Christmas Eve

Just finished an awesome Christmas Eve service! God is awesome! We had 3 people make decisions for Christ.

Blogging may be sporadic over the next few days due to the holidays. Have a merry Christmas!

Unwrapped Continues This Weekend

This Sunday we will be continuing our Unwrapped series. We'll be looking at Unwrapping Fear and Intimidation. If you haven't visited unwrapped07.com, take a moment to go over there and see it. You'll be able to see the thoughts of others and also post your own.

The Power Of Our Words

Recently I've been reflecting on the power of our words. The words we use in communicating with people carry tremendous power. Proverbs 18:21 says,

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue."

Our words carry the ability to build others up and also tear others down. They have the power to bring both death and life into those who hear them.

For that reason it is so important that we be people who use our words to build up others and encourage them. We all experience enough negativity by just living in this fallen world. What we need is to speak life and blessing into one another's lives.

Who is there in your life that could use a fresh, life-giving word of encouragement today?

Be encouraged to go and make that person's day.

Upcoming Spiritual Renewal Month

I just want to put a few upcoming things on the radar for next year. Our focus as a church for January is Spiritual Renewal.

We will be having our annual week of prayer and fasting Jan. 13-19. We encourage everybody to participate in whatever way they feel that God is leading them. Some may fast for a day or two. Some may fast a meal a day or from entertainment. I will personally be doing a "nothing but liquid" fast during that time. Our goal during this week is to set aside some of the normal comforts of this life in order to focus more intensely on seeking God and drawing closer to him.

We will also be having our annual Spiritual Renewal Services Jan. 23-25 (W-F) at 7pm. These services will be devoted to pursuing God and will typically have a time of extended worship, a sermon, and a time of prayer and seeking God. Our guest speaker this year is Bobby Hawk. Bobby is a gifted preacher, pastor, and church planter from Pontiac, MI.

There's no better way to bring in the new year than to pursue God with all of our hearts!

Christmas Eve Service

Our Christmas Eve Service will be at 7:00pm on Monday, Dec. 24. I'm looking forward to this service for two reasons: I love Jesus and I love Christmas!

It's going to be a great time as we gather to celebrate our Lord's birth together!

Unwrapping The Pain Of Ongoing Trials

Had a great service this morning. My wife Jessica shared the 3rd message in our Unwrapped series on "The Pain of Ongoing Trials." Here's a short video clip testimony that we used as an illustration.

Bring Somebody With You

Perhaps more than any other time of the year, this is the time when most people are likely to go to church. For that reason, I'd like to encourage everybody to invite a friend to church during this holiday season.

Researchers have indicated that many non-churchgoers would be willing to attend a church if they were simply invited. One of our goals at ACC is to be a church where people feel comfortable, excited, and proactive about inviting their unchurched friends to attend.

Our current message series Unwrapped, also makes for a good invitation opportunity during this season. We're studying how to get honest with ourselves and God as we experience the difficulties, pains, and failures in life. You can also refer people to unwrapped07.com where they can register to receive a free $5.00 coffee card on their first visit.

Tips For Devotions

Check out a great post by Jeff Leake with some good practical tips for devotions.

Pastor's Meeting

This morning I met with a group of pastors from our MCM-Pittsburgh network. We try and get together weekly to encourage one another and share ideas. I really look forward to these gatherings. It's great to be able to meet with other pastors who can invest in my life and sharpen me like iron sharpening iron.

It's so true that "he who walks with the wise grows wise". It's so important for us to surround ourselves with people who build us up and encourage us in our walk of faith. I'll never forget what one of the pastors I served under used to say:

"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future"

There's definitely enough things in life that tend to pull us down and drain us. I'm thankful for this gathering of pastors that I can hang out with and be strengthened by.

What are some things you do to surround yourself with people who build you up?

Coming Out As Gold

Apologies for my recent lack of blogging regularity. Life's been pretty intense for us recently, but I hope to get back into a swing of sorts.

In my Scripture reading today I came across Job 23:10. The power of this verse is seen in light of its context. Job was a man who experienced extreme physical and emotional adversity in his life. His possessions were taken and his children were all killed. After that he experienced intense physical afflictions as he was covered with sores from head to foot.

In the midst of this unexplained and perplexing situation he writes of God in 23:10

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold."

Job didn't allow the pressure and tragedy of his situation to make him bitter against God. In the midst of it, he found a way to humble himself before God and trust that whatever God's purpose, he would come through it as gold on the other side.

When we face difficulty in life we should ask ourselves what God is teaching us through it. He is shaping our character through the various trials that we face. Truly he works all things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Unwrapped Series Video Trailer

Check out the trailer for our upcoming message series beginning this Sunday called UNWRAPPED.

Our goal in the series is to study the Psalms and songs written in Scripture and learn from the authors how to open our hearts to God. We will be focusing on learning how to get honest with ourselves and with God by unwrapping our hearts to him and experiencing his grace.

We've created a website to help facilitate this expression of our hearts to God. Visit unwrapped07.com and join the conversation by posting a thought, prayer, poem, or any other expression of your heart to God.

