Another Reason I Think Perry Noble ROCKS!

Not that he needs my approval or accolades... but I was excited to see Perry's take on women in ministry....

Joyce Meyer - One Of Five Leaders I Would Love To Meet With

Posted: 31 Mar 2009 04:09 AM PDT

#2 - Joyce Meyer

I personally think that Joyce Meyer is one of the most gifted and generous leaders on the planet today…and there is much I could learn from her.

Seriously, every person I get around who knows her always seem to have the same two things to say…

Number One – she has integrity like no one has ever seen! (BTW…she was listed by congress as one of the people they were investigating in the religious world as someone who potentially mismanaged their income. THAT got a lot of attention! BUT…what didn’t get reported was that she was found to be innocent of any type of financial mishandlings…THAT wasn’t reported!)

Number Two – she is incredibly generous!

I think I could learn a lot from her and would love to know how she developed such a generous spirit…and how she continually walks in integrity.

I know, I know…some of you are FREAKING OUT right now and saying, “But Perry, she’s a woman in the ministry and I don’t agree with…”

Stop it!

AND…I need to say one thing before moving on…I know there are people from various church backgrounds that have a problem with my desire to learn from Joyce…they say women should always be silent in the church and have no right to lead in any capacity whatsoever—which I find incredibly hypocritical.

After all, if it were not for the WOMEN in the church the past 100 years…we would have been screwed. THEY taught Sunday school, THEY served countless hours, THEY did what no one else was willing to do…while most of the men sat on their “blessed assurance” and did nothing!

Whether you agree with her “calling” or her “theology”…one thing that you cannot disagree with is the fact that Jesus is using her to reach thousands of people…and anyone who is having Kingdom impact is someone I would like to learn from!

Terminology or Transformation

After listening to Bishop Miller preach at Affecting Destiny 09 in Oklahoma City, I just HAD to repost Perry Noble's post from yesterday... as Bishop said, and Perry implies... I know who I am in Christ and no one function will ever define who I am in HIM!

I would encourage you to go nightly to the link above and take part in AD 09 in OKC... it WILL bless you and challenge you!

Terminology Or Transformation? Posted: 17 Mar 2009 04:17 AM PDT People ask me all of the time, “What kind of church is NewSpring?” (Actually..some don’t ask…they assume to know…they always make us smile!) Got to be honest…that question BOTHERS me because, well, here in America we like to be able to define things…to label them…to stick them in a category. But tagging and labeling the church is impossible when it ceases to be obsessed with terminology and begins to desire transformation. A move of God can’t be explained…or defined…or categorized. So what are we? Dang…I think we are all of the following… TRADITIONAL - We hold to the traditions of Scripture, we believe the Bible IS the Word of God, that Jesus was born of a virgin, He lived a sinless life, that He took our place on the cross and died for our sins to make us right with God, we believe in His resurrection, we believe in a literal heaven and hell…we believe God is Sovereign and reigns!!! SEEKER FRIENDLY - It amuses (and saddens) me when people use this as a term to attack the church–what in the heck are we supposed to be–seeker hostile? (Many churches are!!!) We believe people seek God because He draws them to Himself…and when they walk into our church we do try hard to make sure the environment is FRIENDLY! We want people to want to come back…and so we do all that we can, knowing that we will fall short if not for the mercy of God’s grace using our efforts for HIS glory! EMERGING - (notice the ING!) We believe the churches best days are ahead of her, NOT behind her. We believe that the local church is the greatest possibility for change that exists in the world today. We believe that Acts 2 was ONLY THE BEGINNING of all that God wants to do. And we refuse to worship the past or get caught up in the present…we are HUNGRY for the future and desperate to see the name of JESUS CHRIST take preiminence in HIS CHURCH and the world once again! MISSIONAL - It blows me away when a church leader defines their church as “missional.” I always want to say, “YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FREAKIN MISSIONAL!!! BUT…remember, the mission is not to organize the group to do nice things for people APART from the Gospel (so they can feel good about themselves!) BUT…rather to fulfill the GREAT COMMISSION by taking the Gospel to the world…beginning in the community in which you are planted. (A church misses the point when it will travel across the ocean to reach people…but won’t go across the street.) We understand that we are called to be a catalyst for change in the communities in which Jesus planted us! By the way…IF a church is missional it doesn’t need to say that it is…everyone knows! ATTRACTIONAL - Call us guilty…but we actually think it is a good thing that more and more people want to come back to church. When a restaurant attracts more business people call it successful…when a church does there are actually idiots out there that call it compromise. WOW…could it be we value food more than church? As I said earlier…we do want people to come back…we think the environment should be clean, the kids area should be safe, the music should be done well and expectations should be exceeded–every week! BTW…exceeding someone’s expectations in church would ISN’T that difficult. The church set the bar so low for so long (and then kept crawling under it) that when people see a church that seems to care about what they do…they are amazed! PURPOSE DRIVEN - We have a purpose…we want hell to be less crowded because we exist as a church. We want to see marriages restored. We want to see teenagers and children embrace God’s plan for their lives. We want to see addicts set free. We want to see the excluded included. We want to see people escape the pain of their past. We want…well…I could go on and on. We have a purpose…and it’s not to be a country club with a steeple on top that gives our community the middle finger and tells them to go to hell because reaching them would make us uncomfortable! Folks, I hope you see how silly terminology really is. We are all of these things…and yet we are none of them at the same time. Why don’t we just call ourselves what JESUS called us…THE CHURCH! We are HIS church…we are called to take HIS name to a world that NEEDS HIM. We need to focus on BECOMING a movement instead of trying to label ourselves as one. Terminology will change…the Gospel will not…and “church” has worked pretty darn good for around 2,000 years. STOP trying to “improve” what God established as essential! There…rant over…that felt good. I can’t afford therapy…thus one of the reasons I blog! :-)

