The Best Chrstimas Gift Ever

As many of you are aware, I have dropped off the blogging scene for the past few days. I have a good reason: my wife, Rebekah, gave birth to our third child, Henry, on Christmas Eve.

Henry was born on 12-24-07 and weighed 8.3 pounds and measured 20 inches in length. Both mom and baby are home and doing well.

There is nothing like having a baby at Christmas - it's definitely the best gift ever! Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Gathering

To all the local blog readers (PCC family) ... please join me this evening for a special time of prayer and worship at The Gathering.
We need to come together and cry out to God for a miracle this Christmas season as it relates to:

• Those in our community that are far from God - that we can reach them for Jesus this Christmas
  
• Families in our church that are struggling in their relationships/marriages
  
• Singles in our church that are dealing with loneliness
  
• Physical issues for those that are sick
  
• Financial blessing for the church and church family
  
• The construction project for our new facility
  
• Our nation as it prepares for an election in the coming year

I will be sharing an encouraging message on how God's presence is presents enough at Christmas.

Hope to see you there,

Pastor Dave

Don't Worry - Be Happy

OK. So it's snowing again. The weather forecasters are calling for a foot of snow today in the Poconos and possibly another 2 feet of snow on Saturday night into Sunday. For a church planter - snow on the weekend is killer. Honestly, the snow has been absolutely destroying the momentum at the church. Four out of the past five Sundays we've had snow and ice just wreck our attendance by 30 to even 50 percent. Of course, that impacts our budget too.

Well, instead of sitting around whining about it (and yes, I've prayed and asked for God's intervention) I've decided to redirect my negative thoughts and sophomoric whining into a more positive outlook.

So, here are 7 things I am happy about today.

1. My wife is pregnant and ready to deliver any day. We love being parents and another child only means more great times in the Crosby house.

2. I'm working from home today. Not only because of the snow storm, but now that we have a home with an office. I am able to spend one day home a week working on my message for Sunday. After slugging it out in an apartment for the past 4 years - living in a home is really sweet.

3. My wife just made a fresh batch of Christmas cookies. That makes me really happy! They are cream cheese cookies with a little walnut on top. Yum-o-licious.

4. I've got a great family. Honestly, I'm so blessed. I married way over my head. I've got two great kids and one on the way. I live in a comfortable home. We all genuinely love each other and enjoy hanging out and spending time together.

5. I get to lead a great church. Pocono Community Church is not normal. It's a dynamic church family where we see lives changed every week. It's so cool.

6. I've got a great staff. The team at PCC has been through a lot of transition this year but we are starting to gain momentum as we work hard to build a culture of excellence and fun.

7. Today I don't have to shave. That makes me happy. Oh - and it really makes me happy that I get to be used by God to help others.

2008 Goals

Goals are faith statements. As we approach the new year, here are a few of the goals I shared with our staff at a vision talk yesterday.

1. Reach the lost at any cost. We want to see 500 new salvations for Christ this year.
2. Make disciples by challenging people to grow to spiritual maturity through the daily disciplines.
3. Recruit, equip and train 200 new ministry volunteers.
4. Break the 1500 barrier in attendance.
5. Grow our monthly prayer meeting, "The Gathering", to 500 in attendance.
6. Sucessfuly move 70% of our Sunday morning crowd from the large group environment to a community group that meets during the week for prayer, bible study and fellowship.
7. Move into our new building.

Christmas Advice

As we gear up for the final days before Christmas, here are some thoughts to help you reduce the stress of the season.

1. Remember that Christmas is all about Jesus. It's way too easy to get sidetracked by all the materialism of our culture - the presents, parties and pastries. Don't lose sight of the fact that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday. You got something for everyone else, what did you get for Him? Give him your commitment and time and energy this season.

2. The best gifts are not always the most expensive. You don't have to spend a lot of money to express your love or appreciation to someone through a gift. In fact, it's been my experience that the best gifts don't come in colorfully wrapped packages. It's when we give of ourselves that we give the best gifts. Don't go into debt for a gift that's going to end up in a yard sale in less than 10 years. Give the gift of self this year.

3. Don't eat too much - exercise more. I don't know about you, but I end up going to a ton of Christmas parties. I love cookies and egg nog way too much. Spend some time on the treadmile this Christmas or park a little further from the mall entrance. Go outside and play in the snow with your kids and make a snow man. Get the old ticker going and focus on healthy eating and sleeping patterns.

