Author: nick

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Unprepared

Have you ever felt unprepared for something?

I remember it wasn’t too long after I said ‘I Do‘ that I realized marriage was much more complicated and required much more responsibility than dating. The closer Nicki got to giving birth to our first child, I remember thinking that I was definitely not prepared to be a father, then Tristan came, even less prepared for two, oh yeah, then we had Hailey…three kids!? I’m still unprepared.

Have you ever just stopped and thought, “How much preparation would it require for me to feel prepared?” Maybe you feel unprepared because someone told you they didn’t think you were ready or qualified for a certain responsibility. What would it take for those people to see you as ‘prepared?’ Many times we don’t have a gauge at which those people would be pleased, but we allow them to point us in their direction for our lives.

I’ve never felt more unprepared for something than I do in my new role as a pastor and church planter. I am constantly facing new challenges and struggles that I’ve never experienced in other roles. You can tell me that you think I am unprepared for this role, and I’d agree, in fact you’d only be preaching to the choir. Although there are times I feel unprepared and I know that there are areas in my life where I am definitely unprepared, I had to make a choice whether I would listen to my feelings or past voices in my life or would I be obedient to God by listening to his voice. If I based having children on a timetable of feeling ‘prepared’ Nicki and I probably wouldn’t have the three amazing children God’s blessed us with.

We started a new series this past Sunday called ‘Ready, Set, Go!!!‘ – In the series we are exploring the journey that Christ calls his Church to and how he wants us to be obedient to that call.

We started off by looking at Jeremiah and the mission God sent him on as a Prophet to Jerusalem. There were several reasons why Jeremiah felt unprepared to fulfill this mission God had called him to. If Jeremiah were in our present time, I am sure there would be a “Prophet Assessor” or a “Senior Prophet” that would give Jeremiah a failing grade in this mission God called him to, but God declared him as prepared.

My encouragement to New Passion on Sunday is that when it comes to obeying the instructions of Christ #1 We are Prepared Because We are Called (Matthew 28:16-20) and #2 We are Prepared Because We are Gifted (1 Corinthians 12) – It was the same for Jeremiah. God Called him (Jeremiah 1:4-5) and God Gifted him for the mission (Jeremiah 1:7-10).For some of us, our obedience in pursuing Christ may not be anything huge (I.E. Planting a Church, Foreign Missions, Etc.), it may just be simple obedience in things like sharing the Gospel with a friend, loving those who are in distress, providing for those who are in desperate need.

Join the Conversation…Is there something that you are standing still on because you feel unprepared? Have you allowed other people’s opinions to hold you back from pursuing what Christ has called you to?

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Stronger: A Weekend for Men

stronger

In just a few of hours, 14 men will be piling into cars and driving about three hours up the road for “Stronger: A Weekend for Men.” We are going to a conference that solely focuses on men. I have no idea what to expect from this conference, I’ve never been, in fact to be honest, from the outside, its probably a conference I would typically avoid, but I am trusting the advice and the urging of one of my team members. I hope it’s as good as its been built up to be.

The conference is not called Stronger, but we are calling our weekend Stronger, because that is our goal from this trip. My desire is to see the men of New Passion become Stronger in every area of their lives. The fact is, I am younger than most of the men at our church, therefore instead of speaking into their lives on areas where they probably have had more experience, I feel it is healthy to allow other, older and wiser people do the talking for me. My biggest desire beyond men growing stronger in their personal lives and in their relationships at home and at work, is to see relationships develop with each other here at New Passion.

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Plan B by Pete Wilson

planb-1I’ve met a lot of pastors in my life; many in person and some through the internet. I won’t go into all of the details, but I have had the privilege of meeting Pete Wilson, both through the internet and in person.  Pete is the pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, it’s simply an amazing church made up of amazing leaders and people. It is one of those movements of God that if I were not called to pastor New Passion Church, I would probably do whatever I could to get to Nashville to mop floors at Cross Point, just to be able to be a part of what God is doing and to learn from one of the best leaders in the country. Pete and I are not really close friends or anything, but I can honestly say, I’ve met very few people like Pete, who are genuinely authentic (and not in the catch phrase kind of way) and who has a true pastor’s heart for people and is a friend to pastors and other ministry leaders. I’ve never got the impression that he has an ulterior motive and I’m a pretty good discerner of people.

I say all of that because I think you should understand what I know of the man who has written “Plan B” – which is set to release on May 4, 2010 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $10 HERE. I simply cannot wait to read this book. I remember hearing about the series that Pete did at Cross Point on this very title, “Plan B.”  You can hear one of the messages HERE.