Four Arguments You Just Can't Win Pt 4 Perry Noble

Part 4 of Perry Noble's series on "Four Arguments You Just Can't Win"...

Four Arguments You Just Can’t Win - Part Four Posted: 12 Dec 2008 05:27 AM CST Final post on this! #4 - Your Church Is Too Entertaining. I ALWAYS reply, “should the church be more entertaining…or boring?” One of the definitions of entertainment is to hold ones attention for a specific amount of time…and if that is what I am being accused of then I am GUILTY AS CHARGED!!! God often used EXTREME language AND unique circumstances to get people’s attention in Scripture…I think we, as His church, should be willing to do the same. NOW…the KEY here is to not allow the tail to wag the dog. A church service should never begin with, “I’ve got a really cool video idea…let’s design a church service around it.” The CENTRAL driving force in a church should be the Scriptures. However, placed around the preaching should be our BEST…our best music, video, greeters, children’s workers…EVERYTHING! We should go all out every week to offer up our best…and BEG God to make up the difference. Every week we are going to preach the Gospel at NewSpring Church…AND we are going to do our best to make sure that the experience is something that people want to bring their friends and family members to. Some people may argue that, because of the planning and preparation that goes into a service that there is no room for the Holy Spirit…two things to keep in mind here… #1 - I think the Holy Spirit works THROUGH the planning and preparation process!!!! I know I’ve seen Him do so. And… #2 - There should ALWAYS be room in a church service for Him to move and blow everything up…which He often does!!! Saying all of that…our Christmas services are going to be incredible. We are planning like crazy and preparing one of the most creative presentations we’ve ever been led to design… HOWEVER, we are also BEGGING GOD to show up and make up the difference. Prayer and preparation are NOT supposed to work in opposition to one another…but in harmony! YES, Christmas services WILL be entertaining…and lives will be changed! I can’t wait!!!

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Four Arguments You Just Can't Win Pt 3 Perry Noble

And here is part 3 to Perry Noble's series on Four Arguments You Just Can't Win...

This one is one all pastors have or will hear at some point. Perry has some great wisdom and insight on this based on how New Spring approaches discipleship... we ain't talking cloning folks!

Four Arguments You Just Can’t Win - Part Three

Here’s the third…

#3 - Your Church Doesn’t Disciple Anyone.

Ever heard this one? Once again…look at WHO it usually comes from…a guy who ISN’T actually discipling anyone himself…but LOVES to sit around and complain about what he perceives to be a problem.

This may sound a lot like the last post I did not this…but, ANYTIME someone asks me to define what making a disciple is they usually just look at me with a blank stare. AND…when I push them on it they finally admit that a disciple is usually someone who acts and thinks JUST LIKE THEM!!! (Which is the pinnacle of arrogance!)

