Reformissionary

Liberate Conference

I hope some of you will be able to make Liberate 2012 in February.

Tim Keller | The Berlin Conference

Tim Keller gave three talks at the 2011 Berlin Conference, two of which were followed by questions & answers. You have to register on the City to City Europe website to download, but it's worth it. His talks...

• The Gospel-Centered Church (also Q&A)
• The Urban Church (also Q&A)
• The Holistic Church

Go to City to City Europe to download them.

Adopting a Corn Dog

I met Jason Cornwell (@TheCornDog) at Together for Adoption. At first I just thought he was a dude with a car who would take us from the hotel to the conference and back. But we quickly became friends (he's a ton of fun) and we learned that Jason is coming on staff with T4A. His responsibilities include...

• Directing Regional Conferences
• Unpacking the Doctrine of Adoption in churches, college chapels, and high school assemblies
• Writing and blogging
• Networking

Come to find out, his only job isn't driving Molly and me around. He's kind of a big deal for T4A and I want to encourage my readers to learn about Jason, his ministry, and how you can support him and Together for Adoption. So please go read the T4A writeup on Jason and consider helping this great ministry, and my new friend.

T4A, Soma Communities, & Jeff Vanderstelt

Molly and I had a great talk with Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma Communities while at Together for Adoption in Phoenix. Jeff and I have talked a couple of times, and I find his love for Jesus, the Gospel, the church, and the lost world compelling. In our talk at T4A we covered stuff on church life, preaching, evangelism, family, community and a lot more. He pastored us, and encouraged us, and answered our questions, and honestly, he just loved on us and longed to help us. We've been talking about that discussion every day since, multiple times a day. It's the most important thing that happened at T4A for us. And let me add, the best things of every conference I've ever attended have happened in the margins, not in the sessions and breakouts. Those can be amazing, but talking one on one with people has been best for me.

Let me introduce you to Jeff Vanderstelt and Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington through this video. It's done well, and tells a story of what a Jesus community should look like. Let me know what you think.

T4A | Featured Bloggers - Everything

Here's my best shot at creating one post with links to everything from Together for Adoption featured bloggers. Not every blogger wrote on everything or was present for every main session. I expect more posts are still coming with reflections on T4A in the days to come. I know I have some unfinished posts on some talks and a handful of other reflections to share. If you see things I've missed, let me know. FYI: I know other bloggers/twitterers said a lot at T4A, but I'm focusing on the "featured bloggers." If you want to put a link to other helpful posts in the comments from non-featured bloggers, that would be a great addition to the list.

Check out tweets still coming out from #t4aCon attenders and others RTing good quotes. Also go back in the Twitter accounts (listed below) for a ton of great quotes. That may be the best way to get direct quotes, while the posts often contain interaction on the quotes and topics.

BLOGGERS - Name [link to Twitter account] (abbreviation)

• Matthew Lee Anderson [Tw] (MLA)
• Aaron Armstrong [Tw] (AA)
• Dorothy Bode (DB)
• Julie Gumm [Tw] (JG)
• Chris Marlow [Tw] (CM)
• Steve McCoy [Tw] (SM)
• Zach Nielsen [Tw] (Z)
• Lindsey Nobles [Tw] (LN)
• Dennae Pierre [Tw] (DP)
• Noel Piper [Tw] (NP)
• Josh Reich [Tw] (JR)
• Brent Thomas [Tw] (BT) 

MAIN SESSIONS

Darrin Patrick | Session 1 - The Church & Social Justice

AA | JG | SM | Z | LN | DP | JR | BT

Tullian Tchividjian | Session 2 - Surprised by Adoption

AA | SM | Z | LN | DP | JR | BT

Dan Cruver | Session 3 - Adoption & The God Who Cares

MLA | AA | Z | LN | DP | BT

Bryan Loritts | Session 4 - The Church as the Theater of Transracial Adoption

AA | JG | Z | DP | JR

Jeff Vanderstelt | Session 5 - Gospel-Motivation for Missional Living

AA | JG | LN | DP | JR

Tim Chester | Session 6 - Relaxing in Trinitarian Love

AA | DP

PRE-CONFERENCE & BREAKOUTS

• A Mom at Rest by Dr. Donna Thoennes || DB | JG | DP
• Missional Church, Missional God, Missional Story by Tim Chester || AA: Sessions 1, 2, 3 | JR: Sessions 1, 2, 3
• Attachment & Family Growth by Mark & Kristen Howerton || JG: Pt 1 | Pt 2
• Gospel-Centered Parenting by Tim Chester || DP | BT
• Trans-Racial Adoption by Vermon Pierre || DP 
• Missional Living & Orphan Care by Jason Kovacs || JR
• Grief In Infertility || MLA

MISC & POST-CONFERENCE

• MLA: "Together for Adoption National Conference" | "Seven Thoughts On Together For Adoption" 
• AA: "Heart for Adoption: Stephen Miller's Story" | "The Trinity & Adoption: A Quick Chat With Tim Chester" | 
• DB: "My Plans/His Plans" | "Worship Within The Circle of Bloggers" | "One Minute To Share Their Ministries" | "Seeing Change" | "Book Giveaway To End the Endless Pile" | "Project Hopeful"
• SM: "T4A Songs" | "Chicks 4 Orphans"
• ZN: "A Heart for Adoption" | "God's Care for Orphans Through the Hatian Church"
• DP: "10 x 100=1000 for Orphans" | "A Challenge Now That You Are Home" | "Pre-Conference for Adoptive Mamas"
• NP: "Adoption Changes Families" | "Home-Based Orphan Care" | "But What Can I Do?" | "Goodbye & More to Give Away"
• JR: "A Heart for Adoption (Video Story)" | Surge Intensive (non T4A event, but it's with Tim Chester)

T4A | Songs

Here are all the songs from Friday/Saturday in order. At least that's what worship leader Jimmy McNeal told me. I'm pretty sure he repeated "Let Your Kingdom Come" on Saturday, but since I can't remember exactly where, I'll leave it off. If someone knows, let me know and I'll fix the list. Hope you enjoyed the corporate singing as much as I did.

Jimmy tells me he has an album coming next year. If I learn more, I'll let you know.

Friday Morning

"Your Great Name" - The People's Church
"From the Inside Out" - Hillsong
"You Alone Can Rescue" - Matt Redman
"How Great Thou Art" -hymn (Arron Ivey version)
"Let Your Kingdom Come" - Aaron Ivey

Friday Afternoon/Evening

"You Alone Can Rescue" - Matt Redman
"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" - hymn (Aaron Ivey band version)
"How Marvelous" - hymn

Saturday Morning

"The Wonderful Cross" - Chris Tomlin
"Your Great Name" - Hillsong
"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" - Aaron Ivey version

Saturday Afternoon/Evening

"How Marvelous"
"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" - Aaron Ivey version
"Forever Reign" - Hillsong
"How He Loves" - David Crowder version

T4A | Friday Evening Song Set

Set list from Friday night at Together for Adoption 2011 Conference...

"You Alone Can Rescue" - Matt Redman
"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" - hymn (Aaron Ivey band version)
"How Marvelous" - hymn

Chicks 4 Orphans

One of the exhibitors here at the Together for Adoption 2011 Conference that has caught my eye is Chicks 4 Orphans: Buy a Chick. Help an Orphan. My first question was, "Was this created by a college fraternaty?" I've heard a similar buzz among other conference-goers and even the speakers. It's a fun bit of viral marketing. It enticed my wife to seek out one of their t-shirts, and then they wanted me to wear one because they wanted guys to not be afraid to wear "Chicks 4 Orphans" shirts. I'm proud to be wearing one today and want to share this interesting and viral kind of ministry with you.

From the Chicks 4 Orphans Facebook page...

Chicks help orphans. You can help orphans too!

