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!

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Sun 30 Oct 2011 7:03:26 pm     | 1 comments

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One of the reasons I love being in nature and exploring the wilderness is because it reflects God is all His power. Rom 1:20 says: "For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."  When you hike in the mountains or the desert you can't help but see God's invisible qualities reflected in and through His creation. I suppose that is one of the reasons I love to paint landscapes. I am drawn to nature as it reveals God's eternal power and divine nature.

this past week I had the privilege of traveling to Wyoming with an artist friend and doing some painting near Yellowstone and getting tons of reference material for the studio. It is so refreshing for me to be out in the wilderness alone with the Lord doing some painting. One of my favorite experiences with this trip was that we had an artist who knew a rancher that runs a ranch formerly owned by Walt Disney. Spent a day on the ranch painting. (Over forty Grizzly roam the ranch!)

Glad to be back home - now I start working through the references and putting the finishing touches on this weekends talk and the beginning of a new series - ready to go!

This weekend is the beginning of  our new series called Exponential. Over the next five weeks we will be looking at "minor" characters in the Bible who had a major impact in the world. This series will help us to be Balanced in our spiritual journey. We will be challenged to live exponential lives by serving others, taking responsibility for our spiritual growth, giving faithfully and reaching others for Jesus.  Hope to see you this weekend at one of our services. Sat. 5pm, Sunday 9:30 or 11

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Wed 20 Jul 2011 6:26:09 pm     | 1 comments

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Let me start this blog with an update on my week. I'm in Wyoming doing a painting trip with another artist friend. The picture is one of the hundreds of references I've gotten over the last couple of days - (very little sleep, lot's of driving, painting and taking pictures... and junk food.

Hope you joined me last weekend for At The Movies 2011, we talked about how we have been given a clue to living this life while we looked at Transformers. This coming weekend at Alive Church I am going to be wrapping up At The Movies 2011 with one of my favorite talks from the Bible: Given a Purpose. And the movie of the week is... (hint - it is an animated and if you heard last weekend it does have a sequel coming out this summer!) Take some time and invite a friend for this weekend or if you have never been to one of our campuses, make this the weekend, it will be a great time and a life changing talk. Besides, last weekend for free pop corn and lots of movies clips to look at Biblical truth in a Hollywood blockbuster!

Always want to give this report - last weekend there were 10 new people who made decisions to follow Jesus. If you are one of them - congrats! You've made the most important decision of your life. You are a new person on a new journey - don't do it alone!


Thinking and praying this morning and focusing on Jesus words in John 8:31-32: "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." I love this verse but we often take it out of context to mean that Jesus is talking about being honest and that honesty will lead to freedom. There are plenty of verses that talk about honesty - this isn't one of them. It is so much more. I guess one reason I love this verse so much is that one of my personal values has always been FREEDOM. I want to live in freedom.

Jesus died for us to be free, not free to "do our own thing" rather to free us from doing our own thing and to serving Him. There is a qualifier for this freedom. "Continue in My word.", then you will know the truth. Many version say "Obey My commands". We read that and we start to think that it gets complicated. Not really. That's one of the things I love about being a Jesus follower. Jesus said here are my commands: "Love God and Love others." (Matt 22:37-39) He said that is it. He is Truth - we will know Him, not a thing and we will live in FREEDOM - absolute FREEDOM! Anyone grateful for the Freedom Jesus, The Truth, gave us on the cross? I am. Dude - I'm really grateful - Thank you God!!!

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Thu 14 Jul 2011 11:24:28 am     | no comments

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A couple of things as in the middle of the week.

• First, last weekend we had 4 people make decisions to follow Jesus. As we continue to partner together to Lead people who are far from God to be followers of Jesus, you are making a real difference in people's eternity!!! Everyone who serves and gives at Alive Church are rock stars! There are several opportunities to be on the team, why not get going this summer? Connect with your Campus Pastor to be a part of the Alive Team and start changing lives. You can find their emails by going to www.alivechurch.com and clicking on the campus that you attend.

• Someone did it! They guessed what the four movies we are using for “At The Movie 2011” have in common. Congrats to Verla, although I think she had an advantage – she is a lawyer! The thing the four movies have in common is that they all have a sequel coming out this summer. Verla, I guess Kathy and I will be taking you and your husband out to dinner at Red Lobster!!!

