Comedy @ PCC This Weekend!

Comedian Michael Jr. will be at PCC this weekend. Be sure to join us:

Saturday - 4:30pm & 6:00pm

Sunday - 9:30am & 11am

Also, special musical guest Metanoiz! This weekend is going to be insanely fun and full of joy.

Bring a friend!

Phil's Story

Michael Jr. @ PCC This Weekend!

Easter Outreach Video

Easter Update

Easter @ PCC this year was crazy. Here are some of the highlights:

1) Easter Egg Drop - Due to heavy fog and rain and the low cloud ceiling we couldn't drop the 100,000 eggs from helicopters as planned. So our team improvised and stuffed the eggs in bags and handed them out to the kids and parents once they arrived. We conservatively estimate 2500 cars came through our parking lot which would represent 6000 people. Thousands toured our newly updated kids ministry area and were totally amazed.

2) Attendance Record Shattered - This year we had 4046 people in our 6 weekend worship experiences. This blew our previous attendance out of the water by more than 1,000 people. We also had a record 715 kids in our worship services. It's crazy to think that 10,000 people were touched with the Gospel in our building in less than 48 hours.

3) Life Change - Each number represents a story. And this year God began writing a new story in hundreds of peoples lives that gave their heart to Jesus Christ. It's so humbling to be part of a church that is reaching out to its community and witnessing entire families come to Christ.

4) Volunteers - On behalf of our entire staff, I want to send out a huge thank you to the 615 volunteers that served this Easter in our outreach and weekend worship experiences. I've never had the opportunity to work with more committed and sacrificial people in all my life. Without each and everyone of you, my prayers would have gone unanswered. I am forever grateful.

100,000 Easter Egg Drop & Hunt

This Saturday PCC is hosting an Easter Egg Drop and Hunt at 10am at the Pocono Mountain Municipal Airport (right next to the church on Rt. 611 N).

We are dropping 100,000 Easter Eggs from helicopters. The eggs are filled with candy and prizes (there are 5,000 prizes).

This is a FREE event and it will be held rain or shine. You don't want to miss it.

Also, come and see the new PCC Kids Ministry Space in our OPEN HOUSE on Saturday before or after the egg drop. Your kids will absolutely love it!

Easter Invitation

Watch this video on how not to invite someone to church this Easter. It's hilarious.

Easter Update

Weekend Update

This past weekend was pretty amazing at PCC. Here are some of the highlights.

1. Thanks so much to George Monroy for sharing his story. George is a high school student that just started coming to PCC the past few months and it's been really cool to see him come to faith and get so plugged in to the church family. So proud of you George! God's got BIG PLANS for you bro.

2. The worship experiences were amazing - especially the music. Thanks so much to all the musicians and singers. I loved that song, "Power of the Cross." Crazy anointed people leading us in music.

3. Enjoyed preaching on John 4 and Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. If we are going to witness the Jesus way we have to 1) Go to the well - places to intentionally connect with lost people, 2) Give them water - truth and life and a new dimension of God through the Holy Spirit (without watering it down), and 3) Get out of the way - let the Holy Spirit work in people's lives.

4. We had almost 80 first time guests! Very cool. We had 2154 people in attendance too. God's given us great momentum as we get ready for Easter.

5. My wife, Bekah, celebrated her birthday on Sunday. I brought her up on stage during the 11am service and we all sang happy birthday to her. It was a lot of fun. My mom and dad and sister and nephew were with us for Sunday and we went out for sushi and hibachi at Desaki's for lunch. Awesome time with my family and a great restaurant.

6. The Spanish ministry celebrated their one year anniversary yesterday at PCC. It was an amazing celebration with salsa music, pinatas, empanadas, dancing and more. I love our Spanish ministry and Pastor Emilio Quinteros.

7. We had 354 kids in church this weekend. That's awesome to see so many young people excited to learn about Jesus. The PCC Kidz City renovation is really coming along. I can't wait to see it all completed.

Invite.Me

This weekend we wrap up our series, Invite.Me with a practical and provocative look at the widely-known story in John 4. In his encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus teaches us to witness His way. Service times this weekend are Sat. 5 and 6:30pm and Sunday 9:30, 11am, 2pm (Spanish).

What I Learned at Drive

Drive2011 was an incredible experience for both me and our team.

Here are a 11 huge takeaways:

1. I am inspired more than ever to build a church that unchurched people want to attend.

2. I am motivated to be more intentional in designing weekend experiences that engage, involve and challenge both churched and unchurched people.

3. Clarifying the win at every level and in every ministry environment in the organization is essential for success.

4. I have to push leadership down. That is, empower other great leaders to raise their level of leadership in the organization. I am doing way too much and underutilizing the gifts and talents of the stellar staff within our organization.

5. I have to lean into my strengths and lead from them. I get frustrated when trying to lead outside of my giftings.

6. People resist things they don't understand and cannot control. I need to do a better job communicating the "WHY" as much as the "WHAT" in ministry.

