APC's Apex @ BPC

This past Sunday BPC was honored to host Apex, the young adult ministry of APC, as part of their “Missions Trip to Nowhere” meaning rather than doing mission work overseas they decided to “stay at home’ ministering in the “Burgh” through the MCM Network of Churches.

Teams of young adults gave up their weekend to share the love of Christ in places like the Southside & Millvale as well as a few other locations in the network. Children’s programs, community service projects & ministry to the homeless were on their radar for the weekend. In addition to that some of their time was spent at PNC Park handing out FREE bottles of water in the Name of Jesus as people were going into the stadium. On Sunday morning a team lead by P. Nick Poole came to BPC to pass out flyers promoting the church before the svc, ministered an “Off the Hook” children’s ministry presentation for the kids in Jr. Church & presented a thought provoking drama for the adults. It was a really great morning to be in church!

Francie & I want to say thanks so much to pastor’s Dave (of APC’s Apex ministry) & Nick as well as the team of young adults for coming to minister at BPC. We were blessed to have you guys & really believe the Spirit of God used you all so powerfully not just at BridgePoint but throughout the entire MCM Network!

What motivates us @ home & in the work place?

Yesterday while checking FB I found this video on Geoff Pound's profile page as one of his status updates for May 20th.

Dan Pink very creatively illustrates his talk regarding "what motives us in the work place & at home?" Very interesting, enjoy!

The Church-medieval bubonic plague-Renaissance & the Age of Reason-science-cancer-Pentecostalism-Holy Spirit

This is a long post but worth the read!

I’m currently reading a book by Tony Campolo entitled, “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God.” In chapter 12, “How to Think About God without Being Brainwashed by Modern Philosophies” Campolo writes, “The scholars responsible for social commentary tell us in the postmodern era science will no longer be king. More & more, our modern society will come to believe that there are different kinds of truth, and that perhaps the most important of them don’t really lend themselves to the judgments of reason & empirical investigation.”

Campolo then explains what he calls “the demise of modernity.”
“The social philosopher Jeremy Rifkin offers us a scenario for the demise of modernity that I find very interesting. Rifkin argues that we are giving up on science because it has failed to provide us with a cure for cancer, just as the medieval people lost confidence in the church when it failed to deliver them from the bubonic plagues.

In medieval time, the Church held sway over society; all ideas & discoveries had to pass religious tests before they were accepted by the general public. What the Church declared unacceptable was squeezed out of the halls of academia. But the Church lost its absolute hold over the people of Europe, largely in response to the bubonic plagues. When the plagues hit Europe, people turned to the Church for help. The Church readily made promises that, if people would just rely on their faith, do homage to their religious institutions, and make offerings to God, they would be spared. The people heeded the advice of their clerics. They made novenas. They went on pilgrimages. They sacrificed their worldly goods in accord with the directives of their spiritual leaders. But the plagues hit them anyway.

When the horrors of the plagues eventually passed away, the Church’s authority was left greatly diminished. The church seemed to have survived the onslaught but, in reality, came out of the ordeal deeply wounded. It still elicited reverence, but people began to look elsewhere for answers to questions & solutions to their problems. That opened the door for reason & science, and the Renaissance and the Age of Reason were at hand.

Science today has become too haughty. Humble science has become Scientism. It has taken on religious character and, in its own way, has become a religion. The devotees of science too often have made it the basis for determining, in absolute terms, what is true & what is false. That which does not yield to its methods of investigation is discarded as meaningless superstition or having only aesthetic value.

This reign of reason & science as the ultimate arbiter of truth has been seriously challenged of late by another plague: cancer. One out of three of us will be touched by it, and there seems to be a high likelihood that things will only get worse in the short run, if indeed they ever do get better. In the face of the threat of cancer, we called on science to help us. We were told by our research scientists that, if we just threw enough money their way, they would find a cure for the scourge. They lead us to believe that, if we believed in them & did our obeisance (expressing deep respect or deferential courtesy), than they would find the cause of cancer & deliver us from this dreaded disease.

