Ready For A Challenge?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506849,00.html

Click the link above to read a study that was just completed that researched the faith base of American culture. Many people do not believe in anything! And those who do believe in something do not believe in a God who cares about them and their needs, just some "higher power". How lost are we going to remain? The Barna group just published a very discouraging number regarding those who hold a Biblical worldview. The story was introduced with this paragraph:

If Jesus were to ask, “Who do you say I am,” the question He famously asked his disciple Peter, He would be disappointed by some of the answers He’d receive from contemporary Americans.

The number of those who were found to hold a Biblical worldview in the total number of adults being represented in America is a startling 9%. HELLO??? That should be like a huge smack in the face! It is no wonder the US is experiencing distress, anxiety, and failure. When God is not at the center, there can only be chaos and confusion! If Jesus were to come back right now, I feel that he might say "Hey Church, wake up and do your freaking job!" Just as his disciples fell asleep at the watch, I sense that the church, at large, has fallen asleep at the wheel and is about to crash!

We need to wake up and walk with God putting Him first and watch what He does on our behalf. God will never live among people who reject Him and will never bless those who turn their face away from Him. If we (the church) would wake up and follow the direction of God's leading, you would not believe how much the economy would grow. You would not believe how victorious, in all areas, we would be. Most importanlty you couldn't stop the amount of people being saved from Hell because God would be the one working among us!

Where God leads, we need to follow. When God directs, we need to listen. When God calls, we need to act. I believe that God is calling right now... what will your response be?

It starts with each of us. If we truly believe that God sent Jesus to die on a cross for our sins, are forgiven through the His blood shed on the cross, and have the promise of eternal life with God in Heaven through the perfect life Jesus lived then we should desire to live for God for what He has done for us! Let's get real in our relationship with Him. Put Him first in all we do. Let Him lead. After all, he was the one who designed and created everything, including financial systems. Wherever God's people live for Him there is peace and order. Wherever they shy away there is pain and loss. Let us live for God. Let us put Him first. Let the church change that 9% to 100%. Let the church rise up and reach those who have not heard of the saving grace of Jesus. Let the church do its job. When that happens look what the blessing will be:

Leviticus 26:3-9 (NLT)
3 “If you follow me and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.
6 “I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. 7 In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.
9 “I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. 10 You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! 11 I will live among you, and I will not despise you. 12 I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.

We will need to pray for even more workers to go out into the world!!!! So let us rise up and follow our great and glorious God. He is calling...what will your response be?

Planing Retreat Day 3

I know, I know...what happened to day 2... well, so much amazing planning happened that I was so beat to update you all. This has been an amazing time of planning, site development, and awesome fellowship together! I have learned so much that I didn't know about each staff member and it has just been an amazing time of challenge to determine God's direction for our church!!! What an awesome experience this has been. I can't thank God enough for this opportunity to be serving at New Life right here and right now!

There has been so much planning and strategic vision casting for the future of New Life that to write it all down on here would take up 10 pages (and we aren't even close to done)! Praise God for his amazing leadership this week. Thanks for praying and keep praying as we continue to plan and develop the plans of our mission strategy and short, mid and long term goals and objectives!

Today we developed the rough draft of our site plan, building plan, and outside design of the building. Praise God. This building has no wasted space and it will be the most amazing tool God could ever possibly allow us to develop to reach the Saxonburg and region for Jesus! I can't wait for you all to see what has been developed. (Pat Morgan was our architect and he was the most humble and amazing man I could have ever expected to work with. He has designed so many churches and today he helped us to make our building the most efficient and effective it could be! What an amazing dude. He is going to Juarez tomorrow on a mission trip so please pray for his safety, especially now as Juarez is very volatile with drug wars!)

This is ridiculously awesome!

Peace.

This Week

So this week the ministry staff is on a retreat in Colorado Springs Colorado so that we can focus all of our attention on prayer and planning for New Life!  We will be intensely planning for the direction of New Life strategically for the next few days, months, and years.  We will be tearing apart every detail of our ministry and asking the tough questions.  We will be setting goals and objectives and honing our ministries so that we can be the most effective we can be at reaching people for Jesus!  Please pray for us as we seek God's direction in each specific area as well as our big picture planning.  Pray for us as we each take time to pray for you all and the many who are not yet a part of New Life.  Pray that God will speak to each of us and lead us into the power of planning in the Spirit.  Pray that God moves in the most awesome ways as we step out in faith, knowing that God has called us to retreat, plan, and act!  Pray that the end result of this week will be changed lives for Jesus.  That we will see a building at 127 Knoch Road as a result of people coming to know Jesus and growing up in Him!  Pray, Pray, Pray!  I will update daily with the amazing things God is doing!