Did he use the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 as a proof text?

Everything for Perry comes back to insulting one’s manhood.

As someone in that predicament, I find his words grossly insensitive…

Noble seems to want to use the most in your face, outlandish, shocking statments to drive home his point…not matter how juvenile or uncouth. I have some issues with this, but i’ll just comment on one. This type of preaching I think often puts the spotlight more on the preacher than the text. What happens is often throughout the week, people focus more on “i can’t believe he said that”. The Preachers’ style and personality and delivery become the focus more than the actual exegesis of the text. People remember the crazy statements, but often could not tell you the references of the text, or even what they mean.

Paul,

I believe you’ve hit a good point. I think PN gets the “I can’t believe he said that!”, “He’s got to have guts to say that.”, or “He’s really cool to say it like that, he’s not afraid of what people think of him.”

He has gotten that niche where it’s not that he says it, it’s that it’s easy for my age group mid 20’s and younger to understand. What that’s getting us is that we listen regardless of whether it’s actually right or wrong, because a preacher, so he can’t be wrong can he?

James (Duncan),
I love seeing the blatant self-contradiction of PN et al. I did want to comment here though, that I can only criticize PN’s actual actions here (my personal opinion lies somewhere in between PN’s 2 contradictory tweets.) Did Jesus not laud the eunochs for their beliefs(again I’m still building on my Bible knowledge)? So is PN simply putting it in the face of these people here? I find that single or not, this is a slap in the face? What if Lance Armstrong had walked in (hypothetically speaking that he was single) or perhaps just someone else that had had some sort of cancer/etc. that had caused them to lose their testicles? UNACCEPTABLE….. example or not….

PN has quite the marbles to do and say this. Party favors from your Pastor mocking singleness?

Maybe as an inappropriate proof-text he could cite “stones” crying out (Luke 19.40).

I wish he’d grow a pair (of exegetical eyes), rather than these middle school antics. Short on tricks, Perry?

This post made me think a little bit. Perhaps some newspringer can help me get clarity.

1. Perry and Newpsring exist not for the believer but for the unbeliever. Noble and Cooper have both said this.

2. Perry attempts to use humor, sarcasm, shock, whatever it takes to reach the “unchurched”.

3. So, his vision and focus is the unbeliever, but yet he is telling them to shape up and live according to the Bible. Is this not moralism/law? Is he not telling people who hate God, have hard hearts, are dead in sin, can’t obey, to obey God’s Word on this subject and many others?

Im just confused.

not trying to say i promote (or don’t promote) the marbles thing, but he wasn’t trying to say that singleness is a deformity. in that part of the sermon, he was specifically addressing guys who say they want a girlfriend/wife and don’t do anything about it. he is saying that if you don’t want to be single, you need to be proactive instead of sitting around playing video games/watching tv/spending all your time alone and actually get out there and pursue a woman.

Sara, I did understand what he was trying to say, but the contradiction with what he was trying to say last week is a little striking, wouldn’t you say? As Paul points out, this is one of the inherent problems with moralistic preaching. This week’s rules depend in the preacher’s feelings. If you don’t like the rules, don’t worry; they’ll probably change next week.

Good for Noble for telling us that playing video games won’t find us a wife. Without preachers like Perry, who would have ever figured that one out?

oh come on ya’ll–he was just using a funny illustration to ask the men in attendance to “buck up” and be men in their daily walk and lives….he gave many wonderful examples in the sermon of how men can be more godly. He was certainly not trying to make fun of testricullar cancer pts! the message he gave was so powerful that many men stood at the end of each service to try to lead more Godly lives. That’s what counts.

Sandra,

The point is it’s not the point he was trying to make that made it wrong. It was how he tried to make it. Insinuating that men weren’t manly enough because they were single? He may not have been trying to insult people, but I’m certain that many people would have been insulted by that. Perry’s grade school antics may point at a legitimate picture, but this is not how they should be carried out by a “Pastor.” I would be interested to know what scripture Perry used to justify his passing out of “marbles.”

Perry Noble just goes with what is “hip” for the thought of the day. The problem is many things Noble says lacks Scriptural support in context. Instead of insulting single men, he as a pastor, should be encouraging these men to pray for God’s will in their life. Far better advice for single Christians is to pray for God will and not our own even if it means staying single.

My best friend is a Christian who is 38 years old and has never been married. He is a moral man who is seeking God’s will and not accepting what the world throws at him. He would find Noble’s remark offensive to him and ignorant to the Scriptures concerning seeking God’s will in life.