I was reading a flyer the other day from a gym that was introducing a new workout program. All of the details were on this beautifully displayed sheet. At the end of the sheet was a disclaimer that stated, “Individual results may vary.”

These types of programs are very common today. The exercise program that promises a slim waist and more confidence, the financial program that takes you from broke to rich, and even the dating program that matches you with the love of your life. But I think all of us know that to lose weight we need to burn more calories than we consume, to have good credit we need to spend less money than we earn, and that a dating site can help us meet more people, but not necessarily produce love.

I think that the disclaimer of “individual results may vary,” should be much larger and should state, “individual results will vary according to your willingness to change.” These programs provide knowledge or accountability, but they do not provide the results–you do.

There are many gyms that get paid monthly, but people that never use their membership. There are many people that have bookshelves full of dieting books, but never watch what they eat. There are even people that pay to be on a dating site, but never go on dates. The programs themselves aren’t necessarily bad, but if we never use them to our full advantage then we could be called insane. Isn’t insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results?

If we are honest with ourselves, I think most of us would say we are all a little insane. What I like is that God brings my insanity to the forefront of my mind, and reminds me that if I want something different I am going to have to be willing to change.

Most of the time, you could replace any program with just pure and simple willingness.

When I was in high school I aspired to be a doctor. My dad had a great friend who was a doctor and it seemed to me like a great job.
The key word was I thought I wanted to be a doctor until I had to dissect a frog. I was really excited about the opportunity. We got into groups around tables and had all of our tools to dissect. We ripped open the container and the worse smell of my life (formaldehyde that keeps the frog preserved) came and almost made me throw up and pass out at the same time. I decided at that moment to take the option of coloring a dissected frog instead of actually dissecting.

The “stinky frog” ended my dream of being a doctor. Yet, I still think today, that each one of us desires to explore and dissect. Have you ever noticed that most people enjoy the first part of a movie trilogy? Or, how they talk about the first time they ate at their favorite restaurant? Or, how many people remember where there first kiss happened? Why? Well, the first of anything was the exploration. 

I feel that Imagine has been one big Petri dish. Exploring by putting certain elements in the dish, watching, waiting, seeing if things grow, cleaning the dish, and starting over. Because of that, we fail a ton! Although, the things we do discover are the byproducts of allowing God to reveal the results of our experiment.
Remember you were created unique, one-of-a-kind. Take out a “life” Petri dish, try putting new things into it, fail, who knows, you may rediscover your life.

As I sat in a restaurant, I noticed my friend’s eyes starting to drift. I thought he was bored by my conversation, but he asked me to, “hold on for a second.” I inquired about what he was looking at, and he told me that he was watching a customer storm out. I asked him if he was certain, and as I looked out the window I saw her slamming her seat belt on and speeding off. He then proceeded to tell me (because of where he was seated) that all of the waiters were in a meeting and the lady had been seated a long time and never got service.


He was curious to see if the wait staff would notice her discontent as she walked right past the meeting. Unfortunately, they didn’t notice.
He then said something very profound after watching the situation. He said it reminded him of the American Church. How? Well, many churches hold meetings, strategize, and place committees to position themselves to grow. Yet, at the same time, the people that want to “check out” God have not been included, feel judged, or haven’t felt accepted.
The customer at the restaurant wanted to experience the food, but the wait staff was communicating, “I’m sorry, we are busy right now, trying to plan a great experience for you.”
One of my favorite quotes is, “What you do speaks so loud, I cannot hear what you say.” Remember that your actions or your inaction communicates to those around you.

If you stop by at our Sunday experience, you will probably like the music, the people, and the message. Though, we have found that some do not like the large screen with twitter.


At our experience we encourage everyone to take out their cell phones…We display a huge image of live tweets and people text or “tweet” thru the service.
Some people have said, “Why do you do that??”
Three reasons and they are simple:
1. Coming to any new environment, let alone a church, is pretty intimidating. When we walk in to any room we quickly look for anyone we may even remotely know. People don’t like to be the immediate center of attention. Twitter allows people to start a conversation before they come to our experience on Sunday and they are able to recognize a familiar face.
2. Those that join twitter in our church, seem to be WAY more connected than those that are not. We have seen many unique friendships and opportunities for others to help each other out because they could communicate throughout the week and not just Sunday or a Thursday night.
3. We want people to engage in their faith, to join in a conversation no matter where they may be with God, and people can add their perspective to our experience.
If you haven’t seen it yet, come check it out here, or follow us at @imaginechurch.

Have you ever ran a marathon? I did once and it will definitely be my last! The run took place at Disney World and couldn’t have been better in terms of the environment. Goofy, Mickey, Donald Duck, cheered on all of the runners. We ran in between all the parks from Animal Kingdom to Epcot center…but I was not paying much attention to the surrounding environment at all! All I could think was, “OWWW”! (my knees hurt for 2 months after that race)


I noticed that we ran at the same pace about the entire race–until the end. There were thousands of people cheering, balloons, and tons of excitement! Almost every runner, including myself, ran that stretch way faster than the rest of the race. For some reason, we were more tired at that moment, but, yet, at the end, we ran the fastest. Why?
Most of us ran faster because we saw the finish line. We all tend to run faster in life, feel better about who we are, and are generally happier when we know where we are going. Although, where does that leave us when we are not sure where we are headed?

Imagine Fellowship is a non-denominational church in San Antonio. We want to experience and share life change through the support of God and relationships. We have three environments supporting this and would love for you to experience them all.

Our first environment is the Sunday service. We hold it on the first Sunday of every month and encourage an atmosphere of acceptance. Our second environment is Connect Groups. These are held weekly in homes throughout the San Antonio area and a relational atmosphere of connections is encouraged. Our third and most important environment is the 1on1. It is literally a one on one relationship where authenticity is embraced.

Below are links to join any and all of the connect groups Imagine Fellowship offers. To join one, click and sign up. Each connect group requires approval except for the Imagine Fellowship Group. Once you enter your information, we will be able to distribute information in regards to which ever connect group you are involved in. By simply entering your phone number and email, you will receive both a text and email with upcoming events and information. Feel free to explore your profile and get involved as much as possible in your groups. Enjoy!!

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