Archive for October, 2007
My Bible Journey October 31, 2007
It’s been awhile since I posted on this…so here are a few things the Lord is showing me…
- Joel 2:11 – I need to read this before I preach sometimes!
- Joel 2:27 – My biggest prayer is that, through the ministry of NewSpring, that people will know the Lord is God!
- Amos 1:1 – God called a shepherd…He can use ANYONE!
- Amos 3:3 – A great verse for couples…to walk together, agree–this means hard conversations may need to take place.
- Amos 3:7 – As a leader I need to spend WAY more time LISTENING to God’s voice than trying to tell Him what to do!
- Amos 4:13 – I am continually asking the Lord to enlarge my view of Him…and verse like this cause me to just be in AWE of Him!
- Amos 7:12-15 – It seems that people were complaining about Amos and his ministry–but it didn’t cause Amos to budge…he simply said, “Listen–I was a shepherd, God told me to do this…and I can’t do anything else.”
- Jonah 4:11 – If numbers do not matter then why did God know how many people were in Nineveh that didn’t know Him? God cares about people–so should the church!
- Micah 6:3-5 – I can never forget what God has done for me, doing so always leads to sin and rebellion.
- Micah 7:18-20 – YES, YES, YES–thank You Jesus!!!
- Habakkuk 1:5 – God is always doing something new!
- Habakkuk 2:2 – I have been asking the Lord if He wants me to write a book…and then I see this, it might not mean anything to you…but for me it just happened to rock my world! God answers our prayers through His Word!
- Habakkuk 3:2 – Some want to study what God has done, others want to see God do it all over again…I am in the latter while respecting (not worshiping) the former.
- Habakkuk 3:19 – God’s Word is full of encouragement.
- Zephaniah 3:14-15 – Understanding what God has done brings joy!
- Haggai 1:7-8 – I remember reading this verse before we built our current building…right after I had prayed for God to make it clear whether or not we needed to build it or not. WOW…God has been so good, He has brought us so far!
- Haggai 2:8 – I remember reading this verse after asking God, “Who exactly is going to pay for this?” Once again, God uses His Word in our lives…it is, as Hebrews 4:12 says, living and active.
- Zechariah 3:1-5 – This is my story, thank You Jesus!
- Zechariah 4:6 – No matter how hard we work–without God’s Spirit–nothing works!
- Zechariah 8:12-13 – God desires a harvest more than we do!
- Zechariah 10:3 – God takes leadership seriously, so should I!
- Zechariah 13:1 – THIS is the message the church should be declaring, NOT who to vote for or HOW to legislate morality!!!
Those are a few highlights!
The Pastors Pain October 30, 2007
One of the things I have been both complimented and criticized for is my willingness to be vulnerable and honest, so today’s post is going to be just that. Let me NOT begin with a funny story or illustration, but with the bottom line of this post, All pastors, whether they want to admit it or not, are carrying around with them intense amounts of pain…sometimes it’s more, and others it’s less–but it is always REAL.
(NewSpring–this is NOT some sort of message from me to you…this is a post where I feel incredibly led to minister to pastors who may be hurting! AND God has an amazing sense of humor–this article was actually written last Thursday, before the local “excitement” from this past weekend.)
I have a heart for pastors and so today I would just like to share the three areas that I believe cause the most pain in a pastors life.
#1 – Pain From Loneliness
I served on staff for nearly a decade at two other churches before starting NewSpring Church, and I can remember thinking about the pastors I served under, “I do just as much as they do, and I don’t think they deal with any more junk that I have to deal with.” I made those assumptions because I was arrogant, stupid and wrong. Trust me when I say that only a pastor can understand the pain of a pastor.
This hit me right between the eyes one night when I was describing to Lucretia the pain I happened to be dealing with at the time and she looked at me and said, “Perry, I love you–but I do not understand how you feel. I hurt for you and I will pray for you–and I wish I could understand, but I just can’t.” I remember thinking how incredibly lonely I felt at that moment because my wife couldn’t even understand.
