, and then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. He descended slowly, until the balloons’ dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a blackout in a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes.

Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:

“Where you scared?” “Yes,” he replied.
“Would you do it again?” “No.”
“Why did you do it?”  “Because,” he said, “A man can’t just sit around.”

I love Larry’s last reply. It’s true.  A man can’t just sit around, especially if that man knows the greatest news for all the world. Lately, I feel like I’ve been just sitting around. Worse yet, I’ve been sitting on the Gospel, without any kind of movement. But this past Sunday, Pastor Nancy Sugikawa gave a message at our church called, “Follow Jesus, Change the World.” In it she shared three questions that changed the DNA of her church:

1. How is our faith changing the world?
2. What are we attempting that takes great faith and great sacrifice?
3. How are we involved in the fight against global poverty?

And as action items, she gave us three:

1. Educate yourself on the intersection of faith and justice.
2. Explore specific local and global needs.
3. Engage in small acts of justice and compassion.

As for me, I’m currently doing the first two – educating myself and exploring. I am currently reading a book called “The Hole in Our Gospel,” and looking into some needs that our church can attempt to take on through the World Vision website.

I feel excited and I feel a little more alive because of Nancy’s message. I hope I can stay on track and not “sit around.”

Thanks for reading.

Joe