Our Logo

Our logo design came out of our purpose as a Christian and vision of the church.

Our family had been discussing Scripture, things at school, and the need of a logo for the church plant.  Later our son Josh came out of his room, having taken time for his personal devotions, and produced a simple black and white sketch.  As we discussed it more, it became clear that "true life", real life, only comes when you are in the shadow of the cross.  When you have knelt in humility at the bleeding feet of your Savior, and when you walk in the shadow cast by what HE did for you on the cross, the result is "true life."

Leading from Our Knees

Dear Friends,

Please forgive me for not posting on the blog in over a month. It seems that life in the Wellinghoff household just STAYS busy, no letting up! I hear this question often from people I talk with: How do you work 60+ hours a week and have time for your family, and also plant a new church? My response is usually the same every time: I stay on my knees. Not always in the physical sense but certainly in the spiritual sense, praying without ceasing for God to move in my workplace, my family, and my church planting field of Princeton, IN.

Whether from the outside or from the inside of the church, the Adversary will stop at nothing to try to disrupt and dismantle the body of Christ. But these struggles are not the demise of God’s people. On the contrary, they are our opportunities to apply biblical principles and priorities—the only solutions to the challenges we face.

We must keep our fingers on the pages of Scripture like a boat moored to the pier in a raging storm. While we do not worship the print on the page, the paper and ink lead us to the knowledge of the One whom we do worship—Jesus, our Master and Savior.

WE NEED TO STAY ON OUR KNEES. Prayer is a radical interference with the status quo. It is the means by which God grants power to those who rely on Him. This dependence never changes. Even as a sixty-something-year-old man who had been preaching faithfully for years, the apostle Paul continued to walk in a state of dependence on God. You have to love Paul’s humility.

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.” (Colossians 4:2–4)

There was no pretense with Paul. No degree of success or number of years in the ministry gave him a false sense of ultimate accomplishment. He knew he had not yet arrived. He remained dependent on the Spirit of God. And so with a genuinely thankful heart, he entreated his fellow believers for their prayers. Can you see the power of that kind of attitude? Very refreshing in the first century. And very rare in the twenty-first. No wonder the man made such a lasting impact for Christ! The Lord honored and blessed Paul’s ministry because he upheld prayer and promoted God’s Word.

Rather than trying to copy the world’s system, God points us in another direction. It’s a way of life that stays out of step with the world and yet is not aloof from those in the world.

The early church did not ask God to bless their gimmicks. So, the church today does not need gimmicks to attract people—it needs pastors who lead prayerfully (from their knees), preach and teach biblical truth passionately, and  live out Christianity authentically.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Paul

Our Booth at the Golden Heritage Days Festival in Sept 2013

Sorry to not have shared this earlier, but better late than never.

Those of you in Princeton might remember this.

This was taken on that rainy Friday.  So the signs for some of the free items that we gave away didn't fair so well, and had to be replaced early Saturday morning.  We had attempted to make the sheet protectors water proof from the start, but it didn't work so well.

The cotton candy that you see hanging up, was made inside a sister church, because spinning it outside in the high humidity DOES NOT WORK.

The pop-corn machine also took almost all day Saturday to dry out, before we got it popping again.  Perhaps someday the Association's pop-up booth will have sides like some of the others we saw.  But time works wonders for drying things out, and since the rains didn't keep everyone away, we were happy to stay and continue passing things out that first day.  It actually gave us a chance to get a little more organized.

Don't let the photo mislead you - it must have been the only time we weren't busy.

Love ministering to and getting to know the folks of Princeton, IN.

It's all about JESUS!

At True Life Church, it is our aim that everything we do be about JESUS! We want to make MUCH of JESUS! HE should be the focus of our worship on Sundays and every day through the week. If we don't worship HIM through the week, we won't truly worship Him on Sunday. So prepare your heart by 

The words of this song by Paul Oakley remind us that JESUS should be our everything!

Jesus, Lover of My Soul (It's All About You)

It's all about You, Jesus
And all this is for You
For Your glory and your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
You alone are God
And I surrender to your ways

Jesus, lover of my soul
All consuming fire is in Your gaze
Jesus, I want you to know
I will follow you all my days
For no one else in history is like you
And history itself belongs to you
Alpha and Omega, You have loved me
And I will share eternity with You

If you live in the Princeton area, I personally invite you to come and worship with us Sunday at 4:00pm at our meeting location, New Covenant Baptist Church, 901 W. Broadway, Princeton, IN.

Click on this link for directions to True Life Church

Come and join us as we make much of JESUS!