4. Be thankful. Break the grip of greed this Christmas by expressing your gratitude to God and others for what you already have. Tell you spouse or kids how thankful you are for what it means to have them in your life. Spend time with God in prayer and give him thanks for what he's done in the past year.

5. Reach out to others. Christmas is a great time of the year to express the love of Christ in practical ways. Most people are even open to an invitation to go to church this time of year if you will just ask them. Reach out through acts of kindness. Serve in a soup kitchen. Get some friends together and go Christmas caroling. Invite someone to church - who knows, you could be the star in someones life this Chrsitmas that leads them to Jesus.

Staff Expectations

One of the key responsibilities of leadership is to lay out clear expectations. You cannot have accountability without clarity. Earlier this week I sat down with PCC's pastoral and support staff and discussed some of the high expectations I have of our staff.

1. Maintain a vital and growing relationship with Jesus. I want to know that my staff is cultivating an intimate walk with Christ. If you don't have character, you don't have anything. I heard one pastor say, "I was so busy doing the work of God that is was destroying the work of God in me."

2. Tenacious loyalty. The trenches of ministry require absolute loyalty. I want to create a culture where we all will take a bullet for each other. I tell my staff that I will always defend them even before I have all the facts. That's loyalty.

3. A commitment to excellence. Ultimately, everything we do is for Jesus. So, if we are doing it "as unto the Lord" it better be done to the best of our ability. There is no room in the Kingdom for a half-hearted commitment. Either give your best or don't give at all.

4. A positive attitude. I can't stand being around negative people who suck all the fun and joy out of life and ministry. Life is way too short to not have fun. And although ministry is very difficult and draining - it should still be one of the most fun things you can do with your time.

5. Failure. That's right - I want each of our staff to fail at least once a week. What? Listen, if we aren't failing that means we are trying new things and taking steps of faith. Playing it safe is way too risky. If handled correctly, failure can teach you much more than success. Here's the key though - just don't make the same mistake twice.

Ring Tones

I've got the coolest ring tones on my cell phone. In fact, I set special ring tones for the people that call me most. For example, my wife's ring tone is digital recording of her voice telling me to pick up the phone. It's actually quite funny. I know it's her calling before I even pick up the phone.

When God wants to call us, He's got some cool ring tones too. Jesus said, "My sheep will know my voice." If we listen carefully to the call of God, we can find guidance and direction on the journey of life.

Here are a few of the ones I've noticed in my life as it relates to the call of God in ministry.

1. A Call to a Place - This is a geographical call. Much like a missionary is called to a specific nation or a church planter to a strategic city.

2. A Call to a Position - This is a vocational call. Some of my friends in ministry a called to do something specific for the Kingdom. This could be a call to the worship or creative arts (music or video editing) or student/children's ministry.

3. A Call to a Person - This is a personal call. Sometimes God calls people to serve specific leaders much like the "mighty men of David" in the Old Testament were called to serve him.

Weekend Update

Incredible! That's the one word to describe the Take 6 Christmas outreach concert last Saturday night. I'm not even sure that one word does the outreach justice. The house was packed and everyone enjoyed an awesome night of music and fun. Although we didn't do a formal invitation for salvation, I know many hearts and lives were changed by God's presence in that theatre. We will hear many stories of life change in the days and weeks to come.

Let me just brag on PCC Worship team that opened for Take 6. We are so blessed to have such awesome worship leaders in Derek and Nadeen Edwards. They rock the house and get everybody into God's presence when they lead. What I love about them most is not that they are just the best musicians in the Poconos, but that they have the most humble hearts too. I was so proud of our worship and creative arts teams who did a phenomenal job.

About Take 6 ... these guys were literally off the charts. Their manager said in the 20 years that he has traveled with them that they never had a night like the one they had with Pocono Community Church. I was privileged to meet the guys and pray with them before the concert and I just enjoyed their spirit and their ministry.

Last of all, I want to thank the rest of the team at PCC for everything they did. From Kevin and Mary Ellen and Erin and the rest of the gang who played such a critical role in pulling this outreach event together - you all are awesome.

Snowy Forecast

As you may already know, they are calling for our second snow storm in the past 3 weeks here in Pocono. The snow and ice is supposed to start on Saturday around midnight.

Please join me in prayer today and tomorrow and ask God to delay the storm until Sunday evening. This snow storm could kill our Christmas outreach concert with Take 6 and also our Sunday morning services.

