Eric's Blog

Sunday Night Reflections

Notes from today's message...

To receive your inheritance...

• You must be trustworthy (1 Cor. 4:2 AMP).

• You must be faithful in the small things (Matthew 25:21; Luke 16:10-12 NLT).

• Whatever you do. Do it as unto the Lord and not unto man (Ephesians 6:7-8 NLT).

• Remember it is the Lord who rewards you. (Ephesians 6:8 NLT)

Others thoughts...

I am still pumped from the Drive conference. I can't wait for our leader's meeting on Wednesday night.

Don't forget to invite your family and friends to our water baptism service this coming Sunday. You don't want to miss this. Speaking of the water baptism service. We had one person WALK 3.5 miles to do their video testimony and others who did not show up. HMMMM, what does that say?

GroupLink is this Sunday night at 6:30 PM in the Ministry Center Building. If you would like to join a small group or just want to find out more information about small groups this event is for you. If you have already decided to join a group then make sure and attend so you can get connected and meet other people. You group's first fellowship event will be planned at this meeting.

Tomorrow I'm off to Columbia to a leadership meeting with Mark Batterson. He is the pastor of National Community Church (theaterchurch.com) in Washington, DC. I can't wait to meet him and hear what he has to say about reaching this emerging generation.

Have a great week!!!

Sunday Night Relections

Here are some thoughts from this past week and the week ahead....  

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• Katie turned one year old on Saturday. Here are a few pictures from her party. That is a great looking family if I have to say so myself. What a gorgeous birthday girl. God has truly blessed us!!!



• God has an inheritance for you. The question is, "Will you do what it takes to receive it?" Are you ready to grow up and become a mature growing Christian? Galatians 4: 2 tells us that God has locked up your inheritance in somebody else until you are mature enough to handle it. So who is challenging you? Who is holding you accountable? Who have you submitted your life to? Are you committed to a local church? When you submit yourself to someone and start to grow spiritually God will release your inheritance through them.



• I am so excited about this week. I am going to the Drive Conference at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. The great thing is we are taking 6 of our staff with us. What makes this great. Right now I am the only paid staff but every ministry leader at New Life is considered staff because that is what they function as. I believe in our vision, I believe in our leaders, and I believe in what God has called me to do. So to show our appreciation and our commitment to the vision and our leaders we are sending 6 of our leaders to this conference with all expenses paid. You must sow where you want to go. When is the last time you made an investment in your staff? The conference starts tomorrow night with Andy Stanley. I can't wait, it's going to be great.



• Next week is the last week of the Our Inheritance series before our water baptism service on the 18th. If you have signed up for the water baptism service and did not see Alisha after today's service please get in touch with us as soon as possible.



• Also, if you are interested in becoming a small group leader please let us know. The training started tonight.

Have a great week!!!

A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines

This is the book we used in our men's small group. If you are a man this would be a great book for you to use to help develop spiritual disciplines. It covers 12 disciplines: a man and creation, the Bible, prayer, worship, the Sabbath, fellowship, counsel, fasting, spiritual warfare, stewardship, service, and evangelism. Here are some quotes and comments from the book...

• "God is seeking worshipers. So if God and man don't get together, it's not because He's hiding-it's because we are."



• " We all have a responsibility, and also a right or privilege, to enjoy regular intervals of rest."



• "A man who doesn't honor the Sabbath, who doesn't invest any time celebrating his place in God's family, will succumb to stress."



• Redwoods stand strong because they stand together. So who is standing with you?



• "The most powerful force in the world is a relationship."



• "God does not give any person everything he needs. Instead He gives us the gift of one another. Counsel flows from fellowship."



• "Most people do not want counsel-they want permission."



• "Fasting involves giving up something you normally do, for the purpose of focusing more time and attention on God."



• "You can't change the fruit if you don't change the root."



• "When we become Christians, we don't become purely spiritual beings. We still live in human bodies, with human motivations and desires."



• "Starve your temptations. Shrink your appetites."



