#2 – Stop Asking God To Fix Your Spouse And Ask Him To Fix You – no one in any marriage is perfect…and when we stop pointing out all of our spouses perceived inadequacies it really does make us a much better person to be around.  (Psalm 139:23-24 is a GREAT prayer to pray when asking God to show you your very own “opportunities for improvement.”)

#3 – Ask For Help – you are NOT the first married couple that has ever struggled, you WON’T be the last.  The problem is that (especially in church) we are so obsessed with what people may say or think that we will allow our relationships to implode.  We cannot allow our desire for appearance to distort the reality that we need help!

#4 – Ask The Lord To Allow You To See Your Spouse Through His Eyes – this can/will absolutely CHANGE your perspective on who you are married to…because you see them less and less as your spouse and more and more as a son/daughter of the KING!!!  How do you think He wants His child to be treated?

#5 – Choose Right Now That You Are Always Going To Believe The Best About Your Spouse - Love always assumes the best about a person (see I Corinthians 13,) if you are always assuming the worst about the person you are married to then you have a major problem and are placing them in a no win situation.

#6 – Stop Seeing Your Spouse As Your Servant But Rather Your Opportunity To Serve – As long as you see them as your servant you will always be tempted to point out their shortcomings in regards to the ways they are not meeting your perceived needs.  However, if you see them as your opportunity to serve it will completely change the dynamic and temperature of the relationship.

#7 - Do WHATEVER IT TAKES To Get To Our REAL MARRIAGE EVENT (details here!) – trust me, this event is going to be one of THE BEST events our church has ever hosted, Mark & Grace Driscoll are great friends and what they are going to be sharing that weekend has the power and potential to revolutionize your marriage!!!  (As of now over 1,400 people have registered, that means there are less than 700 spots available, this event will sell out so I would recommend getting signed up ASAP!)

(And singles, this is for you as well…the best way to HAVE a great marriage is to actually prepare beforehand!)

#1 – This past Sunday was an AMAZING conclusion to our “All In” series as we saw 296 people stand and publicly acknowledge that they had repented of their sins and trusted Jesus as their Savior!  I’m still so excited I can’t see straight…we literally had someone receive Christ at every campus during every service!

#2 – A HUGE thank you to everyone who went all out to bring people this past Sunday…it impacted a lot of lives.  AND…for the ones who invited and the person didn’t come with you…OR they did come and did not respond, remember II Peter 3:9 and be patient with them as the Lord was patient with you!

#3 – AND…that 296 number does not include several salvations that happened after the service across all of our campuses…

• For example, I was able to talk with a woman who had been a Jehovah’s witness for years, came to NewSpring on Sunday, heard the Gospel and finally understood it wasn’t by her works but rather by grace she was saved.
• I had the honor of speaking to another woman on Sunday who came to NewSpring for the first time because her son invited her…she did not stand up and acknowledge she had surrendered her life to Christ…but after the service she did so by coming to the place we have for 1st time guests and letting a volunteer know

#4 – As I said all throughout this series it really is my prayer as your pastor that 2012 will be the GREATEST year of spiritual growth that you have ever experienced in your life!  I do praise God for a growing church; however, my biggest prayer is to have growing people in a growing church!!  I know that as a result of this series I will never look at the words of Jesus in Mark 12:30 the same way as He clearly challenges us to GO ALL IN!!!

#5 – If you did not get to see the service on Sunday then I would STRONGLY encourage you to go to the NewSpring Church website and watch!  Three people shared their stories (one of them being my incredible wife) about how they met Christ and I can honestly say it was one of the most powerful services we’ve ever experienced in our church.  AND…since then I have met so many people who have related to Lucretia’s story…how she had been in church all of her life but had never actually trusted Christ as her Lord and Savior!

