May 27th CPP Motivator - Terry Shock

Terry Shock who previously served as The Pentecostals of Alexandria's Youth Pastor and then as Assistant Pastor, was elected Associate Pastor in 2001, and along with the Manguns and the rest of the pastoral team, continue to lead the congregation in the same purpose; the same love for souls; the same commitment to prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and evangelism; and with the same anointing that have been a part of the church since its beginning. With plans on the drawing board for expanding facilities and new programs, and with weekly attendance moving toward the 3000 mark, The POA continues to carry out its mission to provide connection for all people to Jesus Christ through worship, evangelism, discipleship, and fellowship.

March 25th Jared Howell Speaking on Leadership to CPP Leaders

The times that we are living in have created a difficult dominant characteristic in the generations we are trying to work with in American society and that is the lack of lead ability. Lead ability is so very important; it is our ability to lead and our ability to be lead. My children are still too young for me to ask this question but it was asked of me and I am sure you have heard it as well; “if your friend jumped off a cliff, would you jump also?” While this is a valuable saying and is meant to protect us from bad influences, it also makes us leery of following good leadership; creating in us a lack of lead ability.

George Barnum after 15 years of closely reviewing the world around him offered the following….

The church in America is dieing due to a lack of strong leadership. At this time of plentiful resources and many opportunities, the church is actually losing influence. The Primary reason is the lack of leadership. Nothing is more important than leadership.

There are many sources to learn from on the subject of leadership in the world around us. Educators, professional sports, corporate execs, management companies, consulting companies, government but the greatest source of leadership guidance is the Word of God. In it we find the truths of leadership principles established by God. In it lays the potential to change our lives and the lives around us.

Bishop T.F. Tenny, one of the greatest leaders of our movement, said this to me on the subject of leaders on many occasions…

”As leaders, we are not hitch-hikers but we are trail-blazers.”

We are blazing a trail down a pathway that no other leader has ever been down before.

We embark upon the adventure of leadership, we blaze the trail and as we do we discover that we are not alone but we are walking with Jesus.

March 25th CPP Motivator - Jared Howell

Jared was elected as the Youth President of the Louisiana District of the United Pentecostal Church at the District Conference in March, 2007. He was raised as a missionary child in El Salvador and has experienced living on the mission field. He is bilingual, fluent in both English and Spanish.
He and his wife, Loida, have daughter Zoe and new-born baby Isabella Grace. He is an assistant to Reverend Danny Chance at the Christian Life Church in Monroe, LA.
He is the son of Reverend Bruce Howell, Foreign Missions Director of the United Pentecostal Church, International.

February 25th Bro. Albritton Talking to CPP Leaders

Comments by Bro. Albritton:
What CPP Leadership is doing is "extremely" cool because of all your cutting edge ideas. I want to talk to you about Synergy. Energy is a usable power. Synergy is "beyond" energy. Let me define synergy according to Webster; The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Now let me give you an example according to Albritton: If Horse #1 can pull 1000 lbs & Horse #2 can pull 1000 lbs, but together they can pull 2500 lbs. Where did the other 500 lbs come from? That question has always bugged me, Synergy produced another 500 lbs. A unified combination of efforts is so often stronger than individual efforts.

We did a drama for Easter years ago when I was a Youth Pastor. The props and wardrobes were old and very used. But the volunteers made due with what they could. The synergy was strong: Ladies were repairing and making brand new costumes, Musicians/Singers were practicing 2-3 nights per week, Drama team spent a lot of time practicing, etc. etc. I noticed all the different parts that were going on, and how the small things (the costume making, the practicing) all came together for the powerful drama production.

As Youth President my favorite part about doing youth camps was how it brings different people together to produce a few great weeks for the kids. All of us have leadership and ministry abilities, but we focus on our small little part. When we realize how we can bring every one's small parts together (with the Holy Ghost), incredible results are brought about.

One of my favorite scriptural examples of this is found in Nehemiah Chapter 3:
"And next to them...." is the theme that is repeated. Different people are doing there part to rebuild the wall. Synergy and Holy Ghost inspiration produced a rebuilt wall in record time.