• Now that Verla has let the cat out of the bag, it gives everyone a few more tips for guessing the movies over the next two weekends. I will tell you this much, this weekend is based on a PG13 movie and the last one is based on a PG animated movie. This weekend involves one of my favorite cars and next weekend a very tasty food! Any guesses?

• Free Movie Ticket: This weekend at Alive Church you have another chance to give your friends, family, loved one, neighbors and co-workers a free movie ticket as well as receiving one yourself. Yes - it went so well the first weekend of At The Movies 2011 that we are going to offer free movies tickets one more weekend at Alive Church Oro Valley, Alive Church Twin Peaks and Alive Church Online. All First time guest this weekend and the person who invited them. (By the way, we have special invitations this week, if you missed the weekend you can stop by one of the campuses and pick them up; a bag of microwaveable popcorn with an invitation label printed on it.)

• The last thing is my attitude. This time of year in the desert you find out what you are made of. After several days of 110 % and the humidity on the rise because the monsoon rains are close; I can see the clouds but not happening at my house yet. This is the time of year that God always does a little attitude check on me. Maybe you have heard the phrase “you need a check up from the neck up”. That’s me after a few weeks of this searing heat!!! So, since I’m dealing with my attitude I thought I would give you a few verses that are speaking to me right now:.

Phil 2:5; “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Romans 14:17-19 “ For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

1 Peter 4:1-3"You must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

That's it for now - see you this weekend for At The Movies 2011 - part 3. Free popcorn and a biblical message hidden in one of Hollywood's blockbusters.

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Wed 6 Jul 2011 5:46:53 pm     | 1 comments

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        We want to partner with those of you who come to Alive Church for the sake of those who do not come here because we know that the most important thing that can happen is that you build an authentic relationship of trust with them. In that relationship we know that you are going to have opportunities and times when you can pour into your friends lives for the sake of eternity. It’s all about building relationships for the sake of something bigger and that is introducing our friends, loved one, neighbors and co-workers to the God who created them, who loves them and who has a purpose for each of their days.

      So, this week at Alive Church we are partnering together in a unique way to invite our friends to attend a weekend service. As we begin our Summer Series called At The Movies 2011, this weekend only, every first time guest that you bring to services will receive a free movie ticket, and to make help you continue to build those relationships if you bring a first time guest you will get a free movie ticket as well.

      I realize that for many of you this is really getting you out of your comfort zone. So I am praying for you especially this week. On Thursday I will be fasting lunch and praying for each of us as we invite someone to At The Movies 2011. I encourage you to pray and fast with me for the Alive Church family as we invest in lives for the sake of eternity this week.

      Beginning this weekend each of the teachings in this series will center around a Hollywood blockbuster. We will be looking at and discovering the Biblical truths hidden in them while using several clips from the movie of the week. (Sorry, I can’t tell you the movies because of copyright issues. But let me just say that this week will be a fast and furious teaching.)

      Invite a friend, get a free movie ticket, enjoy some pop-corn, at the same time offering the greatest single gift that you could give anyone, anywhere – does it get any better than this? See you and your friends this weekend for the first week of At the Movies 2011 – I hope you like westerns!

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Wed 22 Jun 2011 12:33:16 pm     | no comments

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This morning I went for a prayer walk in the desert, the desert is so peaceful and beautiful in the mornings, good time to pray. As your pastor I take serious your prayer needs and even when I don’t know them or maybe even you personally, I spend time praying for the needs of everyone who calls Alive Church home. I pray God’s blessings and presence in your lives and for His provision for all your needs. I know many of you do the same for me.

I was walking and praying in a wash near my home. Something caught my eye as I walked past a bunch of rain debris that had piled up around the base of a tree. I couldn’t believe it! It was one of our street signs for the church from when we met in Mountain View High School. It is over four years old. Our motto at the time was “changing lives on purpose.” I spent a few moments thinking and praying about all the lives that have been changed over the last few years. I thought of so many of you who have been with Alive and myself for many years being a part of the team and have had a big part of seeing lives changed. Some of those changed lives have moved from our city and now are serving and changing lives in their new homes…you are still making a difference. Some of those changed lives have gone on to be with Jesus, we will see them again someday in heaven. Some of those lives have fallen from there walk as a follower of Jesus…I pray today that God will cause someone to cross their paths to remind them.