This series will be a great opportunity to invite a friend to church. All first time guests will receive a free $5.00 coffee card.

Vision

A clear and compelling vision keeps us focused on our ultimate mission. In today's culture there is such a tendency for us to allow distractions to keep us from pursuing God's heart and the mission he has given us. Scripture teaches us that "where there is no vision, the people perish." Therefore one of my greatest responsibilities as a leader is to seek the heart of God and cast a Christ-centered, God-honoring vision.

Our vision at ACC is:

To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by helping them to Experience Christ, Excel in spiritual growth, and Express his love to the world.

God has called the church to "make disciples of all people." Each one of us has a part to play and a place to contribute. To borrow from the Apostle Paul's analogy, the church is the body of Christ. What a beautiful thing it is when each one of us with our unique giftings function together in unity and love working together for the sake of the gospel in our community. Each one of us, working in unison contributes to the overall mission that God has given us. He has commissioned us as "ministers of reconciliation" leading a broken and lost humanity back into a saving relationship with its creator.

Family Rocks!

I just came across this picture of my awesome family.
Looking forward to time with more family this week. We have the joy of spending a van ride together from Pittsburgh to Kansas City. Should be fun :). We going there to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad's side of the family. I'm really excited. It's always a great time with our family in Kansas City!

Ministry Strategy Part 3: Express

The third and final stage in our discipleship process after Experience and Excel, is EXPRESS. This step is all about giving what we have been given. It is about expressing God's love to the world. It comes third because we cannot express his love to the world until we have experienced his love personally.

Expressing God's love is the natural result of experiencing him and growing or excelling in our relationship with him. As we grow in him, we realize more and more the importance of sharing his love with others.

After the disciples had experienced Christ and had begun to grow by listening to his teaching, they were sent out into ministry (Luke 9:1-2; 10:1-3). Ministry is the inevitable result of experiencing God and growing in him.

The entire book of Acts also testifies to this fact. After their powerful encounter with God in the upper room and their committment to meet corporately and from house to house, they proceeded to turn the world upside down for God!

At ACC, the primary ways of expressing God's love to the world is by joining a ministry team and helping with the various outreach events that we do. There are opportunities to lead a Life Group, become a Youth or Children’s ministry leader, become a Nursery worker, help with the coffee and hospitality ministry, become an usher or greeter, become an altar worker, help with the building and grounds crew, join the worship team, help with sound, lighting, and video production, etc.

It is so important that we not just grow in God, but give what we have been given. It is extremely unhealthy to only consume and never give out. The converse is true also that we cannot properly give if we are not receiving from God and growing in him. Both are necessary.

The natural result of experiencing God and growing spiritually is expressing his love to the world. Indeed we should not be able to hold it in!

Current Podcasts

Some people may think I'm a dork, but I love listening to sermons and preachers. These are some of the sermon podcasts I'm currently listening to.

James River Assembly- Pastor John Lindell. John is one of my favorite expository preachers. I attended his church for a long time while I was in college.

Desiring God- Pastor John Piper. Piper is also one of my favorite expository preachers. He has a contagious passion for the glory of God and his Word.

Mars Hill Church- Pastor Mark Driscoll. Mark is a very candid and thought provoking speaker. He relates well to emerging and post-modern culture and has a sharp, conversational style.

Mosaic- Erwin McManus. Erwin pastors a progressive and multi-ethnic/cultural church in LA. He is a very passionate communicator.

Lifechurch.tv- Pastor Craig Groeschel. Craig is a very good preacher who is very practical and engaging.

Self Leadership

Thought I'd pass along a great post I came across about the importance of self-leadership and discipline. Enjoy.

Ministry Strategy Part 2: Excel

After EXPERIENCE, the next step in our spiritual growth process is EXCEL. While we are not talking about the Microsoft Office spreadsheet application, we are talking about growing in our relationship with God. This second step in our process is all about spiritual growth.

At ACC, our primary avenue for spiritual growth is Life Groups. Though this is certainly not the only place where spiritual growth happens, we feel that it happens best in the context of authentic relationships. Life Groups provide a more intimate setting which encourages thoughtful interaction and dialogue which is not always possible in a large gathering. A small group environment allows a group of people meet together for the purpose of growing in God's Word, praying together, and sharing life together.

Our Life Groups strategy is patterned after Jesus' ministry and the model of the early church.

In Luke 6:12-16, after Peter, James, and John had a powerful experience with Christ in ch. 5, they became a part of Jesus' small group of disciples. The 12 disciples at this point are following Jesus and are growing spiritually by observing his life and listening to his teachings.

In Acts 2:42-47 we see that the believers “…devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.”

Also in Acts 5:42 we read: “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

Christianity is not meant to be lived in isolation. We need to be connected with one another. By developing meaningful relationships with other believers in small groups, we are able to effectively help one another grow in our relationship with God, community with believers, and influence with our world.

Good Thoughts On Leadership

Check out my friend Nick's post for some helpful tips on being a decisive leader.

