Archive for December, 2008
Last Post of 2008 December 31, 2008
I once heard someone say, “If you want to make God laugh…tell Him YOUR plans!”
2008 was an unbelievable year…God continues to overwhelm me with His grace, kindness and unbelievable blessings that He continues to pour out on my family and the church that I serve.
At the beginning of this year I would have never thought that…
- I would have learned so much about HIS love for me through raising Charisse.
- My marriage could get any better…but it has!
- That we would see over 1,600 people make decisions for Christ at NewSpring Church.
- That we would baptize over 900 people!
- That Unleash would sell out…and that we would have to have it in two locations in 2009. (You can register here!)
- That I would get to speak at Hillsong Church. (Here is the video of when I saw Darlene Zschech if you didn’t see it yet!)
- That our Greenville campus would have over 1,700 people show up on opening Sunday.
- That we would announce our launching of a Columbia campus.
- That I would be THIS EXCITED about the opening of our youth and children’s facility this spring in Anderson.
- That I would be doing a coaching network full of incredible leaders who actually think I know what in the heck I’m talking about.
- That I would Twitter!
- That I would announce that I am going to attempt another marathon!
- That I would be invited to speak at Catalyst West Coast in 2009…seriously, I am SO blown away!
- That I would sign with an agent and begin working on a book. (The title will raise an eyebrow or two!)
- That I would be using a mac!
I could go on and on…but the bottom line is this, I Corinthians 2:9 says that we literally have NO IDEA what God has prepared for those who love Him!
I do know this…I REALLY do believe with all my heart that 2009 is going to be the most fruitful year of ministry we’ve ever had in the history of NewSpring Church!
HOLD ON TO YOUR FORK!
Top Ten Blog Posts of 2008 December 30, 2008
So here’s the post that received the most attention this past year…
#10 – A Valentines Day Rant – I am not sure what happened to me here…but I felt the need to speak about passive men, desperate women and a few other things!
#9 – Eight Years (and some advice for single guys & girls) – here is where I tell the story about how I pursued Lucretia…in a non-stalker type way…and how she FINALLY agreed to go out with me! (THANK YOU JESUS!)
#8 – When I Saw The Blood I Freaked Out – God is teaching me SO MUCH about HIS love through Charisse…and this lesson rocked my world!
#7 – How To Pursue A Young Lady, Four Things You Should Know – for some reason when I write about relationships it seems to hit a nerve…especially when I challenge the men.
#6 – 15 Signs That You Or Your Church Lacks Vision – I think the church should have BIG VISION; after all, we have a HUGE God!
#5 – A Huge Announcement – Several hundred churches participated in ONE PRAYER last year…and this post announcing our participation received a LOT of attention.
#4 – Four Types Of Staff Member – what type are you?
#3 – Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made Part One and Part Two – I used to be the KING of stupid financial mistakes…and this blog post was a confession & also written with the hope that other people would read and NOT do the dumb things I did!
#2 – Five Things You Should Never Hear From A Staff Member – Another post on staffing that got a LOT of attention!
#1 – Attention Pastors: Keep Your Penis In Your Pants – This was the top post by far, I received LOTS of emails on this one, MOSTLY positive…I just thought it was time to take the gloves off and say what very people people are willing to say!
Some of the ones that were in the top 20 that I thought were worth also mentioning were…
- Wrestling with weight issues part one and part two.
- An Incredibly generous teenager – a note from a teenager in the offering BLEW ME AWAY!
- What They REALLY Mean – When people say certain things to a pastor they REALLY mean…
It’s been a great year…looking forward to what happens around here in 2009!
Ten Predictions For The Year 2009 December 29, 2008
You read them in all of the tabloids every single year…people make predictions for the upcoming year. Well…a wave of inspiration has hit me…and so when the following things happen, don’t say I didn’t tell you they would!
#1 – Jeff Foxworthy will begin to attend Gary Lamb’s church in order to get more material for his next tour!
#2 – The Charlotte Carolina Panthers will contact Pastor Steven at Elevation Church to arrange their home schedule around their worship services!
#3 – Scott Hodge will discover a way to have coffee fed to him through an IV when he preaches, resulting in a new wave of church growth as people flock to hear twice as much information in half the time.
#4 – Mark Batterson will continue to chase lions, geese, aardvarks and other random animals…open 32 new campuses in the northeast…teach Starbucks how to create a cool environment in a coffee shop and be DOMINATED by me in a game of Corn Hole!!!
#5 – Bob Franquiz will be injured when a pile of books he has been reading for the past few months falls on him! (But seriously, I’ve NEVER regretted reading a book he has recommended!)
#6 – Los will convince Andy Stanley to get a tattoo! (OK, this one’s a stretch!!!)
#7 – Jeff Kapusta will be voted “Most metro-sexual” pastor in the US…and will celebrate by beginning a brand new line of scarfs!
#8 – Chris Elrod will fire his worship leader and begin to both preach and lead worship…but the worship will consist of rewrites of hair band songs and 80’s power ballads!
#9 – Tony Morgan will take over the internet…AND will lead the NewSpring dance team in an incredible performance at UNLEASH!!!