Not only did we hear them out, but for more than half a century we gave them the best we had. Yet, while there have been many advances & a lot of new treatments found, the gurus of the scientific world have yet to utter the words we long to hear: “We’ve found a cure for cancer!”

And when faced with the limitations of science, people increasingly turn elsewhere for help. There are many who are convinced that one of the main reasons for the incredible growth of Pentecostalism in America is that, now that the “experts” have declared that they have no cure for cancer, people are searching for some good news from faith healers.

As science has failed, panic-stricken people have turned, not only to the kinds of cures that they believe will come from faith in the work of the Holy Spirit, but also to the New Age cures. Everything from tapping into the magical powers of crystals to the techniques of transcendental meditation are being tried. In desperation, they are looking outside the realms of reason & science.

Whatever the cause may be, science has lost its hammerlock on the public consciousness. There is a growing awareness that there may be another kind of truth that lies outside the canons of logical empiricism that has long dominated our thinking. Talk about miracles is no longer laughed out of the courts of sophisticated discussion. The evidences of public acceptance of the miraculous are all around us. A television series on angels is a blockbuster on the Nielsen rating scale. Pollsters make it clear that religious skepticism is increasingly beating a hasty retreat. Those who run for public office know that it helps their public images if they declare themselves to be people of faith. Teen challenge-a Pentecostal-based ministry to drug addicts-has a cure rate that is more than triple that of any other treatment system presently in place, and it’s workers readily talk about casting out demons as part of the therapy they offer. It is easy to find people with PhD. degrees who unashamedly talk about living in the context of spiritual warfare, wherein they claim to be struggling against “the principalities and powers” of Satan. More of us than not believe in miracles that defy any kind of scientific explanation. To those scientific rationalists who claim that such things don’t fit into their world-view, or Weltanschauung (as they call it), there is an increasingly common response that God is greater than their Weltanschauung. Many of us hold fast to the biblical claim that God is able to do abundantly more than any of us, with all of our scientific categories, could ever hope or think.”

We need the Power of the Holy Spirit working through us!

Celebrating a New Life at BPC!

“ Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:16 The Message

Last Sunday at BPC we celebrated a brand new life! It was an honor for me to dedicate Nicholas James Eckman to the Lord! Congratulations to Dad Mike & Mom Kara as well as Grandpa Pete & Grandma Sue & the rest of their family & friends, we are so excited for you guys! Little Nicky was sharply dressed in blue & white and handled himself very well during the dedication up in front of the entire BPC congregation. Everyone stretched forth their hands as a sign of blessing as I prayed for Nicky & his parents. Francie then presented Kara with 3 single white roses (1 for Mom & 1 for each Grandma) and Mike with Nicky’s certificate of dedication. Following the service we all headed down to the Lower Level for a luncheon.

At BPC we recognize that children are a gift & blessing from God so we celebrate that! We take special time out of our service to pray for each infant & child; that God would give them good health & kept safe in our world. We pray for Gods protection over their lives as they grow up to know & serve the Lord as He reveals to them His purpose for their lives. We also pray for the parents & extended family; that God would bless them with wisdom & peace as they do their best to honor Him & create a healthy environment for their children to grow up in.

Yes Sir, when we dedicate babies & children at BPC it’s a very special time. In fact, it’s a celebration of a new life!

God gives us what we really need!

I’m currently reading a book by Tony Campolo entitled, “Following Jesus Without Embarrssing God.” Tony is a sought after Christain speaker, Professor of Sociology at Eastern College in St. Davids, PA & the author of many books. Below is some of Tony’s thoughts on prayer;

“Our prayers are immature. When we pray, our incredibly limited understanding & our shallow spirit keep us from praying as we should. But we need not fret, because the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is always there lifting up the prayers that we ought to have prayed to the heavenly Father but were not able to pray. The Holy Spirit actually prays for us!”

Tony then tells a story from when he was 7 & wanted to be a Cowboy. After asking his father to help him be a cowboy Tony said his father’s response was, “Let’s just wait & see.”

