At the Bless God Summit on Friday (March 28), Pastor Ed Newton encouraged church leaders to listen to the voice of God more than the voice of their critics, sharing his own struggles in life and ministry and encouraging leaders to remember that God is pleased with them.
Organized by the team of popular Christian YouTuber Ruslan, the Bless God Summit was held “to encourage, empower, and inspire you to live a life that blesses God.”
After being introduced by Ruslan, Newton admitted that he had never heard of Ruslan before being invited to be on Ruslan’s YouTube show last year.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I mean, I’m almost 50. So I’m a little dated in the technology game.”
Newton, who pastors Community Bible Church (CBC) in San Antonio, became nationally known for a viral video clip in which he interacted with a church attender who interrupted Newton’s sermon by shouting profanity.
In the clip, Newton can be seen interacting with the man, who disclosed that he was unhoused and planning to attempt suicide before someone invited him to CBC.
Newton later discussed the encounter with Ruslan, sharing that the interaction wasn’t completely unusual for him.
“That stuff happens often. Not the profanity but interruptions,” Newton said. “CBC is a church for people who are most likely unchurched or de-churched or really don’t understand the formality.”
“CBC has grown to offer five services each weekend. There is not a church etiquette,” Newton said. “That’s one of my favorite things about our church.”
Newton shared that he later counseled the man and that the man had entered rehab.
During his address to attendees of the Bless God Summit, Newton shared about his own struggles.
“For me, it was Dec. 26, 2023, the day after Christmas,” Newton said. “ I’d never hit rock bottom before in my life the way that it hit me that particular day.”
Newton said that he had never experienced suicidal ideations, but on that day, “ I didn’t wanna live anymore.”
While attendance, giving, and baptisms were all at “an all-time high” at his church, Newton experienced several personal and family challenges that led him to a place where “ I didn’t want to live anymore because of the fact that what I was feeling and what I was facing felt bigger than the God that lived within me.”
Newton said that he checked himself into a treatment facility for five days of intensive treatment. Through counseling, Newton said that he came to realize that his life had been marked by rejection.
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Then Newton’s counselor gave him an assignment.
“ He said, ‘I’ve asked you to bring a piece of pottery.’ I went to a local Hobby Lobby,” Newton said. “ And I took this broken piece of pottery after I slammed it down to the ground—because that’s what he told me to do. And then he told me to take some duct tape and put it back together.”
, Pastor Ed Newton encouraged church leaders to listen to the voice of God more than the voice of their critics.){kind=link}