The Space Between

September 3, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

Check out this video from Pete Wilson, lead pastor at Cross Point Church, in Nashville, TN.

This message (Relentlessly Dedicated) is from Cross Point’s 3D DNA series.

If you are a Christ Follower and it doesn’t inspire you…I truly don’t know what to say. Watch it. Be inspired. Do something!

I pray God would use our community of faith at New Passion to make the kind of impact Cross Point has locally and globally in our area.

Reflections from the message:

  • The reference Pete made about 6 pennies, are you okay with that?
  • Pete referenced the average missions giving from the church was 2% and the average from individuals to the church was 2% – Are you okay with that?
  • Are you bored?
  • Do you buy into the consumerism approach to church? It’s got to fit within your mileage, its got to fit within your schedule, all of the programs, the style, the music has to fit you like a glove? Has church become about you?
  • How do you look at missions? Is it a program of the church? A great idea? Something you do when it fits your schedule and your budget? Or is it a part of your DNA?
  • How would your opinion about your problems change if you knew God would use it for his glory in the life of another person? (I.E. God used shadrach meshach and abednego in the fiery furnace to open the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar)

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What Lion Do You Need to Chase?

June 7, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

I absolutely loved this message by Craig Groeschel that we at New Passion opened our One Prayer series with this past Sunday. It’s called “Unstoppable Courage” and it hits home because I have some friends right now who are staring some Lions in the face and they are either going to have to decide to chase the Lion and kill it, or allow the Lion to destroy them. I pray they have their eyes opened to how big their God is:

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Thank You New Passion and Friends

May 11, 2010 By nick 2 Comments

supplies-in-vanHey New Passion Church and our friends who jumped in with us to help out Cross Point Church with their flood relief efforts! I just want to express how thankful I am to you all for caring enough for other people that you would sacrifice your time and money to send a van full of supplies and a financial gift to a church you may never visit and to a people you may never meet.

That’s what real love is all about.

The Good Samaritan helped a complete stranger who was overlooked by everyone else when he needed serious help. We love helping those who we know, but I believe it is an even stronger reflection of Jesus when we are just as willing to help those we don’t know, and at that, just like the Good Samaritan, go above and beyond just helping.

I really hoped that we could have done more to help in this situation. The news ran a story, the Christian radio even promoted what we were doing, yet the response came down to our church and a few of our friends, so thank you!

Here is what you did by the numbers:

  • $1,700 Financial Gift – This is huge! This was raised in less than a week and it is equivalent to half of our monthly income as a church (our monthly rent at the school for 4-weeks is $1,740)
  • 35+ Cases of Water
  • 3 Wheelbarrows
  • 8 Bottles of Bleach
  • 15 Pairs of Gloves
  • 48 Rolls of Toilet Paper
  • 7 Plastic Containers
  • A bunch of Cleaning Supplies (Sponges, Buckets, Etc.)
  • 3 Utility Knives with Replacement Blades
  • 2 Crowbars
  • 2 Flashlights
  • And a bunch of random items to help

2010-05-10-190213Not too shabby for a church that turned 9 months old this past Sunday and who runs an average of 80-85 people, half of which are children.

Pete Wilson, lead pastor of Cross Point, sent me this message: “Dude!!!!!! I was blown away by the financial gift you guys gave. Holy cow that was generous. Thanks so much Nick. Your church is amazing!!”

Ryan Bult, Missions Director of Cross Point, was very grateful for everything you all did, he expressed it many times to Billy and me personally.

Everyone who we talked to  who is in the middle of this crisis and are trying to put their lives back together again expressed their gratitude for your sacrifice and gratitude for them. Your love for them was evident in our being present and delivering the items you donated.

This crisis is not over! We will continue to partner with Cross Point in the future. Billy and I are discussing our best approach, so stay tuned as we reveal the next phase of our Nashville Flood Relief Effort. We’ll also talk more about this Sunday!

Thank you all…I’m proud of you all!

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Late Night Sneak Peak

May 8, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

Here is a late night sneak peak at the Video we are showing before our special offering tomorrow for our Nashville Flood Relief Efforts. This video was created by Cross Point’s team, we just added our message at the end. Let’s step up big tomorrow at New Passion!

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WRDW, New Passion, and Cross Point

May 7, 2010 By nick 2 Comments


Interview by WRDW News Channel 12′s reporter Blayne Alexander:

Whew!

What started as an idea to get New Passion Church involved in supporting Cross Point Church has turned into a city-wide call to rise up and help a city(Nashville) rebuild! I love Social Media!

