Currently (Updated September 2009)

The Blogger
My name is Tobias Valdez. I'm 32 years old. I've traveled the country a bit, have been to all three coasts and wish to go back. I'd love to make it to some of the more northern states as well.

In February 2009, I released my first CD of original songs titled, Another Day. You can email me for details if you would like to purchase it. You can also listen to a few of the songs on my MySpace page. There is a link to purchase the CD online there as well. I'd love to know what you think of it, so please leave comments there or here.

A Bit of History
My dad raised me on the classics, Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat & Tears, Vanilla Fudge, the Beatles, etc. Music has been an active part of my life from a young age. As I got older I took more interest in it beyond just listening.

I've been singing since junior high school and have been playing the guitar since January 1996. I began leading worship for various events and church groups in the summer of 1996. I've led worship for youth camps, singles retreats, college bible studies, corporate worship events, etc. I've also served on staff at various places as worship leader, youth director, youth intern, and leader of student ministries. I've been on three mission trips working with Native Americans, one at Talequah, OK, with the Cherokee Nation and the other two times at Counselor, NM and Montezuma Creek, UT, with the Navajo Nation.

Thoughts On Church

(In this section please note that the word Church with a capital "C" is speaking of the Church or Body of Christ as a whole meaning the people of God, the word church with a lower-case "c" is speaking of buildings, institutions, and/or organizations.)

I've been involved in traditional churches (to include Southern & Independent Baptists and Assembly of God), a couple of Non-Denominational churches and a few church groups that considered themselves to be part of the Emerging Church Movement and the House Church Movement. A lot of times in this arena words like modern, postmodern, and emergent are used, yet most people know very little about what those words really mean when used to describe church, as a gathering body. When I think of what church really is, I think of it as who we should "be," not something we go to.

A lot of what is shaping my life right now is the pursuit of community life, the community of people I've been spending time with on a regular basis. We don't have a name or a set agenda, other than following Jesus in our individual lives and in community, sharing life together and living out our call to be followers of Jesus as the Body of Christ, in our every day lives. The best description I can use to describe us is that we are simply following Jesus and living in community together.

We spend time together in a couple of different ways. Those of us who are able, get together for lunch and just share a little bit about what's going on in our lives. Most weeks we have lunch together more often than just on Wednesdays. Sometimes our conversations go into deeper spiritual things, other times they don't. For me, living in community, in this way, with deep relationships, and intentionally sharing life with others under the headship of Christ, fulfills a question I have had all of my life, even growing up in church. The question being, "Is this it? Is this all the Christian life is about? Isn't there more to being a follower of Jesus?" This is the missing element, the missing part of life, that I have not found in any church I have ever been a part of. We are being built together as living stones.

Journeying on this path of living shared lives in community with others is not something that has happened over night in our lives. It has been a journey for us over several years. For me, personally, it is a path I began exploring over ten years ago. It has required a change in mentality and lifestyle. The mentality of church being something to attend or a place built with brick and mortar has been revolutionized into an awareness that God has an eternal purpose and passion that reaches far beyond what most people call church. In hearing and realizing His purpose and passion, I have found the purpose and passion that is the compass of my life. Our lifestyle is being transformed into a lifestyle of living and sharing life in genuine community that has a lot of depth in each relationship, including accountability and scriptural authority.

In March 2009, my family and I stepped away from the mentality and lifestyle of going to church to pursue community life. What does this new life look like? There are no paid salaries (i.e professional ministers), there is no distinction between clergy/laity (we are all called as ministers unto the Lord and each other, each of us has the opportunity to live that truth out when we are together), and what we do/how we live is not run like a business (we are a community of Jesus followers, gathering under the headship of Christ, living shared lives together). Those statements do not necessarily pertain to each of the churches I've been a part of, but all of them are specific to what this new life does/does not look like.

One thing I've noticed is that many people are trying to nail down one specific way we should try to "be" the Church. I'm not really sure there is just one. I think some are better than others. What I do think we should strive for is "Relational Christianity," where things are based upon relationships that are formed, not on programs, traditions, or organized religion. If we are attempting to live out Relational Christianity, I believe organic community is the best way to accomplish this. The community of believers I share life with is doing this on a consistent basis and it is impacting my life and the lives of those around me significantly.

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If you would like to get involved in a great simple/house church discussion forum, allow me to recommend, Roger Thoman's Simple/House Church Journal. For more information on organic community or organic church check out Frank Viola's website and his blog, Reimagining Church. For those of you interested in more on the "postmodern" side of things, I would recommend, Spencer Burke's The Ooze or Emergent Village.

Thanks for stopping by re:Think. I hope you find the site useful and enjoyable. Peace to you.
Tob