It'll make you think...

I follow several blogs during a given week and Pastor Perry Noble from Newspring church tops my list - especially this week. Both in his writing and his preaching Perry holds nothing back - as long as it's from God - he's not afraid to talk about a topic because it's 'taboo' in the church.

That being said he's had a couple of great posts on things this week and I wanted to share just a handful. Check out Perry's blog if you want the full lists and even more writings by this great leader.

From his post titled: "8 Reasons Some Churches Do Not Grow" ~

- #1 – The Vision Is Not Clear - If people don’t know where a church is supposed to be going…then it will attempt to go everywhere and eventually wind up nowhere.

- #6 – Unwillingness To Take Risks – When our focus becomes to play it safe rather than to do whatever it takes to reach people far from God…it’s over. NOWHERE in the Scriptures did God ever ask anyone to do anything that didn’t involved an “oh crap” moment. We’ve GOT to be willing to embrace the uncertain if we want to see the unbelievable.

- #7 – Disobedience To The Scriptures – Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, II Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 19:10…I could go on and on…but we MUST understand that Jesus didn’t come to earth, live here for 33 years years, give HIS life for us and then return back to heaven to intercede for us so that we could get in really little circles and talk about ourselves and condemn those who are not as good as us. We are called to REACH PEOPLE FOR GOD–PERIOD!

From his post "12 Things Leaders Need To Realize" ~

- #1 – As long as we are listening to God…we will always have a word to speak! STOP worrying about the sermon!

- #7 – We should learn to rest and catch our breath instead of being compulsive and controlling…for in resting in Him our strength is renewed! (See Isaiah 30:15)

- #12 – We’ve GOT to have people around us who WILL speak TRUTH into our lives…even if it hurts. (Proverbs 27:6) We can’t listen to EVERYBODY…but if we listen to NOBODY then we (and the people we lead) are in trouble!


So there you have it - some inspiring thoughts from Perry - I really hope you'll go check out the rest of his lists!

Blessings this Friday,
~C