Archive for July, 2006
Interested In Working At NewSpring? July 31, 2006
OK…I am going to make this short and sweet. :-) Well…maybe not…
We currently have an opening in our youth ministry area here at NewSpring Church. This area is experiencing growth…and our teens are the BEST in the entire world–yes, I am biased.
We are looking for someone who would serve in a youth pastor type role. WAIT…before anyone gets too excited I need to lay out what we are looking for…so here are the qualifications…
#1 – This Person Needs To LOVE Teenagers!
Let me be very clear here…we are not looking for someone who is merely using youth ministry as a stepping stone, but rather someone who believes in teenagers enough to invest their life into them.
We do not want someone who wants to come here for a year and a half and then move on–but rather someone who has a passion to plant some roots.
#2 – This Person Needs To Be A Dynamic Speaker!
We do two things at NewSpring well, the first being we open God’s Word…and the second is we talk about Jesus!!!
We are looking for someone who can teach teenagers how relevant the Bible is in today’s society. We do not want a youth ministry merely built on fun and games…I do not want to have our youth kids graduate, go to college, and then be the biggest party people on campus because they were not grounded!
But–in order for kids to understand God’s word it has to be taught well…so…this is a qualification.
#3 – This Person Must Desire To Reach Out!
We are evangelistic at NewSpring–period. We want to see kids meet Jesus and then introduce their friends to Him. We do this by creating environments where our teens feel comfortable inviting their lost and unchurched friends to. In fact–last night we had 10 kids accept Christ at our Middle School service–yeah God!!!
So…saying this as nicely as I can…if you are an inward focused navel gazer…don’t send a resume. :-)
#4 – This Person Should Not Use This As A Stepping Stone To Planting A Church.
One of the things I see among youth ministers today is their desire to one day start a church…AND that is NOT a bad thing at all! However, one of the things we are looking for here is someone who will be willing to dedicate to our kids and our church for the long haul.
So…if you want to plant a church one day…well…do it!!! What are you waiting for? BUT–if you want to work with teens and be a PART of our church–then maybe you should pray about this.
#5 – This Person Must Agree With The Vision Of NewSpring.
We keep it simple–we want to…
- Engage The Lost
- Enlarge God’s Kingdom
- Help People Endure In Their Walk
- Enable People To Become Everything God Wants Them To Be!
If this can’t be your vision–then this is not the place for you because–it’s NOT CHANGING! :-)
#6 -This Person Should Have Experience In Leading Youth Ministry.
If you are unemployeed and merely looking for some type of work–stay away!!!
So…if you think you may be interested then you need to do the following things…
#1 – PRAY about it and make sure it is God and not gas!!! Yes, some people get them confused.
#2 – AFTER you have prayed about it…and IF you feel led then e-mail me your resume AND an mp3 of a sermon you have given. If you do not have an mp3 then you can send us a CD…if you do not have an mp3 or CD then there has been an amazing thing called technology that you should look into! :-)
Actually–sending a “tape” will be fine as well–BUT we would really prefer an mp3.
Oh yeah–just send it to the e-mail address on this blog…I think it is perryblog@newspring.cc
AND…we will accept all resumes for the next week–and from there we will be in touch with you.
One more thing…I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR TEENS! You’ve got to understand that I love these guys and gals–they are AWESOME and ON FIRE for Jesus. I support the youth ministry here at NewSpring 100%…and I want to see this entire community reached for Christ! That is my heart in a paragraph…so let me hear from you if you are interested.
Coming Up At NewSpring… July 30, 2006
This Wednesday…FIRST WEDNESDAY!!! I had a conversation with Lee tonight in the lobby after the evening service and we are both stoked up!!! The vacation was awesome for both of us…and we are ready to hit the ground running.
Take my word for it…IF you know someone who does not know Christ…GET THEM THERE THIS WEDNESDAY at 6:30!!! We will be presenting the Gospel in one of the most creative and straighforward ways! TRUST ME…get them there!!!
And this Sunday…wow…let’s just say we have rearranged things a little–be there EARLY because you won’t want to miss the first 10 minutes!!!
Then Monday is membership! All I need to say is that this is the perfect time for you to join–awesome things are getting ready to happen.
And then the following Sunday we are beginning a new series called “Deal or No Deal.” Let’s just say that Howie Mandel might be making an appearance…and that’s all I’ve got to say about that!!!
