Manuel “Jblaze” Garcia, a South Florida CHH pioneer and veteran radio host, has joined forces with Urban Church Planter, David Rosa Jr. (coached by Doug Logan and Robert Guerrero), to help launch Cruciform Church, a community of believers that exist to join God in spreading his fame and restoring the streets. Blaze is on staff of Cruciform as the director of outreach, a position that entails assisting Rosa Jr. in reaching the community in a consistent and creative way.
After 11 years (2002-2013) of his FNFLive show airing on La Nueva 88.3 FM in Miami, Florida, Jblaze took a hiatus from the music industry to focus on health (he received a new kidney in 2013), family (his son Josiah was born in 2013), and ministry. J’s training with Pastor David Rosa Jr. has invigorated his approach to the mission of God (Missio Dei).
Rosa Jr. and Jblaze are serving the diverse communities of Hollywood, Florida with an urban flavor through neighborliness, chopping up of the scriptures, a place to worship with other believers, and more. Cruciform is pounding the concrete with weekly meetings, daily building with the community, and vision nights.
“We don’t want to ever claim to be urban.” Garcia said. “We are…and the message of being missional is daily not just an event or program.”
At one of the vision nights at RED Cafe & Lounge in downtown Hollywood, Rosa Jr. displayed Cruciform’s edgy approach when he delivered his Christ-centered message.
“Jay z said, ‘I got 99 problems but a chick ain’t one.’…Then Solange punched him in his fat lip and proved him to be wrong. Drake said, ‘no new friends.’…But he’s all up in Serena’s games, cheesein… Guess he was wrong. Hector Lavoe dijo ‘que no hay eternidad.’…Pero el ya murió y te garantizo que ahora conoce la verdad. The 305’s own Pitbull said, ‘I knew my rent was gon be late about a week ago…’ He lied… His money loooong. He knew your rent was gon be late about a week ago!!! We’re here to make a statement today in the words of the apostle Paul, ‘Let God be true and every man a liar!’ Every man whose mouthed a bad word about you, about this city, and about our God. Today we’re here to raise a banner, not a banner of Cruciform though we have one here, but the banner of Christ.” – David Rosa Jr. (Vision Night Intro)
Cruciform will be at The Frequency Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (October 16-17), two days of Urban Church planting related events featuring Eric Mason, Paul Tripp, and Bryan Loritts, among others, to build with fellow Church planters. In the first quarter of 2016, they’re hosting in collaboration with other South Florida ministries, the third annual Gospel & Race conference, which has featured speakers like Soong-Chan Rah, D.A. Horton, and John Onwuchekwa, in the past.
For more information on Cruciform visit their website: https://cruciformchurch.org/