Ministry Strategy Part 1: Experience

In a series of posts I'd like to describe our ministry strategy here at ACC. Since Christ has called the church to his mission, it is important that we be intentional about making disciples. If we are going to be intentional about anything we must be purposeful about making disciples.

Strategies and methods are not sacred. The Great Commission is. Strategies are merely the practical process by which we seek to fulfill the Great Commission. Strategies may need to change from time to time, but the mission and message never changes.

The first step in our ministry/discipleship process is EXPERIENCE.

Before someone can begin their spiritual journey they must have a personal experience with God in which he changes their heart and comes to live within them. We call this experience of God salvation. It takes place when we repent of our sins and submit our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The spiritual journey of the disciples began with a personal encounter with Jesus (Luke 5:1-11). Along the same lines, the explosive ministry of the Apostles in the book of Acts took place after their incredible encounter with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).

The primary (though not only) avenue for this step in our process is our Sunday Morning Gathering. It is during this gathering that we seek to experience God's presence together in corporate worship and the preaching of the Word of God. We expect that as we are together in God's presence that God will draw people unto himself and they will cross the line of faith and begin their spiritual journey. We also expect that believers will also be filled with God's power in order to be effective witnesses for Christ in our homes, workplaces, and communities every day.

Dropping Off Depression

Thought I'd post some action points from today's message called "Dropping Off Depression" the first message in our Baggage series. These are from 2 Corinthians 4:13-18.

1. Speak the truth of God’s Word- v.13-15
“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

2. Be spiritually renewed daily- v.16
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day."

3. Focus on eternal realities- v.17-18
“For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Devotional Literature

One thing that has really helped me in my spiritual formation has been the reading of devotional books. I've recently decided to become more intentional about reading devotional classics.

One thing about devotional classics is that they must be read with both an open heart and caution. An open heart because it is good for us to fill our minds with writings that direct our thoughts to God. Caution because not everything that any particular writer says is always 100% biblical all the time. It basically comes down to eating up the good and throwing out the weird.

That being said, I feel like reading devotional books along with daily Bible reading can be a tremendous benefit for our spiritual growth. I'm currently reading through The Imitation Of Christ by the 16th century monk Thomas a Kempis. It's split up into nice little 1-2 page chapters that makes for good succinct daily reading. A couple other devotional books I'd recommend are:

The Way Of The Heart- Henri Nouwen
The Pursuit Of God- A.W. Tozer
In The Name Of Jesus- Henri Nouwen
The Divine Conspiracy- Dallas Willard
Celebration Of Discipline- Richard Foster
Power Through Prayer- E.M. Bounds
Secrets Of The Secret Place- Bob Sorge
The Practice Of The Presence Of God- Brother Lawrence
My Utmost For His Highest- Oswald Chambers
A Hunger For God- John Piper

I'll stop there for the sake of time. I've deliberately kept this list to the kinds of books that are easier to read. There are many, many other good devotional books out there. Are there any others that you have found helpful in your life? Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment.

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Baggage

This Sunday we're beginning a new series of messages called Baggage. We're going to be looking at gaining freedom from depression, addiction, emotional pain, and failure.

Many of us have baggage because of how we were raised and the different experiences we've been through in life. God desires us to live in his freedom. In fact, he has called us to be free and has provided everything we need to experience liberty in Christ.

I'm excited about this series. This would be a great opportunity to invite a friend to come and experience Christ's transforming power.

Finding Hope In Difficult Times

Had a great service this morning. My message was called "Finding Hope In Difficult times" from Jeremiah 29:4-14. In my message I shared 3 actions to take in times of difficulty and 3 promises that God gives us in difficult times. Thought I'd just post them here:

3 actions to take in difficult times

1. Pursue life according to God’s plan- v. 4-6
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease.”

2. Seek to be a blessing right where you are- v. 7
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

3. Refuse to listen to lies that will come against you- v. 8-9
“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”

3 Promises from God in difficult times

1. God promises to honor his promises- v. 10
"For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place."

2. God promises wholeness and not evil, a future and a hope- v. 11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

3. God promises to reveal himself powerfully to us when we seek him- v. 12-14a
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart I will be found by you, declares the Lord…”

Catalyst Meeting

This morning I attended our monthly gathering of pastors at Allison Park Church. We are part of a group of churches called Multi-Church Movements- Pittsburgh. This month our guest speaker was Earl Creps.

Earl is the former director of the Doctor of Ministry program at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. He recently resigned his position there in order to pursue a call from God to plant a church in Berkeley, CA. He gave a great talk this morning. You can find some good notes from it here on Jeff's blog and here on Nick's blog.

Narrow The Focus

Due to an unusual number of people unable to attend our monthly leadership meeting Sunday, I thought I just post up some of the notes from our discussion.

We've been working through some of the principles found in Andy Stanley's book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. Without agreeing 100% with everything in the book, it does offer some very helpful insights into effective ministry practices. Here is an excerpt from some of our notes from Sunday:

•“Clarify The Win” is defining what success really is. It is defining the goal or target we are aiming for. For the church it is changed lives.

