Archive for April, 2007
Jesus’ Mom Was So Smart April 20, 2007
Yesterday I was preparing a message for May 20th…and in doing so began reading in John chapter two when Jesus changed the water into wine. (Popular miracle with some…not so much with others.)
Anyway, if you’ve read the story then you understand…Jesus and His disciples are hanging out at a wedding (so much for Him being boring) and the celebration is going great…until…they run out of wine. Now in this culture and time period…this is BAD, REALLY BAD…and Jesus’ mom comes to Him and asks Him to help out.
Some servants are evidently standing near Jesus and she turns and looks at them and says one of THE single most profound statements in Scripture…
“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’” (John 2:5)
STOP for a minute! She didn’t say, “Oh wow, we have a problem–hey servants, SIT here and sing songs to Jesus for an hour, if that doesn’t work then use the prayer of Jabez to try and manipulate Him, and then if that isn’t doing the trick then here are some verses I heard from a TV preacher that will unlock the secrets of blessing…”
Nope…she said DO–WHATEVER–HE–TELLS–YOU! In other words–He’s going to tell you what to do and then you are going to need to take action. Yes, He is capable of handing the situation…but He is going to handle it through your willingness to obey Him and take a risk!
One of the greatest tragedies in Christianity today is that too many Christians are sitting around “waiting on God,” when in actuality they are using excuses such as, “Well, I’m praying about it,” and, “I don’t want to get ahead of God.” What I have discovered is that MOST of the time these are excuses for laziness, fear and a lack of faith.
Christians DO NOT need another Bible study…another book…another seminar…most of us need to simply just do what we know we should do…that desire inside of us that we know is from Him!
Bottom line–do whatever He tells you.
Is there an area in your life that you need to do whatever He tells you to do…maybe…
- You need to forgive someone
- You need to have that tough conversation
- You need to begin to worship God with your money
- You need to invite that person to church
- You need to start a church
- You need to give something away
- You need to admit your addiction
- You need to spend more time with your family
Do whatever He tells you!
Many times it is not that we don’t know what to do–its just that we don’t want to do what we know we should!
I wrestle with this just as much as anyone else. There are times when I feel the Lord speak straight to my heart…and I argue, rebel…and even at times try to bargain with Him…but life is so much better when I just do whatever he tells me to do.
Uh, speaking of things getting better…once the servants obeyed Jesus…things got a lot better at the wedding. Jesus never screws anything up–EVER!
Do whatever He tells you!
One more thing–as the pastor of this church I do my best to listen to the Lord–this is HIS church and I want to do whatever He tells me! Folks…what God has in store for NewSpring…the steps we are going to take over the next several years…let’s just say that the Upstate of South Carolina is going to be shaken…lives are going to be changed…and His kingdom is going to advance in a way that none of us have ever seen! Our best days are ahead…
Do whatever He tell you!
I AM PO’d April 19, 2007
The Virginia Tech thing has me FLOORED! I have waited to comment on it…and thought maybe I would not until last night when NBC broke the news that the shooter had mailed them information…and has now, because of their stupidity and a desire for ratings, showed anyone in the world how to make themselves famous–even if they are not around to enjoy it.
It didn’t take long for political “experts” from both sides to jump all over this tragedy and try to use it for their gain. The gun control people are screaming…the anti gun control people are screaming back…finger pointing is going on all over the place…it’s a mess and people are trying to figure out what in the heck happened.
I have a theory…it’s a simple one…but I believe it is true. This is WHAT happens when people do not know Jesus! Maybe the problem isn’t political or social at all…maybe this is exactly what happens when sin manifests itself inside a person and expresses itself through the most horrid act of violence one could ever imagine.
I have seen in society AND Scripture that the potential for evil inside a human being is pretty much limitless…and what happened at Virginia Tech proves my point.
What does do to me personally? Well…it didn’t make me want to jump on the gun control bandwagon. It didn’t make me want to try to make our society a safer place. NO–it STOKED MY FIRE for evangelism, this tragedy screams a fact that Scripture has been screaming for centuries–PEOPLE NEED JESUS!!!
It makes me mad…AND it convicts me…when I look at the church and then this tragedy. I believe we live in a fallen world–sin happens, and when it does it is always gross. HOWEVER, I believe less and less of these things will take place in the future IF the church will freakin’ wake up and begin to do what we were commissioned to do in the first place–take Jesus to the world!!!
I am through fighting!!! THROUGH! I will not engage in the emergent vs. emerging debate any longer. I will not entertain the traditional versus contemporary…nor will I involve myself in the missional verses attractional debate. I can’t–PEOPLE ARE DYING AND GOING TO HELL ALL AROUND US…and to engage in meaningless arguments that are NOT going to matter this side of eternity–OR the other side, well, that is playing right into the hands of satan. If we are passionate about anything other than Christ and reaching people for him…he is not threatened.