7. The gospel is offensive. It divides because truth divides. The key into designing worship experiences is to not offend someone until the preaching event. In other words, create welcoming and fun environments that prepare the hearer to receive the truth.

8. I need to develop my personal schedule around the age and stage of my life. Your schedule will change with the changing seasons of life, family and ministry.

9. The best thing you can bring to your staff is your energy. Be sure to plan your meetings with your staff at times you have the most energy.

10. Get the best and brightest brains in the room for two hours a week to work on the organization and leadership development. I need a system to get the smartest people in the room.

11. Your approach to communication should be shaped by the goal of your communication. Approach is everything. How you say it is more important than what you say. Make it simple, memorable and portable.

Setting "The Record" Straight

The Pocono Record retracted last week's article regarding our donation to the American Red Cross. I would personally like to thank Andrew Scott and the editorial manager for setting "The Record" straight.

By Andrew Scott
Pocono Record Writer
April 05, 2011
Pocono Community Church's $10,000 donation to this year's Run for the Red has nothing to do with the marathon changing its course from previous years, according to the American Red Cross of the Poconos in Stroudsburg.

"The church's $10,000 donation is not payment to us to change this year's course," Red Cross Stroudsburg Executive Director Jim Rienhardt said Monday after returning from vacation. "It's merely a donation, like all other donations, to benefit Red Cross disaster relief services. Yes, some of it might go to help defray the cost of having the marathon, but the rest goes to disaster relief."

The Rev. David Crosby Jr., Pocono Community pastor, emailed his congregation last week after the Pocono Record raised questions about whether the donation was connected to rerouting the marathon so that it no longer affected the church's heavily attended Sunday services.

"When we were approached last year for a contribution to the American Red Cross, I, along with the rest of the leadership team, thought it presented a great opportunity to share God's blessings with our community," Crosby wrote.

Rienhardt said it's possible one of his volunteers approached the church about making a donation although he couldn't be sure.

Crosby said in his email that while he investigated the possibility of having the route changed a couple of years ago, the $10,000 donation, "like all gifts, was given with no strings attached."

He said the church had contributed to the American Red Cross organization in the past. Crosby said he participated in an American Red Cross telethon the year before last and the church gave $3,000 that year.

Rienhardt said the $10,000 marked the first time the church specifically donated to the Run for the Red.

"I believe we have received donations from other (entities) along the marathon route in the past and will probably receive more from those same sources in the future," Rienhardt said. "I can't, off the top of my head, tell you who along the route has donated to us without looking at a list."

He added: "It saddens me that someone out there apparently is trying to make it out to be something more or something other than what it is."

Whatever money we take in, whether it's a donation to our annual telethon or to Run for the Red, all goes to the same place. It all helps the community, you and your neighbors, in times of trouble."

A Response to Pocono Record Article

Dear PCC Family:

I am writing to you today to clarify and correct the article in today's Pocono Record regarding our contribution to the American Red Cross's Run for the Red. Though I am not terribly concerned with what the world at large thinks, it is important to me that our church family knows my heart and the truth about what and why we give.

When we were approached last year for a contribution to the American Red Cross, I along with the rest of the leadership team thought it presented a great opportunity to share God's blessings with our community. While I did investigate the possibility of having the route for The Run For The Red changed a couple years ago, the gift, like all gifts was given with no strings attached. Contrary to what the article states, we have given to the American Red Cross in the past and in fact, have a long standing relationship with the American Red Cross. The year before last, I participated in the American Red Cross telethon and our church family gave $3,000 that year.

Furthermore, we've hosted American Red Cross blood drives throughout our church's eight year history. We've reported our gifts to the The American Red Cross in our Annual Report for all to see. We have nothing to hide.

So, while the Pocono Record is attempting to mischaracterize our church and its generosity (even though yesterday's article gave the reasons for the route change), the truth is that our gift is just another example of God using the PCC family to bless the Pocono Mountains.

Let's continue to pray and reach out with Christ's love as we create a culture of generosity in our community.

Together is better,

Pastor Dave

Drive 2011

This week some of my staff and key leaders are headed to the Drive 2011 conference in Atlanta, GA. Here are a few reasons why I like to go to conferences:

1. To grow. Leaders are learners. If you are going to grow to the next level in life and leadership, you have to expose yourself to new ideas, new people and new information.

2. To connect. Just getting away with your team creates opportunities to bond with each other and build team chemistry. The travel time and fellowship alone is a valuable investment.

3. To network. Every time I go to a conference I meet new people and make some new friends. These friendships have proved to be valuable assets to both my professional and personal development.

4. To dream. Conferences are like dream releasers. What a great way to catch a vision for what God could do in our church or ministry when visiting other powerful ministries that are full of vision and creativity. That vision is contagious.

5. To unplug. Conferences provide a unique opportunity to switch gears for a few days and be inspired and informed. It's refreshing to unplug from the daily grind of meetings, writing, sermon preparation, responding to email, etc.

