Plowers Wanted, Full-Time, Every Need Provided, Retirement Plan Is Out of This World

We are in need of plowers. To apply, please respond to this questionnaire by commenting below.

Please select the statement that best describes you:

A - I am going to try plowing for a while. If I don’t like plowing, I’ll quit.

B - I am going to plow for a while. I’ll probably get bored with plowing or tired from plowing, so I don’t mind sticking around watching other people plow.

C - I plow my way. Nobody tells me how to plow, when to plow, or even where to plow. If you don’t plow my way, you’re lame.

D - I already plowed. I put in my time plowing. Let someone else plow for a while. Why do I always have to plow?

E - I think people who plow are stupid. There are much more fun things to do out there than plow.

F - Plowing needs done. I will plow. I will never stop plowing. Plowing is what I am supposed to do, and I find the harder I plow, the more joy I have in plowing.

What determines your answer? The issue ultimately is commitment to the work. Where did we lose our sense of commitment? We are quicker to sign a multi-year deal with a cell phone company or a satellite TV provider than we are to sign on to do eternal work with the King of Kings in His church.

Following Jesus Christ, serving Him with our very lives is not a part time job, a temporary job, a self-centered job, a progressive job, or a self-serving job.

It is a full-time, permanent, Christ-centered partnership to serve Christ.

Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:62

Are you fit for the Kingdom of God? Have you made a “no looking back” commitment?

Then let’s get plowing.

p.s. - no looking back

We Launched! … So Now What?

It’s in the record books! Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North launched October 2, 2011! The Lord showed up in a mighty way to prepare us for that day, and we are all so grateful to Him and this new work He has begun!

Despite all the hard work, the prayer, the giving… we did not reach a finish line. All of that was to get us to the starting blocks! The best days are ahead of us, as we make disciples of Jesus Christ!

The message launch Sunday was: Jesus’ Last Command is My First Priority. Jesus, Who has all authority, told us to go and make disciples. Look at your life right this minute and ask: “How am I making disciples right now?” If you aren’t making disciples right now, then you need to jump on board with us, right now. I mean right now. No need to wait. Call me, e-mail me, see me at worship service. Let’s get on it. Jesus calls us to this, it is a work that impacts eternity, and there is no greater joy than God at work through us. Do you really need another reason?!

So what is ahead for us? Here are a few things we want YOU to be praying about. How has the Lord equipped you to be a part of His work with Harvest Bible Chapel?

1. Our Website - I have been updating it with news events, blogs, etc, but now that we have gone from Launch Team to Launched Church phase, we need to make an overhaul on our website. This is out of my area of expertise, so I am praying for someone to come and help get it updated. My e-mail is jmiller@harvestpittsburghnorth.org
    
2. Our Worship Team - Sami and Laura Yacoub, our worship leaders, are working on assembling more musicians to be a part of our worship team. Has God blessed you with musical ability?
    
3. Small Groups - November 6, we will be kicking off Small Groups. Harvest isn’t a church with small groups, it is a church of small groups. We want to see everyone involved in a small group. We want you to be pouring into others and allowing others to pour into you.
    
4. Children’s Ministry - We want to assist all parents in the discipleship of their own children. While I am preaching, children can go to Higher Ground. That’s the name of the children’s ministry. I guess if you didn’t know that, that statement 2 sentences ago is pretty funny. While children receive age-appropriate Bible teaching, their parents can listen to the Word from me and not have to worry about distractions from kids (theirs or otherwise). We are calling on those of who have a gift to teach and a love for children to apply.
    
5. Hospitality - Every service at Harvest ends with “You are loved!” We want to do everything we can to make sure people leave feeling that statement is true. Are you a “people person”?

We are anxious to hear from you as to how you are going to be a part of the work of the Lord!

What is coming up, sermon-wise? The next 4 weeks, we will be looking at the 4 Pillars of Harvest Bible Chapel: Proclaiming the Authority of God’s Word Without Apology, Lifting High the Name of Jesus Through Worship, Believing Firmly in the Power of Prayer, and Sharing the Good News of the Gospel with Boldness. Then we will dive into the book of Colossians in a verse by verse study.

Our theme this year: Jesus is First! With Jesus First in your life, come and be a part of a church where Jesus is First!

This is only the beginning!

p.s. - In all things, Jesus must have the preeminence! (Colossians 1:18)

A Personal Invitation

If you have been near me more than 4 seconds in the last month, you have probably heard. If you see me on Facebook or Twitter, you have probably heard.

October 2, 2011, at 10:00 AM, Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North is launching at Marshall Middle School. 

I knew a month ago that it would take a miracle to get this church going. Fortunately, the Founder and CEO of the church is in the miracle business. Jesus said "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18), and He told us to "go make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). No doubt He is doing His job. We must, in His strength, be faithful to do ours. I was holding back tears at our run-thru on Sunday, just looking around and thinking, "Look at what God did"!

So this is your personal invitation to come. I would love to meet you and work together in making disciples!

If you are already faithfully serving in a church, I would like you to pray for us and come and visit us occasionally. Come on launch day and bless us as we go forth. 

But if you feel God is calling you to be a part of an exciting new ministry, if you believe the Holy Spirit is leading you to be a part of starting this church, come and join up with us. This Sunday's message is about the mission of Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North. Maybe you've been on the sidelines for too long and don't know how to get back in the game. This is your chance. 

Our theme this year: Jesus is first!

p.s. - counting down...

God's Math: 0+0=1 (?)

1 Corinthians 3:3-11 - For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

It’s a sad testimony to the church when you hear people say things like, “All they ever do is bicker and fight at that church!" Too many churches have gone off-mission because all their energy is spent fighting their own members! There is nothing new under the sun. It has always been Satan’s way. If he can’t destroy a church from outside opposition, he will try to destroy it from within, a sort of Holy Civil War.

The Corinthian church had such a problem. People put themselves in two camps. While some wore their “Vote for Paul” t-shirts, others had on their “I Heart Apollos” buttons. It was like children picking sides for kickball!

But Paul wrote to them to tell them this was foolishness. And here we see an interesting display of God’s math. God says 0+0=1. Did you catch that? So neither he who plants (Paul) nor he who waters (Apollos) is anything. So planter Paul = zero, and waterer Apollos = zero. But then he says he who plants and he who waters are one… So planter (0) plus waterer (0) equals one!

This is God’s math. We tend to think we are something special, “this church would collapse without me.“ But the truth is, you and I are just links in God’s chain. A link by itself is nothing, but all together, they form one chain. Paul did his part and Apollos did his part. Individually, they are nothing. The same is true for you and I in the church. You do your part, and I’ll do mine. But unless God is in it, nothing is really happening! That’s why Paul said only God gives the growth.

I am so excited for the launch of this church on October 2. We have an amazing team of people all eagerly doing their part. Individually, we are all zeros. But linking together, with the Holy Spirit reigning through us, God is going to do big things.

Want to link up with us?

p.s. - is a zero, but slightly offended at being called “a big fat zero"