Archive for September, 2008
Catalyst September 30, 2008
Are you planning on being “Catalyzed?”
One of the events that I LOVE going to every year is Catalyst. The experience that the Catalyst team designs is always unique and excellent…and God always uses the speakers to challenge my socks off!
(And here’s a thought…what if pastors and church leaders put the same amount of prayer AND preparation into our churches as Catalyst put into their conference? DANG…the Kingdom would experience EXPLOSIVE growth!)
This year I actually have the privilege to participate in the labs that will be taking place on Wednesday. I honestly was blown away when Brad called and asked me to be a part! (Brad is one of my heroes…when I grow up I want to be just like him!) If you could keep me in your prayers regarding me speaking at this lab I would appreciate it a ton…the subject that has been assigned to me is passion.
(Hey Ben…you are my hero as well…didn’t want you to think it’s all about Brad!)
AND…one thing I am REALLY looking forward to is hearing Steven speak to the Catalyst crowd! What God has done at Elevation has been nothing short of AMAZING!!!
One more thing about Catalyst…one of the things I love the most (in addition to the experience) is the community I get to be a part of. I love seeing people I haven’t seen in a year or so & getting to hear what God is doing in their lives and in their church. Seriously, it refreshes me! If a person goes to the conference JUST for the conference and neglects the community then he misses out on SOOOOOO much!
Oh yeah…I am in Atlanta…so I WILL BE GOING TO FOGO TO EAT, heck, I MIGHT go every night I’m down there!!!
Can’t wait…see you there!
It’s The Vision, STUPID! September 30, 2008
I’ve had a few people ask me my opinion on the presidential debate that took place this past Friday…so, I will share it here…and also be VERY transparent as to what God taught me through watching.
Honestly, both me drove me absolutely crazy! I speak for a living…and so I pay close attention to communication styles and techniques. And NEITHER of these men went into the debate focused on the subject…because…
THEY LITERALLY WASTED THE TIME OF MILLIONS OF AMERICANS because they were OBSESSED WITH TEARING EACH OTHER APART!
All they did was attack each other! They literally could NOT speak for more than two minutes without tearing the other person down.
Why did this bother me? Because NEITHER one of them took the time to actually focus on casting a compelling vision of the way things could be and should be.
I literally wanted to scream at the television, “I KNOW you don’t like the other guy…leave him alone! STOP trying to instill fear in me because of all you perceive that he wants to do! TELL ME YOUR PLAN…DREAM BIG…CAST VISION…LEAVE YOUR TALKING POINTS AND OWN WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!!” AHHHHHHH!
I honestly believe the first candidate that will stop trying to smear the other person and simply focuses in vision…the one who can simply share from his heart what he wants to see for the country and STOP being so freakin’ negative…that guy will win!
There needs to be a point of realization for both of these men that they SHOULD NOT try to define themselves by declaring who they are not…but rather who they are!!!
People are SO turned off to negativity…which brings me to my next point…which is SO convicting…
While I was sitting there steaming over having wasted time watching two grown men go “Jr. High” on one another I realized that, as a leader, I’ve been so guilty of the same thing…wasting people’s time declaring who we are NOT as a church rather than casting a compelling vision of who we should be and could be!
It is so easy as a pastor to fall into the temptation of defining yourself by declaring all of the things you are against…but what will truly impact people is when we begin to declare what we are for.
It’s a leaders job to cast vision and focus people on the future, not to be in a constant state of comparison. I wrestle with this–every leader I know does; however, I honestly believe that the more passionate and obsessive we become about VISION…the more of a difference God will allow our churches to have.
This is an area of my life I think I will always wrestle with…but I am in a constant state of prayer, begging God that He will guide me to lead with vision and not with criticism and fear.
Three Questions That Messed Me Up! September 29, 2008
I was thinking about this yesterday…there have been three questions that I can think of (probably a lot more if I thought about it) that God has used to MESS me up…and I wanted to share them with you.
#1 – “So Perry, what drives you?” Mike Foster
I don’t know if you’ve ever met Mike Foster…I have and like the guy liked the guy until he asked me this!!! Because…I didn’t have an answer…
I remember when he asked me this…I was sitting at a table with ‘Cretia, Mike & Judd Wilhite and talking about leadership challenges when he just blurted this out…it messed me up!
