I love the Fall

There is something about the amazing Autumn season that we enjoy in northwestern, PA. Now mind you, it also means a lot of work as seemingly millions of leaves fall. But as long as you have a couple kids nothing is really work. Pretty much everything's a game and everything is fun. Maybe we should learn a lesson from them and have a great attitude toward whatever it is that we have to do. Enjoy the pics of Zachary and Jason working/playing in the leaves at Nani's house. She is my grandmother.

School Buildings?

Right now in Warren County there is a huge battle about consolidating schools. We currently have 4 high schools and there are proposals to either move to two or three. If you know anything about small towns, this is a passionately debated issue that dominates our local paper. In response to this debate I write the following:

For those of you passionately trying to save school buildings, I commend you. However, let me suggest you are fighting the wrong battle. Schools are a symptom of a community at large. Consolidation is only an issue because enrollment and cost are issues. Enrollment is an issue because of population decrease. Population decrease is caused by lack of jobs and dare I say, a lack of love and vision for a region. Let me encourage all of us to put our energy into making Warren County a much more desirable place. Catch a vision for the county that looks beyond a 1976 mentality. Work hard to speak and think well about our area. (Would you want to move to a city where everyone was against everything?) Love our region. Love the people of our region. Do anything we can to encourage growth, businesses and development in Warren. And then watch the school situation take care of itself.

A big family

I have been a part of Praise Fellowship since it began in 1993. I have to say that one of my favorite things that God has done over those years is create a family atmosphere where people genuinely love each other and care about each other's needs. I saw that truly come to life on Sunday morning. There was such a strong sense of Jesus "baptizing" us with His Love it was remarkable. And then the natural response to the Love of Jesus is to love His Body.

I John 4:12 says, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." May we be a people completely dominated by His love for us and our love for one another. It makes for a very good life and it is ridiculously contagious.

And by the way, I love the Family at PF. You are truly the best sample of the Body of Christ that I would ever want to be involved with. I am so excited about the journey God has for us.

PF's Sunday Announcements

Teaching Series

This coming weekend is our first attempt at being intentional about having and promoting a teaching series. It will be interesting to see the response. I will be talking about what has become PF's motto or slogan. And that is: Praise Fellowship: Worshiping God, Loving People. I am going to take the next four weeks and look at each word. This week we will be looking at Worship. It's a pretty huge topic, so a 40 minute talk will not do it justice, but hopefully the Lord will speak some great things to encourage us to be more and more the worshipers He has called us to be.

We are going to look at worship through the symbols of 5 body parts. They are our Heart, Knees, Mouth, Ears and Feet. I will just leave it at that for now. Come out Sunday morning to hear more or you can play with those images and let the Lord speak to you on how they are the anatomy of a true worshiper.

Humility

This past week we had Woody Woodson with us at PF. It was an absolutely amazing time. I saw life literally being spoken into people. It was amazing. We are now expecting to see fruit like we have never seen before. We had many meetings with him with some of the largest crowds we have ever had at special services. There is a huge hunger in our people and in our region.

There were so many things worth writing about. On Tuesday afternoon the staff was sitting around and talking with him and one of the guys asked him about how to maintain humility. (Woody is a genuinely humble guy) He was asked how to maintain humility especially when great and amazing things are happening. This is what he said. "If you compare yourself to others you are in trouble, but if you keep comparing yourself to Jesus you will always have the proper perspective. Neither too high or too low." That is the key to walking this thing out. Continually see yourself through the eyes of the Father. Nobody else's opinion on how good or how bad you are should affect you.

May we all gaze into the eyes of Jesus and draw our worth and reality from Him and Him alone.

Great People

I have had the opportunity over the years, to walk with some of the greatest people in the world. And I really mean that. God has always put me around "The Best". Well, Jim & Jess Baker, the youth pastors at PF, are no exception. This couple is awesome!!!!! I am privileged to partner with them and I am sooooo excited about what God has in store for their lives and their ministry. Check out their blog. It is worth following.

Everyone is a Worshipper

I will make the statement that every human being is designed to worship. And not only are they designed to worship, they also are currently worshippers. Every single person worships something or somebody. It might be a god. It might be a job. It might be a girl. It might be a football team. It might be a talk show host. Or even the president. Please hear this: Every person worships.

