My journey with Newspring began four years ago.  I’ll never forget coming across PerryNoble.com and being blown away by what I read.  I kept thinking to myself, “can he really say that?”  I found the Perry was saying what everybody else was thinking but afraid to say.  Needless to say, a curiosity was birthed inside of me to learn more about Newspring Church.

Within a few months my executive pastor and I managed to line up a lunch meeting with Perry in Anderson.  I’ll never forget what he said to me when I asked him about his boldness on stage.  He said, “the moment you begin to censor your words because of your critics you are done!”  That day I felt as if I was given permission to be ME…to say what God had put on my heart and to say it in a way that I WOULD SAY IT!

Fast forward through many trips to Anderson, multiple unleash conferences, and a pastors coaching network and somehow a friendship began between Newspring and Lifepoint.  There is NO Way I could adequately thank Karla, Jason, Joel, Lee, Ken, Brad, Shane, Lindsay, Margie, Coleen, and the rest of the crew for what they have meant to me and my team!  You guys are amazing and I am honored to serve alongside such incredible servants!

My experience preaching the Word of God at Newspring was an honoring one.  The nerves were definitely flowing!  I didn’t sleep much on Saturday night.  But the God who is rich in mercy stepped in and gave me everything I needed.  Throughout the course of the day I preached to over 9,000 people and saw 74 make decisions to begin a relationship with Jesus! Here’s a few random thoughts on my time at Newspring:

• The Newspring Team is over the Top.  I have to say thanks to Ben Coleman for filming a video on Saturday to send back to my Lifepoint crew.
• I couldn’t tell if my insides were rumbling from nerves or if it was just the bass rocking my world.
• I was excited about preaching on such a big stage until they told me that I couldn’t walk off the mat.  (apparently, walking off the mat=walking out of the camera which appears that I got raptured for all the campus’ watching via video)
• Yes, Perry made fun of me.
• Yes, he poked fun at my last name.
• Yes, my last name means cabbage.
• As it turns out, Pete Wilson and I are in a running for the best looking pastors in america award.  I think you can vote for me on facebook.
• You can tell that the Newspring team are really great friends.
• The 6 o’clock service definitely lived up to the hype.
• I was honored that my staff drove down after our 11am service to support me at the 6pm service.
• I had lots of friends praying for me and I REALLY appreciated it!
• I ate more food in two days than I have in the last two weeks!
• Hanger Steak and Peanut Butter Pie from Sullivans…HELLO!!!!!!

Thank you Newspring for setting an example for churches to follow.  Thank you Perry for being an authentic leader who pushes me to be a better pastor!

Thank you for an experience that I will never forget!

You can watch the message here.

Judging by the pictures and reports, Nashville has been hit hard!  REALLY HARD!  Experts are calling this the “500 year flood.”  Here is the article that appeared on Fox news this morning about the situation Basically what happened is that Nashville received around 15 inches of rain in a 24 hour period and the rivers could not handle it…and this situation is intense and desperate as MOST people living in that area did NOT have flood insurance.

We have an opportunity to step up and make a difference.  I am asking all of Lifepoint and partnering churches to step up and give big.  We are not going to wait until the weekend to collect an offering.  Nashville needs the money NOW!

We are partnering with Pastor Pete Wilson and Crosspoint Church.  I know Pete and I’ve been to their church.  They are in the middle of the mess and they will be there long after relief crews have left.  I don’t believe there is a better mission to partner with.

Here is how the money is going to be used:

• To help people repair their homes (HUNDREDS of people lost everything!)
• To purchase equipment to assist with the relief efforts
• To purchase supplies such as water and food (all but one water treatment plant has been shut down!)
• To feed people

Those are just SOME of the things…

This is our moment to link arms with other believers to serve the broken and hurting.  I’m counting on you Lifepoint to give and to give big!  Let’s let our lights shine bright in the midst of this dark situation.  Pray hard and give big!

Here is the link to give…you can specify “flood relief fund” in the fund section under your donation amount!

Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 26th.  Pastor Michael Lukaszewski and Oak Leaf Church are hosting the NUTS AND BOLTS CONFERENCE.  I have personally learn a ton from Michael and Oak Leaf.  This is a must attend conference for all church planters.

