I've Been Thinking About This…

Scott ?:
If we really believed that sin destroys people, wouldn’t we want to heal them by guiding them into grace?
Jesus came in Grace and Truth, not one or t’other.

Jim Shepherd:
Passion = generosity
FAT thinking means we don’t bother about right priorities.
Scarcity environment clarifies priorities & identities. What do you put on the back burner.
When money is plentiful we need to be prepared with good plans.
The challenge can be an opportunity.
3-point litmus test for priority setting:

1. Urgent
2. compelling
3. aligned

Luke 14:28 – planning & strategy go hand-in-hand with the Gospel.

Brian Boyle:
Character matters to 10-year-olds, let alone adults. Can bring down sports figures, politicians, ministers.
Character counts.
Character – moral or ethic strength.
Who are you when noone is looking – before God and noone else – Prov 10:7
Revealed in pressure situations.
Prov 4 – guard your heart.
Truth about character: if you lack it, it can ruin your life and that of those around you. Or it can guide you.
Ps 84:11 – For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

My character can bring blessingh to my children and theirs.
Prov 2:7 He is a shield.
Pastors are desperate for their lives to count.
Character = God’s Holiness + our humility + honesty
How do I get it? Pursue it.

Naeem ?:
Story of a muslim who converted to Christianity and became a pastor, who travelled back to Pakistan. Met a woman on the plane; didn’t want to talk to her (in Pakistan they execute people like him who convert to Christianity).
Do we recognize God out of context of our normal environment?

Eric Bryant:
Advocating for the rights of those who do not yet believe. The church is not here to meet our needs – we are the church, and we must meet the needs of the world.
We shouldn’t expect others to adopt our values.
Kids don’t believe, but we make space for them until the time is right.

Nancy Ortburg:
Leadership is about managing tensions. Think of people who poured themselves into you. What would they do?
Although you can be mentored by that person, you can’t be that person.
1. David & Goliath story: David is frustrated at the Israelites’ cowardice; get’s Saul’s armor; then takes it off and returns to who he is – a shepherd boy.
2. Work with passionate people – get things done, attract people, build teams. But they can hide narcissism & insecurity. Humility gives you confidence, peace, freedom from worry over results. Humility always elevates others who you see are better than you at something.

The big lie: one size fits all – journal; confess; read your Bible every day.
God’s response to rules – I restore them with wonder upon wonder.

Rick Warren:
Care about our churches growing larger through evangelism; warmer through fellowship; broader threough ministry; wider through missions; deeper through discipleship.
But most churches don’t have a structure that moves from “come and see” to “come and die”
Need to be more intentional; should get back to catechism.
Jesus’ first words – “come and see”.
But you don’t leave people there.
you’re my disciple if … you bear fruit.
Right before He dies – take up my cross and follow me.
Church has to have a plan.
Make disciples not just converts.
Know your flock.
cultivate, channel and commission new people.

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Michael Trent:
(The Church Bartender)
We have to consider the environments we’re creating.
Are we building churches in such a way that can support the community?
God has given the church some amazing real estate.
Are we listening to what others are saying? intergenerationally, etc..
Jesus is coming back to used & dirty churches, not clean & closed ones.

Brad Powell:
We need to reflect and represent Christ in whatever we do.
Answering questions that noone was asking.
We are suppoed to be about ‘revolution’. But it’s odd that it’s odd to say that. We have turned to the world.
To stop the revolution, we get rid of Jesus.
We need to let Jesus back into the church so revolution can begin.
Commit to a present mission, rather than the history.
93% of the churches in our world are stagnating.
Need to lead people to Rom 12:1-2.

Ken Fung:
Inasmuch as “familiarity breeds contempt”, the preacher has to overcome familiarity in his audience, but even more so in himself.
Confess it and find new ways to see it afresh.
For some read different passages. Also try Buechner (Peculiar Treasures and Wishful Thinking); listen to other preachers.
Avoid predictable patterns of preaching to help congregation stay fresh.
preaching isn’t a lecture, it’s a conversation.
Zero in on one point.
Book – Made to Stick by by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

John Coulombe & Bambi Encarnation:
Don’t assume that older adlts have no room to grow
1. We need a sense of purpose with this age group (ps 78; 1 Tim 4) – they have a lot of skills
2. Need a sense of mission and service for the lost.
3. A sense of honor toward their age
4. A sense of humor (doing youth ministry with older people)
5. A sense of completion
6. Wrap up their lives so they move into the next life with grace

Darren Whitehead:
My 3-year-old daughter’s imagination was taken captive by the world.
(Dreamed about Elmo)
Matt 6:34 – Ask, seek, knock – what would you ask for?
Are our desires hauntingly similar to the world?
We’re called to eat delicious ripe fresh apples; are we going to be content eating the rotten ones?

