My first thought was, “Can God say ‘whore?’” See for yourself here, God uses the word twenty times in these two books of the Bible–seven times in Ezekiel 16. I will admit while reading that chapter I became amazingly uncomfortable.

God said “whore!” Actually He inspired Jeremiah and Ezekiel to say it–which I am sure sent the bloggers of the day into action, calling them “irreverent” and saying that God has nothing to do with their ministry.

After studying this for a while I thought of a few other instances where God led someone to say something that definitely caused a religious eyebrow to raise.

Take for example what Jesus said in Matthew 23:33-36 Jesus called the religious leaders of the day “snakes,” which was a MAJOR insult in that time period. Why? Think back to Genesis chapter three when satan first appeared on scene…what form did he take? Yep–a snake! That is why, when Jesus called them snakes He was actually calling them the devil…amazing. Can Jesus really say something like that? (You can also check out Matthew 23:15, wow, can Jesus say that?)

And then there’s good ‘ole Paul…what he said in Galatians 5:12 in regards to those insisting on circumcision actually makes me cringe and blush at the same time…he actually said that he wished those obsessed with the religious ritual of circumcision would actually cut off their…uh…their…uh…well, you get the picture.
Can God say that? I mean, Paul said it–but we all agree that the Scriptures were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, right? (II Peter 1:20-22)

So…God said “whore,” called religious leaders “snakes” and told religious people to basically go ahead and cut it off. WOW! So much for the safe, tame and predictable God that most churches portray.

What am I saying with this post? Simple–there are times that a speaker is called to say things that will shock and offend people…and that is ok. I don’t personally think a speaker should ever try to be shocking just for the sake of doing so…but I do believe, according to Scripture, that there are times when controversial and bold statements need to be made! (Like this summer when Steven preached at NewSpring and said, “To hell with spaghetti suppers!”)

I’ve used strong language in the past…and it has caused a stir. Once I remember saying that I believe college students need to stop praying for purity and instead stop sticking their hands down each others pants. It was amazingly uncomfortable…I remember a mother of a middle school student approaching me and asking if that was necessary & that she was concerned about her middle school child hearing things like that. I told her that if her child was in middle school he needed to hear that more than anyone in the room!

Another time I stole a line from Mark Driscoll and said that men need to step up and lead their families and stop watching porn…that we are called to charge the gates of hell and that it is incredible difficult to charge hell with our pants around our ankles, a bottle of lotion in one hand and a box of Kleenex in the other.

Oh wow! The next week I got about seven e-mails/phone calls telling me that my comment was inappropriate. Right! Because men don’t struggle with that issue AT ALL!!!

I think it is time that more pastors stepped up with confidence and said exactly what God told them to say. Once again, we should never try to shock or offend people–BUT if we are faithful to speak God’s Word then people will be shocked and offended…just ask the people who were called whores and told go go and cut their…well…you know…

HEY! Don’t get mad at me…God said it! Tell Him that He has a potty mouth if you dare! Seriously, go ahead…explain to Him that He is irreverent in His use of “crude” language to get His point across. Want to? I didn’t think so!

Pastors…my advice on this (for what it’s worth), study the Scriptures, pray like crazy, listen to God and then speak with authority. You WILL offend someone…either the people because you speak truth, OR, you will offend God in an attempt to keep the religious comfortable.

The choice is yours.

For those who do not go to the link…basically the story indicates that a Savannah based company just completed an install of a lighting system totaling around $250,000. It would not have bothered me except for the fact that is happens to be the 7th most e-mailed story on their site today.

Why did this frustrate me?  A couple of reasons…

#1 – The article is partially true. This company did indeed install our lighting…and our lighting budget in our new facility was around $250,000. That part is true…

#2 – What they did not say in the article is that the install took place 14 months ago when we built the facility.

In other words–our church did NOT just spend a quarter of a million dollars on new lighting.  While I do celebrate the fact that our church made the paper I felt the need to communicate the facts listed above so that those who might have questions about a purchase like this could understand that this is not something that just took place.

What I DO hope our local paper covers is the fact that our youth group is about to move from the facility at Anderson Mall (which we have outgrown) to another rented facility that is going to be MUCH larger…now that will be a story!  :-)

BUT…I will say that people from other churches HAVE came to NewSpring…and they have joined…but to my knowledge it was by their own choice.  Seriously–we didn’t “take” anyone.

I do have two thoughts on the accusation of “stealing” church members…

#1 – Why is it that if someone leaves NewSpring and goes to another church then God must have moved their heart…but if someone leaves their church and comes to NewSpring it is because we are thieves?  Things that make you go hmmm.

