Presidential Election

I haven't really been following the candidates for President lately...mostly because the election's not for over a year!!! But, if I was to vote right now - this guy would get my vote in a second. Check out this video of Mike Huckabee in a recent debate. I can't believe a candidate for President said what he said. It's powerful!

Shades in Church

Have you ever walked in from the outside with a pair of sunglasses on? Even in a well lit room it can be difficult to see. Then if, for whatever reason, you leave the sunglasses on your eyes eventually adjust. What you see over time becomes the norm. The longer you leave the sunglasses on, the more normal your perspective appears. Before long, you don’t even notice you’re wearing sunglasses.

In today’s church, I believe there are many individuals wearing sunglasses (hypothetically of course-no one really wears sunglasses in church...unless you're these guys!). What might those hypothetical sunglasses be? Cynicism. Cynicism robs a person from seeing things clearly from Christ’s perspective. Cynicism in it's origin is positive. A person becomes cynical because they imagine a 'better way' of doing things. The problem occurs when that opinion begins to dominate their perspective and they miss all the 'good' going on around them - all they see is bad. I don’t believe someone just wakes up one morning and is a cynic. Of course we all have our cynical moments, but I’m talking about a life pattern of cynicism - that develops over time. I think there are distinct steps a person takes before they get to the point where they’re rocking those shades! Here’s 3 steps leading up to cynicism:

1. Optimism: Positive Perspective – Positive Attitude.
2. Sarcasm: Negative Perspective – Positive Attitude.
3. Cynicism: Negative Perspective – Negative Attitude.

Once you've reached the point of cynicism, you're not too far from the next logical step: apathy. Tomorrow, we'll talk about how to overcome cynicism.

Creator vs. Forecaster

In Genesis 1:26, we see that God created man in His image. Much can be made of this, but when it comes to leadership, I believe we see a principle here.

We see that God works as a creator, not a forcaster. So many leaders spend more time forecasting direction or culture rather than creating it. A forecasting leader will say things like, “We’ve done everything else, this has to work.” Or “This is the direction I see churches going today.” The two problems with a forecasting leader is:

1. They lack vision. According to scripture, that’s a death sentence for an organization.
2. They are spending more time looking around then looking up. Our inspiration should not come from where we see others going, but where we sense God is going.

This is one place I believe many churches/pastors today are really missing the mark. With the increase in open-sourcing and the sharing of resources, many pastors have replaced seeking God for creativity and direction, with searching the internet for the latest fad or idea. Now don’t get me wrong, open-sourcing and the sharing of ideas is how we become what Jesus prayed for in John 17:20-21. The problem is when our dependence on others' resources supersedes our dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Today I want to challenge you to allow the fullness of the Holy Spirit to work through you. Become the incarnation of Christ. Create. Create something new. Create something innovative. Create something that will draw others to Christ. Today be a CREATOR not a FORECASTER.

Our Life on the Potter's Wheel

This morning I spoke at our last 7:30AM Service and thought I would share some of my main thoughts:

Text: Jeremiah 18:1-6

3 Characteristics of Clay in Our Spiritual Walk

1. A piece of clay’s value is not in how it’s seen, but in whose hands it was formed.
>God created you, He formed you, with a specific purpose. He has a specific path for you to walk in life.
>You are not an accident, but your a specifically gifted for the life God has for you.

2. Even the most pliable clay can become hard over time.
>2 Corinthians 5:17
>When the newness of something wears off it often loses its enticing luster.
>Our life of Christian living is not about an elevator ride to a point of destination, it’s about a journey.
>When being a Christian stops being about a process or journey, our life becomes hardened towards the things of God.

3. Clay is able to be restored.
>The exciting thing about living for God is that we are never at a point where God is not willing to restore us.
>Romans 8:38-39
>If our lives have become hardened towards the things of God, we must allow the rivers of His Spirit to flow over us and breath new life into our hearts.

Bill Gates and Napoleon Dynamite

I'm not a big Microsoft fan (Go Mac!), but I am a big Napoleon Dynamite fan. Check out this video I saw - it's pretty funny!!

Bill Gates Goes to College

The Microsoft bigwig teamed up with Napoleon Dynamite in this spoof video from PDC 2005. The camera's a little shaky, but you get the idea.

Spiritual Breakthrough Weekend

This weekend I have been going through our Spiritual Breakthrough Process. For those of you that don't go to APC, this is a powerful weekend of surrender to God. Aside from the incredible material that is shared, one of the things that is so impressive about it is that it's required for membership at the church. Where so many churches have membership classes where there is nothing more than information shared, APC requires individuals to go through a process that is life-transforming to become a member. How powerful is that?

