Easter Weekend Update

There is only one word to describe the 2007 Easter weekend at Pocono Community Church - AWESOME.

Here's a recap of what God did through PCC:

1. Good Friday Egg Stuffing Party - Over 125 volunteered their time to stuff over 50,000 Easter Eggs with candy and prizes. Small groups and entire families came together at the Pocono Summit Fire Hall to tackle this enormous task. Thank you so much for giving of your time and energy to make the Eggstravaganza such a great success.

2. 2007 Eggstravaganza - Even 20 degree weather in the Pocono's couldn't keep the approximately 4000 people away from the 2007 Easter Eggstravaganza. What an awesome turn out on such a cold day. The petting zoo, huge inflatables, Pocono 500 race car, and lots of games were enjoyed by all the kids and families. What a sight to see the Easter Bunny arrive on the fire truck. Buddy the clown entertained everyone while also sharing the Gospel and the true meaning of Easter. Again, thanks to all the volunteers that came out and braved the weather and made a huge impact for the Kingdom.

3. Easter Sunday Services - This Easter PCC broke it's all-time holiday attendance with about 1400 people in its two services. What's even more exiting is the 60 people who gave their heart to Christ. The music and children's programs were terrific enjoyed by the 200 first-time guests.

I'm so excited about what God is doing at PCC! I look forward to leveraging this great momentum we are experiencing this spring for God's glory.

Getting Ready For Easter

Today I'm putting the final touches on my Easter message. I'm really excited about this new series we are kicking off this weekend called, "Unlikely Heroes." We're going to unpack the entire story of the Bible through the eyes of men and women that God used to reconcile us back to Himself. What we are going to find is that God often times uses the most unlikely, uneducated, and unusual heroes to accomplish his purpose.

Please remember to pray and fast for me and the staff for this weekend. I know many of you are inviting your frieneds and we are working very hard to share Jesus with them this weekend in a way that they will understand how much He loves them and wants to be in relationship with him.

Also, we would love to spend some time with you tomorrow, Good Friday, as we stuff the 50,000 Easter Eggs in preparation for Eggstravaganza on Saturday. We are moving full steam ahead and we won't let a little snow get in our way!

Communion Celebration

During staff meeting this morning I shared from Colossians 1:21-22 that says, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."

Tonight we will be celebrating Communion together as a church family at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Mt. Pocono. I want to encourage everyone to come and give thanks to God for the cross. What a special opportunity to realign our hearts, minds and lives with God through Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

In light of what Christ did for us, says Paul, we should strive to live holy lives. No more playing games with God or each other. Time to take off the old self and to put on Christ. Time to build an entirely new wardrobe that is characterized by peace, love, compassion and kindness. Time to change.

Change 2

Apparently, it's time to change computers. Again, I apologize for the lack of consistency with my blog postings. Hopefully, the new computer ordered will provide more stability for this tech-savvy enthusiast.

Until then...

Change - Part 1

Last week I witnessed an inspiring event. I was getting out of my car and looked up into the blue sky and saw a huge flock of geese flying north. I know Pennsylvania is famous for our weather forecasting ground hog, Punxsutawney phil. But there is no greater indicator of the end of winter than a flock of geese flying overhead due north. What a sign of change.

If you think about it, everything changes in life. Seasons change. Communities change. Culture and technology is constantly morphing and changing. Feelings change. Our bodies change.

There are two great truths in life:
1) Change is inevitable;
2) Most people resist change.

Easter is all about change too. Death to life. Hopelessness to hope. Old to new. This week I want to share some thoughts about change and perhaps inspire you to take a proactive approach to change and give you some practical insight on how you can best deal with the changes in life.

Day Off

Today I'm taking the day off. We have to drive to Harrisburg to return the flags we borrowed from another church for our Missions Convention. Since my family lives in Harrisburg it will be a nice opportunity to be with them for the afternoon.

Last night the prayer meeting was off the charts. We especially had a powerful time of corporate prayer for our children's pastors, Josh and Becky John. They have a lot on their ministry plate right now with the Family Theatre this weekend and Eggstravaganza right around the corner. It's so important for us to lift up one another in prayer. The Bible says, "They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." Prayer also unites the church family together and cultivates harmony among the church body.

If you missed last nights prayer meeting, I encourage you to be with us next week.

Weekend Update

Wow! What an awesome, action-packed weekend at PCC! Even 20 inches of snow couldn't stop PCC from celebrating what God is doing all around the world.

Our 4th Annual Missions Convention was incredible. The Saturday night "Taste The Nations" banquet was fantastic. And the Parade of Nations on Sunday morning was inspiring. Our guest speaker, Jack Strom, challenged us to live out John 3:16. Thanks so much for everyone getting involved making it such a huge success.

Also, today we made the front page of the paper with a story on the Extreme Home Makeover. Check out the story by clicking on the link below. Perhpas you could leave a comment, as well.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070319/NEWS/703190327

Our creative, video guy at PCC, Matt Kennedy, did a great job with the Extreme Home Makeover video. Check it out below.



