Today was special…that is the only way I know how to say it. I can honestly say that I am more excited about this upcoming year of ministry than I have EVER been about ANY coming year in the history of our church. I know I say that a lot—but in my opinion a pastor can either be excited about the past, thus the church he serves becomes a monument to what God DID…or he can be excited about the future, this the church he serves becoming a MOVEMENT of God.
I can’t describe today…to me it was so awesome to sit back and reflect on how good God has been to us…some of the things I will never forget as long as I live from this past year are…
- HANDS DOWN…announcing the birth of our daughter was the HIGHLIGHT of my year! WOW…I had no idea I could love a child like this!
- When we wrote the names of our lost family members and friends on the walls of our sanctuary during our “What If” series…there are over 6,000 names currently, with more being added just about every week.
- The week after that seeing 250 people receive Christ (this was when I smashed the car on the stage.)
- Our Unleash Conference…we planned it in January—expected around 100 people…and around 900 church leaders from all over America showed up! Our volunteers stepped up HUGE…and I believe everyone had a blast. We are doing it again this year—March 13th…and we already have around 550 signed up!!!
- Seeing over 10,000 people show up for Easter. Folks…when we began NewSpring Church I NEVER dreamed that we would ever serve this many people in a weekend. In fact, our ten year goals say that if we could reach 1,000 people by 2010 that we would be successful. LESSON LEARNED—when making plans with God…make them BIG!!!
- Giving away a house to a single mom for Mother’s Day…I honestly don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.
- Our youth trip to the beach…nine charter buses full of teenagers and chaperone’s, games on the beach, incredible times of worship…and a baptism service where over 70 teenagers confessed “Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord” out loud!!!
- Our Illuminate series where we had nearly 800 people come to Christ, I came out of a coffin, our band played “Hells Bells” and we had fire on the stage!
- The Baptism service where I asked people to show up and tailgate just like a football game…and they did! That day we baptized 562 people…it took six pastors and hour and a half to do so…it was by far one of the most memorable days of my life.
- Gametime—where we shared the vision God has placed on our hearts to build a children’s facility, youth facility, begin a Greenville campus and give away 10% of every dime that comes in to missions…and we, as a church, pledged $14.3 million dollars! WOW!
- Going to Homeland Park Elementary School and putting a brand new pair of shoes on the feet of nearly every child there…and giving them a jacket and some toys as well.
- Seeing 12,795 people show up for one of our Christmas services!
- KNOWING that God has even more in store!
I could literally go on and on…and I am sure you could as well. God has been so good to us…and I know that our best days are ahead. I can’t wait to see what He does next…I am so amazed that He would allow a screw up like me to be a part of this! Thank You Jesus!!!