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff

True Life Church

Sharing Praises

Praise the Lord for a good worship service today at True Life Church! Josh did a great job of leading us in worship as we sang praises to Jesus! We were reminded from John 1 that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who creates and sustains all life. He has all power to speak everything into existence and keep it all together. He is the Source of all light and life. He comes to brings us out of the darkness of sin and give to us abundant and eternal life. He created us to have fellowship with Him and we don't experience "true life" until we accept Him into our lives by faith.

Praise the Lord for the new friends who opened their home and hearts to us today. "True Life" is living in community with one another where lives are mutually encouraged and strengthened. May the Lord bless our new friends as they seek the Lord.

Hope to see you next week!

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff

Come Worship with Us!

Greetings in Jesus Name!

If you live in the Princeton, IN area and you do not have a church home, you are invited to come and worship with us at True Life Church this Sunday! The service begins at 4:00pm at our meeting location at New Covenant Baptist Church 901 W. Broadway, Princeton, IN. True Life Church is a new church plant seeking to make an impact for the kingdom of God in southwest IN. Come and discover the "true life" that Jesus offers!

See you Sunday!

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff

Don't Despise these Small Beginnings

Praise God we had 3 people at the first gathering of True Life Church today!

You may say, is that all you had?

Earlier this year I heard a message entitled "Not by Might, Nor by Power" from Zechariah 4:1-14.

This phrase which bounces around in Christian circles- "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord" has held great power through the ages. That was the first point- It is about the Holy Spirit. He must be at the center of things. We can't do anything without Him. Our dependence must be on His guidance, not our own. This was a great reminder....

The pastor's third point looked intently into verse 10. In the story of the passage, it is a prophecy from the Lord about the completion of the Temple project by Zerubbabel. Listen in:

Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. (Zech 4:9-10 NLT)

Embedded in this passage is that amazing statement--Do not despise these small beginnings. Actually in the original it is a rhetorical question:

Who despises the day of small things?

or consider this contemporary translation which gets the spirit of this question:

“For who dares make light of small beginnings?” (from the NET Bible)

The idea behind a rhetorical question is that everyone knows the answer. If I ask this: Isn't it true that the St. Louis Cardinals are the best major league baseball team in the country? Everyone knows the answer to that, right?  GO CARDS! Now don't get side-tracked by my illustration.

The answer that everyone knows to God's question: Who dares make light of small beginnings? NOBODY. Small is the way things get started. From building the Temple to growing an apple tree, to growing a new church plant, it always starts small.

I was moved by this truth. Beyond that, I really began to embrace that this is the common sense design of our God for the way things work in our world.

In our culture of XL, mega and super-size, the small things get the shaft. They are overlooked. Maybe even despised by some. God's rhetorical question helps us set out to do the small things. To encourage our co-worker, smile at people on the street, pick up the laundry, make a meal for a neighbor, share more about Jesus in a conversation, etc... All small things, but don't despise those small things, they pave the way to bigger things.

Small churches ought not be despised either--from without or from within. Rather than bemoan what you don't have, look at all the benefits you do. You can know each other, reach out to many, serve each other and meet in all kinds of places and times. Don't despise the small things.... That's the way God made things to get started.

For who dares make light of small beginnings?

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff
True Life Church

Come to our First Gathering!

Come and discover what True Life Church is all about! We will be meeting today (9/29/13) from 4-5pm @ our meeting location, New Covenant BC on 901 W. Broadway in Princeton, IN. Look for our big blue banner on the front of the church, hope to see ya there!

Come join us for our first service!

Sunday, Sept 29th 4-5 pm

Meeting @ New Covenant Baptist Church
901 W. Broadway
Princeton Indiana

You can also stop by our booth today 1-5 pm @ the Golden Heritiage Days, at the square. We are on the South West corner of Court House on W. Broadway St.

You can get more info, and some Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Sno Cones, Gatoraid or Water...All for FREE.

Love to see you!

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff

Following God's Call

To most of us faith seems strange. There is a mystery to faith. We at times struggle with doubts and fear that can override faith. But we as believers in Christ are called to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Scripture tells that it is by faith that we stand (2 Cor. 1:24) and that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). But how can we really live this life by faith? I believe what we need is a faith mentor. Scripture provides one for us in a man who is just like us, his name is Abraham. All throughout Scripture, God points to Abraham and says, "If you want to know what faith looks like....if you want to see faith with flesh and bones...look to him." Hebrews 11: 8 says, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

It is so reassuring to know that Abraham was a person just like us. He had bad days, he had setbacks....he was even known to tell a lie every now and then! But there was always one thing that was consistent with Abraham....he trusted God.....a trust that demonstrated itself in unwavering obedience to God.

