What do I live for?

I have been reading thru the book of 2 Corinthians right now and I have been really convicted by the verses of chapter five.
"And He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who for their sake died and was raised." (verse 5)

It is so easy as a Christian to embrace the Gospel, praise God for the message and promise of the Gospel and still miss the full depth of it. And I know that may seem as a huge overstatement but I know that in different seasons and moments of my life it is true. I thank God for my salvation, I thank God for reconciling me and changing my reality from enemy of Christ to friend of God. I truly am grateful for that, but my flesh is so cunning and my faith so weak, that I quickly revert to making the Gospel about me. I quickly put myself in the center of God's Gospel purpose instead of His glory!l. And then I come to a verse like this and my heart is just pierced!

The benefits of the Gospel are amazing and so undeserved but the purpose of the Gospel must also grip and and cause my heart to be in awe of as well. The fact that Christ died not to make much of me, but to make much if Him and of the Father. I must stay focused on the fact that Christ died so that my old life would be crucified thru Him and my new life hidden in Him as well. I must set at the forefront of my mind that Christ died so that I in turn would live for Him. Living for myself is what was leading me to a road of destruction, living for myself is what caused me to feel empty, living for myself is what open the door for addiction, living for myself is what tainted every thing in my life, and yet while I was consumed with that type of living, God demonstrated His love towards me, but sending His Son to die on the cross for my sin and for my life, my true life.

There is no joy or freedom in living for self, true and peace is found in being hid in Christ and living for Him and Him alone. I am praying that The Spirit would lead me to not to distort the Gospel, but actually walk in the fullness of it. I pray that the Spirit continue to illuminate my heart and mind and convict my heart of the times when I put myself in the center of God's universe instead of His glory. The Gospel is the good news, not about me, but about God. So here's a question that we may not want to answer to quickly and that is what am I living for right now? And before we give the typical Sunday School answer, it maybe good just to take a moment to ask the Spirit to illuminate that answer for us and then respond accordingly. Just a rambling, but one that I hope will cause us to think about the nature of the Gospel and my full and true response to it. God bless you!

He is the same...

"Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8

I love how the Word of God can bring such encouragement and clarity right when you need it. In 10 words, my heart was gripped with the fact that we serve and worship a God that does not change. We have a God that is absolutely sufficient in Himself and a God who is never caught unaware, off guard or lacking in anything. The reminder that our Savior, who conquered sin, death, hell and the grave over 2000 years ago, is the same today. The Christ that we read about who extended forgiveness to those who were unworthy is the same Jesus who still extends His grace today. The Jesus who turned water into wine, multiplied the fishes and the loaves, calmed the storm with His spoken word, is the same God who does the impossible, provides in the midst of our limited resources, and who stands with us in the midst of life's storms. Our Jesus is greater and is glorious.

What great encouragement for the child of God to know, that we can rest in the faithfulness of our unchanging God. I am not sure what you may be facing or what uncertainties may have you feeling trapped in fear, but may the circumstances that you are standing in not overshadow the fact that your God, revealed to you in Christ and in His Word has not, and will not change! Be encouraged that in a world that continues to change and in a world that is so uncertain, ONE thing never does, and that is Jesus Christ. Take a moment today and celebrate that fact and may the Spirit of our unchanging God awaken us to recognize how awesome our God is. God bless!

"Act Like Men"

This past week a 17 year old Phillies fan was tazed as he disrupted a game between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. There were mixed reviews and opinions by the public on whether the security at the stadium used excessive force by tazing the young man. My feeling is he broke the law and the security and police at these stadiums have one duty and that is to protect the players and the fans. Don't want to be tazed, don't run out on the field. Now for me, that is not the real story of this story. Guys and gals interupting sporting events by running on to the field, sometimes in nothing more then their sneakers is nothing new. We should not be surprised by the fact that so many in our society will do just about anything for 15 seconds, minutes, hours of fame, no matter how shameful it is. Why do you think "reality" shows are so big today? People will willingly debase themselves for fame, and we will tune in to watch.

That being said, the real shocker here, is that this 17 year old was at the game with his dad. And as this act of stupidity was brewing in the mind of this teenager, he leans over to share it with his dad, almost as if to say "what you think dad, should I go for it?" Now I am going to let that sit there for a minute............................okay, you got it. This kids asked his dad, what his opinion was of breaking the law. The dad readily admitted that he told the son, I'm not sure about it, but if you want to go for it, go ahead. WHAT? Is that where we are today, is that how far we've come...answer is yes. Now it may seem like I am coming across hard on this dad, but I am just using this moment to highlight a greater issue...the lack of men acting like men and leading themselves, their families, their homes, their kids. Do you ever wonder why there isn't greater movement for the Gospel, don't look any further than the men that make up our society, communities and churches.