Anytime I hear this argument I think about the story in Acts 8:26-40 where Phillip led the Ethopian eunech to Christ…and then BAM, the Bible says God took Phillip away! OBVIOUSLY God doesn’t care about discipleship because he didn’t tell the eunech to immerse himself into a culture that ignores the world.

Should we desire to grow in our faith? ABSOLUTELY! Should the church provide an environment for that to take place in? Once again, ABSOLUTELY!

HOWEVER, it is not the churches job to MAKE people grow…but rather to provide the environments for it.

Every Sunday at NewSpring Church it is our goal in every sermon to either…

#1 - Teach someone something they did not know…

#2 - Remind them of something they have forgotten…

AND…

#3 - Challenge them to take action based on what they learned.

THAT, in our minds, is discipleship. If people are reminded or learn 52 news things every single year and follow through on them…they are changed…and so is the world they live in!

Sure, we do other things as well…groups, volunteer teams, taking an offering (all a part of discipleship)…but, in my opinion, we make the process of discipleship WAY too complicated!

Paul dealt with this in Acts 15 (great story)…and Acts 15:19 is one of the most descriptive verses on what the responsibility of the church is when it comes to discipling…we should NOT make it difficult…but rather do our best to assist people in taking their next steps…which are usually difficult without the church even getting involved.

One more thing on this…the person who usually throws this argument out there will also say things like, “I’m not being fed!” Which actually is a reflection of their pitiful spiritual condition!!!

You see, when Charisse was a little girl, I fed her. She is now 17 months old…and I place the food in front of her and she eats it. In a year or so she will be able to go to the fridge and get her own food…THAT is simply a sign of her maturity.

The same is true spiritually. When someone first comes to Christ we should invest heavily in them. As time goes on we should consistently place the food in front of them. (We do this every Sunday). And then, one day, we should hope that they actually open up the Bible and feed themselves.

Arguments You Can't Win (Pt 2) Perry Noble

Part 2 from Perry Noble's four part-er on Arguments You Can't Win....

This is one argument that like the previous argument in Part 1 that I have heard and just don't care to waste time discussing. I am not "deep" as in confusing... I am very practical and break it down. My husband has always told me not to worry because Jesus wasn't "deep" in that sense either... that is why he told parables (stories)... so I guess I am in great company! Enjoy!


Four Arguments You Just Can’t Win - Part Two

Continuing this series…

#2 - You Are Not Deep Enough!

We’ve all heard this one…and it used to bother me! Seriously, I have always tried and tried to show people how practical and real the Scriptures are…I prepare like crazy and study a ton…and so when someone used to say this I really took it personally…until…

I actually began looking at the type of person who said this.

They were usually someone who was OBSESSED with INFORMATION but cared very little about TRANSFORMATION!

SO…I began asking them this question whenever they brought this complaint, “Can you define ‘DEEP’ for me?”

What I usually get are blank stares and a lot of stuttering. No one, I mean NO ONE has EVER been able to define “deep!” SO…I realized that I was allowing other people to hold me captive to a standard that they could not even define! Folks, that pretty much makes that argument one you just can’t win.

Two things before I leave this one alone…

What MANY people mean when they say “deep” is actually “confusing.” They want me to teach line by line, verse by verse (something Jesus never actually did) and say REALLY obscure things and REALLY big words…and then GLOAT that they actually understood some of the sermon…and look down on those who didn’t

Our job is not to confuse people…but to preach Jesus Christ, the GOSPEL…and when presented in its most simple and purest form, God uses it to change lives.

The second thing I noticed about this person is that they usually aren’t actively doing anything for Christ. They think the more they know the more like Christ they are becoming. Which actually isn’t true at all…NO ONE knows more ABOUT Christ than satan, yet he doesn’t follow through on what he knows! SO…the person who knows what they should be doing but suppress that by saying they want to go “deeper” and know more aren’t actually becoming more like Jesus…but rather they are becoming more like satan!!!

Pastors, we are responsible to teach WHATEVER and HOWEVER God leads us to teach! And if people aren’t satisfied by our “depth” and “wisdom” then we’ve GOT to be okay with that; after all, MOST of us are educated WAY beyond our level of obedience anyway.

OR…as I once heard someone say, “it’s not the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that bother me…it’s the parts that I do understand that bother me!”

We can spend our lives trying to impress those already in the Kingdom with our knowledge…OR by trying to reach those far from God by simply explaining the Gospel! I’m going with the Gospel…EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!

Awesome, awesome stuff!!! I just had to do a re-print!!!