Archive for January, 2011
A Letter From Pastor P To NewSpring Church January 11, 2011
Howdy NewSpring Church, wanted to share five things with you today…
#1 – Sunday was amazing, seriously, it has to be one of my favorite Sunday’s EVER as we dove into our “Make War” series based on the story of David and Goliath in I Samuel 17. We saw over 75 people receive Christ in our services (which NEVER gets old)…AND…as I said Sunday at each service…I REALLY do believe that God is going to do something significant in YOUR life during this series. (This week we’re going to be looking at how to get past your past!) Remember…Jesus saves us from…
- The Power of Sin – Romans 6:6-7
- A Meaningless Life – Ephesians 2:8-10
- The Wrath of God – II Peter 3:9
- Religion – Philippians 3:4-11
#2 – Charleston officially launched this past Sunday and had 603 people show up (AND six of them received Christ!) I am so proud of our staff and volunteers down there who worked so hard to make this happen. WOW…it was a little less than a year ago that we announced we were starting a campus in Charleston and through all of your prayers and incredibly generous giving the vision God gave us as a church became a reality. I can’t WAIT to see what God has in store for our CHarleston campus.
#3 – I hope to announce by this fall where we will be launching our next campuses. (Notice that is plural.) I believe one of the primary calls that God has given to our church is to reach the state of SC with HIS Gospel and as HE leads us we will go WHEREVER He tells us.
#4 – For Anderson and Columbia campuses ONLY…we will be moving our Sunday night services to Saturday night on the weekend of February 5-6 (Super Bowl weekend)…just wanted you to go ahead and get it down on your schedule.
#5 – Thanks to everyone who have been praying for the book…I’m getting an outline finalized and should be ready to hit it head on in February. Keep praying!
An Email From My Doctor About My Blog Posts On Obesity January 6, 2011
My doctor sent me this email on Wednesday in regards to my blog post on obesity…definitely worth the time to look through the stats.
Amen Pastor P and your blog post on obesity!
Obesity and physical inactivity may account for 25 to 30 percent of several major cancers!
Not only a problem for adults but we are teaching it to our kids!
The most sobering statistics from the American obesity epidemic are those
concerning children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, over the last three decades, the rate of childhood obesity has
more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged
12-19 years, and more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. Today,
about 35 percent of American children ages 6-19 are overweight or obese.
The culprit is clear. Children increasingly consume large amounts of
processed and refined food. In particular, nearly 1/3 of American children
eat fast food daily (a fivefold consumption increase since 1980),
potentially resulting in about six pounds of weight gain per year, per
child. Activity levels have also dropped.
Preach it!!!!!!!!!!!
AND…let me close by saying this one more time…the DESIRE to overcome this issue isn’t enough, you’ve got to have the DISCIPLINE to do it as well. You can do this!!!
Six Steps To Overcoming Obesity – Part Two January 6, 2011
Here are the rest of the steps that I began writing about in yesterday’s post…
#2 – Take Personal Responsibility For Your Physical Condition
We live in America…where there are seemingly no longer any sinners, only victims of what a “very cruel world” has done to them. So…because of this we can blame McDonalds for our kids being overweight and can blame our physical condition on our parents, our geographical location, the travel required by our job and even Santa Claus for being such a bad example!
I want to be clear…I was obese because I kept shoving food into my mouth…PERIOD! No one came to me and shoved twinkies in me until I just about exploded! AND…it didn’t get better until I stopped BLAMING people and circumstances for my problem and took responsibility (and you won’t either!)
#3 – Adjust Your Calorie Intake
Yep, it really is that simple…I stopped consuming as many calories and BAM…I really did lose weight. AND…let me be clear, this was HARD for me. I had to cut out sweet tea (because I would drink six or seven glasses per meal), I had to cut out soft drinks. I had to cut out unhealthy snacks. I had to cut out going back for seconds and thirds and fourths…
Many people are in bondage to food simply because they refuse to make the necessary adjustments that they already know they need to make!
