Archive for October, 2011
Why I REALLY Do Believe That NewSpring Church Is Going To Reach 100,000 People! October 31, 2011
#1 – Because We Understand That Found People Find People…and we will not stop doing what Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 28:18-20! We are NOT a mega-church and we refuse to pat ourselves on the back when we have around 15,000 people attending every week…but have the possibility of reaching between 3-4 million! We understand the HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL (Matthew 9:35-38) and in that harvest are people we love and care about deeply!!!
#2 – Because We Understand That Saved People Serve People…and we will not stop doing what the Bible commands of us in I Peter 4:10! We get the fact that the world is not going to be reached by a “screaming church” but rather a serving church…and so we are going to do whatever it takes to discover how God has gifted us in order to become more like Jesus (Matthew 20:28) and impact the world like never before.
#3 – Because We Understand That Growing People Change…and we will not stop praying Psalm 139:23-24 over our own lives! We are fed up with religious attitudes that are extremely focused on the lives of others but refuse to deal with the sin in their own lives. We will not stop begging God to make us more like His Son Jesus, to fill us with HIS thoughts and to show the areas in our lives where we fall short so that we can repent and move forward in our walk with Him.
#4 – Because We Understand That We Can’t Do Life Alone…and we will obey what the Lord has instructed us to do in Hebrews 10:24-25! We get the fact that we are not strong enough to make it on our own, that Christianity is not a solo sport…and the phrase “one another” appears over 40x in the NT. We understand that two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9) and that one can put a thousand to flight…but two can put ten thousand (Deuteronomy 32:30)!!! There is power in numbers…and so we are committed to large groups (Sunday services) and small groups at the same time.
#5 – Because We Understand That We Cannot Out Give God…and so we will obey what God’s Word says in Malachi 3:6-12! We refuse to be the church full of people who believe God’s Word in regards to salvation but then refuse to believe the passages about financial blessings (Proverbs 3:9-10, II Corinthians 9:6-15!) We know that Jesus Himself said that money would be the #1 competitor of our worship of Him (Matthew 6:24), and we also know that people who love money wind up in a lot of trouble (I Timothy 6:6-10). We’ve seen God bless our church and others through the generosity of others…and we know the best is yet to come!
It’s not just GOING to happen!
IT IS HAPPENING!!!
I LOVE MY CHURCH!
And The Winners Are… October 27, 2011
WOW, it was SO hard to narrow down the winners for the contest I announced last Monday.
In fact, I could not do it alone…there were so many amazing entries; however, the team was able to get it down to two…and the winners are
#1 – Grace Point Church, Macon, GA – Chris Dorrity, Lead Pastor
#2 – Vertical Church, Lumberton, NC – Mile Pittman, Lead Pastor
Congrats guys…the Unleash team will be in touch…
And a huge “thank you” to everyone who entered. I honestly wish we could have sent all of you guys!
The ONE Thing I Believe About YOU! October 27, 2011
I love lists (bet you would have NEVER figured that out on your own!) :-)
However, today I wanted to simply make ONE point (ok…MAYBE there will be some subpoints to go along with it!)
BUT…before I share it I want you to know that I honestly believe this about YOU!!!
Here goes…
The One Thing I Believe About You Is – God Loves You, Has An Amazing Plan For Your Life And IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!
(OK, so that may be three things…but I put it in one sentence, so I’m counting it as one!) :-)
God’s not through with you!
People may be through with you, heck, the church may have even told you they are through with you…
GOD’S NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!
If you still have air in your lungs, if your heart is still pushing blood through your body then God’s not done!!!
God wants greater things for your life than you could ever imagine! (See Ephesians 3:20 and Matthew 7:9-11)
AND, no matter what you have gone through HE IS ABLE to bless your life MORE from this point forward than you have EVER experienced! (Job 42:12)
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT throw in the towel!
You are not too young to be used by God (look at Samuel in I Samuel 3!!)
You are not too old to be used by God (look at Noah and Moses!!!)
You have not been too sinful to be used by God (just look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, whew, there are some pretty shady characters mentioned in that list…and yet God STILL used them!)