WRDW News Channel 12 interviewed me today about what role New Passion hopes to play in that effort. They focused strongly on our desire to collect supplies, but we also are pushing heavily to collect financial donations as well. Money is one of the biggest needs right now, so we are happy to do both. Your donations are 100% tax-deductible and will go directly to Cross Point for their relief efforts in and around their community.

You can check out our supply list HERE and you can donate online HERE or HERE. On Sunday, for those who will be at our worship service, we will collect a special offering for Cross Point. CSRA & New Passion, Billy and I are hoping to fill a cargo van with supplies. Can you help us do that? We will deliver those supplies first thing Monday morning. Help us get the word out. Be willing to allow God to use you through your sacrificial giving. If you do not attend New Passion and just want to drop a donation off, you can do so at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Grovetown, GA from
8 am – 12:15 pm

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The Influence of Sacrifice

May 7, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

In my post yesterday I shared how New Passion Church has committed to selling a portable sound system that we are not using and is in storage so we can give the money to Cross Point Church for their Nashville Flood Relief Efforts. We’ll only get $300-400 for the system, its not a lot of money, but it’s just one more small part that we can contribute.

In all honesty, this sound system is special to me. It isn’t to my worship leader Jonothan. In fact, when I first showed him the system, I think he laughed really loud inside his head & then verbally asked how much money we had and said our first major purchase when we got the money would be for a new sound system. Not because it is not a good system; only because it would not fit our needs for growing into the future. It is however special to me. Why? Well, because its New Passion’s first sound system. Given the money we had and the sacrifices we had to make, the $800 we invested to get the mixer, speakers, mics and cords was a huge deal. I was excited! In fact, instead of getting rid of it, I’d rather  plate it in gold and put it in a trophy case.

So, why is it easy for me to let it go? Because of the influence of sacrifice. Jonothan understood that we were limited in our early days financially. We still are, but we are in a much better place than we were 1-2 months in. We are in a better place financially because of people like Jonothan who are willing to sacrifice and therefore influence the entire DNA of our church. Jonothan had a prized possession; his motorcycle. He sold that motorcycle to purchase new NICE speakers and a new NICE sound board for New Passion to use in our worship services. We’re still developing our band, so its kind of funny right now to see two singers plugged into a 32 channel Allan and Heath board :)

allanheathboard
Every time New Passion and our people have sacrificed for a Kingdom cause, God has blown us away with his response. We’ve never given or sacrificed to get a response, only to be obedient. This Sunday as we collect supplies and financial gifts for our Nashville Flood Relief Efforts, we don’t expect anything locally to come of it. We do however expect God to use our efforts globally in Nashville for the BIG church. We don’t sacrifice to get or to gain. We sacrifice to influence others for Christ. There is no better church in the world that I would want to partner with than Cross Point Church. It has been amazing to see the influence they’ve created out of their personal sacrifice. Their pastor, Pete Wilson, said the other day that this is being called the 1,000 year flood, he sees it as a once in a 1,000 year opportunity to reach out to those who are in crisis.

Will you join us this Sunday? If you can’t be there will you join us online HERE or HERE to donate to their relief efforts? Even a sacrifice of $5 can influence a changed world for someone. Will you bring one or several of the requested supplies? We’ll be collecting supplies at Cedar Ridge Elementary School (1000 Trudeau Trail, Grovetown, GA 30813: Directions) from 8 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. You don’t have to stay for the service, you can simply drop off and leave. Will you share the link to our website and our Facebook Events page on your Facebook or with your friends through Email or other Social Media sites? Even if you are from another state, you can get involved, you can get others involved. Join the people of Nashville. Influence others through your sacrifice!

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It’s Not Just a Prayer

May 6, 2010 By nick 1 Comment

“…and help the sick, the hungry, and the poor”

prayerThat’s what Gavin asks every time he prays. For a long time Nicki and I simply let him pray it, but over the last couple of years, we’ve done our best to show him opportunities where he can actually be the answer to his prayer.

