Connect. Grow. Serve at Seven SD.

This Fall, don't miss your opportunity to connect with other believers in your local church. In just a couple of months, my church will celebrate it's two year anniversary. Here's a snapshot of what has happened so far. Enjoy!

Let Us Play With Your Look at Camp Yearbook

For 13 years now, I have had the privilege of working for a Jostens camp. At this camp, high school students from all over SoCal come to learn how to make a better Yearbook. Each summer we teach our students everything from layout design, theme packaging, copy writing to leadership and business marketing. Our goals are always to educate and motivate campers to go back to their homes and have them meet with their staffs in hopes that they would create a remarkable history book for their student body.

And although we think teaching them those things are very important, we also think that showing them how to have fun should rank high on their value system. We try to model an attitude of "silly" throughout their stay. This year, when it finally came down for us to act like complete fools, my friends, Ryan Hinkle and Marcos Clark and I, turned to "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" for our inspiration. Check out the clip below. I'm the one in the blond wig. Weird, I know.



Here's a photo and short Twitvid of our team herding the groups into relay games. Man, don't you just want to jump in and play?

Celebrating Two Years on Twitter

Exactly two years ago today I joined Twitter. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me, it really is. Although the tool bends heavily on the side of fostering narcissistic behavior, it can also weigh on the side of nurturing a heart for mankind.

Twitter is NOT your enemy. In fact, I have used it to educate, appropriately inform, and celebrate all that is good of life. It has allowed me to journal publicly about the things that have mattered most to me. I have even used it to direct people to links, videos, ideas, artwork, and resources. I have also used it to direct people to personal photos, personal videos, and even some not-so-personal inspirational audio clips.

Over the years, it has worked as an outlet to emote, plea, and promote. I could go on, but for the sake of bite-sized enlightenment, I will stop here.

Below you will see a poll I created. Please feel free and evaluate my use of this tool. Have I helped you?




Yes, even before it was cool, I was on Twitter. Will you roll your eyes at me now? Please, follow my feed here bertoway

Questions I've Wanted to Ask God

In just a few weeks my church will be answering your questions to God about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Do you have one? If so, post it right here; right now!


Make sure to visit the Seven San Diego Church website beginning July 12th to see if we answered your question. Messages will be available for download.

Conan O'Brien Is Back!

My favorite late night personality is back! And this time, as the new host of the Tonight Show. With him he brings his old pal, Andy Richter, Max Weinberg, and of course, a "Twitter Tracker" (make sure to watch the clip below).


Although, Conan returns to NBC a bit more calculated and a whole lot more polished, he also appears to be somewhat nervous, and a bit less playful in his first week back on late night television. I must say though, I do find his current shtick on the Tonight Show very entertaining, partly due to the fact that he is now working with a bigger budget, bigger studio, and a much bigger audience.

While it's too early to tell if Conan and crew will continue to balloon all their old comedy bits into beefed-up Hollywood backlot versions, I will say this--I am still a fan. Cheers to many more years of laughs, Conan! I'm rooting for you.

What I Hope They Won't Say At My Funeral, Pt. 2

Imagine your funeral. Do you picture a sea of mourning faces? Do you picture a group of musicians chanting songs? Do you imagine a priest or pastor speaking words of comfort? While all of those scenarios are likely to be seen or heard at your funeral, have you ever considered what someone might say on your behalf?

The Bible is clear in reminding us that we should be spending more time at funerals than festivals. "For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time" (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

Would your eulogy be packed with praise regarding your great party life? Would people shout to the rooftops regarding your excellent career choices? Would they express great admiration for your academic accolades? Although there is nothing wrong in pursuit of hosting a good party, having great work ethic, or doing well in school, it is important that we always keep the main thing, the main thing. Christ should be at the center of our influence.

Concerning human understanding, King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7: 15-18, "In this meaningless life, I have seen everything, including the fact that some good people die young and some wicked people live on and on. So don't be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don't be too wicked either--don't be a fool! Why should you die before your time? So try to walk a middle course--but those who fear God will succeed either way."

In this passage we find King Solomon pressing our faces into the depths of where we should find meaning to our existence. In his reflections and confessions, Solomon points us back to the God of the Universe. After testing science, philosophy, materialism, and even political power for meaning, he points us back to the God who breathes meaning into our lives. He reminds us that finding purpose in ourselves, rules, or causing people pain only brings pleasure, and not success. In other words he says, "Live a balanced life. Don't be stupid. And seek something bigger and more powerful than yourself--God."

When I die, I hope that people would simply say two things about me at my funeral. I would hope that they would say that my life was 1) in pursuit of loving God and 2) loving other people. Day in and day out, we should reorient our entire lives to making those two things our most important pursuits. In this way, God will help you bring meaning to the meaningless.

Twouble With Twitter

There's always two sides to every story. Here's one side of the Twitter story that most of us find quite amusing.

My Creative Portfolio Now Online

My creative portfolio is finally ready for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to the good people at Krop.com, creative professionals now have an uncluttered space to display their work on the web. Scroll down memory lane and check out some of my work here.

