Tebow’s Impact Backed by Stats

If you follow what’s #Trending at all, you’d see that John 3:16 is at the top of the list.  Is it because this country is becoming more and more Christian with the Republican Party’s Race for their Obama-Beater?  I’d wager not.  Follow the links below as to why:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

And the list of links goes on and on.  As you can see, there are some pretty reputable sources covering this story, which makes the purpose of it all even more effective.  I am not claiming that this isn’t merely coincidental and is some Devine Revelation from above, Divinci-ing itself into the NFL…but I also wouldn’t bet against it.  For whatever reason, these numbers are lining up in a way that is causing even those that don’t believe in God to take notice.  Whether it is or it isn’t related to God…it is…because it’s having an impact and it’s getting people talking, thinking, and pointing them Jesus’s direction.  In my opinion, that’s what’s most important…and I WOULD bet Sweet Cheddar-Bob that Tebow agrees.  If Tebow (and the Broncos) have to win games and get Devinely coded stats to do so…then good for him and I hope they win the Super Bowl 31-6!

Fences Bring Freedom…by Steven Furtick

Often times we repost things on here because we think they are very valuable and that we can’t say them better ourselves…so we don’t bother to try.  This is one of those posts.  College is the “Epitome of Freedom”.  I mean seriously…you are finally out from your parents giant thumb…you can stay out as late as you want, doing whatever you want, with whomever you please, while having a brewski in one pocket and a pack of American Spirits in the other….right?  But the ability to do whatever you doesn’t always equal Freedom…and it definitely doesn’t always turn out well.  Here’s a blog from a Pastor that we think has a lot of insightful things to say…Check it here:

Let us know your thoughts if you get time.  Send us one of your stories and we may even post it on the site!

Science and the Bible…

The Bible is often difficult to understand…let’s be real.  And so many people write it off because there are numerous mysteries contained within it that can’t be explained (probably why it requires “Faith”).  However, quite frequently these mysteries, routinely labeled as contradictions, end up being explained with further research, revelation and understanding, and new developments.  This might just be the case with this article found on Yahoo! today…check it here:

I found this very intriguing…I’m not saying I automatically believe it…I’m not saying that I won’t at some point…but I do love what the Scientist said about this particular case and think that it rings true for others:

“Many biblical scholars say that, for this reason, you can’t trust the Gospels at all. But if we use science and the Gospels hand in hand, we can actually prove that there was no contradiction.”

Just a thought…

Megan’s Story…

We met Megan about this time last year on Spring Break in Panama City Beach, FL.  We hung out with her and her crew 3 days in a row and have maintained relationships with a lot of them throughout this past year.  They were a cool bunch with great hearts and we are fortunate to have had the opportunity to build friendships with them.  Megan has had some revelations since then and her life has taken some incredible turns.  She wrote me the other day to share this story:

“Last year before spring break, I was living the college partying lifestyle. I had grown up in a Christian home, but as soon as I moved away to go to school all of the morals I had known suddenly disappeared. I didn’t care about anything and even though deep down I knew it was all wrong, I still continued to live that way and began to push God out of my thoughts and life in order to avoid feeling guilty for my actions. I was using my new found lifestyle to fill all of the emptiness in my life and to run from my problems instead of facing them.

I met the We Minus Me crew when my friends and I went to PCB last March. Even with our partying ways, they immediately showed us love and compassion right from the start. They never once judged us and they showed God’s love in many ways such as talking with us, showing kindness and care, hanging out with us and being positive influences. They showed me that even though God didn’t approve of the things I was doing, that he still loved me unconditionally and even though I pushed him away, he never left my side through it all. I will never forget my experiences with them and it has had an impact on me since. It made me look at how different my life had become, and how I didn’t want to be that person anymore. I wouldn’t admit it at the time, but I knew that I needed God to fill the emptiness I had in my life instead of the alcohol.

During this past year, Brenda became my We Minus Me mentor and has helped me out tremendously by always being there, sending me Bible verses, and encouraging me. It means the world to me and I am so grateful that Brenda and Russ have been in my life, even with the distance.

