Famous Friends

I just caught this picture of a good friend… I guess he’s famous now; a poster boy even!  We grew a lot together while doing house churches back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Andy is currently an Associate Pastor at Epikos, but I hope God will have our paths cross again and have us work together.

Will Mancini – Build your Kingdom Concept

Will Mancini did a pre-launch session this morning on how to build your kingdom concept as a church plant.  Here’s his three part formula.

1. Local Predicament: What are the unique needs/issues of your local context?
2. Collective Potential: What are the commonalities amongst the people you do have. Careers, interests, demographics, etc… If you can determine patterns in what you have, you can probably figure out what your church could do better than 10,000 others.
3. Apostolic Espirit: What vision are you most passionate about or dedicated to?

Exponential Conference 09 Unofficial Blog

The Exponential Conference 09 begins in Orlando as of Monday next week.  It’s a fantastic conference that develops church planting efforts, but they keep it general enough that non-planters still come out in mass.

I know they have an official blog somewhere out there to document its progression, but I’m planning to make my unofficial contributions along the way.  Tune in to this Chanel Monday through Thursday next week for several posts on the sessions I attend (wifi connection permitting of course).

Dove Campaign for Beauty

I’m a big fan of the video clips done by Dove Campaign for Beauty.  I found this one to be disturbing and encouraging all at the same time.  Helping the next generation is much more than discouraging drugs and sex, it’s about investing worth and identity.

Exponential 09

For all you Christian Conference junkies out there, I recommend coming to the Exponential 09 Conference.  First of all, it’s in Orlando – who doesn’t want to be in Florida in April?  Second, the speakers and price are amazing.  Third, the mission of the conference is right on the money – they have a bent toward church planting/multiplying Christian communities, but keep  the entry point for such things broad enough that everyone will be engaged. 

As a pastor, I’ve found it important to attend one conference a year to stay sharp.  I’m choosing this one in 09… hope to see you there too!

Life-Change Blog

I’m posting devotional thoughts on Exodus & Numbers all week on my church’s life-change blog.  If you drop in for a visit, peak around at what others have posted.

Remembering how you got Here

Deuteronomy 6 tells Israel to remember how they got what they are about to get.  God is giving them vineyards they didn’t plant, houses they did not build, and food they did not work for.  Although the hand of God is evident in the moment, it’s easy embrace the gifts of God to the neglect of God himself. 

When the blessings get piled high, God reminds us to stay thankful.  I believe thankfulness is the dividing line between proud, self-centered complainers and humble, holy followers of Jesus.

Discipleship Debrief

Special thanks to all for reading and/or commenting on the discipleship discussion hosted here the past two weeks.  I have a new discipleship model brewing based on your comments, but first I’d like to debrief on highlights I’ve gathered from our discussion and the models themselves… 

The PR for Evil

To build on the previous post, I also found Rumors of another World by Philip Yancey to be an insightful commentary on how we have done good PR campaign for things that use to be considered wrong.

“What once was called ‘idolatry,’ enlightened Westerners call ‘addictions.’ Eventually an idol, or addiction, begins to control the devotee, rather than vice versa.”

Hokey Pokey Live

Live reading by Matthew Paul Turner on his book Hokey Pokey.