#10 – Cracker Barrell will once again be well loved by me because they will BRING THEIR BAKED APPLE DUMPLIN’ BACK!!! PLEASE!!!
Sunday Night Reflections December 28, 2008
Here are a few closing thoughts for the day…
- If you would have told me in January all that God was going to do in 2008 here at NewSpring Church…I am not sure I would have believed you!
- His plans are so much better than ours (Isaiah 55:8) and He is able to do so much more than we think He can (Ephesians 3:20!)
- I am asking God to help me dream bigger dreams…I seriously think it is a sin for a church to have small vision when we have such a HUGE God who REIGNS over the universe and said HE will build HIS church!
- It is so hard to believe that this time next year we will actually be preparing to celebrate our 10 year anniversary!
- “Savior King” is one of the best worship songs ever written…and the way we ended our services today was simply amazing!
- The way a church impacts and changes a community is ONE LIFE AT A TIME. We saw evidence of that today in the stories of lifechange! Seeing that NEVER gets old!
- Oh yeah…our service today was pretty much all video teaching as we reflected on all Jesus has done at our church this year…and at the end of every service people received Christ! Yep, video teaching works! :-)
- Greenville campus had their 4th or 5th highest attendance of the year…on the Sunday AFTER Christmas…that’s crazy!!!
- Anderson campus was packed out all three services as well!
- There is a buzz in our church right now that is awesome!
- As I stood in the lobby today & spoke with people I kept hearing stories about how someone invited them to NewSpring, they met Jesus and their life has been changed…THAT NEVER GETS OLD!
- We begin our new series next Sunday (January 4th) called, “No Perfect People Allowed!” Can’t wait!
- Our last coaching network meeting is on January 8th…can’t wait! I think it might be our best one yet!!! (Not sure if I am going to do it again…praying through it & will know within the next week.)
- Thinking about taking some staff members through some pretty intense leadership training next year…God is really rocking my world right now with some cool stuff & I want to pour into them as much as I can!
- Praying through some changes I need to make in the way I lead and the way I handle my day to day schedule so that I can be more effective in every area of my life…would appreciate your prayers as well.
- Thinking about buying a Garmin 305! Marathon training is about to kick in FULL BLAST!
- Lucretia and I have a vacation coming up soon…we’re thinking about going to Disney World…without Charisse! Seriously! If anyone knows anyone down there who can help me set something up…let me know. I haven’t been there in over 20 years!
- 44-6? Seriously Dallas? I give you support and cheer you on and you get blown out like that? DANG!
- Hey NewSpring…one more thing…I was SERIOUS when I said that I believe 2009 will be our best year of ministry ever! Hold on to your fork…
Sunday, Sunday… December 25, 2008
Okay…you might find this absolutely impossible to believe…but…
I AM PUMPED ABOUT THIS COMING SUNDAY!
One of the most dangerous things for an individual/church is to forget God’s faithfulness…because when we forget what He has done for us in the past…we tend to freak out about the future.
SO…this Sunday we will be celebrating all that God has done here at NewSpring Church in 2008…we will have video of putting the shoes on the kids at schools as well as some INCREDIBLE music. (The end of the service will be AWESOME!!!)
We’re going to celebrate like crazy and reflect so that we can celebrate and anticipate all He is going to do in 2009…and beyond!
Once again, I seriously can’t wait…definitely a “should not miss” Sunday! (Actually…I think every Sunday is one that should not be missed!) :-)
Merry Christmas…and see you on Sunday!
Merry Christmas From The Nobles! December 24, 2008
We wish you a Merry Christmas…
You should hear her Christmas rap!
“I’m the cutest little girl ever…my daddy has a Bible and it is leather…”
Cutest smile EVER!!! “Cheese!!!”
Rockin the hat!!!
Wearing Mama’s shoes–and definitely making a fashion statement!
WHY I? December 23, 2008
People have asked me in the past why I do what I do…it’s simple…
#1 – I’ve never gotten over meeting Jesus…He literally changed my life on May 27,1990…and I want EVERYONE on the planet to meet Him as well!
#2 – I believe in the local church. I’m obsessed with it…and I think when it is working properly there is NOTHING like it on the planet.
#3 – I believe that God has created each and every person on the planet with a unique purpose in mind…and I desperately want each of them to discover it and pursue it because, in doing so, God will continue to be glorified.
#4 – I believe that God is so much larger than I could ever think or imagine He is…and I want to see Him become more and more important in our lives.
#5 – I believe that only what is done for Christ will last for eternity.
#6 – I believe that the greatest move of God to ever hit the planet is STILL YET TO COME…and I desperately want to be a part of it.
#7 – I believe the most innovative ways of doing church haven’t even been thought of yet…quite possibly because those who God is going to use to develop them aren’t even in the Kingdom yet!
#8 – I believe the GREATEST missions opportunity the church has is its willingness to invest in youth and children’s ministry!
#9 – I believe that planning and preparation in regards to church services honors God.
#10 – I believe it is the primary job of the church to preach the Gospel…to lift up Jesus…to challenge people to go and invite people to church where they hear about JESUS…and HE changes their lives!
Those are just a few reasons of why I do what I do!
