Jeff's Blog: A Picture Of Apprencticeship

This weekend was a picture of living out one of our Core Values: Ministry Apprenticeship. I loved being able to partner with our Campus Pastor, all three. Jason at Twin Peaks, Phil at Church Online and Mike at Oro Valley, for the weekend teaching. We are blessed to have such a great group of leaders at Alive Church and all have great skills in teaching and communicating God's Word.

Another great picture of Ministry Apprenticeship was having the Youth worship band from Oro Valley lead worship for the weekend at the Oro Valley campus. Great job gang! Chad Lacy is not only a great musician but really lead me personally in a Spirit of worship and God's presence.

There were 2 people from the weekend services that made faith commitments to follow Jesus! Yippee!!! Not only is that just the best of news but to see all of you who made the decision and commitments to take some time and fast this coming week to hunger for God spiritually. I will be praying for you and hope you will do the same for me as we fast together for breakthrough, clarity and courage.

Looking forward to being a part of the Boo Bash tomorrow evening (Monday) at the Twin Peaks campus - this will be a great event to reach out and get connected with our community there!

Jeff's Blog: A Weekend Experience

I love it when I get a chance to combine a couple of my favorite things which is the case with the current weekend series Remember at Alive Church. My dear friend and world known artist Phil Starke painted an oil painting of Jesus face while on the cross while I talked about Communion and it's meaning. Phil is best known as a western artist and western landscapes, but is very skilled with portraits. Having the expression of an artist while teaching and being able to interact with him makes for a great overall experience. In fact one person came up to me after one of the weekend services and said: "that was not just a talk, that was an incredible experience."

Part of the passion we have is to create a weekend experience every week and at every venue that is a relevant environment for people who are far from God and followers of Jesus. Within the context of Relevant Environments is an incredible joy to be creative and yet still share the Bible, God's Word. While the message of God's Word never changes and there is never a need for us to make it Relevant, (it already is) we are committed to communicating it relevantly.

Let me illustrate this. If you are near my age you can remember things like Albums when you first started collecting and playing or dancing to music. Then came the 8 tracks - what a revolution! I can remember that it wasn't long before all the 8 tracks were traded for Cassettes. About the time I got to the place I had all the Cassettes I wanted along came CD's. I had a big financial investment in Cassettes but I could see how much better CD's were and started making the change...and like most of you CD's went by the wayside to MP3s...digital everything...and now all my music is on my iPod, with better quality and more songs and they all fit in my pocket and go with me everywhere I go.

That's Relevant Environment. You see the music is still the end result, that's not the big change. In fact most of the music I had on big old vinyl albums is some of the same music I have on my iPod. For some reason a lot of times in the church we are still communicating the message of the Bible, God's Word, which never changes, in ways (environments) that are antique. Relevant Environments is a matter of method not message. I am so glad that our loving heavenly Father never changes, His love is steadfast, and that His Word never changes, (that is the truth and message of the Bible) and yet He gives us the creative skills and abilities to communicate with creative methods, Relevant Environments!

My friend Phil will be joining me again during this weekend series Remember, I am looking forward to it as we create another Experience!

Jeff's Blog: Weekend Update

I am so grateful for all that God did over the weekend at Alive Church. It is so good to hear the stories of spiritual growth and to see how God is working in our lives. Let me give you some details from the weekend, it is so encouraging seeing the vision that God has given us lived out:

• I love sharing the faith stories that happen through all you do Alive Church! This past weekend 8 people made faith commitments to follow Jesus. That is a direct result of all that you do in serving and partnering together here in ministry. I believe God has just begun – the best is yet to come as we go forward together!

• I hope you had a chance to see artist Phil Starke paint the face of Jesus live as I spoke. We began a New Weekend series called “Remember” , we started the series by looking at the importance of Communion and the significance of it in our lives. Phil’s painting of the face of Jesus helped us experience what we were talking about. If you were unable to be with us this weekend you can catch the teaching online at our website.

