Archive for February, 2010
Sunday Night Reflections February 28, 2010
A few thoughts…
- Hands down this was one of the most amazing days in the history of NewSpring Church…WOW!
- We saw around 30 people surrender their lives to Christ…THAT never gets old!
- We began a series today entitled, “Practical Atheists,” which is simply someone who says they believe in God but they live their lives as if He doesn’t exist.
- BTW…I gave my GREAT friend and mentor, Craig Groeschel, the credit for that term! (His church did a series on this same subject quite a while back and we liked the concept so much we “borrowed” the title from them. HERE is the link if you are interested in hearing what he taught on during their series…AMAZING messages!!!)
- Another BTW…Craig wrote a book on that same subject entitled “Christian Atheist” that will be out later on in March…here’s the link if you are interested.
- The reason that people can go to church for 10, 20 even 30 years and NEVER change is because they are practical atheists…they say they believe in Jesus but have never allowed Him to impact and change the way they live.
- Today we specifically dealt with the subject of prayer and the fact that MANY Christians are more superstitious than they are believers in the supernatural!
- Our text for the day was Acts 12:1-16…where one Apostle was killed and another one was set free…sometimes God delivers us from our trials…and sometimes He allows us to walk through them…either way He is STILL God.
- We ALL have a problem with God saying “no” to our prayers because, deep down, we either think He owes us (based on some REALLY jacked up legalistic theology) OR because we are smarter than Him.
- As a Father I want GREATER things for my child than she wants for herself…and the reasons I say “no” to her are quite often beyond her comprehension…but my motives for doing so are always out of love. If that is how I act as an imperfect Father…how great does our heavenly Father act? (See Matthew 7:7-12)
- Sometimes God says, “Don’t pray, OBEY!” In other words…there ARE some things in life that we do not have to pray about…where God’s Word speaks CLEARLY there is no need to pray…just a need to obey! (For example…we don’t need to EVER pray about whether or not we need to have sex with someone we are not married to…God’s answer is always “NO!”)
- Christians use prayer as an excuse for inactivity so often!
- I asked a question today that I heard Andy Stanley ask several weeks ago, “Are you trying to pray your way out of something you have behaved your way into?” DANG!
- For example…I told all of the men that there is no way that those who are struggling with a porn problem can pray their way out of it! (Trust me…I tried for YEARS after meeting Christ.) Yes, you SHOULD pray…but you’ve GOT to ask for help!!! (ie…confess your sin – once again see James 5:16)
- I also mentioned that parents cannot just pray their kids into being followers of Jesus…we have to model it for them AND we have to be more passionate about raising disciples of Christ than we are about raising all star athletes!
- Acts 12:5 and then Acts 12:11-16 is proof that people in church can pray for things and still not believe it when God performs a miracle.
- Scripture says we should pray for each other to be healed (James 5:16)–so, today as a body of believers we asked people who needed healing, be it spiritual, physical or emotional to come forward and be prayed for…and EVERY SERVICE was incredible as people came forward to receive prayer!
- NO…it was NOT weird…we didn’t sell anointing oil and I did not offer prayer cloths, we simply did what the Bible says and asked God to heal people!
- Tonight @ the 6:00 service we brought Zac up on stage (we showed his video during the service) and prayed for God to heal him…I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house!
- Seriously, it was one of the MOST AMAZING DAYS in the history of our church…and I REALLY do believe that God used today to heal people…can’t wait to hear about all that happens through what He did today!
- Can’t wait for the rest of this series…going to be doing some things that we’ve never done before…and we are believing that God is JUST GETTING STARTED with all that He wants to do!
- Super excited about Unleash this week…AND the announcement about Thursday, September 16th…trust me, you REALLY need to save this date because the event we are going to “unleash” at Unleash is going to fill up fast!!!
- I’ve got a very busy week this week…could REALLY use your prayers as I prepare!
Good night!
A Call To Action February 26, 2010
Deuteronomy 1:7-8 jumped out at me the other morning…as I had this thought…
God has NEVER led anyone to the point of indecision…it’s NOT that we don’t know what to do most of the time…but rather we know EXACTLY what to do, but in order to obey it will cause us to break out of our comfortable routine and actually put forth some effort.
God had promised the Israelites the land they were going into…He had spent years preparing them for the takeover…but when it came time to make things happen He didn’t tell them “Sit here while I go do it all,” but rather, “Break camp and advance…”
Translation…
“Break camp…” – Get out of your place of comfort.
“Advance” – In other words…DON’T try to keep things the way they are…there are MUCH better things in store.
I love how God doesn’t call His followers to be passive…to sit back and do nothing. We serve a living and active God…which means if we seek to imitate Him then the same should be said of us.
So…any decision that you’ve been putting off that you KNOW He’s clearly spoken about?
“Break camp and advance…”
February Leadership Podcast February 25, 2010
So…the leadership podcast for February is up on itunes (you can find it under, “The Perry Noble Leadership Podcast.”
Last month we talked about the alarm inside of a leader…and this month we talked about the vision of a leader (and Red Lobster cheese biscuits…AND people who have a “fart face.”)
So…it’s out there and it’s free if you want it! :-)
Giving It All February 24, 2010
I’m reading through the book of Deuteronomy right now…and it is absolutely rocking my world…
The other morning I stopped on Deuteronomy 1:3 and had to ask myself two questions…
#1 – Am I doing this as a pastor? Seriously…am I stepping up every single week and saying ALL that God is telling me to say?
Saying 95% of what God tells me to say it being 100% disobedient!
Many times I have held back because of fear of what people might say or think…and then there is also that fear that people may not respond the way I want them to (despite the promise of God in Isaiah 55:8-13!)