NewSpring…we are called to reach people for Christ!!! We will ALWAYS be a church where you know you can bring your friends and family members who do not know Christ…and they WILL hear the Gospel in a way they can understand. We are going to do church the way God has called us to do church…and people who do not like it can scream all they want…and we will keep ignoring them and reaching people for Christ!!! We will no longer cater to the naysayers and the critics–there is WAY too much at stake.
We WILL preach Jesus…we will honor His word…we will worship with passion…we will do church in an excellent and creative manner…and I am praying that one day God will allow us to see over 3,000 people saved in one day…just like in Acts 2!!!
People need Jesus!!! PEOPLE NEED JESUS! If the church does not get serious about reaching the world for Christ–we are going to see WAY MORE of what happened at Virginia Tech happen all around our country!
Question–who comes to your mind when you read this? Who in your life needs Christ? Pray for them right NOW!!! And…make it a point to get them here…I promise you they WILL hear about Jesus–He is my King & my God…He SAVED ME…HE CHANGED ME…HE HAS MADE ME NEW!!! I was overwhelmed this morning in my quiet time as I thought about where He found me and how far He has brought me…and I prayed right there that NewSpring will continually see thousands and thousands of people being found by Jesus each and every weekend!!!
One more thing…God is using our church in ways that I never imagined. On Tuesday morning I received an e-mail from a student who attends NewSpring during the summer…but goes to school at Virginia Tech. After reading it I called him because his story was incredible. He said that the night before the shooting he was watching a NewSpring service on the internet…and when the invitation time came around he received Christ. He said he just knew it was the right thing to do. And so when the shooting happened the next day he told me that he was not in the building where it had taken place–but if he would have been there then he would have been ready!
It’s our COMMISSION to get people READY!
We live in a fallen world–sin IS real and nasty–but we serve a RISEN KING…HE REIGNS…HE IS GOD…and HE HAS CALLED US TO REACH PEOPLE FOR HIM. WOW…while this tragedy has broken my heart and I have grieved–and it has awakened me to what is important…and this church will NOT stop until we IMPACT the entire Southeast…and then the WORLD for Christ!
Awesome Advice From A Dad… April 18, 2007
I have a friend who has a daughter & so I wrote him, telling him about the fact that my daughter will be here within months and then I asked if he had any advice. This is what he said…and it was PRICELESS!!!
“As a pastor, and especially as a successful pastor, it will be easy to let the church steal time from your family. Don’t! What difference will a great history of church building matter, if your kids know you only has the “hero on the platform.” I know way too many PKs of “successful pastors” who struggle with their faith (if they even believe), struggle in relationships and just simply struggle. They see this apparently incredibly relational person on the platform – and don’t experience that at home. Make a vow now that you will not be that kind of successful pastor. Let your children be a testimony of the goodness of God in families. Don’t expect them to follow you into the ministry. God has uniquely gifted them (he knew them before they were in their mother’s womb) to have an impact on the planet. Encourage that gifting. If it happens to be the ministry – then encourage them to study and find themselves approved. Gee, all of this and your daughter isn’t even born yet. But the years fly by, man. Tomorrow she will be a teenager. The next day, she’s left home. Think, plan, believe and pray – and not necessarily in that order. My advice. For what it’s worth.”
WOW…thanks Bill! I have always said that if I am a success at church and a failure at home then I am a failure in life. My passion is that when I die that my family will grieve because they will miss me…and not because I didn’t tell them “where all the money was.”
Pastors…question…who admires you more–your wife and children…OR your congregation?
You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me April 17, 2007
I’ve got to be honest…pastors deal with a ton of crap! I know that word is offensive…but that is the ONLY way to describe it. I saw some posts in blog world last week railing on pastors & while I know all of us are not perfect (this DOES include me) I would like to think most of us are giving it our best shot!!!
(And pastors–know that you and I will stand before a Holy God one day and give an account–and because we are going to do it there then we don’t have to do it here to whoever seems to have a blog!)
Calm down, I am really not mad; in fact, I’ve been laughing all afternoon. We deal with a lot of negative stuff here at NewSpring Church…we hear people say things about our church that is not true in an attempt to drag our name through the mud–here are some of the following things that have been said about us in the past…
- There was a rumor that there was going to be a statue of me in our new building–which would have made one UGLY statue.
- There is a rumor out there that if you want to join our church then we require you to show your income tax statement from the previous year. (If that were the case I could not be a member–I have no idea where that stuff is!!!)
- One lady in our community last week said, “There is no way that church had over 10,000 for Easter–that building can’t hold that many people!” Uh…we had five services–seating for over 2,500 hundred at each–guess math wasn’t her strength!
