Greetings from the Pastors' Prayer Summit.

I want to thank all of you who have been praying for me and for this gathering. This has by far been the easiest summit to facilitate that I have ever been apart of. The Lord is leading our time together and the group of about 35 pastors and leaders are exhibiting high levels of trust and vulnerability with the Lord and one another.

I am also hearing here the same kind of theme that was being echoed in Houston--and one I know I will be hearing later this week at MorningStar. Darkness is encroaching--and the call is to be the light of the Lord in the mdst of the darkness. I am hearing this holy tension of a the nation and society being shaken--and the Lord beginning to move powerfully in the midst of the shaking. This is what I was preaching on a couple weeks ago--and will be revisiting this coming Sunday.

On the flight home from Houston I spoke to a delightful woman who is a scientist and who also operates in a prophetic anointing. She described what she is seeing happening as the old equilibrium being disrupted. That leads to a season of inevitable chaos before a new equilibrium is established. I think she is right.

The key, however, is that the exact nature of that new equilibrium is yet to be determined. That, I believe, depends on the prayers and the repentance of the church in the midst of this shaking that is going on. Many of us have been looking to the political arena for this new equilibrium to come forth. But really, the determining arena is the heart and response of god's people. Will we pray? Will we repent? Will we stand for righteousness as salt and lihgt in the midst of corruption and darkness?

These are the questions. We are the answers.

Pastor Rick

Hey sports fans!

All you Yankee fans--back away from the ledge--slowly, slowly, slowly! Red Sox fans, remember Aprils past. A sweep in April is neither the end of the world or the World Series!

Good lesson there--it is over the long haul that great victories are won. Therefore, it is always too soon to give up. Celebrate small victories, but don't confuse them with the Final Triumph.

End of sermon. Pastor Wes did such a good job preaching yesterday and I did not have a chance to preach last week, so I had to get this one out.

I am at the Pastors Payer Summit--we had a great first session. Thanks for your prayers. God is meeting us.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick

P.S. The hometown team--Cincinnati Reds won yesterday too!

Back home. Thanks for your prayers. Great to be back at Wellspring this morning--wonderful time in the Lord's presence.

All the UCONN fans are buzzing because 4 of their guys got selected in the NFL draft's first day. Props to UCONN. But check this out--Saturday in Columbus 97,000 fans showed up and paid to watch the Buckeye's spring game. That is filling Rentschler Field twice plus standing room for a practice game! That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Tomorrow I will be helping to lead a Pastors' Prayer Summit for pastors and ministry leaders here in Connecticut. I would appreciate your prayers for this gathering--Monday noon through Wednesday noon. We will be together to seek the Lord in prayer, worship and for a time of rest and refreshment and fellowship. I very much enjoy these times and have found that the Lord has used these times significantly in my life in the past. Please pray for the Lord's direction and presence during that time.

More to follow.

Greetings from Houston!

The Reds finished up their longest road trip of the year by taking 2 of 3 from the Cubs. That concludes a 7-3 road trip in which they won all three series. For all you New York and Boston fans there is still time to jump on the bandwagon!

It was a good day at the consultation. The focus today was on compassion ministries and their role in transformation ministry. We also had a report of the focus of prayer and ministry to "the tribe of Hollywood." Hollywood impacts the entire world--mostly in negative ways. In the past decade the Lord has put it on the heart of many to focus prayer and intentional ministry to the film industry. We heard from a Spirit-directed actor and his ministry to other actors, writers and aspiring artists. We also learned of a school in Hollywood to raise up and develop young Christian actors, writers, directors to create excellent films that have a positve impact and help recalibrate the norm of society by presenting a Christian worldview and positive morality. They now can count 5000 Christian believers in the "Hollywood tribe." This has been the result of focused prayer and intentional incarnational ministry to take the gospel to this element of our culture.

I am very grateful for all your prayers. I am picking up lots of encouragement from the sessions, from the amazing servants of the Lord from around the world, and from the atmosphere here--the anointing in the meetings is very real and I am feeling things sparking in my spirit as I am listening, absorbing and processing.

Looking forward to being home before long--and being with the Wellspring family on Sunday.

Pastor Rick

Hello sports fans and greetings from Houston!

