The Simple Truth

Thanks!

Time for the annual Thanksgiving day blog post about being thankful.  It's great that each year we set aside a day to focus on being thankful, but as a follower of Jesus we should make thankfulness a part of our everyday life.  It is God's will for us to be thankful - I Thessalonians 5:18.  Here are a few things I'm thankful for this year...

• My wonderful wife.
• My beautiful children.
• Good friends.
• A home - what a blessing.
• Running water and food on the table.
• Good health.
• The chance to serve with the people of PBC.
• The blessing of music.
• Books.
• Most of all - my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What about you? What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving Day?

What if I Let My Guard Down?

Last Sunday we talked about the importance of connection with other followers of Jesus.  These relationships are vital to our spiritual health.  You were created to live in community!  We need more than buddies to watch the game with, or girlfriends to shop with us.  Genuine, deep relationships are what we need.  Relationships like this aren't built on convenience but on the conviction that they are essential to my walk with Jesus.

What are the benefits to living in community?

• Support - you have a group of people who are there for you. They support you thru the tough spots in life.
• Encouragement - knowing that others are there for us fills us with courage. We can face anything with others by our side.
• Accountability - when I'm vulnerable and authentic in my relationships I allow others to hold me accountable for things I should be doing or not doing.
• Challenge - people living in Christ-centered community challenge one another to do life better.  Together we strive to take our relationship with Jesus to new heights.

What are the barriers to living in community?

• Culture - our culture promotes independence, not interdependence.
• Pace of Life - building community takes time, which is something we don't have a lot of.
• Pride - unwillingness to admit I have a need or to receive help from others.
• Fear - of being judged, of being hurt, of being taken advantage of. 

It's time to tear down the barriers and really start building community with others.

By the way, for those of you who were in service on Sunday and laughed at my inability to properly mix together the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, Kerrie was able to salvage my concoction and actually made it into cookies!  They're delicious and you can't have any. I'm not as bad as you thought I was.

When Worldviews Collide

I'm starting a new study with my small group tonight called, "When Worldviews Collide."  I heard about this study while in Amsterdam from my friend Cathy.  I must say, I am really fired up about going through this study with my group.  I think its going to be a tremendous study and really minister to people living in central NJ. 

The study is done by Ergun Mehmet Caner, the dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, who happens to be a former Muslim who was converted to Christianity in 1982.  In the study he will show the differences between Christianity and other world religions, summarize the basic beliefs of four major world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam), and also share ways to minister and witness to followers of other belief systems. 

I'll keep you posted on how the study is going.  Can't wait to grow through this with my group!

A Burden

I want to revisit something I touched on a few weeks ago on Sunday morning - the concept of getting a burden for lost people.  During our Sunday morning service I challenged you to pray for two things - an open heart (burden for lost) and an open door (an opportunity).  As a result I know that many of you are praying for a specific individuals who need Jesus and that is absolutely great.  However, I don't want us to forget about the first part of the challenge - praying that our heart would be burdened for lost people.  We will never consistently pray for the lost, or share our faith with the lost unless we are first burdened for the lost.

God continues to impress upon my heart the great truth He showed me during my study of Romans 9:1-3 - The burden of sin was lifted at our salvation, and should be replaced with a burden for sinners.  Paul described it as a "great heaviness" and "continual sorrow" - a burden.  Sounds like fun, right!  Sign me up for a double portion.  Why in the world would we want such a burden?  Because any meaningful initiative in life always begins with a burden.  Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can - you will never accomplish anything of eternal significance in life without first having a burden.

I truly believe that God would bring about a great and continual impact in our communities if our burden for the lost was first great and continual.  Don't forget to ask God for this type of a Jesus heart! 

Jehovah Jireh

Last Sunday we talked about God's name Jehovah Jireh which means the LORD will provide.  During the message I mentioned that God knows your needs before you have them and that he is perfectly capable of filling your needs, whatever they may be.

As if to prove this point Jehovah Jireh showed up in a big way yesterday at PBC.  Yesterday morning I was meeting with Lara Holt, our Executive Director, and we were having some initial conversations about next years budget.  During that conversation Lara mentioned that at some point we will need to think about replacing the church van because it's now over 10 years old and not running great.  As we talked about it I said maybe we should consider getting a truck because we don't really use the 15 passenger van to haul people (mostly it pulls our trailer for service on Sundays). 

About an hour later we got a call from someone who wanted to give us a 2002 Dodge Truck!  I was blown away.  I was humbled by the generosity of this gift but more importantly in awe of Jehovah Jireh - he truly does provide for our needs before we know we have them.