Pastors, trust me when I say that you need another pastor to talk to, to vent with, to pour out your heart to…they can understand better than anyone on the planet…because they, too, have experienced loneliness at your level.
#2 – Pain From Criticism
All pastors receive criticism–ALL! Sometimes it is warranted and other times it is not–BUT the thing most people don’t realize is that it always hurt. (Especially when someone begins by saying, “Now don’t take this personally, but…”)
I have had the type of car I drive criticized, the house I live in, the shoes I wear (seriously), how much I sweat and the gym, how I preach, you name it. AND when criticism comes from those who know me and love me I always receive it and see what the Lord would have to say to me through it. Wounds from a friend can be trusted–BUT…
Real pain is experienced when those who don’t know you at all feel some sort of mandate from God to attack you via their website or other venue…yet they’ve never had a conversation with you nor do they ever intend to.
Real pain occurs when people take a segment of what you said in a sermon and base an entire opinion about you based on a two minute segment of a clip from the internet. Pastors, you will be misquoted and misrepresented by those who lack the courage to take the time to get to know you…or MAYBE even hit their knees for you if they are so convinced that you are wrong.
AND…if you get angry then you are “worldly.” If you ignore it then they feel like they were in the right. If you defend yourself then you are just “insecure.” You literally can’t win here!
And someone can say that those things should not matter all they want–but trust me friends, the pain is real.
Pastors, please keep something in mind…someone who continually attacks you and/or your ministry just isn’t normal. Seriously, if they visit your blog or listen to your sermons daily and then actually spend time tearing you apart…uh…just ask yourself who in the world has the time to do that! That is why I simply refuse to fight with them–it’s a waste of time.
#3 – Pain From Unrealistic Expectations
Pastors can NEVER do everything right. If we visit the hospital then we either stay too long or not long enough. When we preach we either are too shallow or too hard to understand. When we are at the office we either need to be in deep study AND also be available for every phone call, e-mail and every random person that happens to drop by. When we walk through the crowd we spend too much time with some people and not enough time with others.
Every move a pastor makes is being watched–and by many, scrutinized. People will place expectations on a pastor that they would never be willing to live up to themselves…and if he asks for help or says he is going under he is often reminded that, “Pastor–we pay your salary, get it done!
This is why many pastors families simply fall apart–they cave in to the expectations placed on them by selfish, self seeking church members who expect them to do everything–but never lift a finger to help…and forgetting something that most people never actually stop to think about–pastors are human beings with real feelings and a real heart. SO…the pastor spends all his time at church functions, ignores his family…and when his kids become hellions the “prayer groups” in the church gossip about him and tear him apart verbally.
Let me be VERY clear…I am blessed to serve here at NewSpring Church. God has shaped me so much over the past seven years; however, one of the things He has used to shape me is pain. Pain is not avoidable as a pastor–it’s real. Anytime I fall into thinking that my life should somehow be easy I read what the Apostle Paul said in II Corinthians 11:22-29–AND the words of Jesus in John 16:33.
Pastors–we will experience pain–that is just a fact of life. BUT in those times is when I have found that Jesus becomes more real to me than ever before. There are times we have to do what David did in I Samuel 30:1-6, focus on verse six–David strengthened himself in the Lord his God–and then went on to accomplish incredible things for His name!
I love my job…I love what God has called me to…there is NOTHING I would rather be doing–BUT, with the calling to follow there is a calling to carry the cross. BUT…pastors, it’s worth it. It is so worth it to be faithful. It is so worth it when we see people come to Christ. It is so worth it when we see a marriage restored. It is so worth it when we see the excluded included. It is so worth it when we see people receive hope. It is so worth it when we see addicts set free. It is SO WORTH IT!!!
To the pastor out there who is struggling–HANG ON! As I have said here before (that I heard someone else say), one day we will stand in front of One whose assignment was much tougher than ours–and He didn’t quit–neither should we. It’s so worth it! Pain IS a part of the process of being a pastor–and when it comes we should ask the Lord to shape us through it so that we may be more effectively used for His glory.
