Jeff's Blog: Paint The Parks Top 100 Competition and Exibition 2011

I received word today that Paint the Parks 100 has chosen one of my paintings for their national exhibition, the show is getting ready to open, and they have not received the painting yet... The problem is that I didn't hear anything from them and assumed that I didn't make it in so I was hoping to sell it another way ... Never been so glad to have a painting NOT sell! Paint the Parks100 is America's leading competition and exhibition designed to illustrate the beauty and significance of America’s National Parks. I am honored to get in and I am heading out right now to find a nice show worthy frame so I can get this sent off! The show can be viewed at Paintamerica.org

Jeff's Blog: Pastors You Are My Heroes

My heroes have always been pastors, well that’s not entirely true because I used to be a worship leader. If I’m being honest, I just thought pastors were weird and nerdy back in those days, in fact I really didn’t like pastors. In fact I seem to remember praying something like this; “God, I’ll do anything you want me to do in ministry, just don’t make me a pastor, those guys are weird!” Then it happened! God didn’t just call me to be a pastor at the age of 33; He literally placed me in that position at Alive Church. So much so, that I knew I would just have to be absolutely rebellious to do anything else at the time.

Then it began to happen. I started seeing pastors in a whole different light. I started to really get to know them and their passions and understand where they were coming from. Within a few years I found that God had given me a heart for Pastors. Over the last 17 years God has made me passionate for pastors and the title of this blog could not be truer if changed a little: My Heroes Are Pastors.

I know your hearts. You desire to feed, protect, guide and shepherd God’s people. Your heart not only beats to nourish and care for God’s people but to reach those who do not yet know him, and in the midst of all of that, you are getting beat up and battered not only by the enemy but often by those you are trying to love and nourish. I want to encourage you today; you are living in the greatest of callings. It is very pleasing to your loving heavenly Father.

I think of it this way, if someone were giving their life to help my wife love me more, better, have a better relationship with me; I would really love that person. That is exactly what you are doing as a pastor, helping the bride of Christ to love Him more, to learn to love Him. In the midst of it all you may be misunderstood and rejected, be encouraged, you (we) do it for our Father.

A verse that is so important for all of us as Pastors, Acts 20:28: "So guard yourselves and God's people. Feed and shepherd God's flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.” We tend to focus on the second sentence of that verse Pastors, but if don’t overlook the first sentence. Guard yourselves and God’s people. It starts with you guarding yourselves, your hearts, your spirits, and your families. We cannot shepherd God’s people if we do not guard ourselves first. That means when the people we love and care for the most, serve and give our lives for turn on us, misunderstand us or hurt us. We turn to The Shepherd and let him touch, encourage and heal our hearts.

Pastor, you are my heroes. You are my favorite people. I celebrate all you do today to feed, protect, guide and shepherd God’s people. I celebrate all of your efforts to reach those who do not yet know Jesus. In case nobody tells you this today or this week, you are appreciated. Don’t give up, don’t give in, and don’t get discouraged. God, your heavenly Father, knows your heart and celebrates your work. He has trusted you with His bride!!!

P.S. If you are a pastor reading this and you feel discouraged or that it's too late for you to continue I want to encourage you to get a copy of Wayne Cordeiros book Leading On Empty, in fact I recommend it for all of us as pastors.

Jeff's Blog: Weekend Update

Hey Alive Church, here are a couple of great things from the weekend:

• We said good-bye to the BBQ Grill - Congrats to our winner, Kathy Bell Duncan, (and to her husband Terry) looking forward to some great BBQ coming from their direction!
• A lot of folks were here again for our Courageous series that you all invited the previous weekend - with 3 people making first time commitments to follow Jesus this last weekend. As a Church you guys rock when it comes to outreach.
• Praying with and for all of you who made the Next Step commitment this weekend to commit to one new priority for your family this week.

Jeff's Blog: Happy Trails

One of the hardest hikes I ever did was rim to rim in the Grand Canyon in a day. I like hiking, being out doors and enjoying nature and keeping active. The key to great hiking is not just a great destination, but the right trail to get to that destination. There have been times when hiking that I took the wrong trail and did not end up at my intended destination. That is the thing with intentions, intentions do not lead to desired destinations. Choosing the right trails leads to desire destinations.

Not only is that true in hiking, but in every area of our lives. We mistakenly think and hope that our finances will just work out, our relationships will somehow get better or that we will get to the end of life and have a great spiritual experience. At least we intend for that to happen and get incredibly discouraged, blame God or whine "why me" when we end up with a less than desirable outcome - an unintended destination.

