“A glad heart makes a happy face.” (Proverbs 15:13)
Spirit Life women gathered recently for a special lunch with Pastor Gail, as she unveiled a new facet of the Women’s ministry called “Heart Smile.”
Over the years, Pastor Gail has coordinated small teams of women to reach out to individuals and families of Marion County with acts of hospitality and compassion.Always creative and effective, some of these efforts have included “dessert of the month” to the local Fire Rescue and Sheriff stations, Christmas gifts for family members of inmates at the Marion County jail, hospitality baskets for women facing serious health issues, and more.
Heart Smile is a vehicle designed to coordinate these efforts and increase the influence of God’s love as shown through kind deeds. Over 100 women have signed up to be part of Heart Smile, volunteering for things like shopping, cooking, creating special gifts, and delivering items to those in need.
In addition, the women of Spirit Life donated $1000 and this money is already being put to use helping local families facing crisis situations.
“Fulfillment comes from giving to others,” says Pastor Gail. “It’s great to make hearts smile.”
Dr. Richard recently returned from a week long trip to the nation of Iceland and shared this report with me:
Roughin' It Recap









As exciting as that may be, Pastor Lindsey was even more excited at what went on behind the scenes. In years past, the Gators would average 5-10 people for their Sunday chapel service. Back in July, Coach Urban Meyer explained to PL what he envisioned for chapel and how he didn’t want to add another mandatory meeting to his player’s busy schedule. He wanted chapel to become something that was so fun and exciting, and create such a buzz that players would not want to miss it. Well that’s exactly what happened. After seeing just a handful of players during the first few chapels in August, once the team got to know PL and once word began to spread of his amazing voice, chapel started to grow steadily each week. But it wasn’t easy. As busy as Pastor Lindsey is with his weekly responsibilities as senior associate pastor at Spirit Life Church, he drove to Gainesville every Thursday for team practice where he closed each session with prayer. Drove up again on Friday to travel with the team by bus or plane and stay at the team hotel with them where he did a pre-game chapel service. Saturday’s he was in the locker room and on the team sideline throughout the game and at the conclusion led both teams in prayer at midfield. Following the game, he flew back on the team plane late Saturday night and drove home to Ocala, sometimes arriving as late as 4am! After a brief sleep, he would arrive at the church for band practice at 7:30am, where he led praise and worship for two Sunday morning services. PL would then slip out of second service early to drive back to Gainesville for his 2pm chapel service with players, coaches, and their families.
What many of you don’t know about Pastor Lindsey is that he was a high school football star whose dream was to play college football. His senior year while being recruited by Iowa State University, he suffered a severe ankle injury that ended his football career. Nearly 20 years later, who could have ever imagined he would be back in college football, not to mention winning a national championship! And if that’s not enough, Pastor Lindsey will join the rest of the Gator team in receiving a 2008 SEC Championship Ring and the coveted 2008 National Championship Ring! Amazing how God brings things full circle isn’t it?
Happy 19th Anniversary Spirit Life!
As many of you know, it’s been an unbelievable season for Spirit Life’s own Senior Associate Pastor, Lindsey Seals (PL), as he has been the Team Pastor for the University of Florida Gator Football Team.

Updated Monday, July 13...
Posted on Monday, July 6...
Spirit Life Church just finished hosting the first Summer Splash, and it was a HUGE success! The event took place last Saturday, July 18, at the Ed Croskey Recreation Center.
It was finally here, the most anticipated game of the Strength of the Young Summer Basketball season. Last Monday, August 10, Strength of the Young held its 2009 championship game. The rivals, Team Dynasty, coached by Jeff Braley and Ian Nichols, and Team So-So Fresh, coached by Ben Collins and Corey Zimmerman, were both eager for a win.
Halftime ended and Team So-So Fresh came back with a vengence, bringing the 3rd quarter score to So-So Fresh: 38, and Team Dynasty: 35. The 4th quarter was pretty even, and a last second lay-up by Team Dynasty’s Mike Fortune brought the game to a 50-50 tie. OVERTIME!
This year's Men's Conference was a great success. It was a time to get the men together to encounter God and to just have fun. The theme was "Heroes," based on the popular TV show. Food is always a great way to start out a conference for men and the first evening we enjoyed Sonny's BBQ in the Hub. After dinner, we heard from Kyle Horner, our guest speaker. He said heroes know that uncommon actions will bring about uncommon responses. He also said that faith is not found in the comfortable, but it is found in the uncomfortable. After Kyle was done, we could either watch a movie in the Hub or go to the game room in the sanctuary that included darts, a pool table, Texas hold em, blackjack, ping pong, Rock Band on Xbox 360, Wii Sports, and, of course, refreshments.

magine a happy and fun loving crowd filled with creative costumes like a human chicken, a life size Starbuck’s cup, Blues Brothers, stilt man, Wonder Woman, cowboys and cowgirls, 80’s rockers, 60’s hippies, fairies, princesses, hobos and a few unexplainable characters that still have participants wondering.