Four Fearful Halloween Happenings…And Some Other Randomness… October 29, 2007
So…Halloween is coming…time for “scary things.” I made a list of four things I fear the most in life…
#4 – That Joe somehow manages to sneak the Clay Aiken Christmas album onto my itunes. (Pray for Joe, he has admitted–OUT LOUD–that he enjoys Clay Aiken’s Christmas album…and I took away his man card!)
#3 – Spiders! I know God has a purpose for everything…AND He is mysterious. THUS, His reasoning for these creatures boggles my mind. I hate them–all of them. (I killed another one outside my house this weekend with a trash bag–God was laughing because when it fell onto the pavement and was still alive I danced around like crazy…and I think I may have screamed!)
#2 – Cracker Barrel NOT having their baked apple dumplin! Seriously, this dessert is the BEST I have ever had in a chain restaurant…I am craving one right now! Yes, I know it’s breakfast–WHO CARES! This actually happened to me once…they ran out and as a result I was depressed for a week!
#1 – That Charisse will grow up, go to the University of South Carolina and desire to cheer for their football team! This fear keeps me up at night!
In some other news…
Bob had this blog post–I LOVED IT!!! Seriously, it’s worth the 45 seconds it will take to read it!
Sherry Moorhead, our Volunteer Director here at NewSpring, now has a blog. You can check it out here!
Jake has a blog and just did an excellent series of posts regarding marriage. He also answers questions on this site that we get a lot around the office…he does a GREAT job.
That’s about it for now! :-)
Sunday Night Reflections… October 28, 2007
What a weekend! Here’s a few thoughts…
- I had several encouraging conversations and e-mails today–THANK YOU!
- For pastors appreciation day the church got me a Playstation III–DANG, that’s some SERIOUS LOVE! I will be out for the next month…JUST KIDDING! :-)
- I love this church, as I said today, next to my salvation, getting to be ‘Cretia’s husband and Charisse’s dad–there is NO GREATER JOY in my life than getting to pastor this church. I love you guys and I am excited about all that God is doing here.
- Oh yeah…I guess I do say that a lot on this blog–it’s probably because I MEAN IT! :-)
- Shawn Lovejoy brought nearly all his staff up from Georgia to our evening services today to hang out. I am so honored that he and his crew would drive as far as they did. I loved hanging out with his team. By the way…Shawn hosts an amazing conference every year and this year they have an all star lineup of leaders.
- Once again–Clemson won, Carolina lost–GREAT WEEKEND!
- Lucretia and I ate at Mama Penn’s on Friday night…and then last night I went to Little Pigs during halftime of the Clemson game to pick up some BBQ…I am going to have to workout EXTRA hard tomorrow.
- I bought five books on Friday! NOW I have a huge stack to tear through. I read in waves…I may go for a month without reading something…and then will read several books in two weeks. A-D-D!
- Lucretia and I are wanting to go on a nice vacation next April, somewhere warm and tropical…but are having a hard time coming up with a destination. Does anyone have a recommendation of a place you have been and would go back to?
- Charisse spit up on me tonight–it was a good one–super chunky! :-) BUT it didn’t phase me, I held her tight and gave her a huge kiss! Then it hit me–God loves us DESPITE our junk. WOW–God is teaching me so much about His love through Charisse.
- I’ve got the song, “Ice, Ice, Baby” in my head and I CAN’T GET IT OUT!!! AHHHHHH!
- I am going through a phase where I am not sleeping that good again…if you could pray for me I would REALLY appreciate it. I really do like sleep!
- I am taking Charisse trick or treating on Wednesday…and will eat ALL her candy for her, hey, that’s what a dad is supposed to do.
- I really want to watch, “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” this week…I LOVE Peanuts…especially the Christmas one.
