NYWC- LA BIG ROOM 2: PERRY NOBLE + DAVID CROWDER BAND
By Ryan Smith on September 26 2009
<
- When I look at the church today I see a big breakdown between youth ministry and the church
- Some of you feel like an overly glorified babysitter and no one understands how important your job is
- I believe the reason I am here today is to say “You Matter”
- God is using you to shape the future of the church- you need to understand it so you can do it
4 PRAYERS FOR YOUTH MINISTRY
#1 I pray the church will begin to pay attention to youth ministry. (Acts 20:7 )
- They are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today!
- Youth Ministry is the ripest field on the planet
- Why? We have treated them like 2nd class citizens for 18 years
- A teenager was sitting in the back of this “church” in Acts 20 and died.
- Perry’s first Youth Ministry in the Budget was $500.00-
- The church nickles and dimes the youth ministry – the church doesn’t ask its senior citizens to sell donuts when they want to go on a trip
- Mature people give up their rights so immature people can grow.
- Students need leaders who submit to Jesus.
- Not of these students can relate to superman.
- Students need leaders who are not trying to be Rob Bell (don’t buy the glasses or record 8 minute videos).
- Perry just admitted to a 790 SAT score COMBINED.
- The problem with ministry is we are basing it on IMITATION not REVELATION (referring to copying another ministry models and curriculum)
- People are leaving churches because there is no bible and no Jesus- anyone who tells you differently is lying
- Paul never stopped preaching- he never took his eyes off Jesus
- Danger #1 We only teach morality- don’t watch R movies, don’t listen to secular music= creating weird social misfits
- Teach the world and dominate the world with the gospel
- Danger #2 We compromise because we want a big cool crowd-
- If we don’t teach Jesus our ministry is “crap and cinnamon sticks”
- Danger #3 We push a personal agenda: Jesus didn’t die for our agenda.
- I am all about recycling but Jesus is coming back to to blow the planet up.
- Numbers matter- each one represents a life in the midst of changing.
- There are some people here who are thinking about quitting: Jesus has been through it and he didn’t quite.
- “If only I had big lights and building, budget” when we say we are going to quit we say Jesus, the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit are not enough.
- Pentecost Acts 2 there were no fog machines and lights
- Senators serve and impact for decades, Church leaders serve and impact eternity- who is more important?
Discussion:
- What are some of your prayers for youth ministry? the church?
- What are some practical ways we can practice stewardship, foundation, submission, and attention?
- What do you think the average youth ministry in America needs to go to the next level?
Comments
From Chris Johnson on September 26, 2009
Perry Noble was entertaining but his message was anything but well thought out. He talked about numbers should never matter if you are teaching about Jesus and then talked about how much number matter. He also talked about how much we need to DEMAND the church expand the youth budget and then said be happy with what you got.
I was most put off by the idea that you should say put no matter how bad it seems. If many of the kids (young people) working in youth ministry take that to heart the may be setting them selves up for abuse. Staying when the kids are tough is one thing staying when you have a congregation treating you like less than a human is another. Or cutting your pay below what is needed to survive is outright unbiblical!
I think he made some good points but if he is going to take his role as a leader serious he needs to put a ton more thought into what he is going to say.
——-
From Richard Jones on September 26, 2009
I agree with much of what Chris said. It seems to me that Perry’s only qualification to speak to us is that he’s got a big church. The talk about numbers also left me cold. He was very entertaining, but I would like a little more. Where’s Campolo? Where’s Mark Yaconelli? I also would have loved to hear Mike King. I know, we could have given David Crowder more time! By the way, what I like about Crowder (besides his music) is that he is REAL.
From Paul on September 26, 2009
I am not there, but who ever took notes did a good job of leaving out the bad stuff. It also struck me as a talk that could have been given ten years or 100 years ago. I don’t know if he covered any new ground. Best line for me was
“The problem with ministry is we are basing it on IMITATION not REVELATION (referring to copying another ministry)”
It also sounds from the talk , they chose him because he is the Anti-Campolo and speaks more to the red meat base.
