My Name is Earl

This morning we had Earl Creps speak at our monthly Catalyst Meeting. What a guy!! Below are some notes from his talk:

>"Being innovative is not about doing right differently."
>"There is no such thing as Emerging culture, just cultures emerging."

Acts 17:13-15
>Just because things aren't working out doesn't mean you're on the wrong trip, just that along
the journey sometimes things just don't work out.
1. You are the right person.
>In your setting right now, Jesus has put stuff in your path that He will use to pull things
out of you.
2. You are in the right place.
>Wherever you are is a place of influence, big or small.
3. You are earning the right to be heard.
>In our communities we are earning the right to be heard.
>Without the right to be heard, we're just another e-mail in the inbox and we're just going
to be deleted.

If you are wanting to subscribe to Earl's monthly e-newsletter, you can e-mail him at earlcreps@gmail.com.

On a side note, the one thing I appreciate so much about this guy is he is so approachable and easy to talk to! Well, now I'm off to Springfield!! Look out Fazoli's here I come!!

What a Weekend!

This weekend was exhausting but pretty incredible! It started Friday night as I went to a coffeehouse outreach at South Butler Assembly of God, one of the churches I work with through MCM. In a church that averages about 50 on Sunday mornings, they had over 40 people come out for this outreach, and most were teenagers! That's more than 80% of their Sunday morning attendance!!

Then Saturday I had my first APC Fall Fest experience and all I can say is: Wow!! Hundreds of people came out to enjoy a great day of games, crafts, food and prizes, but that wasn't the most impressive part of the whole day. The coolest thing I saw was watching a team of volunteers completely turn our facility over after Fall Fest. In only an hour and a half you couldn't even tell Fall Fest had taken place!!

Saturday night and this morning at APC we had Stephen Sebayala, a pastor from Uganda. His God-sized vision was challenging to me personally. He's set the goal of reaching 1 billion people for Christ in his lifetime. (Yeah, that's 'billion' with a 'B') He gave a spirit-filled word where we saw a mass of people come forward in each of the services.

Also, this weekend Pittsburgh City Outreach had a fall outreach and Steeler's Party. Their service attendance maxed out this weekend at 190! If you've ever been down to PCO you would know how packed that really is! Praise God!!

BridgePoint's First Preview Service

Today BridgePoint Church began a new chapter in the history of their existence - they began their monthly preview services leading up to their March 16 launch into weekly services. It was an exciting service - we had an incredible 50 people come out, which is an amazing start for a church plant. There were a number of new people from the community as Greg shared his message entitled "How to Know God's Real." The big advantage of having these preview services is we're able to work out the kinks before we launch. But I must say, this was a good first step. Stay tuned for more to come on this in the coming months.

Also, check out this post about an exciting day at one of our other church plants, Ambridge Christian Center.

Join a Movement!!

Eleven years ago Allison Park Church began stepping into their destiny as a reproducing church. Today this vision has become a movement. More specifically, MultiChurch Movements. As we are preparing to plant our 7th church this spring, we are excited to unveil our new MCM-Pittsburgh website as apart of our new APC website. On it you can check out the ministry openings we have within the network, find links to our church plants and other partnership churches, and see what's happening within the network.

If you are a college student or looking for a ministry opportunity, you can visit here or check out the list of opportunities within MCM-Pitt below:

>Worship Leader: Ambridge Christian Center
>Church Launch Team Member: BridgePoint Church (Launching March'08)
>Lead Pastor: CrossWay Church
>Children's Ministry Leader: New Life Center (Ford City)
>Youth Leader: Pitcairn Assembly of God
>Youth/Children's Pastor: Sharpsburg Family Worship Center
>Ministry Associate: South Butler Assembly of God
>Associate Pastor/Network of Hope Coordinator: Three Rivers Assembly

If you're interested in any of these opportunities or have questions, you can contact me at nickp@allisonparkchurch.com

Living the Bible Literally

Check out this video of a segment that was on the Today Show this morning. Tell me what you think!