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Millions of prayers will be hitting the airwaves all across the country. I am so excited that people will take the time to pause and to pray. I truly believe prayer is the conduit that ushers in God’s power. However, as I think about the most famous prayer, The Lord’s Prayer, I can’t help but to recognize that it wasn’t just a prayer. Jesus didn’t simply toss up some words to his Father and expect them to happen. There is a portion of the prayer that only God could answer, but for the rest of it, Jesus was instructing us to pray for the ability and the strength to accomplish that which we are called to accomplish. Jesus didn’t just pray this prayer, he lived it, check it out:

“…Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

What was God’s will? That Jesus would come offer himself as a sacrifice for all of mankind, so that whoever places their faith in him would have salvation. Jesus did that. What’s God’s will for us? That we go about sharing the Good News and allowing our lives to be driven from the message of the gospel.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Jesus did this. Remember the cross? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do?” Remember the conversation with Peter in Matthew 18? “How many times should I forgive my brother who sins against me, up to seven times?” and Jesus replied “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”

I believe like Gavin, we are caught too many times praying for a solution to the world’s problems, but it ends there. I guess we expect Manna to fall from heaven to feed the poor. Blankets to drop down from doves to cover the homeless. And medicine to seep out of the ground to heal the sick. As I’ve been in the middle of raising awareness for our local area to help with the flood relief in Nashville, I’ve never been more frustrated by the words, “I’m praying for them.” Or, I can’t bring supplies or a donation because I’ll be at “My” church, but “I’ll pray for them.”

Why am I bugging everyone on Facebook and Twitter to get involved with the Nashville Flood Relief? Because I know Manna doesn’t fall from Heaven, I know doves don’t deliver blankets, and there  isn’t such thing as medicine crops. Pete Wilson, lead pastor at Cross Point in Nashville said it best, “This is called the thousand year flood, I see it as a once in a thousand year opportunity.” (Watch Their Update Video) I am doing what I can, whether you are tired of seeing my updates and blog posts or not, because I believe there are some prayers that Jesus intended on US being the answer to; while he provides us the resources, the ability, and the strength!

I can’t say this any more clearer. Church, this is OUR family. What if 50% of your church staff lost their homes? What if a big portion of your congregation & friends lost their homes? Would you be asking for help? Would you hope your family would come along side you? So, where are you at?

Everyone can give something. Supplies? We have a list of stuff needed HERE & We’ll come pick them up, if you are local and can’t drop them off. Donation? You can give online Here or Here if you can’t be there Sunday to drop it off or to give in our special offering. Everyone has $5 to give. Some may have more. You may have $1,000 that you can pull out of savings. Acts 2:44-45 “All the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.” In addition to our special offering, New Passion has a portable, powered 8 channel sound board with two speakers that we are selling. Everything we make on that “possession” will be “shared” with Cross Point. So now, it’s your turn. Whose prayer in Nashville can you answer on the National Day of Prayer?

Our special site for the Nashville Flood Relief Effort in the CSRA: http://flood.newpassionchurch.com

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This is Our Moment

May 5, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

In light of the flood damage in Nashville, today, I am re-posting an old article from August of 2008 where I shared part of my experience with relief work after Hurricane Katrina. Granted, the flood situation is not as severe as the situation caused by Katrina, however, homes have been completely destroyed or severely damaged and lives have been lost. The outcome is the same, the only difference is the reach of the damage. The article below explains a little bit about why helping those in distress is in my blood. Yo can also check out these videos from the relief efforts, they are kind of rough, but there was very little editing time: Video #1 is 18 minutes long as was used in one of our services as a part of the pastor’s message, Video #2 is 5 minutes long and shows slides of our relief team in action.

A Moment Like This

Have you ever experienced one of those moments where you knew from that point on your life would be changed forever? Sometimes the realization comes hours maybe days later after the moment has passed, but then there are those times that in the present moment, it hits you!

One of my moments came when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Sure, its been several years since the hurricane devastated the Gulf Coast, but it was in that moment I saw things differently, and it affects me even today, it changed me then and the change has never subsided. I am sure the same would be said by those who survived the events of that summer and by those who spent months recovering bodies and doing the best they could to restore communities and cities and homes.

It was a Wednesday night that 6 of us embarked on a journey that transformed my life and the way I look at the blessings of God and the power that He possesses. I got to the office and was glued to the internet checking out the devastation that had wiped out much of the area. All of the staff pastors, two teenage guys, and another leader in our church decided to do something, so we rallied water and a few groceries and headed out after our midweek service, our plans were to make the 12+ hour trip throughout the night, hand out supplies and drive immediately back. Our destination was Biloxi, Mississippi. We didn’t get too far down the road and we experienced some significant problems with the RV, but we were not deterred from our goal. Fortunately we loaded up on gasoline at the last station that had it within driving distance, about two hundred miles out, we also carried numerous 5 gallon gas cans for backup. When we got to Biloxi, we were some of the first relief efforts in the area. The National Guard was there, but they were mostly scoping things out. All we had was a RV loaded with some groceries pulling a trailer full of bottled water. What was to take place was AMAZING!