#6 – This Sunday we begin a new series entitled, “Overwhelmed.”  (I wrote about it here yesterday in case you missed it.) I would ask you to keep me in your prayers this week as I am preparing to talk about issues that have so many people feeling hopeless and worthless.  This Sunday (February 12) I am going to specifically address how to stop feeling like you are dominated by everything that life throws at you…and then next Sunday (February 19) I am going to specifically deal with how I arrived at a place of depression and anxiety, what I learned in that time and what brought me through.  I’m continuing to pray through the specifics of this particular message; however, what I can tell you is that I keep feeling the Lord press into me to be as transparent and vulnerable as possible.  Saying that…I can promise you it’s going to be one of the most real and raw messages I’ve ever preached…and I’m begging Jesus to use it to bring hope and healing to people.

#7 – If you are the parents of a teenager (or if you are a teen) then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get registered for the Gauntlet (right here) ASAP!  It’s $275 until the end of March…and that’s when the price increases.  So…by getting signed up early you save some cash AND you solidify your spot on the list (last year we literally filled every space and had a HUGE waiting list!)  It’s going to be incredible…it’s absolutely one of my favorite weeks of the year!

That’s it for today…I LOVE MY CHURCH, the best is yet to come!!

AND…the most depressed and overwhelmed!

On Sunday, February 12 (THIS COMING SUNDAY) we are beginning a brand new series based out of the book of Daniel entitled, “Overwhelmed!” In it we are going to take a hard look at what the Scriptures say about worry, fear, anxiety and depression…and I am going to be sharing more of my three year battle with depression than I ever have in a public setting. PLEASE be in prayer for this series as we are expecting hundreds of people to meet Christ and many hundreds to find that they have hope because they are not alone in what they are battling through.

We can be overwhelmed OR we can overcome…and this Sunday the rubber meets the road!  I really am praying for hundreds of people to be set free in this series from issues that have kept people locked into a prison of anxiety, worry and fear!!!

I can’t wait!!!

#1 – Acts 4:29-31…let’s be bold in the prayers we pray and the words we say and do all that we can to bring people to church this weekend as we are believing that God is going to do GREAT things as the Gospel is clearly communicated and lives will be impacted for eternity!

#2 – Anderson and Columbia campuses…remember that for this week only we will be moving our normal Sunday evening services to Saturday evening.  So, Columbia will have services this weekend on Saturday night at 6:00 and then Sunday at 9:15 & 11:15 with no Sunday night services.  Our Anderson campus will have services on Saturday evening at 4:00 and 6:00 and then Sunday at 9:15 & 11:15 with no Sunday night services.

(We will go back to our regular schedule the following Sunday!)  :-)

For those who are new to NewSpring I would love to take a minute or two to explain why we made the decision to do this…

This coming Sunday night is the Super Bowl, one of the most highly televised events in America.

I’ve been in church work for over 20 years and the one thing I can say is that attendance on Super Bowl Sunday night in church has always been awful!  (AND…the people who are there are pretending to be looking at youversion on their phone…but they are really checking the score of the game!)  :-)

One of the things that I heard Andy Stanley say last year is that one of the things the early church was obsessed with is making a difference and not making a point!  And that’s exactly what we feel like God has called us to do here at NewSpring Church…

Our church has existed for 12 years and anytime we’ve tried to compete with the Super Bowl…well, it just hasn’t gone well.  We’ve tried different approaches to remedy this, but nothing has worked, people just have NOT came to church…until…

Last year we made the decision to NOT try to make a point but rather make a difference!  We want people to come to church, and we think church should do whatever it takes to get people in the doors.  With that in mind we had the idea of moving our worship services from Sunday night to Saturday night.

When we did so a very small number of people raised a concern that this could be viewed as some sort of “compromise;” however, nothing could be further from the truth.  There isn’t a specific verse as to the number of services or service times a church has to have.  AND…we knew that in making this move that people were more likely to attend church on a Saturday evening and bring their friends with them…which meant more people hearing about Jesus…which meant more possibility for changed lives…which we’re all going to agree is a major WIN!

Yes, we could make a point by having a service in direct competition with the Super Bowl…or we could make a difference by making a change that allows us to reach more people and in no way compromises any Biblical command or precept.

