I know this is normally a time when I do “Sunday Night Reflections;” however, this weekend has been so eventful that I had to include some of the things that have happened.
I cannot even begin to describe the Friday session at C3 with TD Jakes. He is one of the FEW people that have moved me to tears during his speaking…and when he was done I could not keep myself in my chair. He BROUGHT it.
We flew home on Friday night…and I was in a weird mood—so I began singing the theme song from “The Love Boat” really loud in the DFW airport. It was fun and seemed to make the people around me happy—either that or they thought I was drunk!
Saturday was AWESOME because I was able to spend a lot of time with my incredibly beautiful wife! We did our normal Saturday routine of hitting the gym and then going to Sonic. I know it doesn’t make sense to work out like crazy and then eat onion rings—but that is our thing and we love it!!!
Saturday afternoon—HOLY COW…we celebrated one of THE most awesome things that we do at NewSpring—BAPTISM. (Tony has a picture here.) We stood and saw 212 people confess Jesus Christ as Lord…and it was MOVING! Baptism is one of those things that I never get tired of—it is what makes all of the work and all of the crap I put up with from negative people worth it!!!! To see changed lives—THAT is why we do what we do—and NewSpring—there are THOUSANDS more who need Christ…and we ARE going to reach them!
Today was awesome because I didn’t speak. I counted and I had spoken for 13 weeks in a row…and to be honest…I was TIRED. I know that some people don’t understand that; in fact, I have had people ask me, “Why do you say you are tired…all you do is speak on Sunday!” If you are a pastor and someone says this to you…I really don’t think God would be mad if you hit them…just being honest.
BUT…for those who do understand—I was tired…and so I handed the stage to Joe today and he brought it!!! I thought it was an excellent message…I know God spoke to me through it.
Tonight I stepped over to see Ignite, our Middle School ministry. I was HIGHLY impressed with the creativity and excellence that our middle school staff demonstrated. Alden Ellis is one of the finest youth pastors I have EVER seen in my life…and his love for students is SO obvious. I love students as well—and tonight I began to get REALLY excited about our upcoming summer trip!!! (I serve as the speaker for our summer camps…and it is a BLAST!!!)
Oh yeah—speaking of youth ministry—we have a REALLY exciting announcement this coming Sunday!
AND…speaking of this coming Sunday…we begin our new series called “Girls Gone Wild!” YEAH—it’s going to ROCK!
NewSpring…I am going to go ahead and say it—mark you calendars for April 1st…and DO NOT MISS THAT SUNDAY!!! It will be the last message in the “Girls Gone Wild” series and I will be sharing some REALLY exciting news about the direction of our church—especially in the area of missions. TRUST ME…if we are able to do what we are investigating then I believe our community will be COMPLETELY turned upside down for Jesus Christ. I have NEVER heard of a church doing what we are looking at doing! (Yes, things done in our community IS CONSIDERED MISSIONS!!! God help the church that will send money overseas but ignores the very needs that exist within a nine iron shot of the parking lot!)
I will be speaking here on Tuesday…and I am REALLY excited AND nervous. YES—I get nervous when I speak—especially when I am not at NewSpring—for those who pray for me—PLEASE pray hard on Tuesday. And for those who DO NOT pray for me—please start on Tuesday!!! :-)
And then the conference we are doing here at NewSpring—wow—I never expected to see what we are seeing—274 people are signed up from 75 different churches in 14 states. (Don’t forget that the early bird rate deadline is Wednesday!!!) We have put some things together over the past week or so that is going to put this thing over the top…and I can’t wait for NewSpring to be able to serve other leaders! And NewSpringers—let us know if you want to volunteer—we already have about 150…but we can always use more.
Pastors—once again—do not come to this thing alone. Trust me—GET PEOPLE HERE WITH YOU!!! I promise it will be WELL WORTH $45!!!
That’s it—I am going to bed…BUT I am doing a post on Tuesday that God has been building inside of me for weeks now…I can’t wait! (Yes, I do believe it will ruffle some feathers!) :-)