Here is a link to the article at the Starkville Daily News covering our intentions to plant a new church in Starkville. Click here!

Below is the press release our Communications Team posted today in regard to Starkville. We are fired up to have such a great young leader join our Pinelake family. Welcome Josh, Ashlea, and little Jett!

Flowood, Miss. — Pinelake Church has announced that Josh Gilreath has been hired in the lead role of Campus Pastor at its upcoming campus in Starkville.

Gilreath is well know in Mississippi sports ministry circles having served in a variety of positions with Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the past eight years. Most recently he held the position of multi-area director and campus director at Mississippi State University.

“We are thrilled that God has brought such a dynamic spiritual leader to be a part of the Pinelake family,” said Tim Smith, senior associate pastor. “Josh has a deep spiritual maturity, is a proven leader and has a heart-felt compassion for the people in the area. We have confidence that he will provide great spiritual leadership to Pinelake Starkville as Campus Pastor. He and his family are a gift to us and their joining our team affirms that God is preparing to do a great work in this area of our state.”

Gilreath is a graduate of Mississippi State University. He has delivered many inspirational messages before college students and coaches as well as NFL players, coaches and owners.

“I am very humbled to join the staff of such a life-giving, dynamic church like Pinelake,” said Gilreath. “I’m very impressed with the people that God has placed in leadership at Pinelake and I am extremely honored to lock arms with them in ministering to the Starkville community.”

In the fall of 2009, Pinelake’s senior leadership announced that the church would establish an additional campus in the Golden Triangle area. The decision is due in part to the growth of this area of the state as well as it being a great environment to impact college students and influence the next generation.

“I hope that Pinelake Starkville will become a place where people of all ages and from all socio-economic and racial backgrounds will come together and share the abundant life that is found in Jesus Christ,” Gilreath commented. “And by leveraging the opportunities of being connected to the already established Pinelake family, I am expecting that Pinelake Starkville will be a church that impacts the nations.”

With an anticipated opening in the fall of 2010, Pinelake Starkville will be the fourth campus for the church. The original campus, located in Flowood, was established in 1971. In 2006 Pinelake began expanding regionally by following a multi-site church model opening a campus in Madison County followed by one in Clinton in early 2009.

We kicked off our Renewal prayer time again this past Wednesday night at 6:00 at the Reservoir Campus (Clinton and Madison as well). We are committed to bringing our Body together in consistent times of corporate prayer for the needs of individuals, for the vision of the Body and for the kind of intercession that asks God to use us to change the world.

I hope you will make it a priority to be there every week at 6 or as soon as you can. From 6 to 6:15 every week we will create an environment where individuals can pray alone or with available Pastors and Elders. Then our leadership will facilitate our praying together over specific needs of the Church.

In a country where our individual notions and experience of God has almost shut out the Biblical concept of a community experience the natural question to come is “Why should I make this a priority?” “Can’t I just pray alone?” “Why do I need to come pray with others?” Good question. Here is my short answer:

1. You need the encouragement and environment to consistently pray for and to be prayed for in regard to the things God has called for you to be, do and pray.
2. Our praying together gives a platform for God to answer. When God answers, we get to rejoice together and His blessings are shared among us all (meaning the Body grows).
3. There is a mysterious power in us being united in the things that we pray for that blesses God. He loves unity. And He loves our voice being one in the things that we pray for.
4. Our praying together brings His presence and it allows for our experience of worship to be more participatory. God grant us grace that we would stop observing and begin tasting. The truth is we will sing and hear the word and obey at a different level of intensity than ever before because we have started with praying to our God.

So join us every Wednesday night at 6 and lets pray together.

Several years ago Steve Hawthorne wrote an excellent article entitled “God’s Way to Display God’s Glory” where he points out that our praying together corporately pushes us to be a part of a bigger purpose. I have posted a large excerpt from that article to remind us that our “asking together” matters as it gives room for God to call attention to Himself. Hawthorne writes:

“The purpose of all prayer is grandly simple by looking at it from God’s point of view: Prayer is God’s way of glorifying Himself. “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

How does this “glory” business actually work? As we make requests, our attention is turned to God. As God brings forth His answers, our affection can be returned to God. Having been asked, God can then be thanked. Prayer virtually rigs the course of our lives with opportunity to expressly glorify God.

Manifesting God’s glory was precisely the topic in the upper room discussion found in John 14. One follower made the audacious recommendation for God to make a direct appearance. “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus’ response is that such rip-the-sky-open exhibitions of God’s person weren’t required. Instead, “the word I say to you” (14:10) is enough.

In fact, He had to clarify that His word wasn’t a guarded secret for an elite few, but that believing and obeying His word was open to “anyone” (verse 23). Otherwise it seemed that Jesus was going to disclose Himself to a few, but fail to reveal Himself “to the world” (vs 22).