• "When you get to tithing, you are only at the starting point of what God wants your to do with your life."



• "Tithing is not a blessing for God, but from God."



• "There are 113 million men in the US 15 years of age or older, and 69 million of them do not profess to be born again."



• "Evangelism is taking someone as far as he wants to go toward Jesus."



• "Spiritual disciplines are the regular practices men cultivate when they want a closer walk with Christ."

So men, what are you doing to develop a closer walk with God?

By the way, Father's Day is coming soon. This would be a great book for you to pick up in our bookstore as a gift.

Sunday Night Reflections

I'm really tired but here are a few things before I go to bed...

• Please pray for me. I hit my head walking up a ladder to go into the attic at church on Thursday and had a headache for two days. It's still sore.
• Please pray for my son. He fell in the parking lot, hit his head, and threw up. He seems OK now but has a knot on his head.
• Please pray for Rick and Christine Perkins. Her dad had surgery on Friday to remove part of his bladder where a tumor was found and the doctor's report is not good.
• Today's message was very hard on me but God ministered to people in a powerful way. Never become complacent with the move of God in our services.
• The newcomer's fellowship was fun tonight. My wife and I really enjoy meeting new people.
• The best way for you to get connected is to join a small group or to get involved in a ministry. We will be signing up for small groups during the month of May. If you would like to be a small group leader please let me know as soon as possible. Training starts next Sunday night.
• As always you need to invite, invite, invite. Who are you going to invite next week? By the way, we will have new invite cards for you to pick up next week.

Have a great week!!!

Sunday Night Reflections

Today was a great day but here are a few thoughts and also a few things that bother me...

• It bothers me when people don't visit the guest center. I know everyone will not visit the guest center but I still expect them to.
• It bothers me when people receive Jesus Christ into their lives one week and don't come back the next.
• It bothers me when people sit through one of my messages and don't laugh when everybody else laughs. I am not saying that I am that funny but when everybody else is laughing and you don't crack a smile I just wonder what is going on inside you. Laughter does us good like medicine.
• It bothers me when guest don't come back. Now I can't keep up with all this but there are times when I know someone does not come back. Shouldn't I care? I do!!! I believe in our Vision. I believe in you. And I believe in what God wants me to do. I know that any one church is not for everyone but I know God can and will make a difference in your life through our ministry.

Other thoughts...

• When you bring a guest or if your get to know one during the service please bring them or come to the guest center with them.
• Don't become complacent. God will test us to find out if we truly want to keep growing and seeing people come to know Christ. It sounds strange but not everyone likes for their church to grow.
• Me??? I want more. More of His presence, more people coming to know Him, more guests, more members, more ministers, and more life change.
• Get out of your small church mentality. You should not think that you can hand us something or ask us to announce something right before service. It ain't happening. We plan in advance and are working to even prepare more in advance. That includes simple things like what do we want to announce and say during the greeting time.
• Most churches (including us sometimes) spend way to much on announcements. The general rule is that if it does not pertain to everyone then it probable will not be announced.
• As we continue to grow a lot of people's mindset are going to have to change and that is a good thing.
• Who are you going to invite to next weeks service? Somebody is waiting on you to ask.

Sunday Night Reflections

First let me say that there is snow in the forecast. What's up with that? Here are few other thoughts...

• Our Identity Theft series was great. MANY people have been touched over the last 4 weeks. Continue to pray for them as they walk in their new identity (what God says about them). Sometimes the hardest thing to do is forgive ourselves.
• I think there was 13 people who signed up to be water baptized today. I will confirm the numbers tomorrow at the office. The date for the water baptism service is May 18th.
• I am so thankful to see people respond to the call to accept and live for Jesus each week. It just goes to show that if we will do our part (invite them and bring them to the service), God will do His part. So what are you waiting on? Who are you going to invite to next weeks service?
• Don't forget that we will have communion next week.
• Read Isaiah 44:22 again in the NLT. This is an awesome verse.

That is all for now. It has been a long weekend and I'm tired.