- Creativity this Tuesday should be fun…we will be talking about our next series (called Stripped) and our Christmas services, which I am REALLY looking forward to.
- Is anyone going to beat the New England Patriots this year–dang, I think they are for real.
- The church sign post I put up the other day has had an amazing response. I will release my top ten worse church signs list later this week…I am going to ask Tony to help me compile this list. So far I think I have found the worse one…but they keep coming in so we will see.
- This Tuesday I will be posting an article that I actually wrote last Thursday. It is ironic that I wrote this in light of some recent things I have gone through. God is both Sovereign AND has an amazing sense of humor.
That’s it–bed time…g’nite!
I Thought I Was Going To Pass Out… October 26, 2007
One of our core values here at NewSpring Church is excellence. We feel that God has given us His very best…the least we can do is offer Him ours. (And, according to Malachi 1:6-14, blemished lambs pretty much tick Him off!)
BUT…please keep in mind that excellence is not perfection…it really is giving our best to God and then begging Him to make up the difference…holding to the fact that Zechariah 4:6 is true! We will always strive to go all out to create an incredible weekend experience while all the while acknowledging that if God does not show up then what we are doing is worthless.
People have asked us before, “Do you guys ever mess something up?” My answer is–ALL OF THE TIME! The thing I have discovered is that, in the pursuit of excellence, something is always going to go wrong and you just have to learn to laugh.
For example–several years ago we did a Christmas Eve service in which I literally thought I was going to pass out because we dropped the ball so bad! We had planned for me to give a short talk on our hope being in Christ and then, while I prayed, the band was supposed to come out and, as soon as I said “amen,” were going to begin the song, “My Hope Is You.”
Well, I gave the talk and asked the people to pray. As I began to pray I didn’t hear anyone in the band walking on stage. So…I opened my eyes and looked–and I was THE ONLY ONE on stage…no band!
SO…I did what any pastor would do–I made an announcement in my prayer that went something like, “And God, please bless our band as they come out to play…”
No band…nothing. Panic seriously was setting in…I began to sweat and actually thought, “Do I try to sing?” (THAT would have been awful!) I kept praying AND trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
Finally I said THE line all pastors say, “Every head bowed and every eye closed…and…uh…let’s just sit and reflect on Jesus being our hope as THE BAND that HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE in this building makes it way to the stage.”
I was just about to close the service when the band basically came SPRINTING on stage. My legs felt like Jello and I somehow brought the longest prayer in the history of NewSpring Church to a close and the service went along.
We still don’t know what actually happened…was it that I didn’t communicate clearly that the talk was going to be a little shorter or did I say it and it wasn’t heard–whatever, doesn’t matter–we chalked it up as a major learning experience and moved on.
We are not perfect, we never will be–but we understand that Colossians 3:23-24 says that when we work we should keep in mind that we are working for the Lord, not for men…and I truly believe that if we keep that in mind that we will offer Him nothing less than our absolute best. That means time spent preparing the message. That means time spent rehearsing the music. That means time spent training and equipping the volunteers on discovering their potential in Christ. IT JUST TAKES TIME!
AND…as I have already said–no matter how hard we try–something will always mess up, not because no one cares, but because human beings are involved and we have a tendency to make mistakes. AND when that happens I still believe that God is honored because He knows the heart…and as long as our best is offered then I believe He is pleased.
You’re Not Deep Enough October 25, 2007
If you are a pastor/church leader then you have probably heard this statement before–and it just bothers you…I will admit it has always fired me up. BECAUSE…when a person makes a statement like this it is not an attack against you, although they mean for it to be, but rather an indication of their own spiritual condition–which would be both lazy and self serving.
My daughter is three months old…and I am confident that within the next year or so that we will not have to feed her…a part of her growing up and maturing is her being able to feed herself…and if she doesn’t learn to do that then we will have problems.