Personally, at this point in my life, I am trying to view every sermon I preach and say, “this COULD be the LAST time I ever preach HIS Word…and so I don’t need to hold back but rather GO FOR IT, speaking in confidence and completely trusting Him with all that needs to happen.”
#2 – Am I doing this as a person? When I have a conversation with someone…and I know that there may be an issue in their life that needs to be addressed…do I hold back because I don’t want them to be mad at me…or do I address them in a loving and respectful manner and trust that God will take my words and deal with their heart in His time?
I think one of the reasons the body of Christ is SO dysfunctional is because we are VERY willing to try to clean up the problems in the world…when many of them would actually disappear if we simply focused on cleaning up the problems we have among ourselves.
Just some thoughts I am dealing with that I thought I would share.
The Gauntlet February 23, 2010
One of THE MOST EXCITING events of the year EVERY YEAR is what our student ministry has called, “The Gauntlet,” our summer camp experience for our 6th through 12th graders.
If you are a parent reading this…I cannot begin to emphasize all that God does in and through our students during this particular week of incredible fun, great games, awesome worship and intense study of God’s Word!
We opened sign ups a few weeks ago and spots are filling up FAST! We’ve NEVER had this many people sign up for our summer trip THIS EARLY!
Here are the details…it will be held the week of July 26th through July 30th in Daytona Beach, FL and cost $250 per student. (That cost includes transportation, room and all but two meals!) I could go on and on about this event…but you can just go here to read more about it.
I get pumped up every year because I get to spend a lot of time with the students who attend this event…and our beach baptism that we do every year is one of my favorite things that our church does–period!
So..parents, just wanted to get the word out so you can get your kid signed up ASAP. Seating for this trip is NOT unlimited…and once we’ve reached capacity we will have to put students on a waiting list. SO…my advice would be to get on this early…trust me, you do NOT want your kids to miss out!
I can’t wait!
Want To Work At NewSpring? February 22, 2010
OK…so here’s the deal, we have a job opening at NewSpring Church for someone who wants to be a difference maker…who believes God has gifted them to serve Him with a unique ability…and they want to do that through the local church.
As the position was being described to me I became confused…so I asked Ken Wilson to write up what he would consider to be a description…and the following is what he provided…
AEP? Null object? Math.round(time)? Depth of field? Does this strike a cord? You should probably keep reading.
NewSpring Church is looking for a passionate, creative designer who loves making moving pictures and content to effectively communicate the Gospel.
We want a camera wielding, motion graphics making adrenaline junkie who is at home behind a camera and in front of a computer. Is your to-do list on your phone, computer, and synced to the cloud? You might be the perfect addition to our eclectic, slightly quirky team of visual ninjas.
If you’d like to speak to us about this opportunity, send a resume, and more importantly, examples of your work, to Ken Wilson.
Sunday Night Reflections February 21, 2010
A few thoughts on a great day at NewSpring Church…
- Saw around 35 people surrender their lives to Jesus today…THAT never gets old!
- Christianity is NOT merely a decision to be made but rather a lifestyle that is to be embraced.
- If your life is boring, predictable and disappointing…you didn’t get to that place by following Jesus!
- The problem with many people in the church is that they prayed a prayer but did not actually surrender their lives to Christ. (And Matthew 7:21-23 has some pretty intense things to say about those kind of people.)
- We often overestimate what God wants to do in others…and underestimate what God wants to do in us! Fact is…He has a plan! Ephesians 2:10
- Had a blast talking about Ehud the left handed dude in Judges 3:12-30…VERY funny, challenging and disturbing story!
- Too many Christians are asking God to bless us when we should be asking Him to bother us!
- Too many of us don’t want Him to disturb us…yet He does His greatest work with those who allow Him to break their hearts with the things that break His!
- God doesn’t bother us for the sake of us having information…but rather for the purpose of transformation. We can’t truly change the world until He changes us!
- It is AMAZING that people can attend church for years and never understand what their spiritual gift is. (The passages I asked people to read in regards to spiritual gifts are I Corinthians 12, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:1-16 and I Peter 4:10-11)
- I LOVE the fact that Ehud was left handed…but the tribe of Benjamin literally means, “Son of the right hand.” In other words…Ehud DID NOT fit in! God didn’t call us to uniformity…He called us to uniqueness!
- Too many people in the church today are seeking to please those who are not actually living for Jesus rather than the One of whom they are claiming has redeemed them!
- We never need to look for opportunities when we allow God to break our hearts and then embrace how He has gifted us…when we do so He will place large opportunities in front of us that we can’t deny! (I reffered to Judges 3:17 here…really need to hear the sermon to get the full context.) :-)
- God’s plan for what He wants for our lives OFTEN involves taking a risk. He does not issue detailed emails with perfect outlines for His plans…He wants us to take steps of faith and trust Him all along the way! (See Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6)
- So many people raised their hands to be prayed for in regards to needing courage to take a God-led risk at the end of the service.
- My prayer for EVERYONE who attends NewSpring Church is not only for them to receive Christ…but to FULLY EMBRACE the life HE has called them to live and be willing to do WHATEVER He asks them to do!
- Next week we are beginning a brand new series entitled, “Practical Atheist” (I totally ripped that title from Craig Groeschel!) AND…I honestly believe that this coming Sunday will be one of “those Sundays” that we NEVER forget…we’re going to be doing something we’ve NEVER done before! Can’t wait!
- REALLY excited about Unleash…it is two weeks from this coming Thursday and is SOLD OUT! AND…also REALLY excited about the big announcement that day regarding September 16th…I promise you, you REALLY need to go ahead and save that date!!!
- Charisse requested me to sing, “Shout to the Lord” tonight! Seriously! So I did! I LOVE the words to that song…seriously!
- My foot hurts! :-) Which STINKS when you are trying to train for a half marathon!!!
That’s it, going to bed!