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Exponential Conference Reflections: Part 4

Dan — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:20:48 +0000

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:

“When was the last time you were astonished by someone’s boldness?” – Acts 4:13 “God wants to astonish people”

“If I could start all over I would start with more boldness and start with the scriptures.”

The problem today is that most people do eisegesis instead of exegesis. If we just read the text and interpreted it without our bias, would we really come up with most of the expressions and ways that we do church today? Probably not!

Francis closed the session ministering to those that were called to church planting. His sincerity and passion is most definitely contagious.

Exponential Conference Reflections: Part 3

Dan — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:00:24 +0000

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

What I believe about church will determine how I do church.

Remix of Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to the pattern of the American church”

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.
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.
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

Dare to ask the questions no one else is asking. What if…?

To lead a movement you will have to SEE what no one else is seeing. Ask God, “what’s coming?”
To lead a movement you will have to DO what others won’t do. Revolutionaries break the rules.
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.

Exponential Conference Reflections: Part 2

Dan — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:15:18 +0000

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:

What exactly are we trying to move when we talk about a movement.

There are three spaces we need to be aware of: 1st space, 2nd space and the 3rd space.

The 1st space is our place of comfort, it is the space that we try to invite others into to — the church. Paul went immediately to the synagogue to reason with the Christians.

We need a church planting movement motivated by love, not self interest.

The 2nd space is the marketplace. Paul engaged those outside of the church also. We need to engage this space because people are looking for those with the undeniable presence of Jesus.

If we don’t relate to the world we will not be effective in reaching it.

The 3rd space is the space you cannot go to unless you are invited. Paul was invited to speak at the Areopagus.

In this space we must earn the right and respect to be invited.

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.”