Things that I am enjoying right now

Five things I am really loving and enjoying in this season, not in order of ranking, just random thoughts...

#1. My wife! I have been blessed with such a wonderful woman who is a great mom, friend and partner to me. I have been amazed in this season to watch God's activity in her life. Her passion for Christ, challenges, convicts and encourages me. I love that God has given me a front row seat to see His glory shine through His daughter. It's incredible and I am humbled.

#2. My kids...I have been blessed with two rug rats that have a way of bringing a smile to my face and driving me crazy all at once...This season has been so great as God grows them in stature and understanding. I have enjoyed the conversations that I have been able to have with them in this season about everything from God, Jesus, creation, to heaven. It is amazing to see how a 4 year old and 5 year old mind process things.

#3. The Yankees...yes, major league baseball is back and with it comes one of my great passions, the New York Yankees. I am hoping for another championship and a lot of lively discussion and ribbing with my misguided Red Sox friends...

#4. The Church...not only am I enjoying the great church I get to be a part of Summit, but I am enjoying seeing God's activity in His CHURCH. It has been great to hear stories of God's provision, movement and breakthroughs in the life of the churches we have the privilege to partner with. One church can not do it, we need the every expression that stands on the Gospel to reach it's highest God potential for us to see substantial movement for the Kingdom of God. I am really enjoying watching God's undeniable activity in the lives of His people at Summit in this season.

#5. Reading...I would have never thought I would ever have said that, because I read more out of necessity because of the nature of my job, but this season has been different. I have really enjoyed the latest books I have read and have taken a lot away from each of those books. If you are looking to some books to dive into, I would highly recommend Greg Gilbert's "What is The Gospel? and John Piper's "Think", are two of some of the books that have challenged me in this season.

Working on my memory

It is amazing how easy I default back to living essentially like a practical atheist. Now before you jump to conclusions to soon, please give me a minute to explain. I love Jesus, and I am fully convinced that there is only one true God that exist in three persons. I believe there is only one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. I believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God. I can give you another ten evangelical doctrines that I believe and am fully resting and trusting in, but even in all of that I can say that there have been lapses in my walk with Christ that I suffer from some sort of "spiritual amnesia". You see stating belief in these things is not so much for me the hard part, the part I get tripped up on is actually living them out day by day, consistently. I can honestly say that there have been lapses of time in my life that I walk, think and live as a practical atheist. No I would never consciously deny the existence of God, but in my flesh and fallen nature, it sure is easy to live as though He didn't exist. Now, I am not talking so much about open defiant sin, though I know those things can and do occur. I am more talking about those moments, when we live as though we were in charge, as though we were the ones who were omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Those moments in our lives where we fail to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ over our lives. Those moments where we place more trust in our plans, than God's will. Those moments where we are quicker and more diligent to run to everyone for advise rather than go humbly to our Wonderful Counselor. Those moments when our faith went from believing God spoke the world into existence. parted the Red Sea, sent Jesus to defeat sin, death and the grave, and yet now we don't have faith enough to believe He can meet even our basic of all needs. What a paradox we find ourselves int those moments. But the truth is God is God, whether I forget that fact or not. He's in charge whether I fail to realize that or not. But the danger is that when I am sleep walking and suffering from "spiritual amnesia" I usually end up seeking to place my trust in other things or other people. That eventually puts me in danger. The Psalmist wrote in chapter 146..."Put NOT your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish."

You see the outcome is never to bright when my hope and faith is in anything less than Christ. Later on in that same chapter the Psalmist gives this challenge..."Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps his faith forever." Praying I don't forget the reality of God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Praying my faith is not one that just rest in doctrine, but my faith is one that lives in light and reverence of the Truth. Just a rambling, God bless you!

Heart Check Time...

This month we have had our people at Summit reading through the Psalms with a focus on thanksgiving and praise. Yesterday's assigned reading really challenged me. The verses were not ones that you would necessarily gravitate towards, but definitely verses that convicted me. The verses were from Psalm 106..."Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord." You see what I mean, not necessarily verses you will be using on your next prayer gram or birthday card you send out, but verses that are critically important to our spiritual walks nonetheless.

This Psalm speaks to the journey of God's people out of slavery and bondage from Egypt. These individuals witnessed first hand the power and love of God, as He led them by day through a cloud and at night through a pillar of fire, they tasted the very provision of God that rained down from heaven, they saw countless miracles and yet here we see that they still were not satisfied and not grateful. Now before we cast judgment on the Israelites, we need to take a minute and examine ourselves. I know if I were honest, at times my life and attitude can reflect the heart of the people in this passage. You see I too have seen the marvelous power of God as He has delivered me from the bondage of sin, continues to lead me through the power of His Truth and the illumination and conviction of His Spirit. I continue to see countless miracles performed through and around my life and yet at times I complain like a spoiled school-aged child. I am sure that if you have stumbled across this blog, you probably have never suffered from moments like that...(please sense the sarcasm...) We all can agree that there have been times when we have been tripped up by this type of attitude.

How do God-fearing, God-loving, humble followers of God find themselves in these types of seasons of ingratitude and ungratefulness? There could be tons of reasons, but here's one that the Lord laid on my heart. It's when I set the "blessing" or ascribe more worth or affection to the "blessing" over the BLESSOR. Whenever we set the blessing over the Blessor, we run the risk of heading down a slippery slope of ingratitude and ungratefulness. The reason I say that is because the blessing was never meant to make us eternally happy. The blessing was never meant to be a replacement for the only thing that brings eternal joy, which is God Himself. He alone is the ultimate gift of the Gospel, that has been accomplished for us by Christ. When I set all of my affections and attention on the "blessing", I may run the risk of attaching God's worth to the blessing. God's worth is not in the blessing, we may see some of God's goodness in it, but the fact remains, God is good and He is worthy of my praise, apart from His blessings. He stands alone as supreme! My heart as a worshiper must be similar to Job's who in the midst of losing all, stated "the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord..." You see as Christians, we always have a reason to be grateful, because we have already been given and entrusted with the greatest gift, Christ, and His Gospel. Does your life reflect gratitude today? Are you thankful for all that God has done on your behalf? And all that God is? If you are, take a moment to tell Him, and you may even want to include in that time a prayer of forgiveness for your murmuring. Just another rambling...

