Archive for May, 2011
I’m Sorry Your Life/Church Is So “Normal!” May 4, 2011
I honestly don’t pay a ton of attention to my @ replies on twitter…but for the past several weeks I’ve seen a theme occurring that I do feel like I want to address. And it’s this…
For the past several Sunday nights I have twittered something like this when I get home, “Today was one of the most amazing days in the history of our church,” or, “This was one of my most favorite days ever” or even “I am overwhelmed and amazed and what Jesus is doing in our church right now.”
And…some of the questions/responses have gone something like this…
- “Why do you always say that?”
- “It can’t really be as good as you are saying.”
- “Aren’t you overhyping things?”
- “Everything you guys do can’t be that ‘awesome’ or ‘epic!’”
I could go on and on…but I think you get the point. And…I think this is something worthy of responding to…and so I will say to those who may question the authenticity of my tweets…I am so sorry that your life/church happens to be so normal that you hardly ever have anything significant to celebrate.
You see, the people who question the authenticity of consistant celebration would probably have zero problems if I tweeted things on Sunday nights such as…
- “Today sucked!”
- “Today at NewSpring Church nothing happened…it was business as usual.”
- “Today I was scared out of my mind to speak the truth…so I did my best to make everyone feel good about themselves.”
- “I hate my life!”
For some reason in the “Christian community” we seem to mourn very well together…but cannot seem to celebrate with people on a consistant basis.
Here’s the deal…I turn 40 next month. 40!!! That’s a big deal for me…it’s began to impact the way I am thinking…especially when I consider that my mother died when she was 49. WOW! What if I only have nine years left? What if I have already lived over half of my life?
God chooses what we go through in life…we choose how we go through it. And so…I’ve decided that for the rest of my life I am going to embrace the day that the Lord has blessed me with…I am going to seize it with an intense focus…and I am going to celebrate each epic moment that Jesus allows me to experience.
And…for the record…EVERY Sunday for the rest of the history of NewSpring Church will be EPIC and worthy of celebration.
- Every Sunday the Bible will be preached…HIS Gospel will be declared…and Scripture promises us that His Word will NEVER return void (Isaiah 55:8-13)…that’s EPIC!
- Every single time ONE PERSON surrenders their lives to Christ I/we will celebrate it like crazy…because that person has crossed over from DEATH to LIFE…that’s supernatural…that’s EPIC! (AND…in Luke 15 we see the angels throwing a party over ONE!!!)
- Every single Sunday people are convicted of sin and confess and repent…that’s EPIC as they take one more step in their journey with Jesus.
- Every single Sunday children learn about Jesus in an environment that is custom designed for them…that’s EPIC as I believe the next generation will lead the greatest awakening this world has ever seen!
- Every single Sunday here in America we have the freedom to gather together as a body of believers for the purpose of worshipping Jesus…that’s EPIC as many of our brothers and sisters all over the world do not have that same freedom!
- Every single Sunday as the Scripture is taught people are given HOPE…that’s EPIC as we live in a world that tries to rob us of our hope!
I could go on and on…but reality is that if we do not see EVERY SINGLE DAY as EPIC…as a gift from the MOST HIGH GOD and then EMBRACE it with passion and persistance…then…we become normal…and normal really does suck!!!
I don’t want to live a normal life!
I don’t want to have a normal church!
And so…as long as the Lord allows air to be in my lungs I am going to find reasons to celebrate…and when I find them I am going to blog about them, tweet about them and preach about them.
I refuse to wallow and mire in mediocrity…and I refuse to allow those who cannot celebrate crash my party and talk me out of living the rest of my life with a view of God that allows me to CELEBRATE my life rather than hate it.
- He saved me!
- He called me!
- He forgave me!
- He has blessed me!
- He blessed me with with an amazing wife!
- He blessed me with an awesome little girl!
- He blessed me with unbelievable friends!
- He allows me to serve the greatest church on the planet!