Thanks again, PCC! You rock! I'm so proud of you all and incredibly honored to be your friend and pastor.

Let It Snow

Just two days ago we were enjoying 60 degree temperatures and dusting off our barbecues for spring. And today we are getting hit with a noreaster snow storm that could dump up to 20 inches on the Pocono Mountains. Don't get me wrong - I love the snow and the changing seasons. But to be honest, I'm ready for spring.

It was so disappointing to have to cancel our community groups tonight hosting missionaries from 5 different countries. However, we felt it best to err on the safe side.

The snow will taper off tonight and we will have the green light for our Taste The Nations Missions Banquet tomorrow night at the West High School cafeteria. The banquet starts at 7pm. We're going to have a great time together celebrating what God is doing all around the world. Hope to see you there.

Life in the fast lane

Hey Everybody ~ I apologize for my inconsistent postings lately. My Internet is out at home and my computer is on the fritz. I actually got the blue screen of death yesterday. I've been delaying a computer upgrade for months, but I think the time is now upon me.

Anyway, it's been such an awesome season of ministry the past few weeks at PCC. I sense a great wave of momentum beginning to build here at PCC. Between the Extreme Home makeover and the upcoming Missions Convention and Easter Outreaches, we are all firing on all cylinders around here.

In fact, Tuesday night I was coming back from some meetings and was a tad late for our weekly prayer meeting. I got to the church parking lot and found it was full. I was like, "This is so AWESOME that I can't find a parking spot at our prayer meeting." God is really moving in our church as we pray and seek his strength and guidance.

Let's keep our knees close to the ground and our eyes upon the Lord has we live what we believe.

Weekend Update

Well, I'm recovering from an exhausting four days of ministry. Our Extreme Home Makeover was a huge success, but a lot of work, too. I spent something like 35 hours in 3 days working along side almost 100 volunteers. We scrubbed walls, painted, laid 1500 square feet of new carpet, installed new Pergo floors in the dining room, laid new linoleum in both bathrooms and kitchen, built an additional bedroom wall, and lots of cleaning.

I am so proud of our church family and how we all came together to make this happen. I have to admit, I had a few doubts along the way but God helped us and we were able to bless this deserving family. What an awesome reward to see them come through the doors of their new home for the first time. Their tears of joy was reward enough for me.

Time Saving Tips - Part 3

#3 - Good enough is good enough

While working on a many handymen projects with my grandfather (Pop) in his basement as a child, I can often remember him saying as we neared the completion of the job, "Well, it's good enough for the girl I go with." Of course, he meant that grandma would be happy to have the project completed even if it wasn't perfect. Now, Pop was no shoddy worker, but he understood the principle of "Good Enough" - that things don't have to be perfect in order to be useful or effective.

I've heard many leaders in the church world say, "It doesn't have to be perfect in order for God to bless it." Often times, we waste so much energy, effort and precious time in the vain attempt to make things perfect. According to the law of diminishing returns, this endless pursuit of perfectionism actually works against us. Sure, you can put in an extra 20% of effort on a project that is already a "A-" but that extra 20% will not yield a significant return on the investment. Give up your perfectionist ways and you will get more done and ultimately be more effective.

Time Saving Tips - Part 2

#2 - Do less and get more done.

It's a hard fact of life that no one is good at everything, yet everyone is great one thing. Once you accept that fact, you can begin to prioritize your life around the things that you are passionate about and are naturally gifted to do.

It's true that at least 25% of our daily routines or employment responsibilities are going to be grunt work that we all have to do. However, the other 75% of our time must be focused on that which will bring us the most significant results.

Remember, time is a non-renewable commodity. You only have so much of it and once its gone its gone. The value of time is measured by how we spend it. So, when it comes to prioritizing your time, simply play to your strengths. Do what you do best with the lion share of your time. You will find that you get more done while you are doing less.

Time Saving Tips - Part 1

This week I want to give you some tips on saving time. If your life is anything like mine, you never have enough hours in the day to get everything done. You wish you could slow down time while simultaneously speed up productivity. Whether you are a swamped salesperson, homemaker or entrepreneur, these proven time-mangement strategies will help you manage your life and get more done in less time. So, let's get started. Now is the time.

Tip #1 - Rethink Time Management

I've often thought that I could get more done if I simply became a better time manager. Although this is a great idea, it doesn't work in the real world. You cannot manage something that remains in perpetual motion. In his book, Time Traps, Todd Duncan argues that time management is impossible. He says, "you can't manage time or control time any more than you can lasso the wind and tie it to a fence post."

Quit waisting time trying to manage your time. You can only manage what you do with your time. Time is the most precious commodity available to us. You can always make more money, but you can't make more time. Take a few minutes today and evaluate what you are doing with your time. Remember, you might not be able to manage the clock, but you can control what you do with every tick.

And that's the truth on time.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. We went down to Harrisburg yesterday on our day off to celebreate with my Dad and the rest of the family. Of course, we had lots of good food (Dad's favorite is chicken) and fun around the table.