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 106:1

The Gospel

Below is the Gospel statement that was written by Jamin Stinziano, one of our Elders, with the support of the rest of our Elder Team and Senior Staff. This doctrinal statement has been reviewed and shared with pastors from around the country that we respect and hold in high esteem. It is not our intent to make the people of Summit memorize this statement, but it is our prayer that our people grow in their understanding of the Gospel.

The Gospel Message:

The one and only God, who is Righteous, created us to love, know, and represent him. We made a choice, however, to violate God's righteousness with our sin and thus we are unable to love, know, and represent him on our own. Our sin and lack of righteousness deserves a punishment, the anger and judgment of God. Because we cannot bear this punishment on our own, God sent his Son, Jesus, who was both fully human and fully God, to live a perfectly righteous life and to die on a cross that he might save us from the punishment that our sin deserves. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, showing that God the Father had accepted the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus, on behalf of his people. And now, God calls us to trust in Jesus - to have faith in the sufficiency of his work on the cross and to repent, changing our minds about the sufficiency of our old way of living. When we trust in Jesus, we are forgiven of our sin, credited with Christ's righteousness, adopted as sons and daughters, and given new and eternal life. We also receive the presence of God's Spirit in our lives, thus producing the fruit of the gospel and enabling us to love, know, and represent God as we were created to do.

Think!!!

I am currently reading John Piper's latest book "Think". I love the challenge and aim of this book, which is to awaken our minds and exercise them in light of God's Truth. Piper's challenge is to be committed to Jesus' command in Matthew 22:37 "And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

The mind and the heart are to work in tandem and are to serve as vehicles to an ever growing, deeper relationship with Christ. I loved this quote from the book...
"The mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart. The apex of glorifying God is enjoying him with the heart. But this is an empty emotionalism where that joy is not awakened and sustained by true views of God for who he really is. That is mainly what the mind is for."

I resonate with this so much, because I desperately as a follower of Christ want to think rightly about Him, knowing that everything else in my walk with Him will flow from there. I think if we are not careful a lot of our walk and relationship with Christ can flow out of sensationalism and emotion and not be grounded in Truth. There are so many dangers in that, one of which, we may lend ourselves to creating a God of our image, also we can become easily swayed by the ever changing circumstances of our lives. We can become as James said, "double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways."

Exercising our minds, not out of arrogance, but out of a true desire to know God rightly and out of an understanding that in turn it would fuel our worship, is a commitment that I want to have a goal that quite frankly all believers should be committed to. If we allow our minds to grow dormant, we run the risk of worshipping God from a shallow and maybe even hollow base. So may we allow the Spirit of God to stretch us and fuel our passion to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind! Just a rambling. God Bless You.

Fast-Forward...

"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. Spend time praying for yourself. Ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin. Pray that God would continue to fuel your passion for Him. Pray that God would continue to give you the discipline to pursue Him and spend time with Him in the Word and in prayer. Pray that God would reveal to you any specific goals for 2011 or ministry opportunities that He would want you to pursue or participate in.

#2. 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.

#3. 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. Please pray specifically for our mission partner, Mission of Hope Haiti, and our upcoming construction trip in February. Pray that all the details will be worked out for this trip and for the building project they will be engaged in.

#4. 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. Pray that God would stir in the hearts of more people to get involved and serve especially during our “Heart of Service” emphasis.

#5. Pray for our Recovery Ministry that will be launching on January 11th. Pray for Todd Wermers, our Pastor of Recovery and all of the leaders who will be serving in this ministry. Pray for those who maybe struggling with hurts, habits or hang-ups to find healing, hope and reconciliation in Jesus through this ministry.

#6. Pray for our newest staff member David Gold and his family. Pray for their transition and for the four children. Pray for David as he assumes the role of Life Group Pastor.

#7. Pray for our ministry as a whole. Pray that God would bless our church and expand our influence in this coming year. That the mission of presenting the Gospel to every man, woman and child would stretch even further and produce more fruit for God’s glory in this new year.

Fast-Forward...

"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. Spend time praying for yourself. Ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin. Pray that God would continue to fuel your passion for Him. Pray that God would continue to give you the discipline to pursue Him and spend time with Him in the Word & in prayer. Spend time meditating on Psalm 63:1-8.

#2. 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.

#3. 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.

#4. Pray for those who call Summit Church their home. Pray that those who do not know Christ as their Savior at this time would respond to the Gospel. Pray for those who do identify themselves as followers of Christ 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.

#5. Pray for Summit’s budget. Pray that God’s people would respond in obedience and faithfulness. Pray that God would grow us all in the area of stewardship of life and that as He does He would accomplish greater things in and through us as followers and collectively as a church.

#6. Pray for our Christmas Eve services at both of our campuses. Pray that God would draw many from our community to our church and more importantly to Himself. Pray that many would respond to the Gospel message and God’s extension of love and forgiveness.

#7. Pray for our Recovery Ministry that will be launching in January. Pray for Todd Wermers, our Pastor of Recovery and all of the leaders who will be serving in this ministry. Pray for those who maybe struggling with hurts, habits or hang-ups to find healing, hope and reconciliation in Jesus through this ministry.