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dreaming of church // Tuesday E-Devotion

My family is enjoying some sweet time with my parents (who are pretty incredible people, if I say so myself). So, in today's devotion I am going to give you some thoughts from Perry Noble of NewSpring Church. Thats so I can join my family for a little extra time this afternoon PLUS give you some sweet thoughts about life, living and the church. This rocks, y'all. Enjoy!

(copied from two posts on Perry Noble's blog)

I have been asked before, "Why do you do what you do?" It's simpleā€“I am CONSUMED with a vision that God has placed inside of me. Understand that NewSpring was NOT my ideaā€“heck, at one time I hated church; however, God rearranged everything in my lifeā€“and once I surrendered my dreams and submitted to Hisā€¦He set me on fire!!!

Many nights I lay awake in bed and think about itā€“I talk about it with every person I canā€“HIS church, HIS brideā€¦and I want her to be radiant and shine, not sit in some closet and stay silent. I dream of a church thatā€¦

#1 - "Sinners" Love & Religious People Hate.

Where in the world did I get an idea like that? Simpleā€“JESUS...

But "sinners," the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepersā€“those people LOVED Him. He was actually looked down upon by the religious group for hanging out with "those people," but that never stopped Him. ( Matthew 9:9-13)

I want a church like thatā€“where broken people, people who feel hopeless, people who KNOW they don't have it all together, people who don't even know the difference between the OT & the NTā€¦I want a place for themā€¦and we have it in NewSpring.

I am sick and tired of people who don't know Christ being excluded and those who do know Him pretending that their poop does not stink! In many cases I have met Christians who are more screwed up that those outside of the kingdom! (And in many cases, once that is discovered in a church, they are thrown out!)

One time someone made a comment trying to tear us down that actually pumped me upā€“they said, "Yeahā€“NewSpring is that church where the sinners go!"

I understand that the way we do church is offensive to someā€¦and I am fine with that. As my friend Mark Batterson saysā€“we need to choose who we offendā€¦and given that choice, I will offend the Pharisee to reach the "sinner" every time.

Oh yeahā€¦one more thingā€¦Jesus only once directly answered a question that the Pharisees had for himā€“that is why some of you who hate me and read this site every day (which I really don't understandā€¦but hey, it's your life) and then send an e-mail never get a responseā€¦we're too busy trying to reach people for Christ! ANDā€¦if you are the person I described aboveā€¦seriously, I love you!!!

#2 - Where Life Change Takes Place

...but the bottom line with any church in my mind is life change. Jesus changes livesā€¦and if lives are not being changed in a church then maybe it is because Jesus is not thereā€“just a thought.

I want to see people meet Jesus. I want to see addicts set free. I want to see marriages restored. I want to see people fall in love with God's Word. I want to see people get their finances in order. I want to see singles marry the right personā€¦and STAY married. I want to see children raised by BOTH parents! I want to see the church be the church!!!
More about this tomorrowā€¦

#3 - Where People Understand The Message.

...It is our passion at NewSpring to make sure that if people are going to give up an hour of their time that it is worth itā€¦that they understand the messageā€¦that they can walk away with points of application. And this takes WORKā€¦it does not just "fall into place." We trust the Holy Spiritā€¦but we believe that He is at work through preparation just as much as He is through spontaneity.

If people are hearing the message but do not understand what in the heck is going onā€¦then my fear is that the applause of heaven may not be heard because lost people are not receiving Christ simply because the church has made it too difficult to understand the most simple message in history.

#4 - That Impacts The Community!

I want to see this community turned upside down for Christ! Someone once asked me how much money we give to missionsā€¦my reply was, "every single dime that comes into NewSpring is spent on missions. Anderson, SC is our missionā€¦and we will eventually begin to see serious impact across the worldā€“but not until we have IMPACTED our community."

Don't get me wrongā€“I am concerned about the kids who are starving in the worldā€“but what about the kids that are starving here in Anderson? I am concerned about the sick and the homelessā€¦but I feel that our church would by hypocritical if we sent a check off to some organization and patted ourselves on the back for itā€¦but did nothing about it right here in our own backyard...

#5 - That Grows.

I won't go into this too muchā€¦this is actually a point in my message for this Sunday. (I caught myself jumping up and down while going through the message in my office on Mondayā€¦this is one of those message where I am afraid I might pass out!!! Warning: this message will either fire you up OR make you mad!!!)

There is MUCH debate on whether a church should remain small or growā€¦and I just don't see why there IS debate after reading Scripture.

Look at the Gospelsā€¦they mention the "crowds" being around Jesus more than 100 times. What do I get out of this? Simpleā€“when Jesus shows up then crowds are attractedā€¦and once again, maybe the reason some churches do not grow is because Jesus is not there. Once again, just a thought.

I always laugh when someone asks me about Jesus losing followers as well. That did happenā€“ONCEā€“in John chapter sixā€¦and it wasn't because He wanted some small intimate Bible study so that the finer points of theology might be discussedā€¦it was after He told the crowd that they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood (foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper) - and people left because of the commitment requiredā€¦not because Jesus hated them!!!

People matter to Godā€¦and they should matter to HIS church!!!

Folksā€¦this is the dream that the Lord has given me. It is where we are heading as a body! There is a lot here that I did not include. ANDā€¦I would say to pastors and people from other churches that you have to seek the Lord and find out His dream for your churchā€¦don't waste your time attacking oursā€“remember, we love youā€“but you will be ignored!!!

Thats awesome!

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