The Launchpad

We Should All ACT NORMAL For A Change!

This month we are launching into an ALL CHURCH CAMPAIGN at Allison Park Church that is entitled, ACT NORMAL.  What is normal as a follower of Jesus?  What does God really expect to do in our lives?  Are we 'normal christians'?  Based on what standard?

What if we used the BOOK OF ACTS as our measurement for what is normal?

What if God really intended for us to live a life that was filled with His activity?  Hearing from God; seeing loved ones come to faith in Christ; living a life of signficance and service; experiecing God's miracle working supernatural power.

I, for one, want to live my best life.  I don't want to settle for some 'Americanized' version of what Christianity should be.  I want to experience everything God has for me and in my church family.  Therefore, I am CHALLENGING EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE in this campaign, which involves:

1. WEEKEND MESSAGES - Seven weeks exploring what was normal in the book of Acts.
2. SMALL GROUPS - Each week we will discuss and seek to flesh out what we are learning together.
3. READINGS - There is a devotional book that you can purchase (optional) and/or you can simply choose to take this time to read a chapter a day in the Book Of Acts.
4. PROJECTS - you can really live the book of Acts without ACTION.  We will act together to see God at work through our steps of faith.

I can't wait to hear the stories of what God will do in us all during this season.  Whatever we do together, with passion, will make an enormous impact on the world.  Let's start ACTING NORMAL for a change.

Wanna Buy My New Book?

I am so excited to announce that LEARNING TO FOLLOW JESUS is now officially in print.  Dr. Daniel McNaughton has offered to me the honor of collaborating together on a step by step guide on what it means to be a 'disciple'.

Daniel is the true genius behind this concept.  The book is designed as a workbook, discussion guide, devotional, and coaching manual - all wrapped up into one resource.

We have identified SEVEN ATTRIBUTES of what it means to follow Jesus.  Each chapter is a short daily reading with stories to illustration the concept, scripture verses to memorize, fill-in-the-blank questions, and some wonderful diagnostic tools to help you understand the unique way that God has designed you to follow Jesus.

You can order the book online here (and we will send it to you).

Or you can purchase it for only $10 at the Resource Center at Allison Park Church.

Happy 50th Anniversary Jim & Becky Leake!

 

Yesterday, my Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  They were married on December 30th, 1961.  After two days of honeymoon in the Holiday Inn in Erie, PA - they located to Petersburg, West Virginia.  My Dad taught in a one-room school house for a year.

I am so proud of my folks for their amazing lives, relationship, and example.  For their anniversary, I wrote and presented them with this tribute poem. 

FIFTY

What words could describe what it means
For two souls to be truly joined at the seams
Eighteen thousand, two-hundred and fifty days
Have passed in a seeming timeless way.

Who could have imagined at the start
The experiences of which you have taken part
Your joys, your trials, and your dreams
You've shared in one continuous stream

It's true that love's ongoing decision
Has built in you a common passion
To live your lives in such a way
That lifted you beyond the fray

Of broken lives and shattered dreams
Instead produced a worthy frame
Which pictures what it truly means
To live in love and conquer shame

Your marriage leaves a legacy
For us to follow strategically
Two Thousand and six hundred weeks
Is heritage for us to seek

Our prayer is that in our small way
We can congratulate your day
By living out the lessons given
In your fifty years of love's decision

Happy Anniversary

Four Ways To Fail Spiritually In 2012

No one sets out to fail at anything.  And yet failure has some common denominators.  When we fall short, we can look back and trace the factors in why and where our mis-steps occurred.

#1 - STAY AWAY FROM STRONG CHRISTIANS

One of the most important factors in the direction of your life is your decisions in regard to primary relationships.  Passion is contagious.  If you get around people who are passionate about God, it will have an impact upon you.  If you choose lukewarm friends and/or hang with people who are running away from God you will ensure your downward spiral spiritually.