The Saints & The Ain'ts: Revisited

We all have demons. C'mon, don't front. I read your blogs, status updates, Tweets, etc. Every one of you struggle with either a hurt, an illness, a misconception, a regret, an addiction, and most depressing of all--a past. Ladies and gentleman did you forget that life on earth is a spiritual battle that is being fought by angels and Jesus Christ on your behalf every day?


That settled...remember the saint--YOU. If you believe in Him, He believes in you. Jesus didn't give up his life so that you would become an ain't. He didn't give up his life so that you would be chained by the regrets of yesterday and feel like an outcast or a reluctant tag-along. If you say you follow Him, let Him influence you. Stop reaching for "stuuupid".

The Apostle Paul reminds believers in 2 Corinthians 10:4 that human beings are capable of using "divine power to demolish strongholds." Wow, maybe Superman isn't such a fictional character after all. The books of Deuteronomy through 2 Kings are also filled with accounts of God's provision on His children. Do you remember the story of little guy named David and the big bully named Goliath? That too was a battle fought in heaven. Read 1 Samuel 17.

Okay, so why is it that so many of us walk around with frowns and saggy shoulders every day? The victory is ours! You may be fighting a demon right now that is telling you that you have no friends. Hello...has that demon not looked at your extensive social network (Facebook/ Myspace).

The demons that haunt me often try and tell me that I can't make a difference. My demons like to tell me that I am not capable of living an abundant life. In fact, my demons often paralyze me in thought and sometimes tell me to jump off a bridge and fade into oblivion. Yup, those are the lies fed by an army of demons that have allegiance to Satan.

"I will live my life to the full!" If you believe those words, then you should stop focusing on what you can't do and haven't done and start dreaming of what you will do!

Original Myspace post and comments here.

My Highlights & Lowlights of 2008

2008 was a very rough year for me. It was the kind of year that left me chewed up and then spat out. It was the kind of year that often had me asking silly, yet important questions like: Does God really exist? Does He really care about my needs? Does He really know what I'm going through?


(Above) My old stomping grounds. This is where the ice-cream truck was parked.

In 2008, some of my worst nightmares became realities. I lost my Uncle Martin to a gunshot wound in February, a friend to cancer in September, a friend to suicide in October, and as most of you already know, I almost lost my parents to a car wreck back in May. Although there were times when I just couldn't muster up enough courage to face those giants, I made sure to call on God's help during those dark hours.

So, what did I learn in 2008? Well, I learned that God doesn't always package "His will" in cute little boxes. Although "His will" sometimes hurts, I will tell you this, it's always PERFECT.

Here is a not-so short list of some significant highlights in not-so chronological order:

* Birthday celebration in Orange County
* Birthed a new church from scratch (Learn more about Seven San Diego Church here).
* Trip to Orlando, Florida (Attended the Exponential Conference for Church Planters)
* Met Rick Warren, author of the book titled, A Purpose Driven Life and Pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA.
* Met Dustin Stearman, Ben Otero, and Andrew Bradshaw of Church Plant Media (After a year of coaching me through production on a website via phone conferences, I finally got to meet these guys in Orlando, FL, face-to-face. It was pretty neat).
* Met Cameron Strang and Team of Relevant Magazine
* Met Mark Batterson, author of the book titled, In a Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day, and Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC.
* Met Dan Smith, star of Baby Got Book, and Pastor of Momentum Christian Church in Cleveland, OH.
* Met up with out of state friends (Josh Shannon/ Lee & Alissa Van Meeteren/ Mike & Lucinda Reeves)
* Attended Live Shows by Coldplay, Sigur Rios, Greg Laswell, and Smashing Pumpkins (I thank Ricky & Brandi Huff, Nathan Baldwin, and Jeff Block for treating me to these great shows. I owe them BIG).
* Met Greg Laswell, musician and ex-boyfriend to Mandy Moore (His video for, "How the Day Sounds," also features Elijah Wood).
* Received a phone call from Eric Suarez (A young 19 year old college kid from SDSU who landed in a coma after a bad injury to the head. I visited him in the hospital a few times over the summer. He is now walking and talking! Yes)!
* Grew a whole lot closer to my step-father (Our best laughs together came when we were hurting the most).
* Loved on my family more (We have always been a tight unit, but now we are even tighter).
* Birth of niece, Audrey Hooper (She is sooo beautiful).
* Directed a music video for Coldplay alongside my girlfriend, and some very good friends (Check out my entry here/ currently at 5,113 views).
* Grew closer to my girlfriend, Maryjo Moore.
* Provoked our local community through an "Easter Doesn't Suck" radio/ and print campaign (Although I apologize for offending some, I still don't regret the direction we took).
* Trained 20 Small Group/ Bible Study Leaders for Seven San Diego Church (I'm so proud of this team).
* Produced and marketed over 20 brands or people (At least 200,000 print pieces with my design work were mailed or distributed to the masses this year).
* Assimilated over 97 people into 15 successful Small Groups/ Bible Study Groups
* Climbed 16.5 miles to and from Half Dome in Yosemite, CA (Man, I had some killer blisters).
* Diversified Skill Set (Photography, Painting, Design, Illustration, Film, Web, etc.)
* Directed a few more ads for Seven San Diego Church (Watch the "iNeed a Life" and "Wonderland" clips on my YouTube Channel here. I thank Aaron Bjork, BORN, and SP Media for their gifts, tools, and time).
* My little sister got married! Yay!
* Witnessed over 20 people get baptized at Seven San Diego Church
* Held our first Easter and Christmas Eve Services for Seven San Diego Church
* Taught/ Consulted high school kids at Camp Yearbook in Palm Springs, CA.
* Spoke/ Taught at Seven San Diego Church
* Attended a Pastors Lunch meeting with Jerry Sanders, Mayor of San Diego
* Visited/ Photographed my old stomping grounds (Home of the ice-truck and trailer I onced lived in).
* And finally, growing closer to old friends and meeting sooo many new ones! Words can never fully express how YOU have blessed me this year. I thank God for all your prayers, encouragement, and support! Please, take some time to meditate on this passage, Galatians 6:9 says, "So don't grow tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time."