As I carried this sign home I kept praying and couldn’t help but think about the incredible team that God has assembled for the next phase of our journey together as a church. Looking back is fun and I have so many found memories, but looking at what God is doing today and preparing us for tomorrow is life! Here’s what I know; we have only just begun. As we remain faithful as a church and humble before God, He is going to use us to change more lives over the next decade than we can even imagine.

Some years you just know that your favorite football team is a championship team. There are no super stars hogging all the glory, no one making it all about themselves, just a solid winning team who cares more about the whole than themselves. You know they have a shot at the championship.

That is how I feel about our team at Alive right now, from our Campus Pastors to all of those who are serving as team leaders to every one of you who is a volunteer on our weekend teams. This is the best team that I have ever had the privilege of working with in my 28 years of ministry! Please know that I am praying for you daily. There will be a day when I am walking and praying again somewhere and will find a piece of our history that points back toward this era of Alive Church, I believe with all my heart that we will be able to look back and say that God did miraculous things in and through us. I believe with all my heart that we will fondly look back at all the changed lives, ourselves included, with amazement at how awesome God is. I believe with all my heart that together, our best days are yet to come!

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Tue 7 Jun 2011 11:11:05 am     | 1 comments

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Growing up my Grandparents had a large grapevine that followed the path from the house to the barn. It probably measured around seventy feet. I remember helping Grandma picks grapes when they were ripe knowing that she would be making some of her famous Grape Jelly, which I loved! (Store bought brands couldn’t hold a candle)

 

Jesus used the Vineyard as a picture for us and our lives. The Vineyards were not producing grapes for jelly but rather wine. The one thing that a Vineyard and my Grandmother had in common was both want their grapevines to be productive. In John 15:1-2 Jesus said: "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

 

We see that God the Father is the gardener and He wants His garden to be productive. Jesus goes on to say: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing”  (John 15:5) We are the branches that are to produce fruit. What is the fruit that we are to produce?

 

God intends for our lives to be productive, first, as we use our gifts and talents hopefully through our work environments. Specifically Jesus tells us that we will be productive in our prayer life when we remain connected to Him as the vine: “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.” (John 15:7-8) 

 

We also see throughout the Bible that we are to produce the “fruit” of the Spirit; “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)  God the Father wants us to be productive, we are created to be productive. Nobody wants a vineyard that does not produce fruit.

 

We live this productive life by making a moment by moment decision to follow Jesus. That is where we get nourishment and life. It is natural for us to be productive, just like a grapevine naturally produces grapes, it is the natural restful product of our inner life as we follow Him.

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Tue 17 May 2011 5:20:05 pm     | 2 comments

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I love music, listening to it and playing it. I spent most of my youthful years studying, practicing and leading music. It is a powerful tool for the human soul. A well written lyric still gets me, regardless of the subject matter. I am especially interested in the music of the church, both past and present, present for reasons not only that I am a pastor but as a follower of Jesus I am a part of His church.  As a musician I love to see the history of music, in fact in my office I have a collection of old hymnals from the early church, some dating back to the late 1,800s.

 

There are hymns (a hymn just refers to the structure of a song) that go back much further than any printed hymnal that I will be able to collect, one such song of the church is found in 2 Tim 2:11-13:

“If we die with him,

we will also live with him.

If we endure hardship,

we will reign with him.

If we deny him,

he will deny us.

If we are unfaithful,

he remains faithful,

for he cannot deny who he is.”

 

Music was much more than just a melody and words to the early New Testament Church, it was a tool to teach and to chronicle their thinking. Can you picture us getting together and singing those words in the modern church in America? Singing about martyrdom? For the early Christians these were not just symbolic words, they were reality. They sang these songs in their services knowing that the melody and lyrics would encourage them throughout the week as they faced life threatening situations because of their faith in Jesus.