Sunday Night Reflections

Here are my thoughts from today...

• I am so excited, thankful, and humbled that God allows me to be a part of what is happening at New Life.
• If you are reading this post and have been thinking about visiting New Life quit thinking and come this Sunday. There is an environment of love, expectation, and faith present and people are being changed and making decisions to follow Christ.
• On that note, please pray for me. I look at every guest that comes through our doors as a gift from God that should be cared for and appreciated. And when people accept Jesus into their lives we also have a responsibility to them and we have had a lot of both of these groups the last three weeks. Thank you God!!! (Keep sending them and we will keep loving them and telling them the truth.) What this means though is that there is added pressure and weight on my shoulders. I know, give it all to God but I'm human and need your prayers.
• This is the last week of our Identity Theft series. Not only do you need to be there, you need to bring somebody with you. Seriously, being somebody with you this week. Call them, send email's, go pick them up, do whatever it takes to get them to the service. It's is going to be a great service. Start praying for it now!

Sunday Night Reflections

Here are a few thought about what is happening at New Life...

• If you want to be water baptized please let us know by email or sign up on a connection card.
• Easter was the start of great things at New Life. Now is the time for you to get involved in ministry. Now is the time for you to pray more. Now is the time for you to work harder. Now is the time for you to reach out like never before! Who are you going to invite to next week's service? Start praying for them today!
• When you bring a guest to church there are two very important things you need to do: 1) Make sure they fill out the Connection Card. If we don't receive their connection card we cannot do any follow through. 2) You take them to the guest center. Don't leave them to go by themselves.
• I don't know now to explain this but all the preparation, prayer, and outreach that went into the Easter service was not just for one service. Easter was just the start, not the end. We do not need to relax now or become complacent. We need to be hungry for the things of God and for the move of God like never before! To be honest I could tell that there was more prayer for the Easter service than there was for today's service. We need to have our ourselves and the atmosphere over New Life prepared every week because God is going to do amazing things!!! Joshua 3:5.
• Bring somebody to church with you next week. Call those you have not seen at a service lately. God is on the move!!!
• Almost forgot...Here is the website for the Who I Am in Christ handout from today's service.

Sunday Night Reflections

I cannot believe that Easter has come and gone. I want you to know that Easter was just the beginning of new things for us and not the end. Here are a few thoughts from today...

• 120 people in attendance. We did not reach our goal but this is our highest attendance ever. Praise God.
• 17 people either recommitted there life to the Lord or made a first time decision. How awesome is that!!!
• The DownTown area looks great. Did you see the nursery? If not, you need to see it. We are ready for new babies.
• Thank you to everyone who helped with making our church grounds, buildings, and bus look great. I am so proud of you.
• Hey, there were free donuts in the Cafe today.
• The girls did a great job on the worship special.
• It was an amazing service. Good is so good.
• I still have to figure out some numbers for our Resurrection Seed offering. I will post the numbers on the blog tomorrow as soon as I have them.
• This is going to be a great series. Many people were ministered to today. You need to seriously invite and bring somebody with you next week.
• Remember, today was just the beginning. Keep praying, keep inviting, keep working and keep believing God for great things! Don't let up now.

Sunday Night Reflections

What a great service we had today. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do at New Life on Easter.

• Pray for your three everyday and do whatever you can to get them to the Easter service.
• Don't forget everything that is taking place this week:
  - All day liquid fast on Wednesday
  - Friday night prayer from 7-8 PM
  - Saturday outreach
    Meet in the church parking lot at 10:15 AM
• Pray everyday for all those that will be receiving invitations to the Easter service.
• If you picked up a membership application the last couple of weeks please try to turn it in by the end of the month. You can also fill out the application on-line here.
• Come early and ready to praise next week!!!
• Our DownTown children's area is really coming together.Thank you for all your hard work.
• I am very proud of our Clemson basketball team. They lost the ACC conference championship game but received a 5th seed in the Midwest regional of the NCAA tournament. Go Tigers!