You ARE NOT USELESS! God created you ON PURPOSE, WITH A PURPOSE and FOR A PURPOSE (Ephesians 2:10!)
I believe this about you…so much so that THIS SUNDAY at NewSpring Church we will be continuing our Job series by diving into the subject, “Don’t Waste Your Life!” Too many times I see people throw away their lives because they believe that God does not care, does not have a plan for them and/or they have done too many bad things for their lives to EVER count for anything significant.
But God DOES have a plan…and IT IS the most amazing thing in our lives that we could ever experience (see how His will is described at the end of Romans 12:2!)
I can’t WAIT for this Sunday to talk about this a lot more!!!
God’s NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!!!
Seven Things You Have GOT TO Read! October 26, 2011
I love to write. I began this blog in May of 2005 and have enjoyed pouring into it every week.
However, there are days when I read so many awesome things online that I just want to share them…and so today I would love to point you to a few amazing articles that I’ve read recently that I would highly recommend that you read
#1 – This article by Thom Rainer on “Five Warning Signs Of Declining Church Health” is a MUST READ–WOW!
#2 – This article by Dr. John Piper on eight things to do in regards to leading leaders in making decisions (leading up) is AMAZING!
#3 – Tony Morgan wrote an article on 7 Questions To Ask In Regards To Who Should Be On Your Leadership Team that is AWESOME!
#4 – I LOVE the brutal honesty by Carlos Whitaker in this post about wrestling with doubt!
#5 – Clayton King did an EXCELLENT job in this post about Five Ways To Appreciate Your Pastor
#6 - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this article posted by JD GREAR…one of the MOST LIBERATING and HUMBLING things I’ve ever read…caused me to CELEBRATE like crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#7 – For those who may be interested, I mentioned that I began this blog in May of 2005…here is the first post I ever wrote (actually, it was the 2nd, my first was a post announcing I was blogging!)
A Letter From Pastor P To NewSpring Church October 25, 2011
Howdy NewSpring Church, five things I want to share with you today…
#1 – Sunday was a great day for our church as we began our series, “The Life of Job–A Story of Hope!” It was quite overwhelming to see people standing at the end of every service indicating that they have wanted to give up in the past…but were standing up to indicate a desire to NOT GIVE UP ON THE GOD WHO HAS NEVER GIVEN UP ON THEM! I said at the beginning of the message that what the Bible says about Job in Job 42:12 I want for everyone in our church…that God would bless us from this point forward in our lives even more than He’s blessed us in the past…but…one of the FIRST steps towards living a life that is blessed by God is NOT GIVING UP. (See Galatians 6:9)
#2 – This coming Sunday we will discuss the 2nd step as we dive into the question that so many people seem to wrestle with, “what in the world am I supposed to do with my life?” Job had a very accurate view of life and eternity…and it propelled him forward in a direction that led to him being more blessed than he could have ever imagined. If you’ve ever felt like you are useless…or that your life lacks meaning, value and purpose then you need to be here Sunday as we dive into the Bible and see that not only does God have a reason and a purpose for our existence on this planet…but He actually wants us to know what it is way more than we realize!
#3 – Many people have asked where they can view the television commercials we ran all throughout the state on “The Life of Job” series.
#4 – There are still a few spots left for the Israel trip if you are interested, more information about that trip can be found here.
#5 – I seriously cannot put into words how excited I am about the Job series, over the next several weeks we are going to be seeing how to be blessed by seeing what the Bible says in regards to…
- Money (I honestly don’t believe that God wants us to be stressed out and freaked out about our finances!)
- Hearing the voice of God (So many people have told me they’ve never heard God’s voice…but according to what Jesus said in John 10:1-5 those who belong to Him DO hear His voice. I honestly believe that SO many people HAVE heard the voice of God but actually failed to recognize that it was Him. People who hear AND SUBMIT to His voice are blessed–period!)
- Legalism and how it robs our joy and ruins our relationship with Jesus. So many people have a view of God as if HE hates them…or maybe He just merely tolerates them! BUT, what does the Scripture say…and how can we escape to performance trap that religion has created. (One part of being blessed is finally understanding that I do not have to attempt to do what Christ has already done!)