- I heard a rumor once that the leadership of the church would get drunk on Monday afternoons and then make decisions for the church. Um…yeah…this one offended me because first of all–I do not drink…and second of all…if I did I would not wait until Monday afternoon…I would just go for it on Sunday night! (Only a pastor would understand!!!)
- There is a rumor that I have a limo pick me up on Sunday’s and drive me to church…and then it brings me back home! Uh, yeah…a limo–IN ANDERSON…what?
- There was a rumor that we didn’t allow Bible’s in our worship services!
- I heard last week someone say that we were getting ready to write our own translation of the Bible.
I could go on and on. I seriously thought I had heard everything…I seriously thought that people could not be any dumber…but the rumor I heard today about caused me to split my gut open because I was laughing so hard!!!
Someone in our church asked someone to visit with them and they were told, “NewSpring…that’s the church where the pastor doesn’t wear a shirt when he preaches, isn’t it?”
WHAT!?!?!?!?!
Where do people come up with this stuff?
SO…for all you pastors that want to know why our church is growing–that’s it! That’s our secret. It’s NOT that we preach the Gospel. It’s not that we lift up the name of Jesus. It’s not that we worship with passion. It’s not that we have a vision! Nope–it’s that I went to Chip and Dales and was inspired to do all of my sermons with no shirt.
Good gosh!!! If I preached a message with no shirt then this place would empty out in a matter of seconds. I am not a sexy man (NO COMMENTS!) Without my shirt on I look like a distant cousin of Chewbacca! If I went hiking in the woods without a shirt…campers would swear they saw Bigfoot!
Pastors–be encouraged! People are going to say stuff about you that isn’t true–especially if your church is growing. Don’t let that crap distract you–stay focused on Jesus…focused on His Word–and when people around you let their stupid meter max out…just let it go!
If you are a member of NewSpring…don’t let this stuff make you mad. LAUGH! And do not argue with people like this…do not even get close…being around people like this for any matter of time can lower your IQ!!! :-)
NewSpring–God is at work here…and when that happens the enemy will use all that he can to try to distract…and as we can see–stupidity is a weapon. Let it go…pray hard and invite as many people as you can every chance you get & let God do the rest.
Sunday Night Thoughts…My Mind Is On Fire… April 15, 2007
I am getting ready to go to bed…and I just wanted to share my thought with the most incredible church in the world!
- Today was a BLAST! I know it is hard for some to imagine church being both a fun and exciting place to be–but that was the case today!
- NewSpring…I love you guys! Seriously, I plan on being at this church for the rest of my life. From time to time I will hear in the community, “You know, Perry won’t be at NewSpring too much longer.” WRONG ANSWER!!! I’m not going anywhere–there isn’t a better community to live in anywhere than the upstate of SC!
- I had no idea my post from Thursday (playing for an audience of one) would generate so much buzz in internet world. Thanks for your awesome comments…but this post was for me…to remind me to keep going and to focus my eyes on Jesus. I need to be reminded of that!!!
- Lucretia and I registered for baby stuff yesterday at Babies ‘R Us…I am sure I will talk about that experience more in the future…but all I could think about all day was, “Holy crap–this is REALLY about to happen.”
- I bit the snot out of my lip last night at supper–literally I bit it so hard my whole head shook!!! And then I bit it at least three times today. IT HURTS!
- We are getting ready to launch some HUGE things at NewSpring!!!
That is about it–pray hard for me this week…my voice is about gone after imitating the television evangelist!!!
New Topic At PerryNoble.com April 13, 2007
OK…I am going to add a new “topic” for discussion…but before I do–let me hit a couple of random thoughts…
- This Sunday is going to be incredible. Yes, Easter was awesome…but I can honestly say that we put just as much effort into this Sunday (and every Sunday) because we understand that EVERY week is someone’s first week!
- Our times are back to normal this weekend–9:15, 11:15, 4:15 & 6:00…all on Sunday.
- Tony announced the date for Unleash next year…and we’ve already had a church reserve 150 spots! DANG! (You can check out last years videos here if you haven’t seen them yet.)
- We know that Unleash next year is 10 days before Easter…but that doesn’t need to prevent you from coming. In fact, if you haven’t begun planning by this time then you are pretty much screwed!
- Herman the turkey has not been back since Tuesday…some redneck probably read my post and then came and ended his life! (If this makes no sense then just move on…or read this post.)
- Yesterday was my dad’s birthday–he’s 73. Yes, that’s old–I was born when he was 39, I was unexpected–I always tell everyone that I was a “Sunday afternoon nap baby.” Happy birthday Dad!
- I serve with the most incredible staff in the world!
Ok…now for the new topic…
At Unleash this past year we had a pastor’s Q & A breakout…and it was so much fun. There were tons of questions flying around…and we were not able to get to all of them. So…if you are a pastor & would like to ask a question then shoot me an e-mail and I will try to answer it on this site. I may not be able to get to all of them…but I will try to get to most. I will do a post once a week where I deal with the questions that you send in.