AND, what’s even greater is that this move allows hundreds of small groups across every campus to host Super Bowl parties, which is another on ramp where they can invite their friends and family members who do not know Christ to come and experience Christian community.  Once again, that’s a win.

We will have more people at our church this weekend, more people hear about JESUS and more people meet Him as their Savior because we as a body of believers decided to not try to make a point but to make a difference…we did what we could to leverage what God has given us to reach more people for Jesus…

AND…none of us will have to miss those awesome commercial!

Can’t wait for this weekend!  I LOVE MY CHURCH!

#1 – Remember, Acts 4:29-31 all week long.  Let’s be bold in the prayers we pray and the words we say!  AND…boldness is not arrogance but rather confidence is who Jesus is and what He has called/commanded/commissioned us to do!

#2 – GET PEOPLE HERE SUNDAY!!!  Remember, we are going all out to present the Gospel in a way that is going to connect with everyone who walks in the doors.  I’m asking everyone in our church to pray HUGE PRAYERS for this weekend and make some HUGE attempts to get people here, take a look at Mark 2:1-12 and see what happens when people get passionate about doing whatever it takes to get people to a place where they can meet Jesus!

(AND…Anderson and Columbia campuses, remember that for this week only we are switching our Sunday night services to Saturday night!  We are doing so because the Super Bowl is on Sunday night, and while I don’t care about either team I really don’t want to miss the commercials!)

#3 – Our “All In” series based on Mark 12:30 has been one of my favorites.  This past Sunday we talked about loving Jesus with all our soul, on the deepest level possible!!  Remember, intimacy comes about through consistency.  The more time we spend with Him the more our relationship with Him will grow…and…if we are in an intimate relationship with Him then we will care about what He cares about!  (See Luke 19:10!!)  If He cared about people far from God then we have to as well.

#4 – On Sunday, February 12 we will begin a series entitled “Overwhelmed” in which we will be diving into some subjects that typically are not talked about.  It’s going to be real, raw and will help a lot of people.  Subjects like…

• How To Prevent Becoming Overwhelmed By Circumstances (You either need this message…or you will!)
• How To Deal With Depression!  (I am going to talk about my three year battle, how I got there, what the Lord taught me, how I was able to break free and how you can too!)
• How to Stop Worrying About The Economy!
• How To Walk Through The Scariest Situations In Life!

And a ton more.  Seriously…I can’t wait!

#5 – Our band released it’s new CD this past weekend, “No Other Name!”  It’s one of THE MOST AMAZING worship CD’s EVER!  If you didn’t get one yet you will be able to purchase on on your campus Sunday…or you can go to Itunes right now and download it!!!

#6 – One more time, Acts 4:29-31 all week long!!!  I love seeing green bracelets everywhere…and the glow sticks at the end of the service will be forever stuck in my mind!!!

#7 – Going to go ahead and throw this out there, we may be doing a Michael Jackson song for Easter!!  :-)

I love my church!

The best is yet to come!

These Nine Things Are True About EVERYONE Who Is In Christ (And are true for those who do not know Christ!)

#1 – I Was Dead –  Ephesians 2:1

#2 – I Was An Object Of Wrath – Ephesians 2:2-9

#3 – I Had No Purpose –Ephesians 2:10

#4 – I Was Separate From Christ – Ephesians 2:11-12

#5 – I Was Excluded From Citizenship – Ephesians 2:12

#6 – I Was A Foreigner –  Ephesians 2:12

#7 – I Was Without Hope –  Ephesians 2:12

#8 – I Was Without God –  Ephesians 2:12

#9 – I Was Far Away –  Ephesians 2:13

AND…JESUS IS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT ME NEAR – Ephesians 2:13

AND, if we are not careful we will allow ourselves to become so distracted that we will actually begin to care for other things way more than the people that Jesus died for and has called us to take care of.

Recently in an all staff meeting I shared with our staff three things that we are tempted to love more than people…and how we’re going to do all we can to make sure that because people matter to God they matter to us as well.

