This will sound arrogant, but I am not intending it that way, but there will be some punk out that takes it that way, but anyway…here goes.

NewSpring Church Loves People!

I am so thankful that I am a part of church that cares about people.  I have had the privilege to meet with a some couples that are living together that are not married.  Each of them have their different circumstances and reasons, but they all have been willing to meet and talk about their situation. Well, to make a long story short…I am getting ready to leave to officiate the wedding of one of those couples.

They came and meet with me a couple of weeks ago to talk about how they want to live for Jesus.  So I asked their intentions and they said they wanted to get married.  So I walked with them through a couple sessions of pre-marital counseling appointments that talked about love, roles in marriage, lies that we are told about marriage, expectations, sex, intimacy, etc.

Because NewSpring cares about people, I am able to officiate the wedding of two people that want to follow God’s will for their lives and live the way Jesus wants them to.  Unfortunately, some churches would have beat them up emotionally and verbally and told them leave their church and then come back AFTER they got straightened up….not NewSpring.  We love the people and help them get out of the sin.  We don’t tell them to go clean up and then come back!  We know that we are a hospital for sinners and not a country club for sinners!!

God calls us to LOVE people, NOT their sin!!  We must be willing to deal with that sin and speak truth in love to them…this is messy and draining, BUT so rewarding!!

So be sure to ALWAYS love Jesus and love people!! Now, I am off to a wedding!!

Today, Jake Beaty, Jaime Salmon, and myself took the time to come to Atlanta a little early for the Catalyst Conference.  The main reason for us to head down this way, was to meet with some folks from NorthPoint Community Church’s Care Department.  We had the priviledge to ask them questions, pick their brain, and see some of the struggles they faced as they began to minister at many different locations.  Of course, this is something that we at NewSpring Church are continuing to work through with our Greenville site up and running and with the outlook of Florence and many other campuses to come.

It was a great meeting and I still need to process some of the things that were said, so hopefully in the next couple of days I will be able to write about some of those things amidst all the information that I am going to receive in the next two days while being at the conference.  I have been looking forward to meeting with them and learning and also learning from the many different speakers at the conference.

Coming up on October 4th we are having a HUGE baptism. It is going to be awesome. We have asked our people to join in the parking lot for some tailgating before we get the baptism rolling and if last year is an indication….DANG….it will be AWESOME!!! Last week we had over 400 people sign up for the baptism and we are expecting more to come in the very near future.

If you want more information on baptism, go to this link or if you know that you need to be baptized, go to this link and sign-up today!! We would love to have you join us.

So bring out the RV’s, tents, frisbees, grills, footballs, golf carts, and all the food you can. Tailgating will begin at 3PM and Baptism at 5PM!!! Don’t miss it!

Also here is an article about LAST year’s baptism!!

In my new role, I get the privilege to respond to a lot of correspondence that we received here at NewSpring Church.  The other day we received a letter from a correctional institution in Florida.  Check out this excerpt from the letter:

“Today, due to some crazy weather, we had to improvise our afternoon chapel service. We showed week two of the Illuminate Series, you preached on “Nailing It Down,” putting Jesus into our heart and receiving Christ. When you gave the call to stand up SIX men in our chapel stood up and received Christ.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!”

I was blown away and blessed beyond measure by this!  Thank you Jesus for using NewSpring even in places that we did not know we were being used…

“I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’”Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”   Matthew 25:36-40

Since I “officially” started my job on Monday, I have had so many things to learn.  Of course, this will take a lot more time, but here are some of the things that have consumed my mind lately:

• Trying to be intentional with getting to know my new staff
• Learn and understand some things that were getting ready to be changed
• Learn and understand the current structure of ministry
• Read through a 7 Section (75+/- page manual) of the Care Team Structure, Policies, and procedure.
• Read through the “How to pull off Membership Class” manual
• Determine how to utilize my assistant/membership coordinator
• Grasp how much training has been done and what was taught
• Brainstorm future training sessions
• Begin to brainstorm what type of method we will use for our volunteers to know how to help/care for people
• Learn the Benevolence process
• Conduct potential intern interviews for the summer

Also had to go to the Doctor to get treated for Poison Oak/Ivy, whatever you want to call it!  Which the medicine is wonderful but it makes me really, really drowsy!!

Time to go learn some more!  I am out!

One of the things that I love about NewSpring Church is that we are not afraid to change to meet the growing needs that our church has. Change is sometimes a very hard thing for people to cope with. They struggle with it, they agonize over it, and sometimes they are flat out against it! I believe that the reason so many struggle with change is because it is hard for them to let go. Let go of pride, position, power, etc.

The characteristic of our leadership team that is so prevalent is that they SOAK every decision in prayer. If they are going to change, they make sure it is what God is calling them to do. Now, understand that our leadership team is tasked with leading our church, which sometimes requires change without getting approval from everyone and their momma. They do not have time to get everyone’s approval because we are in desperate times…people are dying and going to Hell. My trust is in the Lord God Almighty and if God told them that we need to do something or change something, then lets strap on the boots and get to work! The church has the solution, and I am so thankful that our leadership team will not sit on the sidelines and watch people die and go to Hell! Because it is GAMETIME!!!

So with that said, I am changing positions at NewSpring Church. I am going to be transitioning out of the Student Ministry as a Student Pastor and taking on a leadership role in our Care Ministry. I will be serving alongside the best Care Ministry Staff in the country. My role will be to serve as Care Pastor for NewSpring Church with my responsibilities including overseeing and managing:

• 3 Other FABULOUS Staff Members
• Membership Process
• Baptism
• Pre-Marital Class and Counseling
• Benevolence
• Bereavement
• Hospital Team
• Meals Ministry
• Weekday Prayer Team
• Sunday Care Team
• Weekday Care Team
• Weekend Care Team
• Counseling for Men
• Recruitment and Training Care Ministry Volunteers

So many things to do and accomplish!! It is going to be exciting, so please pray for me as I begin a brand new area of ministry. I am looking forward to being able to serve Christ by serving people in a very real and tangible way! Let the adventure begin!!!!