I Love a Good Story

Nothing captures my interest more than a good story, especially a true story.  That's why this Sunday is one of my favorites of the entire year.  This Sunday is "Testimony Sunday" at PBC and we have six people lined up to share their story with us.  In my opinion few things minister more effectively than having someone share how God is working in their life.  Real people sharing real stories - it's awesome!

I want to encourage you to come this weekend and get your socks blessed off!

A Huge Success

I've never been more proud of our PBC family than I was on Saturday evening.  The fireman's BBQ was a huge success and it's all because of you and your faithful service to our Lord and Savior.  I had several of the firefighters and their family members come up to me and thank me saying that no one had ever done anything like that for them before.  They were so touched and appreciative.  Here are a few highlight thoughts...

• Steve Masticola did a masterful job of planning and preparing everything.  I've never seen someone more organized, right down to the nitty gritty details.


• The food was fabulous - thanks to all who donated, cooked, and served.


• Nice job on all the games (adult and kids) everyone who participated had a great time.  How about Shane with a ringer in horseshoes with his last throw to win the big prize!


• A very special thanks to Leah for sending all the kids after me with water balloons and water guns - what goes around comes around.  I'm still wet.


• A photographer from the South Brunswick Post showed up and hung for a long time taking pictures.  Let me know if anyone sees the pics in the paper.  Save me a copy.


• The outdoor showing of "Emergency" was a nice way to cap off the event.  Maybe we'll do a theater in the park event for the community sometime in the future - we could have pop corn, soda, etc.!!!

Once again, thank you to all the PBCers who made this event happen.  You guys are the best.  Yesterday we truly showed what it means to love people and serve others - The Simple Truth in action.  I love it.

Fireman's BBQ

Tomorrow is our first ever Fireman's BBQ in Kingston, NJ.  I hope you'll join us as our church gathers to say "thank you" to the volunteer firefighters and EMTs in Kingston.  The plans are coming together and it looks like the Lord is going to bless us with a beautiful day, so come out and enjoy the day with your family.  We've got lots of cool stuff planned - trust me it's going to be a blast!  I look forward to making a habit of this type of event in the communities surrounding our church. 

Below are the details you'll need...

Date: Saturday, August 23, 2008 

Set Up: set up begins at 3pm; food prep at 4pm 

Time: 5pm till 9pm 

Location: on the grounds of Kingston School, 25 Laurel Avenue, Kingston, NJ

Parking: in the school lot, on the street, or at the Kingston Presbyterian Chruch at 4565 Rt. 27 

Bring: 

• everyone needs to bring their own chair


• flashlight (for getting back to your car after dark)


• bug spray - suntan lotion


• We need lots of ice and coolers to keep the food at safe temperatures throughout the evening. If you can bring either or both of those items, they will be much appreciated.

Podcast

Recently I've received a lot of positive feedback regarding the PBC podcast on iTunes - some of it has been from people who don't attend our church or who are considering coming to our church.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am that God is using this technology to reach and minister to people.  I truly believe that podcasts (and the internet) are going to be a growing part of the way our church ministers in the future.  I'd love to see this area of our church really expand - we just need people with the skills to make the vision a reality.  Something to pray about!

If you haven't checked out the podcast give it a try.  You don't need an ipod or MP3 player - you can listen right on your computer.  Click this link and it will get you to the right place.  If you don't have iTunes on your computer, you can download it free from Apple.

We are currently doing two podcast:  The Sunday morning service and The Simple Truth Devotions (twice weekly).  Enjoy! 

Let me know if you're listening or if you have thoughts on how to improve what we are doing.

I'm Fired Up!

I'm really started to get fired up (pun intended) about this weekend's BBQ for the emergency responders and firefighters in Kingston, NJ (set up starts at 3p, with the event starting at 5p).  This event has been months in the planning and I think this weekend is going to be a huge success.  Just our church saying "thank you" to the men and women who literally put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

Steve Masticola has done a tremendous job of organizing the event, including dealing with all the head aches imposed upon us by Franklin Township.  The day will be filled with food, games (for adults and kids), music, and even a showing of the classic TV show "Emergency".  Thanks to all who have volunteered to help out with the event.  Without you this would not be possible.

Join me in praying for this event this week.  Here are a couple of requests you could lift up...

• Good weather


• No hassles from the Franklin Township health inspector.


• That we could truly minister to this group of people. That they would feel loved and appreciated. 


• That the final preparations would come together this week.