Eric's Blog

Tuesday Quote

"The religious problems of the world are not caused by people reading different translations; the most serious problem is that many read no translation."

- Dr. Jack Lewis

Prayer Requests

Please keep these people in your prayers this week....

Kelly Silverman is recovering from Gall Bladder Surgery.

Rick Perkins is continuing to recover from his stroke and fell last week, has a spider fracture in his hip.

Paul Maw is traveling to Texas, his brother Ralph passed away this past week. 

Mary Williams is suffering from major complications to her diabetes.

Ruth Anne Herron is currently in the hospital with a blood clot in her lung.

Cheyenne Johnson (Pastor Alisha's 7 year old cousin) has been admitted to the Augusta Burn Center with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over her body.

Also, please pray for Pastor Eric as he will be traveling to the Billy Graham Training Center in NC this week for a spiritual retreat. 

Thank you!  If you have anything to add to this list, please do.  We will update it and continue to pray for you all!

A Word from our Worship Leader

Hello, I am Blaine Maloney and I am the Praise and Worship Leader at New Life Church.   I was born and raised on Long Island, NY (Go Yankees) and moved to Greenville, SC six years ago.  I have been into music and the arts since I was a small child and have been in multiple choirs/vocal ensembles, bands and drama teams, with whom I have competed nationally with.  I was also apart of a traveling drama team for a year of where I ministered regularly around the South East, and traveled to North Dakota.  May 2009 I graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelors of Science in Secondary Education—History.  God and Music are by far my two passions in life, and am completely honored that I can combine my talent and passion for music to express my love and compassion for God—I can think of no other thing in the world that I would rather do, than play music for the Lord. 

 

I have high hopes and expectations for the worship team.  Worship is not just playing music unto God.  The essence of worship is a lifestyle of submission unto God.  On the music side of leading worship at New Life, I see God breaking peoples chains and growing them closer to Him through our music. I see us writing out own praise and worship music of all different styles to reach people of every type background.  I see us growing our Worship Arts Team beyond what is seen on Sunday morning and venturing into every aspect of the arts: from poetry, sculpting, painting, design, music, production, drama, acting, dancing, or any other type of art form that can be used to bring glory unto God.  I see us growing as a Worship Arts Team and congregation to live true lives in surrender and worship unto God.  Above all else, I want to see us be real with each other in our worship and lifestyle, as we develop true community, accountability, and dependability on each other and emulate the early church, and reach back to our Pentecostal and true Christian roots. 

Open Auditions

We are looking for people who want to make a difference with their musical gifts. Open auditions are being held for musicians and singers. We are especially interested in singers, keyboardists, and drummers.

If you are interested in becoming a part of a dynamic, growing praise and worship team then we want to hear from you. Please click on the link below for more information or to let us know of your interest and Blaine will contact you shortly.

[email protected]

Help for Haiti

For those of you from New Life I wanted to let you know that we send $1200 on Monday to Convoy of Hope for Haiti. Thank you for your generous giving. If you are looking for a safe place to give to the country and people of Haiti Convoy of Hope is a great choice. You can find out more or give here.

Comment from Sunday's Service

I wanted to share with you a comment I received on Monday from Sunday's service. By the way, if you missed the message you should buy the CD or go to our media page at www.newlifetoday.net and listen to it. It was called, "Look at the Fields." It will change your perspective on the way you look at people. Here is the comment...

 

"Sunday's service was awesome. Worship was beautiful. I will never look at people the same again. God really put it into my heart that everyone can be a "whosoever". That I must be ready to do "whatsoever" to reach the "whosoevers" He puts in my path. Wow, God really does want everyone to be a "whosoever". Powerful, powerful word. Still stirring in my spirit today."

Seven Men Named Jesus

This is a article by Jack Kelley at Bible Prophecy Today. It goes along with what we talked about on Sunday. Be sure and read the rest of the article about "The Seven Men Named Jesus."

"A recent poll claimed that about half of all professing Christians don’t believe that Jesus is God, or that the Holy Spirit and Satan even exist. Smaller but still significant percentages don’t believe that Jesus lived a sin free life or that He is the only way to salvation. This has prompted questions about whether this means they aren’t really saved. I remembered an article on this subject that I wrote a number of years ago and in response to these questions I have updated and expanded it. I believe it will explain what you have to believe about Jesus to be saved." Read the rest here.

Praying for those outside the faith - Part Four

There are other Scriptures that we could pray for those who don't know Christ but we are going to end with Nehemiah 1:11.

Nehemiah 1:11
11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." NIV

Here is a prayer for this Scripture:

“Lord, let your ear be attentive to my prayer. Give me success today by granting me favor with (insert name).”

We need favor with those we are inviting to our church services and trying to reach for Christ and only God can grant that.

May God hear your prayers this week and grant you favor with those you are praying for and inviting to the Easter service.

Praying for the those outside the faith - Part Three

Acts 26:17B-18
I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' NIV

Acts 26:17-18 17 "'I'm sending you off 18 to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.' (THE MESSAGE)

Wow. The Message paraphase is awesome! Here is a prayer for the lost based off of Acts 26:17-18.

"I command (insert name of one of your three) eyes to be opened and that he/she would turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, so that he/she may receive forgiveness of his/her sins and a place in the Kingdom of God.”

Praying for those outside the faith - Part Two

Ephesians 4:18 "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."

There is a lot that could be said about today's Scripture but let's just focus on the last part. Why are people separated from the life of God? Because their heart is hard, which darkens their understanding, which cause them to be ignorant of God's love, plan, and purpose for their lives.

Here are a couple of prayers based off of this Scripture:

“I pray for (insert name) heart to become soft and that he/she would be enlightened in his/her understanding of your (God's) love and plan for his/her life.”

“I command the fallow ground of (insert name) heart to be plowed up (softened) by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that he/she would receive the knowledge of the truth as Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior.”