I’ve heard it…you have too…”Christians” saying, “I just want to be fed!” It blows my mind! This would be equal to you and I going to an all you can eat restaurant and crying because no one would bring us any food. Food is all around in this environment…but if the person is lazy and self centered, wanting to be waited on hand and foot, then they could possibly starve to death when food is merely a few feet away.
Today as Christians we have WAY more information than we could ever apply. However, I think many people use “going deep” as an excuse as to not actually apply any of the knowledge they claim to be soaking up. I believe it breaks the heart of God when arrogant people claim intellectual superiority out of pride and stupidity rather than just seeking Jesus and trying to honor Him on a daily basis.
I know some are going to take this as me speaking out against learning–please, don’t be stupid! I am all about knowing and learning more–the thing that bothers me is that when people think they are deep because they know a lot of information and they are able to confuse others about Christ rather than lead them to Him.
I have always said that deep is not what you know–but rather what you do. I have seen some of the deepest people I have ever known here at NewSpring Church…let me give you a few examples…
- DEEP is a single mother raising two kids and who has a full time job–yet finds the time to volunteer here at NewSpring every weekend.
- DEEP is the single dad who told me the other day that he works two jobs to support he and his daughter, but that he has gotten a third job so that he can contribute to the campaign, and every dollar he makes doing it over the next three years is going to Gametime.
- DEEP is the college student who refused to give up on her friend, kept inviting her to church, gave her a Bible, was available to her to talk and ask questions…and as a result her friend received Christ.
- DEEP are the parents who are watching a child go down a path that is destructive and is breaking their hearts, yet they claim that God is in control.
- DEEP is the guy in his 30’s who was diagnosed with cancer and only given a few months to live…and through it all his love for Jesus grew stronger and he told everyone how good God was…right up until the last minute of his life.
I could go on and on…but DEEP is NOT knowing a lot of information, but rather being able to apply what you do know to your everyday life…and at the end of the day the name of Jesus is lifted up…no matter what!
In reading through the Scriptures I have found that Jesus’ strongest words of rebuke were for the “deep,” the professional religious people of the day. If “deep” is being a part of the group that knows tons about the Bible but missed Jesus–then I don’t want to be affiliated with them. Give me Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and who will one day return…not another Bible study on the weight of the Ark of the Covenant.
I now tell people who tell me I’m not deep, “You’re right, and I never will be. I made a 790 on my SAT, I dropped out of seminary and have no plans of ever going back, and I refuse to use Sunday’s as a time where I try to impress people with how much I know about the Bible, thus making them feel stupid!”
I just want people to know Christ. I want people to see Scriptures NOT as a textbook–but rather as a letter from God that communicates who Jesus is and what He has done. I want to see people come to Christ. I want to see families healed. I want to see the poor served. I want to see the excluded included. I want to see people get out of debt. I want to see people discover their spiritual gift. I want to see people find God’s purpose. I want to see Jesus Christ lifted up!
Is that “deep?” Probably not–but it is what God has put on my heart and I am going to try my best to follow His vision Jesus Christ saved me…II Corinthians 5:17 came true in my life…and I honestly think I could think about that for the rest of my life and never truly grasp exactly what happened.
Deep is not merely knowing information…because…judging by that standard satan is actually deeper than most Christians…he KNOWS Scripture, but doesn’t apply it–which is dangerously similar to those in the camp of wanting to know more but not do anything…
Just a thought…
We Need A Little Help… October 24, 2007
We are in the process of planning our last service of the year and I need your help in doing so…so…
- Please e-mail me your most memorable moment at NewSpring for the year 2007. Please don’t send me a book…just a paragraph or two about the moment and why it was so special.
- What is your favorite song that we sing OR that has been performed here at NewSpring? Send me NO MORE THAN TWO…seriously–TWO!
AND…one more thing…
I am in the process of compiling a list of the worse church marques I have ever read and I didn’t want to do this without your help…so…let’s hear it…what’s the worse you’ve seen. (Example–a church sign that reads, “Our Sunday’s Are Better Than Baskin Robins.”) AHHHH!!!