The reality is that there are trails we take on every journey of our life. Those trails will lead to a destination every time. Yet most of the time we keep taking a trail hoping for a different destination. We are looking for a quick fix in our marriage, a solution to a problem, when the truth is we are lost and need to get our marriage on a completely different trail. Maybe it's in the area of finances, they are spiraling out of control. We look for the solutions, a quick fix, when we need to get on a different trail with a different destination. We may have great intentions in every area of our lives, but unless we are on the right trail our intentions are worthless.

What areas of your life do you find yourself wishing for a different outcome, you are not getting to your desired destination? Don't look for a solution to a problem. Instead look back at the trail that has led you to this point. It is time to get on a different trail. The good news is others have gone before us and the trail leads to the same destination every time.

This weekend at Alive Church I am going to be talking about being on the right trail for your family to get to the desired destination God has for you. Hope to see you then. Until then - happy trails!!!

Jeff's Blog: REsults From The Big Weekend At Alive Church

As most of you know we had our Big Weekend this past weekend to kick off our All New weekend series called Courageous. This series is all about the family and how our families can be healthy and how we as Courageous Parents can do our part to lead our families to all that God has for them.

Here's a brief overview from the weekend here at Alive Church:

• 27 people made decisions about following Jesus during our Big Weekend! Several others asked to have more information about following Jesus.
• Many of the folks that all of you are Investing in and Invited to the Weekend were here and have asked to connect with us here at Alive Church. Let's continue to partner together in this to reach those we know and love and our community. I still have several people on my list that I am investing/inviting. I love the invite info for this series. I carry a couple with me and was able to actually invite someone this weekend at a movie theater - the conversation lead that way and I had the invite card on me. I will continue to pray with you and for you and the names of folks you gave me.
• The kids had a great time in the jumping castles at both Oro Valley campus and Twin Peaks campus. I have to admit I took advantage of the jumping castle at the Oro Valley campus, I was there when they set up and the kids weren't - so - I jumped!!!
  
• Great food for the Beast Feast at all of our services. A special shout out to Chris and Shelby and Chuy's for making that happen for us. I am in love with the BBQ sauce at Chuy's!!! You guys are rock stars.
• Both of our locations had great concerts after the Sat. services during Beast Feast - great job to our guest bands.
• Our Church Online Campus had a great attendance, as did all the campuses, this last weekend and many entered to win the BBQ Grill. Remember to take advantage of Church Online as a great tool to invite your friends for the first time.

We talked about Joshua this past weekend and his leadership and how we as parents are to lead our families. We said that as the destination of our family depends on where we lead them as the drivers. This next weekend we are going to focus on having Courageous Priorities. The Bible gives us great insight in to how we should live by priorities to have a healthy, thriving family life.

Gotta go - headed off to lead a His Man and teach part one on How To Be A Great Dad!

Jeff's Blog: Courageous vs Complacency

Great quote: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." The opposite courage is complacency. It is so easy to get complacent about anything in our lives and end up somewhere we never intended. This is a call to action to either get out of complacency or to fortify our lives to stay out of complacency and be men and women of courage.

This weekend we will begin the new series called "Courageous". This series is an unapologetic call for men to take a courageous stand for their faith and their families. This series will be an unapologetic call for all followers of Jesus to take a courageous stand for their faith and their families. As we begin the series this weekend we are going to look at the Old Testament leader, Joshua. He was a man of resolution who knew his responsibilities and stood before the people of his day making a wholehearted commitment to God for his life and his family. Joshua was resolute regardless of what others decided to do.

When we decide to step and and resolutely surrender to God's plan our lives, our families, our relationships, our marriages will radically change. This series is the most important weekend series that we will have taken a look at this year, this will change the lives of many families for the good - God's good!

We are kicking off the series this weekend with a Big Event on BOTH our Twin Peaks campus and our Oro Valley campus.

• Beast Feast - after Sat. evening services and Sunday 2nd service. Before Sunday first service beginning at 8:30 (Beast Feast is free to everyone - their is definitely meat being served!)
• Concerts on both campuses after Sat. evening services!
• Jumping Castles for the kids and snow cones - again at BOTH campuses. Kids get their early and stay a little after to enjoy it all!!!
• Ultimate BBQ Grill give-a-way. Every person who attends this weekend and turns in their communication card (Yes Church On-line - you can submit your Communication Card on line) qualifies for the BBQ Grill drawing.