It took many months and a few more difficult times in my life, but I slowly started to put my trust back in God, and stopped my partying ways. My parents decided to move to Georgia for my dad’s job, and I moved back home from college in order to go with them for a new start. My mom and I had to stay back in Indiana for the next eight months waiting for the house to sell, while my dad was already living in Georgia. Through a lot of prayers and a miracle, our house finally sold during Christmas time.

It was an extremely difficult year for my family being apart, and even though it took me a very long time to realize this, I learned that God has a plan for each of us even when I don’t see it at the time. I now see that having to stay back was the best thing for me because I grew both spiritually and emotionally, and learned to appreciate the things in my life that I took for granted. Even though I still have a long way to go in my faith and life, I am proud of how far I have come and the progress I have made so far.”

It has been amazing to watch God work in Megan’s life and we are so blessed to have been part of her journey!

“Merry” Christmas…”Happy” Holidays???

During this time of year you hear these phrases (Title Above) thrown out left and right.  Many people absolutely love this season because to them it’s a time of cheer, a time to relax, a time for family and friends, good food and drink, and of course let’s not forget presents galore!  The flip-side to this coin however is that for many this isn’t a Merry or Happy time.  So many lives are filled with sadness and stress during the year and it is often only amplified during the Holidays.  Maybe they are dealing with illness and the future seems bleak, maybe they have lost a loved one and are feeling very lonely, maybe they can’t keep up with the “Jones-es” and provide all the things for their kids that the other parents can, maybe they literally don’t have food or warm shelter for their family…whatever the case may be, there is a lot of heartbreaking sorrow during these times and I think we should all be more aware of this.

I know I know…buzzkill right?  I’m not saying that we should not enjoy the many blessings that we have, but I think that the knowledge of this should alter our perspective on things.  We should definitely be more thankful and appreciative for what we have been blessed with and I think we should also be spurred to action to share these blessings with others that don’t have as much.  We are often so focused on getting during this time of year that we forget that this season is much more about the heart of giving.

And in this spirit of giving, I’d like to offer a word of encouragement to those who may find themselves in the position of “Unhappy and Un-Merry” this season…Your immediate circumstances may seem very disheartening, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel…a “GIFT” that has changed the game for everyone who excepts it…and a PROMISE for a perfect future:

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

Photographer’s Note:

“It is so difficult to express my feelings about this photo. Probably the saying that : a photo speaks, 1000 words” is true. For us westerners Christmas is the peak for our religious festivities. What a contradiction to see a homeless, poor, devastated, hopeless person with a Santa Claus hat. For the history: I was passing the slam city- a part of the city of Chennai- where very poor families live.Some of them are fishermen, others just search among the rubbish to find something to eat. This poor old man was crawling among the stinky rubbish and took a good look at us stopped by, in a car. His looks still haunts me…. My contribution to Christmas and with a hope that we shall stop seeing images like those in the future…”

Christmas Story…

We wanted to share the “Christmas Story” with you straight from the Bible.  This is the story of Jesus’s Birth from Luke, one of the books (and Gospels) in the New Testament:

Luke 2

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.10 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

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When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After reading this story, I do have a question to throw at you:  Let’s just say for a second that God is the Creator of everything and that He did send His Son Jesus to Save us and reign for all of eternity.  Assuming this…What King leaves a place of Eternal Paradise (Heaven) and comes to a jacked up place like this (Earth), humbles himself and enters this world in the lowest form possible (born as a baby), continues to humble himself by living among us and experiencing all that we do daily, and eventually gets falsely accused and sentenced to death (and yet still does not play the King of Kings card) and surrenders his life for us, (in the most painful way possible, on a cross) saving the very people who killed Him from death and eternal damnation so that we may live with Him for all of eternity?  What kind of KING does that for His people?  What kind of God sacrifices His only Son to save the people who have turned against Him?

I don’t know about you, but for me, this is the kind of King I can get down with serving and this is the kind of God that I want to follow.