Chicks 4 Orphans is both a sustainable poultry farming business in Zambia and a fundraising campaign for Every Orphan’s Hope, a ministry dedicated to sharing the love of Jesus Christ with children left orphaned and vulnerable because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

What impact can Chicks 4 Orphans make? As you give and encourage others to give to Chicks 4 Orphans, you’re helping to create sustainable poultry farming projects that will help feed and care for orphans. Chicken farming also provides an income generating business to support the many other needs of these children, such as education, clothes, housing, healthcare and more. 

The goal is to create sustainable poultry farming businesses that employ villagers, sustain ministry operations and care for orphans in Zambia.

"LIKE" Chicks 4 Orphans on Facebook and take the 100 Chick Challenge. Follow on Twitter. We are excited to get home tomorrow and discuss this ministry with our kids, especially our daughter, Sarah. It's something you can do online, in your church, in a small group. It's a simple and beautiful way to help orphans. 

T4A | Tullian Tchividjian - Session 2

Tullian delievered a great message on Law & Gospel at Together for Adoption 2011 Conference. Rather than redo work others have done, I commend to you the notes of a new friend of mine, Aaron Armstrong (author of Awaiting a Savior). Here are a couple of my favorite quotes I took on Twitter from Tullian's talk...

"It's a lie that grace is dangerous and needs to be kept in check."

"It's silly that we have to put the word 'radical' before Grace, as if there's some other kind."

"There is nothing more radically unbalanced than grace."

I'm excited about Tullian's new book coming out October 31st, Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Order it now.

T4A | Friday Morning Song Set

I very much enjoyed the song choice this morning, so I asked th worship leader, Jimmy McNeal, for the set list. Here you go...

"Your Great Name" - The People's Church
"From the Inside Out" - Hillsong
"You Alone Can Rescue" - Matt Redman
"How Great Thou Art" -hymn (Arron Ivey version)
"Let Your Kingdom Come" - Aaron Ivey

T4A | Darrin Patrick - Session 1

Darrin's definition of the Gospel...

The gospel is the good news that the Eternal God entered our sinful world as the Eternal Son of God, Jesus, and lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father

(Jesus) died as a sacrifice in the place of sinners, rose triumphantly from death as a sign of sin’s defeat and the Father’s acceptance of his Son’s atoning sacrifice, establishing righteousness for those who had no righteousness of their own.  

Other quotes...

If you don't nail the gospel definition, social justice will distract you from the gospel.

If you don't do justice in your neighborhood, don't do it in your city. 

Darrin makes four main point to help frame our discussion about the church’s role in social justice.

1. The church is called, first and foremost, to proclaim the gospel.

2. You must not use social justice to avoid the offense of the cross.

3. Churches should plant other churches.

The best thing you can do to encourage social justice is plant other churches.

4. The “institutional” church must equip individuals who will become the “organic” church. 

Together for Adoption | Main Sessions & Giveaway

Molly and I are flying to Phoenix for the 2011 Together for Adoption Conference tomorrow morning, Lord-willing and the winds die down. I know many of you can't go but are interested in following along. So I encourage you to stick around for live-blogging here at Reformissionary. Follow me on Twitter for a lot of instant updates and pics and who knows what else. I also encourage you to follow other featured bloggers at T4A for a wide variety of experiences of and discussions about the conference. The official hashtag for all the stuff on Twitter is #t4aCon and official conference twitter account is @t4aCon.

You'll hear about a ton of different breakout sessions from different bloggers as well as these top-notch general sessions. You won't want to miss what these guys are saying...

Darrin Patrick: The Church and Social Justice

Tullian Tchividjian: Surprised by Adoption

Dan Cruver: Adoption and the God Who Gives

Bryan Loritts: The Church as the Theater of Transracial Adoption

Jeff Vanderstelt: Gospel-Motivation for Missional Living

Tim Chester: Relaxing in Trinitarian Love

GIVEAWAY

Ok, so for those of you who can't go, I'm doing another giveaway of 5 copies of Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father (edited & written in part by Dan Cruver). I love the book, and I want to get it in your hands. So, here's how you can enter for a chance at one of the copies. All three steps are required, and easy.

1. "LIKE" the T4A Facebook page.

2. TWEET (and/or post on Facebook wall), without the quote marks: " Win a FREE copy of Reclaiming Adoption! RT this & comment at Reformissionary to win: http://bit.ly/nW95S8 #t4aCon "

3. COMMENT BELOW (so I can verify you did steps 1 & 2). Include your full name and real email address (kept private) so I can contact the winners.

For fun, and since the World Series begins tonight, share your World Series winner in your comment. Texas Rangers or the St. Louis Cardinals? Also feel free to give your predictions on how many games it will take to win (sports SINthusiast Joe Thorn, just tell us your favorite color). I'm calling it for the Rangers in 5.

I will randomly choose 5 winners on Saturday, the last day of the Together for Adoption 2011 Conference. 

Lots-o-Links 9.22.11

Been a while since I did a links post. Some you need to check out...

• Build 2011 - This Acts 29 regional event in Normal, IL is this weekend. It's inexpensive and has fanstastic speakers: Joe Thorn, Elliot Grudem, Scotty Smith & more. If you are anywhere close...GO! (Facebook)
• Videos: Jeff Vanderstelt on missional communities & Mark Dever on replanting
• GopselCentredDisicipleship.com looks great! (Like on Facebook)
• 5 Differences btw ESV Study Bible & ESV Student Study Bible
• 2011 Gospel Community Mission (GCM) Conference audio is up
• 25 Ways to Engage Your Neighbors | Jonathan Dodson
• Perry Noble is lying? - ouch. James MacDonald defends Perry.

T4A: Pre-Conference with Tim Chester

I've been very blessed by the ministry & writing of Tim Chester. I've read Total Church twice & I've reviewed the excellent Delighting in the Trinity. You should also check out his book From Creation to New Creation among others. At the Together for Adoption Conference Tim and Dan Cruver (author of Reclaiming Adoption) are delivering a pre-conference event called "Missional Church, Missional God, Missional Story." Here's more from the website...

Missional Church, Missional God, Missional Story

Tim Chester and Dan Cruver

Missional church is not simply the latest fad. It’s rooted in the trinitarian character of God and the story of the Bible. Explore the foundations for shaping life around gospel, community and mission along with practical application for church life and the implications for orphan care.

Registration: $75 Per Person

Learn more about this pre-conference event with Tim Chester.

Together for Adoption Conference | Early Bird

Email from the T4A folks on how you can save by registering this week for the conference. I'll be there with my beautiful wife. Hope to see you there!

You can save $30 by registering for Together for Adoption's October 21-22 orphan care/adoption conference this week (read full-details here). You may now register for just $75 today, July 25th, through Saturday, July 30th. This limited-time discount is over $30 less than our current early bird special. Take advantage of this super early bird price and help us spread the word about it this week. This sale ends on Saturday, July 30th at 11:59pm. Check here for details and to register at this super early bird rate.

If you take advantage of this early bird special and would like to sign up for conference childcare or reserve a room at one of our partner hotels, you will need to do so at our regular online registration site. You may also register there for one of our two pre-conference events as well.

NOTE: If you are coming with a group from your church, this would be a perfect opportunity for your group's members to register.

We hope to see you in Phoenix this October 21-22nd.

Together for Adoption 2011 Conference

Registration is now open for the 2011 Together for Adoption Conference. Come to Phoenix on October 21-22 and join me and Joe Thorn and our wives and a bunch of other good folks for what is sure to be informative, insightful, fun and, uh, hot. From the website...

Join us October 21-22 in Phoenix for Together for Adoption Conference 2011. Over 1,200 people will gather together at Redemption Church (Gilbert Campus) to explore the theme Missional Living, the Gospel and Orphan Care. One of our primary objectives for this year’s conference is to create a forum to consider the good news of the Gospel, explore its implications for how we think about and implement orphan care strategies, and discuss how we can move toward greater collaboration as the people of God for the sake of orphans worldwide.