This is a great weekend to invite a friend, neighbor, loved one or co-worker that you have been investing your life into. If have been thinking about checking out Alive Church for the first time - this is the perfect weekend for you to check us out. Or maybe because of the busyness of summer and vacations you just got out of the habit of going to church on the weekends - there is not better time to get back in the swing of it all than this weekend as we begin "Courageous".

You and Your FAMILY will be glad you did!!! Let's take a Courageous stand for our lives, our families and others we know and love.

Jeff's Blog: Updates and Spiritual Billionaires

In two weeks we are going to be starting one of the most important weekend series of the year: Living A Courageous Life. Many families in our communities, our circle of influence, are in trouble. God cares deeply about the family and its success. Throughout this series we are going to discover what God has for our families and how we can live it out in our daily lives.

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Prayer: Be in prayer for our families and the families you know over the next several weeks. The greatest thing a parent can pass on is God’s Word. The purpose of the family is to depict the love of God to the world.

· Pray for families at Alive Church, that they will align their lives with what God values.

· Pray for parents to learn to both discipline and disciple their children.

· Pray that God will be honored by the families in our church and that He will reveal Himself to the world through them.

Praise: This past weekend as we talked about S-N-L (Salt N Light) there were 8 people who made decisions to follow Jesus!

Campus update:At out Twin Peaks campus, we want to welcome Callie Hime to the team; she is overseeing the children’s ministry on that team. Callie is a great addition to the team and will add a lot of value to the ministry on the TP campus. Let’s all pray for her!!!

At the Oro Valley campus, our Campus Pastor, Mike Gray will be announcing new leadership over the youth ministry for that campus this coming weekend. Sounds like their announcement will be very creative!

Our Church Online Campus continues to grow and reach more people. This is a great place to invite friends and loved ones who are nervous about walking in the doors for the first time. Phil Thompson is the Campus Pastor and doing a great job taking this campus forward.

Looking Ahead: Our Big Event Weekend is coming quickly, not this coming but the next; Sept. 17ht and 18^th, as we kick off “Living A Courageous Life”. Many of you are planning on inviting friends and loved ones who do are either far from God or simply do not yet have a church they call home. We will be having the Beast Feast, jumping castles for all the kids (among other great things) and we have a great BBQ grill that we will be giving away to one of our first time guest from that weekend. This is a simple way for us to partner with one another to live out our vision of “leading people who are far from God to be followers of Jesus, who are…”

Would you like to make some new friends? Life groups are gearing up for the fall. You have heard me say it many times; “you are either in a crises, just getting out of a crises, or headed toward a crises”, just one of the important reasons for developing authentic relationships in a Life Group environment today.

My thought for the week: If you are a person who has ever dreamed of striking it rich, good news; you already have. God has made us Spiritual Billionaires; we just need to learn to tap into the incredible resource God has given you. Paul wrote in Col. 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly....” The word richly here means; incredible abundance, extreme wealth, enormous affluence, great prosperity, immense riches , magnificent opulence and extravagant lavishness. As we receive God’s Word (The Bible) in our lives it will enrich us spiritually, it will make us Spiritual Billionaires. Paul goes on to show us what God’s Word will produce in our lives as he describes people whose hearts are full of wisdom, full of joy, minds of understanding and they are singing praises to God. People who have struck it rich spiritually! My prayer is that we would all become so full of God’s Word that our entire lives are affected; “Lord make us spiritual Billionaires!”

Jeff's Blog: Like Rain

Last night we had a thunder storm here in the NW side of Tucson. I was up late painting in my studio and could hear the thunder rolling but no rain. I started cleaning things up and finishing the “masterpiece” I was working on, which includes getting the trash from all the paper towels out. At the very moment I opened the door to do so; it began to rain, nice. On my Pandora station that I had playing throughout the evening the words “grace like rain are pouring down on me” were coming through at that very moment. I stood out in the rain for a few moments and listened to the song coming from the studio and soaked in God’s grace pouring down on me like rain. I want to always be reminded of His grace in my life. Next time you're in a rain storm, take a moment and know that God's grace is constantly and consistently being poured out on you like rain.

My mind is in the middle of processing the weekend today. My notes for the weekend talk, “How To Make A Difference”, are churning in my heart and mind. Interesting enough, the focus is on Grace. Grace is a bold part of being a follower of Jesus. Many of you may be traveling this holiday weekend; I want to encourage you to join us online as we continue with “Salt And Light”.

In Christ, Jeff

P.S. Funny, even now while I’m writing this a song is playing with the words: “let Your mercy rain on us.” I say let it rain!!!