Living biblically in the modern age

The Formula for Innovation

I believe it was Andy Stanley that once said 'Innovation is at it's greatest point when resources are in greatest need.' I would agree with that but have one small adjustment to make. I came up with this formula that describes the environment in which innovation explodes:

A Big Vision + Lack of Resources + Great Urgency = Innovation

Although a lack of resources does set the table for innovation, I have known a number of people in my life that have had a lack of resources and have never been innovative. Some might call that lazy, but I would call it a lack of vision and urgency. This week I have been watching a Ken Burns documentary on PBS called "The War". (I know - I'm boring, but please no mean comments!) I love history and have really enjoyed this documentary depicting the stories of those that fought for our nation in World War II. The one thing that fascinates me about the story of World War II is D-Day.

On June 6, 1944 our troops invaded the beaches of Western France, most notably Normandy. As I heard the stories of what took place in that invasion, I was still amazed at how they were victorious in this invasion. They had everything working against them. The water was choppy. The US Soldiers were young and inexperienced. Many of the German soldiers had better weapons. The Germans had bunkers in the hillsides bombarding them with morters. The US soldiers were sitting ducks. But somehow our troops still won. This is where innovation comes in to play. The US Soldiers had a lack of resources, but that's not necessarily the reason they won.

A lack of resources presents the need for innovation, but a big vision and great urgency is the engine that drives innovation. The US Soldiers defeated the Germans on D-Day because they saw the big picture of what was taking place in WWII and the urgency needed to fight for freedom.

If you never have a big vision and great urgency to accomplish that vision, innovation will be nothing more than something you read about on Craig Groeschel's next blog post. If you are a leader today and are desiring to see your team walk in innovation, here's a few suggested steps to see that become a reality:

1. Go before God and get a big vision: A true God-Vision is one you cannot accomplish in your own power
2. Communicate and impart the heart of that vision to your leadership: Vision without communication is simply a Day-Dream.
3. Evaluate your resources: Sure God owns the 'cattle on a thousand hills, but that doesn't mean he's given them all to you right now! Show Him you can be a steward of what you have.
4. Create the urgency for your vision: Urgency can be summed up in a quote I read from this week's Catalyst Conference - “If the Gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.” —Curry R. Blake

Thanks!

Thank you all for your prayers and support yesterday. My mom's surgery went very smooth. I would ask that you continue to keep her in prayer. When they were removing the cancer they did realize they will need to do an additional surgery in November to remove some more cancerous cells. Thanks again everybody!

Please Pray

Last week I found out that my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I know she has appreciated all the prayers, but tomorrow afternoon she is going in for surgery at 1:30PM. Please be in prayer tomorrow during this time. I believe God has a purpose behind this, and I would appreciate your prayers!!


"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed."
Isaiah 53:5

Yo Quiero Appreciation!

One of the keys to leadership I have always been taught is showing appreciation to those you are leading. I believe this is so very important to leadership, but appreciation for appreciation's sake can actually cause more harm than good.

Last week I was driving past one of my favorite restaurants, Taco Bell, and on the sign I read, "Home of the World's Best Employees". What a bold statement! The World's Best Employees? Then I thought, was this an affirmation of something these employees have heard before or was this is a sad attempt to attract new employees. Knowing the reputation Taco Bell employees have, I would venture to say the latter. But this brings up a valid point. Do we simply affirm those we're leading just because we want them to feel appreciated to get something out of them? I would say no. When we only affirm or appreciate individuals in those moments we have something to gain, we have just used our followers as pawns in a very selfish game of chess. In our attempts to move things forward we actually lose credibility and take steps backwards. I know when that's happened to me personally, rather than feeling appreciated, I experience a very shallow form of flattery. People won't follow leaders that flatter them, but they will give everything they have for leaders that appreciate them. I have two questions I want to leave you with: 1. Are you properly appreciating those your leading? 2. When you appreciate others, do you only do so when you have something to gain?