My Take on Perry Noble and NewSpring Church (2.0)

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I want to thank the now nearly 15,000 of you that read my last blog posts on My take on Perry Noble and  NewSpring Church. The response has been overwhelming with comments of your various opinions and ideas on my thoughts. I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I want to invite you to be a regular reader of this Blog.

I also want to let you know that not every one of my posts will be a commentary on NewSpring Church, however I did feel led to write this follow up.  The vast majority of comments to my first post were positive, but there were some negative as well.  I respect the right of everyone to have their own opinion. Whenever I formulate an opinion, I always like to get my information from the direct source. If you choose to read the things I have written you will find that I am like that with my writing and my Bible reading. Often times it has been my experience that people hear and read what they want to, and many times critical context is ignored. I want to also reiterate that I have no dog in the NewSpring "fight, I am by all accounts as I said an outside observer.

Now with that said, if you will recall in my last post I concluded by saying that "I have no problem disagreeing or  even opposing someone on hard fact theological errors".  It is very spiritually ironic to me that shortly before I posted my blog that Perry Noble preached a message on Christmas eve that at least part of which I do disagree with. Before I share those with you, I know that some people are getting their critical information from an article written in which claims that Perry Rescinded the 10 commandments. I intentionally have delayed my response to this so I could watch the Dec 24th message and his Jan 4 message in order to hear the context (I suggest you do the same).

In Perry's December 24th message there were in my opinion 3 points of contention, that I will address.

The first of which were Perry's comment on there being no Hebrew word for "Command". He stated that the 10 commandments could better be called the 10 promises. My response to this is No and yes. There is actually a word for commandment in Hebrew, but at the same time the 10 commandments are often referred to in Hebrew at the 10 Sayings, the 10 words, as well as the 10 matters. He used them as the 10 promises. In my opinion he could have worded this better. I also believe the 10 commandments are commands  because the law drives us to the savior. A wise man once said " the Commandments are like a mirror that shows us the stubble on our face. We don't take the mirror down and shave with it, rather it drives us to pick the razor"  The commandments show my need for a savior.

Secondly during the course of the message he (according to his own words) used the N word inadvertently. I had to listen to it 3 times to hear it.  I honestly don't believe he meant to say that, and he apologized for it in his address on Jan. 4. I know that in the course of my speaking, I have gotten jumbled and said words that I didn't mean to say.

Thirdly, people have said that he rescinded or rewrote the commandments. I don't think that is what he did at all. What I saw in the video was Perry quoting the commandment and then saying it in his own words. There were some of his points I thought he did a great job on an others I think he did not do so great on. I think he could have re framed that message better, and I attribute that to his (by his own admittance) lack of preparation.

With all of that said, what concerns me most is the exuberance of some in the christian community who seem over zealous to see this man and this church fall. Do I agree with everything that Perry Noble says? Absolutely not, and I'll let you in on a big secret. There are very (few if any) pastors and theologians that I agree with 100% of the time. Let me give you some examples. 

-TD Jakes and I would disagree  on the Trinity and how one receives the Holy Spirit. Does that mean that I think he is not a man of God? Absolutely not!
- The Duck Dynasty crew and I disagree on baptism. They believe baptism is essential for salvation. I believe baptism is a step of obedience. Do I think they are lost for saying that. I do not.
- John Piper doesn't believe that Jesus came to die for everyone. I believe that He came to die for every single person on the planet. Does that mean he is not a man of God. I don't think so.
-Perry Noble messes up in a single message by saying a word he shouldn't and frames his message in a manner that was hurried and hurt the meaning. Does that make him a heretic? I think not.

It stuns me  how the positives of that message have been totally ignored. I can say this with all integrity of heart. There are very precious few people that I have seen, that care more about people coming to Jesus than Perry Noble. It is evident in his demeanor that he passionately and sincerely desires people to trust Christ. I watched that invitation he gave that night. I did not see manipulation, but rather passionate concern for the lost to be saved. It is my understanding that over 200 indicated they trusted Christ that night.

I pray in my own life that God would fan such a desire in me to care about where people spend eternity. There seems to be such an arrogance and meanness in our dealings with one another. Jesus said "they will know we are Christians by our love for one another". Sometimes I wonder if they do? There seems to be an ominous recruitment to get people into one theological camp or the other. As for me, I have decided to take the advice of one of my Mentors. He said: "Chris in church life, people will ask you what camp you are in. Always remember, Jesus called you to go Fishing, not camping".

Forever Fishing,

Chris Wells

"I love YOUR Church" My take on Perry Noble and NewSpring Church

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I recently read a blog by NewSpring pastor Perry Noble on 10 convictions he has about the Church. Two of the points of his blog caused such a stir in the Christian community that he was led to do a couple of follow up posts on those positions. For years now I have watched the interesting impact that NewSpring has had on churches, ministers , and the culture around my area and beyond. I wanted to blog and comment on some of the things I have seen.

Now with that said, I want to say upfront that I do not have a dog in this fight! I do not attend NewSpring Church , and I am by all accounts an outsider looking in. I have found however that sometimes the perspective of an outsider can be quite helpful and enlightening. I certainly hope that this is the case here.