•“Think Steps, Not Programs” - Programs are not an end in and of themselves, they are steps in a process leading to spiritual maturity.

•“Narrow The Focus” is about deciding to do less in order to become more effective.

•Complexity diminishes your potential for
impact.

•We cannot confuse activity with effectiveness.
Activity does not equal effectiveness,
strategic activity equals effectiveness.

•The goal is not to do everything, it is to do a few things well.

•The more you focus, the higher the quality.

•The more you focus, the stronger the
impact.

Also, for anyone who is interested, you can subscribe to an audio podcast of each of the seven practices here.

How To Listen To Sermons

This is a 1-minute talk from John Piper on how to make the most out of listening to sermons.

Winding Down

The class this week has been incredible. We've had class everyday from 8am-5pm. Though my brain's almost exploded a couple of times, I think I'm going to be fine :)

But seriously, I've really learned a lot related to God's redemptive mission in the Bible. Today is the last day and we're nearing the home stretch. Right now we are covering the concept of the mission of God in Paul's theology in his letter to the Romans.

Though this week has been incredibly enriching, and I've enjoyed the company of many great friends, I can't wait to get home to be with my wife!

JRA Friends

Had a great time last night attending the prayer service at James River Assembly, the church I attended while in college. After the service I went over to the Realife Student Center and reconnected with some very dear old friends.

A significant part of my college years was spent helping the the Junior High ministry leading worship, a small group, and Sunday school. I'm so thankful for the years that I spent there. Really learned a lot during that season of my life.

So good to see some of the former students I used to teach who are now high school students! So good to reconnect with so many great people!

Memory Lane

Having gone to college here in Springfield, MO, I've been experiencing a flood of nostalgic memories as I drive on these streets again.

We all have memories that we would just as soon forget due to mistakes or rough circumstances. I also think that memory lane can be a very good place for us when we choose to remember the good things God has done in our lives in past years.

Occasionally we all find ourselves in seasons of discouragement. One of the main ways we can fight discouragement is to remember God's faithfulness to us in the past. By remembering God's goodness, we can wage war against the despairing thoughts we might be facing.

God did so much in my life during my college years in Springfield and it has been very good for me to think about his faithfulness to me during that time. If you happen to be going through a difficult time right now I want to encourage you to take a moment to remember the different times when God was there for you in the past and let it renew and refresh your hope for God's help in your current situation.

1-Week Intensive

I arrived last night in Springfield, MO for a week long class for my master's program at AGTS called "The Mission of God in Biblical and Contemporary Contexts." It is basically a course on developing a Biblical theology of mission. I'm really enjoying it so far. I hope to be able to post some interesting things that I learn during the week.

Praise God!

Service this morning was amazing! We had a record attendance of 111! and we were able to baptize 4 people! God is so good!



I never tire of hearing testimonies of God's power in people's lives. Baptism is always awesome. So cool how a 1st Century tradition can be so powerful today!

One Of Those Good Days

Had a great day today. I spent most of the morning revising the material in our Foundations course booklet that we'll be using for our New Member's Class coming up this Saturday.

It was great being able to think deep about our mission and vision and explain it in writing. I almost want to make all of our current member's go through the course again! (Don't worry, I wont :)

This afternoon I went with a friend to pick up the baptismal tank that we'll be using for the baptismal service this Sunday. Personally, I feel that baptizing someone is one of the most special privileges I have as a pastor. I'm really looking forward to it.

And the day's not yet over. Tonight I get to lead the rehearsal for our amazing worship team. It's such a privilege to minister with these people!

Bloglines Is Working For Me Again

For those of you who subscribe to this blog via bloglines, I believe the updating problem has finally been fixed. It should be updating for you now regularly.

Faith Or Fear

At our young adult group last night, one of the main ideas was the subject of choices. The choices we make in defining moments have the power to change the direction of our lives. Our lives really are the sum total of the different choices we've made.

Obviously some choices are more critical than others. Who we marry, where we live, where we work, where we serve in ministry, are all way more important than which pair of shoes we decide to wear in the morning. It's in these important moments where our choices matter the most.

Perhaps the most important decisions we make are related to how we respond to God's calling on our lives. Just as clarification, I believe God has a calling and a purpose for every one of us, not just pastors and missionaries. Not everyone's calling looks the same, but everyone has a unique purpose from God. Not everyone is called in the same way. Sometimes God speaks to people in dramatic ways and sometimes he calls people to things more subtly.

So, when it comes to God's call on our lives, what will we choose to do? For some of us, the calling God has for us is something that looks impossible. It may seem unattainable or even foolish. The main question is, are we going to base our choices on fear or faith?

In Numbers 13, Moses sends men into the promised land of Canaan to spy out the land. This was land that God had already promised to the people of Israel. All the spies came back afraid of the people of the land except for Caleb and Joshua. In 14:8-9 they said to the people

"8 If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."

They didn't allow the opposition to diminish their confidence in God's ability to lead them into his plan. Neither should we. When it comes to God's calling, will we choose fear or faith?

