Yesterday marked a very important milestone in my life. Pastor Sam announced to our congregation that at the end of the summer, I would be transitioning out from my role as executive pastor at The Gathering Place, to launch out on a business endeavor and to pursue the call of God on my life.

I am overwhelmed by the support of friends, family, the staff at TGP, Pastor Sam and our wonderful church family to the news of this transition. It did not come without much prayer, confirmation, soul-searching and the support of my amazing wife. I’ll be sharing more details about the business as well as a future church plant in the days ahead.

Here is what you need to know:
* Pastor Sam is fully behind this and overwhelmingly supportive. I wouldn’t do this without his blessing, it’s that important to me.
* Nothing is wrong — in fact, I couldn’t be transitioning when things are at a better time here at The Gathering Place. God is working in our church!
* It’s a step of faith and most definitely a risk! — I turned 39 yesterday! Most folks want to be settling in to a stable career by that time.
* I’ll continue in my current role through the transition and working just as hard to make sure everything is taken care.
* We’re not moving — we are called to this region and that is where we will serve God.
* God is faithful! He has demonstrated that to me time and time again.
* Following Jesus is never safe, comfortable or secure, but it is always GOOD! The purpose of life is not to arrive safely at death.

Please be praying for me and my family as we follow Christ.

It’s hard to put in to words the closing session of Exponential. I felt like I was part of UCF smackdown. Francis Chan brought the sledgehammer to this session. He pastors Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. He is the author of Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

I first heard Francis at Catalyst ‘07 and his message there rocked my world. Francis has a unique way to call you back to the simplicity of the Gospel and following Christ passionately, radically and intensely.

Some notable points:

What can I say, Craig Groeschel, lead pastor of LifeChurch.tv, has got to be one of my favorite speakers. LifeChurch.tv has been on my radar for about 6 years now and I have been following their multi-site strategy for some time now. We had two back to back sessions with Craig and it was like drinking from a fire hydrant. I’ll outline both messages here:

Reflections on Movements

1. A movement will never be safe, predictable and clean. We must become dangerous again. Our churches today are too safe. We are asking people to come to Jesus for a better life. Preach a dangerous message, preach Christ. Lukewarm pastors build lukewarm churches.
2. A movement will never be about your ministry, it will be about His kingdom. Build your church on what your church is about, not on what it’s not about.
3. You will not lead a movement based on the old measurements of success. The scorecard has changed. The old measurements of “nickels and noses” are not valid. Your identity cannot be wrapped up in the numbers or you will be tempted to do things to bring people in rather than bring glory to God.

“What if” questions on Leading a Movement

1. To lead a movement you will have to SEE what no one else is seeing. Ask God, “what’s coming?”
2. To lead a movement you will have to DO what others won’t do. Revolutionaries break the rules.
3. To lead a movement you will have to HURT like others don’t hurt. You will be misunderstood, criticized and maligned. The difference between where we are and where God wants us to be, is the pain we are willing to endure. You will be broken.
   

Erwin McManus has been a big influence in my life. His writings and teachings have expanded my understanding of God, life, culture and what it means to be a Christ follower. His church, Mosaic, is largely considered one of the most innovative churches in America. Erwin is a futurist, I would dare say, a modern day prophet. He is articulate and has a unique gift of communication.

His message at Exponential was taken from his Wide Awake series at Mosaic and is based on Acts 17:16-34. I had heard the podcast of that message and this seemed to be a slight variation of it. It is still very powerful.

Some notable points:

Erwin shared a lot of his personal story about the criticism he receives for engaging culture and he remarked that in order to enter that 3rd space we must be willing to suffer the disdain of the “Mary’s and Martha’s in order to reach Dionysius and Damaris.”

This was my fourth year attending the Exponential Conference here in Orlando. I spent the last two weeks reflecting on what was unpacked during those three days so I thought I would get some of the main highlights down. Each year I get a renewed reconfirmation on my calling as a minister and further clarity as to my future. This year was no exception. Almost three thousand attended this year’s event and it is the premier conference for church planters around. It is wonderful to see all of these kingdom builders gather under one roof with no agenda other than to equip and build the church.

This year’s theme was The Art of Movements. I believe as ministers we are called to work “on” the church as much as we are called to work “in” the church. We should should structure our churches for reproduction and movement. Our founder Jesus, founded a movement, not an institution. Churches that forget that resemble a museum more than they do the vibrant, dynamic and subversive church that Jesus initiated. I’ll post the outlines of my favorite communicators in my subsequent posts.