The gospel is indeed for all, but many who seem deaf to Jesus’ “words” will not prove blind to Jesus’ “works.” Christ made it clear that God displays such “works” as eye- openers, which move many to believe the words that He has spoken. He could be believed outright because of what He had to say, or, if need be, He could just as easily be believed because of what He had to display: “on account of the works themselves” (vs 11).

These eye-catching “works” are actually answered prayers. We may have thought that these “works” were extraordinary miracles which can only be done by Jesus. But the context makes it very clear that Jesus only began a long streak of “works” that turn attention toward God. These works, and greater ones, were to be done by Jesus’ followers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do” (14:12).

How is it possible for ordinary believers to do outrageous miracles? By praying explicitly in His name: “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (14:13). Prayer is God’s way of putting His name on future events. If we fail to pray, and God remains faithful to act, people who experience His kindness and power are forced to guess regarding the source of the mercy. They may just as easily conclude that they have been lucky as they might guess that some lesser god or goddess has smiled upon them. God does not really want to work anonymously. May our prayerlessness no longer leave God nameless in all of His wondrous, ongoing goodness.

I have a hunch that God is about to do some of the best things He’s ever done in history. I think that He wants all of them prayed for before they take place. That way, He will be recognized and honored when He accomplishes the purposes of goodness and righteousness that He intends.

That’s why God is calling us to pray as never before, and to unite our prayers in public ways as never before. Greater works are on the way.”

Adapted from an article which appeared in “Pray! Magazine” in 1996, which was initially titled “We Shall See Whom We Seek: United Prayer is God’s Way of Displaying His Glory.” ® Copyright Steve Hawthorne 2001. All rights reserved.

My good friend Steve Goff went to be with Jesus one year ago this past weekend. Steve was our Elder chair, a personal friend, and one of the best people that I have ever known. Steve and June have been (and continue to be) a gift from the Lord to Lynnette and myself. In remembering his life this weekend, I wanted to share some things that Steve taught me through example:

1. Take care of your family.
One of the key passages in laying out what an Elder/Pastor looks like is 1 Timothy 3:4-5 in which Paul reminds us that the home is the proving ground and mirror of Christian character and in some ways the preparation field for ministry. This was a constant conversation that Steve and I had in regard to my responsibility as a husband and father. He would often remind me that “your ‘first’ ministry is to the Lord, then to your family and finally to Pinelake.” Steve gave me much freedom and encouragement to honor the Lord thru spending time with my family. He modeled this by loving his wife, his kids and his grandkids. Steve’s tree planting is a life lesson for another day, but I am thankful for his practical words and life lesson to me in this area.

2. Support your leadership.
As our Elder chair at Pinelake, Steve would often times find himself in the midst of handling conflict resolution, brokering change, or representing the church in difficult circumstances. He was a military man and taught us all much about alignment, responsibility and truth. If we were walking thru a difficult situation, Steve never backed away from representing Pinelake. He was fearless, always willing to take the “shots” for our staff. He was a mighty man in the line of 2 Samuel 23 (it’s worth reading).

3. The Battle is Spiritual.
The simple reminder that the resources needed to overcome the obstacles that face us is not might or power but the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6) was a constant in the life of Steve. One of my favorite memories is a devotional that he gave at an Elder retreat where he handed out army men (we did make fun of him) and taught from Ephesians 6 on Spiritual warfare. It was a constant with him to remind us that:

• The Battle is the Lords! The fight is too hard and the enemy to strong for us to fight in the flesh. His personal application for me in this area was that the work was too big for me and to let others around me help to carry the load. The battle is not mine, it’s not yours, it’s the Lord’s. And he is ever so capable of bringing victory.

• Prayer is the key to winning the battle! The place where we hand it over and participate in the battle is in prayer. Steve Goff was a prayer warrior. He was passionate about our Elders picking up the mantle of prayer for our church. One of my last memories of Steve is leading our Elder team to lay hands on me and pray for my healing. It was an awesome time for me personally. This man loved to pray. And he knew that it was in the secret place that spiritual victory was secured. Can you pray more? Can you give yourself to the battle in a deeper way? God wants to answer us and show us mighty things when we engage past our desires and lay hold of His desires.

• Gird Up! This was Steve’s way of saying get ready for battle. We would face difficult decisions and he would always say that preparation is the key. Put your salvation on, find your peace in Christ, load up on the Word with a renewed mind and get ready for battle. Gird Up!!

I miss my friend today as I write this and think of him. I know his family misses him as well. We all know that Steve is at home with Jesus tonight cheering us on. He taught us a great deal and I am thankful for His life. Steve wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful. I wonder if my life and your life will teach the kind of meaningful lessons that his life taught.

In light of yesterdays message on how God works in difficult circumstances, I’ve been thinking about a song that was recently released on David Crowder Band’s new album, “Church Music”. The song is called “Shadows”, and it speaks to this thought that God is bringing and creating good things in and through us in the darkest times. The “Shadow” of our suffering is outweighed by the “Shadow” of his love demonstrated in the cross.

