I was painting yesterday--a door, not a canvas. On the radio was the oldies station playing, "It's a Beautiful Morning" by the Rascals. I was immediately transported back to the home I grew up in on Westgate Drive in Oxford, Ohio. I was on a ladder one summer morning painting the trim on my parents' house, listening to the radio. Not an oldies' staion, but Top-Forty radio. Playing? "It's a Beautiful Morning!"


Wow--the power of memory! The power of music! The power of painting!

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the bucks stop here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006--before voting against raising the debt limit.

What he said as senator was true then and it is still true today. The debt is the problem. And in the first term of his presidency Mr. Obama's administration will have created more debt than all the presidents before him combined.

God has been stirring up the hearts of people in New Britain this summer in a quest for PURPOSE!


PURPOSE is a burden and a vision birthed in the heart of Pastor Rha-Sheen Brown of Right Now Ministries for the teens and young adults of the city. Like the name of his church, the time for the vision is Right Now! It is an invitation from heaven to escape the life of the street and the shadowy purposelessness that has swallowed so many lives in recent years. When Pastor Rha-Sheen shares this vision the pulse of heaven can be heard and felt through his words. It has captured the imagination and involvement of a number of churches in and around the city of New Britain.



The dates for this outreach are Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 30.



Friday night is a Festival of Hope held at the band shell in Walnut Hill Park that begins at 7:00 PM. Musical guests include The Mike Smith Band to lead in worship, Junior Fountain & God's Generation and Janeen's Diary. The festival will also feature a "Words of Hope" tent as gifted folks will be sharing prophetic/encouraging words of destiny to any who desire such a word. And Pastor Rha-Sheen will bring a message of hope in his unique style and dynamic presentation to challenge the youth who are there.



Saturday features a March of Hope/Prayer Walk that also begins at the Walnut Hill band shell, convening at 10:00 AM. Several points in the immediate downtown area will be visited and prayers offered to break the chains of despair and release hope upon the city. Pastor Rha-Sheen has had a vision of 1,000 marchers, all wearing white T-shirts to symbolize a break with darkness and hopelessness.



I have been part of the planning effort for PURPOSE, along with several of our intercessors and youth leaders. We plan to have an information table in the cafe the next couple Sundays to promote this outreach. Also, you can call the PURPOSE hot line at 860-817-7710 or go to: http://www.purposenewbritain.com/ for more information.


I purpose to be part of PURPOSE--I hope you will join in!



Pastor Rick

It's not often that we use the weekly e-news, or that I utilize my blog to promote upcoming Sunday services. But that is precisely what I'm doing in this post.

Sunday morning, July 10. Pastor Wes and I will be teaming up this Sunday, along with Terry Griswold--one of our elders, to address our current financial situation at Wellspring. The elders have been meeting to get an accurate picture of where our finances are and to own both the reality of where we are and to set a course for the way forward. We will be sharing a summary of that report on Sunday along with some encouragement and teaching from God's word and a testimony of God's faithfulness.

Sunday Evenings @ 7:00. Beginning this coming Sunday evening, the elders have called for weekly times of seeking the Lord in worship and prayer as we go forward. These are not "programmed services;" there will be no teaching or preaching planned for these services. Rather these gatherings are seen as times of seeking the Lord for his favor for our future as a church body and ministry.

There will be a couple of exceptions to this general tone of congregational prayer time. On Sunday evening, July 17, the Christian band, Ascend the Hill, will be ministering at 7:00 PM. And on Sunday, August 7, another awesome band, The Ember Days, will be ministering at the evening gathering. Both of these bands have led worship and shared their own music at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, where Pastor Bill Johnson is the senior leader. A shout-out to James Allen for lining them up to be with us this summer.

Blessings,

Pastor Rick