General session speakers include: Darrin Patrick, Tullian Tchividjian, Tim Chester (coming to us from England), Bryan Loritts, Juan Sanchez, and Jeff Vanderstelt.

Registration:

• Early Bird: $109 Per Person (good through August 31st)
• Regular: $149 Per Person (price from September 1 until October 21)

*Registration price includes two onsite lunches and afternoon snacks.

Worship Leaders: Shaun Groves, Aaron Ivey, and Jimmy McNeal

General Session Hosts: Shaun Groves and Johnny Carr (National Director of Church Partnerships at Bethany Christian Services)

Note: Childcare is available.

Pre-Conference Event (Thursday, October 20):

Missional Church, Missional God, Missional Story
Tim Chester and Dan Cruver

Missional church is not simply the latest fad. It’s rooted in the trinitarian character of God and the story of the Bible. Explore the foundations for shaping life around gospel, community and mission along with practical application for church life and the implications for orphan care.

Registration: $75 Per Person

Pre-Conference information.

Current list of our Featured Bloggers: MegMiller, Lindsey Nobles, Reformissionary (Steve McCoy), JoeThorn.net, Julie Gumm, Zach Nielsen, Missional Thoughts (Josh Reich), and Michael Robinson. More will be added.

There will be 60+ breakouts to equip you and provide you with opportunities to meet others who share your same passion for orphaned and vulnerable children. Over 60 organizations involved in orphan care, adoption, and foster care will also be there to serve you as you seek to live out James 1:27.

Notice on the list of featured bloggers, my real name is secondary to my blog name. That can't be good! ;)

I hope many of you will join us. So go register for the conference. Also check out and "Like" the Together for Adoption page. 

Those Who Face the Death of a Child

At The Gospel Coalition this week I was able to talk with David and Nancy Guthrie. Nancy Guthrie is the author of many books, including Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus and Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross.

Nancy and David told me about Respite, a ministry to parents who have suffered the death of a child. I want to encourage those who have lost a child or have friends who have suffered in this way to check it out. Pastors, this could be a very valuable resource to keep in mind.

Phriday is for Photos | Gospel Coalition

Gospel Coalition | Day 1

I have absolutely no time to recap my days here at the Gospel Coalition 2011 in Chicago, but I figured I'd put up something. 

I'm really impressed with the new location, McCormick Place. Huge facility. The bookstore is outstanding, and now has Joe Thorn's new book, Note to Self.

What preaching I saw was great. Maybe better than that, Joe Thorn and I talked just before bed about how amazing our conversations have been. Gospel-focused, encouraging, God-glorifying. I've seen new friends and old ones. I told Michael Horton I'm one of those missional guys and got Rod Rosenbladt to laugh. I met Ray Ortlund, Jr. and Dane Ortlund for the first time and talked to Sam Storms yet again. I got coffee with Greg Thornbury and tried to convert Tim Ellsworth's 7 year old son to being a Cubs fan (FAIL, for good reason). I told Josh Harris he looks a bit like Russ Moore. Josh is always a joy to talk to. Matt Schmucker gave me a sticker. Al Mohler, as always, asked about my wife's health. Several guys actually did. I heard Tim Keller preach. Nuff said. I talked to a bunch of bloggers about, well, blogging. I saw my pastor from Kentucky, my old friend from a Methodist church in my hometown, and several local friends. I met Jared Wilson and his lovely wife, Becky, who is probably a better conversationalist than he is. And he's a great conversationist. I got to discuss and strategize about open-air preaching with guys from cities, suburbs, and small towns. I talked about "synagogue evangelism" with some Twitter friends I got to meet for the first time. It was one of the best days of conversations I've ever experienced, and it's just the first day. Because of all the above I'm even more optimistic about the Church, the mission, and our great God. 

It's been a very good but long day and I think I've dropped enough names, though the list goes on. These are real guys, serious guys, and it's a blessing to know them. More tomorrow. It's late and I'm punchy. Let me close with this: The Gospel Coalition is probably my favorite all-around conference for a superb mix of content & opportunity to make connections with Gospel-saturated guys. I wish even more friends were here. God has been good to me.

Giveaway: Reclaiming Adoption

BOOK GIVEAWAY

I recently read and endorsed Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through Rediscovery of Abba Father (Kindle version only $5.99). Check out my endorsement & many others. Love this book by Dan Cruver, also with John Piper, Richard D. Phillips, Scotty Smith, and Jason Kovacs. There's a PDF study guide and sample of the book available.

By the way, Dan Cruver is also leading a breakout session at the Desiring God Pastor's Conference at 3:15-4:15pm this coming Tuesday. 

*****

So, to the point. I've been given the chance to host a GIVEAWAY of 5 COPIES of Reclaiming Adoption. Here's your chance to pick up one of the best books I've read in the last year.

Do this...

STEP 1: Copy & share the following without the quote marks on Twitter (if you aren't on Twitter, use Facebook, or do BOTH!): "Get a FREE copy of Reclaiming Adoption! RT this & comment at Reformissionary to win: http://bit.ly/ih1LeK "

STEP 2: Leave a comment below (so I can verify you did step 1). Include your full name and real email address (kept private) so I can contact the winners. For fun, also comment on your Super Bowl winner & score. 

I will randomly choose 5 winners in the late afternoon/early evening on Friday (28th).

GO!

If God Is Against Us...

Until we come to grips with the fact that there is one unchanging God who has always hated sin and deals with it with the utmost severity, we're not anywhere close to revival. We're going to have to accept the fact that when God is grieved He turns himself and becomes his peoples' greatest enemy.

I still hear people saying, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" But that's not the issue right now. The issue is, "If God is against us, what does it matter who's for us."

Richard Owen Roberts, 2010 Forum on Revival at SBC (original source)

Ligonier Ministries $5 Friday | 1.14.11

$5 Friday deals at Ligonier this week...

Books: Living by God's Promises by Joel Beeke | Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow by RC Sproul

Teaching Series: Truth (CD) | Classic Collection (download, 10 best known messages) | Oaths & Vows (download)

DVD: War on the Word (2002 Natl Conf)

Audio: Scenes from the Life of Christ by Tom Howard (CD w/ narrations by Begg, Mohler, Piper, Sproul, several others)

Check out all the books & resources at Ligonier.org and the Ligonier Store.

 

Bifrost Arts: Liturgy, Music, & Space

I heard about the new Bifrost Arts worship conference at Covenant Seminary a few weeks back. It's called "Liturgy, Music, & Space." If you don't know Bifrost Arts, you should. I very much enjoy their two albums: Salvation Is Created (Christmas) and Come, O Spirit (worship). More about the conference...

Each week we tell our congregations a story with how we use liturgy, how we use music, and how we use space in worship. Bifrost Arts has developed a curriculum for small groups and Sunday School classes entitled “Liturgy, Music, & Space” to help churches walk through a coherent, biblical view of how these elements of worship are forming us.

Join us from March 29-31 as we present this curriculum at a conference with lectures, workshops, and times of worship in St. Louis, Missouri with:

• Nicholas Wolterstorff
• Bryan Chapell
• Greg Thompson
• John Hodges
• Kevin Twit (Indelible Grace)
• Betsy Steele Halstead
• Isaac Wardell
• The Welcome Wagon (great album)

Conference fee is $150. Discounts are available for students, campus ministers, and church employees from small congregations.

This conference is made possible through a worship renewal grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, MI, with funds provided by Lilly Endowement Inc.

I'm not a worship leader, but this sounds amazing for worship leaders, pastors (especially of smaller churches), etc. 

Bifrost Arts from josh franer on Vimeo.

 

PLANT! Conference | March 24-26, 2011

PLANT! Conference is looking pretty awesome. Love stuff like this, where like-minded guys from various backgrounds and networks come together. Here's some info. It's not expensive. You should go.