#4 – Understand That It Takes Time
You are NOT going to lose 100 pounds in 100 days. You are not going to have washboard abs in four weeks. In the beginning the weight WILL come off quickly because your body is going through changes. BUT…trust me on this one, eventually you WILL hit a wall…and it will discourage the heck out of you. You will become frustrated and want to give up…DON’T. When this happens understand that you need to continue to dig deep and make additional adjustments in order to shock your body all over again.
(BTW…PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t chase “fad diets!” Yes, they take the pounds off quickly…but in nearly EVERY instance of someone I know chasing a diet like this they ALWAYS put the weight back on. It is all about a lifestyle adjustment!)
#5 – Exercise
Let me be very clear here…before you begin ANY TYPE of diet and exercise routine you should set up an appointment and talk with your doctor!!! AND…if you don’t know what to do in the gym then PLEASE make the investment into a personal trainer…at least long enough to help you get started!!!
Exercise, for me, has become a daily habit. It really does relieve stress and helps me to prepare for the day ahead.
And yes, it’s hard! And yes, it takes effort. And yes, there are going to be days when you don’t feel like doing it…those things come with the territory! BUT…just like you can’t claim that you care about your car if you don’t see that it is getting the proper maintenance…don’t claim you care about your body if you aren’t doing the same for it.
#6 – Understand that you CAN do this!!!
Seriously…if I can lose weight then ANYBODY can. Because…I LOVE FOOD! Seriously, I LOVE the taste of a great steak! I LOVE dessert, especially white chocolate ones! I LOVE sweat tea (and so does Jesus!) I LOVE just about everything that is NOT good for you!!!
AND…honestly, losing weight and maintaining where I am currently is a BATTLE. I constantly have to remind myself of what the Scriptures say in Philippians 4:13!
BUT…if I can do this…so can you!!! No temptation can overcome someone who is in Christ (I Corinthians 10:13!) This issue IS NOT BIGGER THAN CHRIST IN YOU…in Him you have the discipline, the potential and the victory just waiting on you to LIVE IN IT! (See I Corinthians 15:57-58) You CAN do this…and trust me, when you do you will feel SO MUCH BETTER…you will have the ENERGY to do what you want and need to do and you will have the INTEGRITY to speak to others about how to get past the issues that hold them back…because you fought the one that held you back!
Six Steps To Overcoming Obesity – Part One January 5, 2011
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my seemingly lifelong struggle with weight. AND…anytime I talk/write about that it creates quite a large amount of interest as people want to know how I lost all my weight and such. (BTW…that post is here if you didn’t get to read it.)
So, I want to write about that here today as I know MANY are preparing for a New Years Resolution (that hopefully will stick!) BUT…before I write let me just say that this article MAY be one of the most discouraging things that you read because there are no shortcuts when it comes to shedding extra pounds, you can’t just “pray them away” and there isn’t a pill that will make it all go away…it’s HARD WORK and you’ve got to have more than DESIRE…you’ve got to have the DISCIPLINE to go along with it.
Here goes…
#1 – Understand That Obesity Is A Spiritual Issue
When I say I was HUGE…trust me, I was HUGE. BUT, I didn’t see anything wrong with it; after all I did not smoke, I did not drink and I was not a homosexual (you know, all of the sins that the church seems to condemn so often!) I read my Bible, prayed…heck, I was in the ministry and the youth group I was leading was growing!!!
THEN there was “that night” in my seminary class.
The pastors in the room were talking about the people in their church, you know, the “sinners” that drank, smoked, cussed, slept around…and everyone in the room seemed to have a story about “those people” in their church.
THEN a guy named Derek (who was really mild mannered and soft spoken) stood up and said, “Can I say something?” Everyone nodded, giving him affirmation to speak and he proceeded to say, “Guys, I know after I say this I am not going to be popular, but we’re sitting here in this room talking about people in our churches that are struggling with sin and the overwhelming majority of us are overweight!”
He went on to say some more about it…but I don’t exactly remember what because I was AUTOMATICALLY convicted by God’s Holy Spirit as He whispered to me, “He’s right Perry, and YOU need to do something about it.”
