Exponential 08 - National New Church Conference

Conferences are good - conferences are bad.  Ridley and I are finishing up the National New Church Conference "Exponential 08" in Orlando tomorrow.  After a day and a half of listening to speakers known world-wide for their insight into the church planting movement, by brain is just about mush.  No really.  Allan Hirsch has led my track, dealing with the"Missional" understanding, and it has been great.  I've heard him speak before, and he's been just as challenging as before.  I wont begin to download all of my thoughts from these sessions, but I will say this.  As a church, we have the greatest message the world could ever hear.  If we continue to do things, do church, the way we've been doing it, and expect different results, we will continue to see our culture slide further and further in to chaos.  We must do a better job of engaging the community.  We must do a better job of being intentional in starting conversations.  I did hear today that as churches become more missional in their understanding and practice, consumer driven participants will be propelled away.  Interesting thought.  We've seen a little of that at RCC.  

I also heard an interesting statement that comes from the Korean church planting movement... "Every Christian, a church planter.  Every church, a church planting church."  I wish more of our people and churches could embrace that.  

It's been a great experience to network with and talk with nearly three thousand people who are passionate about church planting.  It's been both challenging and encouraging to be exposed to, and reminded of, the need for new church starts.  Now is the difficulty of sorting through the info and prioritizing our action points.  It's also been pretty cool to hang with my favorite pastor.  I can't imagine this journey with anyone else.

Pam, Ben, I'm headed home tomorrow... get ready to listen to my download.  See you soon!

www.exponentialconference.com

Finding Perspective in the Sunshine

I've spent the last couple of days with the Pastor and staff at C3 Church in Orlando... wow, intense.  Scott, our worship pastor, and Robbie, a righteous dude from our church, had some great "hang time" with a staff that has been through it in the past few years.  The amazing thing is that while there are certainly some battle scars for this courageous group, they are sold out and determined to reach east Orlando with the saving power of the Gospel.  It's been a great experience of dialogue and observation.  Pastor Byron has a huge heart and determination, and C3, through God's grace, is getting it done.  

Now, with that as a backdrop, today is a "down day" for me in that I'm just chilling in the FL sunshine until Pastor Ridley lands tomorrow for the church planting conference.  So, I made a quick trip to Cocoa Beach, enjoyed some sushi on the beach, and had some one-on-one time with Jesus.  Nothing like the crash of waves to help put some things in proper perspective.  For whatever reason, God whispered through the waves that so much of what we do is temporary... just like the kids building the sand castles 50 feet from me.  They put so much effort in to their sculpture, but tonight's high tide will leave no trace of their work.  We are the same way, both personally and in our churches.

Hang with me, I'll tie this together in a sec... I got an email just a little bit ago from a Ridgie (someone at RCC), and it kicked me in the gut, but in a good way.  Again, just a reminder of how God is orchestrating so much all around us.  I wont get in to the specifics of the email, but he was just excited and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of RCC.  I would echo those thoughts.  All of this, combined with the way our family has changed in the past three+ months has really made me evaluate what is important.. what is lasting... what matters.

What a journey!