Former NewSpring Church pastor Perry Noble, who lost his job and separated from his wife last year following struggles with alcohol, has said he believes "God is a God of second chances" who can "take what is messy and turn it into a miracle."
On Facebook, Noble, who founded the 30,000-member church in 1998, wrote: "I believe in a God of Second Chances! I believe the local church is the hope of the world! I believe when religion says, 'You need to do more' Jesus says, 'it is finished.' I believe in a God (and His people) who extend their hand instead of turn their back! I believe The Lord can take what is messy and turn it into a miracle! I believe in confession and repentance in the context of safe relationships that believe the best rather than assume the worse!I believe in Second Chances, and I cannot wait to share more about the Second Chance I believe the Lord has called me to!"
The former pastor concluded his post with: "The best really is yet to come!"
The upbeat post comes less than a week after Noble, who last year spent 30 days in a treatment facility in Arizona, admitted there are days where he struggles with severe feelings of worthlessness.
On Facebook, Noble said that he woke up last week with the thought "you're a worthless piece of [expletive]!"
"I know it's harsh - but I will not sanitize this article to appease those who may be offended at the language and want a scrubbed and safe version of Christianity that simply doesn't work for the world," he wrote.
In his lowest moments, Noble said he felt he didn't even deserve to read the Bible.
"In that moment guilt, condemnation and shame flooded my heart and mind like a tsunami...reminding me of...The fact I was fired from a job I love for abusing alcohol. The fact I lost friendships I thought I would always have in my life. The fact my wife left me and we are still separated..and I am a failure as a husband and father. The fact I have limited time with my daughter, and feel I have let her down in so many ways," he wrote, adding that all of this happened "because of horrible personal choices" that he made.
Noble said that he felt a physical pain in his chest, at first thinking it was a heart attack, and "sat there shaking my head over all that was flooding through my mind."
"I tried to numb the pain by going to the gym, engaging on social media and even having lunch with a buddy - but I could not silence the damning accusation that was crushing the life out of me," he wrote.
In the midst of his pain, he heard God's voice reminding him of Romans 8:1: "There is now therefore NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
"Finally I snapped back to reality and remember a phrase I have declared from the pulpit...but have never actually believed for myself...that: 'Jesus knew every stupid, sinful, self-centered decision I would ever make, and still created me, called me, equipped me and arranged for the payment of my sin!'" he continued.
"In Christ what we did is NOT who we are (no matter what others try to label us as...or how long they try to judge as to whether or not we have truly repented!)
"In Christ we are completely forgiven," he added. "In Christ we are valuable beyond imagination! And in Christ we are unconditionally loved!"
Noble admitted that the accusation in his mind was still there the next day and said it may never completely go away. Still, he said that it had "lost its power in my life because I refused to believe the lie of the enemy over the Truth of God's Word!"
He prayed that others going through the same struggles may understand that the grace of God "awashed away all our sin."