I remember sitting in a meeting with a group of people about 11 years ago when one of them talked about a new church his daughter was attending. He said "its called Newspring Church, and is primarily attended by college students from the Anderson SC area". One of the others in the room answered with a chuckle and said "well that won't last. Good luck in getting those college students to tithe" Fast forward 11 years and that small Church has an average attendance of over 32,000 weekly and was voted as one of the 10 most influential churches in the world. The impact that NewsSpring Church has had is astounding in my opinion, and is unlike anything I have observed in my lifetime. In 2013 the South Carolina Baptist convention reported NewSpring baptized 6,551 people. If this number doesn't impress you let me put in in perspective. Of the 19,477 people baptized that year, 1 Church accounted for 33% of the total. The next closest Church had 206 baptisms to NewSprings 6,551!

After seeing this information, if you were using the principles of the now old Experiencing God Bible study by Henry Blackaby, certainly you would think that "look what God is doing and join Him" would be the order of the day here. Surprisingly, at least from an outsider looking in, that is not the case. It is quite the opposite as a matter of fact. I hear more criticism concerning NewSpring Church than any other 10 churches combined. If you type in the name Perry Noble on YouTube there are series videos of pastors across the nation from as far as Arizona that bash the ideals, teaching, and principles of Perry Noble. I myself am a speaker and evangelist, and about every where I go I hear people that take the opportunity to complain about NewSpring Church. In the list below I will share some of the things I have seen and heard, and what my experience has been.

1) Perry Noble preaches an easy believe ism and waters down the gospel. I hear this one a lot, so I took the time to listen to some (not all) of his messages. I also went through their statement of beliefs on their website including those on salvation. This is what I heard and read. It starts with Jesus. He loves me and wants to change my life. I have a problem called sin. Sin separates me from God. Jesus came to live a perfect life for me. I need to repent of my sins and turn to Him in faith. Trusting what He did for me on the cross. Then I need to follow Him. Hmmmm I have heard that somewhere before. It was in the Bible. Maybe its because they don't scream it, or they say it with concern, but that sounds pretty good to me.

2) NewSpring Creates Decision makers not converts. In today's Christian culture that seems to be a very dominant issue with today's theologians and ministers. I always wondered who appointed them as value judges on people's conversions? Do I believe that everyone who prays a prayer is converted? Certainly not. However lets look at it this way. Suppose out of the 6,551 people that were baptized at NewSprings that 6,200 were not truly converted. That would mean that only 351 were genuine. That would still be 145 more than the second most baptisms in the state of South Carolina. Wow!

3) NewSpring is just sheep swapping. (They take our church members.) I think this is the criticism that I hear the most about NewSpring. I am not on a church staff presently, but I served on several for over 15 years, and I assure you that church members going to the "Hot" church did not start with NewSpring. Church members have been doing this for many many years, long before NewSpring came around. I looked around their website, and listened to many messages and I have not seen or heard anyone from NewSpring advocate "leave your church and come to ours". Have I been invited to attend NewSpring? Yes I have, and in turn I can say that in my life I have invited many churched and unchurched people to my church. Wouldn't it be cool if we just got excited that at least someone cared enough to invite us TO church?

4) People just come for the show!- This one has always perplexed me. Let me explain. I wonder how many people in the Bible woke up and said "Hey lets go see Jesus and get saved!" I was not there but I bet it was more like. "Hey lets go see this guy who raises people from the dead and ticks the Pharisees off!!" In Jesus' day, He was the show! There was no tv, celebrities, college football, or Duck Dynasty to watch! My point is that even though people may have come to see the show. They ended up following Jesus. Faith comes by hearing, and you can't hear unless you are there.

5) People that go their just get lost in the crowd- (It doesn't lend itself to living out truth.) I am going to answer this one by telling you about some friends of mine who attend NewSpring. Their names are Randy and Carla Morrison. During Perry Nobles overwhelmed series, Randy was challenged by Perry's preaching to put action to his faith (Book of James). He has a care group who helps assimilate new converts into the "following Christ life". One day Randy met "Angel". Angel was a gang banger that had been kicked out of his house by a grand mom who could not handle his drug using lifestyle. While in school one day, another student asked Angel to come to NewSpring with him. He told Angel he would give him a ride not only to youth group, but to school everyday. Angel attend the "Gauntlet" service and gave his life to Christ. Enter Randy and Carla Morrison. When Angel told Randy he wanted to get out of the drug life, Randy began to check into Angel's life. He found out Angel at 17 was living by himself in a motel. He was only supported by the money from his brother (another great story) and the money he could sell from drugs. Randy embarked on finding Angel help. After a month of searching Randy found out there was not help for Angel. God spoke to his heart and said; "you are his help"! Randy and Carla Morrison took Angel into their home to live with them. He is a part of their family now. I don't know about you, but that sure does sound like living out your faith to me!


In conclusion I want to say that I have no problem with disagreeing or even opposing someone on hard fact theological errors and differences. However when the opposition stems from insecurity, jealousy, envy and speculative opinion we can be sure that these things are from the sinful nature. Do I think NewSpring is a perfect Church with a perfect pastor. No I don't. I also don't believe that Church will exist until it is taken up as the Bride of Christ. I'll tell you this. If your Church is about Jesus being the only way to get to God. If your Church brings Him glory. If your Church invites the lost to know Him. If your Church believes the Bible speaks to real life! If your Church brings you into the presence of the living God.

I love Your Church!




**Follow Chris Wells on twitter @Basschaplain