• Courageous Resolution: There were nearly 40 men and their families who attended our Courageous Resolution Ceremonies on both campus and made a resolve to live as Courageous Men/Fathers/Husbands. Be praying for all our men as we live out this resolution. (Men if you missed the ceremonies this weekend and still want to get in on it we have another one you can get in on)

• Foundations 101, Spiritual Growth. Mike Gray, Campus Pastor at Oro Valley , did a great job partnering in teaching at the Foundations 101, Spiritual Growth class , there were eight of us total. It is exciting to see people make decisions to the habits the Bible gives us to grow daily as followers of Jesus and to live successfully the life and purpose He has for us. (I feel so blessed to work with all of our Campus Pastors, they are all great teachers/communicators)

• Regarding Vision: It is such a blessing to see and hear how God is working through the vision and strategy God has led us in – One Church – One Vision – Multiply Locations: Many of you may not know it but God is up to something at our Twin Peaks campus – you guys rock! Our Campus Pastor, Jason, and team at Twin Peaks are making a big difference in the Continental Ranch community. Church Online continues to expand the influence of Gods Kingdom every week along with Campus Pastor Phil Thompson, I got a chance to join Phil online for a few moments during all of the services this week. (Congrats to Phil and Mary Kay on celebrating 18 years of marriage today) The Anchor, our Thursday evening venue with Venue Pastor Ezra, started joining us for this series - Welcome gang!!! (I love you guys - your life and youthful vigor is great to be around)

• On a Personal note: my son had a concert Saturday evening – I headed to it right after the Saturday evening services and caught up with the fam. It was awesome to have the whole family together at the concert and to hear him sing. We had a great dinner together as a family afterward. Kathy and I feel so blessed as we sit around the dinner table and catch up with our kids and their lives.

• Next Steps: the challenge this week is to take some time during your daily time with God and take communion alone. For many this will be the first time that you have ever done this as a follower of Jesus – this will be a powerful time for you.

• Remember; to help us all remember the significance, importance and power of taking communion as a follower of Jesus, I encouraged you to take your communion cup and put it in a prominent place this week so that we can Remember all that Jesus has done and is doing in our lives. It is already having a profound impact on me with my cups sitting on my desk next to my computer. I’m looking forward to what God is going to continue to do and speak to us about through the remainder of this series; Remember.
• I want you to know Alive Church that I am praying for you. I am honored to serve as your pastor. You are an awesome church family! It is so great to see all the lives that are being transformed because of your commitment as followers of Jesus. As we continue to partner together I believe our best days are yet to come. I wish you could have heard the stories that people shared with me this weekend of how God is working in their lives and families. A young couple shared with me their journey with Jesus and how God has used you Alive Church as a part of that journey – they are so grateful for you and the ministry that you give through your service and commitment to living out Jesus mission.

Jeff's Blog: Faith Seperated From Application

It requires incredible courage to take the risk of applying faith in God in different areas of our lives. For some there are areas that we feel like applying our faith and trusting God is a no brainier and yet for others those same areas seem like stepping out into the Grand Canyon of trust and faith. Yet, faith separated from application is worthless. The people that I talk to on a week to week basis whose lives are so messed up are often Christians. Not that they don't have faith for eternity, for their salvation and the forgiveness of their sins, but they are often not applying faith in God's ways and His Word for their day in and day out living. As a result we often live beneath the privledge God has for us here on this earth, financially, relationally, personally, in every-way.

As we choose to obey and put our faith into action, that is apply it, God promises that we will be blessed. "But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." (James 1:22-25)

Last weekend there were a lot of folks who made decisions to put their faith into action, to begin applying their faith. Many of us made a commitment to take the next step this week and apply our faith in one area of our lives that we knew we were not applying it - I love it and can't wait to here the reports.

Some of you started putting faith into action and applying it for the first time; 2 people made decision to follow Jesus for the first time this last weekend and 10 others made a decision to recommit their lives to follow Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus and you just read that without your heart rate going up - stop and reread it! All of heaven rejoices so we need to as well. Don't ever let news like that get old.

This coming weekend as we wrap up the Courageous series, I am going to share my personal prayer and wish for all of you (as well as myself) for us to have a courageous resolve as followers of Jesus. I want to share my heart with you this next weekend in a very personal way. If fact if these were the last words that I could say to someone, if this were the last thing you would ever hear me say, this weekend would be what I would say and pray for you.