Planting a church in the Northeast is hard enough without all the snowstorms! If God can make the sun stand still he can redirect a snow storm. C'mon God, do your thing! Help a brother out.

Christmas Outreach

This year PCC hosts its annual Christmas outreach concert with Grammy Award winning artists Take 6. The concert promises to be the best ever Pocono Christmas.

I've got 25 FREE TICKETS for the first 25 people that email me after reading the blog. Just send me your first and last name via email at dcrosby@poconocc.com and let me how many tickets you need and I'll have them at the box office for you. The concert is this Saturday night at the historic Sherman Theatre in downtown Stroudsburg. The show starts at 7pm and the doors open at 6pm. Bring your unsaved friends and share Christ this Christmas through this unique outreach.

Merry Christmas to my blogging friends : )

Day Dreamers

T.E. Lawrence wrote, "All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of day are dangerous men, that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible."

Are you a day dreamer? I understand Lawrence to mean that we must be people of action, not only wishful thinking. Action, according to Lawrence, occurs under the light of the day. The path to mediocrity and underachievement, on the other hand, is paved with drowsy dreams concocted under the cover of darkness.

Here are some things I'm working on this week to get my dreams down in the daylight.

1. Be clear. Write out my dreams for 2008 with clarity.
2. Think big. If resources were no option, what would I want to accomplish.
3. Get help. List the people who I will need to find to help me accomplish my goals.
Accomplishing the impossible is a team sport.
4. Break it down. Set smaller objectives for each main goal. This helps make progress in incremental
steps.
5. Evaluate as you go. Keep tabs on how you are doing.

So, what are your dreams? How will you seem them come to pass?

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Today I'm officiating a funeral for one of the family members in my community group. Losing a loved one is tough, especially during the holidays. Of course, death has a way of making you deal with life. And if handled correctly, death can teach us a lot.

I'd like to write a Thanksgiving Prayer today and share it with you.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your love and grace that is new every morning. In the busyness of the holiday season, I am reminded today of how fleeting and fragile life really is.

Teach me today to make the best use of my life and time by loving You and loving others. Your Word tells me to make love my highest goal. Help me love You and others today.

I thank you for the fact that you love me and have blessed me so much. Thank you for my wife, my kids, my family and our health and home. Thank you for filling us with peace and serenity. Thank you for our ministry and for PCC. May you continue to put your hand upon it and bless it.

Be with me throughout my day and help me add value to others. I don't want to take my life or time for granted. It's a gift you've given me. Let me be a clear reflection of your love to others today. Amen.

Let It Snow

Yesterday the Pocono Mountains came to life when unexpectedly over a foot of snow fell in our area. Naturally, that made it very difficult for many of our regular attenders to make it to church. However, I was surprised to see 700 people show up. So, if you missed church yesterday, you can listen online to the message (it will be posted later this evening).

Today was the opening day of bear season in Pennsylvania. I went out at the crack of "O dark thirty" (4:30am) with a couple buddies from the church.

Here is some friendly bear hunting advice for someone considering giving it a whirl:

1) Don't eat a big breakfast and go into the woods unprepared (yeah, it's what you think - not good.)

2) It's more fun hanging out with your friends and getting some exercise than actually killing something.

3) 4:30 am? What are you kidding me? I didn't even know there was more than one 4:30 on my clock!

4) Does bear meat even taste good? They tell me it's great if you cook it like a pot roast. Anytime you have to cook something that simmers so long with other ingredients that it takes on the flavor of those ingredients to cover its own taste - it can't be very good.

5) What would you do with a bear once you shot it? I think it cost like $500 bucks to mount one of those things. I'd rather get a new 46 inch High Def LCD flat screen.

Anyway, can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and go out in the woods!

Ouch

I heard Ed Stezer share this week regarding the epicenters of Christianity throughout history. The heart of the church moved from Jerusalem to Antioch and then to Athens and Rome. From there it has moved throughout Europe, Southern Asia and then to America and now it is largely a movement in the Southern Hemisphere.

Just moments after hearing Ed share this, I received this email from my friend Chrsitopher Alam.

"Christianity began as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
When it went to Athens, it became a philosophy.
When it went to Rome, it became an organization.
When it went to Europe, it became a culture.
When it came to America, it became a business."

Ouch.

Grace Wholesalers

My new friend Vince Antonucci spoke yesterday about being grace wholesalers. Vince is one hundred percent high octane adrenaline. Vince lives and breathes a compassion to reach lost people. And by the way, the dude is also flat out funny. What a riot.