Anniversary Weekend!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend since Sunday is our 1-year anniversary! Can't believe it's already been a whole year.

Guess time flies when you're in love :) Jess you're the love of my life!

New Members/Baptisms

Just wanted to post a reminder about our New Members Class taking place from 11am-1pm on Saturday, October 20 @ ACC. Lunch will be provided. You are welcome to attend if you are interested in becoming a member or would just like to learn more about our history, vision, and beliefs. If you would like to attend, please rsvp by sending us an email here.

The following Sunday, October 21 we will also be having water baptisms in the morning service! If you have not yet been water baptized since placing your faith in Jesus Christ, you won't want to miss this opportunity to publicly demonstrate your commitment. You can also rsvp to participate and get more details by emailing us here.

Websites

Just wanted to pass along a couple of websites of note. The church that started us almost 10 years ago, Allison Park Church, recently got a new website. You can check it out here.

Also, here at ACC we are a part of a group called Multi-Church Movements- Pittsburgh. You can also see the new website for the broader Multi-Church Movements here.

Life In Action

This weekend we'll be starting a new message series called "Life In Action". This series is all about learning how to put our faith into action, or maybe better, putting action into our faith.

Next week we will hear from Eric Ferguson, originally from Pittsburgh, now a missionary to Nicaragua. He and his wife Shanna are the founders of Metanoia Missions International, a ministry whose vision is to transform nations through the establishment of churches, schools, orphanages, micro-businesses, and humanitarian aid.

Then on Oct. 21 we'll celebrate with those who are taking action through water baptism in our morning service!

Growing In Godliness

This was the third message in our Disciple series called "Growing In Godliness" from 2 Peter 1:3-11.

Seminary

After some deliberation I finally decided to transfer my graduate credits back to AGTS (where I started) in order to finish my M.Div through them. The cool part is that I won't need to move to Springfield in order to complete it. I've enrolled in the "In-Service" track which is designed to allow pastors and missionaries to finish their degrees while remaining in their ministry positions. It's set up to be completed through correspondence courses, online classes, and 1-week on-campus modules.

For this fall, I've enrolled in a course called "The Mission of God in Biblical and Contemporary Contexts". It's a 1-week module course held in Springfield in late October. It sounds like it's going to be pretty good. I'm also looking forward to visiting my college hometown yet again :)

I've really enjoyed my Seminary experience thus far. Jessica and I both share the conviction that we want to be lifelong learners. Seminary helps me solidify that conviction.

A Comparison

This week somebody sent me this in an email. Thought it was interesting.

Al Sanders, in his book Crisis in Morality, compares the descendants of two men who lived in the United States about 150 years ago.

Max Jukes was an atheist. He did not believe in Christ or in Christian training. He married an ungodly girl and refused to take his children to church, even when they asked to go. At the time of this research, there were approximately 1200 descendants from this union.
Of these…
• 310 died as paupers,
• at least 150 were criminals,
• 7 were murderers,
• 100 were drunkards,
• and more than half of the women were prostitutes.

Jonathan Edwards lived at the same time as Max Jukes, but he married a godly woman. He loved the Lord and saw that his children were in church every Sunday as he served the Lord to the best of his ability. An investigation was made of 1,394 of his known descendants.

Thirteen of his offspring became college presidents,
• 65 became college professors,
• 100 lawyers,
• 30 judges,
• 60 physicians,
• 76 army and navy officers,
• 100 preachers and missionaries,
• 60 authors of prominence,
• 3 United States Senators,
• one Vice President of the United States,
• 80 public officials in other capacities, and
• 295 college graduates, among whom were governors of states and ministers to foreign countries.

Simple Church

Today I finished the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. It was definitely one of the best books on church ministry I've read. The premise is basic, but powerful. It argues for simplicity against complexity in church ministry. The book is based on extensive research of vibrant, growing churches and stagnant, declining churches.

The book's goal is to help churches develop a simple strategy to make disciples. Amid case studies and stats the book presents several helpful steps in creating a simple church. It argues that so often churches mistake complexity and activity for effectiveness. The truth is, some churches have no discipleship strategy or process that they lead people through. More and more myriads of ministries are added the calendar becomes increasingly full. The result is divided focus, divided resources, and burned out people.

The book proposes 4 concepts to be embraced. They are:

Clarity
Movement
Alignment
Focus

Clarity means having an easily definable spiritual growth process. It is something that is easy to understand and communicate. This is the overarching ministry process that the church has embraced in order to create disciples.

Movement is about helping people to keep progressing. The stages of the process are leading people to increased commitment and maturity. Movement helps to keep people from stagnating or stalling in their spiritual growth.

Alignment is making sure that every program in the church contributes specifically to the spiritual growth process. It is also making sure that every ministry also models the spiritual growth process.

Focus is the ability to stay on target and not follow diversions from the spiritual growth process God has called the church to embrace.

That's a very brief rundown of the book. It is very good. I highly recommend it to pastors and church leaders.