It was on that day that I began to understand that I am a steward of the body (temple) that God has given me…and how I take care of it tells the world what I think and feel about Christ. (See I Corinthians 6:19-20)
I had weighed around 300 pounds in high school, dropped to about 210 by my Junior year…but during my senior year began to stack the weight back on. THEN I went to college…where I discovered late night Pizza and the Waffle House. By the time I graduated in 1994 I was pushing 270. BUT…like I said, I wasn’t “sinning” like other people I knew…I figured it was ok to be fat.
It wasn’t…and it isn’t!
Obesity is the idol/stronghold that seems to be avoided in the church. (Can you imagine what would happen if the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution on obesity instead of the things they have seemingly mastered?) Yet for so many IN the church food is an idol…it has a stronghold in people’s lives…and unfortunately it is not a sin that can be hidden.
Churches won’t talk about this…and it’s KILLING people. Its sad that churches will preach against alcohol when people IN THE CHURCH are digging their own grave with a fork and a spoon! Obesity actually kills more Americans every year than alcohol, yet, once again, the church ignores it because it is an “acceptable” sin. (AND because many pastors would have to confess and repent…something they love to demand of other people but are often unwilling to do on their own.)
If a person does not understand that how we steward our bodies matters to Jesus…that it IS a spiritual issue, then it will never be take seriously!
I will cover the next five tomorrow.
A Letter From Pastor P To NewSpring Church January 4, 2011
Howdy NewSpring Church…wanted to share five things today as we prepare for an AMAZING 2011.
#1 – Pray like crazy this week for the official launch of our Charleston campus THIS SUNDAY!!! The potential to reach people far from God in that city is unbelievable as 86% of the people there do not attend church. I cannot wait to see all that God wants to do through our church in that city. Andy Green is our campus pastor at that campus (here is his website…and here he is on twitter), pray for him and the amazing group of volunteers that have already been serving…and let’s believe God for HUGE things at that campus.
#2 – “MAKE WAR” starts this Sunday as we take several week to walk through the story of David and Goliath found in I Samuel 17. (I blogged about that yesterday here just in case you missed it.) I’m asking EVERY NewSpringer to do three things in this series…
- First – Make plans to BE HERE every single week as we will be hitting issues/questions that everyone of us have wrestled with (OR are wrestling with!)
- Second – BRING SOMEONE to church with you (people are very likely to attend church in January as a part of their “New Years Resolutions.”) And…FOUND PEOPLE FIND PEOPLE!!!
- Third – Pray & ask God to do something significant in your life in this series. Let’s show up EVERY WEEK with a sense of expectation!!!
(AND…special announcement to Anderson and Columbia campuses. We will be moving our Sunday night services to Saturday for ONE WEEKEND ONLY! On Super Bowl weekend – February 5 & 6 – we will have a Saturday night service instead of a Sunday night service at NewSpring Church, more info on that later!)
#3 – It was so much fun this past Sunday to reflect and celebrate as a church in regards to what we saw Jesus do this past year. Honestly, that is a great personal exercise for all of us to do. I challenge each one of you guys to take a few minutes this week to think about where you were in your life ten years ago? Five years ago? This time last year? I promise that doing so will cause you to be OVERWHELMED with God’s faithfulness…and will also fill you with anticipation in regards to what HE wants to do NEXT!!! Ephesians 3:20 is SO true…so is Lamentations 3:22-24!!!
#4 – Personal prayer request – PLEASE pray for me that I can FINALLY complete my book! I have a goal to GET IT DONE in 2011. I have the outline completed and now just need to DISCIPLINE MYSELF to get it done. I am super excited about it and can’t wait to talk about it even more…but for now I could use you guys praying for me like crazy! :-)
It ALL Breaks Loose On January 9th! January 3, 2011
CANNOT WAIT until THIS SERIES begins on January 9th…we’re going to take six weeks to examine I Samuel 17 and in it will answer the questions…
- Whose side am I on?
- I hear that “Jesus saves,” what does He actually save people from?
- How can I get past my past?
- Does God really have an amazing plan for MY life…or is that only for certain people?
- How can I really discover WHY I exist and WHAT I was put on this world to do?
- Why do bad things happen to good people?
- How can I move from being controlled by fear to having unstoppable faith?
It ALL begins on January 9th!!!