PLANT! | March 24-26, 2011

Location | Covenant Fellowship Church, Glen Mills, PA

Cost | $99 bucks

Who Should Go | Church planters, pastors, pastors who desire to see their church plant churches, members of churches who desire to be a part of planting a church some day

Why Go To PLANT! | Sovereign Grace is gathering church planting thinkers and doers from different denominations and church planting movements for three days of teaching and dialogue about planting and building churches on the gospel.

Learn from a group of men from Acts 29, Sovereign Grace, the PCA, and 9 Marks who have planted, replanted and are in the midst of leading planting movements. Men like Darrin Patrick and Daniel Montgomery from Acts 29, Mark Dever and Mike McKinley from 9 Marks and the SBC, Tim Witmer from the PCA, CJ Mahaney, Dave Harvey, Pete Greasley, Craig Cabaniss from Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Get more info & register at PLANT! Conference website. Connect on Facebook.

Tim Keller: Urban Plant Life PDFs

Here are PDF's of talks Tim Keller gave at the Urban Plant Life conference in London a couple of years ago. You can also check out the audio/video or grab the podcast. But having documents you can print and search is very helpful. Thanks to @BradAndrews for the heads-up.

1. Gospel Renewal
2. Church & Culture
3. Contextual & Missional
4. Gospel Theology
5. Integrative Ministry
6. Gospel Preaching
7. Gospel Theology
8. Movement Dynamics
9. Church Planting

(original location)

Tim Keller: Day Conference

In October there was a Day Conference with Tim Keller in Johannesburg at Rosebank Union Church. All the audio is online. 

• Session 1: The Priority of Churches
• Session 2: Urban Churches & Contextualization
• Session 3: Gospel and Culture
• Session 4: Q and A
• Session 5: Evening City Celebration

GCM Conference - Austin in October

Austin has more to offer than good music. The GCM Collective Conference is coming October 28-30. You need to be there.

If you are unfamiliar, GCM stands for "Gospel Community Mission." From the website...

The GCM Collective exists to promote, create and equip Gospel Communities on Mission. A gospel community is a group of believers that lives out the mission of God together as family, in a specific area to a particular people group, by declaring and demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms.  Regular people, living ordinary lives, with great gospel intentionality.

GCM Collective's online community for discussion and sharing resources is quite helpful. Again, from the site...

Over a thousand missional leaders and thinkers are gathered together online to share insight, experiences, resources, prayer and more to help you in your effort to lead a local community on mission. Engage in meaningful conversations with others from around the world or who live near you.

But the conference is what I want to highlight. I'm going to be there. I want to encourage you to come. 

The list of speakers is solid. Ed Stetzer, Steve Timmis (author of Total Church), Jeff Vanderstelt & Caesar Kalinowski (Soma Communities), David Fairchild & Drew Goodmanson (Kaleo San Diego) and Jonathan Dodson (Austin City Life Church). 

I was in a breakout group with Vanderstelt and Kalinowski at Verge in February and it was some of the most thought provoking, encouraging stuff I've heard on practical, local church life. I was in a breakout with Timmis for an Acts 29 boot camp which was very helpful as well. And these aren't just thinkers, they are practitioners. We often go to conferences for big names giving big talks. GCM Conference is going to be very different, and I think transformational.

Jonathan Dodson recently posted "4 Reasons I'm Excited about GCM Conference." These are some of the same reasons I'm excited for this conference.

(1) Practioner-tested Missional Community Training
(2) Top Notch Theological Reflection on Mission
(3) The Collective Experience
(4) The Centrality of the Gospel in Mission

Go read Jonathan's post for more. And join us in Austin in October for the GCM Conference.

Story Chicago 2010

My friend, Ben Arment, has created another STORY Conference here in Chicago. The STORY website is the dreamiest ever. How can you see this and not want to go? STORY purposefully has limited seating for maximized experience, so you want to get your tickets now. 

Here's more info...

---

STORY
Sept 23-24
Chicago, IL

STORY is a conference for the creative class in ministry on September 23-24, 2010 at Park Community Church in downtown Chicago. The purpose is to fuel the church's artists, writers and producers in communicating the greatest story ever told. You’ll hear from some of the best creative practitioners in both ministry and the marketplace, from filmmakers and authors to actors and musicians. Presenters include:

# Dan Allender - best-selling author, professor at Mars Hill Graduate School
# Charlie Todd - creator of Improv Everywhere in New York City
# Princess Zulu - AIDS victim from infancy, advocate for the oppressed
# Jason Fried - founder of 37Signals, creator of Basecamp, author of Rework
# John Sowers - president of Donald Miller's The Mentoring Project
# Shauna Niequist - former creative director at Mars Hill, author of Bittersweet
# David Hodges - formerly of the band Evanescence, award-winning songwriter
# Leonard Sweet - futurist, author of 40 books, professor at Drew University
# David McFadzean - creator of Home Improvement, producer of Roseanne
# Richard Walter - accomplished screenwriter and professor of film at UCLA
# Sean Gladding - member of Communality, a new monastic community
# Andrew Klavan - author of True Crime (Clint Eastwood) and numerous novels
# Gary Dorsey - founder of Pixel Peach Studio in Austin, TX
# Music by Vicky Beeching, Kari Jobe and Carlos Whittaker

Seating is limited to just 500 attendees, and the event is scheduled on a Thursday and Friday so you can enjoy the weekend in the city. Following its inaugural event in 2009, STORY is now a two-day, main-stage event with no breakouts or workshops; just an intimate audience with the top creative minds. You’ll be able to ask questions during the event and continue the conversation after it's over. Visit www.storychicago.com.

missionSHIFT Conference

One of my favorite conference experiences EVER was at Ridgecrest, NC for a missions conference with John Piper. BOOM! Awesome. There's another conference coming up at Ridgecrest this July with a stunning list of speakers called missionSHIFT.

Check this out: Matt Chander, Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, JD Greear, Jeff Vanderstelt, Daniel Montgomery, Neil Cole, Dan Kimball and...*gulp*...Joe Thorn! 

Would be cool just as a conference, but it gets better. Though not a speak, Tim Keller and some other guys (after I hear Keller, everyone else just fades away...Stetzer, Hirsch, blah, blah, blah) are crafting "The Missional Manifesto"...

During the months leading up to missionSHIFT, many of today’s leading missiologists, theologians, and practitioners will begin to draft a document entitled “The Missional Manifesto.”

[...]

The framers hope to construct a helpful statement on the use and application of the word missional. The intention of “The Missional Manifesto” is to allow the Scriptures to guide our understanding and involvement in the mission of God as it applies to the whole of life and doctrine. The document will strive to show how missional intersects with truths about the gospel, the local church, evangelism, missions, social justice, and contextualization, among other things.  

Prior to missionSHIFT, all interested parties will be able to participate in shaping the document via Twitter using the “tweet” feature on the left side of the home page - using @missionSHIFT and #missionSHIFT. Because we feel that biblical community is inherent to the participation in God’s mission, we hope you will use the “tweet” feature to share information about missionSHIFT via other mediums such as social networking and email platforms. 

Before the conference, “The Missional Manifesto” will be posted on this page for attendees to prayerfully read through and consider signing in affirmation at the conference. After missionSHIFT, non-attendees will be given an opportunity to electronically sign “The Missional Manifesto” on this site in affirmation of its content.

As stated, we believe now is the time to forge this declaration and we look forward to doing that with you!

Friends, this is a really great opportunity to both attend and help to craft this document with some of the finest minds and practitioners around. Check out missionSHIFT.

Catalyst One Day Chicago

I had the privilege of attending Catalyst One Day Chicago last Thursday at Willow Creek. I didn't know a lot about One Day before I went. I knew it was ONE day and had Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel as speakers. I knew it would probably be mostly leadership and organizational principles. That's about it.

