Al Jennings II

New Spiritual Growth Plan is coming!

Last night a got a God-idea. I can't remember exactly when this happened. It was either while I was talking to the winning group leaders or afterwords. But anyway, I came up with a wonderful plan for spiritual growth triggered by the Nutrisystem diet plan. If they can come up with a plan to help you physically, there ought to be a similar plan to help you spiritually. Simple as that. Actually, I have the whole thing in my head inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now, I just have to put it in writing. I'm really excited about this plan because it incorporates the Winning Track. There’s a Bible reading plan, the tabernacle prayer,and other kinds of prayer in an all-in-one system that will take only 60 days to finish. And it comes complete with all the support tools you need to do it. And at the end you will see measurable results. And here's good news for those who have not completed the Winning Track: at the end of this two month period, you will have completed the bronze, silver, and gold levels of the winning track. 

Today, I'm going to put it together. Fun stuff!

What Pastor Al's Been Up To Pt. II

This past Friday I picked up our son Al to take him to a golf tournament about 45 minutes outside of Orlando.  I’ve enjoyed my visit with him and catching up. In his first round on Saturday, it was a little chilly on the course  - 60° & 22 mph wind with gusts up to 36. Every once in awhile the sun would peek out from the clouds to warm things up a bit. But I know you don't want to hear that :-) 

After shedding some pounds off my midsection I now have a revelation why my back would tighten up after walking for long periods on the golf course. I was carrying too much weight! Duh! Such a big difference. I feel fantastic! But I also understand that if I don’t adjust my eating habits, I’ll put the weight right back on. You’all pray for me!

This Florida trip has been a good time of refreshing for me and I'm excited about getting back to start a series on the home called "Relationship Rescue."

What Pastor Al's Been Up To

Here’s what’s been up with me lately. I’ve been in Florida for over a week combining a little business with pleasure and taking a break from the cold weather. I ministered on the last day of a three-day healing seminar in Jacksonville and also did a book signing of my healing book which was cool. They sold out of their initial order of books prior to my arrival and have ordered some more. 

Also, I got a chance to go to South Beach and caught up with a former Summit musician Derrick Floyd and his wife Mari. Derek has a new position with Guitar Center Pro putting him in a position to save us a lot of money on our multi-side venues.  Carla's got me on a strict diet and I gotta tell you, it's tough being in South Florida on this kind of diet. I had to turn down a lot of good food. :-), but I'm getting through it and have dropped about 15 lbs. This regimen has helped my discipline and I feel great physically; better than i have in years. I’ve probably drunk more tea in the last 10 days than I have the last five years combined! 

That’s all for now, I’ll give you more tomorrow.

Fearing God and Great Escape

Prov. 14:27  Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. 

Rom. 8:2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 

1Cor. 10:13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.

The fear of God that the Bible talks about is not being afraid of the Lord. It means having a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. It means having a reverential fear of God.

When you reverence God it is a constant stream of life that gives you an escape! And escape from what? An escape from the snares of death. This means an escape or freedom from the law of death, which is not limited to physical death, but also escape from poverty, sickness, fear, destruction, disaster, etc.

The scripture tells us that God is faithful and has made a way of escape for you; show you a way out, even in the midst of temptation, tests, or trials that you may be going through.

Fear God and take your way of escape! It’s waiting 4U!

If you can see it, you can have it!

Gen. 15:5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 

God told Abraham to look at the stars to see if he was able to number them. What God was doing was giving him a vision of his future; what God wanted him to accomplish.

Amanda Blumenherst was a three-time golf National Player of the Year at Duke University. She recently graduated in 2009. She played in numerous LPGA events on sponsors exemptions as an amateur. After graduation she went to qualifying school for the LPGA tour and finished 1st to obtain her tour card. She is on her way to a successful pro career. Amanda grew up playing golf in Fort Wayne, Indiana. My son Al has played golf with her.

Before she was in high school the family moved to Arizona so she could play golf year-round. A few years ago we were out with a realtor looking for homes and the Blumenherst home was up for sale so the realtor took us there. This home was on the golf course. She took us to Amanda's bedroom, which had a beautiful view of a golf hole. Her bed was positioned in such a way that when she woke up and lifted her head off of the bed she could see the golf hole out of her window. She said the reason her parents did this was so that she could wake up every morning, look out of the window and get a vision for her future. Get some images, pictures, magazine clippings, or whatever. Something you can look at constantly to get a vision of your future; what you want to achieve; what you want to accomplish. Then look it it often.

If you can see it, you can have it! 

SEE IT!!!!!

Apple Product Help

Because of the number of people who are getting iPods/iPhones and Apple products these days and the number of requests that I am getting to help friends to use these devices, I decided to schedule an instructional meeting. Once again Apple has stirred the pot with the announcement of the upcoming iPad. BTW, I would encourage those who are seriously thinking about getting an Apple product to come to this meeting. If you are interested in coming, please leave me a comment with your e-mail address.

Prayer

John 2:5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 

How often do we try to get in our "prayer time", running through our agenda - when God is trying to speak to us in the midst of our talking. Be still and listen when God's trying to talk to you in your prayer time. Listen to what He is saying to you, write it down, and do what He says.

When you listening, that's still prayer! Got it?!

Prayer is not time you have to "get in"; it's communicating with God face-to-face!

Late Night Thoughts

Yesterday I attended a seminar in Indianapolis dealing with - Breaking Church Growth Barriers with Nelson Searcy. It was very enlightening and provided tons of ammunition to help us as a ministry get to the next level.

Pastor David Thomas of Joint-heirs Christian Center in Jacksonville, Florida is conducting a 3 night Healing Seminar. He's using my book, "God Wants You Healed" as required reading for the attendees. I'm headed to Florida tomorrow and will teach the last session on Thursday and do a book signing as well. It'll be fun and I look forward to it.

On a personal note, I am doing some interesting things in my personal evangelistic efforts. This week I had a wonderful manifestation of prayer and God is opening doors. That's all I wish to say about it right now except for the fact that God is amazing! If you let Him, He'll do things for you that you can't do on your own.

Encounters

We had an incredible experience at SummitChurch this weekend. The fellows in the posse (FW Campus) did an amazing job with the song "somewhere in heaven" led by Stefan and Caanan I was at a loss for words.
I attended the Indianapolis encounter on Sunday and it was powerful. The worship was extremely uplifting; we added two new singers who are a welcome addition to our team and they fit right in. And they didn't even rehearse together until yesterday morning before the encounter! The best is yet to come!
I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the "this is it" series and I had a lot of positive feedback. I'm grateful to God that this series was a blessing to the body. I look forward to what lies ahead for us as we pursue the purpose of God for Summit.

Manifestation Time is Happening Now!

Let me tell you that I am so pumped up right now because I believe we have hit a breakthrough in our ministry. I saw the biggest manifestation this past weekend of the dream/vision that I had when we remodeled our sanctuary in the Fort Wayne campus. When I called people to the altar, I realized that I didn't even know half of the people who came to the altar. I was really excited about that. And throughout the congregation this past weekend there were several guests and a bunch of people that are new or recent attenders. I can see in the spirit and in the natural that we have hit a breakthrough in ministry; but it's not time to relax. It's harvest time and we need to get ready to minister to and care for the harvest that's coming in. Are you ready? I know I am!

In the Indianapolis campus, we are excited to have Juanita Regich as our new Winning Group Director. Also, I’m amped about 2 new singers joining our music team. God is doing great things at Summit and I am glad!!!