#2 – We have seen “churched” people come to NewSpring…people who have been in church all of their lives…and guess what is happening to many of them–THEY ARE ACCEPTING CHRIST!!!  It has been an amazing discovery–we have noticed that while many churches have obsessed with who to ordain, predestination, the rapture and the boycott of Disney…they neglected this ONE thing…JESUS!  Maybe if MORE churches would preach Jesus and His Word then people would be drawn there…lives would be changed…and God’s kingdom would be enlarged!

Just a thought…

BUT–like it or not…that comment seems to pop up every once in a while. So, last week I began doing some research–and I came up with some common characteristics of cults. You know what was shocking–it seems that NewSpring doesn’t actually have any cult like characteristics…but there are TONS of churches that do–let me explain.

#1 – In a cult everyone is expected to talk, look, act and believe the same thing–at NewSpring (and churches like us) there are people from different walks of life and different backgrounds–and that is ok.

Seriously, this past Sunday morning I saw a guy in a suit sitting next to a guy with piercings and tattoos & had this thought, “Only at NewSpring.” (In most cases the guy in a suit would be a visitor and the other guy would be on staff!) :-)

We are not loyal to a particular denomination, nor do we identify ourselves with a particular brand of theology. (Hi, I am Perry…and I am a reformed, Southern Baptist, fire baptized, pre-tribulation King James version only pastor, would you like to come to my church?)

We have people at NewSpring who are Democrats…and then some who are Republicans. We have some who believe in predestination and then some who do not. We have some who love to dress up and some who wear flip flops year around…but we gather under the same roof and worship the same Jesus every single week!

You do not have to believe the same on every identical issue–but loving Jesus with all your heart and loving one another–yeah, that’s what its all about.

Now I could drive you to some churches where everyone in there looks the same, believes the same, uses the same language–wow–sound kind of cult like to me.

#2 – In a cult people strive to keep things the way they are–at NewSpring we embrace the fact that God is wanting to do new things.

If you study cults you will understand that a key motivation in beginning them is so that the people involved can hold on to a certain aspect of society and/or religion. Change is NEVER embraced in a cult, EVER…and anyone who tries to change the way things are usually wind up cast outside of the cult–or even worse–killed. (Remind you of a church or two?) :-)

BUT here at NewSpring–it is our passion to embrace that God does not change in regards to His character, the Bible says in Hebrews 13:8 that He never changes; however, His methods often change. Take a look in Scripture and you will discover that He does old things in new ways many times. Our God is NOT locked into a formula…and because of that we are not either. That is why we are free to do what it takes to reach people where they are!

#3 – A cult’s main concern are those who are insiders while NewSpring’s main concern is those who do not know Christ.

I remember preaching my guts out in a church one time, talking about how we needed to grow and reach that community for Christ. After the service a lady approached me and said, “Perry–we don’t want that here, we love one another and new people coming in would only mess up what we’ve got.”

That was the FIRST time it ever occurred to me that some people do not give a damn about people who do not know Christ. (See…some of you are guilty–you are WAY more bothered by my use of the word damn than you are about your friends who do not know Jesus!!!)

There are churches all over America who do not want to grow because it will “mess up things.” Looks like a cult to me!

However, here at NewSpring we are passionate about those who do not know Christ. We believe that heaven and hell are REAL places…and we want as many people as possible to have a relationship with Jesus and know what eternal life is all about. So in order to do that we want to reach more and more people–and we are willing to do whatever it takes to see that happen.

#4 – A cult is passionate about man-made rules…and NewSpring is passionate about Scripture.
If you study cults there are MANY that will say they are Christian…but then they have added sayings, books and teachings on top of the Bible. (The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witness are examples) We often look at them…but we neglect to see that churches do this same thing–make up man-made rules such as…

• Women should not wear make-up
• Men should have short hair (Hmmm…every picture of Jesus I see has Him with long hair!)
• You can’t listen to non-Christian music
• You can not watch television
• You must wear a suit or dress to church on Sunday
• “First, second and last verse only…”
• An invitation should be issued at EVERY church service
• Staff members must have a seminary degree

You get the picture–many of you have heard these before…and there is only really one problem with them–THEY ARE NOT IN SCRIPTURE!

Here at NewSpring our answer to the questions we receive is, “What does the Bible say?” I believe that the Bible is the complete and inerrant Word of God…but I do not believe it should be added to or taken away from–that pretty much ticks God off!

SO…is NewSpring a cult? Nope…our focus is on Jesus Christ, His Word and people who do not know Him. And for those who would call us a cult…I would take a look at my church first…it may be that you are actually the ones with kool-aid stained lips.