You can win one of 10 pre-release copies of the book today (1/29/2010) by leaving your name and area you live in on Pete’s blog in the comments section. Check out this promo video for the book:

I believe in my heart there are so many people who desperately need to find hope in the midst of their Plan B. Maybe there’s someone in your life who’s trying to figure out why life isn’t turning out the way they thought. I’m praying this book would be a great gift for them during this season of their life. – Pete Wilson

(Register to Win a Copy of Plan B)

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Hell in Haiti

notre-dame-child-1This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. Matthew 16:18 MSG

When you write something, the opening sentence is important. The truth is, I don’t know what to say. There are so many words rambling around in my head, I don’t know where to start. I think I’ve grown from brokenhearted for the Haitian people to frustrated. Several people have made the comment that its strange so much attention is just now being put on the Haiti, when they’ve lived in extreme poverty for many, many years. To some degree I would agree, but the fact is, there have been many Christian and non-profit groups in the country for years, and they have brought attention to Haiti and other poor countries for a long time.

I have no better words to describe the things that I’ve been seeing and hearing other than “Hell in Haiti” – Can it be anything else?

I’ve been following Shaun King (Pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta) and his efforts to raise awareness on the Haiti situation, mobilize teams, raise money, send supplies, etc. through Twitter and his BLOG. I’ve heard chatter from Shaun and others about the Foyer Notre Dame Nativite Orphanage for DAYS. Pleading for help for the children trapped in the rubble and those who were displaced by the destruction of their home. Nothing. No help. Just cries for help…literally. 56 babies cried for at least 5 days trapped in the orphanage. The people in this part of the city didn’t have the tools to dig and to cut through the rubble. The cries equally filled the air through Facebook and Twitter. Help these children. Trapped, broken bodies, hungry and needing aid.

Have you ever heard someone say, “What could I have done to change things?” “What could I have done to make the outcome change?” – If your neighbor was brutally murdered by her husband, you may ponder whether you saw warning signs or not, or if you should have acted on the thoughts about him abusing her. But, in sitting neutral, something bad happened. I wonder what could have been for those children; 56 of them and one of their caretakers took their last breathe in that rubble. They were alive for days, what could I have done? What could you have done? Its frustrating at best to know that no one moved in 5 days.

Shaun King, Spencer Nix, and others finally got the attention of Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss, Commando, Charmed), now an Ambassador for UNICEF, through her Twitter account and the attention of Fox News reporter, Adam Housley, on his Twitter account. Alyssa got word to UNICEF to get a relief team to the area and Adam and his film crew went to the Orphanage the next morning. Read Adam’s story HERE or watch his video report HERE (I highly recommend you read and watch the reports). When Adam arrived a team from UNICEF and World Vision were just arriving to bring aid to the ravished daycare and its survivors.

70+ Children are still displaced. Their homes are now on a tarp in the grass. Their food, a brown gravy-like Porridge. I watch these stories feeling handcuffed that maybe there was something I could have done, if I were only there, but facing the reality that at this time I cannot be there. So right now, I’m just a guy with a computer, doing what I can to tweet and blog and update those I have connections with about the Hell that Haitians are living in. I’m doing what I can to call the church to rise up and live out the hope that we claim we have. Jesus said that Hell cannot prevail against His church. We have the solution. The Government proves over and over they are incompetent to offer the total solution. The church can respond quicker and more efficiently than any organization around. If you claim to follow Christ, now is the time to step your game up, and do WHATEVER is in your grasp to bring help to these Haitians who are in distress (James 1:27) – Unfortunately it doesn’t stop in Haiti, but they are in the most dire need at the moment.

HERE’s a list of organizations that you can partner with. Many of these have been on the ground in Haiti way before the earthquake struck. Can you give $5? Do it. Can you bug people through your social networks to get involved? Do it. Whatever is in your power. Do it.

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Anderson Cooper is My Hero

I’ve always enjoyed Anderson  Cooper’s reporting. I don’t particularly like CNN as a network, but Anderson Cooper always seems to shine in the midst of the toughest turmoil and crisis. I hate that much of his recognition is rooted in situations like the horrific earthquake in Haiti, or in Katrina. Today, in Haiti, looters were attacking each other for their stolen goods. Anderson Cooper was at the scene shooting video, when a young boy was apparently struck in the head with something. This video is graphic, so if you cannot handle a lot of blood, do not watch. It is impressive how Anderson drops his camera in the midst of a sea of looters to care for the wounded, bloody boy, and to carry him to safety. That is a true Hero, and you  don’t see that from reporters (typically). They are usually more interested in the story, not the people:

For the entire story, Click Here.