- Seeing and understanding that the world is so much larger than our lives…and that when we see, understand, and then give ourselves away there is SO MUCH blessing that gets poured out in our lives.
There’s a lot more that is wrapped up in this series…I just wanted to offer a sneak peak and then encourage you to be here and BRING SOMEONE with you. (See II Corinthians 5:11-21), Scripture is clear, we have been changed so that we can tell others about the change!!! My challenge for all of us is to read that passage of Scripture and then pray and ask the Lord, “Who do you want me to bring to YOUR HOUSE this Sunday?”
I LOVE MY CHURCH!
Five Quick Hits For Pastors/Church Leaders Today… October 24, 2011
Five things really quick today…
#1 – We will be announcing the winner of the Catalyst One Day contest on THURSDAY at 12:00 (EST) on this website. (If you are unaware of what I am talking about it you can read what happened last week here.)
#2 – Bill Hybels brought an unbelievable message for Willow Creek’s 36th Anniversary service…I honestly believe EVERY pastor/church leader would be inspired, challenged and motivated if they listened to it. It is on the Willow Creek weekly message podcast on itunes! Seriously, it’s worth your time!!!
#3 - Unleash is on pace to completely sell out by the end of December. It’s one day…it’s cheap…and it will be an awesome experience for you, your staff and your volunteers! AND…for those who are veterans…we’ve got a few surprises this year!
#4 – James MacDonald brought two of the BEST messages on the subject of repentance I’ve EVER heard! If you REALLY want an in depth and practical look at what repentance is all about I would HIGHLY recommend them. You can download them by going to itunes and then going to the James MacDonald: Walk In The Word video podcast, the titles of the messages are, “The Process of Change” parts one and two!
#5 – The messages from NLC will be released on the “Perry Noble Leadership Podcast” later on this week…I will announce when they are available via twitter.
Who Should You Listen To? (Nine Things To Examine When Others Offer “Advice!”) October 20, 2011
Leaders can’t listen to everyone…it’s impossible with all of the avenues of social media and such.
(I’ve often heard leaders say treat criticism like chewing gum, take it in, chew on it and then spit it out. The problem is that with as many venues we have today for communication, well, following this advice is bad because…THAT’S A BIG FREAKIN PIECE OF GUM and no one can chew that much!)
But, we’ve GOT to listen to others because Scripture clearly commands us to! Timothy listened to Paul. David listened to Nathan…everyone who has ever accomplished anything significant didn’t do it through their own brilliance, they had people in their lives who could speak truth. So…who do you listen to?
My advice!!! WISE people!!
“Well, who are the wise people,” you ask? GREAT QUESTION!!! Because there are a lot of people out there (especially in internet world) who believe they are wise.
But, let me give you a list of nine things that I really believe a person should have if you are going to listen to them…their “wisdom” should be…
#1 – Pure (no ulterior motives, you know that they love Jesus & want what is best for God’s Kingdom!)
#2 – Peace Loving (if they are always looking for a fight or trying to pick one…avoid them, see Titus 3:10)
#3 – Considerate (always listen to the person whose first reaction is to give you the benefit of the doubt rather than accusing you – see I Corinthians 13:4-7)
#4 – Submissive (is their wisdom offered b/c they want you to be more submissive to the Lord or to their opinion?)
#5 – Full of Mercy (and NOT accusation and condemnation! AND…please understand that there is a HUGE difference between correction, which we all need, and condemnation! Correction is always offered in love…condemnation is offered out of the other persons desire to just hear you say, “you are right” and/or a desire to attack)
#6 – Good Fruit (what is the REASON you should listen to them, in other words, what is the fruit in their lives and in their ministry?)
#7 – Impartial (once again, they are NOT trying to get you to submit to their agenda but rather the Lord’s!)
#8 – Sincere (they are talking to you because they seriously love Jesus, love you and really do want the best for your life!)
#9 – They Are A Peacemaker (not a fight starter, II Timothy 2:23-26…also see I John 2:9-11, if they always hate, always attack and always tear down, ignore them!)
(See James 3:17-18 for the source that allowed me to write about this list!!!)