(Above) My niece, Audrey Hooper. Born a week and a half after my parent's almost fatal car wreck.

In conclusion, I dedicate 2008 to the letter "C". Christ (my great Comforter), capital "C" Church (every Christian around the world who prayed for my family), Crises, and Coldplay. Cheers to you! Thanks for giving me a good kick in the _______! C-ya!

Okay, soooo, what does your list look like?

The Winning Entry & Making the Video: Coldplay's Lost?

...and the Lost? video winner is... Paul O'Brien. You can watch his entry here. It's a claymation piece that's rather, how do I say... Um, I'll just keep my mouth shut.

The Winning Entry (Below):



Okay, so after some delay, Coldplay finally announced the winner on Monday, December 8th. Although Phillip Bosco and I didn't win the official competition, I will admit, we still felt like winners. That sounds like typical "loser talk", but we can honestly say that. Thanks to you, our video quickly became one of the most relevant videos in the competition, nearing 4,000 views just after one week of going live. We know that doesn't seem like much in comparison to many videos on YouTube, but when you compare it to well over 700 entries in the competition, it really does matter. In fact, as I write, most of the entries are still crawling to reach 100 views even after being online for a month.

I must also note that our competition was very gracious. People in countries like Mexico, Canada, the Ukraine, and in territories like Norway, and Australia were rooting for our video. So yes, our message got out! Hats off to you for blogging, posting, commenting, texting, emailing, and Twittering about it. We strongly believe that the word of mouth was mostly due to it's connection with Luke 15:11-31 (Jesus' parable of the Lost Son), found in the New Testament, which served as the main source of inspiration for the project.

We learned a lot through this whole experience. After spending well over 40 hours on storyboarding, 25 hours on costuming/ searching for props, 20 hours on traveling and scouting locations, at least 26 hours on shooting, and a staggering 100+ hours on editing and rendering, we felt much more educated about making music videos. With a bare-bones budget, borrowed equipment, and helpful volunteers, we still managed to pull off telling a story that we remain proud of. After totaling our costs for travel, props, and passports, we have no regrets of the risk we took. I prayed for this opportunity, and well, I got it. The bands choice for the winner on the other hand, is something I will never fully understand. But I still believe God's hand crafted this piece for one reason or another.

Of course we certainly made mistakes. But our victories far outweighed the things that we didn't get right. Below is a snapshot of us on the set and location (San Diego) of our video. Enjoy!


(Above) Phillip Bosco and I direct, Cody Vermillion, the Prodigal Son, while Louis Cooper and Jose roll camera. In case you couldn't tell, the day was hot and the hill was steep. (Below) Camera operator, Louis Cooper gets a close shot of the bag, crafted by my girlfriend, Maryjo Moore. The bag was assembled using a shirt and rope.




(Above) Our crew returned to the hill to shoot the father/ son "reunion" scene just after dinner and moments before the sun set. We were losing light so fast, it actually made us a bit nervous. (Below) On the set of our "table" scene. Did you recognize the centerpiece? It was inspired by the Frida Kahlo painting that gave birth to the name of Coldplay's album title, Viva La Vida.




(Below) Inside the "numb room". Our demons, played by Chris Root and Maryjo Moore, pour grape juice into a wine glass. This shot was never used and left on the cutting room floor.


Our Entry (Below): Watch here.

Watch My Video for Coldplay

Hello world! Phillip and I proudly present Lost?, our video for Coldplay! Watch it NOW and tell us what you think. Also, make sure you view it in High Quality.




The winner is announced this Friday, December 5th. Please pray that this story leaves an impression on the band as well as all the viewers watching this all around the world. It is our hope that God would be glorified through this whole experience. If you didn't already guess it, Luke 15, found in the New Testament, was our inspiration for this video.

In closing, Phillip and I would also like to say a special thanks to Cody Vermillion, Louis Cooper, Wes Van Fleet, Maryjo Moore, Chris Root and Aaron Bjork for helping us get this idea off the ground. We thank them for their patience, wisdom, time, and of course, support.