It's probably best to stay away from participating in weekly worship experiences with your church, because it is in that place that you might encounter the kind of passionate people will interfere with your path toward failure.  Small groups can be lethal to a backslidden condition.  Stay away from them at all costs.

#2 - TELL YOURSELF WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR

If you are going to fail, you must make sure to stay away from the truth.  Self-deception is a skill that you can practice and hone into an art form.  Live in denial.  Minimize the impact of compromise.  Develop excuses for why you do what you do and why you can't change. 

#3 - AVOID TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Quiet time can be dangerous.  Keep the TV on.  Distract yourself constantly.  Make sure that you place your Bible in a place that is hidden from your sight.  If not, the Holy Spirit might begin to convict you about your negligence.  Noise, entertainment, and distractions are keys to eliminating the room necessary for the Holy Spirit to work aggressively in your life.

#4 - LIVE ONLY FOR THE MOMENT & GIVE NO THOUGHT LIFE's MEANING

Reflection can also hinder your path to spiritual malaise.  If you start to think about eternity and what makes life count, you will begin to make decisions that will lead to spiritual success.  Be hedonistic.  Do what feels good and what provides you with the greatest pleasure right now.

Don't stop to evaluate how this is affecting your life or the lives of those around you.  Wisdom comes from such choices.  Foolishness and failure are linked.  It's key to stay thinking foolish and immediate thoughts if you are to continue to sink spiritually.

Obviously, my hope for you is not FAILURE but SUCCESS.  So do the opposite of what's listed above and you will have step into your best year yet.

Prayer & Fasting Challenge - 2012

 

Five Keys To Reading The Bible In 2012

Many people list as a new year's resolution:  'this year, I am going to read the Bible all the way through; or, 'this year I am going to have a consistent devotional life.'  The problem is not in the desire it is in the execution!

FIVE KEYS TO A CONSISTENT BIBLE READING PLAN:

#1 - SELECT A DAILY PLAN

There are so many great options available to you.  The site youversion.com has about thirty plans available to you.  You can choose a plan than fits your time goal.  You can select a Bible translation according to reading ease and personal preference.

The One Year Bible is also a classed tool available both online and in book form.  It divides up the readings into an OT passage, a NT passage, a Psalm, and a Proverb.  Read about 15 minutes a day, and you can make it through the Bible in a year.

#2 - SELECT A TIME

When are you going to do your reading.  Pick the easiest time for you to be consistent.  For me it is the first thing I do when I get out of bed.  A cup of coffee and some Bible reading for me.  Maybe its on your lunch break?  Maybe just before dinner or just before bed?

#3 - READ OR LISTEN 'OUT LOUD' WHEN TIRED

Sometimes it helps for me to read certain passages out loud to stay awake.  One of the wonderful online features, should you choose an online program - is that you can actually listen to their 'audio-Bible'.  Actually, if you have a 'smart phone' you can listen to your Bible passages on your way to work.  Just download the youversion.com app and you can play the Bible as you drive.

#4 - SEARCH FOR THE 'ONE THING' TO FOCUS ON EVERY DAY

Honestly, I often am reading through certain passages for speed.  When it hit passages in Leviticus or Ezekiel - I don't let me self get hung up on things I don't totally understand.  I don't quit when I feel tired or bored.

What I do is read quickly through until I hit the verse or passage that becomes my ONE VERSE FOR THE DAY.  Then I pause, I read and re-read that verse.  I think about that verse.  Sometimes, I will journal on that verse.  Often, I will pray the concepts in that verse.

#5 - CUT YOURSELF A BREAK IF YOU MISS

If you happen to miss a day, a few days, or even a week.  Don't throw in the towel.  Pick up where you left off.  The key factor is NOT TO READ EVERY WORD.  The goal in all of this is to DEVELOP A HABIT and consistently expose yourself to the life-transforming power that is available to us by reading and OBEYING the WORD OF GOD!

Biggest Christmas Weekend Ever @ APC

This past set of Christmas Services was the most highly attended Christmas Weekend in the history of Allison Park Church.  We offered five different service times.  Probably, we could have filled one or two more services had we offered one more on Thursday, and a second Friday night service.