Isaiah 40:28-31

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Discipline Drudgery

Discipline without direction equals drudgery.

That was one of the main statements in my message on Sunday. It's so true that without vision or direction, disciplines become drudgery.

When I was a kid, my mom tried to get me to learn to play the piano. I remember lessons with my teacher who had really long fingernails that clicked on the keys as she played. The fact was however that I hated those lessons and I hated practicing most of all. For the life of me I couldn't see the benefit in the hard work of practicing the piano. I remember literally laying on the floor under the piano bench refusing to practice. This was because I had no vision.

All of that changed however when I turned 12 years old and started taking guitar lessons. This time I had a vision, direction, and purpose. I wanted to be a rockstar! Therefore I devoted myself to painstaking practice on chords and strumming and such in order to achieve my dream. While that dream never actually became a reality (thank God!) I am grateful for how God has been able to use that skill in my life.

The point is that without a vision disciplines become boring and meaningless. The same can be true of our spiritual lives. If we don't have a vision for what our lives could become, we will not see the purpose in disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer, worship, fellowship and things like that. They will become empty boring routines.

I believe that God wants to give us a vision for Christlikeness. As Christians we are called to be "little Christs". The purpose of spiritual growth is to become more and more like Jesus.

We always imitate what we admire most. You can always tell who or what a person admires most by what they imitate. The more we become fascinated by Jesus, the more we will want to be like him.

When that happens, we will see the spiritual disciplines as a joy and not a nuisance. We will come to see them as a means of transforming us into the image of Christ and not just meaningless rituals.

Just some of my reflections.

Life Groups Video

This is the video we made to promote our Life Groups which will be beginning the first week of October!

City Reach Video

Here's a City Reach recap video that was created by Allison Park Church. It includes footage from Ambridge as well as 4 other City Reach sites this year.

Weekend Reflections

I'm not typically easily impressed with church attendance numbers because they are not always a true reflection of spirituality. I do however feel that it is appropriate to celebrate and praise God when we have a record Sunday morning attendance. This past Sunday we had a combined total of 110! Also there were about 6-7 people who responded to give their lives to Christ or rededicate their lives to him!

God has brought us a long way in a year's time. I'm so thankful for all the growth I've seen taking place in people's lives and also hearing testimonies of how God is using our church to impact our community.

The message I shared this past Sunday was the 2nd in our "Disciple" series. It was an introduction and vision message for our Life Groups that will be launching the 1st week of October.

In the message I shared "4 Reasons why we should get into a life group"

They are:

1. We were designed for relationship.

Genesis 2:18- “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone;’”

I also shared 3 dangers of living in isolation based on this previous post.

2. Christianity is meant to be lived in community.

Heb. 10:24-25- “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

3. Small groups are a biblical model of discipleship

Acts 2:42-46- “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts”

Acts 5:42- “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts 20:18-20- “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia… how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.”


4. Small Groups are an opportunity to reach people for Christ.

Luke 5:29- Immediately after Jesus calls Matthew Levi to leave his tax collecting job and follow him, it says,“And Levi made him [Jesus] a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them.”


Also, here's a SHOUT OUT for all the Geneva College students! So good to have all of you join us!

God has blessed us so much and I am so excited about the future God has for ACC!

Clean-Up Day

This morning, a handful of us went out with brooms, garden hoes, and trash bags and cleaned up portions of 4th St. in Ambridge. We basically picked up litter and weeded the sidewalks.

I love taking advantage of every opportunity I can to join up with this committee to help clean up Ambridge because I believe in the importance of what they're doing.

I also enjoy it because my job does not naturally lend itself to weight loss. It's great to have a chance to get out and get the blood flowing a little bit!

Water Baptisms and New Members Class!

I'm pretty excited about our upcoming Membership class and water baptism service. These are always a great time for me. I love sharing with new people what our church is all about and what we believe. There is something that charges me up every time someone shares their testimony and is water baptized.

The membership class will be from 11am-1pm on Saturday, Oct 13, and the baptism service will be on Sunday, Oct 21 at 10am. If you are interested in participating in either of these send me an email here!.

In the Nick of Time!

Today I had the awesome privilege of hanging out with my friend Nick Poole. Nick and I went to college together. He was actually my RA the second semester of my freshman year!

Now Nick is on staff at Allison Park Church as a church plant coordinator. His job is basically to help resource the various APC church plants.

Ambridge Clean-Up Day

Really excited about another opportunity we have to show love to our community. We've been invited again by the Committee to Clean and Beautify Ambridge to participate in a clean up day this Saturday.

We helped for a clean up day in April. You can read about that here. I love opportunities like this because it is such a practical way to show Christ's love!

Anyone is welcome to join us. We will be meeting this Saturday the 15th at Rook's parking lot on 4th and Merchant St. in Ambridge from 9-11am. We'd love to have you come out!

Disciple Series Begins This Weekend

Have you ever hit a roadblock in your relationship with God?

Have you ever felt like you were in a spiritual rut that you couldn't get out of?

