BPC 'tale of the tape" recontinued

I sensed we needed to start the small group somewhere in the Allegheny Valley region, specifically between Harmerville & Natrona Heights. I shared this vision with my buddy Jim Biernesser to which he replied, "Hey Reverend, I have a house in Tarentum that I remodeled and am selling. We could have the small group there until it's sold". Jim, his wife Lisa and Francie & I began to put our resources together (extra furniture we had, coffee pot, microwave,etc..) and prepared the house for our first meeting. Remember it was just remodeled so inside it looked brand new! The perfect place to begin our new journey. P. Jeff of APC & P. Russ of SFWC gave us names of people who had visited their churches who were from the Allegheny Valley region so we could let them know about the group we were starting.

On Tuesday 2/7/06 Jim & Lisa, "JohnBob" & his wife Donna DeKleva from APC and Francie I held the first meeting. Up through 8/07, that house was our base of ministry. In June of '06 we had a neighborhood "Block Party" attracting 20 neighbors from the surrounding streets. In July of '06 Pastor Cal came to do 2 nights of Sidewalk Sunday School attracting 25 kids the first night & 35 the following week. 3 families became a part of our group because of those 2 outreaches! We had a small Fall Festival scheduled in Oct. of '06 @ the Riverview park in Tarentum but it was canceled due to bad weather. (I remember hail, rain and even some snow flurries that day.) Our group grew from 6 adults to 25 adults & 10 kids. God was on the move and we were all excited to be in His flow!

But the winds of change were about to blow. In 7/07 we scheduled "potluck" dinners for our group @ different people's houses during August. A week into August Jim said he had an interested buyer for the house but wasn't ready to tell me until he was sure it was a solid offer.
We committed it to the Lord & the deal went through, the house sold! But now where were we going to meet? Not to worry, about six months earlier Jim had, by "chance" met a Tarentum boxing gym owner by the name of...Jim. A devoted brother in Christ who heard about us & offered his building if we ever needed it. The James 5: 16 center is located @ 307 W. 7th Ave. in Tarentum. A christian organization that shares the message of Christ to kids, youth & young adults through physical fitness, weight training and ...boxing.

James 5:16 says..."Therefore confess your sins to each other and prayer for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

A man named John

I just got off the phone with a man named John. He came to our Block party in August but didn't fill out an information card. John called saying, "I got this phone number from your flyer & I need God in my life. I'm not a religious man, I used to go to church but don't anymore. I've had struggles and issues for years & they caught up with me. I need to get to church."

I spent about 15 minutes with John telling him about BridgePoint & our Sunday evening meeting. He said, "Boy, I wish this was Saturday so I could tell you I'll see you tomorrow." I thanked John for the call & told him we'd call on Saturday as a reminder. John said, "Call any time, tomorrow, the next day, Saturday or whenever you want. You call me on Sunday @ 4pm just to make sure." I told him I would call.

In my last post I wrote about our prayer groups in last night's meeting. One of the prayer points was "Salvation for the people of Tarentum." John lives 2 blocks away from the James 5:16 Center in Tarentum! God is always working even when we may not think He is. Our job is to pray, God's job is to draw people by His Holy Spirit! Pray for...a man named John.

"What ever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
Colossians 3:23

BPC "tale of the tape" cont.

This evening during our weekly launch team meeting we had a great time of concentrated prayer. We divided into 5 groups praying for the following: against the attacks of the enemy, for the salvation of family, friends & the people of Tarentum, for the Boro officials, police, fire & EMT, for continued unity & protection for the launch team and for the 1st preview service on Oct. 21st. It's my desire BPC continue to be bathed in prayer!

Speaking of prayer, a little over 2 years ago I seriously began praying about church planting. For me it all started in August of 2000 when P. Jeff asked me to consider "planting." My response to the Lord & to Jeff, "No. Not me." During the next 5 years the "planting" question reoccurred, my response was the same each time it came up, "No." To be honest I didn't have a good reason for saying no, I felt I just didn't want to do it. More importantly during those 5 years the Lord was doing alot of things in me, bringing me to a place of complete surrender...in many ways that only He can.

Back to 2005, Jeff asked me again about "planting", my response..."Francie & I will take it to the Lord in prayer." After a time of fasting & prayer I responded... Yes, we'll follow God's promptings and "plant." Jeff's response...Go for it! Start a small group & we'll see where the Lord takes it.