The only way that schedule is possible is due to the hard work and devotion of a STAFF (pastoral, support, and volunteers) during a season of the year when everyone is longing just to take some time off and be with family.

So let me offer a HUGE THANK YOU to my amazingly talented and devoted team!

You guys are amazing.  I love you and love serving with you!

Merry Christmas From My Family To Yours!

Praying God's blessing on your life this year.  Thanks for participating with this blog.  Have a blessed Christmas holiday.

A God Who Really Understands

This past weekend, I did a talk about the depths at which God was willing to go to bring us back into right relationship with Him.

SCRIPTURE: We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He has been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take mercy and accept the help. Hebrews 4:15-16 MSG

OBSERVATION: When Jesus came, he came in full human form. God came in the body of Jesus. Born into a poor family (too poor to offer the full sacrifice at Jesus' dedication moment - Luke 2:24). Birthed in a stable. Laid in a feeding trough (manger). Announced only to low-class shepherds. Raised in a blue collar worker's home (Joseph was a carpenter). Living in Nazareth, which was a place known for its lack of sophistication (hickville).

Jesus not only knew what it was like to live poverty. His parents were teenagers in the palestinian region under Roman rule. Jesus also knew what it was like to be a refugee. Herod ordered that all boys under 2 years old were to be killed. So Joseph and Mary took their boy and fled to Egypt for a season.

Jesus lived through a genocide of sorts.

APPLICATION: Because of this, we know that Jesus understands. He can totally relate to every pain we endure. He is not a God who is far off. He is the God who came near in the body of Jesus to reach us. He was willing to do whatever it takes.

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you that you understand me. You know what it is like to endure suffering, betrayal, need, longing, temptation, and pain. Because you understand, you care, and you have overcome - I will pray with all boldness today. I know you can make a difference in my life. Amen.

How's Your Listening Skills?

SCRIPTURE:  Anyone who has an ear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Revelation 3:13

OBSERVATION:  This statement is one that is made over and again throughout the book of Revelation.  It echos a statement that Jesus made in his ministry.  'He who has an ear, let him hear.'  What's implied by the statement?  There's a big difference between HEARING and LISTENING.  You can hear words, but do are you truly tuned into what is being said.  Sometimes, my teenage boys hear my voice, but they are not really listening very well because they fail to act on what I am asking.

Also included in this statement is some direction about who is speaking.  The Holy Spirit speaks.  When we hear, we must hear with our 'spirit' not with our natural ears.  This requires a special skill of learning to hear the inner nudges and promptings of the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION:  God is a speaking God.  He is always sending out messages, by the Spirit to our spirits.  But we are often not listening.  Listening involves several things.

1. Hearing - the skill of knowning how and when the Holy Spirit is speaking.
2. Understanding - we have to properly discern and interpet what is being spoken.
3. Obeying - none of this is any good unless we apply it to our lives in obedience.

PRAYER:  God, give me ears to really hear your voice today and the courage to undersand and obey!

Praying Psalm 41

SCRIPTURE: The Lord protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health. Psalm 41:2-3

OBSERVATION: David is the writer of this Psalm. He describes himself as needing rescued from many things: enemies, sickness, temptation, betrayal. Then he paints a picture of God, the rescuer. He uses six verbs to describe what God does: protects, keeps, gives, rescues, nurses, and restores.

APPLICATION: Our family is praying these two verses on behalf of David Spencer (Melodie's dad). David recently had a liver transplant and is struggling in ICU with pneumonia and infection. What we are believing for is the work of an Almighty God to rescue and restore David Spencer completely.

PRAYER: So we pray based on these verbs:

Protect David's mind, his soul, and his future.
Keep him in your care. Keep him in peace.
Give him life. Give him the ability to overcome this infection.
Rescue him from this illness in the name of Jesus.
Nurse him, O Lord, back to health.
Restore him to his calling and purpose in life.