I’ve literally thought about it for the past year or so and have prayed through my motives. One of the things I will stand before God one day and be held accountable for are my motives…why I did what I did! AND I want to do so with a pure heart.
I’m still wrestling with this question. I believe with all my heart the thing that drives me is JESUS…but there are times when I MUST wrestle selfishness and pride to the ground and not let them impact my motivations.
So…what drives you? (And I really do like Mike…he’s a Ninja for Jesus!)
#2 – “Why are you yelling at your whole church when it’s only three or four people who are making you angry?” Craig Groeschel
Craig BOTHERS me a lot because, well, God’s used him to smack me around in lots of ways! (And I’m better for it.)
He asked me this one time (in a loving way) after listening to a couple of my talks. He pointed out to me that I seemed to overreact when it came to criticism and that the MAJORITY of the people in the church were on board!!!
As pastors we have the tendency to think when a critic comes after us…everyone is on their side…and so we will dog out our church because of a few idiots.
Not good! God used Craig to get me to stop yelling at the many because of the few!
#3 – “When are you going to put me first in your finances?” GOD
I talked about this on Sunday…but this was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made! I SAID I trusted Jesus with my eternity, but I didn’t trust Him with my wallet…which made me a hypocrite and a God robber!
I’ve blogged about this before…and so here are some links if you want to read what I personally had to wrestle through with these issues.
- “Is God first in your finances?”
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part One
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part Two
I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, but placing God first in this area in my life was NOT one of them!!!
Just wanted to share a few things God has used to shape me!
Sunday Night Reflections September 28, 2008
Today was, hands down, one of the CRAZIEST days in the history of NewSpring Church…we had the good, the bad and the ugly all at once. Here are a few thoughts on the day…
- Anderson campus was amazing today…DecembeRadio led worship and did an incredible job. I love these guys!
- The talk I gave today (in Anderson) was on money! It was tense, as it always is, but very much needed.
- I challenged our church to take two steps in regards to money, the first being to put God first in our finances. Until God is in control…our finances will be out of control.
- The second step was a challenge for people to get out of debt. TOO MANY PEOPLE are NOT able to do what God called them to do because of financial bondage!
- By the way…getting out of debt takes WORK…it’s tough, lots of sacrifice involved. BUT…it is doable!
- I believe if people would place God first and take the challenge to get out of debt that MOST of us could be financially free within the next three to five years.
- Joe Sangl is teaching his Financial Learning Experience THIS Tuesday in Greenville…and on Thursday in Anderson. You can sign up here! IT’S FREE! We will feed you Chic Fil A, take care of your kids (and feed them to!) All you have to do is sign up here!
- AND…this class is practical! You will learn how to establish a budget AND will know how long it will take you to escape the prison of debt!
- The people who signed up for the commitment to take the tithing challenge were…well…at this point our volunteers are still counting the cards that were turned in.
- AND…remember, when it comes to giving…God doesn’t need our money–we need God’s blessing!
Now…things were a little different in Greenville today…
- For the first time since going multi-site with live video…the message failed to make it to you guys…and we had to use our backup plan. (Which I heard was awesome!)
- We are currently planning on showing the message from today to you guys next week. It will definitely set some people free! I promise! THEN…the following week we will be back on schedule.
- Technology makes me happy sometimes…and at others it makes me want to say not nice words!!!
- One of the things we decided to do with the type of technology we are using in Greenville is take some risks!!! In doing that we’ve got to be prepared to fail at some things and learn from those mistakes.
- Greenville, you guys ROCK…thanks for all that you do AND for staying strong. We’re on the brink of a technological breakthrough that COULD revolutionize the way multi site is done! I’m PUMPED!
It is now time for bed!!!
Oh yeah, because of the decision to play the message from Anderson today in Greenville next week…we will be delaying the podcast and the video on our website for a week. Just wanted you to know.
Four Transitions We SHOULD NOT Want To Make–Part Four September 26, 2008
#4 – “Learning From Others” to “Comparing To Others.”