One Day's are four main sessions (Andy, 2 Craig's, Andy), significant Q and A time, and Andy-Craig dialogues. You get to hear the nitty gritty aspects of ministry from these two guys who lead two giant churches and who have been through a lot.

Topic was momentum. An important topic for my ministry & church in particular, so I was very eager to hear them on it. Let me first describe 5 things that I really needed to hear.

First, I needed the reminder from Stanley that if people aren't following, they aren't convinced of the vision. I'm working on vision stuff at Doxa this week and heading into summer. It's an important thing for me to hear and hear again. I'm not nearly good enough at casting vision and keeping it in front of my people.

Second, I needed the word from Groeschel that "If you're not hurting, you're not leading." Pain is a part of leadership and ministry, I've experienced it a lot, and it's a part of it that I can't avoid. But I love to try to avoid it. If I do, I stop leading. Another quote: "The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the painful decision you need to make." 

Third, I needed everything from Groeschel's second talk. So good for me. We need to repent life as "Christian Atheists," as people who are full-time Pastors but only part-time Christians. This was another God moment for me, which are growing in number over the past few months. God is good.

Fourth, I needed the reminder to talk to my wife about when it's best for me to be home. I've just flat-out neglected this. I'm home a lot and I'm a real homebody, a family man. But often not at the times that serve her and my children best. I'm correcting this.

Fifth, I needed Stanley's encouraging closing talk as it pertained to my approach to ministry. He said programs are created to answer a question or meet a need and we must stop them when they no longer answer the question or meet the need. I've seen a need to work on this at my church, and I just needed to be encouraged again on how important this work is. 

Now, a few critical thoughts I have and I know some others have.

Some will criticize conferences like this for not emphasizing the Gospel more. I hear that, and agree to a point. I know we can't assume a lot of guys in ministry know and/or preach the Gospel all that well. I agree that the Gospel is THE filter and directive behind all that we do. And I do think the message of One Day would be impacted and improved should the Gospel take a more prominent place as the day begins. 

But I also like the format. I like having some assumptions so we can narrow the focus. We don't always have to say everything. You know coming in to this that it isn't really a theology/Gospel conference. There are other places for that. This is leadership and organization and best practices. And I found it of great value for what it is.

I disagree significantly with both Stanley and Groeschel on some organizational aspects of their churches. It's hard to talk best practices without the conference teaching a model, at least to a point. I was able to pass off the stuff I didn't find sound or compelling from my point of view, so it wasn't a big deal for me. Is it possible the Gospel/theology aspect is not only absent because of the narrow focus of the conference, but also because it's under-utilized in these models? Possibly. But that doesn't mean I can glean what I find valuable there, and I found a lot of value.

Another criticism could be that these pastors of large churches with lots of staff aren't speaking quite as helpful for smaller church guys. There's some validity to that and had that thought during One Day. But I also think there is enough there that anyone in any place of ministry will be blessed. Like I said, yu can't do everything at every conference. And the principles discussed are meant to be universal. I was happy enough, though I wasn't always fully tracking with where these two guys are in their leadership journey.

If you have a chance to attend a One Day or other Catalyst Conference, I think you will be blessed. I was.

Phriday is for Photos 3.26.10

It's Friday, this is a photo, but I didn't take it. At Catalyst One Day they asked "What is the one way the church should innovate to be more effective?" This was the answer of Joe Thorn and me.

On the Verge - Part 4

*The last of my series of posts on Verge. See Pt 1, 2, 3.

I've been struggling. Personally, spiritually, pastorally, physically. I was talking with my wife on Saturday night about some of the stuff I've dealt with in the last year and beyond, and it blew me away when I realized the issues that have I've dealt with in my life. I know that's vague, but I want to give at least a little context for what I'm going to say and what I've experienced. I know we all go through difficult, dryer times. We all have detractors. And I've talked to a number of young pastors in the last months and years who have had many of the same issues. I know I'm not alone or unique.

In the few months prior to Verge God was really working on me. I've been doing a lot of repenting of the idols in my heart. I've been preaching the gospel to myself. Molly and I have been thinking through a lot together. She has been going through much of the same through a study that just rocked her world a couple of months back. 

When I got to Verge I connected with friends and settled in for a good time. What I didn't expect that God would use this conference as a spiritual pivot-point. Practical, sure. Theological, maybe. Not spiritual. During the conference, through a number of sessions and conversations and events, the Holy Spirit haunted me with God's goodness and faithful love in Christ.

Let me briefly describe how the Holy Spirit worked in me at Verge.

First, I was blessed and challenged by the video lead-ins by Alan Hirsch. Each session started with Hirsch detailing an idea that the upcoming speakers would speak on. One-by-one these videos deepened my love for Christ and the Church. I ended up looking forward to the next video more than the next speaker. It was a great thread tying together the conference, and through them the Spirit was stirring that old fire in my belly to see God's local church vibrant and alive.

Second, as detailed in my previous post, Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski's breakout on Soma Communities took Hirsch and gave it legs, concreteness. They took the hunger I was gaining for biblical, misisonal community encouraged by Hirsch and made it seem possible. God was renewing my view of community, my calling to shepherd our church toward it, and my love for the Church despite her flaws.

Third, the two sessions with Francis Chan were remarkable. Nothing flashy. Quite the opposite, really. Just real. The dude was real. He was honest about his own struggles and our struggles as pastors to want what God wants and to want them through the means God provides.

Both sessions were on the Holy Spirit. I don't care what the titles or topics were. The Holy Spirit was the point for me. Why are we functioning on any power other than the Holy Spirit? Chan said...

You will try and fail to start movements. Movements come from Jesus, from the Holy Spirit. If you try to go surfing and there are no waves, you send your buddy out to start splashing and try to make waves. We can't do it.

Think about the book of Acts, and how unstoppable they were. This is Holy Spirit powered.

I want to ride the wave. I'm spending way too much energy splashing in the ocean to make my own waves when if I look for the Spirit's waves, they will be unstoppable. How can we think our tactics and strategies and plans and efforts will go anywhere without God?

Chan's honest and sobering message inspired me to dream again about being the church we saw in Acts. I used to dream about the exciting, messy movement of God in the world. I want to want that again. Most preaching makes me want to believe I can do something. Chan made me want to believe and pray that God would do something.

In his second message Chan said something like this...

If you are not suffering, there is a problem. Imagine how close you’d be with Jesus and how safe you would feel had you suffered alongside Him. Then you would know this is real.

This was the message I can quote the least because I was so tunnel-visioned into what God was saying. I didn't hear the sermon, I experienced it. You can get a lot of the message from Jonathan McIntosh's post. He echoes much of what I thought about Chan and the work of the Holy Spirit at Verge.

Allow me to quote JMac here for my fourth and final point.

Fourth, the Holy Spirit showed up. Jonathan writes...

The best part of the weekend was a worship session on Saturday afternoon that never seemed to stop. It was time for the singing to be done and for all of us to move on to the next deal on the schedule – except that God had something else on His schedule.

Matt Carter got up and acknowledged that something was going on. Breakouts were going to start soon and that if people needed to go they could, but he opened the door for others to stick around if they felt so led. And we did. People just stood there. Or knelt. Or bowed.

And then one by one, people spontaneously started calling out to God. In a group of thousands, people started calling on the name of Jesus.

It’s hard to describe what happened, and I really don’t want to dishonor that moment by trying to make it seem more dramatic than it was. I’ll just say that for me it was an intense moment of sensing God’s hugeness and my own smallness and yet feeling accepted in that instead of alienated. It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that happen in a group that large since my charismatic revival days.

I agree. I've had a lot of "aha" moments from God through His Word. I've had a sacred few moments when He was noticeably present in a special way. I've had even fewer like Verge when He moved in unity among many and was, apparently, sensed by nearly all of us.