18 Myths Singles Believe…

This is a post from Perry Noble’s Blog that may prove to be helpful for you single College Students:

#1 – Being miserable is the result of being single…getting married will solve all my problems.

#2 – I’ve messed up in my past and do not deserve anyone good. (See I Corinthians 6:9-11, especially focus on verse 11!)

#3 – Ephesians 3:20 isn’t true for me and my future spouse…I need to settle.

#4 – This relationship that I am in isn’t what I would like my marriage to be like..but when we get married I can change this person.

#5 – Having sex will simplify things and cause the person I am dating and myself to have so much more in common.  (See I Corinthians 6:18-20)

#6 – This person is not God’s best for me…but if I rush through the process of dating and getting married then I have God backed into a corner and He has to bless me because He loves me, right?  (See Deuteronomy 6:16)

#7 – Marriage isn’t that big of a deal…if my first one does not work out then I can drop them and start over.  (See Malachi 2:13-16)

#8 – Getting married isn’t going to alter my lifestyle…I am still going to be able to live like I did when I was single, the only difference is I’m going to get to have more sex.

#9 – I am going to get to have sex anytime I want.

#10 – We are going to cuddle all of the time.

#11 – The things that really get all over my nerves about this person won’t bother me as much when we get married.

#12 – The fact that we do not agree on what we believe when it comes to Jesus and the church will not impact the way we raise our kids. (See II Corinthians 6:14 and Amos 3:3)

#13 – We should live together before we get married to give it a “trial run,” after all, you would not buy a car without test driving it first.  (See Hebrews 13:4)

#14 – I need to keep as many secrets about my past from this person as possible; after all, my past issues won’t impact this relationship at all.

#15 – All of my friends are married…I am not…something is obviously wrong with me.

#16 – The way I handle my money now will not impact my future marriage.

#17 – When I get married my spouse will meet all of my needs.

#18 – Dating is tough…marriage is easy!

Another Porn Debate with Ron Jeremy…

I’m honored to be able to call Craig Gross one of my friends.  I really believe in and endorse what they are doing with XXXchurch.com.  Here’s a post from a recent porn debate with Ron Jeremy at a local church in San Diego.

If you struggle with pornography, there’s no shame in admitting it because you are most definitely not the only one.   There’s help out there if you’re interested and you can start by checking out XXXchurch.com.

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I just got this from Miles. Wanted to post it here. You can read more about Miles and The Rock Church here.

On October 9 the Rock hosted one of the most exciting events in our 10-year history. Porn King, Ron Jeremy faced-off with XXXchurch.com founder and anti-porn crusader Craig Gross in a debate about Pornography and its effects on culture.  I hosted the event and moderated a Q&A session with the audience.

When I met Pastor Craig last year we discussed the possibility of hosting this debate at the Rock.  They had never hosted the debate at a church and I believed this would be a perfect opportunity to connect with a segment of our community that most churches rarely have an opportunity to reach.

And we did.

We had over 3,000 people in attendance.

- 21% or 630 people of those who attended do not attend church

-  20% of that group said this event changed their perspective on porn

- 94% of that group said they would come back to an event like this

Praise God!

Although a great majority of you supported this event, there were some who voiced concerns and asked why we would ever consider hosting an event like the Great Porn Debate.

Here is why:

Every Sunday millions of people go to church and then go home and watch porn.  In fact, Sunday is the most popular day of the week to watch porn!!   So it is our responsibility to bring these issues to the light.

Infact:

- 50% of men in the church struggle with a porn addiction

- 1 in 6 women are addicted to porn

- The average age that children first see porn online is 11

John 8:32 says, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  As long as it remains in the dark… the devil has power over it.  We boldly welcome topics like this because we know the bulletproof gospel is our only hope.

God created marriage, love, relationships, and sex; this means His church is best equipped to have these conversations.  If porn is destroying people’s lives, then the church has a responsibility to help restore and address the brokenness.

So does Jesus love porn stars? Of course!