If you are struggling today, remember. Take every thought captive and sift it through the Cross where His love for you is spoken ever so clearly. The Cross is louder, stronger, and greater than cancer, divorce, financial ruin, disappointment, depression, and death. The Shadow of his love is greater than the Shadow of your darkness. Enjoy these lyrics:

Shadows

Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we’re thrown and we’re tossed
We remember the cost
We rest in Him
In the Shadow of the cross

Attention PC users:

“Train your children in the ways of the Lord, and they will not depart from it (Tim Smith paraphrase)”

What a joy to see my son enjoying the Apple store!

As many of you know, I got great news last week following the PET Scan. The scan showed that there is no cancer present. My Oncologist is suspending (obviously) the chemo treatment. I am continuing to receive treatment for the liver disease and will have more tests next week to see how I am doing in that area. That’s the latest facts about my health.

But life is more than facts. We are reminded again that our God reigns supreme over life, health and death. He has the final word on prognosis and treatment and result. He is gracious and wise and always working out His good pleasure and extending His fame through the small and the large. These things we know, there is a God who has manifested himself in human form (Jesus Christ) who is actively ruling over that which He has designed.

My doctors are in wonder that the treatment for the liver disease has had an impact on the tumors. There is a strong possibility that once I come off of the medicine that the tumors will return. We’ll see.

As for me, I am learning to rejoice and rest, believing that God is able to continually be active and present in my life. So today we rejoice and worship and dance and laugh and sing. Our God is the one who takes the very thing that I have wrestled against (the liver medication) and uses it for my healing. Those things that we just want to get behind us are the tools in His hand that make us alive. How wise is our God? Infinitely wise in all.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 16:27)

The Rankin Ledger ran a great article on Pinelake’s new Reservoir Care Center. Our staff and deacons have done an incredible job of launching this ministry to the community. Read the article here and then find out how you can be involved.

Michael Manuel, our Clinton Campus Pastor, did a great job of leading us today through the second message in the “Life on Loan” Series. Michael challenged us from Matthew 5:14-16 today to use our influence wisely. You can watch it by clicking here.

I was reminded today that our influence is a trust. It must be managed, built, and stewarded over the long haul. We challenge our staff with this thought often. One of our staff values actually says it like this:

“We believe that our influence is a trust extended to us from the people that we lead. We expect our team to make wise choices in regard to their personal lives and in their leadership. We value the effective stewardship of the trust given to us by our Body.”

Perhaps the greatest gifts that a church can give it’s leadership is trust. But that trust has to be merited by leadership that lives with a bigger picture in mind (God’s glory) and a walk that has integrity. In regard to earning that trust we aren’t talking about perfection or unrealistic expectations (which many people have of their pastors), but we are talking about church leadership that has pure motives and takes their calling to shepherd and lead serious. The Bible says it like this in Hebrews 13:17:

” Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.“

What a verse! It says that the church is to joyfully entrust (no grief please!) their pastors with influence and submission and that the leadership faithfully watches over those souls in their care. Its an amazing exchange that comes from a kingdom perspective. That exchange comes with the reminder that the pastor will give an account to God himself for his spiritual leadership of the body.

Influence is a trust that is given. I pray often that our staff (especially me!) and Elders will earn the right to influence our Body at Pinelake by living well. I pray that we would make wise choices and value the incredible freedom that our people have given to us. We will certainly make mistakes, but I hope that humility and grace will be our posture before God and our people when those mistakes happen. And I pray that God would bless our people through our staff’s ministry as we steward wisely our influence.

So many of you have been kind to write, call, or ask about how I am doing with the treatment for the Liver and the Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. August has brought very positive news. My liver numbers (ALT’s) have recently returned to normal (for the first time in over 8 months). The doctors continue to wean me off of the medicine at a very slow rate. My hope is to be off of the medicine by the end of the year.

The really good news is that the medicine used to treat my liver is having a profound effect on the tumors. On Monday, my Oncologist couldn’t find any visible signs of the three tumors that we have been waiting to treat with the Chemotherapy. I will have a PET Scan on August 21st to see if there is any cancer present. If the PET scan comes back with a “no cancer”, we will obviously not have to go through any further cancer treatment at this point.

So, please pray that my PET scan will come back no signs of any cancer. Also, please pray that God will allow me to come off of the liver meds as soon as possible as well. My doctors are very cautious that the tumors may come back as soon as I stop taking the medicine. We’ll worry about that when and if it happens.

God has been so very gracious. I am learning how to “wait” with Him and believe. It is very true that His ways are not my ways. For that I am very grateful. Only He could take something like a liver disease and use it’s treatment to diminish cancer. The very worst things in our lives have the potential to be tools in His hands to gain more ground in making His Glory known thru our lives.