Truthfully, I'm all too skeptical of these things. So much junk is said to be the work of the Spirit, and that's when eye-rolling and tongue-clucking commences. But I can't deny the experience I (we) had at Verge. It was the culmination of many things happening in my life. It was sparked by truth and Christology and ecclesiology and evangelistic/missional fervor at Verge. But the crescendo for me, and it seems for all of us, was when a "rock star pastor" (Chan) laid himself bare, talked about struggles instead of displaying his flapping cap, and talked about Jesus and the Spirit instead of strategies. It was a moment I can't forget, and that drives me NOT to pursue a new ministry plan BUT rather power that can only come from the haunting of the Holy Ghost.

May our churches find ourselves on our knees far more than we sketch out plans. May the interruptions that God puts in our lives be seen as more important than our intentions. May we be willing to suffer as missionaries for our great God. And may He be glorified.

Win 2 Tickets to Catalyst ONE DAY Chicago

Catalyst ONE DAY Chicago (March 25th) is a one day Christian leadership event with Andy Stanley & Craig Groeschel. The topic is Momentum: what is it? how do you get it? how do you keep it?

Andy & Craig will be sharing practical strategies and personal examples that have helped them gain momentum in their churches. Also, there will be several sessions of Q&A. This is a great opportunity for you and your team to gain some practical insight on creating and sustaining momentum in your organization, especially in light of the current economic crisis.

I will be there for sure.

Catalyst One Day from Catalyst on Vimeo.

My buddies at Catalyst are putting on this event. They gave me two extra tickets to giveaway to you guys, so here we go:

HERE’S HOW TO WIN:

1. TWEET THIS: “Giving away 2 tickets to Catalyst ONE DAY Chicago. Comment & RT to enter http://bit.ly/dpWHWC.”
2. COMMENT BELOW: with your twitter name (so I can verify you did step 1) and an impactful leadership book you've read (just for fun)
3. At 4PM CST TODAY: I’ll randomly choose two entrants below to win 1 ticket each!

On the Verge - Part 3

*I'm running a series of posts on attending & experiencing Verge. Pt1, Pt2*

 

One of my guilty pleasure movies is Far and Away. Two young people (with terribly inaccurate accents) come to America in hope for freedom and land. My favorite character is the girl's father who is in constant despair as a powerful and rich landowner in Ireland. He wants freedom and adventure. He's bored with money and business compromises. 

After much adventure and seemingly insurmountable circumstances, the boy and girl finally make it to the race for land in America. Along the way the girl's father and mother have come to America in search for their daughter, find her, and join in the race for land on which to live out the rest of their lives. Likely too old to win land in this race, they sneak to a beautiful piece of land in the night, which was dangerous and illegal. The man boasts to his wife with a jolly and satisfied grin on his face just before their , "We're breaking the law, Norah."

On arrival at Verge 2010 the announcements made it clear that every attender should only attend the workshop they signed up for. We were strongly urged not to attend a workshop we didn't sign up for. As a member of the social media team I had my sections chosen for me, and they didn't include the two Soma Communities workshop with Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski. So I broke the law...with a grin on my face. Yeah I sat in the back on the floor, but that's closer to the outlets anyway. I'm so glad I disobeyed Verge.

During these two workshop sessions, which they admitted were only a hint at what happens at Soma School, I had about 25 brain explosions. It was very hard to keep tracking with them, distracted by every "aha" moment. I have been hoping it all would sink in since Verge, but I'm still in the learning phase of what Soma does. It's not complicated. But it is profound and challenging. It's taking a lot of work to undo these evangelical Southern Baptist knots in my brain.

All Soma has really done is to focus on local mission and community without driving everything through programs. They were telling practical stories about things they are doing that I've only scratched the surface of in my life. For me they are ideals. For Soma they are in practice and alive. Missional Communities may have no better friend than Soma. Very convincing. Let me pull out a couple of threads here, to show you how God was working on my heart at Verge. I hope to represent what they were teaching accurately. 

Let me give you 2 words that are reforming my approach to community. You can also check out the notes I took during Jeff & Caesar's workshop.

Family

We need to see everyone as family. The church, our missional community, etc.

From Soma School PDF...

Think about it in Familial terms…Do we define a family based only upon what they do? “We are a family because we sleep in the same house, eat together, do dishes, share a budget, etc…” (Defined by activity). By who they are? “We are a family because we have the same parents, the same last name, belong to one another, etc…” (Defined by being). Or because of how we came into being? “We are a family because our parents gave birth to us or adopted us” (Defined by Origin). A Healthy family would be defined in all three ways: 1) Our parents birthed us or adopted us – so we belong to them. 2) We are all related and share identity – so we belong to each other. And, 3) We do what families do together – life lived together defined by love.

Jeff and Caesar also encouraged us to think beyond the Family to the world, extending to all people. We are commanded to love our neighbors, to treat them like members of our family (even if we think of them as estranged family members). 

What if we treated the older couple across the street as parents, the very old woman next door as our grandmother, the kids around the block as our kids? How life changing would it be in our neighborhoods? What if our home was open and our hospitality that relational and loving?

Rhythms

Speaking of hospitality, I found the discussion on using the everyday rhythms of life for mission refreshing and helpful. 

In order to lead our people to see all of life as ministry and mission we must equip them to live out the gospel in everyday activities – everyday rhythms.

We have found some transferable patterns or rhythms of life that we see throughout The Story of God and in every culture in every part of the world. Through each of these rhythms people have the opportunity to walk by faith – walking in line with the truth of the Gospel – or walk in fear or prideful rebellion to God – walking in unbelief.

When we come to understand and believe the Gospel we realize that we are saved by faith not works AND we are being saved by faith not works. We know that the righteous live by faith and every moment is pregnant with the opportunity to walk by faith and therefore in line with the truth of the Gospel. Training up ourselves and others to walk in line with the truth of the Gospel is really all about learning to walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave up his life for us in every part of life.

These everyday rhythms that we have identified can be easily observed in the very beginning of The Story before the Fall of Man and through The Story we can see how they can be lived out in faith or in fear or prideful rebellion…

What everyday rhythms of life do you observe in the Garden including the Fall of Man that are also present in every culture in the world?

Soma has identified 6 everyday rhythms...

• Story-Formed
• Listen
• Celebrate
• Bless
• Eat
• Recreate

For more on understanding each rhythm check out the Soma School PDF starting on page 10. For now let me say that it's nice to think about life as mission rather than stopping life for mission. It's not a new idea, and it's all over the missional conversation of the past few years. But these guys are not just thinking about doing it. They are doing it and leading others to do it well.

The heart of rhythms is that we don't need to add more to our lives. Just do what you do with gospel intentionality. It's been my approach here in Woodstock for the past few years, but I'm still learning. Soma may be the "go to" guys on this stuff now. We are talking in my house about how to think about the rhythms of culture, our lives, and how to see them intersect. We are working on having our door of hospitality open a lot more and having a more "open door" sort of policy to our home. We are thinking about how to invite others to the family meals we already have together every week. We are planning to celebrate more and accept more invitations to celebrate with others. Christians should be the most celebratory people in the world! Good stuff.

This was easily the best teaching I got at Verge. I hope you will look into it more. Check out the Soma Communities website, in their 31 page PDF of Soma School Notes. You may want to look into attending a Soma School this year in May or October. 

On The Verge - Part 2

*I'm running a series of short posts on attending & experiencing Verge.*

Being a part of the Verge Social Media Team made the conference a unique experience. You pay attention in a different way when you have to write about it, tweet it, etc.

One thing I seem to always talk about when it comes to blogs, Twitter, Facebook and so on is the value of the relationships formed through them. I've yet to find it very valuable for the people around me. Honestly, where I pastor there are number of folks on Facebook but the other stuff is another language. Most of my church doesn't read nor do that care about my blog. No one else tweets. But Reformissionary, Twitter and other social connections have been some of the most valuable resources of my life as they have connected me to a huge network around the globe of pastors, missionaries, planters, and missional Christians.