Matt Williams:
Big challenges at his church in gender issues.
Gen 1:27 – both genders are part of God’s nature
Is 66 – Nurturing is part of God’s nature
2 Sam 7 – Masculine is found in God
from Bible, being equal is not the same as being the same.
Men don’t carry beauty the way women do
God is beautiful
Males are powerful – the average male is 60% stronger than the average female.
God is powerful
The idea of becoming one flesh cannot happen unless they wren’t one before.
the one-ness idea is foundational to understanding the rest of thge Bible.
Our gender has everithung to do with our identity, intimacy, roles in the marriage, for him to honor w/out abuse, for her to respect.

But then he moves into passivity by Gen 3 & she moves into independance by Gen 4 – the Gospel redeems.

Milton:
Within 20-40 year Hispanics will become the majority in many states. Will we reach out the the Hispanic community?

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Ed Stetzer:
talking about “Mission is the opposite of self”
We have to work at that.
The heart is an idol factory.
Being a pastor is not a profession – it’s a calling.
We should resist the pull of idols and live the mission.

1. Those on mission focus on God’s glory and His agenda. We must minister out of the overflow. We worry about things, but they’re about us. Talk about being missional is nice, but need encounter with God. (Is 6:1-8)
2. those on mission reflect being on God. It must be obvious to others.(2 Cor 3:16-18)
3. Those on mission should no longer live for themselves (2 Cor 5:14-15) Mission is the opposite of self.

John Bishop:
The bigger our church gets the dumber we can get.
We can be touching lives or play church – be a club.
I blieve in the mission of the local church.
Afraid we’ll let fear or things that don’t matter keep us from God things.
Afraid we’ll be so interested in the good things we’ll miss the great things.
We need to take back the world – starting by going back to the Word.
Jesus didn’t say your church will be fishers of men – said you are. What is my conviction?
I’ll drop everything to take my kids’ phone calls – but is that true of my mission? Everyone says that, but how many actually come into the church?

Toby ?:
When the church leadership acts, the church follows.
If you want to be generous in the church, you must be intentional about it.
Get public about it and so will the congregation.
People are looking for ways to give of themselves, not just money.
- give away $50 each person
- fix my ride.
- used the reserve to look after the people in the community

Shawn Wood:
In the church world today, we get the opportunity to work with an undervalued group – creative people – and often avoid it.
Need to establish & make clear:
G – guardrails – time & $
E – Expectations
A – Accountability – who does what by when
R – Review – not to fix the past but to build more creativity in the future.

Alan Hirsch:
Recapping his book:

1. Recovering Jesus – rediscovery of the place of Jesus in life
2. Becoming like Jesus – a disciple
3. Encountering the world in an incarnational & missional manner
4. Apostolic environment – Eph 4 giftting
5. How the church should organize itself – organic systems
6. Comradeship – putting adventure into the venture

Dave Foster:
The importance of preparation.
Pastors speak sometimes 40+ times a year. Communication is only part of leading. If you are speaking always and only out of the overflow we need to be prepared.
Commit time and make preparation a priority.

Mark Driscoll:
Idolatory is by far the most frequently discussed problem in the Scriptures.
Definition – Rom 1 – exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
Idolatory is living for the worship of the creation.
1. Some idols present themselves as a savior – the woman who deifies motherhood to save herself from childlessness, or a man who deifies getting married.
2. Some idols tell you it can mediate between you and God – we talk to the pastor before God (get me closer to God 2 pet 1). That service is mediatorial – got rid of songs? how can I worship. Even worship worship.
3. Some idols give you identity. A husband; a wife; a pastor; a mother.
Taking a ‘good’ thing and make it a ‘God’ thing is a ‘bad’ thing. People

Matt Fry:
Pastors: Stay focused.
Don’t quit.
Find a mentor who’s a little further down the road.
God has called me to do this.
2 Tim 1:6-9 – For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to [fn] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

My identity is in my relationship with Jesus, not as a leader.
Compare your church size with others is a dead-end street.
God doesn’t want us to tear down.
Gal 6:9 – And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Don’t give up!