Can't wait to see you all this weekend - hope you have a great week. Let this be the week that you don't just listen to God's Word but instead that you do what it says: Faith Separated From Application Is Worthless!

Jeff's Blog: One Of My Favorite Artist, Carl Rungius

One of my favorite artist and one of the most important artist of the 20th Century is Carl Rungius. I recently attended a show in Jackson, WY at the National Museum Of Wildlife Art where many of his pieces were are on display. (They boast the largest Runguis collection in the U.S.) Wow! I loved it and hoping to someday soon travel to see the largest Rungius collection in the world at the Glenbow Museum in Canada.

Rungius spent much of his life painting wildlife, and so many of his real life studies were derived from North American wildlife that he would seek in the western wilderness. Not only did he paint animals with incredible anatomical accuracy but because of his love for the wilderness he painted their habitat and mannerisms like no other. He spent much of his time in a studio in Banff that he call "The Paintbox".

One of the things that set Rungius apart from other wildlife artist was his first hand knowledge of the encounter between man and animal. Which is true of all of us as artist. The greatest learning of all is to paint from real life, regardless of the subject. As a landscape artist my greatest lessons come from painting En Plein Air. I try to get out at least once a week.

Seeing and experiencing Runguis work up close and personal was powerful. It reminded me that to continue to pursue excellence as an artist is to continue to experience the environments I want to paint first hand. There is no faking it!

I know that many artist will not be able to travel to see Runguis paintings firsthand, the next best thing is a book I've added to my collection: Carl Rungius :Artist and Sportsman

Jeff's Blog: The Secret To Getting Results

There are many things in life that just don't do any good until we put them into practice. Since I just finished my Phillie Cheese Steak sandwich and a large order of French Fries I was thinking that having the knowledge of good health does me no good unless I decide to put it into practice. I know that eating healthy and exercise are keys to good health - but my sandwich and fries tasted so good!

The same is true with our faith. This coming weekend at Alive Church we are going to talk about making our faith active, engaging, putting it into practice as we talk about Courageous Faith. There is one key word that makes it all happen: APPLICATION. From the book of James we see the incredible way God uses our faith to Preserve the good things in our lives from our families, marriages, reputations, finances, self-esteem and the list goes on because the APPLICATION of our faith has the power to transform your life as every single level.

Actually this is something we work at every week here at Alive Church. Through creating Relevant Environments for people to be followers of Jesus we are always asking the questions of Life Application. There is so much more to our faith than just telling others the right stuff, knowing the right stuff, or singing about the right stuff.

If you are like me, I discovered a long time ago life is to short to go through the motions and not see results. This simple principle from the Bible, APPLICATION, will open the door in your life for results oriented living. Want to geared up and ready for the weekend? Read James 2:14-26.

Hope In Hard Times

During this economy there are a lot of folks dealing with a lot of stress. For many the stress is not only from the needs but also from fear. Here is a great video from two of my favorite teachers that will help lead us in the right direction during hard times and away from fear. Spiritual Autopsy If you're not familiar with them here are links to all they do: Dave Ramsey and Craig Groeschel.

Jeff's Blog: My Side Of The Dance

Our family just got home from the theater where we went to see Courageous. I love it, even better the second time around. (Kathy and I were honored and privileged to see a private showing about four months ago – definitely better on the big screen) There are so many scenes that really moved me as a man and challenged me to be a Courageous Father and husband. I have to say though the scene that stuck with me most, from first viewing and when we just saw it in the theater is the scene where the Dad dances in the park and in his prayed ask God to tell his little girl that he “did his side of the dance.”

I loved all the stuff about Dads with their sons and how challenging that is. My son Joel loved it and we already have been able to talk about some favorite scenes and I can see how it challenges the little man in him. But, I think the fact that I have 3 girls, and they are all 3 my little baby girls I don’t care how old they get, the dance scene got to me. Maybe even more the second time around because I knew what was coming.

My youngest daughter Kristi was just in our room talking with her mother and I told her, “I will dance with you anytime you want.” I’m sure I’ve blown it and miss so many moments in my girl’s lives, but after seeing that movie I am committed to making sure I dance my side of the dance every time there is a chance to dance with those I love.