If not for my many followers I wouldn't have gone to Verge. It was on my radar, just not my budget. But my social network helped to make my attendance valuable for Verge as I could spread their message to my network. I hope the Verge posts and tweets were/are a blessing to you. I'm so thankful Stew and the other Verge folks invited me there.

Having my network helped me to connect to many people at Verge. Some I knew by name or photo. Others I've never met. It's kinda funny how often folks recognize me at conferences from Reformissionary or Twitter, or how often I recognize them. It opens doors and leads to conversations far down the road. If not for my network I wouldn't have had Brent Thomas driving me everywhere with his rental Escalade (or whatever it was). It's only the second time I've seen him face-to-face and he's already a great friend and encouragement. Then there were the other Twitters and bloggers and Facebook friends. They were all over. What a cool thing. 

For all that's said about social networking as a detriment, it's been one of the great blessings of my life in ministry.

Being specifically on the social media team wasn't all that big of a deal (other than them picking up the tab!). I didn't get access to apple slices and caramel dip or anything. I'm sure I could have had more access to speakers if I asked. But I wanted to soak, and experience, and that was just my role. I'm glad it was because too much would have put noise around the voice of God, and I needed it a little quieter.

By the way, almost no one is as cool as they seem on the web. You've realized that, right? DJ Chuang and I were sharing our Tim Keller stories. I was geeking out because I met Kent Shaffer and Charlie Wear and Milfred Minatrea and others. But you quickly realize they are just other dudes who love Jesus and work for His Church. They are just guys. I'm glad to be one of them.

I felt like the Verge social media team experiment was a good one. One I was blessed by far more than they (or you) were blessed by my involvement. I learned by my Verge experience that the Spirit is infinitely greater than "the buzz." If "the buzz" doesn't come by the Spirit, it isn't good enough. There was a lot of social network buzz coming out of Verge. That was/is a good thing. But it doesn't compare with what God did to my heart at Verge. I hope through this and other blogs that "the buzz" will ultimately be about God and His goodness and glory through Jesus Christ. It should be because He was there. 

That's what the next two posts will be about. Post 3 will be about the impact Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski's workshop on Soma Communities had on me. Post 4, the haunting of the Ghost.

Coming Attractions...

 Upcoming reviews...

• Gospel-Centred Life - See reviews for GC Church and GC Family
• Holy Ground: Walking With Jesus As A Former Catholic

Other upcoming posts...

• On the Verge - a handful of posts on the 2010 Verge Conference: stuff on the social media team, Soma workshops, the work of the Holy Spirit in my life at/through Verge and more. I'm am still processing so much. I've never had this sort of conference reaction before. God is good. See all my Verge10 posts.
• Post-sermon thoughts on the gospel
• Lots-o-Links
• Phriday is for Photos - it's been too long and too infrequent

On The Verge - Part 1

*I'm running a series of short posts on attending & experiencing Verge.*

Pre-Verge

I'm not a big conference-goer. I tend to get more excited about the idea of conferences more than enjoy the experience of them. I don't like leaving my family. Yeah, I know. Neither do you. But I've realized that I'm quite the homebody. I hate to leave home for a couple of days without the family with me. Home and family and privacy energizes and encourages me. Travel and itineraries and going through security and all that does not make me happy. So when invited to join the Verge Social Media Team and fly to Texas I wanted to say "no." Wisely my wife urged me to go. And, you know, Verge sounded cool and fun and interesting. Plus I love going to the "weird" cities (Boulder, Madison & Louisville are 3 of my fav places in the world). And Austin is not only a "weird" city but also a key part of the music world, the kind of music I love. So I decided to go.

Honestly, I'm a bit of a cynic at big events. Going to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting will do that to a guy. I'm especially skeptical of big events with lots of flash. I easily cluck my tongue and roll my eyes at the slightest twinge of showiness, celebrity, and self-importance at big conferences. Yeah, I'm a jerk like that. And that worried me even more because as a Verge Social Media Team guy I wanted to be generous and kind and to expect the best from the conference speakers and experience. I'm sure I left for Verge a bit guarded, but I would try my best to be open.

What I know now is that God was working on me for months prior to Verge, to hear from Him. I didn't know Verge would have anything to do with the struggles and sufferings and sins God has been pointing out in my life. I didn't know the things I've been reading and thinking would come together at the conference. I didn't see my family devotions, current sermon series, and Verge merging. I thought Verge would be a conference full of practical how-to's with a bunch of look-how-amazing-we're-doing-it's. And while I love the idea of missional communities and want them at Doxa and I knew I needed the practical stuff, I didn't think these three days of my life would amount to much. I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Lots-o-Links 2.9.10

Brief Molly Update: Molly has been having some rough symptoms from her Chiari I Malformation the last 2 weeks. Day to day she doesn't know how she is going to feel. For the most part she keeps living and enjoying life and serving others as much as she usually does. In lots of ways she is looking to do more. What a lady! We are hoping the symptoms will just go away, and we believe they will in time. Thanks for praying for her.

I'm reviewing Gospel-Centred Life this week, Lord-willing. Already reviewed Gospel-Centred Family and Gospel-Centred Church.

Jonathan Dodson: 10 Tips for Missional Community Leaders

Jonathan McIntosh introduces us to the vision of Christ City Church in Memphis, his new plant. Maybe you or your church could help support this plant by my friend.

Christ City Church Vision Video from Rethink Mission on Vimeo.

Verge-alicious Stuff...

• I have a series of blog posts on Verge coming up.
• A couple of orgs mentioned: Grounds4Good, LifeTree Cafe, Help Haiti
• Alan Hirsch videos from Verge
• Post-Verge thoughts from Brent Thomas, Jonathan McIntosh, Brandon Hatmaker 

Francis Chan's animated video played at Verge: The Big Red Tractor...

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

Verge: Day Three

WiFi is too sketchy here at Verge, so please see my Twitter feed for my take on stuff. 

Verge: Day Two

*Updated as WiFi holds out. 

    Main Session II

Neil Cole

Gospel is...the kingdom has come.

*Sorry, having a rough run with WiFi here at Verge. Hard to find the connection to keep this up. 

    Breakout Session 1

Jeff Vanderstelt & Caesar Kalinowski of Soma Communities 

(*break out stuff below will be more quotes and content than my thoughts on them)

Notes at Soma School - here's the PDF.

Missional Community (MC) is a gospel community - being formed by the gospel, living life by the gospel. 

The shift needed is to start thinking of people as family.

MC sent by missionaries to a people group by demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms. and then declaring the gospel to others both to those who believe and those who don't believe. 

   MC - Not primarily a small group, not primarily a Bible study. 

We do one Bible study then another, but what was the last one? Are we living what we are learning or just moving on to another study. We need to be faithful to what we've learned.

"I'm not going to prep up another deep study of the word to disobey." -Caesar

Study the Bible in proximity of relationship, and live it out together.

   MC - not primarily a support group.

We aren't just mummys all wrapped up.

   MC - not primarily a social activist group.

If we become about one particular cause, we miss the mission.  

MC - must have a people group they are sent to, called to.

Be the peculiar people.

   MC - not primarily a weekly meeting

You may well get together weekly, but you don't define your family that way. People are prone to dualistic thinking in the church. When I'm at the church, I'm the church. When I'm at home, I'm at home. 

Sunday morning: If you came to church this morning, we're glad you're here. You're never going to get to do that again. -- (because this isn't the church, we are the church)

We don't go to missional community, we meet with the community. Reorganize our lives around the gospel in community.

Always training on the gospel, who we are in Christ, and how to live with gospel intentionality.

*I know my notes are sketchy and hard to follow. Sorry. Doing my best to get as much of it down as possible without misstating what's being said. 