Darrin Patrick:
Luke 24:25-27 – And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
1 Cor 2:2 – to know Jesus and Him crucified
Rom 1:15 – the Gospel to those in Rome…the church.
Col 2:6 – as you have received Christ as Lord, so live in Him.
Repent (see, own & turn from your sin) & believe.
Tim Keller – rejoicing in your acceptance is a way of praising God that sweetens your heart…
2 Cor 8:9 – The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christianity is not spelled ‘D-O’, it’s spelled ‘D-O-N-E’.
if we don’t connect our preaching to the Gospel, we put ‘do’ in front of ‘who’.
Is the Bible a moral story with a little Jesus sprinkled in, or the other way around.

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Judd (name not suppied):
Titanic sank because of the bolts not the iceberg; someone who cut corners on several million rivits.
The larger you get – the more you get criticism.
There is an assassin for each one of us. He says, “Forget about the details”
If character assassination can happen to better, brighter people than me, they can certainly happen to me.

“Keep your hands off the money, keep your pants up and stay out of the hot tub” – and you’ll at least be the last person standing.

Eugene Peterson’s book title: “A long obedience in the same direction” – may God give that to you.

Brian McClaren:
(mostly on the phone)
I hope the pastors in the US would ask themselves, “What is the Gospel?”

We tend to think that the Gospel is all about getting to Heaven; Jesus says it’s all about bring Heaven to us.

The Gospel is not an evacuation plan, it’s a transformation plan.
It’s not about numbers, it’s about change.

Bob Roberts:
For the first time in history, we are global, no matter what types of church you’re in – house church, mega- or otherwise.

1. Talking about moving from interfaith (compromise) to multifaith.
2. Changing from critiquing others’ faith to critiquing ourselves.
3. Need to explain it so that everyone (not just our followers) ‘gets it’
4. We must live out our faith at its very best.
5. We must live out our faith in front of others
6. We move from focusing on the preacher & the church to on the disciple

Brad ?:
1. How many pastors have forgotten what it means to be a disciple.
We as pastors have to read our Bibles for ourselves, not just for message prep.
If the pastors says the people have to bleed, the pastor has to hemorage.
2. Pastors need to take care of themselves. Eat right, work out. Be Mach 1 to the detriment of your soul.
Stories of men & women who have flamed out in ministry are a dime a dozen.
3. Take care of your marriage – nobody carries the torch for that ministry.
4. If you have kids, the greatest church you pastor is at home.

John Ortberg:
The gap between me 1.0 and me 2.0 can be filled in Jesus. Just don’t quench (grieve) the Spirit. Too many times we think we must manage the gap.
Disciples are hand-crafted, not mass-produced.

Judy West:
If you’re leading a church but not leading in your life
Pete Scazzero’s “the emotionally healthy church”

Rick McKinley:
God still has the power to transform me – this wasn’t a one-time thing, but one that goes on throughout my life.
At the end of the day, my hope isn’t that I get my life figured out, but that Christ continues His work in me.
Live your life before God and before your community.

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Mark Batterson:
“I’d rather have 1 God idea than 1,000 good ideas.”
Everything that’s been created is a product of somebody’s mind.
Ideas are incredibly important.
2 Cor 10:5 – take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.
We tend to think this applies to bad thoughts, but maybe we should consider good ones disciplined into His work.
Example – the Christmas catalog at NCC.
So – how do you get a ‘God Idea’?
Oliver Wendell Holmes – “a mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original shape.”
Every leader needs a watchtower – Habakkuk. A place to go where the Holy Spirit can impress the idea on your mind then take it captive.

Rich Nathan:
We should be a “both/and” church, not an “either/or” church.
social justice should not preclude evangelism and vice versa.
Micah 6:8 – be both.