One God has been reminding me of over and over again is how blessed I am. I am blessed to be a child of God. I am blessed with great parents and a great sister. I am blessed to be living out a dream. I am blessed to be apart of one of the most incredible churches I've ever seen. (And I'm not just saying that to be a 'yes man') I feel so honored and blessed to be where I am right now in my life. This is a testimony of what it means to live in the center of God's will. Sure I don't have everything I WANT, but I sure do have everything I could ever need.

Pray for India

For those of you that don't know, my mom works with the Penn-Del District Girls Ministries, which is a ministry through the Assemblies of God that of course ministers to girls. Yesterday she arrived in India! She's there for Girl's Ministries seeing different ministries and orphanages. This next year the Penn-Del District Girls Ministries and Women's Ministries' missions project is going to be India. She took a 14 hour plane flight over there and hasn't gotten much sleep, but please be in prayer for her this week. Here's a picture of her from today.

CityReach Wrap Up

God did some awesome things this week!! Thanks to all the volunteers and everyone who made this week possible! We finished the week with over 250 people committing their lives to Christ! Here's some pics from throughout the week:

CityReach - BridgePoint Church

Last night we had our block party at BridgePoint Church, which is the new church plant we are launching this spring. The church will be meeting in a boxing gym in Tarentum called the James 5:16 Center. They have about 25 adutls meeting weekly right now and after last night, there's no doubt that God is ready to do something awesome in this community!! We had over 140 people there enjoying the free food, the band, a few rounds of sparring, giveaways and of course the pastors, Greg and Francie Krowitz! It was so cool seeing people just pouring down the hill towards the James 5:!6 Center throughout the night. There is such a huge need in this community for Bible-believing Church. As I was walking the community the couple days before inviting people I saw three different church buildings closed, boarded up and for sale! If that doesn't show the need, I don't know what does! If you don't know Greg and Francie, here's a little pamphlet we made up to let people know a little about them!

Free Food. New Life.

Last night was the first night of CityReach and what a night!! I was at Sharpsburg Family Worship Center with our guest speaker, Seth Franco, and God did some awesome things!! The kids were hopping and God did some incredible miracles in individuals lives!

I met a teenage girl there who as a young child went to church and was living for God despite the fact that her mother was a drug addict. She's always felt God calling her to use her voice to glorify Him, but as she grew up she started to find herself getting into trouble. Through a number of circumstances she was expelled from her high school and ostracized from the church she attended.

The bad taste in her mouth has kept her out of church ever since. That is until last night. Last night God drew her back. Not only did this now high school senior give her life to Christ, but her passion to sing for Him came back. You could just see the emotion as she talked about what God was doing in her life. Seeing peoples lives reborn never gets old!! I asked her what made her come last night and she said, "I saw there was free food and figured I'd check it out!" Isn't it awesome how something as small as 'free food' can be an instrument in the hand of God to transform a person's life?

Please continue to be in prayer for these outreaches this week. I truly believe that this morning there are people that are waking up only to go to sleep tonight completely different people!! If you want to see more of what happened at other sites last night, you can read about it here.

CityReach

Tonight I drove around to all the sites for CityReach this week, and all I can say is Wow!! I just want to give a shout out to four of my heroes - our site coordinators: Mary, Sheila, Linda & Carey!! It is amazing how God blesses hard work. There are already testimonies coming in of how God is bringing things together.

At PCO there was some concern about what to do with the garbage each night. Just last week we got word from the City of Pittsburgh that they will be picking up the trash each night at our lot (which we got for free by the way!) for no charge!

Then in Ambridge, a neighboring church is shutting down their Thursday night service bringing there congregation over to the CityReach service at ACC! The Kingdom of God is bigger than one church!

Here's one final testimony: In Tarentum, we are only having a block party on Friday night. There was some concern if we were going to be able to find good giveaways for that location. But praise God, we were given a basket of goodies from Starbucks worth $130!!

Well, that's just a taste of what God is doing already. I can't wait to hear the even more incredible praise reports of lives changed this week!!

GC Leadership Seminar

This year at General Council they are starting things off with a Leadership Seminar. I attended a session tonight entitled "Carpe Digital" with Mark Batterson. It was a great session - here are some of the high points:

"As ministers, we need to be not just practicing biblical exegesis, but also cultural exegesis."
If you don't know what exegesis means, you can read about it here.

