What a Week! & Some Additional 411

This week has been one of the most difficult weeks in recent memory! I have caught some kind of cold or flu that was like getting an old fashioned spanking! It really packed a wallop. Aside from being sick, I have been barely able to talk and have been very weak. I’ve been pacing myself hoping that my voice will hold out long enough to make it through this weekend. On top of this I’ve worked longer work hours than normal due to two/three projects that Pastor Gene and I were working on in the sanctuary (hanging acoustic panels and additional stage lights). We also had a video project to complete. Then there were two deaths connected to our church family and one funeral to attend. To top it all off, I also heard this week (from a new and recent attender in our church) that a certain individual is still spreading malicious lies about PCC in the community to anyone who will listen. (To this family's credit, they did not allow themselves to be affected by this nonsense, choosing instead to "consider the source." They are happy with PCC. But it got me to wondering how much of this is still going on, perhaps affecting others). To say this inflames my indignation would be an understatement. I know who this person is, and I am certain there is going to be a very painful encounter in my future. Enough is enough already! Should the providence of God not allow this to happen, I will simply rest in the knowledge that “if God be for us, then who can be against us” (Romans 8:31).

All that junk aside, I must say that I am feeling a lot better today. My strength has returned and my mind is clear…… and I’m ready to ROCK!

• This Sunday’s sermon is “TAKE THIS JOB & LOVE IT!” Oh yea, we’re going to have fun with this one! It might get pretty heavy at times too.
  
  
• I just might use a hand-held microphone this Sunday and pace back-and-forth across the stage like a caged lion…. or a Pentecostal preacher! (I used to preach like that, you know).
  
  
• You may not realize this, (or even believe it), because it’s easy to get used to people (and become too “familiar” with them) – but our church really does have one of the best music ministries to be found far-and-wide. I know of dozens of churches who run double our attendance, double our staff, and have double our finances, who would LOVE TO HAVE our musicians and singers in THEIR church. And if they ever try to steal any of them away from us… I will be giving somebody an uppercut to the chin!
  
  
• PCC, what God is doing at PCC right now is amazing. Miracles of life change are occurring all the time. The hundreds of stories that are taking place simply boggle the mind.
  
  
• Our staff, volunteers, and ministry leaders are simply the best. The ministry TEAMS we have working with us right now are the best WE HAVE EVER HAD. If it took a pruning (like occurred 14 months ago) to get us to this place, I would gladly go through it again. It has been worth it.
  
  
• BTW, Satan is really ticked off at PCC right now!
  
  
• Let’s just say the last couple of weeks have been some of the most crazy, intense, and stressful times in the history of PCC. Any time we go to a whole-nutha-level, it also means we face whole-nutha-level-of DEVILS!
  
  
• BTW, I’ve never met a devil yet that wasn’t wearing somebody’s shoes.
  
  
• As much as I hate dealing with things I’ve had to deal with, I also love it! I’m glad that Satan is ticked off at PCC. I am LOCKED and LOADED and READY for the CRAZY RIDE that God is taking us on in 2009.
  
  
• So far this year I have experienced some of the most rewarding times ever at PCC. When God is moving look for Satan to do anything he can do to disrupt things.
  
  
• I am JACKED UP about this next season at PCC.
  
  
• Ever feel it in your bones? That’s what I’m experiencing right now. I woke up this morning and I’ve got this feeling that God is about to do something VERY BIG. It’s not about me, it’s not about PCC – it’s about HIM. It might not even be this Sunday… but I’ve go this feeling that God is going to SHOW HIMSELF MIGHTY in our behalf. I am eleven years into this work, and I can show you over and over again that when things start getting crazy, spiritual warfare begins taking place in high places… and you just know GOD IS ABOUT TO DO SOMETHNG BIG! Fasten your seat-belts.
  
  
• Here’s the crazy thing – it actually EXCITES me! It pumps me up because I know God is about to do something big. I can just feel it. God is about to SHAKE THINGS UP. I love the fact that we are DOING what others said COULD NOT be done. I love it that the critics are out there in full force trying to discredit us. I love it when people, who are bound for hell, meet the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
  
  
• I’m getting JACKED UP about EASTER. It is going to be a DAY OF LIFE-CHANGE for someone you know.
  
  
  
• I’ve been thinking about some of the people who have left PCC in the past. I (kind of) feel sorry for them because they made an investment in this church…. and now they are missing a move of God. They are missing out on the very thing we all dreamed would happen. It’s sad. But maybe they didn’t share the vision after all.
  
  

Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Matt. 11:25-26).


Many of you have asked how you can pray for us. Here’s how:

• Pray that we stay focused on the vision that God has given us by not allowing mission drift to set in.
  
  
• Pray for our staff and key ministry leaders. I believe we have the greatest team that a church could have. You will never know the amount of work they put in to make PCC what it is today. And that includes ALL our volunteers as well. Pray for them, their families, and their relationship with God.
  
  
• Pray that our people will have courage and strength to invite their friends and family members to church with them. You are the best EVANGELISTS we have. It’s better than any marketing or advertising we could ever purchase.
  
  
• Pray that PCC is effective in penetrating and reaching our community. That is exactly why we exist. I could care less about the people in other churches who do not like the way we do things. They’ve got a problem. I don’t. Besides, we're not trying to reach them anyway. Nor are we trying to win their approval. We are trying to reach people who are far from God and then turn them into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
  
  

How you can pray for me:

• Pray that I stay close to God – on a personal level, and as a shepherd. I’ve grown a lot over the last ten years, and I’ve also made some boneheaded mistakes. But God has protected me, and us. As I continue to mature in faith, I want to stay close to Him.
  
  
• Pray for my family. They are my FIRST ministry. Pastors and their families live in a fish bowl, and we can’t go anywhere that we’re not in somebody’s headlights… being critiqued for how we look, dress, or appear in public. We can’t always remember everyone’s names when we bump into you at Wal-Mart. We can’t always live up to your expectations either. So cut us a little slack. We are a regular family and don’t walk on water.
  
  
• Pray that I say focused and hear from God often. It’s easy for me to get distracted by the pinhead critics out there who are deliberately trying to ruin PCC out of jealous motives (or because of demon possession). When I spend too much time focusing on those things, Satan wins. Sometimes a response is called for… but preoccupation with these mental-midgets pulls me away from my main responsibility.
  
  

I'M BACK!