Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday Mind Dump

What a LONG DAY!!

Today was a great ministry day. Campus Life came and rocked the service today. It was so cool hearing the kids from campus talk about what God has done in their life. I love hearing stories like that and just being a small part of that ministry is a very cool thing. Worship was great today the band is starting to come together and really gel. We have a few things we are wanting to work on but still. They are awesome!

So Let's Dump:
  • Just got back from our concert at Elem3mt church in Blissfield. That was fun. It took us a few songs to really find our footing and gel as a band but it was great.
  • We are going to work on bringing more of the "coffee shop" feel to our church. We are going to be looking at doing some decorating and painting to bring that about. If you'd like to help paint or decorate give me a shout. We'll probably schedule a work day sometime over the next month to do some painting.
  • I am tired. I know why rock starts are usually so stinking skinny. If I played a 2 hour show every night I'd lose a tone of weight. Hey, there is a thought for a diet. The "Rock Star Diet." I have got to find a publisher for that!
  • It was awesome to see so many Real Lifer's make the trek up to Blissfield for worship. Thank You!!
  • We have a business meeting set for Tuesday. We are going to start talking about the newer ministries we are thinking of launching. Pray for that meeting. Some really big things are in the works
I need a shower and some sleep. Catch ya all later!!



Friday, March 28, 2008

Thank You's

Huge thank you's for everyone praying for me. I feel 100 percent better today. I am actually feeling somewhat productive as I have already finished next weeks message and outline.

Thank You!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Prayer

Would appreciate everyones prayers over the next few days. I got some kind of bug and it is wiping me out. A temp over 100, body aches, and alternating bouts with being too cold and too hot.

I need to get this out of my system before Sunday!

Great Stuff

We have some really cool things on the agenda for tonights business meeting. I will be sharing more over the next month but for now I just want to tell everyone how excited I am for some of the things that are coming up. We are going to have some great outreach events and we are going to be adding a few additional ministries over the next few months. It's going to be neat and we should see some great things going down.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Woke Up Ready To Go!

I woke up this morning ready to get at work!

Been busy this morning doing some things for April. I also did some things she hadn't asked me to do. For example, I did some loads of laundry. No I will tell you right up front April loves doing laundry. I have no idea why but she just does. So here is the thing. Even though I just took a few hours off her day she is going to be a little upset about it cause she that is something she loves doing. So if I have a black eye today that's why!! Just kidding about the black eye!!

Aside from that I am getting at some church work this morning in preparation for this weekends church service, tomorrow nights business meeting, and this weekends concert. It's going to be a fun couple of days!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Day Off

I took my first "Real" day off today. I know..I know...some of you are thinking Jeff you take days off all the time. They are only partially correct. I take days off from teaching once and a while however it's usually to get caught up on church stuff. I really tried hard no to do church stuff today. I am going to try for one more day this week with no more church stuff. We'll see if I can make that happen but that is the plan for Friday to be a church free day!

We do have some really cool things on the horizon. Just wait, I promise you are going to be surprised by some of the things!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sunday Mind Dump

I had a blast today. I really really really enjoyed the message today. Can you tell? I think this was one of those things people just need to hear and I am honored that I get the privilege of being the guy to say it. We have such an awesome group of people at Real Life. From the little things that most people never see to the big stuff that people see. We have the best of the best in terms of people we really do. So let's dump:
  • I love seeing people bring their friends and family to church. That is the true test as to what people think. None of us will bring people to something we aren't happy with and proud of. When people bring people. I love it.
  • The band sounded good today. It is always cool to see your 14 year old boy up their playing an instrument and hanging with the adults. Can you tell I am a proud Dad?
  • Two words: Great cake!
  • I have an awesome wife. She puts up with quite a bit of razzing from the guys in the band.
  • We are in our second full month at the new location and I cannot even believe we were thinking the budget would be tight. We serve an awesome God.
  • Most people never see or hear about the things that make ministry awesome. We have so many little things that God is doing in the lives of our people and it's just so cool!
  • It was my wife's birthday. I thought I'd never hear it but she actually said "I think I have had enough dessert for a while, I'm getting sick." For those of you who know April. Wow, I never saw that coming.
  • Tony, awesome job telling your story today. You touched a lot of people.
  • The next month and a half is going to be a blast at church....trust me!
See ya!