Here's my simple definition of what a worshipper worships.

We worship what we can "see".

We worship what we in some ways want to be like.

We worship something that we feel has power.

We worship something that makes us feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

I don't have space here to develop any of those points. So, think about them. Test them in different "arenas". Watch how people act at political rallies or sports events or concerts or even book signings.

Here's my point. Everyone is a worshipper. Everyone has a built in, God given desire to worship. But the only true, worthwhile object of our worship is Jesus Christ. So, have your worship be directed toward Him. And if someone ridicules you for your worship. Remind them that they are a worshipper too. The difference is that Jesus as our object of worship can genuinely "deliver". And the hope and encouragement is that those who are not worshipping Jesus today are primed to meet Him and turn their worship over to him. May there be a beautiful connection between the "worshipper" and the true "object of our worship".

Don't be afraid to strike out!!

I love October Baseball. I have some very significant memories of the past 32 years of watching the MLB playoffs. My earliest memory is rushing home from school (3rd grade) in 1978 and watching the Yankees and Red Sox play the one game playoff to determine the division championship. If you recall that was the game that Bucky Dent, a weak hitting shortstop, hit the unlikely home run to win the game - Unbelievable.

I remember sitting in my dorm room in 1988 gathered around a little tv set with a bunch of guys as we watched through the "snowy reception" as Kirk Gibson hit maybe the most amazing game-winning home run ever. His knees were so injured, he could barely walk. He hobbled up in the bottom of the ninth as a pinch hitter and hit the "walk off" home run.

And then there was Yankee third baseman, Aaron Boone hitting a knuckleball from Tim Wakefield of the Red Sox into the left field stands to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning. Wow - it was amazing!

Lest I get carried away as I stroll down memory lane. There is a point to this. All those people who had the great hits had one thing in common. I could have mentioned Scott Brocius, Derek Jeter, Joe Carter, Carlton Fisk, Chris Chambliss, Reggie Jackson Bill Mazeroski, Bobby Thompson, or many more. But all these players whose names will live in baseball history for their heroic accomplishments had one thing in common. One big thing. What was their one thing in common? They all swung the Bat!!!! None of them stood there and watched. Reggie Jackson who was nicknamed Mr. October for his remarkable feats during the playoffs and World Series made an interesting statement last week. When asked how he did so well on the "Big Stage", He said, "I stayed relaxed and I wasn't afraid to strike out."

I love that. So, in your life and in the things that Jesus calls you to, make sure you give it a swing and don't be afraid to strike out. There is no end to what Jesus can do through you when you are swinging.

And, by the way, enjoy the playoffs and Go Yankees!

Who do we think we are?

This month many of us on staff at Praise Fellowship are reading through the Book of Acts one chapter each day. It's a very worthwhile discipline that I recommend. In Acts 3:15 Peter is addressing the crowd and he says, "you killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead."

Look at the irony of the statement that we can somehow "kill" the "author of Life." Who do we think we are? If the consequences of this way of thinking weren't so severe it would be downright funny. To think that one can kill the author of life is maybe the ultimate expression of pride.

In Psalms 2 it says that the one enthroned in heaven "laughs". This may be a bit of a hermeneutical stretch, but I can just see God shaking his head and laughing and saying, "those pathetic and impotent human beings. Do they think they can really kill me? Wow, do they need to repent." The amazing thing about our Lord is that the response of God isn't to just smite us (which we deserve), but the call goes out in Acts 3:19 to "Repent, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord....."

So, when you are around people who have the mindset that God, the author of Life, is somehow dead, remember that this does not rattle God. He just smiles and laughs. But, woe to the person who doesn't repent.

72 hour Prayer & Fasting

There are people at Praise Fellowship all weekend praying & fasting. Their heart is for God to move mightily in the lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations. If you would like to join them, feel free to come out anytime. There is always someone there. If you would like to participate via the internet, go to www.worshipplace.org where the prayer times are broadcast live.

Also, if you have any prayer requests e-mail them to prayer@worshipplace.org

May God be very famous in His Lordship!!!