What Is The Engine Of Prayer?

This past weekend, I shared an illustration about what prayer feels like at times.  Sometimes we feel like our prayers are going nowhere.  It's like when I pretended to drive my dad's car as a nine year old boy.  I would sneak behind the wheel when the car was parked in the driveway.  Sit in the drivers seat.  Place my hands on the steering wheel.  Make the noises (vroom, vroom) as if the car was in motion.

But in reality - the car was turned off.  Motionless.  Going nowhere.

Prayer often feels like that.  We are in the right vehicle.  We want our prayers to take us somewhere good, where an answer to prayer is released.  But we feel as if we are somehow just pretending.  We wonder if our prayers are actually accomplishing anything at all?

What if someone handed you the key to the ignition?  What if you could do something that would turn the engine or prayer on and get the vehicle of prayer in motion?

The key that turns on the engine of prayer is a PROMISE FROM GOD.  When we are praying according to what God has already promised, we are agreeing with God's Word which is a revelation of God's Will for our lives.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.  1 John 5:14-15

So what do we do to get things in motion:

1. Listen for God's promise - expose yourself to God's written Word and let the Spirit highlight.
2. Agree with God's promise - choose to believe what He has said.
3. Confess it out loud and often - as we pray we confess the promises.
4. Celebrate the small beginnings - most prayers are answered a little bit at a time. 

Christmas Eve @ Allison Park Church

This year we are adding an additional service opportunity on December 23rd @ 6pm.  We are also going to host a one-hour 'family' service on Christmas Day at 11:15am.  I absolutely love this CANDLELIGHT Christmas Eve Tradition.

Hope to see you there on Christmas Eve!

Play Keep Away Today

Scripture: Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. (1 John 5:21 NLT)

Observation: There is great news! According to 1 John, those who have Jesus, who have received his saving work, have received indestructible overcoming life that cannot be stopped. This is the context of 1 John chapters 3,4, and 5.

Sin can't stop the life of Jesus in you.
The past can't stop the life of Jesus in you.
Your own offended conscience can't stop him.

Application: Therefore, since the life of Jesus, which operates within you is your hope - make sure that nothing interferes with his place in your life. As soon as something else takes his place, you will lose the power and ability to over come. As long as Jesus has his rightful place - sitting on the throne of your heart, you can be confident that you will overcome whatever comes against you.

Prayer: Lord, today I place you at the center of my life. May nothing enter my world that in anyway competes with you for that central and primary spot in my heart. I declare it to be so. Amen!

Is It Your Practice?

I have decided to get back into the consistency of blogging and I am going to use this format for a while to jot down some of my own 'devotional' thoughts through S.O.A.P. (Scritpure - Observation - Application - Prayer).  This outline is a really wonderful way to journal.

Scripture:  Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.  1 John 3:9

Observation:  This is fairly radical idea presented here by John.

• Children of God can't keep sinning because of the 'life' that is in them.
• This 'life' works so powerfully in them that they are continually pushed toward overcoming.
• It's not that God's children never sin.  It's that the practice or habit of sin begins to break.
• This is for those who are 'born again' into God's family.  Victory is a spiritual birthright.

Application:  We tend to hold the opposite view of the practice of sin.  We view our habitual tendency as a prison based on past experience and/or the lack of capacity we have to overcome in and of ourselves.  But God sees us differently.  We are now in relationship with Him.  We are marked as a part of his family which is an overcoming entity.  Life is in us.  The Holy Spirit is constantly working in us to bring us to the practice of living our best kind of life.

Prayer:  God, help me see and declare this truth.  Overcoming life is within me today.  My destiny is victory and not defeat.  I am accepted as a child of God through Jesus Christ.  Today is a new day in my life.

You Are Precious To God!

This morning I was reading in the book of Daniel and I came across a statement that Gabriel made to Daniel - that sounds very similar to the statement that Gabriel made to Mary (Jesus' mom).

