One Month Video Roll In

Check out the video roll in for our new series put together by our media team here at PCC! You guys rock.

More Good Advice on Voting

Check out this video by the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God denomination on how to make a wise, Biblically-informed and prayerful decision in the voting box next week.

Who to Vote For?

My friend Jeff Leake had a great post on his blog and I thought I would share it with you here. Great stuff, Jeff. Thanks.

Who Do I Vote For?

I listened to a podcast by Ed Young this past weekend called POLITICKED. During this message, he outlined five factors in his decision making as to who to vote for in a an election. His message was pretty intense, but I thought his outline was a good grid. I have listed it here with a few additional thoughts of my own. I added #3 and #7 to Ed's list:

1. The Character Question - which leaders shows a demonstrated trustworthiness? who seems to have an integrity where words and actions match?

2. The Compassion Question - a good leader should show genuine concern for those who need the greatest care and protection. So which candidate shows the greatest levels of compassion for the poor, the mistreated, the unborn, the abused, and disabled?

3. The Competence Question - in making any simple hiring decision, we have to ask the question, does this person have the skills and qualities to do the job? Is there a track record of effective leadership?

4. The Courage Question - which candidate has evidenced the ability to make the hard choices, to lead against the grain even of their own party, and to be willing to suffer personally for a greater good?

5. The Conviction Question - which candidate has verbalized and even more than that has demonstrated Biblical values? Who shows evidence of godly convictions? This requires us to know what our Biblical values are and to consider if the candidates we are considering share those values.

6. The Companionship Question - you can tell a lot about a person by who their friends are. So we ask, who does this person associate with, who supports them, and who opposes them?

7. The Catalyst Question - it is obvious that much about our government needs transformation. So much about our culture needs healed, restored, and redirected. Then we look at the division that exits between races, parties, and classes. Who will unify? Who will inspire positive change?

These seven evaluation points will help me in making my choices. I hope they are helpful to you. Remember, these questions are not just valid for the presidential race, but for any elective decision.

Snow Day!

The Pocono Mountains got hammered today with a snow storm that shut down our offices and halted work on our new building. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and melt this all away so we can get back to the business of building the Kingdom.

One Month To Live

This weekend we are kicking off a brand new series, "One month to Live." We will be answering the question, "What if you had one month live?"

So, what would you do if you knew you only had one month live? Travel the world? Quit your job? Eat more dessert?

If you are like most people, you would probably live your life differently. You would be more authentic about who you are and more intentional about how you spend your time.

Don't miss this weekend. It's going to be awesome. And be sure to invite your friends.

Everything We Need

2 Peter 1:3 says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life."

The demands of life and ministry can be overwhelming at times. But Peter reminds me today that God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, has given us everything we need for life. The Holy Spirit gives me EVERYTHING I NEED, including:

• strength for my body
• wisdom for my mind
• love for my marriage
• patience with my kids
• finances for my bills
• resources for my ministry
• power to overcome my temptation

Whatever you might be facing today, please remember that God has given you what you need. He's a God who resources His people to accomplish His purpose.

Numero Cuatro

Bekah and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our 4th baby! Bekah is to deliver sometime in June of 2009. We've gone from not being able to have children to a growing family. God is good.

Please keep Bekah and the baby in prayer. She's had some difficulty last week and the doctor put her on bed rest. We are anticipating everything to be just fine and your fervent prayers will make all the difference in the world. Thanks!

Royal Family Kids Camp

I had the opportunity to have lunch today and spend some time with a visionary leader and great man of God. His name is Wayne Tesch and he is the founder of Royal Family Kids Camp.

Royal Family Kids Camp creates camp experiences for abused kids in the foster care system that are second-to-none. They literally treat this kids like royalty for a week and invest in lives for eternity. This year nearly 6,000 kids will have attended one of their camps. This organization has grown nationwide to network of camps sponsored by churches in 26 denominations and spans 36 states and 5 foreign countries.