Sam Chand:
What is the difference between mega-church leader and a growth-challenged church?
Pain threshold.
About %10 of the church is there just to help our prayer life – the complainers.
Growth = pain.
Economic pain.
Staffing pain.
Relational pain – which ones to hold onto.
Leadership pain – never stop being a leader.
View pain as a teacher. Don’t allow leadership leprosy.

1. reflect on your pain
2. hang with people with high pain in their life (assume every major leader has a high pain life)
3. Take care of yourself. Pace yourself
4. listen to your spouse.
5. Don’t ask God to grow your pain threshold – He might!

If you’re hurting, that’s not all bad – you can’t grow without more pain. You only grow with pain.

Dan Kimball:
In the church tradition should never get in the way of mission or it is a sin.
We should be desperate for others to be part of the kingdom of God – without compromising Scripture.

Mark DeYmaz:
I believe that God is less interested in healing the race problem in America, and more in healing the church through the race problem.

Jim Tomberlin:
9 myths

1. Multisite is just a fad – reality – the new normal; 2000 churches embraced it and the number growing. 10% of Christians already attend a multisite church
2. MS is a vehicle for ‘celebrity pastors’.
3. MS is a video-driven model. Actually, only 1/3 are.
4. MS is just a space solution.
5. MS is neither incarnational and non-communal. Actually each campus is more personal.
6. MS is a church growth engine. Actually a vehicle; can’t fix a broken church.
7. MS is not a church plant. New congregation sure thinks it is.
8. Video teaching doesn’t work in my church. Actually, it is adopted very quickly.
9. MS inhibits raising teachers.

Chip Henderson:
Take care of yourself.

Assume responsibility for yourself. Stay away from ‘bad stuff’.
You’re the only one who can.
God doesn’t work through programs, He works through people.
Take care of yourself spiritually, relationally, physically.
“I can look into the eyes of your wife and tell the kind of man you are”
Look after your kids and make sure they grow up respecting the Lord.

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Jim ?:
Church needs to be a safe place.
People need to know that pastors are human too – take off the mask.
What we need to do is lift Christ up, not ourselves. “Point over there”.

Neil Cole:
Phil 2 – a song written by Paul to Jesus.
We want to make a name for ourselves – rather than being like Jesus and making a name for others.
Be an agent of God’s kingdom.
There’s a lot of brands in Christendom.
My father-in-law was a great man, worked for LAPD, loved Jesus and others more than himself.
Most important thing, whether you’re a leader or not, is that you’re a servant.

Reggie Joiner:
Nehemiah’s
fight for you family and faith:

• Those on the outside changed their opinion of who God was.
• inside changed their attitude – read the Scriptures as never before
• then a celebration like no other.

Bill Easum:
your legacy is less what you leave behind than who you leave behind.
Pastors can get so tied up in life they spend life doing life instead of helping others.
Set your own agenda – based on your call and the size of your vision. Don’t let your church set it.

• Ask yourself what you need to stop and start doing.
• Gather people around you who you can disciple. The ‘to be’ list. Hang out with them. They may become your next staff person.
• Real leaders grow other leaders. Life has got to be passed on.

J. D. Greear:
Center of ministry has to be proclamaition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Good News is that the battle has already been won.
Don’t confuse the effects of the Gospel (radical Christisn living) with the presentation of the Gospel.
Any time the Gospel was preached, there was also a sign of it. (Preaching about spiritual sights, Jesus opened eyes.)
Acts 8:7 – there was much joy in the city – is there joy in our city?
Gospel is not about what we must do but what God has done.

Geoff Surratt:
Taking about comitt

1. take care of your family
2. go to church
3. be in a small group
4. prioritize personal worship
5. grow your faith – read material outside your prep.
6. give generously – generous giving defeats selfishness
7. be missional – live outside your primary ministry
8. volunteer – we’re so professional that we don’t know what it’s like for others
9. practice forgiveness
10. believe the best about the other staff members

Jennie Catron:
“We have shrunk Jesus to the size where He can save our souls, but we don’t believe He can change the world.”
Speaking about how Crosspoint has increased their missions budget from 10% up to 20% by 1% per year.
“Don’t fail to do something just because you can’t do everything.”
Since she’s soing something, she’s convinced that Jesus can do it.

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