But don’t worry, neither was I. One take, performing arts high school. Just let the beat build.
Hello, my name is Clayton, and I’m a back-sliding blogger.
Even though I’m notorious for calling out so-called bloggers who never really blog (cough*adriancrawford*cough), I’ve recently fallen into the same trap myself. There’s been a few things contributing to the downturn:
- A decent travel schedule over the last few weeks, which is not something I usually do nor enjoy at all.
- Tons of new books and information I’ve had to read and process over the same period.
- A TON of writing for a new project.
- The delayed public announcement of said project, so I haven’t been blogging about it, but most of you already know what it is.
Finally, I’ve been a bit bored with blogging lately. I’m taking a bit of time to think through it all, why I’m online, what I want to accomplish there and how I’m going to do it. In the meantime, I’m going to get back on the blogging horse, though I can’t promise it isn’t going to be a bit disjointed and cluttered. Hopefully they’ll be some helpful nuggets along the way.
A little Catalyst Q & A with Craig Groeschel.
Best. Outreach. Ever?
Apr 28
Yesterday was a question, and today is a question.
What’s the most creative community service/outreach project you’ve ever seen, heard of, or been a part of?
Come on, be more creative than car wash.
Where does your church meet?
Apr 27
Just kinda curious today, so would you mind sharing:
- What type of building do you meet in? Permanent or portable?
- How many seats?
- How many services?
- What’s the stage look like? Got any pics you can share?
If you’re into the internet dating scene, you might want to check out this E-Harmony profile…but it might be a little TOO honest!
This was too amazing to not pass on…
“Katie Kirkpatrick, 21, held off cancer to celebrate the happiest day of her life…”
Read and see the rest here. Bring tissues.
Last Exponential 09 post, I promise!
I attended the pre-launch track for church planting, and here are my notes from hearing Ron Sylvia, Hal Mayer and Larry Osborne speak. They were all fastastic! Enjoy.
Pre-Launch Track
Ron Sylvia & Hal Mayer
- It takes a plan, strategy, leadership
- Even the experts disagree- you have to discern who to listen to
- NewChurches.com, NextChuches.com
- If you go to The Springs, you’ll get the virus of church planting. That’s what I want to be the feeling in our church
- You have to count the cost- family, finances, relationships. Jesus said to count the cost and see what it takes to launch
- It’s going to cost your marriage and family
- The previous generation sacrifices their family for the church
- Now people are sacrificing their churches for the their families
- No one is asking you to sacrifice, but you have to pay the price
- They sat down and said the next two years are wide open to give to The Springs
- Like a space shuttle- most of the fuel is expended at the beginning to get out of the atmosphere.
- Gotta make sure your wife is totally down to understand what it’s going to take
- This was their story- go get your own!
- Takes so much to make sure everyone gets the vision, gets it, it boots up at launch of their computer.
- It’s a war to plant a church. We are entering a war. We are trying to depopulate Hell. Satan knows what we’re doing as much as God does
- If Satan can take down the leader, he takes down the movement
- Time with God MUST be fresh and vibrant and live-giving
- Clarifying the Vision
- The plan comes out of the vision
- What has God called you to do?
- Vision and uncertainty are inseparably linked- Andy Stanley.
- You have to lead at a place where you’ve never been
- Sometimes you’re gonna be faking it- you know where you wanna go but you don’t know how to get there
- It’s what drives your team, drives your churches, keeping it going.
- We have to find new ways to phrase it, but can’t stop sharing it
- It’s not found in consensus
- You will have vision hijackers
- “Love everyone, but move with the movers”- Rick Warren. Who’s buying in, who’s ready to go, who’s bought into the vision?
- I love you, but the vision’s not for sale
- Keep asking questions, keep clarifying the vision, find out if they are on the same page
- Scaffolding principle- Some of the people who are with you from the start are just there until it’s built. Most who start with you won’t be with you two years later.
- When visiting another church
- What’s right?- greeters, cafe, etc
- What’s wrong?
- What was confusing?
- What’s missing?
- Visit, evaluate, and find someone that’s close to you
- Even going to watch them set up
- Casting the Vision
- You have to pitch it
- Art of the Start by Guy
- In 10 min pitch the vision of your church- who are you, who are you trying to reach, and how are you going to do it
- Most people get too detailed
- I know you have the details, tell me the dream
- How do you get people to come be on staff? Vision
- They have to buy your character, THEN you, THEN the vision, THEN the plan
- Whatever happens, make it part of the plan
- You’re going to reach who they are
- What did God call you do, and what is your vision and dream?