Now before you think I am trying to raise myself as the alpha-male, I'm not. I've got a long way to go, and a story like this serves as a wake up call. As a man who is striving to live for Christ and His glory there are no days off. Days off, slips in character, minor compromises in character are never minor and are always detrimental to me, my walk and those God has called me to lead. I pray that I as a man, would strive to be the man that God has called me to be, a man of Truth and of integrity and I pray the same for all my Christian brothers. Its time to start acting like men, because our lack of doing that will have a ripple effect and no telling how many the enemy will taze and enslave because of it!

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13

FastForward

Today is Summit's prayer and fasting day, FastForward. We believe strongly that if we truly want to see the mission of God move forward then we must be individuals and a collective body that is devoted to prayer. Below are the prayer points that we are asking our people to pray through throughout the day.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Points of Focus...
#1. Pray for our community, specifically for those who do not know Christ. Pray that God would continue to draw those who do not know Him into a loving relationship with Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ.

#2. Pray for the people of Summit. Pray for those who are in need of employment or other provisions. Pray for those who are hurting emotionally, spiritually and physically. Pray for the many marriages in our church that they would be strong & kids to be wise.

#3. Pray also for those who call Summit Church their home and who do not know Christ as their Savior at this time. Pray that they would respond to the Gospel. Pray for those who do identify themselves as followers of Christ. Pray that they would continue to strive to build their lives on the values: God, Truth, Love, Mission and would seek to live those values out day to day through our five outcomes.

#4. Pray for our mission partnerships and missionaries around the world. Pray that God would work in mighty ways in and through these different organizations that are striving to bring the Gospel to every man, woman and child. Ask God to continue to meet the ever growing needs of these different organizations.

#5. Pray for the Elders of Summit as they continue to seek God in regards to future expansion plans of another campus and a space in the Naples area that would give us greater opportunities for deeper community impact. Pray that God would grant them wisdom and lead them to His desired agenda, plan and mission.

#6. Pray for our age appropriate ministries, Big Enuf, Kid Zone, Reality, Crave and Ignite. Pray that God would increase the faith our students and move mightily through their lives. Pray for all of our volunteers that serve faithfully in these areas of ministry.

Looking forward to spending the way with my amazing bride. God is so good. I love that I can see and be reminded of God's goodness thru my spouse. I am blessed!

Evan's Story

Yesterday I had the privilege of doing the baby dedication for a couple who have been a part of Summit for a while now and who have come to be friends that I respect. Below is the challenging story of their first child, Evan's, journey. His story truly points to the power and glory of God.

Evan’s Story

We found out in December of 2008 that we were pregnant with our 1st child after we had been trying for over a year. At 17 weeks we got an ultrasound done that showed we were having a boy. We went to the Bahamas trying to enjoy a last vacation before having our son. We got a phone call from our Dr. that there was a problem with our son and we needed to call them. They told us that our son had enlarged ventricles in his brain filled with fluid. Later we got the diagnosis of severe hydrocephalus. In the Bahamas, we decided on the name Evan because we wanted our son to fight, and his name “Evan” means “Young Warrior”.

We were sent to a high risk pregnancy group that discussed what was going on. They asked us numerous times if we wanted to terminate and literally scared us to death trying to persuade us to terminate. They gave us information on X-linked hydrocephalus which had an extremely poor prognosis. They also told us that Evan had a high chance of dying before he could even be delivered.

We were crushed and so we talked to Orlando & Todd at Summit. They prayed with us and they cried with us. They took our story to prayer teams and stayed in touch with us throughout the whole pregnancy. I remember Todd saying “God hasn’t written this story yet”! We also sought prayer from family and friends outside our church. The word got around quickly and we heard about families and churches around the country that were praying for Evan!

So at this point, all we could do is research hydrocephalus as much as we could. We found a neonatal neurosurgeon in Orlando with a really good reputation with shunt surgery for hydrocephalus infants. When we saw him he was very sympathetic about our situation and gave us all the facts that he could. He told us that when Evan was born that he would have to have a shunt inserted into his brain to drain the fluid and release the pressure in his brain to survive. This shunt would be with him the rest of his life. He also said with the amount of fluid and the size of Evan’s head that we should sign a DNR before he is born. He explained that if Evan could not breathe on his own then he would pretty much be a vegetable and that we should strongly consider signing the DNR.

At 26 weeks, Michelle was in a car accident where some teenagers pulled out in front of her and she had to stay overnight because she went into pre-term labor. Pre-term labor came and went throughout the pregnancy with the doctors prescribing bed rest several times. But Evan amazingly survived a high speed car accident at around 40 mph!

