Singing the Wonders of Las Rocas Hotel

www.lasrocas.com


What do a strong marriage and a small hotel south of Rosarito Beach have in common? A LOT!


I have stayed in a fair shore of Latin American resorts. Places that were impressive, expensive, and where 3 taquitos could cost you $10 (true story). But my all time favorite hotel is the Los Rocas Hotel. Here are my reasons why...


1 - Every room overlooks the ocean, and has a perfect panormaic view. Authentic tiles floors, rutted brick ceilings, concrete cottage cheese walls. AHH MEXICO!

2 - As pictured, the pool flows right over to the Pacific Ocean.

3 - It is not uncommon to see Dolphin jumping out of the water - right from the view deck of this hotel.

4 - My professioanl spa researcher - Stephannie - assures me that the spa in this hotel is SUPREME! (And as a cheap male, I like the prices of a Mexican spa a LOT more than in America).

5 - Lush landscaping with that Mexico style of tropical eccletic landscaping design.




6 - VERY IMPORTANT - This hotel is a short drive to Puerto Nuevo for Lobster, and the La Fonda Hotel in La Mission for dessert (I will discuss both in another blog).

7 - There always seems to be the most interesting collection of people at this hotel. i have seen Tatoos that Steph and I are still trying to figure out :)

8 - Breakfast on the patio, with that AWESOME orange juice from Mexico that is thick and pulpy.

Unofficial Top 10 Things to Look for in a Church

I am half-serious and half having fun - so take this as it is. Here is my "Top Ten Things to Look for when searching for a new church"

10 - Multi-Racial. Any church that has predominently one race is missing what heaven will look like!

9 - Authenticity. If the Pastor begins every conversation with "Man I just had a great 3 hour prayer time this morning" - RUN!

8 - Forgiveness. Philip Yancey and CS Lewis both say that "Grace" (i.e. God's unmerited love and forgiveness) is the only thing the church has that the rest of the world does not.

7 - Important Numbers. How many previous members have been wounded, stomped on, burned, and disregarded by the ministry. I believe Jesus is more hurt by the pain churches cause people, then overjoyed by impressive numbers of grwoth. Although Lord knows growth is great!
6 - Good Snacks. Think about how many stories in the Bible surround food! I have heard the ministry of Jesus described as "eating GOOD food with BAD people".

5 - Laughter - Any church that takes itself too serioulsy should be avoided.

4 - How Do the Leaders Treat One Another - If a staff can not enjoy each other, get along, and maintain long term relationships - by what authroity do they presume to lead others? If a church has constant turnover - something fishy (fleshy?) is going on, and its not Red Lobster!

3 - Do The Poor, Widows and Orphans Matter? - Churches whose primary mission remians only in its four walls are should be avoided like chicken tacos in Costa Rica (there is a great personel story behind that - but I will share it at another time).

2 - THE BIBLE - OK #'s 10-3 may fluctuate - but accept no substitues for #'s 2 and 1. There are two extremes that I see lately. One is the veneration of indivuals by churches that say they are biblical (when Chuck Smith, TD Jakes, are always revered as nearly perfect). The other is the church that wraps Christian-speak around "pop-psychology". For instance if either Churck Smith or Dr. Phil are quoted more than 5 times in one message - RUN!

1- ASK GOD - IS THIS THE CHURCH FOR ME! - If you are a Christian, your main concern when searching for a church should be where the Lord guides you - so that your gifts and talents can be put to the highest use for his Kingdom!


Anyway - this is was written from a slightly "tongue in cheek" perpective -so please read it as such!

John

Otay Ranch Community Vs. Eastlake

Our First Home (all 600 sq. feet)

In 1989 Steph and I were driving around this new area of East Chula Vista called Eastlake. Tumbleweeds, and a LONG DRIVE on East "H" st. from the 805 was all you had to look forward to "back in the day". There were maybe two or three new home developments -and a lot of young families. Having recently been hired by a church in East Chula Vista we were eager to put roots in the community. So a little more than a year after we moved to East Chula Vista - we bought our first condo. It was little more than 600 sq. ft. - and we purchased it for the unbelievable high price of $95,000. Worse yet - San Diego county was just poised for a major real estate downturn. OUCH. However, through God's grace and a market turnaround - it turned out to be not that bad of an investment.

I was thinking about this lately because around East Chula Vista many friends at church mention how scared they are about the Real Estate decreases in Chula Vista. Our church in Otay Ranch has many residents of Eastlake and Otay Ranch that are FREAKING OUT over the steep decline in prices. My advice - hold on - things turn around. And to anyone who complains about how Otay Ranch does not have enough places to eat, or good new young churches, I say Otay Ranch has grown and advanced way faster than Eastlake did.