One last note: someone should proof read the notes :) Thanks for your hard work.
From Kent on September 26, 2009
I thought he made some very good points but as was mentioned a few things did trouble me. The whole numbers thing, basing it on being mentioned in Revelation, the Gospel account of the rejoicing in heaven over one person coming to faith, was a stretch for me.
I also thought his statement that God is going to blow up the whole earth in the end so lets not get too worked up over taking care of it disheartening. I am by no means and environmental activist but come on! To me that is a cop out and also depends on your theological slant. I for one think that God is in the business of recreation and regeneration. So perhaps the new earth will be the process of our current earth being made right and whole again.
I think he was overall not too bad and his comment on revelation over imitation was bang on.
From rsmith on September 27, 2009
Thanks Paul for the encouragement- the notes are put up in a pretty rough form after the session so leaders will at least have access to it- we review it again in the morning!
From Dan on September 27, 2009
I am a little bummed how critical you are all being and how you are kind of taking the numbers thing out of context. The first time when Perry talked about numbers he was talking about not trying to “attract” people by doing amazing “fluff” things. He talked about the importance of teaching the Word and not trying to just be buddy buddy all the time. He talked about the importance of accountability and how it was about time people stepped up and looked a student in the face and told them that something they were doing was not okay. The numbers came in to play when he talked about how we should not worry if our numbers go down because of that. The fact that we are standing firm in what Scripture says and what God desires from his believers.
The second time he talked about numbers he referred to the angels rejoicing when one person comes to know the Lord. We have a strong youth network in our community and have about 15 youth groups represented every Tuesday. We had a hard time with a mega church vs. all the smaller churches. One day the youth pastor from the mega church came into the network meeting with a list of the enrollment from schools in our county. The point was that not all of those kids represented on that paper were in our youth ministry. Not all of those kids know Christ, so if they aren’t with us where are they. Numbers do matter to God and they should to us. Not that we need to dumb down the Gospel, but what are we doing to reach the numbers. I think you guys missed the whole point of the encouraging message and are nit picking… which is what seems to tear the church apart… sorry if that is harsh… but i’m sick of people complaining… makes believers look bad
From Jon on September 29, 2009
I agree with Dan.
I think Perry did an amazing job speaking the truth. I think he is so correct that the church needs to start paying attention to the students, and stop compromising to attract the “cool” students. I also think that Perry shined light on the lie that MOST youth workers (me included before this event) that we “need” a big building, or we “need” a bigger budget, or we “need” lights and screens in order to have an effective youth ministry and attract students. Perry had fun up front, I wish people would just listen to what he had to say take what you want and leave what you don’t want, but don’t challenge his leadership or Theology. He loves Jesus, and it showed. Thanks Perry, you what you had to say made a lot of sense and keep on doing what you do.
I also agree that numbers do matter. They are NOT a measure of an effective ministry, but they ARE still important. Because if we aren’t focused on growing and being evangelical then who are we sharing this good news with?
From Scott V. V. on October 08, 2009
The talk was highly entertaining and encouraging (which is what a lot of us needed that weekend).
as far as content, I needed to here most of it, He said some things that were right on and that we all needed to be reminded of. He also said some thigns that I totally disagree with (and many of yo uare pointing these things out), but here is the deal this thing is meant for Youth workers, If your are shepherding a flock of young people you better be able to listen to a talk and discern what parts of it you need to hear, what parts you agree with and what parts you disagree with. Every speaker and brilliant mind in youth ministry that I have heard or read has taught me some great things and has written or said some things that i disagree with.
When a speaker says somethign you don’t agree with tkae it as an oppertunity to firm up what you believe about that topic. Often we end up lossing focus about things we feel are safe, so sometimes its good to hear somethign we disagree with because it forces us to remember why we blelieve what we believe and often strengthens our opinion on the particular topic.
From Watch Misfits Online Free on February 01, 2010
Nice Post, better still I’m able to view it on my new iPhone.
Sticky Faith Teen Curriculum with DVD
10 Lessons to Nurture Faith Beyond High School