Wayne reminded me that annually 3 million cases of child abuse, neglect or abandonment are reported in America. If that's not bad enough, one of these victims dies every four hours due to that abuse.

One of Jesus' hardest sayings was if anybody hurts a child it would be better for them to have a mill stone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea."

Wayne is a great leader with infectious enthusiasm for children and the Kingdom. We are looking forward to working with this organization in the future and I would encourage you to pray about doing the same.

Sticky Church

My staff and I are reading Larry Osborne's new book, Sticky Church. Larry is the pastor of North Coast Church and a pioneer in sermon-based small groups ministry as well as multi-site.

The premise of the book is to help churches do a better job at keeping the people they are already reaching through sermon-based small groups.

Here are just some of the questions I've already written down after reading only the first few chapters:

+How committed are we at PCC to small groups?

+What part of our staff, leadership team and members are involved in small groups?

+How much of our budget is allocated to small groups?

+How much of our budget is committed to attractional events?

+What would our church look like with a thriving small groups ministry?

You might also want to check out StickyChurch.com for more resources.

Monkey Business

If you have difficulty understanding the current world financial situation, the following should help clear matters...I received this from my friend who is a missionary/evangelist in Africa.

Once upon a time in a village in Africa, a man announced to the villagers that he would buy local monkeys for $10 apiece.

The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers slowed their efforts.

So the man then announced that he would buy at $20. This rejuvenated the efforts of the villagers and they were catching monkeys once more.

But again the supply diminished, and again people began returning to their farms and their previous, less affluent lives.

The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was rare to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $30 each. When he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50.'

The villagers, seeing an opportunity to squeeze a bit more out of this monkey business dug up their savings and bought back all the monkeys.

They never saw the man or his assistant again; only monkeys ... everywhere!

Welcome to Wall Street!

I'm Not Catholic, but...

I'm not Catholic, but I thought this video was pretty powerful. Enjoy.

Earl Nightingale

When I was in my sophomore year in college my grandfather gave me a set of tapes to listen to by Earl Nightengale. As I began to listen to these talks, for the first time in my life I began to truly understand the power of motivation and inspiration.

I'll never forget one of the talks entitled Acres of Diamonds. It was based on a true story told by the founder of Temple University which he used to raise the necessary funds to build the school. That talk changed my life. If you've never heard the talk, go download it today and listen to it. It's powerful.

We all need to be inspired and encouraged. Life is tough. Life as a follower of Jesus Christ is not for the faint of heart. Ministry can be grueling.

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

You are what you think. So think thoughts that are true and be inspired.

Len Sweet @ Valley Forge

I just wanted to get this event on the radar screen for all those pastors out there that read the blog. Valley Forge is hosting a Ministry Forum with Leonard Sweet on November 20, 2008. 

If you are anywhere the Philly area this will be an event worth attending. Sweet loves the church and has a message worth hearing. Let me know if you are planning on attending. It would be cool to hook up with you at the event. 

Community Groups

Last Sunday we kicked off our new sermon series, EVERYBODY. 

In connection with the teaching series, we are kicking off our Fall semester of Community Groups here at PCC. 

Here are ten good reasons EVERYBODY should be in a Community Group:

1. It's fun.

2. It's Biblical.

3. You get to meet new people and make new friends.

4. It's a great place to study God's Word and discuss the implications of the Sunday message.

5. There's usually some good eats involved.

6. You can check out someone's else's house and see all their stuff.

7. If you ever get sick or end up in the hospital, you'll have a lot of people to come visit you or make you soup.

8. Community Groups are a great place to pray for one another and show that you really care.

9. Did I mention the food?

10. It's THE place to help you grow to spiritual maturity. 

Highway Clean Up

Last Saturday 75 PCCers showed up at the new church property and participated in our highway clean up day. This is by far the best attended outreach we've ever had for this ministry aimed at keeping our environment clean. 

I want to personally thank each and every one of you for volunteering your time to help keep the planet and more specifically, the Poconos, a beautiful place to live. Also, thanks to the volunteers and staff that organized the event. You did a great job!