This Sunday we'll be launching a new 4-part series on discipleship. We will be diving into some foundational truths and principles of walking with God. We will discover some keys to living a vibrant and exhilarating Christian life.

This study will revolve around the person of Jesus Christ. Though he was God Himself, he became a man in order that we might be brought back into fellowship with God. In this series we will discover how to grow in our personal relationship with Him. We'll be looking at what it really means to be a follower of Christ.

Rise and Pray

It's interesting to see what Jesus told his disciples to do regarding prayer before he was arrested. In Luke 22:40, when he was on the Mount of Olives, he told his disciples "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." Then he went off by himself and prayed earnestly to God because he was distressed about the upcoming crucifixion. When he returned to where his disciples were he noticed that they were all sound asleep.

Jesus responded to them in v.46 "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." Previously he had encouraged them to only pray, now he challenges them to rise and pray. Why would he do this?

The Bible also teaches that while our spirits are often willing to engage in prayer, our flesh is weak. That means that our bodies and minds can make it difficult to pray. Jesus encourages them to do something physically that will help them spiritually. He calls them to rise and pray.

What we do with our physical bodies can help or hinder our spiritual development. Sometimes it's as simple as rising up when we pray. It simply helps keep the blood flowing and keeps us more alert. Why is it that sometimes it's easier to fall asleep in prayer meetings than actually pray? I think it's partly because we don't move at all. A little mobilization goes a long way in helping us to stay focused.

For years now I've found it particularly helpful to walk and pace as I pray. It really does help me stay focused. There certainly is no prescribed manner of prayer in the Bible. There are all kinds of biblical postures of prayer including kneeling, lying prostrate, standing, etc. Each one is meaningful and beneficial. I think we should employ all of them. The main point in prayer is the condition of our hearts and not the position of our bodies. However, I believe that our physical posture can have an effect on our ability to focus.

In certain times, like when we are exhausted or tired, it would be best to walk or pace when we pray. Jesus disciples were obviously very tired, but that's most likely why Jesus told them to rise and pray.

Just some of my thoughts. Do you have any?

George Muller On Overcoming ADD in Prayer

I know I'm probably the only one who's ever had to deal with this, but have you ever struggled with ADD in prayer? You know, trying to be focused in prayer but instead end up experiencing all kinds of distractions. Like when you sit down to pray and then remember that your car needs an oil change, your refrigerator is empty, the room you're in could really use a good cleaning, and wow! your already 10 minutes late for work!

So what do you do? How do you deal with it?

George Muller wrote something really insightful regarding this in his autobiography. He said:

"The primary business I must attend to every day is fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished...The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and meditate on it...Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible. But I often spent a quarter of an hour to an hour on my knees struggling to pray while my mind wandered. Now I rarely have this problem. As my heart is nourished by the truth of the Word, I am brought into true fellowship with God... This exercise of the soul can be best performed after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God."

Muller basically proposes that meditation on the Scriptures is a powerful means of staying focused in prayer. As our minds are occupied with the truth of God's Word our souls will stay nourished and focused in prayer.

Widsom Part 1

This is the first message in our short 2-part series on Wisdom from Proverbs 2:1-11.

A Blogging Pastor's Crutch? :)

Celebrate God's Work

I praise God for the awesome ways he's been working recently. At our City Reach services we saw roughly 90 people make decisions to give their lives to Christ! It really is awesome to watch God work like that because it's obvious that no one else could ever take the credit for it. It's amazing how God takes our feeble, yet sincere efforts at spreading his love and breathes power on them and works miracles in people's hearts!

One of the great privileges we enjoy as a church at ACC is the relationship we share with the church that started us, Allison Park Church. For those of you who may not know, our church was started by APC nine years ago and was the second of six church plants in the Pittsburgh area. This past weekend at APC they had spontaneous baptisms in their morning services in which 82 people decided on the spot to publicly declare their faith in Christ through water baptism! All these were baptized in a swimming pool set up in their concourse area. Check out the full report here!

Hearing reports and testimonies like this is important for us because it strengthens our faith. In church life and general life there are ups and downs. In some of the down times it can be difficult to stay encouraged. Sometimes we can be tempted to lose hope. That's why Gal. 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Celebrating the good things that God has done helps us to stay the course until we reap a harvest again!

Listen To God First

The amazing thing about the age we live in is the accessibility of information. We are constantly bombarded with tons of words, ads, commercials, songs, shows, movies, etc. It seems like everywhere we go there is a constant stream of words. Henri Nouwen observes:

"Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words. Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle. Words, words, words! They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence" (The Way of the Heart, 31).

We definitely live in a culture with a challenge that people of past ages did not have to deal with as strongly as we do. That challenge is: what voices do you listen to? Which ones do you really pay attention to? With all of the new books, blogs, and websites popping up every day, which ones do you really allow to speak into your life?

The answer to that question is both difficult and easy.

It's difficult because there are so many worthwhile books and blogs, etc. that have the potential to greatly enrich our lives that we could never actually absorb the useful good out of all of them. We would be wise to avail ourselves of the best of them.