Great things heading our way!
The Church And It’s Passion – Part Four July 30, 2006
This past Saturday at NewSpring was AWESOME!!! We baptized 99 people! YEAH GOD! Ninety nine people stood and said, “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior” and then publicly identified themselves with Him by being baptized!
That brings me to my fourth and final post on this series…does God REALLY want the church to grow?
If you will remember when we left Peter and the other 119 people in the last post the Holy Spirit had fallen in a new and creative way, Peter had used Scripture and pointed to the person and work of Jesus Christ. And what were the results? It says in Acts 2:41 that 3,000 people were added to their number THAT DAY!
Now–like it or not, somebody counted! Call it unbiblical–WAIT–you can’t because, well, it’s IN the Bible! So you can’t say that! Is there a rebuke for the person who counted? Hold on…I need to read all around it one more time…just to make sure. NOPE–no one got mad because someone counted.
AND…please see this–did anyone get mad at “all those new people” who joined the fellowship? Do you see people in the “original group” of 120 saying, “Well, I guess we won’t be able to hang out with Peter and John like we used to!” Do you see people saying, “It’s too big–we don’t know everybody!!!”
Let me answer for you–NO, and the reason why is because the early church was focused on the work of Jesus. They were more concerned with getting those who did not know Christ IN the kingdom rather than hanging out with the preacher OR doing an in-depth Bible study on the goat in the book of Leviticus!
And whoever this person was who counted (I believe it was Luke)-he counted AGAIN in Acts 4:4! Can you believe that? And check out the following verses AND the fact that they make a reference that NUMBERS of people kept coming to the church…
- Acts 5:14
- Acts 6:1
- Acts 6:7
- Acts 9:31
- Acts 9:35
- Acts 9:42
- Acts 11:21
- Acts 11:24
- Acts 14:1
- Acts 14:21
- Acts 16:5
- Acts 17:12
A well meaning person approached me once and told me that he really liked our church…but that he didn’t want to join because it was “too big!” I am sorry…I have no tolerance for this type of talk…if a person has to “get past the fact” that we are reaching people for Christ–that the lost are getting found and the found people are getting grown up–then I would say that person has a problem with perspective.
A church can be small–but it should not remain small–it must be in a constant state of growth–because the fact is this–if something is not growing then it is dying!!!
And please save me the e-mails about me not knowing what it’s like to be small and struggle. It wasn’t that long ago that 15 people were meeting in a living room talking about NewSpring…and within 2 months five of those 15 were gone!!! I know what it’s like to struggle–but we REFUSE to get so inward focused and lick the lint out of each others belly buttons while people in our community die and go to hell.
Besides…if you think a church like NewSpring is too big then that proves to me two things…
#1 – You Are Not In A Home Group! 99.9% of the people who say NewSpring is too big are not in a home group. If you will continue to read in Acts 2:42-47 you will see that they met in each other’s homes–this is how the majority of ministry took place. Peter and John and the rest of the Apostles did not do all the ministry–in fact, they REFUSED to do it all…read Acts 6:1-7 for further proof of this! My advice to those who are sitting on the ledge but are afraid it’s “too big”–try a home group!
#2 – You Do Not Volunteer! People who volunteer rarely complain about anything…AND when they do we always listen because we KNOW they are committed to God’s work through this church. (Usually the people who complain are the ones who have never been OR think their spiritual gift is sitting on their rear end!!!) When you team up with people on Sunday you feel like you are a part of the team!!!
One more thing on being “too big.” What if we used that excuse in other areas of our lives?
What if we called our stock broker and said, “Hey dude-stop making me money–my 401k is TOO BIG!” He would have us investigated for smoking crack!!! We WANT our money to grow because it is VALUABLE to us…and God wants the church to grow because it is VALUABLE to HIM!
What if we treated Clemson football games that way? What if we had to know everyone before we would attend? Uh, you never would go! Seriously, no one ever pulls up to a game and says, “It’s too big–I can’t go in there.” No one ever says, “I was so offended–Tommy Bowden didn’t personally come and talk to me AND ask my opinion on the plays he should run!” OUCH!
NO–we go to the game–we experience something with people we don’t know–and one common thread holds us together–FOOTBALL! But then those same people want to go to a itty bitty church the next day–why is it that we want to build our football stadiums and bank buildings larger and larger and our churches smaller and smaller? Just curious!