 

These are the songs of a Fearless people. They were a people who were given to victory in their faith regardless of the cost. This song was not a theological dissertation, rather it was like most of the songs of the church a reflection of the culture and all that these early Christians were going through and their attitudes. Music is always a reflection of the time it is written. That is why even today if you travel throughout the world you will find songs sung in churches where Christians are being oppressed by their governments and communities much different than songs sung here in America.

 

This song from the early church reminds me that I need to take advantage of the good times in my life and get prepared with the full armor of God, (Eph 6:13-17) because there will be a day when my songs change. Remember you are either in a crises just getting out of a crises or headed toward a crises, that’s just life.  

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Wed 11 May 2011 11:36:59 am     | no comments

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Are you tired of worry and fear stealing all your peace?  Not that you live in worry and fear every moment of your life, but you have those moments. Someone says something that pushes your button, or you hear something that causes you to spin out of control. The apostle Paul gives us some great truth to help us deal with all worry and fear: “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  (Phil 4:6-7, NLT)

 

There is so much to encourage us in those two short verses, but there are two things in particular that jump out at me today to encourage me regarding God’s peace. First is the word “exceeds”,  it’s a compound word in the original text that means to be way beyond anything we can measure, superior, incomparable, unsurpassed, unequaled, excels, surpasses, rises above, beyond any other kind of peace.  According to this verse there is nothing in the entire world that can even compare to God’s peace. Yet, we search for peace in many different things.

 

The second word that jumps out at me regarding God’s peace in this verse is the word “guard”.  The picture of our mind is like a control tower at an airport. The condition of our minds is the condition of our lives. When Paul says “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”, he gives us a picture of a military guard who never leaves his post. One who faithfully protects, monitors, no one or nothing can get by without their approval. Gods peace will faithfully guard our hearts and minds.

 

This means all the worries and fears of this world and all the garbage the enemy brings our way cannot have access to our minds and hearts when we allow Gods peace to rule. His peace keeps worry and fear at bay. His peace keeps our minds and hearts from spinning out of control.

 

In everything you face today let Gods peace dominate your heart and mind. Ask God to place His peace as the guard of your life this very moment and in every moment as fear and worry begin to attack. In prayer begin to declare that Gods peace is at work in your life and is dominating all of your thinking, ultimately determining the condition of your life.

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Tue 10 May 2011 11:04:52 am     | 3 comments

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I have had people ask me, “What’s so good about today? Isn’t this the day Jesus died?” It was not good for Him in His humanity, He was crucified. Had it been any of us we would say this was more like “black Friday.” What makes this Good Friday is what Jesus did for us. When He gave Himself on the cross it became a good thing…the good thing He did for us is proclaimed in His words: “It is finished.”

 

What was Jesus talking about? His Life? Certainly His life in human form was coming to a close, but when He spoke He spoke of something far greater than the end of His physical life here on this earth. Jesus actually spoke one word that translates into “It is finished.” That word in the original text is the word tetelestai. It means to complete, fulfill, to pay a debt or to carry out.  It is a word that is used many times in the New Testament. A servant would use this word to tell his master that he had completed the task that he was given.

 

What is the task that Jesus declares from the cross that He has completed? Jesus has finished the task the Father sent Him to earth to accomplish. God’s plan for mankind to have a way, a path, a doorway to Himself was now complete. The prophetic words that God spoke back in Genesis 3:15 after Adam and Eve sinned: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."  (NIV)

 

Jesus completed everything that the Father sent Him to do, but we have not. He still has good things for us to do before we can say “It is Finished.”  Paul tells us this in Eph 2:10; “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” To get to the end of life and know we finished the task that God created us for is the ultimate ending. Paul was able to declare this about His life; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Tim 4:7-8 (NIV) That’s powerful. He speaks words that sound very familiar to those spoken by Jesus on the cross.

 

How about you? Are you running the race of life with a resolve to “finish” what God has created you for? Is there some unfinished business that you are avoiding or ignoring? I want to run the race in such a way that not only can I declare like Jesus and Paul that “I finished” but to hear the words spoken by the master: “well done.” (Luke 19:17)

 

Because Jesus finished His work on the cross, we have His power and life in us and through us to be able to finish all that God has given and created us to do and be.

 

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”   (Phil 1:6 NLT)

Posted by JeffreyAllen_Lov on Fri 22 Apr 2011 10:35:22 am     | no comments

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