“…the free gift… …the free gift… …the free gift… …the free gift… …the free gift…”
Romans 5:15-17 (ESV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
Dear Friends: December 2011
Welcome to the eighth annual edition of “Pike’s Peek!” Normally this annual edition comes out in August or September, but due to a number of circumstances, this issue had to wait until now. You may remember the character quality the Lord has had me work on in 2011 was/is “wait”. This was another opportunity to wait on His timing! As usual, this annual issue includes more pictures than normal, with more of a view into the future, and a financial update.
I’ve been chewing on the above verses the past several weeks. At Christmas we often think of gifts given. The receiver gets them for free, but someone had to pay for them (giver - via money, time, effort, etc.). The greatest gift is eternal life. In 3 consecutive verses (ESV), it says 5x – “the free gift”. Thanks Jesus for paying the huge price! May each of us receive that free gift (Him – John 1:12), by faith, (Ephesians 2:8,9), and open that gift and put it to use!
Please allow me to reminisce – many of you know this history, so enjoy the flashback!
Ever since 1988, I have been associated with a network of churches called the State Youth Fellowship (SYF). The exception was 1993-1994, when I served as Minister of Youth & Education at Grace Immanuel Bible Church in Jupiter, FL. When I first was introduced to SYF, I was Youth Pastor at what was then Claim Street Baptist Church on the near east side of Aurora. Back then, SYF consisted mostly of Conservative Baptist Churches. At my first official SYF meeting (hosted at Claim St.), I was asked to consider being the President for SYF (to my surprise, since I had just moved to Aurora). I prayed about it, and several months later began serving in that role for 2 years while also being Youth Pastor. Then, from 1990-1992, I left the Youth Pastor position and served as SYF Director full-time across IL. Then, when I returned to the Chicago area in 1995 and joined the staff at Sonlife, I continued serving in various roles with SYF, and have continued to, while with Come To Life Ministries.
Over the years, SYF has grown to include churches of multiple denominations, associations or independent. Most of our churches have Youth Pastors/Directors who have gone through some form of the old Sonlife training (now called Sonlife Classic). We have developed a synergy of working together, sharpening each other’s ministries, developing disciplemaking ministries locally, and then providing activities that we can do better together than we could on our own.
After waiting on the Lord and praying, the decision was made for SYF to join up with Come To Life Ministries! There are two committees that oversee the day-to-day operations of CTLM, and one board overseeing the big picture issues.
The most recent meetings of these groups are pictured below. The group on the left oversees things I do with CTLM, except student ministries. The group in the middle was our most recent prayer/planning meeting of what was SYF, which is now called C2L (the student ministries arm of CTLM). You don’t have to be an official committee member to attend the C2L prayer/planning meetings. The group on the right is the new board. We met on 12-12-11. Thanks for your prayers for these groups. The board members (left to right) are Mark, Brian, Dave, Andy & me.
Come To Life Ministries * P.O. Box 32 * Aurora, IL 60507 * 630.291.3697 * www.cometolifeministries.org
The new mission statement for CTLM is:
“Come To Life Ministries exists to coach and offer encouragement to ministry leaders,
strengthen Great Commission and Great Commandment ministries within the local church,
and to help people see the Bible as alive and personally relevant.”
I continue to serve as Executive Director for CTLM. This includes being responsible for the spiritual leadership and doctrinal integrity of CTLM. As you saw in the pictures, I’m blessed to be working with great teammates!
Scripture Presentations
This past summer I was finally able to again perform Scripture Presentations (first time after open heart surgery in April 2010). The pictures (left) include groups – or at least some of the people that were in attendance (Oglesby Union Church, Camp Grow, Pine Trail Camp). I don’t always take pictures of the churches/groups that I perform for, unless it’s a camp, retreat, etc.
I’m learning that doing dramatic presentations takes a lot of heart (play on words there!). My body hasn’t been able to jump full force into doing them as much as I used to. My heart surgery recovery continues along. My mind seems to be clearer then it was last winter. However, that means I am noticing the cold more (even though it’s been a mild winter so far).
I’ve mainly just done Philippians Presentations, though for the first time since heart surgery, I performed the Colossians Presentation on December 11th. Some of the responses since summer include:
Age 15 – “To see someone actually express the closeness Paul had with God was inspiring. Hearing Dave say these things, not just read them, raised the bar as far as my relationship with God. I want the closeness Paul had.”
Age 71 – “Philippians became more alive than ever! Having memorized small sections of the book, those passages were most significant.”
Age 24 – “This is the 2nd time I saw this presentation & it was powerful to me both times. What stuck out to me this time was the love Paul showed the Philippians through his pleading to them”.
Age 13 – “I don’t like to read the bible a lot, almost never. I have time but I never read it. I always have time to do my stuff but not God’s.” (Hmmm!)
BOOK BOX!
The Mentor Leader (Secrets to Building People and Teams that Win Consistently)
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker (Copyright©2010, Tyndale House Publishers Inc.)
p.XVII (intro) “Those we lead will be more receptive if they believe we genuinely want them to succeed.”
p.5 “If you take only one thing from this book, let it be this: Relationships are ultimately what matter – our relationships with God and with other people.”
p.65 “Compliment your strengths with the strengths of others: Remember, not only were you created for community, but others were too. You were not created to do everything by yourself”.
p.174 “For most people, poorly defined tasks are one of the highest areas of dissatisfaction.”
p.177 “Nothing does more to lubricate the rough spots than a good dose of encouragement.”
p.194 “Sometimes the smallest things we do have the biggest impact.”
Thanks again for your prayers and partnership with Come To Life Ministries! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Grace n peace to you,
Dave
Dave Pikel
Dave’s home * 1096 Cascade Dr. * Aurora, IL 60506 * 630.897.7375 * Email=Dave@cometolifeministries.org