You know you are doing this when…
- You feel like the only people you can learn from are the ones who think and act just like you.
- You are the first one to point out all that you think is “wrong” with another church the moment you hear someone speaking well of it.
- You can’t enjoy the blessings and favor of God on your life because your too busy looking at how He has chosen to bless someone else…and are envious over it.
- You visit another church and the only things you look for are the things you think your church does better rather than the things they are doing that, if implemented at your church, would dramatically improve things.
- Your goal isn’t to please Jesus…you just want to be better than “the church down the street.”
- You spend a lot of your time saying, “If we had BLANK then we would be growing just like they are.” (Fill in the BLANK with staff, money, volunteers, etc.)
- You look down on pastors whose churches aren’t as large as yours as “inferior” and never try to learn anything from them. (I think pastors of smaller churches are MANY TIMES the most innovative people on the planet!)
- Instead of probing to see why a particular new ministry is successful you simply condemn it as often as possible because affirmation of its success might mean change is necessary.
Four Transitions We SHOULD NOT Want To Make–Part Three September 25, 2008
#3 – “Let’s Risk It All,” to, “Let’s Play It Safe.”
I recently spent some time with the guys in the coaching network that I lead and told them I feel that most churches are just one risk away from breaking through barriers that once seemed impossible; however, because of the unwillingness of the pastor (and/or leaders) to take a risk that potential will never be discovered!
When a church first begins taking risks is easy…there’s nothing to lose. BUT…when momentum gets going, people are showing up and budgets are being met…well…all too often the focus goes from risk taking to people pleasing (which NEVER ENDS well!)
In reading through the Gospels it is easy to see that the church NEVER played it safe–ever. Individual followers of Jesus NEVER played it safe–ever. They didn’t form committee meetings to “pray” about a decision that everyone knew needed to be made…but no one actually had the guts to pull the trigger.
THEY WENT FOR IT! And because they were willing to try things no one else was trying…we are here today!
Here are a few questions for you?
- What risks am I wrestling with wanting to take…but have been too afraid to vocalize?
- What am I REALLY afraid of–failing OR people viewing me as a failure?
- Am I saying I am praying about something when, in actuality, I am delaying & hoping that God will just somehow “work things out?”
Those are a few that I have to ask myself from time to time.
I think one of the WORSE things a leader can do is begin to play it safe. It’s sort of like when a football team goes into a “prevent” defense…which usually prevents them from winning the game. (I’ve seen it so many times–when a team loses its aggressiveness…it’s over!)
The church was NOT called to play defense…we play offense…we don’t run from the gates of hell..we freakin’ kick them down! We are not called to see how many we can KEEP every Sunday…but how many we can REACH!
I know I make my fair share of mistakes as a leader. I know I will stand before Jesus one day and be held accountable for every stupid thing I have done; however, one of the things I pray I don’t have to hear Him say is, “You dishonored me by playing it safe! I didn’t die on a cross so you could please people…I died on a cross for you to reach them!!!”
I am pumped about the risks NewSpring Church is currently taking…and the ones we are getting ready to take. We can’t sit around with an “arrival” mindset and just give the world the middle finger…we’ve GOT to do all that we can to reach all that we can!
Let’s take some risk! MY GOSH! We’re THE CHURCH–we have been given the GREATEST MESSAGE EVER…we have the POWER OF THE LIVING GOD…we have the DIRECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…and GOD IS NOT LIMITED BY PERSONAL or RESOURCES!!!
WOO HOO…I am PUMPED!
Sunday!!! September 24, 2008
Some quick hits about this Sunday…
I will admit that we are spoiled when it comes to music on both of our campuses…we have some incredibly talented musicians and worship leaders who God uses to move us every single week.
BUT this week we get a very special treat…one of my favorite bands, DecembeRadio, will be leading us in worship (at BOTH campuses…it will be awesome!!!) I cannot WAIT! We’ve only allowed another band to come in and lead us one other time in the history of our church…this will be the second…and I PROMISE you are going to love this band!!!!
Second of all–I can’t WAIT for Sunday’s talk! It will be a day where we all feel unbelievable tension…yet are hopefully given a sense of hope and direction like we’ve never had before!
See you then!