Tag: Georgia

Posted on

Its Bigger Than Me

white-background

I was driving home Sunday night from guest preaching at a church out in the country. Since I was all by myself, I decided to come back by way of Grovetown, the city where we are planting New Passion. Anytime I get a chance, I love to drive through there and to think about our plans, to dream up new ideas, and to ask God what it is  that He’s specifically thinking.

Sunday night I felt prompted to take a few new turns in the city as I was driving through.  Ever since I first drove to Grovetown and prayed about launching a church there, I’ve had specific neighborhoods that I’ve kept my eyes on and I’ve watched them over the last couple of years grow tremendously with new people and new families. As I turned down these new roads Sunday, I could not believe my eyes. Its the same feeling I get every time I take this kind of drive in Grovetown.

I was blown away! I could not believe all of the new homes being built in the crevices of this city. Ever since I stepped out to launch New Passion, I’ve understood and known that this whole thing is BIGGER than me. However, every time I go to the city, I drive away feeling overwhelmed and with a greater & sobering feeling that this thing REALLY is Bigger than me!

I wish I could put into words the potential that lies in neighborhoods 0-2 miles from where we will be meeting. Soldiers, Couples, Children, Teenagers, College Students, and Single people…they are all there! People who need Jesus in one way or another in their life. The potential is not people to grow a church, the potential is people who need to be introduced to Jesus. Our churches external reach has huge potential within the community with all of the new residents moving in, but our potential on a local level for our external reach increases dramatically when considering that most of the existing neighborhoods are 0-2 miles from where we will be having services as well. Believe me, the 8 main churches within the main city are not even touching the existing residence with the Gospel, there is no way they can reach all of the new growth alone, especially if they are not going to add services or change the way they currently meet. Don’t get me wrong. A churches reach does not always show in their attendance, but I believe attendance says a lot about the health of the church. 8 churches in the main city of Grovetown are reaching on average 235 households! (Avg. 29 households per church) New Passion is all about the Kingdom. Our goal is not to come into Grovetown and uproot the existing churches or try to overshadow them. Our goal is to add more people to the Kingdom. Consider us the spiritual reinforcements if you would like.

I wish I could get everyone to see the potential like I see it. I wish I could convince Christians who are simply sitting in a chair at some church or out of church doing nothing or not being used to strap their work shoes on and come help us launch new passion. I wish I could get selfish people to be selfless and to reach out of their comfort zone to see lives changed. I believe the world can be changed from Grovetown, GA. I believe a generation can be transformed from Grovetown, GA. I believe God wants to do something amazing with New Passion. I believe it takes people to reach people.

I’ll just be honest here…When I see the potential for what God can use us for in Grovetown and then I see where he is placing us. I want to run BEG everyone I know to partner with us and make this thing happen. But then I remember…that wouldn’t be smart! This thing is bigger than me and I want God to build it with the team he has planned. So, if you will, continue to pray that God will build this amazing team.

Posted on

Ah, the Memories!

I’m headed to Waycross, GA this evening with the family for a weekend get away to visit some of my mom’s side of the family. We are going to celebrate yy Uncle Charles’ birthday. He is getting up in age and is the last of my Grandma’s siblings alive. My Grandma died in 1997 and since her death, we have not seen much of her family.

When I think of going to Waycross, a lot of memories come rushing back to me. We visited there often when I was younger and some things just happen to be a big deal when you are a child. Here are some of those precious memories of mine:

  • The first thing I think of when I think of Waycross is the Holiday Inn Motel. Back in the 1980’s Waycross was much smaller than it is now magicfingersand the Holiday Inn was the nicest motel you could stay in. Typically, I would fall asleep in the car and as we arrived I would wake up and see the big green sign and palm trees at the edge of the parking lot with a marquee sign advertising free HBO. I didn’t care about HBO, because this Holiday Inn had the Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed (in some rooms) and all my sister and I could ever wish for was to get the room with the ‘vibrating bed.’ Although we loved our family very much, the vibrating bed was the highlight of our trip!
  • Seafood – We always went and ate seafood with the family when we visited.
  • Golden Corral – And for another meal, we would go to the Golden Corral. I remember everyone’s excitement that the whole family was going to the Corral. This was pre-5 buffet stations. Golden Corral was still  a buffet style restaurant, but not as it is today. For Waycross the Golden Corral was their Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
  • Dirt Roads – My Great Grandparents and My Great Uncle all lived on the same road…it was dirt. It had a set of train tracks that ran beside it. I knew when we turned at the railroad tracks and onto the dirt road, we were close to Grandma Wells’ house.
  • Ants – They were everywhere in my Grandma’s yard. If we didn’t watch it, we would be eaten up by them because there were ant beds all over the place. I never saw ants crawling up trees, except in Waycross. Crazy ants!
  • Uncle Charles – I love that guy! I saw him mostly when I was younger, but there was just something about him I liked. One of the best memories I have of him is when he took us to the secret hole in his floor where he hides his guns. He had a special edition Colt 45, a semi-automatic 9mm that looked like a machine gun. I always remember him saying that if the Government tried to take his guns away, they’d have to find ’em 🙂 He’s my Grandma’s only sibling still alive.
  • Chuck – He’s one of the funniest guy’s I know. He is my second cousin. I went and stayed at his house when I was a teenager with a couple of my other cousins. We had a blast. I still have the scar on my knee to remind me of our 4-Wheelin’ Adventures where I burned my knee on the muffler and I sunk one of his 4 Wheelers in the river, haha, great times! Chuck is definitely one of the family favorites. You are sure to have a great time when he is around.