We were told that with the size of Evan’s head that he would not make it to delivery….again. We had to go up to Orlando to deliver because they didn’t have a neonatal neurosurgeon in Ft, Myers. We also had to go up early because of the pre-term labor from the accident & the increased size of Evans head. The delivering Dr said we had to deliver early because his head was getting too large and it would become increasingly dangerous to wait.

In Orlando we stayed at the Ronald McDonald house and scheduled his C-section delivery for August 3rd, 2009.

On the day he was born, the doctors had a respiratory team in the delivery room because they weren’t sure if he would breathe on his own. When he came out, we were so scared but he started crying & breathing on his own and we both cried with him! He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz being 6 weeks premature. He scored a 9 out of 10 on the apgar scale which is near perfect.

That wasn’t the end. The day before his surgery they told us that they couldn’t do it because his blood work came back with some issues. After many blood transfusions they finally did a bone marrow test that came back with 10-15 percent abnormal bone marrow cells. They told us that it would either get better or get worse; leukemia is 25% abnormal bone marrow cells so they thought he could be headed that way.

He ended up having his shunt surgery on August 11th because his head started to increase in size and they couldn’t wait any longer. Evan came out of the surgery on a respirator having tubes coming out from all over but he was so strong throughout. We again had to worry about infection because his immune system was still so weak. We had to wear gowns, gloves, and masks just to be in the same room with him. At one point, they had to put his IV in his head because they had poked him so many times in the arms. We spent our days & nights in the NICU feeding him and just spending time with him, praying every day that somehow Evan would be ok.

When we were able to bring him home, his immune system was still weak and we had to get his blood work done every week. Finally in December, his immune system finally recovered and again he made it through yet another obstacle. The cancer doctor we had to go to said “you can’t rule out prayer” and with the support of family and our church family we felt that we were very well covered in prayer.

Evan is now 7 ½ months old; he weighs over 18 lbs, and is in the 90th percentile for his height. He is truly doing amazing; his neonatal neurosurgeon said he expects Evan to be a “normal independent functioning adult”! What a day that was, we cried tears of joy that could not be held back. We finally got to see God’s introductory chapter of Evan’s story that He is still writing.

Evan is a true miracle that can only be described as a gift from God.

We want to thank our family & friends, the Leadership team, and all the people of Summit church for all their prayers and support through this difficult time in our lives. Thank you to the families that brought us meals and the endless words of support that we received. Every time we felt discouraged someone or something would give us a little boost of hope, the timing of which could not be explained other than God guiding our family through this. So thank you for allowing yourselves to be the work of God to our family.

We cannot thank you enough,
Jason, Michelle, & Evan Plucker

Why do you read your Bible?

The other day I was sitting in a coffee shop and there was a gentleman reading his Bible and a stranger walked up and asked him why he read the Bible. I quickly leaned in with great expectation to what the response was going to be. I thought, wow, what a divine appointment. Man, this is going to be great, bring the heat man, go for it, set it off, paint that picture of the grandness of the God we serve...and the guy answered because that's what we do as Christians...what? That's it, that's the best answer you have to why you engage in God's infallible and eternal truth. Well there were no fireworks there and there was certainly no amazement on the face of the guy who asked the question.

Now before you go judging me, understand I am not judging the man, for his answer. I am not questioning his walk or love for Christ, I was just shocked that there wasn't more to his reason and motive. Well that got me thinking. Why do we read the Bible? What would I answer? What would the people who I help to pastor answer? Reading the Word each day is great and we at Summit encourage it greatly. But obedience to the Word is the key.

The goal in reading the Word is not to finish, but to change. I hear so many Christians post, update, or even say that they read their Bible, but I wish I would read or hear as frequently about people's struggles and enlightenment's of the Truth they are claiming they read. Now before you go labeling me a "Bible thumper" or a "Debbie-downer" that's not my heart at all. My fear is that for so many reading their Bibles has become a "have to" and the wrong "have to" at that. For many they have to read their Bible because their Pastor told them to, or their small group leader, or because that's what a good Christian does...And I just wonder where the passion and power is in that. I think God's "have to" would be, because without it, we would be lost, we would be left to ourselves, we would never fully experience the joy and wonder of intimacy with God, without it we would continue to struggle with the lure and grip of sin, without it we would be lulled to believe that what this world has to offer is better than the pleasures God holds in His hands.

You see if we read the Bible because as a Christian we "have to", we may miss the wonder in communing with the eternal and connecting with the divine, and therefore we may end answering like the gentleman at the coffee shop. Why do you read the Word? Are you passionate about it? Do you see it as your map and guide? The next time you sit down to read, ask yourself, why am I doing this? Don't be in such a hurry to check your box and pat yourself on the back for doing the "have to". Ask God to show you His glory, illuminate your sin, and draw you closer to Him? Don't worry so much about the quantity of what you read as you do the quality. Remember don't read to finish, read to change. Just a rambling. God Bless!