February 25th, 2007 Motivator - Brother Greg Albritton

At the tender age of nine years old, Greg received the Holy Ghost at a Louisiana Youth Camp. He began his pulpit ministry at the age of twenty, with many years spent evangelizing. From 1992-1994 he was Youth Pastor for Mike Hudspeth at King’s Temple in Shreveport, LA. He served as Assistant Pastor to Rick Maricelli in Covington, LA from 1997-1999 where he also led a successful Campus Ministry. He served as Louisiana District Youth President from 1999-2003. During those years he led the Louisiana Youth Department to record Sheaves For Christ Offerings, incredible Youth Camps and consecutive Statewide Youth Rallies totaling well over one hundred youth receiving the Holy Ghost.

Greg and his wife, Jamie, have two daughters; Emrie and Edyn. Currently, he is a full time evangelist, basing out of Alexandria, Louisiana.

Bro. John Burns Words for CPP Director’s Meeting on 1-28-07

First of all, you have to all understand that you are important to God and His church. God even regards you as greater than John the Baptist. Let me prove it to you. In Matthew 11:11 Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” We understand that Jesus was talking about the New Covenant being Superior to the Old Covenant. John the Baptist lived under the old covenant, praise God, we are living under the new covenant.

Under the old covenant, everyone could not be a high priest. There were a lot of men in the Levitical priesthood, but there was only one high priest. They were all Levites, but not all priests or preachers. Only one of them could take the blood and sprinkle it on and around the altar for atonement when it was time. However, there was one priest who started the ceremonies by simply lighting the fire on the altar. His work was just as important as the High Priest was. Without the fire on the altar being lit, nothing else could have happened. The fire being lit on the altar was necessary.

The Word of God compares our functions in the church to that of a body. Imagine living without a liver. The liver is not seen, but you couldn’t really function without one. Imagine living without a brain. Many people seem to try it (laughing), but it’s not really recommended. The brain is not seen, but you can’t make it without it. The colon is not seen, but it is very vital to the health of the body. Just because these things are not seen does not mean that they are not very important.

There is a common belief among people in the church, especially those young or new to the church, that if I cannot sing, play an instrument, or preach, my work is not important. There is an important group of verses that has always stood out to me. I Corinthians chapter 12 discusses the various Gifts of the Spirit. One type of gift has always stood out from this chapter. That is the “helps” gifts. The tribe of Levi had many more helpers than preachers or priests. Helps is listed before governments and gifts of tongues.

If a church is to be a strong, vibrant, healthy, church; it must have strong, vibrant, healthy, committed workers. We are to come to church to praise Jesus and leave the church to work for Jesus.

In Matthew 10:42, Jesus said, “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” Jesus said that we would be blessed for even giving a cup of water. The “little” works are just as important as the “big” works.

We should all have the attitude, “Whatever needs to be done, I’ll do it.” Like in snowflakes, we are all different than each other. We need to enjoy that diversity and let it strengthen us to do great things for God’s Kingdom.

Motivator January 28th

Co-Pastor John and Kitty Burns
Pastor John C. Burns was born in Leesville and has lived there all his life with the exception of four years in college and two years in the U. S. Army.
He started attending the Pentecostal Church in Leesville when he was a small boy around five years old. His grandmother and aunt, both of whom were members, took him to Sunday School.

At the age of fourteen he received the gift of the Holy Ghost and was baptized in Jesus' name. After high school, he enrolled in Northwestern State university at Natchitoches, Louisiana and pursued a degree in Business Education. After graduation in May of 1956, he married a beautiful girl from Natchitoches who was a member of the Natchitoches Pentecostal Church. Fourteen days later, he was drafted in the U. S. Army and sent to El Paso, Texas for basic training. Brother Burns was discharged from the Army in 1958 and came back to Leesville and began teaching commerce at Leesville High School.

He worked thirty years in the Vernon Parish School System and retired as Superintendent of Schools in 1988. At the recommendation of Pastor M. C. Green, the First Pentecostal Church of Leesville elected him as Co-Pastor. Pastor Burns and his wife, Shirley "Kitty" Burns have two children and four grand-children. Sister Burns is a retired school teacher and is presently a manager with Home Interiors and Gifts.