I could not sleep last night. I literally woke up at 3:00 this morning and felt like I needed to get out of bed and attempt a marathon. (My last attempt at this wasn’t so successful...but I did get a really great ambulance ride!)
Our First Wednesday service was OFF THE HOOK! In my opinion it was one of the BEST we have ever had. Especially the end where I was able to cast vision as to how God has raised up our church to make Him famous.
I am proud of our church—proud to serve as the pastor of people who WANT to reach the upstate for Christ. I am STILL moved by the names that you all wrote on the walls of your friends and family members who do not know Christ.
I had this thought…maybe one of the reasons that NewSpring is growing is because instead of putting the names of the people who purchased the furniture and memorializing them…we have chosen to write the names of those whom we want to see Christ purchase on our walls…and when that happens we lift up HIM instead of someone who dropped a check for a nice pew! (In case you are wondering…churches that put the names of people on a piece of furniture or a room makes me sick!!! Your church can lift up Jesus or people—you can’t have both! AND…it is HIS church—HIS—HIS!!!)
NewSpringers—PRAY!!! We are currently praying through some plans that, if we attempt them, the ONLY way they will succeed is if GOD IS IN THEM! We will be presenting a very rough outline of our next steps on May 6th...you DO NOT want to miss that service!!! I believe it insults God when we dream small!!! He owns a cattle on a thousand hills…and too many churches are content to asking Him for a cheeseburger rather than a filet! DANG…I am PUMPED!
ALSO I have been thinking about Unleash. I know I have said this before—but our original plan was for 100 people. We literally just put this thing together in January. HOWEVER, I was informed yesterday that over 800 people are now coming from all over the country—TO ANDERSON…WOW…that’s GOT to be GOD!!!
If you are coming then I want you to know that our staff and volunteers are PUMPED that you are going to be here…and it is our goal that day to serve you. You will see that we are NOT the perfect church & we do not have it all figured out…BUT…what we have learned we want to pass along. AND…it is our prayer that everyone who walks away will do so with a refreshed attitude and hunger to IMPACT their community for Christ.
For those who go to the “Y” early in the morning…I was there at 5:15 today and I made a discovery—Rufus DOES work out!!! I actually saw him on a treadmill! :-) (Everyone LOVES Rufus!)
Finally—I have to give MAD PROPS to my boy Steven. His blog went AWOL for several days…but he made a comeback—and THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AWESOME THINGS I HAVE EVER READ. If you are a pastor then you just might SHOUT OUT LOUD…and if you are a…well…read it… :-)
That’s it for now—got to put the final touches on Sunday…IN REGARDS TO SUNDAY…
#1 - GET PEOPLE HERE! Seriously…we are going to be talking about WHY WE KNOW Jesus is alive. Your friends and family members who do not know Christ…I PROMISE they have seen the news over the past couple of weeks and they will be interested.
#2 - WIND YOUR CLOCK FORWARD! Yes, it is daylight savings time THIS WEEKEND!
WOW…I am so excited…and I am so A-D-D! Pray that I can actually calm down and get some work done!!! :-)