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.