All that to say, I can’t wait to go and visit with the family. I hope my kids have as much fun visiting Waycross as we did when I was younger!

Posted on

Brenden Foster Dying Wish Update

Click Photo to Watch Video
Click Photo to Watch Video

11 year old Brenden Foster is no longer with us on this earth, but his legacy will live on. He lost his battle with cancer since I posted the first story about him HERE. As you can see in this new CNN Report, Brenden inspired several groups, including some schools to get involved in helping the homeless who are less fortunate than any of us who have the capabilities of viewing this blog right now.

I wonder how many of us would lie in a hospital bed with only a few days left on this Earth and instead of thinking about the sad state we were in, would spend our time thinking of others and how we could help them? I can’t help but to be inspired by Brenden. I can’t help but to ask myself, “What’s my excuse for sitting still?” I can’t help but to ask, “What’s your excuse for sitting still?” Shane preached this morning about “The Kingdom” and his main point was, The Gospel is lived out with your hands and feet, not your body in a seat.

If you live in the CSRA, especially if you attend The Church @ Greenbrier, you can join us at The Augusta Rescue Mission, this Thursday (yes that is Thanksgiving) to serve the poor and homeless a Thanksgiving meal. It starts at 9 a.m. and most people are working until 2 p.m., but you are free to leave earlier if you need to. Join the Conversation, What can you do to make Brenden’s dying wish come true?

Video URL: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/11/22/jaffe.wa.boy.dying.wish.obit.komo

Posted on

A Night For Africa

This is an event hosted by The 410 Bridge. You need to be there!
Its going to be awesome!!!

Click HERE or the button above to order your tickets.

Lanny Donoho asked me personally via Twitter (ok maybe I wasn’t the only one he asked) to post this, you can see his blog HERE and his Twitter HERE.

See you there!

Nick

Posted on

Master Pontiac, Buick, GMC and Archie Hixon

I don’t know about you, but I hate going to car dealerships! I used to sell cars for a short stint of my life while I was in-between jobs. I’ve been in the meetings where the salespeople are trained how to be dishonest and how to lie to gain a sale, so when it comes time to buy a vehicle, I hate it and get serious headaches as well, I get in a bad mood.

On top of having to go purchase a vehicle, this is a horrible time to have an SUV that you are trying to trade-in. It is a great time to be in the market for a SUV. My family and I were in both predicaments. We had a 2005 Nissan X-Terra that we needed to trade-in as our family just grew to the place where we could no longer legally and safely fit in it, but we needed a larger SUV or van to solve our problem. We were siding with the SUV…just because we are not the van kind of people.

Saturday morning we went to our normal breakfast place (Sunrise Grill) before we went to Master Pontiac, Buick, GMC of Augusta. I said a little prayer to myself that God would give us a salesman that would do us right and not play games with us. We pulled into the lot and there he was, the salesman that was going to be our headache for the next several hours or the man that God was going to answer my prayers with. Fortunately, Archie Hixon, was the answer to my earlier prayer. He was a great salesman and a very great guy overall. My wife and I left the lot feeling like we knew a great deal about his family. It turned out that Archie goes to a local church and is very involved in their small groups. When he found out I used to be a full time youth pastor and was praying about God opening a door for me to get back full time, he urged me to check into the opening at his church as their youth pastor just left to start a church. As serious as Archie was, I knew this guy was not about to pull a fast one on us, when he was wanting to see us every weekend.

My wife and I were very pleased with the deal they gave us on our trade and the price that we got our new/used Chevrolet Trailblazer for. We asked for them to lower the price on the Trailblazer but they said it had already been discounted and they were firm on their price, but they easily gave us a new set of tires without any hassle. We were never put under pressure to add anything, Archie wanted to make sure we were offered the extended warranties and the other extras, but once we declined we faced no rebuttals. The bottom line is, we left the dealership $2,000 under what we were expecting to pay, we feel the price for the vehicle we purchased was fair and right, and Archie was a great salesperson. We did not purchase from him because he was a Christian, but a good salesman (trust me I have not bought from people because they were horrible salespeople), however I am glad I found out we were helping provide for a fellow believer with our purchase, as I know the car market is a tough business period, but especially with a tough economy.

If you are in the CSRA or the Augusta area and you are looking for a vehicle, go talk with Archie Hixon at Master Pontiac, Buick, GMC in Augusta on Washington Rd. You’ll be glad you did!

Join the Conversation: Have you had a great experience or a poor experience with a recent purchase? Tell me about it!