Archive for December, 2009
URGENCY!!! (Part Two) December 11, 2009
One of the things I’ve been begging God for is a renewed sense of urgency when it comes to reaching this world for Christ!!! I don’t ever want to get to the point where I get so wrapped up in “church work” that evangelism is neglected.
Which takes me back to my story yesterday about Jennifer. There was a CLEAR opportunity in front of me…she CLEARLY was in danger…she was CLEARLY unaware of what was taking place…she CLEARLY thought I was joking around the first time I spoke with her…and all of this makes me think…
#1 – WHAT IF I had simply decided to just commit to praying for her?
#2 – WHAT IF I had decided that I didn’t really want to place myself in an uncomfortable situation?
#3 – WHAT IF I had turned my back on what was happening right in front of me?
#4 – WHAT IF I had said, “this isn’t REALLY that important…and now’s just not the best time to draw attention to this?”
#5 – WHAT IF I had said, “Well, I can’t help everyone being robbed…what about the person in the jungle who gets robbed, who is going to help that person?”
#6 – WHAT IF I had given up on trying to get her away from danger after she didn’t respond the first time?
#7 – WHAT IF I had decided to enroll in Bible studies on how to warn people who were being robbed?
#8 – WHAT IF I had not realized that someone’s life was at stake?
IT COULD HAVE GONE BAD…REALLY BAD!!!
Guess what…when it comes to sharing Christ and inviting people to church…there is WAY more at stake than there was with Jennifer in Ryans that day. We’re talking eternity.
There really is a heaven…and there really is a hell…and people really do go to one or the other!
And we can’t make excuses any longer…we’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes to reach these people and tell them about Jesus…
If you are a member or regular attender of NewSpring I am asking you to do three things…
#1 – Read Luke 14:15-23 and Luke 15:1-10 and see how JESUS feels about people who are lost and far from Him!
#2 – Ask God WHO you need to BRING to church with you THIS MONTH!!! Seriously…ask Him to place someone (or multiple people) on your heart after reading the Scripture above. (We are going ALL OUT THIS SUNDAY to share the GOSPEL…you SERIOUSLY NEED to get people here!!!)
#3 – SEIZE the opportunities that God puts in front of you! Read Isaiah 40:6-8, we have a limited time on this big ball of dirt we call earth…and we have a direct command from our Savior to REACH the world for Him (Matthew 28:18-20)…the WORLD begins with those who God has placed right in front of us…so let’s go for it!!!
URGENCY!!! (Part One) December 10, 2009
Have you ever been robbed?
I remember working at a steakhouse here in the upstate MANY years ago (before I knew Christ) and experiencing what I NEVER thought would happen…
It was a Saturday afternoon and, for some reason, we were slammed. The line was literally out the door and I happened to be working the cash register. (People would go through the line, get their drink, order their food and then pay before they sat down.)
So this guy handed me his ticket…I looked at him and noticed he had the hood on his jacket over his head…AND he had on a pair of gloves. I literally thought to myself, “It’s not cold outside…maybe this guy is going to try to rob me.”
I told him how much he owed…he threw a $20 bill at me…and I opened up the cash register to get his change…
That’s when he reached inside of his jacket (and as I saw his hand I began to tell myself, “THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!!!”)
He then began pulling out the largest knife I’ve EVER seen in my life and said something like, “You need to hand me the money.” To which I simply hit one button on the cash register…it opened up…and I told the guy, “it’s yours” while backing away with my hands in the air.
He instructed me to come back to the register and hand him the money…and I told him in a very direct way that his command would NOT be happening! (Did I mention the knife was HUGE?)
So, he came around the counter and approached the register to take out the money…
Then I saw Jennifer.
She was a waitress who worked there…and wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. The cash register was right next to the window where the servers would come get the food…and she was standing there goofing off with the guys in the kitchen.
He stopped looking at the money for a second and looked at her…so I said, “Hey Jennifer, could you come here for a second.” (By this time I had backed WAY up and was standing about 10 feet from where the robber was.)
She looked at me and noticed that I had my hands up and said something like, “Oh Perry, you’re so funny!”
I realized she thought this was a joke…that I was playing around…and she didn’t notice that right behind her was a dude who had a knife and was seemingly trying to decide between taking the money or taking her.
So I screamed…REALLY LOUDLY (and I think I might have used profanity) that there was a man behind her with a knife…and that she needed to cease and desist flirting with the kitchen boys and walk away. (That is the edited version.)
When I screamed the entire restaurant looked at me…and became VERY silent. Jennifer SPRINTED out of there…and the robbed grabbed the money and ran out the door.
(They caught him 15 minutes later…he was very high and wanted the money to buy more drugs.)
Looking back on that situation makes me see several things…
- Jennifer was in danger
- Someone had to tell her…she wasn’t going to just figure it out…she wasn’t paying attention
- I tried to tell her nicely…but she thought I was joking.