Temptation #1 – To Love The Process More Than People

I’m a type-A, obsessive compulsive person, and so I love organization, structure and systems that make things easier for me to manage.  However, not all people are like that.

The danger is that in church we would develop a process for volunteers, discipleship and such and then expect EVERYONE to “fall in line” and do what we think is best.  In other words, we approach people with a scientific approach rather than an artistic one.

(By the way, I believe God IS an artist!  Don’t believe me…check out the sunsets for the next several nights, none of them will be the exact same.  I like to think He whips out His paintbrush and makes it new every evening!)

Don’t get me wrong, the church NEEDS certain processes and such; however, all too often I have fallen into the trap of trying to use a process that has been developed rather than really taking the time to find out more about the person that needs to be developed.

When a person isn’t a fit into a process that has been developed we need to stop and see what is going on in that person’s life.  It’s not their job to fit into our system, it’s our job to discover where they are and then lead them to a place where they can grow in their relationship with Christ.

Temptation #2 – To Love Progress More Than People

I love progress, all leaders do.  However, if we are not careful we will fall so in love with the idea of every chart moving up and to the right that we lose sight of what really matters when it comes to ministry–people.

I get the fact that some people simply cannot move forward with a church or organization.  They can’t handle change and simply refuse to go along with all that the Lord is doing.  But…we should never assume that just because people don’t seem to “get it” that they are automatically against what we are doing.  Maybe they have questions.  Maybe they have legitimate concerns.  Maybe they don’t fully understand all that is going on.  AND…if those three things are true then it isn’t really their fault that they are not “on board,” it’s the leaders fault.

There will be times we need to slow down, take a breath and offer grace filled explanations to all that is taking place…and when a leader or organization refuses to do that because it would simply take too much time then they have fallen in love with progress more than people.

Temptation #3 – To Love Preferences More Than People

If you’ve been in ministry long enough then there are people (or types of people) that you prefer to stay away from.  (Don’t lie!!!)  Why do we prefer to keep them at a safe distance?  Simple…they’re messy, and we, for the most part, love for things to be neat, clean and predictable.

We prefer clean people and clean situations…and so we isolate ourselves from messy situations.  However, one of the things I’ve discovered in the past 20 years of ministry is that isolation really does lead to me being ineffective as a pastor.  And…if I isolate myself from the mess then I am not becoming more like Jesus because He always walked straight towards the mess.

If I am going to follow Christ I cannot allow personal preference to trump my love for people because in doing so then I totally communicate that I’ve forgotten what Christ did for me!  After all, if Jesus would have walked away from the mess rather than walking towards it…we’d all be in a lot of trouble!

#1 – I know I say it every week…but it’s just true.  Sunday was AMAZING as hundreds of people took their next step in their walk with Christ (over 25 people received Christ!)  I’ve never seen a public invitation like the one we witnessed this past Sunday in the history of our church.  WOW!

#2 – Remember a few things that we talked about Sunday…

• All too often we want to expect great things from God but don’t want to put forth any energy to see them come to pass.
• Loving the Lord with all our strength means that it is going to take energy and effort on our part to grow in our relationship with Him.
• We cannot achieve God’s love…we just receive it!
• If the apostle Paul had work to do in his life (see Philippians 3:10-14), then so do we!
• Why would God trust you with what is next if He cannot trust you with what He’s telling you to do now?
• Many times Christians would rather pray than obey!  (All too often people will say they are praying about something in order to delay obedience…and delayed obedience is deliberate disobedience!)
• Procrastination is assassination of the amazing future that God has planned for your life–why spend one more night with the frogs?
• You CAN do what Jesus is leading you to do, see Jeremiah 32:27 and Philippians 4:13!
• Until you take your next step…you’re stuck!!!  (See Ezekiel 14:1-6)  This is why some people can attend church for decades and remain the same…because they refuse to take their next step in their walk with Christ.
• The next step that Jesus wants us to take isn’t always easy…but it’s always right!