SCRIPTURE:  The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God.  Daniel 9:23

OBSERVATION:  The words are often tranlated into English as 'highly favored' or 'greatly esteemed'.  The NLT uses this expression 'precious to God'.  God was speaking this to Daniel who was praying and praying and had not yet received an answer.  Daniel was living in a very difficult place, in captivity in Babylon.  He was crying out to God for deliverance.  God sends the angel to remind Daniel, that the answer was on the way.  But even more than that - he reminded Daniel of what God thought of him...PRECIOUS.

APPLICATION:  So often we think that delay means dismissal.  No answer has come so God must not care about us.  We assume that difficulty that lingers means that God has decided that we have little value and that our prayers are somehow not quality enough to answer.

This is simply untrue.

The fact is:  YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD!  He esteems you.  He values you.  He is hearing you.  O that we could understand just how God feels about us.  My delay does not mean God has dismissed me or my concerns.  My difficulty does not indicate that God has decided to ignore my life.  It may not always feel this way - but YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD.

PRAYER:  God, I thank you for the reminder today that you look at me as a prize, a treasure, and with great esteem.  Help me really see that and believe that.  For you are precious to me. I place you as the primary affection of my heart.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Planting A Church In Boston

We are so excited to be partnering with the McNaughton family as they put things in motion to plant a church in Boston, MA.  David McNaughton, currently works with the CHURCH MULTIPLICATION NETWORK and resides in Dallas, TX.  He has tons of experience in helping to resource church planters.

Years ago, David planted a church in the Boston area, and now God has called him to return and help facilitate not only the planting of this church, but the establishment of a church planting Network in that region of the country.

His son Caleb (pictured far left) will be the Lead Pastor of the first church planted in Boston in this effort.  The name of this new church is THE LINK (check out their website here).  Caleb is an amazing young man, with excellent leadership abilities.  He has been a Student Ministries Pastor for the past few years.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTCILE BY VISITING 100CHURCHES.NET

A Weekend To Celebrate!

This past weekend was one of those moments that make all of the effort in ministry worth it.  It is so gratifying to see people taking steps of faith in their walk with God.

• 104 people attended the Spiritual Breakthrough Weekend.
• 39 believers were bapitzed in water.
• Daniel McNaughton spoke for the first time in the weekend services at APC.  What a great addition he is to our pastoral team.
• I spoke at Bridgepoint Church in Tarentum and installed them as a 'soverign AG church' (meaning that they are now a fully functioning local church.  Congrats to Pastor Greg Krowitz and his team.  Bridgepoint was planted in 2007.
• In that service, I prayed over Stephen Michalowski as he received his ministry credentials.  Stephen is the Kids Pastor at Bridgepoint. He grew up at APC and was a graduate of the MCM Ministry School.

Praise God for all of the things He is doing among us.

Check Out Our New Website - 100Churches.Net

If you want to follow the journey and celebrate the progress of our goal to plant 100 churches in the next ten years, visit our new site:  100churches.net.

When we get ready to plant our next church, we will update this site with the details for which we can both pray and celebrate. Watch the video that provides the vision and background.  You can read about Church Plant #1 on there as well.

Transplant Scheduled For David Spencer

Many of you have been praying for my father-in-law, David Spencer, regarding his need for a liver transplant.  We received some very good news this morning.  A young man named, Donald, from the Hosana congregation in Nicaragua (where David was the pastor) has been willing to be a live donor for this.

The liver is an amazing organ in the body. 

You can take 1/2 of a live donor's liver.  It will grow back to full-size within approximately six weeks.  The other 1/2, which is transplanted into the patient in need, also grows to a full-size eventually as well. 

Over the past few weeks, they have been running tests on Donald's liver to see if he was a qualified match.  Today, they determined that he is.  Surgery is scheduled for November 22nd.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers so far.  Please pray that this transplant surgery will be smooth and effective.  Pray for both David and Donald's health during this process.  (David is pictured here with Ottoniel who is one of the pastors at the Hosana Church in Managua).