- Understanding the urgency of the situation I cast aside what others thought about me and was willing to make an idiot of myself to get her out of the danger that was right behind her that she was unaware of.
- Romans 10:14-17!!!
We are called to do the same with our friends and family members who do not know Christ!!! More about this tomorrow…
Coaching Network Openings December 9, 2009
This past April I blogged about a coaching network that I was starting here at NewSpring…and was overwhelmed with the response. We not only filled up the spots for the fall of this year…but the spring of 2010 as well.
However, due to some unforeseen circumstances with some of the guys that were originally accepted in the network, we’ve had about three spots open up…and so I wanted to put this post out there to any senior pastor who may be interested.
There are several commitments involved with this…
- There is a time commitment – the sessions will be from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm on 1-21-10, 2-18-10, 4-22-10, and 5-13-10.
- There is a financial commitment – the cost to be in the network is $1,500…payable to NewSpring Church.
- There is an attitude commitment – I am looking/praying for leaders who are HUNGRY and willing to do whatever it takes to grow.
- There is a “seek Jesus” commitment – I will not promise you that if you join this network you church will see amazing results…but I will promise you that you will be challenged to seek HIM with all you’ve got…and that you will be challenged and stretched as a leader.
If you are interested in being a part of this network…OR if you have questions and want to know more information then you can…
- Email Karla Temples here at our church offices (karla.temples@newspring.cc) and request an application. OR…
- Call our church office (864-226-6585) and ask for Karla…she will be more than happy to assist you.
AND…if you want to read it, HERE IS THE POST I did back in April explaining the network in more detail. (BUT…remember when reading it to email Karla, not Lindsay!)
We will be accepting applications until this Sunday (December 13th)…and our staff is absolutely PUMPED about the possibility/opportunity of serving you during this time period.
I’m Dreaming Of A Church… December 9, 2009
Jesus has done more in the past 10 years of ministry here at NewSpring Church than any of us ever thought possible…and I know there’s more.
Ephesians 3:20 keeps running over and over again in my mind…and I keep dreaming of a church (and churches…)
- That the ministry goes beyond the walls of the building and actually IMPACTS the community in a radical way.
- Where the broken, hurting and lost are received with open arms…and the religious are challenged to repent of their “perfection.”
- Where generosity is embraced.
- Where the staff and volunteers give their best to God in every task that they take on! (I don’t believe the church should look to organization like Disney and Apple for inspiration…I believe they should be looking at the church!!! Yes, they have great thinkers…we have the HOLY SPIRIT of the LIVING GOD! There is no excuse for half hearted, watered down effort in the Kingdom!)
- Where JESUS is exalted…NOT a denomination or a political party.
- Where Scripture, not Robert’s Rules of Order, govern the Body.
- Where people in the church REFUSE to ignore injustice…and EMBRACE that God has called the church to do more about it than simply pray…but rather to DIVE IN and do all we can to help all we can.
- That refuses to accept that the way things are is the way they have to be.
- That champions the next generation instead of teaching them they are insignificant until they can get a job and begin to tithe.
- That excitement and passion surrounds the Sunday services…and also an expectation that God is going to do something huge!
- That throws the desire to compete with other churches out the window…and does all that they can to help the body.
- That embraces the fact that Jesus originally called “unschooled, ordinary men” to change the world…and He’s STILL doing the same thing today. (See Acts 4:13)
The church’s best days are yet to come…and I can’t wait to see what Jesus does next. He loves His church way more than we do!!!
Figure It Out! December 8, 2009
One of the things I’ve made a regular habit of doing from early on is trying my best to learn from others.
However, early on in my ministry I took the wrong approach when trying to do this because I thought that during my journey to learn that at some point I would be meeting with a mentor, he would say something profound…and the fact or formula that came out of his mouth would completely change my life.
That line of thinking led me to ask mentors questions like these…
- How do you prepare sermons?
- Tell me about your typical week.
- How do you lead meetings?
- How is your leadership team structured?
Let me be clear…NOTHING is wrong with asking these type of questions…IF we are seeking INFORMATION; however, when we ask these questions because we want to be some sort of carbon copy…OR because we think that switching the time we study is what will unleash some sort of anointing on our messages…we are in trouble.
I discovered personally that I was asking the right questions…but for the wrong reasons. I wanted to know what others were doing so I could be LAZY…so I could buy into IMITATION of who they were instead of relying on the REVELATION of God and HIS direction for my life.
I still ask these questions to people…I am still trying to learn…but Jesus has changed my heart in that finally…after 20 years of being a Christian…I really want to be who HE is shaping me to be…and for that to happen I need to beg Him to reveal Himself to me…and figure out how HE has designed me to function.