As I have been preparing this series of messages on parenthood, I've been reminded of how fortunate I am to have such a great family, especially a God-honoring father. Studies show that father's have the most significant spiritual influence on their children, for good or bad. I am so blessed to have a father that has taught me what it means to be a real man, one that follows after Christ's example. Thanks Dad and Happy Birthday.

Ignite!

Sorry for dropping out of the blogosphere the past few days but the weekend events and our Tuesday night Student Ministries have been keeping me kind of busy. Let me give you a quick update on what's been happening.

First, The Neighborhood Family service kick off last Friday night was awesome. Even though it was a bitter cold night, we had about 200 people show up and we all enjoyed a fantastic evening. The only thing better than the food and fellowship was the actual presentation. Tons of first-time guest families enjoyed a great night with humorous videos and dramas, along with a creative bible lesson on honesty. What a great way to spend a Friday night with your family. Pastor Josh and his team of volunteers truly did a great job and I was never more proud of all of them.

Next, the Sunday services were fantastic. We had 27 first time guest (both kids and adults) and 9 salvation's. PCC, you amaze me each weekend with your passion to bring your friends to church. It's awesome to see how God is changing lives and entire families.

And what can I say about tonight's Ignite Student Ministries service. It was off-the-chain! Even though we had to postpone our Truce Outreach, we still had over 150 people show up and the service was great. There was lots of testimonies of life change from our students, Christian hip hop music and dancing, free styling on the microphone and Pastor Danny shared his testimony through song and wrap. The best part of the night was watching 23 students stand up to make a commitment to follow Christ. God is so good. Pastor Danny and the students made the most out of a very difficult situation. Like Danny said, "Truce might not be here tonight, but Jesus is!" I believe with all my heart that our teenagers are going to "ignite" a revolution of God-honoring teenagers within our community that will make a positive impact on this mountain.

Neighborhood Family Theatre

Our new monthly family service kicks off tonight at 7pm in the Junior High School at Pocono Mountain West. Start the weekend off right by spending much needed time with your kids.

The evening will begin with a FREE spaghetti dinner (I hear there will lots of different colors of spaghetti) and Pastor Rudy and the hospitality team are making some special sauce.

Then, sit back and relax and enjoy a family-friendly service which will include: high-energy worship, dance, videos, storytelling and much more. The value of the month is honesty. The night will last about an hour and half and I'm sure everyone will leave wanting more.

If you want to volunteer, just swing by and offering a helping hand.

See you all there!

Pastor Dave

Creating Some Buzz!

Hey PCC! We made the front page of the Pocono Record today! It's our first-time ever to be on the top-fold. That's awesome. I'm so pumped up about our outreach, Extreme Home Makeover, and the buzz it is creating in our community. If you want to read the article online, here's the link: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070222/NEWS/702220309

Let's continue to pray and ask God to use this creative outreach to bless this community as we reach out with His love in a practical way.

You're awesome PCC!

Pastor Dave

Family Day

Today is my day off. I'm spending the entire day with my wife and kids. We're going to go out to eat, tool around the mall and just relax and have some fun together. Let me encourage you to make time for the people you love. Here's how we spell love in our house, T-I-M-E. There is no substitute for abundant time with your family.

Billy Graham was once asked if he would have done anything differently in his ministry. He didn't say he would have held more crusades or written another book or empowered more leaders to change the world. He only said, "I wished I would have spent more time with my kids."

You have to chose HOW you are going to spend your time and WHO you are going to spend it with. Parents, we only have one opportunity to be with our kids when they are young. Let's make the most of it.

This dad is off to the mall.

Dave

Prayer Requests

Tonight's prayer meeting was awesome! If you missed it, let me encourage you to stand with us in prayer as we are planning some major outreaches this coming week.

First, the Family Theatre is kicking off their new season in a new venue and time. The service, specially designed for kids and parents to learn together in a family-friendly environment will be this Friday night at the West Junior Higho School and it will include a free dinner, music, dance, video, puppets, drama and more. This months value is "honesty." Come and enjoy a great night with your family. Bring your friends!

Second, please pray that we will be able to hold our student minsitry outreach concert with special hip-hop artist, "Truce". This outreach may potentially need to be postponed due to the fact that too many students may attend. Please pray for wisdom and favor with the school district.

Last, pray for our Extreme Home Makeover Series and outreach. Today the local newspaper called and interviewed me for a story on our outreach. Ask God to use this story to tell others about Jesus. Also, the local news station called and want to do an interview regarding this creative outreach to our community. God is using this series to create a lot of good buzz for PCC this month. Let's bombard heaven with our prayers for great success that God may ultimately be glorified.

In prayer,

Pastor Dave

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend at PCC as we kicked off our new series, "Extreme Home Makeover: Family Edition." Both services were packed with lots of people, enthusiastic worship, human video, humorous drama and a down-to-earth message on parenting.

Thanks so much for inviting all your friends and for serving in ministry. I'm so proud of you and our entire PCC church family. I'm looking forward to next weekend already. My message title is: "What every kid needs from a parent."

Dave