Yep–we are into numbers at NewSpring because God is into them! You may not like it–but there are thousands who do because numbers represent souls and they have been reached because there are people AND a church who cares enough to do what it takes.
New Rules At PerryNoble.com – UPDATE July 28, 2006
OK…so here we go…and this one is going to be fun…
This blog has served as an effective communication tool for our church. I can’t tell you how many times I have received an e-mail from someone who has had a genuine question about something I have said OR the way we operate the ministry here at NewSpring. We welcome anyone who sincerely seeks to continue to understand who Jesus is and why we happen to do certain things in certain ways.
AND…up until now I have had a rule that everyone who writes in will get some sort of response from someone here on the NewSpring team…but that is now going to change.
First of all…if we here at NewSpring can ever serve you in any way…OR answer any question about our methodology then please, by all means, let us know…ask away. BUT…to those who have been sending in e-mails lately who are not a part of our church…and who simply have nothing better to do with their time…you will be ignored from now on–period.
If you fall into this camp then I know what you are thinking, “Well…I guess you just don’t care about how I feel about your church!” Uh, yeah, I would say that’s pretty much it! We are continuing to take steps to radically move forward–to advance God’s kingdom–to see lost people get found…and found people get grown up…and we simply no longer have the time to answer questions of those who assumes they already have all the right answers anyway.
So there you have it! :-)
UPDATE: I was speaking to Lucretia last night–WHO IS MUCH SMARTER THAN ME–and she summed up this post this way…so I wanted to share her thoughts here…
For those who ever have constructive criticism or genuine concerns or questions–please ask away and/or share your thoughts!!! BUT to those who are critical for the sake of being critical (like e-mailing in and telling me that I am going to hell or that we are all stupid) then you WILL be ignored!
Yeah–she’s smarter than me! :-)
What God Has Been Teaching Me… July 28, 2006
So I am wrapping up three weeks of rest…actually I have worked a little this week…sorry, I can’t stay away. :-)
During this time I have really been focused on trying to listen…AND I have been reading the book of Deuteronomy and Joshua…and dove into Judges this morning…so here are just a few of the things I have learned…OR that have been reinforced.
#1 – You Can Not Underestimate The Value Of Rest
I believe I said this in my earlier post–but if you will review the ten commandments in Exodus 20 and then again in Deuteronomy 5 you will notice that the longest command is the one to take rest. It has been good for me & I praise God for a church that allows me to do what I need to do.
#2 – Obedience Isn’t Always Easy
All too often as Christians I think we want what is easy. AND…if things don’t line up exactly the way we want then we assume that “God isn’t involved” because “doors are not opening!”
Maybe the reason the door is not opened is because we haven’t KICKED it open!!! Following Christ isn’t the easy thing to do; after all, didn’t He say that if we were going to be followers of Him that we would need to pick up our cross? Uh–didn’t people die on crosses?
#3 – God Wants Us To Be Involved In His Plan
This sort of overlaps with the last point…but…when God told the children of Israel to go in and possess the land–He said that He would go before them…BUT…they still had to take action because He wasn’t going to do it all.
This applies in life–we want God to “do it all” when it comes to repairing a broken marriage. God WILL lead us in the right things to do…but we have to take action in order for things to happen.
This applies to everything…finances, dating, careers. AND please don’t use the excuse, “Well…I’m just waiting on God.” If you are “waiting” on God then that implies that you have gone out ahead of Him…and do you REALLY think that you can run ahead of God? If so…then your “god” is too small!
#4 – All Too Often We Focus On The Size Of Our Circumstances Rather Than The Size Of Our God!
Please understand…I struggle with this more than anyone. But here is my question–why would a Christian who acknowledges the fact that God is Sovereign ever be “stressed” about anything? Do we, as His children, have the right to be “stressed?”
I have found in my life that if I will get on with what God wants me to do instead of telling Him why He can’t do all that He wants to do–then life will get better.
God is HUGE…and we know that…we sing about it…we read Bible verses about it…but then we get a bill in the mail or receive a negative e-mail or a tire goes flat on our car and we react as if God doesn’t even exist! WOW–like I said–this is me!
So–God is teaching me that HE is HUGE and that I am not! And…that because of this fact He will always be in control…and when things are THE MOST out of control in my life–that is when He can demonstrate HIS control best!