Friday, March 21, 2008

When to Pray for Your Pastor

Was out doing some blog reading and this posting came up on Perry Nobles Blog. It was so good I wanted to share it with all my friends and family. In case you ever wondered when I personally need your prayer the most.

So HERE GOES....

When To Pray For Your Pastor

I’ve had four conversations in the past several weeks where someone has said to me, “Perry, my family and I pray for you and your family everyday.”

Let me be very clear…there is almost NOTHING ELSE I would rather hear from a Springers (attender/member of NewSpring) mouth than that! It always blows me away that people would think enough of me, Lucretia and Charisse to talk to the Creator of the Universe on our behalf.

I know there are people from other churches who read this site and I would strongly encourage you to pray for your pastor…when are the three times he needs it the most?

#1 - Sunday Night/Monday Morning

If a pastor EVER feels like giving up–it’s either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

I would say that 99% of the worlds population doesn’t really have a clue as to what pastors endure emotionally, physically and spiritually.

  • If they are going to be under a heavy spiritual attack…it’s usually during this time.
  • If they are going to have a sleepless night, even though they are exhausted–it will be on Sunday night.
  • If they are going to battle discouragement…it will be on Sunday night.

Trust me on this folks…I am saying what most pastors won’t tell you (either because of insecurity or some sort of Messiah complex!)

When a pastor preaches a message he has SEVERAL adrenalin rushes–ever had one of those? Sure you have! Let’s say you are riding down the road in a car and another car runs a stop sigh and you manage to avoid a collision by mere inches.

BAM…you get an adrenalin rush that studies show it takes between four to six hours to recover from.

NOW–take under consideration that most pastors in today’s world preach more than one sermon per Sunday…and with the shots of adrenalin the body produces to keep the dude going…it completely kicks his butt–I promise. That is why it is so essential to lift him up during this time–he feels like a used washed cloth!

#2 - On Saturday Nights

If I am going to have a sleepless night, other than Sunday night–it’s Saturday.

Pastors have a hard time shutting their minds off on Saturday night–we think about the message, the music, who is and is not going to be there…and about one million other things. We can literally drive ourselves crazy.

ALSO…for me personally, if I am going to have any sort of nightmare–it’s usually on Saturday night. Oh yeah…PLEASE don’t just pray for him…but his entire family as well!!! There needs to be complete peace in and on the pastor’s house the night before church…and I believe that this comes through people passionately praying to God on his behalf.

#3 - Anytime The Holy Spirit Brings Him To Mind

If you are riding down the road and your pastors name pops into your mind…pray for him. It really is that simple.

If you are in your living room and watching television and his name pops in your mind…pray for him.

If you are riding down the road and you see a dead squirrel splatted all over the place and your pastors name pops in your mind…PRAY FOR YOURSELF, you have issues!!! :-)

The Holy Spirit knows when people need prayer…and I can’t tell you the number of times He’s brought someone’s name to my mind, I’ve prayed for them and then later found out that at the exact time I prayed for them was at a time when God was doing some serious work in their lives.

Prayer works…thanks to all of you who pray for Lucretia, Charisse and myself…you will never know how much we appreciate it.

My Mind is Going to Explode

I love technology don't get me wrong I really do. There are times when it just gets under my skin. When things that should be so simple, or they are simple to people who know what they are doing, take a lot longer than they need be!

It's that kind of a morning. I am working on converting camcorder tapes to DVD's and then to a web publication for our website. UGH.

Calgon take me away!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Just Got Back

Just got back from the church tonight. The band was sounding sweet tonight. Really looking forward to this weekends worship. We have a few new songs that are really good. It is so awesome to have as many talent musicians as we do. There are churches all over the country 10 times our size that don't have half the talent we do.

God has really blessed us. Make no mistake about it~

Monday, March 17, 2008

Easter Service

This years Easter worship experience might just be our best worship experience yet. I am really pumped about this weeks message and music. They just go together so well. Make sure you get your friends and loved one's into church this weekend. We are going to have a great time.