Ask about whatever–staffing, leadership, communication, creativity…you will probably discover that I am an idiot…but if I can say something that might help someone–I’m in! I am NOT claiming to be an expert…but I am willing to share what we do and why we do it.
I hope you all have an awesome weekend!
Playing For An Audience Of One April 12, 2007
My posts this week on chasing turkeys and dealing with critics have generated a lot of e-mails…so I thought I would do one more post on the subject since it has seemed to strike a chord…and then I will move on.
I played football in the 5th and 6th grade. Our rec department in Easley ran the football program through the elementary school…and being that I went to McKissick elementary…I played for the McKissick Indians.
The first year I played we were awesome!!! We went 10-0, never lost a game. In fact, there was only one game all year long that we even close–the rest of the games we just pounded the other team.
But here’s the deal–I was on the bench for most of that season. I was HORRIBLE!!! I got to play the 3rd quarter every game…that is basically when the “scrubs” got to play…if we scored then it didn’t count…and we always had a coach on the field with us.
I was so huge that I could not really run…and when I did run I had to hold my pants up! (It really was a funny sight!) For the most part I just sat on the bench and stared at the cheerleaders…and by the end of the season I knew every cheer!
The next year was a little different…we went 7-3…and I got to start–but I was still horrible! I got hurt in practice one day, which was an excellent excuse for the coach to give my starting spot to another guy!
That same year (1982) we found out that my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was given less than six months to live. That was a HARD pill for me to swallow…I was a ma-ma’s boy to the core!
Another reason that it was tough is that in the 5th grade, my first year of playing football, she came to every single game. She even had a T-shirt made with my name and number on it…and when I made the ONE tackle that I did happen to get that year–I could hear her yelling in the stands.
But…my 6th grade year was different. When the season began she was in the hospital…and I knew she wasn’t going to get to make any of my games.
I remember finding out one day at practice that the coach was going to let me start the next game–I guess he felt sorry for me or something. I was excited and went home and told my mom. (They had allowed her to come home so that she could be “comfortable.”)
When she found out I was going to start she told my dad, “I am going to that game tomorrow.” He tried to tell her she could not go…but I guess she figured that she wanted to see my play one more time. So, my dad got a lounge chair and set it up for her…and when I ran out on the field I could hear her yelling my name.
I can tell you this…NOTHING else mattered to me that game. NOTHING! The only thing that I kept thinking was, “My mama is here…and I am going to do the very best I can!” I didn’t care about my fellow players or coaches…I played for an audience of one.
That game was the best game I ever played…I think I made something like 11 tackles…and I sacked the QB twice. I was out of my mind! And after every tackle I would get up and look at mama…and she would be smiling and cheering. I remember after the game her telling me how proud she was of me–and THAT is ALL that mattered.
She never saw me play again–but I will never forget that day & what it was like to play for an audience of one. I was consumed. I was focused. AND…the results were obvious.
Pastors (or anyone for that matter)–we are called to play for an audience of One. Life is like a playing field…and there are people who scream this and yell that…but ultimately you and I will stand before ONE and answer for what we did and did not do. And I want to know that HE is cheering me on…and that I am doing what He has called me to do!
We must play for an audience of One.
People will shoot their arrows–people will say things that hurt, are untrue…and there will be times when you consider quitting.
We must play for an audience of One.
There will be days that you think that going to hell could possibly be an upgrade!
We must play for an audience of One.
Pastors, we’ve got to know deep in our hearts that we are doing exactly what it is that He has called us to do. Our focus must be laser sharp and our conscience must be clear…and if that is the case then we can rest when our head hits the pillow at night.
I play for an audience of One! I do not make everyone happy–I can’t! But when I surrendered my life to Jesus in May of 1990 I confessed Him as Lord…and I will not recant that confession because someone does not like the fact that I pastor a mega-church or that I wear blue jeans on Sundays!
I play for an audience of One! If you play for the crowds you will experience confusion because of all the voices that come at you…AND frustration because they are all saying different things, yet claim to be speaking on behalf of God.
Play for an audience of One! Spend time alone with God–lots of time, pray–read Scripture–worship–listen to sermons–read books…and SEEK HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART! One of the things I have discovered is that when I sincerely seek Him–He NEVER leaves me hanging!
It’s not easy to do this…at times I place my focus on the people in the stands…but that never brings me the peace and joy that are mine in Christ. It is His name that I bear…it is Him that I represent…and I do not do life or church for anyone except for Him.
I play for an audience of One!
Thank you Jesus for saving me!!! For changing me!!! May I honor You for the rest of my life. AND…tell my mom “hi” for me & that her prayers were not in vein…that I am a pastor, just like she prayed that I would be…and I will see her AND her new body one day…and we will rejoice and dance and sing…and will never be separated again!