God loves Ron Jeremy and porn stars just as much as he loves you and me.  His love is perfect – consistent – and available to all. – Miles

I Got 99 Sheep Cause I Just Lost One

Here’s a Blog I thought I’d share from Perry Noble…a Pastor that I follow:

“A Divine Slap In The Face”    (Here’s the Link)

To say that God “rocked my world” last week would be an understatement…it was more like a divine slap in the face and a sobering reminder that lost people really do matter to God!

Here’s the way it happened…

Charisse (my three year old daughter) and I went to get ice cream last Friday night.  (One of her favorite things to do!)  There is a place near our home called “Yogo Express” that has become one of her favorite places…you go in, get a cup, put the yogurt in it, THEN go to the toppings area and put your toppings on and then you pay…by the ounce.

When we walked in the place was slammed, there were people everywhere.  So…I held her hand and we walked together to the area where we got our yogurt cups…she wanted chocolate yogurt with mint chips for her topping, so, I put all of that in her cup and then got ready to get mine.

BUT…when I looked down to tell her that hers was ready…she was GONE!

GONE!!!

I looked around and didn’t see her anywhere.

She had been right by my side five seconds before that…

I panicked!

Seriously…the scenarios that can run through a parents mind in a short amount of time are unbelievable.

I began calling her name…and I literally was plowing over people…trying my best to control my heart as it was literally about to explode out of my chest.

Then, after only about seven seconds (seemed like an eternity though) I saw her…she had gone to get napkins for us but had not told me.

I scooped her up and hugged her…and I can’t explain to you the overwhelming joy that shot through my body as I knew that she was not lost!  (If you are a parent and this has happened to you…you know exactly what I’m talking about.)

I kept her close to me for the rest of the night…and when I put her down to bed I hugged her a little longer and and little tighter…I thought she was lost, gone…but she wasn’t, and for that I was (and AM) so thankful.

However, later on that evening I felt the Lord say to me, “Now you know how I feel about lost people.”

BAM!

Seriously, I have preached on the importance of evangelism for a long time.  In fact, one of our core values here at NewSpring Church is, “Found People Find People.”  However, I had NEVER viewed the importance of evangelism through the lenses of a father who is obsessed with the lost…not like that!!!

The feeling God allowed me to feel for seven seconds was one of the deepest, most intense feelings I’ve EVER felt…and because of that Luke 19:10 has taken on a whole new meaning!

God is PASSIONATE about reaching lost people…and HIS followers SHOULD BE AS WELL!  Evangelism is not an option for those who say they are followers of Jesus…it is a COMMAND!  AND…read through Luke 15 and notice that in each of the three stories something is lost, what is lost is found…and because of the lost being found a party/celebration begins!!!

Lost people matter to God; therefore, they should matter to HIS church!

Lessons from a New Dad…Part 2

Like I mentioned before in this previous post (Lessons from a New Dad…Part 1), my wife and I just had a baby girl about 6 weeks ago. This experience has been AMAZING and has taught me so much. I wanted to continue to share a few of the lessons that I’m learning through this process.

One of the most incredible things about our daughter is how trusting and dependent she is on us. She relies on us for everything. It amazes me how she can just “play dead” and fully depend on us to pick her up and carry her everywhere, feed her when she’s hungry, change her diapers after she blows one out (and believe me, she can hang with the best of em!), change her clothes, etc. She is totally trusting that we will take care of her…she never doubts that for one second…and she’s right!

What I’ve come to learn is that this is how God wants us to be with Him. He wants us to depend on Him for everything. He wants us to trust in Him to provide for EVERY situation and circumstance. We often try to do everything on our own without God unless things get so bad that we feel like we have no other options. When things are going well we don’t need God and we don’t depend on him until we feel like there’s no other place to turn for help. God doesn’t want it to be like that. To God, we are ALL his children and he wants to provide for us and help us through everything. He wants that trust and dependency from our end and wants us to seek him on all accounts. I think this is a big part of what Jesus was talking about when He said that unless we became like little children that we would never inherit the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:2-4; Mark 10:13-16).

I watch my little girl do this with us and I see how well she is taken care of and how much she is loved. How much more then will we be provided for, blessed, and loved by our perfect Heavenly Father and Creator if we do the same?