Plus.....It's Aprils Birthday. You know you want to sing to her!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sunday Mind Dump

This has been a busy weekend for April and I. Friday night she forced me to take her to a mall in Ann Arbor Mi and wait for her while she shopped. Next weekend is her birthday and since it's Easter weekend we weren't going to be able to do much for her so this was part of her present. Plus, we are dinner at one of our favorite places the California Pizza Kitchen. If you have never been there, it's worth the trip just for the pizza. Saturday was a busy day with music, shopping, computer issues, and more music. Today we had church and then drove down to Findlay for Aprils nephews birthday party.

A great day at church today.
  • The band was off the hook. April sang her little tail off. This was the best they have sounded in a while. Most people will never know how much time these guys put into practicing the songs they do we just see the end results. You guys were awesome today!
  • Martha spoke and did a great job. Everyone loves Martha, how could you not?
  • Sounded like the kids were bowling upstairs. We are going to work on that with some sound proofing.
  • I loved the crowd participation during worship today. Awesome!
  • I love being able to hang out and talk with people after the services. I do not miss being portable even a little.
  • We are going to try out a few new things for getting the messages on DVD and the web. Some cool and easy stuff out there that will do the trick. Or, at least stuff that Trezzo says will do the trick. If it doesn't work maybe we'll bill him for all the stuff we bought?
  • We have some really big things in the works. Not quite ready to let them all out of the bag yet but soon.
I love Real Life. You guys are awesome. I couldn't ask for a better church family.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dreaming Big - For a Big God

We serve a Big God and that means we need to dream big, pray big, and have big faith. Right now I am trusting God for some things that are big. We laid out a vision last January of our church tripling in size this year. In the six services since we laid that out we have seen a net growth of 7 people added to the church. The great thing is, these aren't just people sitting in the pews, they are people taking active roles in ministry. From teaching our kids, to playing in the band. God is providing everything and more that we need.

It's awesome to see just how God provides things. It doesn't always happen the way we picture it, in fact, many times it's better than how we picture it.

So the question for you is ...What are you dreaming and praying for? Are you going to show big faith and step out in obedience doing what God would have you do?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Leadership Base

Over the next few weeks you'll be hearing about us expanding our leadership base by looking to add additional people to our leadership team. At Real Life we don't have elections. According to our bylaws we present prospective new leaders to the church and allow the church to approve of the potential new leader by privately addressing any issues you have with the potential leader with that leader. If you cannot solve the potential issue with the potential leader you are to bring the issue before another member of the leadership team and we will address it.

At Real Life we don't hold leadership elections because we want to avoid having church leadership become a popularity contest and be more about finding the right people to lead the church based on our needs meeting our potential leaders strengths. Along the church planting road we have learned that the best way to bring people into ministry and or leadership is to spend time getting to know them.

If you have any questions about how we conduct church business feel free to ask

Change is a good thing....

This weekend we are taking a week long break from our series called Miracles and Martha is going to be teaching. She is going to teach about learning ways we can all share our faith. The bottom line is that God has wired us all differently and as such we need to learn ways of sharing our faith that work with who we are as individuals.

Sharing your faith is easier than you think. Most people don't really care all that much about in depth Bible knowledge when you are talking about your faith. What they really want to hear is your story. The want to hear about what God has done in you, through you, and for you. Those are the kind of things that get peoples attention.

This will be a great message as all of us can do a better job sharing our faith. Why don't you start by thinking of three people you plan on inviting to church for Easter??

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Sunday Mind Dump

What a great time at church today. The band sounded incredible. Aaron adds so much vocally and we are really blessed to have him. He did an awesome job leading worship this morning. Today's message hit home with a few people and that is always nice to see.
  • Working on the webcasting/DVD thing. Hopefully we get that worked out over the next few days so we get get the messages online.
  • We tried to record the worship portion of the service today but it didn't take. Oh well, we'll work on that for next week.
  • The band was really tight today. They are doing a killer job.
  • Awesome to see some of the newer faces stepping in and volunteering for things. I love that!
  • I got a nice hour long nap today. For those who know me you know how rare that is!
  • I am excited about hearing Martha speak next week. She always does a great job and touches peoples hearts.
I love what I do. Ministry is always tough, but when you are in the right place and God has placed you there it is fun as well. I am pumped about some of the things we have coming up. We are going to start seeing some cool things happen. Write that down!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Small Groups

Many times people get confused about the purposes of different things we do at church. Honestly, that is understandable. We often times do a terrible job of communicating what the purpose of something is all about. For us at Real Life, small groups are one of the ways people can connect with other people from church. The truth is Sunday mornings are a busy time for many people who serve at the church. For me personally, Sunday is a work day. As such, I don't get much of a chance to sit down and chat with people. I know many others that don't get a chance to connect either. That's one reason I love small groups!