It took me two weeks to pull my emotions back into order. It was at that point we took our second of three trips back to Biloxi, it was going to be a long time before I wouldn’t fall asleep thinking of what I just experienced; what I experienced shook my world. At first it was kind of cool seeing the scattered boats and destroyed signs as we neared the heaviest hit area, but as we got into the community that we ended up adopting as a church, the coolness quickly wore off, and it was at that Moment, I knew I would never be the same! Lives were destroyed, homes gutted by the force of the storm surge, personal possessions scattered everywhere you looked, the stench of death filled the air, entire buildings vanished.

We gave cases of bottled water away. We broke cases open and gave as people needed. For at least 10 hours, we distributed water. Remember how Jesus took a few fish and some bread and it multiplied? We experienced what we could only describe as a miracle (I am not being weird). We could not give all of the water away, it was as if it continued to increase. The stack never disappeared until towards the end of the day when it started to get dark and we set out to head home. I believe to this day, God increased our supply as the people had need. The rich became poor in one afternoon. There was no distinguishing them a part. In fact, many of the poorer people’s homes were in better condition than the richest we came across. There was no class that day or in the days to come, it was people, in need.

The greatest story from our first trip to the devastated area was when a lady and her family pulled up behind us in a jeep. She approached me first, and asked if we had any groceries left. I responded that I didn’t think so, but I went to the RV and confirmed. We had a couple of cans of Vienna Sausages for which we were going to split amongst the 6 of us on our journey home, but we offered them to this lady. She quickly responded, “Oh no, we don’t need the food, we were wondering if you had anything to eat!” (This is tough to type without getting emotional…Wow!) So we shared with this lady that we were going to share the two cans of Vienna Sausages on our trip home. The lady shared with us that her family had a couple of freezers at their house full of food and without electricity the food was de-thawing and they were having to cook it as quickly as they could before it went bad. She invited us over to their house for fried fish and shrimp…I think exactly what Jesus would have fed his followers! This family was going throughout their neighborhood feeding anyone and everyone they could find. Here we were hundreds of miles from home, no plan in hand, with one desire, to feed and give water to those who had less than us, and in the process we were treated like Kings and fed a seafood feast. I often think about that family and wonder how they are doing, the man who was dying at his house with his 11 year old grandson the only one there to care for him, and no electricity for his medical equipment; I wonder if he made it, I think about the people who made a fortress out of their apartment to protect from being robbed, the man who had no family, no home, the guy who’s mom was drug out to sea with the surge of the storm…it was in one moment, in the moment of this day, that I knew my life was going to be different, and it is!

This is OUR moment. We can make a difference in the lives of the flood victims in Nashville. Our Church (New Passion) along with other churches are partnering with Cross Point Church in Nashville to assist with their relief efforts. Please, don’t THINK this is a good idea. Put your thoughts into action. You can give a tax-deductible financial gift online or you can donate supplies. Check out our Facebook Event for more details on how you can get the supplies to us.

http://flood.newpassionchurch.com

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Attention Church, Your Family Needs You!!!

May 4, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

train-tracks-washed-awayYesterday, I posted that New Passion is going to do all we can to assist Cross Point Church in Nashville. Many of their church’s families and staff have been directly devastated by the floods this weekend. Here is a report from their first day of relief efforts via Pete’s blog…Pay attention…Pete is specifically requesting help. Hey Church, this is our family, they are in need, so let’s step up and help!

I’ve never been more proud of Cross Point then I was today. I couldn’t believe the number of volunteers who showed up throughout the day at our Cross Point Bellevue Campus (which is now our flood headquarters) to help serve our community.

The flooding is widespread and worse than I could have ever imagined. Their calling this the 500 year flood. It’s hard to imagine the amount of work we have ahead of us but I’m so excited to get back at it tomorrow. This is church!!! Also so proud of the number of churches around the country who are either sending people or money! I love it when the body of Christ acts like the body of Christ. (Read the Rest of the Post HERE)

I don’t care how you get involved. Just get involved!!!

New Passion & Augusta/CSRA: We are collecting supplies, donations, and taking a special offering THIS SUNDAY (Mother’s Day). What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to care for all of the mothers who are displaced in Nashville and in the surrounding areas? If you donate towards the relief effort, it is 100% tax-deductible and we will add it to your yearly contribution statements.

We’ve set up a special site: http://flood.newpassionchurch.com to give you all of the details for our local efforts.

You can also give directly to Cross Point’s Flood Fund HERE. Thanks for helping!!!

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Hell in Haiti

January 22, 2010 By nick 1 Comment

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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