#5 – Professional Wrestling Is Real
OK…just wanted to see if you were paying attention!
#6 – God Wants Us To “Be Careful”…Sort Of…
All too often we as Christians try to be careful…we don’t take risks…we keep the vision for our lives and churches safe and sanitized…but…
In reading through the book of Deuteronomy I see the phrase “be careful” a lot. (Look for yourself…it’s all over the place.) But…the only thing God tells them to be careful about is following His word–obeying His word–applying His word!
As followers of Jesus we are called to be reckless in our pursuit of Him…but careful to LISTEN and OBEY! That’s the only thing I find a Scriptural mandate for in regards to being careful!
#7 – God Wants Us To Follow Through
One of the BIGGEST problems the Israelites faced in Joshua and Judges is that they did not follow through on what God had specifically told them to do.
If you read in Deuteronomy and Joshua…God tells them to completely wipe out all the people living in the land of Canaan–everyone!
BUT…I guess they might have thought they had a better plan because they didn’t follow through…they did a half way job…and throughout the rest of the Old Testament we see them struggling as a result.
God wants us to follow through. In our jobs–we are to follow through. In our marriages–we are to follow through. In our commitments to Him–we are to follow through. Is there anything you need to follow through on?
Boast In The Lord July 27, 2006
I am so pumped about all that God is doing at NewSpring. I can’t help it…I just get excited when I think about how faithful He has been.
From time to time I will run into someone in our community…or will receive an e-mail from someone who thinks that I should not “brag about our church” so much. I have been accused of being self-centered and just focused on OUR church…as I am sure some of you who attend NewSpring have been accused of this as well.
If you are in this camp then we have two choices–the first is we can be silent. We can choose to “celebrate in silence.” We can give God a mighty “golf clap” every time He moves in an undeniable way. We can seal our lips out of fear that someone may get offended at the words we speak. And if we do this…then people around us will be pleased…and the Lord will be dishonored.
The second choice is that we can boast in the Lord! If you read Scripture you will discover that when God moves in an awesome way–people rejoice–OUT LOUD…and they BOAST in what HE has done.
I can’t help but talk about all that God has done here…and I cannot/will not apologize in regards to how it might make “people from other churches” feel. I will boast in the Lord because HE is OBVIOUSLY at work here.
I mean, people boast all the time…you see athletes boast about their abilities…you see rich people boast about their money…you hear movie stars boast about their accomplishments…and that is all fine and well. BUT for some reason a person who will accept this will not tolerate someone talking about all that God is doing in their church? That doesn’t make sense. I will continue to boast in the Lord.
David danced with all his might before the Lord when the ark was brought to Jerusalem…and the Bible says that Saul’s daughter “despised him in her heart.” When he returned home she told him that she didn’t think his attitude of celebration was that necessary…and he responded to her, “…I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this…” Translation, “Hey lady…if you are offended at what you just saw…don’t hang around because it’s about to get crazy around here!” You can read the story in II Samuel 6:12-23.
I have the same attitude. People have written in saying, “Hey Perry, you speak of your church like you think it’s the best church ever.” IT IS! I believe that with all my heart…if a pastor of a church does not believe his church is the best church ever then he needs to either work hard to make it that way…or do God and that church a favor and resign.
Now I did not say we are the perfect church. From time to time we will have people drop by to try to find something wrong with our church…and it isn’t that hard. Our biggest problem is that I am the pastor! I promise we make mistakes every week. I promise we have done A LOT of stuff wrong. BUT…when we get it right–when God moves–when lives are changed…I will boast in the Lord, and you should as well.
For example:
I found out yesterday that we are the 80th fastest growing church in the United States…and I will boast in the Lord. (Here is the list)
We led the state of SC among SBC churches in baptisms…and we in the top 40 in the country last year…and I will boast in the Lord.
We had over 600 kids for our VBS type of activity for them this summer, 70 of them received Christ…and I will boast in the Lord.
Our band did a benefit concert and as a result we were able to pour over $20,000 into local missions…and I will boast in the Lord.
In our series “The Davinci Code” we had over 200 people come to Christ…and I will boast in the Lord.
On our youth trip to Panama City we baptized over 40 teenagers…and I will boast in the Lord.