What is it? Nuts and Bolts is a one-day conference for church planters, church leaders and their teams.  There will be two main sessions and one breakout session (you’ll choose from about six of them)

When is it? Saturday, June 26.  We chose to do this on a Saturday so bi-vocational pastors or church planters with day jobs can come and can bring people.  It starts at 9am and it will end with an early-edition of our weekend service.

How much does it cost? $10 a person.  We wanted to keep the cost extremely low because we’re not trying to make money…we’re trying to equip church planters.  And 100% of the registration fee goes to church planting.

Here is a snippet from the first page…

Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

they life in my death,

they grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty,

thy glory in my valley.

The following is the news story that was aired last night on WECT.

This Takes Work
By Perry Noble

I had NO IDEA this was going to happen.

I remember the fall of 1999 so clearly. While the rest of the world was freaking out about the impending disaster that Y2K was going to bring, I was meeting with a group of 15 people in a living room dreaming about what would soon be known as NewSpring Church.

We had our first service on a local college campus on January 16, 2000 with 115 people in attendance. Most who attended were college students-which was good because they were full of energy-but bad because they were broke!

We grew quickly causing us to have to move to the largest auditorium on the campus and add multiple services to accommodate the growth. We quickly reached maximum capacity with a weekly average of 4,500. We then built a facility of our own and moved in last February. God has continued to blow our minds since we have been here. Just last weekend, we saw 9,260 people here at NewSpring, with 250 making first-time decisions to receive Christ.

To top all of this off, we are in Anderson, South Carolina. I mean, this is a place where the entire population of the county is only around 170,000, but for some reason, God has chosen us to do an incredible work.

Like I said, I had no idea this was going to happen, BUT I have managed to learn a few things through this experience:

1. I am in way over my head!

I feel that if God is in something, then the person leading it will never truly feel like it is manageable . because it isn’t. I have discovered that God’s desire for me as a pastor is to never be comfortable, and when you are in the middle of a move of God, you will always feel like you are over your head-ALWAYS.

2. I have to continually LISTEN to God.

Some of the biggest mistakes I have made as a leader have happened when I tried to substitute my vision for God’s.

I am a student of leadership. Right now, I am studying the Old Testament, specifically Moses’ leadership style. And I have discovered that Moses was ALWAYS successful when He did exactly what God told him to do-ALWAYS.

This principal alone has challenged me to seek God in every decision we make as a church, and to rest assured that as long as we listen to God, we are not going to screw things up here.

3. I MUST continue to surround myself with quality leaders.

When you start a church, you can either surround yourself with “yes men” or reformers. So in the beginning of NewSpring, I chose to go the reformer route, and I have NEVER regretted that decision.

We have developed a solid leadership team over the past seven years. One of the biggest mistakes that church planters make is to form a senior management team right out of the gate. I tell pastors to wait because the best leaders might not even be at the church yet.

We have a rule in our senior management team meetings: Say what you need to say behind closed doors, get it all out on the table, and talk through every issue. BUT, when we walk out of the door, we are going to be on the same page. Quality leaders LOVE this environment, and by listening to God and one another, we manage to get a “W” here and there.

4. This takes work.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when a church service is done poorly, and “the Holy Spirit” is blamed because “He didn’t move.”

I will have to say that there are many problems with our churches in America today, but GOD IS NOT ONE OF THEM!

If a church wants to reach people who are disconnected from Christ and then wants to assist others in making their connection stronger, then there can’t be a half-hearted effort by the leaders to see how fast they can get through a meeting. It takes time, effort and a willingness to make really hard decisions. If a church is growing, it isn’t by accident!

We are not the perfect church-God knows that! The fact that I am the pastor takes us out of that category. What we are seeing here is a supernatural act of God. We know that as long as we continue to desperately seek God’s direction with a willingness to do what He tells us to do, there is NO LIMIT to where HE can take this thing!

Thanks Strick!

nice design work!

Be sure to read the disclaimer on the first one first.

Phrases we need to ban pt. 1

Phrases we need to ban pt. 2

Steven, if you read this…keep it up!