Archive for December, 2009
Sunday… December 31, 2009
Happy New Year…Almost! :-)
It has been an INCREDIBLE few days off…I really feel like my batteries are recharged and I can honestly say that I am more excited about 2010 than I’ve ever been about any year of ministry! (More on this when our new series, “The Best Is Yet To Come” begins on Sunday, January 10th!)
Saying that…THIS SUNDAY at NewSpring Church has me going out of my mind because it is the service where we, as a church, reflect back on all that Jesus has done…CELEBRATE His goodness to us…and ANTICIPATE what may be next.
God has been SO good to us…and I can’t WAIT to celebrate that this Sunday as we hit our normal schedule in full stride.
10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2009 December 30, 2009
Here are the most viewed posts on this site this year…
#10 – PREACH!
#8 – We Will Never
#7 – Pray For Your Pastor
#6 – Seven Reasons Your Church Plant Might Fail
#5 – Seven Leadership Questions Teams Should Be Asking
#4 – Why I Am Frustrated
#3 – Seven Reasons Why Marriages Fail
Come Home–POWERFUL!!! December 25, 2009
We covered the parable of the Lost Son during our Christmas Eve services…this video played before I preached…and it MESSED ME UP every time!!!
Jesse Fisher is the gentleman who provided the lyrical talent! For more information on Jesse Fisher or to get a copy of this video visit www.kadence.tv.
Christmas Eve Reflections December 24, 2009
What an amazing couple of days…
- We saw around 120 people walk forward and surrender their lives to Christ over the past few days!!!
- My family and I went to Outback tonight after the last message and a waitress came up to our table and told us that she brought 19 people to our 4:00 service in Anderson last night…and SIX of them received Christ!!!
- (And yes, I did get a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under!!!)
- I thought the music was OUT OF THIS WORLD…so thankful for our worship leaders at every campus!!!
- We took a look at the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-24 during the message portion of the service…THAT story ALWAYS gets me because, well, it’s my story!
- Has there ever been a time in your life that you were closer to God than you are right now? If so…COME HOME!!!
- Christmas time is a reminder that God RAN to us…He came here so we could come home!!!
- The poem that was played right before I spoke MESSED ME UP every time. (I will post it tomorrow if you would like to see it again!)
- BTW…for those who were @ the service…the story about me cutting out desserts IS NOT present reality…bring on the cake!!!
- I registered for the Music City Marathon in “Nash-Vegas” today…my last attempt didn’t go so well…and I’ve GOT to cross this off of my “to do before seeing Jesus face to face” list!
- I think it’s kind of funny that I did a bullet point about eating dessert…and then the one right after it was about running a marathon. Yep…I’m weird!
That’s about it…it’s been a great couple of days…scratch that, it’s been an awesome year!!! Remember NewSpring Church…no church this Sunday, but we will crank it back up on Sunday, January 3rd at EVERY campus with our normal service times.
Have an awesome Christmas!!!
David December 23, 2009
There is a dude that most of you will never meet on this side of eternity named David…and at one time in my life I wanted to punch him in the throat because he would not leave me alone…EVERYTIME I turned around he was inviting me to his stupid church!
When he saw I wasn’t going to come to a Sunday service he asked me to come and play basketball…which TOTALLY got my attention. AND…I started playing football with a crew from his church on Sunday’s as well.
Then he asked me to come to a Bible study…to which I told him what I thought about the Bible and was about to lower to boom when he told me there would be hot girls there…
I went…and didn’t miss a night for about six months or so! (BTW…NONE of them were hotter than Lucretia…I’m just sayin!)
David started inviting me to church in the Spring of 1989…he was always nice, always offered to take me there and bring me home and NEVER gave up on me. And so…several MONTHS later after throwing out every excuse imaginable…I went…and was BLOWN away by how friendly people were…and how powerfully the Gospel was preached.
I went back the next week…and the next…until finally on a Sunday night in May of 1990 I surrendered my heart to Christ and told Him I would follow Him for the rest of my life.
There are so many things that happened to bring me to that place…but one of the MAIN INFLUENCES on me was a guy named David. He didn’t sing a song or preach a message or wear a REALLY bad Christian T-shirt…he simply decided to be my friend and, for some reason, he NEVER gave up on me.
I tell this story on today’s blog because…all of us need to be a “David” in someone’s life. God has placed in where we are in this world and in our circles of influence for a reason! Who is it that you are allowing God to absolutely burden you for? Whoever it is…don’t give up.
Today we begin our Christmas services here at NewSpring Church…and there will be MULTIPLE opportunities for you to bring someone to church. (Here is a link with the service times for each campus…and even if you haven’t yet RSVP’d…COME ON, we’ve got room for you and WHOEVER you want to bring!)
Don’t give up on that person…
And NEVER take the responsibility of inviting someone to church lightly (See Acts 10:14 and Acts 10:17). When God changes someone’s life the possibilities are potential in that person becomes unlimited.
SO…NewSpring Church…do what it takes…get people here, and BEG for Jesus to capture hearts and draw people to Himself.
I can’t wait!
Repeat December 22, 2009
Charisse has gotten to where she will repeat everything I say!!!
Seriously…if I say something she thinks is funny…she repeats it.
If I say something that doesn’t even really make sense to her…she will repeat it.
AND…if I look at her and tell her to say something she immediately repeats it. (The other day I told her to say, “I’m all that and a bag of chips” and she continued to say it for the next hour or so.)
It’s really sort of easy for her…she simply listens to what her father says and repeats it.
Hey pastor…are you stressing out about what you are going to say for your upcoming Christmas service?
Why not just do what my little girl does…just listen to your Father and then repeat what He says!
He’s been doing this WAY longer than anyone else has…
And…He already knows who is going to be at church.
SO…why not spend some time today and tomorrow on your face and asking Jesus to allow you to hear His voice clearer than you’ve ever heard it before.
As long as we are listening to Him we will always have a message…
And I’ve discovered that every time I feel like I haven’t got a message inside of me…it’s because I’m not paying attention to the message He is trying to teach me.
God already has the message prepared…we just need to repeat it.
SO…study like crazy, pray hard…and then GO FOR IT!!!
Life is too short and hell is too hot for us to think we must do this on our own.
He is faitfhul…He called us…He will sustain us…and He has a Word He wants to deliver through us…
Listen…THEN preach!!!
Can’t wait!
9 Things That I Sometimes Forget December 21, 2009
Here is a list of things that I so easily forget sometimes…
#1 – Jesus loves His church more than I do…so any “freaking out” that I do is totally not necessary!
#2 – The same God who allowed the storm I am going through will also see me through it.
#3 – The results in ministry are NOT up to me!
#4 – Success in ministry will not be measured by how big my church is…but rather by whether or not my wife and little girl really love me when this thing is over! I can always get another church…but I can NEVER get another Lucretia or Charisse.
#5 – Clear communication prevents unnecessary frustration…I can’t assume people know what I know, so it IS necessary to take the 2-3 extra minutes and fully explain what I am trying to say.
#6 – Eternity IS reality! Every single person I see is someone who WILL spend eternity somewhere…and I need to embrace that fact with urgency! (See Romans 10:14 and Romans 10:17)
#7 – Being busy doesn’t equal being godly!
#8 – Sometimes fighting the good fight means walking away from certain fights!
#9 – The same power that brought Jesus back from the dead is living inside of me…and IN HIM I can do ANYTHING that He commands me to do! (Philippians 4:13!)