The New F Word in the Church

Authentic Worship

In John 12 we get a glimpse of the great cost of worship. While in Bethany, Jesus is at a party thrown in His honor. He was having a great time kickin' back with his friends when Mary interrupts the easy-going evening as she takes a pound of expensive ointment and anoints the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

This one act of worship changed the entire atmosphere as the sweet aroma spread throughout the room. Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, rebuked Mary for "waisting" God's money on such frivolous activity. After all, he reasoned, that money could have been used to feed the poor.

Here's a couple thoughts on this Scritpure:

• Authentic worship requires sacrifice. If it doesn't cost you something, it's not real worship. Some scholars say that Mary's expression of worship cost her a years worth of wages. Have you ever given a years worth of your wages in one offering? Crazy, huh. Authentic worship could cost you your reputation, your time, your pride, your money...anything you that could potentially become an idol in your life.
• Authentic worship honors Jesus first. Mary puts Jesus first while simultaneously disregarding the others in the room. Her one act of worship foretells the sacrifice Jesus would soon make on the cross. Often times, we try to create worship experiences that honor the unchurched over Jesus. While we need to make guests feel comfortable in our worship services, our first responsibility is to cultivate an atmosphere that honors Jesus first, thus creating an environment where His Spirit can cultivate life change.
• Authentic worship changes the atmosphere. It releases faith. It compels an audience of spectators to become participators. It captures the attention of Jesus. Real worship changes stuff ... in our hearts, in our church and in our community.
• Authentic worship will always come under criticism. Judas criticizes Mary for waisting money in her expensive display of worship. It's kind of like people who criticize a church for spending lots of money on reaching their community for Jesus with creative outreaches meanwhile they are robbing God by not even honoring him with the tithe.
• Authentic worshippers will always be defended by Jesus. Jesus tells Judas to back off. Jesus knew Judas was a thief. He knew Judas didn't really care about the poor. Jesus also knew the true motivation of Mary's heart. Jesus and Jesus alone will ultimately decide what is pleasing to him.

Why Over What

There's a leadership principle that basically says, "People need to know WHY you are doing something, not just WHAT you are doing."

So, instead of just saying WHAT you are going to do:

• we are starting a second service
• we are going to casual dress
• we are singing contemporary music

Also, tell them WHY you are going to do it:

• to reach more people for Jesus
• to create an environment where lost people feel welcome
• to connect with people in a relevant style, etc.

Here's an example of how we did this last week at PCC. This is a snippet of a video we did to tell people WHY we are pulling out all the stops this Easter with our Easter Outreaches.

Sokojikara

Japan is experiencing the single largest recovery effort in its history since WWII. This country faces daunting challenges with the possibility of burying over 10,000 people lost in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Not to mention the fact that they are working tirelessly to prevent multiple potential nuclear meltdowns, providing food, water, electricity and other basic necessities to tens of thousands still experiencing physical and emotional aftershocks.

Japanese scholar, Fuji Kamiya described Japan's ability to recover from seemingly insurmountable obstacles following WWII with the word sokojikara: a reserve power to overcome threats to sustainability and preeminence. Japan's uncanny knack to demonstrate sokojikara amidst overwhelming odds stacked against them is something to be admired.

Potential threats in life come from a variety of places:

• Uncontrollable situations
• Unaccountable leadership
• Ugly (negative) people
• Unacceptable excuses
• Unexpected problems

What do you do in times like these?

Philippians 4:13 reminds me that Jesus is my sokojikara - my reserve power who gives me strength in a time of need. We all need to plug into a power that is far greater than our natural strength. Supernatural power. Jesus is that strength. He's a reservoir of peace in a tumultuous times. A savior who rescues the perishing.

I pray that Japan will cry out to Jesus is their time of need. I pray that churches, pastors and people in need, wherever they might be, will find their strength and solace in Jesus - the sokojikara.

Easter 2011

Easter Fast Challenge

Today, March 9th, is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. This next 40 or so days PCC is participating in a church-wide fast in preparation for Easter.

Fasting is simply abstaining from food for spiritual reasons. Jesus expected his followers to fast for a variety of reasons:

1. To give you more time to pray. Acts 13:2-3

2. To demonstrate a depth of desire for breakthrough. Joel 1:14

3. To release supernatural power in your life. Ezra 8:23

We see many Biblical examples of the importance of fasting. Moses fasted before receiving the 10 commandments. Daniel fasted in order to receive guidance from God. Jeremiah fasted before beginning a major building project. Jesus fasted prior to launching into his public ministry.

Fasting is simply carving time out of your busy schedule to feast on the word of God. It's denying oneself food for your body so you can feed your soul. It's getting in the presence of God and spending time realigning your life with His will.

To all those PCCers out there, please join with me as we fast and pray for our church, community and the unchurched this Easter. If you would like to more information on how to fast, please go to our church website.

For some of my favorite books on prayer and fasting, check out our online bookstore here.