#3 – I’m beyond excited about our upcoming Night of Worship/CD release that we are having at every campus, it is going to be absolutely amazing!  (Here is the site with the details about your campus!) I really do hope you are planning on being there…it’s gonna be awesome!

#4 – I want to continue to promote the Real Marriage Conference that is going to be led by Mark and Grace Driscoll that our church is going to be hosting in March!  (Details here!) Trust me when I tell you that this is one of the best investments you will EVER make in your marriage!!!  You’ve GOT to be here!  And singles, this is FOR YOU AS WELL…one of the best ways to have a great marriage in the future is actually to begin preparing for it right now! (And…if you are single, then check out this article Pastor Mark wrote about why singles should attend.)

#5 – THIS COMING SUNDAY at every NewSpring campus is going to be one of “those Sundays” that our church will never forget!  We’re going to talk about Mark 12:30 again (Big Surprise) and what it means to love Jesus with all of our soul…and I really do believe that the Lord is going to profoundly impact thousands of us and the way we think about Him and others!!!

#6 – If you attend our church and did not read the article I wrote last week about KidSpring (our children’s ministry), then you should check it out here. I love our church!

#7 – Trust me when I tell you that going to Israel will absolutely impact your life in a way that you simply will not believe.  This past Sunday when I was talking about Jesus and the Garden of Gethsemane my mind flashed back to last May when I was actually there…it’s quite overwhelming!!!  We sold every single space for this trip that we originally booked…and the interest was so high that the company we are traveling with was able to secure us more spots (I believe there are about 50 left!)  I hope you can go!!!  AND…please understand that this is not something that our church is going to do every single year…in fact, I’m not sure when we will be going back, so if you want to go or think you might be interested you need to go here and sign up ASAP…it’s going to be amazing!

That’s all for this week!!!  I love you guys!  I love our church!  The Best Is Yet To Come!

#2 – It’s safe!  Background checks have been ran on every staff member (in our church) and every volunteer that has any contact with children (or students!)  There is a volunteer security team that makes sure random people do not just walk through our kid’s area…and there is a solid check-in system where not just anyone can come pick the child up from their class, whoever checked them in must check them out.

#3 – It’s fun!  My four year old daughter LOVES CHURCH, LOVES IT!!!  I love the fact that “fun” is a value in our kid’s ministry!!!  Where in the world did we ever get the idea that kid’s must suffer through church?  Heaven is NOT boring, it’s going to be a massive party/celebration, church should be as well (especially for kids!)

#4 – Our Staff & Volunteers Are Awesome – Our children’s staff LOVE children!  Our volunteers love children!  They do not do what they do out of duty but rather delight!!!  If a staff member or volunteer the children’s area does not absolutely love children then they need to be moved to another area.  Kid’s can read right through an adult…and a ministry that isn’t based out of love for children will be unfruitful and ineffective.

#5 – Our Kid’s Know God’s Word – Every week on the way home from church I ask Charisse two questions (by the way, these are the two questions I’ve shared with our children’s ministry for over a decade in regards to what their vision should be for children’s ministry.  I have said that parents are going to ask their kids two questions every Sunday…which are…

• Did you have fun?  (This one is first 90% of the time!)
• What did you learn?

It always fills my heart with joy every time Charisse tells me what she learned in her class about the Scriptures.  AND…there has NEVER been a week since she’s been active in a classroom that she hasn’t learned something.  Seriously, when a church commits to teaching children about Jesus in an environment that they love and in a manner that is on their level then they are making an investment in the next generation!

#6 – They Are Resourced!  NewSpring Church invests heavily in our youth and children’s ministry!  I don’t believe they are “the church of tomorrow,” I believe they are the church of TODAY!  I believe they matter TODAY!  I believe that if we invest in them TODAY and teach them about Jesus TODAY and help them grow up with a favorable view of church TODAY then their tomorrow will look a lot different!!!  A church that refuses to spend money on reaching the next generation has basically told them they can go to hell!  Disney spends money on them!  The Cartoon Network spends money on them!  The church should spend money on them!

