Celebrate God’s Work

I praise God for the awesome ways he’s been working recently. At our City Reach services we saw roughly 90 people make decisions to give their lives to Christ! It really is awesome to watch God work like that because it’s obvious that no one else could ever take the credit for it. It’s amazing how God takes our feeble, yet sincere efforts at spreading his love and breathes power on them and works miracles in people’s hearts!

One of the great privileges we enjoy as a church at ACC is the relationship we share with the church that started us, Allison Park Church. For those of you who may not know, our church was started by APC nine years ago and was the second of six church plants in the Pittsburgh area. This past weekend at APC they had spontaneous baptisms in their morning services in which 82 people decided on the spot to publicly declare their faith in Christ through water baptism! All these were baptized in a swimming pool set up in their concourse area. Check out the full report here!

Hearing reports and testimonies like this is important for us because it strengthens our faith. In church life and general life there are ups and downs. In some of the down times it can be difficult to stay encouraged. Sometimes we can be tempted to lose hope. That’s why Gal. 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Celebrating the good things that God has done helps us to stay the course until we reap a harvest again!

August 27, 2007 | Categories: reflections | Leave A Comment »

Celebrate God’s Work

I praise God for the awesome ways he’s been working recently. At our City Reach services we saw roughly 90 people make decisions to give their lives to Christ! It really is awesome to watch God work like that because it’s obvious that no one else could ever take the credit for it. It’s amazing how God takes our feeble, yet sincere efforts at spreading his love and breathes power on them and works miracles in people’s hearts!

One of the great privileges we enjoy as a church at ACC is the relationship we share with the church that started us, Allison Park Church. For those of you who may not know, our church was started by APC nine years ago and was the second of six church plants in the Pittsburgh area. This past weekend at APC they had spontaneous baptisms in their morning services in which 82 people decided on the spot to publicly declare their faith in Christ through water baptism! All these were baptized in a swimming pool set up in their concourse area. Check out the full report here!

Hearing reports and testimonies like this is important for us because it strengthens our faith. In church life and general life there are ups and downs. In some of the down times it can be difficult to stay encouraged. Sometimes we can be tempted to lose hope. That’s why Gal. 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Celebrating the good things that God has done helps us to stay the course until we reap a harvest again!

August 27, 2007 | Categories: reflections | Leave A Comment »

Listen To God First

The amazing thing about the age we live in is the accessibility of information. We are constantly bombarded with tons of words, ads, commercials, songs, shows, movies, etc. It seems like everywhere we go there is a constant stream of words. Henri Nouwen observes:

“Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words. Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle. Words, words, words! They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence” (The Way of the Heart, 31).

We definitely live in a culture with a challenge that people of past ages did not have to deal with as strongly as we do. That challenge is: what voices do you listen to? Which ones do you really pay attention to? With all of the new books, blogs, and websites popping up every day, which ones do you really allow to speak into your life?

The answer to that question is both difficult and easy.

It’s difficult because there are so many worthwhile books and blogs, etc. that have the potential to greatly enrich our lives that we could never actually absorb the useful good out of all of them. We would be wise to avail ourselves of the best of them.

It’s easy because, when you boil everything down, there’s really only one source of information that really matters. You guessed it…God. When it’s all said and done, it’s great if we benefit from all the good, practical information out there, but nothing is more important than allowing the primary shaper of our lives to be the voice of God.

In the end, it’s really the only thing that matters. If we can make our priority listening to the voice of God and shaping our lives around his revealed will in the Scriptures, we will find in the end that we have built our lives on the only true and lasting foundation.

August 24, 2007 | Categories: reflections | Leave A Comment »

Listen To God First

The amazing thing about the age we live in is the accessibility of information. We are constantly bombarded with tons of words, ads, commercials, songs, shows, movies, etc. It seems like everywhere we go there is a constant stream of words. Henri Nouwen observes:

“Over the last few decades we have been inundated by a torrent of words. Wherever we go we are surrounded by words: words softly spoken, recited, or sung; words on records, in books, on walls, or in the sky; words to be heard, read, seen, or glanced at; words which flicker off and on, move slowly, dance, jump, or wiggle. Words, words, words! They form the floor, the walls, and the ceiling of our existence” (The Way of the Heart, 31).

We definitely live in a culture with a challenge that people of past ages did not have to deal with as strongly as we do. That challenge is: what voices do you listen to? Which ones do you really pay attention to? With all of the new books, blogs, and websites popping up every day, which ones do you really allow to speak into your life?

The answer to that question is both difficult and easy.

It’s difficult because there are so many worthwhile books and blogs, etc. that have the potential to greatly enrich our lives that we could never actually absorb the useful good out of all of them. We would be wise to avail ourselves of the best of them.

It’s easy because, when you boil everything down, there’s really only one source of information that really matters. You guessed it…God. When it’s all said and done, it’s great if we benefit from all the good, practical information out there, but nothing is more important than allowing the primary shaper of our lives to be the voice of God.

In the end, it’s really the only thing that matters. If we can make our priority listening to the voice of God and shaping our lives around his revealed will in the Scriptures, we will find in the end that we have built our lives on the only true and lasting foundation.

August 24, 2007 | Categories: reflections | Leave A Comment »