Through small groups I get a chance to just be a part of the church and enjoy the company of our people. We get to share a little about the things going on in our lives and just be people. If you have never been a part of a small group we'd love to see you connect.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

How about that Poll?

I am kinda stunned that the voting for our poll this month is split at 50% of our people saying that they have experienced a miracle in theirs lives and 50% of the people saying that they need a miracle right now. Over the next few weeks we'll be going into some of this stuff a little deeper. I am ready now....but....we wait for Sunday's :P

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

God's Gift....

Snow is and has to be God's gift to all teachers. I joke about getting the day off but the sad reality is I do more work on my "free day off" than I do at "work" On a snow day I am usually at the computer writing long before I would have ever left the house to go to work.

Just this morning, I have been on the phone clearing up some things, doing this weekends message outline and bulletin, helping April with her music team devotional for tonight. Plus I have to make a trip up to Detroit later today. How about that for a "day off"

Do I sound whiny? I know, I know, I quit now.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Snow Day?

There's snow on the horizon. Do I smell another snow day in the works? Stay tuned!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Miracles.......

Next Sunday is going to be a pretty special Sunday for everyone who has kids. We are going to hear and learn about a guy that had a kid that really in desperate need of a miracle. The boy's father took him to see the best of the best trying to get him help. It wasn't until the guy brought his boy before Jesus did the problem get solved.

Most of us would do anything for our kids. In fact, if our kids were sick we'd gladly take their place and suffer for them. This weekend get ready to hear about a guy who was in most ways just like many of us. He was a guy with a sick kid and he needed to get some help.

This weekend you can hear the rest of the story...

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Sunday Mind Dump

Wow it felt really great to be back in the saddle again. You forget how much you enjoy doing something when you aren't doing it for a while. A month is a long break for a preacher boy. I am glad to be back. We had a great service today. The message and the testimony by April really seemed to hit home with some folks and I love to see that. The band is sounding really good. Props to Aaron, it's hard to walk in and take over for someone else and he is doing a great job. A few things to dump about:
  • The sound in the new place is awesome. I cannot believe we were even worried about it. Geeeesh!
  • Martha does a great job with the kids. The came in today telling me their memory verses..how cool is that?
  • Today was Aprils cousin Bryan's and Shelly's first time teaching a class. The kids said they had fun and they did a good job.
  • I have to eat more bagels. I was starving when I got home today.
  • Someone needs to step up and become the full-time Sunday Barista. A frappacino would be awesome wouldn't it? Maybe we could start a petition?
  • Everyone that comes to the new place loves how friendly and open it is. They tell me it's like going to someones house. I love hearing that!
Got to get the newsletters out!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Old Friends

April and I spent tonight hanging out with an old friend of mine from high school. Sam was a guy we hung out with for only a year when I was a sophomore. Sam and his family are originally from India. Sam was a hoot when he was a kid because he was trying really hard to fit in as an American kid but he still had many traits of a kid who just got here. I always loved his family they treated us boys like we were their own kids. His dad ended up moving quite a bit due to his job. He was only in the area for a year but we got pretty close over that year. We were all bummed when his parents moved their family to Florida. I hadn't talked to Sam in over 20 years and got an email from him today and found out he was living a hour away in Jackson Mi. It turned out he was coming to Toledo for a coworkers son's baptism. We hooked up for dinner and then went over to the church and we jammed for a little while. He has been wanting to learn drums for quite some time so I told him I'd give him a quick lesson.

How cool is that. For those of you who are Real Lifers, you'll get to meet Sam one of these days as he wants to come check out one of our services.