We had our first meeting on Tuesday February 7th 2006 with 6 people attending. But more about that next time...

"And pray in the Spirit, on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:18

P.S...
We're looking for people to be part of our prayer team. You may or may not not feel lead to join the launch team but would commit to praying for the church. If you'd like to be a part, please respond by commenting to this posting or email at contactbridgepoint@yahoo.com

Wonderful Relationships

Francie & I just spent the last 2 days with her cousins in Canada. On the way to Toronto we stopped on the Canadian side to see the Horseshoe Falls up close and across the way we could see the American Falls, what an incredible sight! (even though it was overcast and drizzling) All that water just rushing over the side, talk about Gods POWER! I found myself starring in wonderment thinking...the God that made this cares about me...and He cares about you. If He can create the Falls there's nothing He can't do, there's nothing too hard for Him. When we're under His protection, guidance & instruction, He cares for us, loves us & is committed to us.

Francie's cousins, Christina & Anna and their families, are great people. As kids they would come every summer to visit their grandparents as well as share life with my wife's family who lived next door. These relationships have stood the test of time and continue today because of commitment & love.

Jesus had this type of commitment & love with His disciples, they shared life. As the disciples walked from town to town with Jesus they were under His protection, guidance & instruction. They committed their lives to Him & to each other. It's said of the disciples that these were the men who turned the world upside down ...because of their commitment & love for Jesus...because of their wonderful relationship with the Lord. Question...what kind of relationships are we building? Will they stand the test of time, do they reflect love & commitment toward the Lord & each other, are they wonderful?

The OOMPH of Life

In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"Jesus answered,"I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." In other words...there's no limit to the amount of times we're to forgive regardless of how we feel. It can be a difficult skill to master. Many people take with them learned patterns of behavior from childhood into adulthood. Unforgiveness towards those who've caused us personal pain can be one of them. Getting caught up in the "he said, she said" mentality leads to anger, bitterness, frustration as well as other thoughts & feelings.

There's alot of self helps today. B&N, Borders & Waldons shelves are full of them...read this, apply that, focus your positive energies... although these can help, they lack the oomph needed to demonstrated it. Jesus not only taught about the oomph in forgiveness, He demonstrated it!

John 19:30 Jesus said," It is finished." With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Forgiveness for the entire world happened... oomph!! What an example, forgiveness for you and me but also towards those who were directly in front of Him causing personal pain & death!

Life can be hard at time so we need all of the biblical oomph we can get. The next time you find yourself in your fav little reading nook, browse over to the word for an extra dose of oomph! You never know when it'll come in handy.

BridgePoint Church "tale of the tape"

During the 70's I spent many a Saturday afternoon watching ABC's Wide World of Sports. As a young man, my Dad was really into weightlifting and throughout his life he loved to watch boxing. I remember seeing all of the biggest fights during that time.

One feature of boxing is the "tale of the tape".

This idiom is used when comparing things, especially in sports; it comes from boxing where the fighters would be measured with a tape measure before a fight. Height, weight and arm reach among other things is noted. It's a statistical history, important information we should know about each fighter before they enter the ring

This is the introductory entry to BridgePoint church's "tale of the tape".
During some future postings, I'll be writing about how & when things started, from our first small group meeting to the outreaches we've done right up to now as we prepare for our monthly preview services and Palm Sunday 2008 launch date. Although we've only been meeting weekly for about a year and a half, for me it's been a 7 year journey.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

"he gets things done."

About 4 years ago I briefly met Nick Poole out near Robinson Towne Ctr. My daughter Alexandra would catch a ride to & from Pgh to CBC in Springfield, MO. with Nick & his sister. A few times he saved Francie & I many long hours of driving. When P. Jeff announced Nick would be joining the APC staff to work APC's network of churches and I told Alexandra she said, "Dad, he gets things done." After meeting with the "Nickster" every week for going on 3 mths and spending time with him, I couldn't agree more. Nick's a great guy & really does get things done & then some! He's a very hard worker, has great ideas and insight, is creative and follows through on everything he does. Best of all, he loves God and wants serve him with all he's got. Nick and each person in our group has been a great blessing as we begin to launch Bridgepoint Church!