Now, the verse from Hebrews that I mentioned earlier refers to an encounter Abraham had with God in Genesis 12:1-4:

"Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran."

If you think about it, God’s call on Abraham’s life was a pretty scary thing. I mean, Abraham was no spring chicken when God spoke to him about leaving! He was 75 years old! When was the last time you heard about a 75-year-old man packing up his family and moving away somewhere?

But notice what Abraham’s response was! He went out… not knowing where he was headed. All he knew was that he was being obedient. This is what the Bible calls faith. So, will our lives be characterized by the biblical faith we see in Abraham?

God is calling our family to plant True Life Church in Princeton, IN. This will be our second church plant. The first was when I was little bit younger (22 years ago to be exact!). So, I can somewhat identify with Abraham. I am certainly not a spring chicken! But one thing that should not change with age is God's strong sense of calling. God's calling upon my life to serve Him is as strong today as it was then! What an awesome God we serve!

The purpose of this blog and this first post is to introduce the work that God is calling us to so that you can partner with us through prayer, by serving with us, or by committing to become a financial partner.

What is the mission of True Life Church? We are committed to planting a church because there are many people who need to be reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission is simple....we want to see those who are far away from God experience Jesus and become His fully devoted followers who reproduce themselves to make a greater impact in their world. We want to change the way people think and feel about church. Church should be a place of transformation not stagnation!

How can you pray for True Life Church? I believe that prayer is our greatest resource.

• Pray that God would provide the funding/flexible employment for Pastor Paul so that he will be able to leave his current job at Toyota and have more time to cultivate relationships in the Princeton area.
• Pray for our family. For my wife and ministry partner Laura, our kids Elizabeth, a senior at Oakland City University and our son Joshua, a senior a Castle High School. Pray that God would put a hedge protection around us as we minister in His name.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit would "go before" as we share the gospel with the people of Princeton.
• Pray that God would raise up a minimum of 100 prayer partner to pray for the start of True Life Church. Please e-mail Pastor Paul at pastorpw716@gmail.com to become one of our prayer warriors.
• Pray that God would raise up financial partners so that the True Life vision can be realized for God's glory.
• Pray that God would call more co-laborers to join us in His kingdom work.
• Pray for the growth of our current partner churches, New Covenant Baptist Church of Princeton, IN and First Southern Baptist Church of Evansville, IN and other partner churches that God will bring aboard to help launch True Life Church.
• Pray for our first outreach event which will take place during the Princeton Golden Heritage Festival September 20-22, 2013.

How can you serve with True Life Church?

We will have a booth at the Golden Heritage Festival in downtown Princeton, IN September 20-22, 2013. The main goal is to talk to as many people as possible through the means of a survey, which will lead people to see their need for Christ and enlistment in our first Bible Study. We will provide free of charge, bottled water, popcorn, and either cotton candy or sno-cones. PLEASE COME AND HELP US!

WE NEED THE FOLLOWING:

• People to help give the surveys. The hours of the festival will be 9am-9pm Fri./Sat. 12-5pm Sun. We must have someone in the booth at all times during the festival.  My family will be extremely exhausted if we don't have help!
• People to help make/serve bottled water, popcorn, sno-cones, cotton candy
• Donations of coolers, bottled water, unpopped popcorn, popcorn bags, ice to cool bottled water, ice to make sno-cones, sno-cone syrup, sno-cone cups, supplies to make cotton candy, or financial donations to help cover/offset the cost.
• If you can help email Pastor Paul at pastorpw716@gmail.com or call him @ 812-449-1018.

How can I become a financial partner with True Life Church?

It is our goal to be a self-sustaining church by the Spring of 2017. We will need to raise financial support for the operating cost of being a missional church plant. We need to raise most of our support through partnering churches and individuals. The bulk of our resources will be used to fund outreach, small group development, administrative expenses, and salary support.

Prayerfully consider how God might lead you to partner with us in His kingdom work. Please consider partnering with us at one of the following levels:

$10,000 - one time

$5,000 - one time

$1,000 - one time

$250 - monthly/3.5 years

$100 - monthly/3.5 years

$50 - monthly/3.5 years

$25 - monthly/3.5 years

Financial contributions for the work of True Life Church can be sent to:

First Southern Baptist Church

25 S. Cullen Ave.

Evansville, IN 47715

Trusting Him for all,

Pastor Paul Wellinghoff

True Life Church