#7 – They have AN EXCELLENT LEADER!  Cherie Duffey, our children’s director is the absolute best on the planet!  She LOVES kids (and has four boys of her own!)  Seriously, she has more passion for children and their families than anyone I’ve ever seen!  (By the way, a passionate and wise leader makes a HUGE difference!)  I am so honored that Charisse (my daughter) is going to have the privilege of being in an environment every week that is directly impacted by Cherie’s vision and passion for seeing children learn about Jesus on their level!

A dynamic children’s ministry cannot be underrated!  If we want to reach them we have to start as early as we can!!

#1 – This past Sunday our church set a non-holiday/special event attendance record as nearly 16,500 people attended a NewSpring service.  So thankful to everyone in our church who keeps on bringing people to a service…lives are being impacted and eternal destinations are being changed.  It’s not about attendance…it’s about people hearing the Gospel and responding to Jesus…and THAT HAPPENS EVERY WEEK!

#2 – We’ve received a great deal of positive feedback about the fact that I talked about my struggle with depression & anxiety.  I’ve literally heard people say that someone who knows Christ will never struggle with those things…and they are wrong.  I wrestled with depression from December 2007 until January of last year…and I’m still not completely through with this battle.  We will be beginning a brand new series starting Sunday, February 12 where I will be walking through that time in my life, how I got there, what I learned and how God was faithful to me in all of it.  It’s going to be one of the most raw and transparent series we’ve ever launched here at NewSpring Church, I’m praying that Jesus uses it to set some people free.

#3 – We talked about loving Jesus intellectually on Sunday…too many times we try to pursue Him emotionally but not with our minds, and Scripture clearly calls us to do both.  Jesus said in Mark 12:30 to go “all in” with our minds…and the best way to do that is – READ YOUR BIBLE, DO WHAT IT SAYS!  (See James 1:22, John 14:15, John 14:21)  AND…if you were not present Sunday or somehow missed receiving the Bible reading plan that we’re asking our church to go through then you can get it here!

#4 – This coming Sunday is going to be, hands down, THE defining moment for hundreds of people (maybe even thousands) when it comes to taking their next step in their walk with Christ.  I promise you that it’s going to be one of “those days” that many people never forget and reflect back on as the day they stopped playing games with Jesus and absolutely went “ALL IN!”

#5 – There was a rumor that was started by one of our worship leaders that I wore skinny jeans last Sunday (January 8th!)  That did not happen!  I love NewSpring Church way too much to ever expose you guys to the horror of me in a pair of skinny jeans.  They look OK on some people…but not on me!  :-)  I will not be wearing them anytime in the future…nor will I be wearing a scarf or a deep V-neck, once again, I love you too much to expose you to such an insane sight!!!

#6 – I LOVE KIDSPRING!  This past Sunday Charisse (my four year old daughter and I) got in the car to drive home after the 11:15 service and she told me, “I want to go back to church tonight daddy because my class was so much fun!”  I’m going to call that a WIN for our children’s ministry, I love the fact that our children’s staff and volunteers work as hard as they can to provide a safe, clean and fun environment where kids can learn about Jesus on their level!!!

#7 – For those who feel like you need a breakthrough…please remember what I shared on Sunday from Philippians 1:6, God’s NOT giving up on you!!!  Don’t give up on Him!  (I wrote about that several days ago here in regards to people who struggle with thinking that God is through with them.)

#8 – If you are married or one day want to be…PLEASE do everything you can to be here with us as Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace will be hosting a seminar entitled “Real Marriage!”  I can promise you that it will be one of the best things you have ever done for your marriage (or one of the best investments you will make in your future marriage.)  This event is going to sell out quickly…and so go here for more information and to register.

I hope you have an incredible week…I LOVE MY CHURCH, I love what Jesus is doing…and our best days (as a church and for you as an individual) are yet to come!