I would say the same thing to every pastor/church leader…figure it out.
- It doesn’t matter WHEN someone else prepares for their message…when does God want you to prepare? (I study best in the mornings…others study best at night…figure it out.)
- It doesn’t matter WHAT my typical week looks like…what does God want YOURS to look like? (If our gifts are different…then our week will look a lot different!)
- It doesn’t matter HOW I lead meetings…how does God want you to lead a meeting? (It will depend on your gifting and the people you have around you.)
- It doesn’t matter HOW we are structured…how does God want you to structure?
I could go on…the deal is that God has called every leader to be unique…NOT a carbon copy of someone else. And while we should learn from everyone we should try to be like no one…other than Jesus!
Church leader…figure it out! (This is most often accomplished by a series of failures that eventually lead to success. AND…what I’ve discovered is that as soon as you figure it out…THINGS CHANGE…why, because I believe God always wants us at a point where we are desperate for Him instead of dependant on our system!)
PREACH! December 7, 2009
There are two questions that every pastor will ask when preparing a message…the first is, “What do these people want me to say?” WHICH is so dangerous because if this is your goal you will never preach a good message. Because…
- You won’t be reformed enough for some people…and too reformed for others.
- You will be too serious for some…and not serious enough for others.
- You will use too much Scripture for some…and not enough for others.
- You will come across to some people as too nice…and others as too harsh.
- You will really encourage some people…and really frustrate others.
- You WILL say something at some point that will be completely politically incorrect…will offend someone…and they will let you know.
- People WILL take what you say out of context…and tell others that you said things that you never did actually say.
I could go on…but I think we all know that preaching to impress people leads to a dangerous place in ministry…because we can NEVER successfully please the crowd all the time…and doing so is a recipe for insanity! (Paul was ON to something when he wrote Galatians 1:10!)
The second question is, “What does Jesus want me to say?” When what HE is saying gets in our hearts and sets us on fire (Jeremiah 20:9)…THAT is what we must preach!!!
- We must be consumed by Him and not controlled by others!
- We must be obsessed with the Almighty and not with what all the people think.
- We must seek to honor HIS call on our lives rather than “their call” to the church!
- We must share Christ.
We cannot allow the ONE who called us to merely be our “good luck charm.” You know…we throw together a message and then ask Him to bless it.
We must HEAR HIS VOICE…and then PREACH, knowing people will be offended…people will get upset…but ultimately people will come to Christ and His name will be lifted higher!!!
HIS NAME, not our reputation, should be our obsession.
Sunday Night Reflections December 6, 2009
A few thoughts on an amazing weekend at NewSpring Church…
- Anytime I share my salvation story it takes me back to where I was when Jesus saved me and how far He has brought me…and it BLOWS my mind!
- No one needed His grace more…and no one deserved it less than me!!!
- We saw over 50 people cross over from death to life today…including 7 people at our web service!!!
- “Word of God” speak is one of my favorite songs of all time!
- Today we talked about how to hear God’s voice…LOVED teaching on this!
- All too often we seek answers in the Scriptures when we should be seeking Jesus…because HE will ultimately BE the answer to whatever we are facing.
- SO many times I believe we open the Scriptures seeking permission to do something rather than having an attitude of submission to WHATEVER Jesus is speaking to in our lives.
- The illustration to emphasize Psalm 46:10 was pretty powerful…it’s not that God isn’t speaking…it’s that often times we are too busy to listen.
- When was the last time you rode around in your car without the radio on…and your cell phone turned off? I believe that silence, often times, is scary…so we invite noise into our lives!
- James 1:22 is POWERFUL…it isn’t about what we know…but rather about what we do with what we know that makes the difference.
- Circumstances are often God’s megaphone that HE is using to scream to us.
- It’s amazing to many how many times in the Scriptures that God spoke so clearly and revealed who He was during a storm!!!
Now…a personal note to NewSpring Church…
I want you to know how honored I am to serve as your pastor. As I look at all that God has done in the past 10 years I am both amazed AND encouraged. Amazed that He would allow me to be a small part of all of this…and encouraged because I really do believe our best days are ahead of us!
I believe the next several months are going to be a season of celebration for all of us. Our Christmas services are going to be amazing. Our 10 year anniversary service is going to blow our mind. We’re getting ready to put shoes on the feet of over 1,000 kids that attend schools in the communities that we are in. We’re seeing Jesus do INCREDIBLE work in Kenya! We are getting ready to become fully involved in rescuing young girls from the sex slave trade. And…
I believe that we are going to see HUNDREDS of people come to Christ THIS MONTH!
Saying that…let me ask that you do WHATEVER it takes to get people to church the next several Sunday’s! (AND especially our Christmas services!!!) We’re asking God for HUGE things (will you pray that with us as well)…and I know He’s going to blow our minds.
The best is yet to come!!!