It's easy because, when you boil everything down, there's really only one source of information that really matters. You guessed it...God. When it's all said and done, it's great if we benefit from all the good, practical information out there, but nothing is more important than allowing the primary shaper of our lives to be the voice of God.

In the end, it's really the only thing that matters. If we can make our priority listening to the voice of God and shaping our lives around his revealed will in the Scriptures, we will find in the end that we have built our lives on the only true and lasting foundation.

Block Party Pictures

Check out this link for tons of pictures from the Block Party!

Desiring God Video Posts

Here is a great link to a bunch of videos from past Desiring God conferences.

More City Reach Pics

Here's a few more pics!

Debriefing Meeting

Just wrapped up our City Reach debriefing meeting. It is amazing to hear story after story of all that God did this past week! God has definitely proven that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we could ask or imagine. We saw roughly 90 people make commitments to Christ this week! God is so good!

City Reach 3

We had another great night last night. I gave a message about the prodigal son. I shared about how, apart from God, we've all made a mess of our lives, but when we turn to him with all of our heart, he will forgive us and give us a new start. We had about 15 people respond to the invitation to give their lives to Christ. Looking forward to the Block Party tonight!

City Reach 2

Last night was incredible. We were packed out again despite the threat of rain. Chris Gilkey shared his powerful testimony with us and over 50 people responded to the call to give their heart to Christ! Praise God! Just about every ACCer in attendance became an altar worker handing out New Testaments and praying with people. It was absolutely incredible!

Tonight we'll be having a special appearance by Ambridge Police Chief Mark Romutis. He will be sharing with us briefly some of his vision for our community and I will be giving the evening message later on. We will also be giving away free pizza from CiCi's! It's going to be a great night!

City Reach Pics

Here's a few pics from last night!

City Reach 1

Last night was amazing! We were completely maxed out! That's a good problem to have. Over 35 people responded to the altar call to give their lives to Jesus Christ! Jeff Leake gave the message last night. For a good summary of the night, check out his blog post here!

Our guest speaker tonight is Chris Gilkey. Chris is the youth pastor at Victory Christian Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Chris has a powerful testimony of how God completely changed his life.

Tonight

City Reach officially begins tonight! This evening our special speaker for the adults will be Jeff Leake from Allison Park Church. Jeff is a good friend and personal mentor of mine. It's actually because of his vision to plant churches that ACC was planted 9 years ago. He is a gifted teacher and communicator.

Leading our Vacation Bible School for our children this week is our children's minister, Pastor Cal. Cal was also instrumental in the start of our church. He had been doing sidewalk sunday school's in Ambridge for years before our church was ever started.

I believe more than ever that God has called us to this community with a special purpose, "for such a time as this!"

City Reach Is Finally Here!

Today I spent a good part of the afternoon walking up and down through the streets of Ambridge passing out flyers for City Reach. If even one person's life is changed forever it will have been worth it!

This is our biggest outreach event of the year. Last year we had an average total attendance of 300 each night with 30 total salvations. I'm believing that God is going to do even more amazing things this year.

City Reach is not about building up our church, it's about building up the kingdom of God. It's about being filled with God's compassion for his people and making His love known. It is about being faithful to Christ's command to go into all the world and preach the gospel. This is about the mission God has called us to.

If you're unfamiliar with City Reach, it's basically three nights of special services for adults with music, giveaways, and a message, and Vacation Bible School for children with games, music, prizes, and exciting Bible stories. Also, I don't want to forget that there is FREE FOOD provided for everyone, every night following the festivities. On Friday the 17th will be our annual Back-To-School Block Party. We will be blocking off the street behind the church and filling it with all kinds of games, food booths, and a moonwalk. We will also be giving away free backpacks and school supplies to students.

I'm so excited about this week! I'm really looking forward to all that God is going to do.

General Council

If your interested in reading up on any of the elections and resolutions from General Council in Indianapolis this year, you can find some good summaries here, and here.

Indy

I arrived earlier today in Indianapolis for the 52 Biennial General Council of the Assemblies of God. Perhaps the biggest business item this year is the election of a new General Superintendent.

General Council is a great time of reconnecting with old friends. The fellowship really is the highlight of the conference. I love receiving encouragement from fellow pastors and to hear what God is doing in their communities.

Tonight at the service, Thomas Trask gave his final sermon as AG Superintendent. He stressed the importance of preserving the authentic Gospel, having authentic messengers, and facilitating an authentic experience.

Keep us in prayer as we elect our new leader tomorrow!

Yesterday

I spent my entire day off yesterday with my brothers David and Mark at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. We had an amazing time. It would be an understatement to say that Cedar Point is the best theme park in the US. They have a total of 17 major roller coasters!

I think the highlight for me was riding the Top Thrill Dragster. This ride shoots you up a 420 ft vertical track and down the other side at 120mph! I have to admit, it felt like I was being executed.

It was awesome to just spend time together as brothers since Mark is getting ready to go back to college next week.

Cedar Point rocks. It's a roller coaster lover's paradise (except for the waiting lines!)