I arrived safely last night after an uneventful flight. Got to the hotel. Turned on SportsCenter just in time to catch the report that the Cincinnati Reds had defeated the hometown Astros just prior to me landing in town, completing a successful series that saw the Red Stockings take 3 games out of 4. What an awesome omen! What incredibly poor planning on my part. Had I been looking ahead when I made my flight reservations I would have flown in early and taken in the game.

I am here with Gregg Healey, a gifted businessman from Westport who is an elder at St. Paul Lutheran Church in the same town. Gregg is very prophetic and has a call to be a minister for the Kingdom in the marketplace. I have gotten to know him over the past few years in our networking around Connecticut. He helps to facilitate a fellowship of 9 churches in lower Fairfield County whose pastors pray together regularly; the congregations also partner together in worship periodically and in prayer and in strategic outreach in their county. I am looking forward to getting to know Gregg better during these days.

We had lunch today with Jill and Michael O'Brien. Many of you will remember their visit with us at Wellspring last September. Jill and Michael live in Houston and it was good to fellwoship with them. Plans are being set for them to return to Wellspring this coming September and minister to W.O.W. and to the congregation. They send their greetings to all.

This evening the TransformWorld gathering begins. I am looking forward to that.

The Reds travel on to Chicago for a three game set with the Cubs. I am looking for at least 1 out of 3 from that series--the Cubbies are tough this year.

Pray for me as I come to mind--thanks. Pray for the Reds if you have the faith and anointing to do so--no curses please!

This is amazing!

I have probably been on two blogs in my life--maybe three. One about the Cincinnati Reds; another for the Buckeyes; and maybe, maybe one having to do something with ministry. "First things first" is my motto.

Another motto has always been, "I defy progress!" Technology makes me nervous and agitated. Too much of it makes me want to hit somebody or something. So now I am being dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Thanks alot James!

Anyway, now for something more substantial. As those of you have read who have emailed me in the last couple weeks, all my email to Rick@Wellspring.net will be routed through my administrative assistant, Sandy Scully. We are still sorting out how we will handle this. But I have had to take this step in order to free myself from a couple of hours of email every day. I can no longer give that time to email and still accomplish the priorities the Lord has put before me.

Specifically, I want to inform you of three major events I will be taking part of over the next couple weeks. Next week I travel with a colleague from Westport to TransformWorldHouston. You can go to www.transformworldhouston.com and find out more about this global consultation. This event will involve Christian leaders from all over the world who are fostering a learning community about the transformational agenda of the Kingdom, building linkages across continents, and cross-pollinating the church from the developing world and the west. This is a very exciting endeavor and I am humbled to have been invited to this gathering. I go with great anticipation and expectation. I hope to post some observations and comments while I am there.

When I return (I'll be in church April 26) I will be leading with a couple other colleagues the Connecticut Pastors' Prayer Summit at Camp Connri in Eastford, CT. This will be a 48 hour gathering of pastors seeking the Lord together in worship, prayer and fellowship. These have been great times of renewal, rest and re-visioning in the past. I always look forward to these gatherings.

Then, later that week I will be traveling to MorningStar for another consultation that will focus on how the church is to respond to the rapid and rampant attacks upon religious liberty and Christian values that are coming out of Washington and the state capitols. Here in Connecticut the legislature is poised to pass a bill that would severely limit religious liberties under the guise of instituting same-sex marriage--as mandated by our Supreme Court. Proposed executive orders from the current administration in Washington are threatening to invalidate the conscientious objections of doctors and nurses who choose not to be involved in medical procedures (e.g. abortion and euthanasia). The president's council of faith-based advisers includes someone who has been outspoken in attacking the Catholic Church. Homeland Security has recently issued a report stating that those who have attended the recent "Tea Parties" and those who oppose abortion may be potential threats to the government and possible domestic terrorists. I wish I was making this stuff up! I will have more to share about this when I return from MorningStar.

So--please pray for me over the next couple of weeks. Here are some prayer requests:

--pray for divine appointments and divine encounters while I am at these gatherings.

--pray for me to receive all the Lord has for me during these times.

--pray for wisdom as I help to lead the Prayer Summit.

--pray for safe travel, health and rest, etc. during this time.

--pray for Wes and the rest of the staff while I am away--and for Debbie as well.

Anyway, that is it for now. My first post.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick