Archive for February, 2007
Seven “Gimmicks” We Use At NewSpring Church–Part One February 20, 2007
I was speaking to a friend the other day in the gym who told me about a conversation he heard two local pastors having in a restaurant…they were talking about NewSpring and the “gimmicks” that we use to reach people. (He did approach them and asked what they were referring to…and they were speechless…which I think is very funny!) :-)
Pastors–if you have a passion to reach people far from God…AND you begin to do that very thing with ANY amount of success then believe me…other pastors (who are not reaching ANYONE) are going to accuse you and your church of using gimmicks and “watering down” the Gospel. I mean…heck…if people’s lives are being changed then you MUST NOT BE PREACHING the Gospel, right? :-)
(By the way–the pastors in your community that ARE reaching people for Christ will not criticize or condemn you because they do not have the time to do so!!!)
SO…this all created a thought or two inside of me…and I admit–we are TOTALLY into gimmicks here at NewSpring Church. I started to market the idea and make a million bucks off of it…but then decided that I would just share it here–so here goes–all of the gimmicks we are into.
#1 – We Talk About Jesus All Of The Time!
Seriously…HE is the reason for the church; in fact, He said in Matthew 16:18 that it is HIS CHURCH! So we decided a long time ago that if the church is supposed to be about him…well…then He should be THE MAIN FOCUS…how He is alive and is changing lives.
Let me be clear–we talk about Jesus. We do not talk about the lottery, how all Christians should watch FOX news, blue laws and video poker. While we DO acknowledge that we live in a messed up world–we do not think that the world is messed up because bad people keep making bad decisions…but rather the world is messed up because people don’t know JESUS!
Churches can choose their soapboxes and issues all day long–our issue is Jesus…He changes lives.
#2 – We Use The Bible
I have heard from some people that if you preach from the Bible then people will not come–NOTHING could be further from the truth.
I love God’s Word–LOVE IT, every single verse…and I believe that NO ONE SCREWS UP THEIR LIFE by following God’s Word…so, in each and every service we have we use the Bible in an unapologetic way.
From time to time we will hear in this community people say, “They don’t use the Bible over at NewSpring.” When a person makes that statement they are merely proving their stupidity because there has never been a service in the history of this church where the Bible wasn’t taught.
Where do most of our ideas come from? Uh…the Bible! It’s the best book ever!!!
#3 – We Teach The Bible In A Way People Can Understand
One of the things I hear from time to time is, “Hey Perry, I wish at times we could go deeper.” Let me translate this for you–what this person is usually saying is, “Hey Perry, I wish at times you could confuse the heck out of me so that there is no application point…that way I can walk away feeling smarter & also not feeling a need to actually apply anything.”
I my mind I have two questions to answer in message preparation time. The first is what do I want them to know. I feel it is my job as the pastor/teacher to teach God’s word in an understandable way so that when people leave NewSpring Church they know at least one thing they didn’t know…OR they are reminded of at least one thing they had forgotten.
The second question is what do I want them to do. I believe a message preached without any application is a great mistake. PEOPLE DO NOT NEED HISTORY LESSONS–they need practical help with their lives. And so as a pastor it is NOT my goal to confuse the people who attend NewSpring by spewing out theological mumbo jumbo and having them think I am a really smart person…but rather to take God’s Word and show how He desires to communicate to all of us where we are.
(To the critic who now wants to e-mail me and say that I have no love for theology…please…save it…I read that stuff all the time…and I love to read Piper, Spurgeon, and some others…however, I learned a long time ago that when it comes to speaking I need to do the cooking in the kitchen and bring the people a fully prepared meal.)
That’s enough for now–check back for part two tomorrow…
Sunday Night Reflections February 18, 2007
My head hurts–BAD!
When I walked off the stage today after the second service I honestly didn’t know how in the world I was going to come back this evening and preach two more.
I was trying to figure out why in the world my head was hurting today…and then I finally discovered something–I yelled a whole bunch!
Why did I yell? It’s very simple–PASSION. I could not help it…I had to yell, I had to scream…I was PUMPED UP…when I begin to talk about Jesus and what He did on the cross…it makes me want to do a stage dive!!! (OK…so I didn’t do that–but I thought about it.)
I once had a speaker ask me, “Why do you get so excited when you speak…you should consider calming down.”
That is the DUMBEST thing I have ever heard…because…well, when I speak you’ve got to understand that I am smokin’ what I sellin’.
I don’t get up and give half-hearted messages. You’ve got to understand that by the time I get up to preach that message that God has been developing it inside of me for at least a month–and many times up to six months. AND…by the time I speak that message on Sunday I have gone over it for hours and hours, working through each point, trying to make sure that God is honored and Jesus is lifted up in every part.
SO…when I get up to speak…I feel like I am going to EXPLODE and that what is inside of me HAS to come out. And today was no exception.
People asking me why I get excited about speaking makes about as much sense to me as going to a football game, your team scores a touchdown to win the game with no time left on the clock and then me asking you, “Hey dude–why are you jumping all over the place? Why did you just kiss that ugly person next to you?” You would tell me, “Because we just won!”
HEY CHRISTIANS!!! WE WIN!!! THE TOMB IS EMPTY!!! OUR REWARD IS AN ABUNDANT LIFE HERE ON EARTH AND ETERNAL LIFE WITH JESUS IN HEAVEN!!! My question is why isn’t church THE most exciting place on the planet? Why can we jump and celebrate at a football game and then go to church the very next day and show no emotion at all?
Some people say this is reverence…I believe it is rigormortis–there IS a difference.
It is our job to present the truth…to talk about Jesus…to see people repent of sin…and when this happens it is a cause for CELEBRATION!!! (Maybe some churches are not celebrating because no one is coming to Christ! Just a thought!)
I thought I was going to explode today! My throat hurts! BUT…I would have done it four more times…I love what I do!
We saw 40 people give their lives to Christ today…and then we celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. I think it was one of THE most powerful services we have ever had…and I thank God that He allows me to be a part of this.
NewSpring–HOLD ON…I promise you that our church is a lot of things…and FINISHED IS NOT ONE OF THEM! God has laid some plans on our heart that are going to seriously IMPACT this community in an incredible way. I can’t wait…I know I say this a lot–but we are JUST getting started!!!
Go ahead an invite people to the service next week–trust me, it’s going to ROCK!
What Are Our Six Things? February 16, 2007
In a post earlier this week I said that NewSpring has decided to focus our attention on six things. Several people have asked what those six things are & so here goes…
#1 – The Weekend Service
Like it or not–EVERYTHING revolves around the weekend service. If the weekend is NOT good then every area of ministry that the church does will suffer because…well…people won’t show up.
SO–we go all out for the weekend. It is our OBSESSION to make sure that Sunday is the best it can be in every area…and here is why. We know that this Sunday there is going to be someone in our church who is hostile towards God and doesn’t really like church all that much…and we want to try our best to communicate to them that Jesus Christ is REAL and RELEVANT.
We are passionate about teaching Scripture–but doing so in a way that is creative–and that people understand. SO…a ton of our focus goes on the weekend…and it always will! This is where we see the majority of evangelism take place in our church!
#2 – Children’s Ministry
We brought in a consultant back in 2001 and in 2002…and he said the same thing both years he came, “Guys, if you want to grow a great church then you have got to reach kids…and to reach kids you have GOT to spend money on them!”
He was right!
We are dedicated to doing children’s ministry in a way that most parents DID NOT receive when we were growing up. We want the kids to know who Jesus is…and so we have poured resources into this area to make sure that when kids come to church–THEY LOVE IT!
Let me be clear on this–our children’s ministry gets the best of everything…and they always will. Those kids are NOT our future–they are our present!!! They matter to God–right now…and we refuse to bring them into the sanctuary and bore the heck out of them!!!
Trust me…the children’s staff here at NewSpring Church is incredible…and they have a passion to connect kids to Christ!
#3 – Youth Ministry
To piggy back on the kid’s thing…we are also into doing student ministry well. AND…just like the kid’s ministry…we want our youth group to have the absolute best! (In fact–around 16% of our budget goes directly towards youth and children’s ministry!)
I went to the beach with our teenagers last year & fell in love with youth ministry all over again. Our teens are awesome!!! AND our youth staff is the best in the world! I think it is only a matter of time until we are reaching thousands!!!
(In September we will be launching a campaign to raise money for a youth and children’s facility…and it is going to be SWEET!)
#4 – Discipleship
There are SO many opinions about discipleship…and most of them frustrate the heck out of me. If you look in Scripture a disciple is someone who spent time with Jesus. THAT’S IT!
Too many churches put people into a room, teach them all to think alike…and call that discipleship. We refuse to do that crap. SO…how do we disciple?
- Through the weekend–it is our goal every weekend to teach people something they did not know or remind them of something they had forgotten…that’s discipleship
- Through volunteering–you CAN NOT say you are a fully functioning disciple of Christ if your “spiritual gift” is sitting on your rear end. In order for people to develop…they must be involved in ministry. Look at the disciples in Scripture–they were all EMPOWERED and ENABLED NOT to sit in a room and discuss the tribulation…but rather to do ministry!
- Through groups--we do not believe that you can make it in this world on your own! SO…our groups ministry is literally a form of discipleship in that it challenges people to spur and encourage one another.
- Through classes–we do a limited number of classes that teaches people Scripture…we currently have a new believers class and will be developing classes on marriage, parenting and finances. We simply want people to know WHAT the Bible says.
#5 – Care/Outreach
One of the biggest lies I have ever heard about our church is, “Well, if I come there and something happens to me…no one will know!”
BULL
Our care/outreach area is AWESOME! While it is true that I do not do counseling…we do have pastors on staff that meet with people every single day and point them in the right direction.
One of the things I learned a long time ago is that ministry is messy…and people need people…and the church is here to serve…and so that is one of the things we are dedicated to.
#6 – NewSpring Ministries
We are JUST NOW launching NewSpring ministries…and already we are seeing an amazing response. We have over 170 people signed up for our conference…and I spoke with a pastor yesterday who said he is bringing 40 people with him!!!
Our church has a responsibility to the churches all around the world…and whatever we can do to serve those churches…well, we are dedicated to doing it. More information about this to come later…this guy is heading it up…and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
That’s it…we do those six things. We are not saying that anything else is WRONG or EVIL…it’s just that we know God has called us to do these six things and do them well…and not to water down our vision with hundreds of other programs.
Have an awesome weekend…and I hope to see you on Sunday!
I Wish I Could Forget… February 15, 2007
I was in the 5th grade and for the first time girls were becoming a lot more interesting that my Star Wars action figures.
There was this one girl…her name was Tara Ann…and she was a babe. (Well…for a 5th grader she was a babe!) I had a crush on her and when we had to get in line I would often try to stand next to her.
NOW…I never said anything to her…I didn’t know what to say, I guess I figured if I just stood near her for long enough she would notice my awesomeness and want to be my girlfriend.
BUT…there was a problem…in the 5th grade I weighed around 692 pounds. OK…so that is a stretch…but saying that I was HUGE is not a stretch. Still…I dreamed that one day I would have the chance to impress Tara Ann.
That day finally arrived!!!
We were going into our PE class right after lunch–we had just had Taco’s…and I was standing next to Tara Ann. The PE teacher told us to split up in pairs so that we could see how many sit ups we could do. We would hold our partners feet and then they would hold our feet.
Well…as it turns out…Tara Ann was going to be my partner. I began to sweat…this was my chance, this is what I had been looking for…the opportunity to impress Tara Ann. I knew in my mind if I dedicated myself to doing an enormous amount of sits ups that she would be SO impressed with me and desire to couple’s skate with me the next time we were at Skateland.
I went first…please keep in mind we had just eaten Tacos.
Like I said, I went first…and on the third sit up…uh, yeah…let me just say that I parted her hair. Most men would have been proud of what I ripped off…but I wanted to die!!! AND…it stunk…BAD, it was one of the worse smells ever…I almost threw up & I think I actually saw her turn green. (For those who still don’t know what happened–I pooted!!!)
Now we all pass gas. THAT isn’t the problem…the problem is that I did it right in the face of the prettiest girl in the 5th grade!
Well, you guessed it…by the end of the day everyone knew that I had floated an air biscuit in P.E. And from that day on I was never able to stand near Tara Ann again. I just couldn’t…and to be honest, even through high school I would look at her and just feel sorry for the day I nearly killed her while trying to do sit ups.
SO a few years ago I went to my 10 year high school reunion…and there she was. She smiled and said “hello” and I did the same…and that was that. But walking away I just laughed because, well, what had taken place in the 5th grade was IN THE PAST…even though at the time it was traumatic and devastating…today I can laugh about it.
I can honestly say that I am totally over an event that made me want to never eat tacos again.
How about you?
One of the things I have noticed about Christians is that many of us have a hard time dealing with our past…especially those of us who come to Christ later in life.
If you were eight or nine when you accepted Christ, grew up with godly parents, did the right things, went to church…then your biggest regret is probably sniffing Elmer’s glue or smoking a crayon. (And you need to be THANKFUL for that!)
However, if you have a past like me…there a days when random thoughts pop into your mind about “that thing you did” or “that time when you…” For some of you in is happening right now!
But here’s the awesome news…the Bible says in II Corinthians 5:17 that if you are in Christ then you are made BRAND NEW…the old has gone and the NEW (YOU) is here. The Bible also says in Romans 8:1 that there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ. NONE…ZERO…NADA!
Does the past hurt? Yes! Are there things that we regret? Yes…but here’s the deal, if you are in Christ you’ve got to let it go–Christ has! IF YOU DON’T LET YOUR PAST DIE THEN IT WON’T LET YOU LIVE! Stop identifying yourself by who you WERE and start looking at who you are in Christ.
When Christ forgives…He COMPLETELY forgives…even your deepest, darkest regret…FORGIVEN in Christ. That is HIS power, HIS mercy, HIS grace…and it truly is AMAZING!!!
We will be celebrating what Christ has done for us this weekend as we take communion. (Our communion services are some of the most moving services we have at NewSpring…this would be an awesome weekend to get someone here who does not know Christ!!! Trust me…the Gospel WILL be explained!)
AND–I will be dedicating an entire sermon to this subject on Sunday, March 4 in the first message of our next series, “Girls Gone Wild!”
YES…we are doing a series called “Girls Gone Wild!” BUT–there will be no nude people. You see, there are some girls in the Bible that went WILD…for Christ!!! AND we can ALL learn lessons from them…EVEN THE MEN!!!
SO…make plans to be here for that series…it is going to be incredible! I love taking things that culture has made gross and redeeming them…from now on those who come to NewSpring and hear “Girls Gone Wild” are going to have some different thoughts…I can’t wait!!!
Top Five Complaints I Hear From Pastors/Church Planters–Part Two… February 14, 2007
OK, yesterday was fun…here are two more…
#4 – “Some People Are Saying That We Don’t Do Enough.”
Yep, heard that one…
Somewhere along the way the Christian community redefined what someone who follows Jesus looks like. In Scripture a follower of Christ was determined on who the person was…in today’s society a follower of Jesus is determined by how many Christian activities they are involved in.
AND…if someone is unwilling to involved themselves in numerous activities–they are frowned upon by other “mature” Christians, as well as the church.
Never mind that they have the kids soccer practice, gymnastics, a desire to work out…and this thing called a social life. Nope…it’s all about what you do.
So because of that the church is expected to offer 1,284 different ministries…and as a result many churches do a lot of things…but none of them are done well.
At NewSpring we do six things…that’s it! We are NOT going to launch a ton of ministries here because it will take away from what we desire to see the most–people who are far from God meeting Him…and then developing a passion for Him for the rest of their lives!
You can’t do everything!!!
#5 – “I Can’t Do All Of This On My Own!”
If that is where you are as a leader–your in trouble.
What I have discovered is that many leaders get into trouble because they never ASK FOR HELP!!!
We have an amazing team of staff and volunteers that make things happen, they get things done…and I have discovered that the things that I hate to do actually bring joy to the lives of others.
“But Perry, where did you find those people?” Uh…RIGHT HERE! If you want to find the most amazing people in the world who can do ministry where you are–look no further than who is at your church this Sunday!
Pastor–you are NOT SUPPOSED to do it all by yourself–so ask people to join you…we have discovered that some of our best volunteers never came forward until we asked them & cast vision as to why them being involved would make a difference.
Those are some of the complaints that I deal with…I hope this has challenged, helped, maybe even made some who read this site mad!
I will be discussing a lot more of this at our upcoming conference. I REALLY hope you can make it!!!
Conference update: We currently have around 150 registered so far…including six people from upstate New York. Hey, you guys up north…it is SO MUCH WARMER down here!!! I can’t wait for this thing to happen…there is a lot of excitement around here!!!
Top Five Complaints I Hear From Pastors/Church Planters–Part One… February 13, 2007
I am preparing to speak here and here during the next few weeks–and in my prep time I have discovered that I have a ton to say…so it has inspired this post. I have the privilege of getting to meet with lots of other pastors…and I love hearing about all that God is doing.
However, I hear my share of complaints; in fact, I would say that 85% of the complaints fall within one of the following…here we go:
#1 – “My People Won’t Get Behind The Vision.”
This, in my opinion is really simple–either you have the wrong people around you OR you don’t have a vision worth following.
Let me be clear about a few things…
- The vision has to be strong
- The people have to buy into your leadership
- Your key people must have a heart for Jesus & not be self seeking
- You MUST talk about the vision on a regular basis
- You MUST hold people accountable (staff and volunteers) when they compromise the vision
(By the way…that last one is where many pastors drop the ball, they are afraid of tough conversations and do not realize that God has called them to lead the church and not to make people happy!)
#2 – “We Don’t Have Enough Money!”
If I hear one more pastor say this I am going to throw up–ON THEM!
Money will ALWAYS be a challenge–ALWAYS! Big vision requires big dollars…and I would say that if your back has never been against the wall financially then your vision isn’t worth anything!
Here are some questions I always ask regarding this…
- Are you teaching on a regular basis about money? (Many will not because of fear–BE A MAN…teach the Bible!!!)
- Are you showing your people from Scripture how to live a life of financial freedom? (Most people are in debt and would actually LOVE to give…but they feel like they can’t! Show them in Scripture what God says about money!!!)
- Do you provide some sort of resource for the people who attend your church that will assist them with their debt driven desires?
- Are you willing to go for the ASK? To share vision and then challenge people to give?
One more thing–STOP USING MONEY AS AN EXCUSE AS TO WHY YOU ARE NOT GROWING!!! I remember just a few years ago not being able to sleep because we agreed to pay $750 a month to lease office space!!! BUT…we grew…and you can to!!!
#3 – “Some People Are Upset At…(Fill In The Blank.)”
If you are doing ministry according to God’s vision–people are GOING to get upset. Just look at Scripture…Moses upset people, David upset people–JESUS upset people…so don’t sweat it.
We have literally had people say that they will never come back to NewSpring because I have publicly said that I do not like cats! Seriously…
How do I feel about that? Well…I still hate cats!!!
If you begin to try to evaluate everything you do and say through the grid of whether or not it might upset someone…you will drive yourself CRAZY!!!
Be who God called you to be…and do what God has called you to do…and when people get upset, well, that’s life. Your job is NOT to please the crowd…it is to honor God and to make the name of Jesus famous…THAT IS OUR MISSION!
More about this tomorrow…
250 SALVATIONS–Sunday Night Reflections!!! February 11, 2007
I am amazed! Blown away! God rocked my world today…all day long I saw Him do great and awesome things!!! Today was one of THE most AWESOME days I have EVER been a part of in my 17 years as a Christian…and it was ALSO one of the MOST INCREDIBLE DAYS in the history of NewSpring Church!!!
Let me sum this up quickly…then I will explain. Today marked one year since we moved into our new facility–and WHAT AN ANNIVERSARY…we saw 250 people publicly give their lives to Christ & had a record attendance of 9,260 people!!! (Yes, that is more than we have EVER had in a worship service, even more than our Christmas services in 2006!) WOW!
I want to back up for a minute and explain a thing or two. This past week was THE MOST STRESSFUL week I have EVER had in ministry–EVER! I had thoughts of, “have I reached my limits” and “is there someone out there who can do this better than me?” The enemy was playing games with my mind & had me doubting nearly everything and everyone. (Hey pastor, ever been there?)
BUT…as the week went on and more people began to pray I began to come out of my funk. THEN I began not being able to sleep…and when I did sleep I was having nightmares! I knew what was happening…it felt like heaven and hell were colliding all around me!
You see, we have been planning for today for over a month now…so many things had to happen. Seriously, I could do a series of posts on what went on behind the scenes to pull off today. I promise it wasn’t me…a LOT of effort by a lot of people took place.
AND…I STRESSED over this sermon more than ANY SERMON I HAVE EVER GIVEN IN MY LIFE! EVER! I cannot describe to you the amount of anxiety that took place in my life. I worked and worked and prayed and prayed…and was still nervous…UNTIL…
YESTERDAY morning I read this in Scripture, “And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord…” (Exodus 16:7) I cannot tell you the peace that literally came all over me…it was like God was saying to me, “Hey Perry…you think YOU are going to speak tomorrow…dude, SHUT UP and let me be God…speaking is as easy as saying what I tell you to say…and that is all you need to do, I will handle the rest…I am God–you are not!!!”
I needed that…and wow…He was right! God moved in an incredible way today and did things only HE can get credit for!!!
If you are a part of NewSpring I want you to understand something…what you are a part of will one day be in the history books…I am CONVINCED. What we are seeing in our church is NOT NORMAL! It is NOT NORMAL for 250 people to receive Christ in one day…it is NOT NORMAL for over 9,000 people to come to a church that didn’t even exist eight years ago. It is NOT NORMAL to see what we are seeing…
AND THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!! We saw hundreds come to Christ, but there are THOUSANDS that still need Him…their names are still written on our walls…and so don’t give up–keep on inviting them to church…and pray that God will rock their world!!! I am still praying for what happened in Acts 2:41 to happen in our church–3,000 in one day! He’s the same God…if He did it then He can do it again!!! Let’s all commit to praying for this & just see what happens!!!
(By the way…next Sunday is going to be INCREDIBLE…probably one of THE MOST MOVING services we have ever had at our church, don’t miss it!!!)
A few thoughts in closing…
#1 – Stop what you are doing right now and thank God for what He did in our church today!!! Seriously, let’s all show Him appreciation. STOP READING THIS and just offer up a “thank you!”
#2 – Keep on inviting people to church…you NEVER know when that person who you care about is ONE invitation away from coming! If you wrote their name on the wall & they didn’t come or didn’t receive Christ…HANG IN THERE!!!
#3 – To our volunteers…THANK YOU! YOU are SO INCREDIBLE…and NewSpring COULD NOT take place every week without you! Thank you for the way you love, serve and pray for all that takes place in YOUR church. Keep up the incredible work!
#4 – To our staff–you are THE BEST in the world…I love serving with you guys!!!
WOW…I love what I do…I love serving this church…I love the fact that on this Sunday two years ago we had 3,702 people…and today we had 9,260. WOW…what an amazing God…only HE could get the credit for something like this!!!
Yeah God!!!