Jason from Alive

Wow, what an awesome weekend at Alive Church Twin Peaks campus. Great food, great music, great teaching and the most important thing of all great friends. I had an amazing time this weekend meeting new people and seeing some folks I had not seen in years.

I give this last weekend two thumbs up. There were 217 people at the Twin Peaks campus this weekend. We made over 150 snow cones, we ate 180 tri-tip sandwiches and 40 breakfast burritos and I am not sure how many pounds of chips and salsa we had. One of the most exciting numbers though is the fact that four people made faith decisions this weekend. Now that deserves two thumbs up. Twenty seven people made faith decisions this weekend between all of our campuses, two thumbs way up.

Thank you to all of you who helped make this weekend happen. We have the most amazing team at Alive Church Twin Peaks. You guys rock. Thanks for creating such an amazing environment for everyone and all of our guests. I have received back from some of our guests and time after time, people say how inviting the people and the environment are at Alive Church Twin Peaks.

Have you been to Alive Church Twin Peaks? If not, what are you waiting for. We can't wait to meet you.

Last night we finished up week 3 of our latest Foundations class at Alive Church. Foundations is a class that equips you with tools necessary to live the Christian life. During week 3 one of the things we discuss is our core value, Doing Life Together, and how that is accomplished through Life Groups. Life Group is one of the most important things in my spiritual journey.

This last week our Life Group started back up after taking the summer off. Due to my work schedule I have been unable to attend group for the last 2 semesters. I did not realize how much I had missed Life Group, and how much of a difference it makes in my life. The people in my Life Group are the first ones to help me in a time of need. They are the ones that we do fun stuff with. This summer we all went to the lake together. It always amazes me at how quickly friendships begin in a Life Group.

Our group is a place where we talk over the weekend teaching and what each of us got out of it. The different perspectives are great. The weekend teaching really comes to life during and after our group. I always walk away with a better perspective of how the teaching relates to my life and the lives of those around me. In our group we often wrestle through things we may have had questions about from the teaching. Every group has its own personality. My group is where I fit, and where I am Doing Life Together with others. I am so excited to be back in a group.

In just a couple weeks the Fall Semester for Life Groups officially begins. This weekend pick up a Life Group booklet and find your group, or go to www.AliveChurch.com and click on the Life Groups tab to get the latest list of groups.If you have questions about what group might be best for you just ask at the Life Group table.

Have you signed up for a group yet? What difference does Life Group make in your life?

I am so excited about this upcoming weekend at Alive Twin Peaks. This weekend is Baptism weekend! We have baptized many people from the Twin Peaks campus in pools in the surrounding community, but this weekend we will be baptizing during our weekend services at the campus. Come join in the celebration as these folks take their Next Step.

This last weekend I had the opportunity to meet some great people at Discover Alive and last night at Foundations. It is awesome to watch as people take their Next Steps. This week at Foundations we spent time talking about the Bible and how to make it part of our daily lives. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks of Foundations as we continue to look at the tools necessary to living out a Christian life.

At Alive Church we want you to Meet Christ and get Baptized. We want you to attend Discover Alive to find out what Alive is all about and discover the essentials of the Christian faith. We want you to attend Foundations and get equipped with the tools necessary to living out a Christian life. We want you to sign up for a Life Group and be a part of a community where you can connect with others and grow spiritually. We want you to join the Weekend Experience Team and help Alive achieve it’s purpose of “Leading people, who are far from God, to be followers of Jesus. Who are...”. We want you to continue to grow and share your faith with others.

So what is your Next Step?

This morning as I was driving into the office I encountered an unexpected detour. I live about 25 miles from the office outside of town. There are a couple of routes that I can take to get in to town. This morning as I was driving in several cars flashed their lights at me. I ignored them. Honestly I did not even notice them until several cars had passed. I must have been distracted, thinking of what needs to be accomplished today. I continued to drive. Another car passed and this time they were pointing the other direction. I continued on, at this point I am pretty committed to the road I have chosen if I turn around it is going to add an extra 10 to 15 miles to my trip. A couple of cars later there is a lady with her window rolled down and she is flashing her lights and hanging out the window pointing and yelling at everyone to turn around. OK, she got my attention, but I still continued to drive. I drove all the way to the point when I was forced to turn around by a Sheriff Deputy. Well, now I have an extra 25 minutes of drive time. As I was driving it occurred to me that what just happened is a perfect example of one of the points from Jeff's teaching that made an impact on a friend this weekend.

After service on Sunday I had lunch with some friends. We were talking about Pastor Jeff's message. The one thing that came up time and time again as we talked it over, was the fact that there will always be distractions. Those distractions keep us from listening to God's voice. As we talked we all agreed that we are always looking for God's voice to be this huge obvious thunder and lightning type of event. One of the verses that jumped out at us was 1 Kings 19:11-12 (NLT). In the verse there is a windstorm, an earthquake and a fire, but God was not in any of them, He was a gentle whisper. Wow, just like my drive this morning I was looking for this huge thing to tell me to turn around. If I had just listened to that first small "whisper", I could have saved myself a lot of time. Instead I went until the final authority made me turn around. Pretty good picture of our lives sometimes. Go down the wrong road, ignore the signs and go until it is so obvious it is time to listen and take action. I love talking it over after a teaching with friends or at life group. Sharing our different perspectives and what each of us got out of the teaching really brings it home. Do you Talk it Over.

I have always loved numbers. As a kid my favorite Sesame Street character was Count Von Count, need I say more. My favorite number is 3. I was born on 3-23-73. My wife and I dated for 3 years and 3 days before we got married. I could go on and on about numbers. Now, I don't let numbers rule my life, but they definitely are a part of it.

This weekend at Alive Church Twin Peaks was awesome. We began a new series called At The Movies. We had a 38% increase, 48 people, in attendance this weekend at the Twin Peaks Campus. We gave out 26 movie tickets to first time guests and those who invited them. Those numbers are amazing but I am even more excited about another number from the weekend. That number is 2. Yes, I know 2 is so much smaller and in most cases less significant, but this weekend 2 is my favorite number of all and the most significant. This weekend at the Twin Peaks campus 2 people made faith decisions. That is so awesome!!! Overall at Alive this weekend we had 10 faith decisions. What an amazing weekend!! I am so excited to see what God has in store for this next weekend. Invite a friend and join us for week 2 of At The Movies.

For the last couple of weeks I have heard things like: "You have to tell me. The suspense is killing me.", "If I guess it, will you tell me?" and my favorite "I won't tell. I swear." Who knew that there would be so much anticipation for At The Movies (a summer teaching series here at AliveChurch.com.) My kids have been trying everything they can to get the movie titles out of me. (We can not share the titles because of licensing agreements.)

There are just a few of us that know the titles. It has been tough, but I have kept them under wraps. Bribes won't work either. Ask all you want, but I will not tell.

Let me tell you it is going to be a great series and you have to attend. Pastor Jeff Love is using some pretty diverse blockbusters. You will enjoy them, and you will walk away with some amazing biblical truths.

I can't wait. I hope he uses "What About Bob?"