"We live in a completely different world today – does that affect how we do church? It should!"

One of my favorite mainstay Batterson quotes, “There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.”

Five Distribution Channels for the Church
1. Podcasting
2. Digital Discipleship (Blogging)
3. Postmodern Stain glass (Video)
4. Websites
5. Word of Mouse (Online Invites/Evotionals)

Tomorrow I'm attending a session with Ed Stetzer on the current church planting culture in America and then a church planting round table with none other then Pastor Jeff, Brad Leach, and a few others. Now it's off to bed, so I can actually be awake to remember half the stuff these guys have to say!!

Relationship, Relationship, Relationship

Tomorrow I am heading to Indianapolis for the Assemblies of God's biennial General Council. It's going to be a big week! We're voting on a number of resolutions, but even more importantly we're electing a General Superintendent and Assistant General Superintendent. That might not mean a ton to you, but those are the two highest positions in our fellowship. Please be in prayer this week that God leads the minsters of this fellowship through this election process.

One thing I love about General Council is the opportunity for networking. Networking is something I enjoy doing - mostly because it is how I'm wired. One thing that's cool about networking, though, is that it takes something so precious to God (relationships) and builds the Kingdom through those relationships. One unfortunate thing about networking is most individuals don't really understand the concept.

Let me first explain what networking is not. Networking is not about being political, earning good favor with 'big wigs', or even schmoozing your way to some position of status. Although General Council is unfortunately a place where those things happen, that's not what I'm talking about. Networking is about connecting with like minded people for support, encouragement, resourcing, and often partnerships in ministry. It's connecting with others relationally, and then through those relationships building the Kingdom. One major difference between being political and networking is in being political, the relationship is the means to the end. The relationship does not exist apart from a particular project, position, or perception of status.

In networking, the relationship is the goal. It is not a means, but the end. Any blessing that comes out of that relationship is only an added bonus. Not only do I believe God blesses those who see life in this way, but life is more enjoyable. You don't have to worry about who do I need to 'get-to-know' next? Or what big name can I drop in this conversation? It's not about trying to 'use' people to get somewhere or see individuals as 'tools' in your tool belt, but rather it's about building the Kingdom of God one relationship at a time!

Jurassic Park Is Here!

This is my friend, Andy Estrella, doing his famous 'Raptor' impression when he was in town last week. It's hilarious, but he hates doing it. Now I can show you all why it's so funny without having to ask him to keep doing it!!

Turn Down That Music!

Growing up in church I have become accustomed to the statement that is said in many churches across the country. It often comes from the mouth of an old, grumpy pew sitter, but none-the-less they let their voice be heard. The statement is, "This music is too loud!" It just makes me cringe writing it. I know this isn't right to say, but I always wanted to say back, "Then turn down your hearing aid." Well, a church in Charlotte, NC found another. less offensive option. You can check it out here.

Be Connected

There's a new blog that I've been following these last few weeks that has provided some great interaction on a number of topics within the Assemblies of God fellowship leading up to our biennial General Council next week. On that blog, a few people have posted comments eluding to their dissatisfaction with the A/G and desire to possibly step away from the fellowship. With that in mind, I wanted to do a few posts on a core value I hold to - Always being connected with something greater than myself.

When I was in college I began a collecting license plates. It's kind of a cool thing to collect because now I have all these old plates from 19 different states and 2 countries. One thing that is pretty cool about this collection, though, is that I've never paid for a single one. (And no I haven't stolen them either!) They have all been given to me. I displayed them in my dorm room in college and now in my office. As people walk in and see them they often say, "Hey I have a license plate from such and such. Do you want it?" That's how the collection has grown. What I'm getting at is all these license plates were once in the hands of individuals. Whatever value they had, it is now greater. Why? Because they are apart of a collection. The grouping of them together adds value to them.

In our lives our natural tendency is to be independent - a renegade winning this world for Christ on our own. But to be truly effective we need to be connected with something greater. Yeah, of course we need to have a connection with God, but I'm talking about being connected to a church, organization, or something of that sort. Because when we are connected to something greater it does four things. It provides value, support, accountability and momentum.

Our talents and abilities grouped together with others will do far more for the kingdom of God than we could ever do on our own.

We will all face stretching moments and experience failure at some point in our lives. At these moments we need encouragement, advice and support.

To go through life apart from accountability is not only stupid, but destined for destruction. We will only live up to the standards we are held accountable for!

Momentum is something that is difficult to get started, but even more difficult to sustain. Being connected to something greater enables us the resources, but also the affirmation to keep going.