Vince planted Forefront Church about nine years ago and he's reaching tons of lost people who are far from God and bringing them into closer proximity with the God who loves them.

Grace is what we get when we don't deserve it. A wholesaler makes huge amounts of products available to the market. Vince says we need to wholesale God's grace to a lost and hurting world.

How to be a grace wholesaler:

1) Prayer. Ask Jesus everyday for opportunities to interact with someone who needs God's grace.

2) Platform. Build a relationship with lost people. Trust always proceeds truth.

3) Process. It takes time to get involved with people who need God's grace.

4) Patience. Remember that it is the patience of God that leads to repentance.

5) Pain. Become a wounded healer.

I can honestly say I feel completely inspired to keep PCC passionate about reaching the lost. God help us from becoming some spiritual country club for casual Christians.

People Power

Helpful Principles in Hiring Staff

1) The people you surround yourself will either make you or break you.
2) Hiring the right people is a learned skill.
3) Timing is everything.
4) Fully engage yourself in the process.
5) Hire staff in your weakest areas.
6) When it comes to top staff, hire leaders, not doers.
7) Go for the absolute best. Never apologize for shooting high.

Church Planting

I love church planters. They are some of the most dangerous people on the planet.
If you have ever considered planting a church, here are a few things you might want to make sure you have built into your DNA:

+a radical faith
+an uncommon commitment to a cause
+an entrepreneurial spirit
+a dedicated prayer life and the ability to hear God's voice
+a vision for what God wants to do
+a love for people, especially the lost
+a belief that playing it safe is risky
+a ferocious tenacity to never give up
+a love change
+the ability to lead and develop leaders

Planting a church is the most difficult, yet most rewarding thing I've ever done. There's nothing I'd rather do and no place I'd rather be.

Boot Camp

I'm in Nashville, TN this week presenting at a national church planters boot camp. The room is packed with passionate church planters that are gearing up to launch a new church somewhere in the US within the next 12 to 18 months.

This week I'm going to share some thoughts regarding church planting and give you some notes from the variety of speakers like Ed Stezer and Todd Wilson.

Right now, Pat Ferguson, from Passion For Planting, based in Washington, DC, is explaining how his ministry serves local church planters. Essentially, Pat's organization acts as an Executive Pastor for a church planter. They help the church planter organize, adminstrate and plan the logistics involved in the first year of church planting. They help you nail down your mission statement, purpose statement and they also help you set up a 501c3, marketing and advertising plan and so on.

Man, I wish I would have known about them 4 years ago when I planted. To all you church planters out there that read the blog, check out http://www.church-planting.net - you won't regret it.

Forgive Me Dog' 'Gonit

One of my favorite shows on TV is "Dog, The Bounty Hunter." The Dog is a bail bondsmen in Hawaii who spent the first 25 years of his life on the wrong side of the law. Now, he's committed the rest of his life to being one of the good guys.

Last week, however, one of Dog's own kids released a secretly recorded private conversation (he was paid big bucks from TMZ) where Dog used a racial slur. A&E immediately pulled their number one show, Dog's show, off the air.



Dog is doing some major soul searching and repenting. Dog claims to be a born again Christian, however, he has a filthy mouth. I've watched him share his faith and pray in the name of Jesus with people he's arrested on his show and almost simultaneously use profanity in the same breath. His language is obviously something he struggles with.

He's been an extremely forgiving person on his own show and now it seems he needs some forgiveness in return. Jesus said that by our words we will either be acquitted or condemned. I've watched several interviews where Dog has publicly confessed and asked for forgiveness. He appears to have a contrite spirit and has committed to change his ways. I guess God only knows his heart and motivation. But from where I stand, I say forgive him. You never know when you might need the same forgiveness in your own life.

Also, I am reminded what the Bible says about that which is done in secret will eventually be brought to light. Let's take a lesson from the Dog today and commit to living right regardless of whos watching or listening. After all, God knows and hears and sees everything.

Weekend Update

Sunday was an awesome day at PCC. The extra hour of sleep seemed to have everyone in especially good spirits.

We had 23 people their hearts to Christ this weekend. What a testimony of God's faithfulness.

The offering was the one of the largest ever at PCC. And from what the bookkeeper tells me, there was not one huge gift. It was just everybody doing their part. Thankyou PCC for being such generous people.

Tonight the PCC family meets together for an evening of prayer and worship. You don't want to miss this evening. We will be taking communion together as well as hearing some phenomenal testimonies.