I will boast…and will continue to boast. Now I understand that there are some people in this community that read this blog and you fire off e-mails telling us to be quiet about all that is going on here. Well, we won’t be silent…and my advice to you is…maybe you should spend more time focusing on your church instead of ours. AND…if you don’t like what I talk about on this blog…don’t read it! :-) It really is that simple. There are certain blogs I no longer read because of the material on them…I discovered that the definition of stupidity was continually doing things that made me mad!!! So I stopped it. Really–it’s ok!
(And let me ask an honest question here to those from other churches who are offended at the way we brag on God…if these things were happening at your church would you remain silent…or would you brag about what God is doing? Be honest!)
And to those here at NewSpring…I am on fire…I am more excited about our church and our vision than I ever have been…I will boast in the Lord. Lee and I will both be back this coming Wednesday for our “First Wednesday” service…and after talking with him I can honestly say that we are both about to explode with excitement and passion for Jesus and this church. Don’t miss this service!!! And don’t miss an opportunity to brag about all that GOD is doing!!! It’s not me…it’s not Lee…it’s not anyone other than God working through a group of people (ALL of us) who think He is big enough to do all the things He said He would do in His Word…I will boast in the Lord!!!
The Church And It’s Passion – Part Three July 26, 2006
When we left our band of Jesus followers–they were about 120 people at the end of Acts 1…now let’s continue. (As I said in my last post on this–church growth [aka. evangelism] would not even been an issue except for the fact that Acts 2 happened!)
So here is the crew–the Bible says they were all together and in one place…and then suddenly a mighty wind (some translations say violent) blew and the apostles began speaking in other languages. As we read on we can clearly see that this caused quite a bit of interest as people came running from every direction to see what was going on.
Before I go on I must say that this was pretty CREATIVE. God used an unusual group of people and an unusual set of circumstances…made some noise…and the crowd came running. Like it or not–creativity has its place in the church. You can search the Scriptures all you want…nothing like this had EVER happened…this was NOT normal!
You see–a church is in trouble when it desires for things to be normal. One of the things that “bothers” people about NewSpring from time to time is that we are not like “their last church.” That is true…and we never will be. It’s not our desire to be normal–it’s our desire to continually shake things up–that is EXACTLY what God is doing here!!! We do not desire to do music like it has “always been done.” We do not like to do messages like they have “always been done.” Our desire is NOT to keep things safe and sanatized when it comes to the relm our our vision…but to use creativity to attract people who don’t know Christ…and this idea comes straight from this story!
And then here come the skeptics…they accuse these men of being drunk. People–like it or not, when God moves in an awesome way–there are always skeptics. AND…a careful investigation of Scripture will show that the people who are skeptical and oppose God’s work are usually VERY religious people…just an observation.
So Peter stand up and preaches…and says, “Hey–they are not drunk.” But then he goes on to say, “It’s only nine in the morning.” Personally–I think that’s funny!
Once again as you read you will discover that Peter does something very simple–he quotes several sections of Scripture and uses them to point to Jesus.
Folks–THAT’S IT…a church should open the Bible up every week–teach from Scripture–and point people to Jesus. (It still amazes me that people in this community are actually dumb enough to make the statement that we do not teach the Bible at NewSpring…it simply proves that they have never been and desire to make stupid statements in order to make themselves look better!!! Yes, I meant that exactly the way it sounded!)
Get this–Peter did not use Scripture to tell ALL of the parents to school their children in a certain way…he didn’t use Scripture to preach against nuclear weapons (I actually do not own any nuclear weapons)…he didn’t use the Bible to talk about a theological debate…he used Scripture and pointed to Jesus.
You see…if a church is going to grow then it MUST have a passion to lift up the name of Jesus and tell as many people about Him as possible. The issue’s that dominate our churches ARE NOT the specific sin issues in people’s lives–but rather that people either do not have a relationship with Jesus…OR that they are not completely surrendered to Him.
When a church uses Scripture and lifts up the name of Jesus–things happen–lives get changed…and so do eternities. And Peter knew that–so he took his simple fishermans background (no seminary degree on his wall), his experience with Jesus, and the Scripture He knew…and talked about the most amazing person that has over lived.
And the results–well–we will get into them on my next post. I will just say that there were results–and they are recorded in Acts 2. Now why is that? Why would God include a set of numbers if they do not matter? Just curious!