- He has given me a home that has running water, electricity and I have food in my cabinets!
- He has given me more than I could EVER imagine!
- He’s an EPIC God…His church IS EPIC…and I will use the platform He has given me for the rest of my life to CELEBRATE His goodness.
So…this Sunday night there will be more tweets…about how amazing the service was…about how good God is to me and our church…and how I really do believe the best is yet to come!
I love this life that He has blessed me with…it’s EPIC!!!
A Letter From Pastor P To NewSpring Church May 3, 2011
Howdy NewSpring Church…five things I wanted to share today…
#1 – To say that this past Sunday’s service was awesome would simply be an understatement. I’ve honestly never seen so many people respond to an invitation like our church did this past weekend. The challenge to confess and repent of sin was so compelling that we actually had a guy in Charleston who watched the service online and literally became so overwhelmed with conviction that he got in his car and drove up to where we have church in Charleston and met with our campus pastor! I absolutely LOVE what Jesus is doing in our church right now!
#2 – Remember…I challenged everyone to pray Psalm 139:23-24 every single day this week and ask the Lord to reveal the barrier in your own life that is holding you back from going to the next level in your walk with Him. Remember…God doesn’t reveal these barriers because He hates us and wants to hold us back…but because He loves us and wants to remove the “spiritual cancer” from our lives. AND remember…God wants to remove the barrier so you can experience a breakthrough! (Conviction–Brokenness–Confession–Repentance–Breakthrough!) Also remember from Sunday…
- It is possible to have experienced fellowship with someone but not actually have a relationship with them.
- People who meet Jesus change.
- One of the best things Jesus can do for us is love us enough to offend us!
- We will never fully embrace WHAT Jesus wants for our lives until we begin to understand WHO He is.
- Satan is a lair (John 8:44)…you CAN overcome the sin that you believe will dominate you for the rest of your life! (Philippians 4:13, Philippians 1:6)
#3 – MOTHER’S DAY THIS SUNDAY! Trust me…this is an amazing opportunity to invite people to church who do not know Christ. (Found people find people!) This Mother’s Day is going to be a little different from the direction we’ve gone the past several years…and honestly, I believe every single mom (and future mom…and people who have a mom…that should be just about all of us) should be here this weekend as I promise it is going to be “one of those services” that we never forget!
#4 – To all parents of kids who are currently in grades 6-12…the deadline for the early bird rate of $249 Gauntlet registration ends on May 15th (not this coming Sunday but the next!) TRUST ME when I tell you that you do not want your child to miss this event…it is one of the most amazing things that he/she will experience in their lifetime…I PROMISE! And please, if you can’t afford the $249 then let us know…seriously! There has NEVER been a child that was told they could not go on this trip because they could not pay! We have incredibly generous people in our church who step up every single year and sponsor kids to go on the trip…all you need to do is fill out a scholarship application form and we promise we will make sure your child is taken care of financially. Here is the link to sign your child up…spaces are going FAST and once we have 1,200 kids signed up there will literally be no more room!
#5 – We are doing a church trip to Israel in 2012! I will be sharing more details either late summer or early fall…but what I know for sure that we will have an opportunity for people to register for the trip and then travel to Israel with me and travel around and see the land that literally makes the Bible come to life for so many! (And…I have to say this because someone will ask…the church is not going to be paying for your trip!!! You will have to pay for it out of your own pocket! YES, people really will ask!) :-) I will be doing some teaching while we are over there and I can promise it will be an experience that we never forget. I say this because I am asking that you be in prayer for me and a crew of us that will be leaving for Israel on May 16th for several days on a “scouting trip” to capture video footage and to allow me to begin to see where I will be teaching and so that I can get a grasp on what exactly the trip will look like. I am very excited and cannot wait to share more about this!
That’s it for today! I hope you have an AMAZING week and plan something BIG for your mother for Mother’s Day!
I love my church!