- Paint the dream, not the details
- If you can’t put your heart out there, it won’t matter how good your proposal is
- Where’s the location, where’s the place you’re starting
- They added 100 people every time they moved
- Money
- Hal had to launch large so he could be sustainable
- He wanted the majority of his budget focused outward, intentionally unbalanced in the first two years
- Allowed them to focus on the community.
- Now they are more balanced, 3 outreaches a year
- Spend money like a drunk sailor. Experiment, some of it won’t work
- If they don’t give, we’re done.
- Pressure Points
- How long before launch in a community?- Launch sooner rather than later. You think you need more time, but you need to get GOING! Don’t change it, you’ll have 100 reasons to, but DON’T CHANGE
- How much money to launch?- Depends on the team, the plan, the city, the economy. The people who raise the most money usually do the worst. A lot of money loses urgency.
- Key factors for launch team?- Chemistry, Integrity, Ability. You can train ability, but not the other two
Larry Osborne
- The fulfillment of the dream is the disappointing goal instead of living life along the way
- We have destination disease. We hate it once we get there
- How can you avoid failure in success?
- Plant the church you want to go to
- You’ll just be painting by numbers instead of doing who you are
- Reach the world, yes, but in the framework of who God’s made you to be
- That’s the only church you can authentically lead
- Pursue you’re calling, not your potential
- Potential is a harsh mistress. Beware of the potential trap- it will kill you
- We are supposed to fulfill our calling, not our potential
- Most of us have an inflated view of our potential
- Everyone is going to tell you to slow down, but no one is going to mean it
- Do your best, then take a nap! We can’t control outcomes. We know it theologically, but we don’t know it in our gut
- Don’t get so focused on the lost that you forget the saved
- We’re looking for warm bodies and leaders- but we need to love the warm bodies. Don’t get angry at them
- Go back and do what you did at the beginning, loving sacrificially
- Make your decision that you’re going to live like a mature Christian and not like a pastor
- Don’t have two lives- live who you are on vacation in your town
- Lose your church before you lose your family
- People always want you to cancel your life for their crisis. Yes, occasionally, but not all the time! They happen every day
- A Strong Marriage
- The biblical one is kid-friendly, not kid-centric
- Security is a success we can give our kids
- A united front
- You may disagree in private but don’t let the kids that to you in public
- Outward passion and zeal embarrasses most kids
- We can think something’s wrong with those who don’t have it, or they may think you don’t
- The clearer you know it’s a calling, the easier it is to say no and to take the heat from saying no
- You have to learn with low-level frustration AT you
Below are my notes from Erwin McManus’ opening session at Exponential 09. What struck me the most was how I read a tweet from someone there KILLING Erwin as a heretic as he was sharing how he almost walked away from the Christian world (not Jesus or his church) because of the violent verbal abuse his kids would take from complete strangers, calling their dad a heretic.
So much for bearing with one another in love, huh? I may not agree with everything Erwin says or his style of church, but I can’t say he’s not orthodox. Besides, who says he’d like a church that I pastored?!
On to the notes!
Session 1: Erwin McMannus
- Acts 17- Paul as distressed
- He acted out of what distressed him.
- First went to the synagogue- it was his first place, the place he was comfortable with, the place be knew
- So many times we plant churches that are better places or Christians and don’t bring in those who are hurting around them.
- Second place- market place. We tend to make people become irrelevant when they become more Christan, more churched.
- Keep them there, equip them there, train them there
- People don’t know who to talk to and who they can trust in the marketplace
- People are looking for those who have the presence of Jesus
- Marketplace doesn’t want a watered down gospel, but they can understand
- Told a story of a friend who is a movie guy, and he won’t go to church with him, but he will make a movie with him. Little did he realize he’d be having church with him the whole time!
- Third place: space you can’t go unless you’re invited.
- We’re forcing people through politics instead of earning the right to sit at the table of respect and be asked what makes us tick
This week my boy Ross and I were blessed to attend the Exponential 09 Church Planting conference for free thanks to Mr. MMI himself, Todd Rhoades. Thanks, Todd!
I’ll post some of my notes today, and I hope they’re of some use to you. First up, my notes from a breakout session with Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Dallas, TX. Here’s a PDF of the notes, and let me know if you need a Word version.