“I’m so glad my father didn’t give me what I thought I wanted at the age of 7. Suppose that I, at the age of 17, had asked my father about going to college & he said. “College! You can’t go to college! When you were 7, you said you wanted to be a Cowboy. I went ahead & bought you a ranch in Texas with 50 head of cattle!”

“I would have said.”How could you?” Being a cowboy was the request of a kid who really didn’t even know what life was about.” “Fortunately, because my father didn’t give me what I, in my immaturity, had throught I wanted, he was later able to give me what I really needed. So it is when we pray to our Father.”

Roman 8:26-28 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Get Your Tweet on in Church?!

Below is an interesting article I found regarding the use of Twitter in Church. What do you think?

Thou Shall Twitter in Church
by Scott Williams

“Thou Shall Not Twitter in Church.” Says who?!

I haven’t seen that anywhere in the Bible. But I have seen Twitter in the Bible: “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter…” (Isaiah 38:14 NAS). In all seriousness, there are many people who believe you shouldn’t tweet in church. As a pastor, I would say, “Get Your Tweet On!” As a matter of fact, I say “Tweet and tweet often!”

Many times “church people” can look at a particular methodology or technology as a negative thing. Technology is basically neutral; it’s what you do with it that allows it to have positive or negative implications. I know there are some varying opinions about texting and utilizing social media during church. Personally, I use the YouVersion Bible app on my iPhone during church and it has this great option of sharing scripture instantly with the Twitter world. Not only can you share scripture with YouVersion, but also any person sitting in any church service around the globe can share thoughts, points and notes from sermons as they are happening.

Today, we live in more shared world than ever as information access and connectedness just happens. The beauty of this world is that people can engage with God, engage with their pastor and share pieces of those engagement with the world, all at the same time. There are entire real, living, breathing online church services where online congregants share information throughout their service. These services are just as real and God encountering as a physical building. Again, I say “Tweet and tweet often!”

Here are 5 Reasons To Twitter During Church:
1. You have the opportunity to be a real-time extension of your pastor’s voice while he or she communicates God’s Word. You and your pastor can do some tag team teaching while you are being fed all at the same time.

2. If the pastor shares something that moves you, inspires you or changes your life, there is a good chance it will have the same impact on the lives of some of your Twitter followers as well.

3. When Jesus said “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” ‘all the world’ applies to the Internet world, as well as the Twitter world. Do your part by going into all the Twitter world, tweeting the good news.

4. You will have a stored database of your compelling thoughts and notes from your favorite sermons. Use a hashtag to keep up with the information that you share. We could even implement a universal Twitter In Church hashtag. Any suggestions?

5. Many times people suffer from (SADD) Sermon Attention Deficit Disorder. So instead of just wandering off into space, simply wander off into the space of the World Wide Web. It’s better use of your time tweeting great thoughts instead of drawing on the back of offering envelops.

Some people, including pastors, get upset and complain about these techie people being a distraction when they are using their mobile phone Bible and tweeting in church. I think doodling on the offering envelopes is more distracting. Hmm... I haven’t seen a big push to remove those offering envelopes from the pew.

Thou shall Twitter in church! Remember God’s omnipresence applies to Twitter as well… get your tweet on!

Congradulations on your Masters Degree Alexandra!

Today my daughter Alexandra graduated with her Masters Degree in Counseling from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, MO.

Francie & I are so proud of her! Alexandra has worked long & hard to achieve this great milestone in her life. As a matter of fact she is the 1st Krowitz in my family to have a Masters Degree, quite the accomplishment!

Thank you so much to Jesus for all He is doing in Alexandra's life! God has great plans in store for her! As a father I also want to say thanks so much to all of Alexandra's teachers, pastors & more recently her professors, thanks for all the time & effort you spent pouring knowledge, Godly wisdom & insight into our little girl. Your investment into her life will bring great reward!

And I want to say thanks to my wonderful wife Francie & my awesome son Gregory for being the THE BEST Mother & Brother a girl could ever have! I am so proud of you two as well!

Alexandra, I love you so much! Enjoy this once in a life time experience & have fun doing it!!

Your Dad