Tag: Cross Point Church

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The Influence of Sacrifice

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 🙂

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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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This is Our Moment

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.

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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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Velocity 2010 – Pete Wilson

petewilson-buttonVelocity 2010 Church Planter’s Conference

Breakout #2 Speaker: Pete Wilson (Twitter)

“Everyone’s Welcome, Nobody’s Perfect, Anything is Possible”

Churches Desiring Transformational Community –

Studies Show:

  • One thing that separates happy people from unhappy people is the simple idea of being connected in community.
  • The level of satisfaction in churches is determined by the level of community experienced.

Someone said…”I’ve never known anyone who has failed to love & succeeded at life.”

Genesis 2:18 “It is not good for man to be alone.”

You were created with the capacity for deep relationships

Develop a Philosophy of community before you develop a Strategy of community.
(What is the Heart behind the strategy?)

*Your Church MUST understand that Everybody is Welcome.

Luke 15:2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Romans 13:8

* Has your church created environments where people can belong before they believe?

Some Church Models = Believe, Belong, Behave

Church Models adapting to Current Culture = Behave, Belong, Believe
(It may be that people enter your church by participating in a church service event for the community rather  than through the Sunday morning Worship Service)

Your Church Must Accept that Nobody is Perfect.

Matthew 7:1

Luke 18:10-12

The sins you find the most appalling to God are the ones you don’t struggle with.

Your Church Must Believe Anything is Possible.

It’s the church’s job to create environments where we help people discover their new name.

Secular businesses & organizations understand that “Everyone is Welcome” and that “Nobody is Perfect” – There is nothing overtly “Christian” about that. The church has to believe in addition that “Anything is Possible!”

If our churches are a true “Just As I Am Churches” – We would not be able to put out enough chairs for the people who would come and we could not plant enough churches.

Velocity Conference: Main Session 1 Highlights – – Main Session 2 Highlights – – Main Session 3 Highlights – – Main Session 4 Highlights – – Breakout Session 3 with Tony Morgan Highlights – – Main Session 6 Highlights

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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)