-- Caesar jumps in with some Prophet, Priest, King perspectives on shared leadership (bit of a semi-reluctant rabbit trail)

Every missional community is under the leadership of an elder. Start with 6-8 people. Typically kingly types are your leaders. Starts to cap out at about 20. 

*Lots of questions now. I think the specifics and dynamics of what MC's do/should look like are hard to imagine. Folks are trying to see more concretely. 

We invite people into our lives.

Story-formed - Only answer from where you are in the story

    Breakout Session II (part 2 with Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski)

What We Do - these are all rhythms, not events

• Story-formed - story of people/culture around me and story of God. Help people find place where their story intersects with God
• Listen - Listen to people. Listen to one another.
• Bless - Who are 3 ppl a week you could bless. Bless in rhythm. 
• Eat - Rhythms of eating in culture. Parties. Lord's Supper. Eat 3 meals a week with others. 
• Celebrate - If we're going to be good missionaries, bring the best wine to the party. If you are a Baptist, clean up afterwards. :) We get to live forever. Let's be a celebrating people. We should be the most celebratory people in our city.
• ReCreate - Rest and create. Rhythm of sabbath. 

Don't add more to your life. Just do what you do with gospel intentionality.

We have no programming at Soma. What Missional Communities do we are doing.

Identity: Family, Missionaries, Servants, Learners

Recommended: You Can Change by Tim Chester

I don't invite people to things because they are already a part of my life. An open door policy in our houses. We teach people constantly to understand relationships by how they are invited in and when they are told we are busy. 

Stop trying to get everybody. Get one.

*Lots of questions coming now. Honestly, the ideas from these breakouts have stirred me up. It's hard to concentrate on the questions while I'm stewing on my own, and my context, and our need to BE the church.

Realign your life around the mission. Radically reorient your life around the mission. As leaders, every pushback with Christians is an opportunity for discipleship. We will not stop calling you to what you were created to be.

Reactive Mission - Proactive Mission

• Reactive - The Good Samaritan, I come across them, along my way
• Proactive - plan, strategize, pray over, ask God to lead us in

Be on mission in such a way that if God doesn't show up we are ruined. We need to be overwhelmed.

Great QnA time during this session. I feel like it's all possible. Biblical, gospel community. Check out more at the Soma links above. Dinner time.

Verge: Day One

My post for the day. For quotes and such go to Twitter #verge10. Updated regularly here are my personal thoughts, reflections, etc. 

    Main Session I: 

Matt Carter - Pastor, The Austin Stone

Carter challenged us to not be about the mission, but about Jesus. Comes from Revelation 2. If we are about Jesus we will properly be about mission. If we are about mission (primarily, or ultimately) we will lose track of Jesus. 

Francis Chan - Pastor, Cornerstone Church

Chan does theology. His style is engaging and winsome. He's funny. But he drops bombs. Simple lit fuses leading to truth and theology and mission. Good stuff.

We meet on the Lord's Day. He is risen indeed. Why aren't we living like people who know the radical resurrection of our Savior?

You will try and fail to start movements. Movements come from Jesus, from the Holy Spirit. If you try to go surfing and there are no waves, you send your buddy out to start splashing and try to make waves. We can't do it.

Think about the book of Acts, and how unstoppable they were. This is Holy Spirit powered. 

My Verge Conference Press Pass

(via Joe Thorn)

Lots-o-Links 1.15.10

Praying for the people of Haiti. Please comment with your recommendations on where to donate to help, and feel free to include a link. Redeemer lists three ministries.

If you aren't reading Trevin Wax (Twitter) he's doing good blogging. His book, Holy Subversion, comes out soon. Worth checking out.

JD Payne, my church planting professor at SBTS, author, missiologist, is now on Twitter and blogging. I just got his newest book in the mail, Discovering Church Planting and look forward to digging into some sections that might help during our church renewal process.

Memphis is starting to talk about Jonathan McIntosh.

Mark Dever interviews Matt Chandler, pre-cancer diagnosis.

Brent Thomas is no longer the Baptist he never was.

Brief Molly Update: She is doing well, with no major symptoms or issues. Very blessed. 

Lots-o-Links 12.30.09

Joe Thorn: Dangerous Theology interview & Ambition Conference audio

JR Vassar: Planning an Intentional Devotional Life in 2010

Mark Bergin and The Painted Door in the Chicago Tribune

Trevin Wax: The State of the Blogosphere

Ben Arment: 2nd Whiteboard coming in May

Avett Brothers: Emotionalism only $1.99 today

• Rereading Finding Common Ground by Tim Downs
• Reworking through Redeemer Church Planting Manual by Tim Keller

Lots-o-Links 11.19.09

I'm officially on the Verge social media team and for the  Verge Missional Community Conference from February 4-6. Hope to see some of my readers there! Follow Verge on Twitter and Facebook. Early bird rate for another 10 days. Go register now.

Sojourn: Ambition - Acts 29 Louisville boot camp audio

Dustin Neeley: Matt Chandler interview Part 1, Part 2

Jim Belcher's talk at VergeLA

Ed Stetzer's 2008 interview of Tim Keller

Homeless man throws coffee in face of barista in the Crystal Lake Starbucks I visit somewhat regularly.

Acts 29 Boot Camp in Louisville

Had a great trip to Louisville for the Acts 29 Boot Camp: Ambition. Thankful for a church like Sojourn and good friends who serve there as well as many friends in Acts 29. It was a like a family reunion and I'm not even in Acts 29! It was a great couple of days. Check out Chuck Heeke's Flickr account for Ambition photos. (Photo on this post is from Chuck.)

Though I'm not going to talk about any details, the wives' track really impacted Molly. Huge. Just what she needed. 

Otherwise, throughout the conference a couple of reoccurring themes stuck out to us. We are still processing and praying about what we learned, but we wanted to share a four things with you that we.

1. Believe the Gospel. -- We all struggle with unbelief with all sorts of issues, at all kinds of times. This was hit upon by many speakers, of course. But it was lasered into me by Steve Timmis (Total Church, http://twitter.com/stimmis). We need to always be encouraging each other to believe the Gospel, not just seek practical advice. We need Gospel intentionality, to bring Gospel truth to bear on our lives and the lives of others.

A part of this is the overarching emphasis at the conference of recognizing our sin and having a life marked by confession and repentance. In a time when conferences are more and more practical, Acts 29 has done well to keep it theological, doxological, and Gospel-centered.

2. Know and love your city. -- Kevin Cawley (http://twitter.com/kevincawley) talked about decoding your city and knowing it like a life-long resident, a cab driver, a geographer, and a spiritual anthropologist. We need to get on the inside of our city and then speak as one of them. We need to let our ambition for the Gospel drive us to become students of the space we are in. We need to learn the questions people are asking and speak the truth of the Gospel as the answers. 

Other speakers talked about calling and how our call should affect our heart for our city. A great reminder and encouragement. 

3. Be yourself. -- Matt Chandler (http://twitter.com/mattchandler74) said, "You wanting to be anyone other than you is sinful." I chatted with and sought advice from an Acts 29 church planter and friend who said much the same thing, but from the angle of freedom. Be free to be yourself as you serve and love your city. You will be bad at being anyone else.

Don't seek to be like another pastor, or preacher, or whoever has a similar calling. Darrin Patrick talked about knowing our divine design. Who are you? How has God made you? Go be you. That's who Jesus made you to be.

4. If you want to know more people, blog about your wife's health and tweet photos of your kids. -- Holy cow. Everyone knew Molly. Ok, overstatement. But so many we didn't know came up and said they've been praying for Molly's health issues. One couple said they've been praying together for her for years. How much blessing have we received from the connections made through Reformissionary and Twitter? We'll only learn on That Day. We are continually blown away by the love and prayer of brothers and sisters all over the world.

We had a similar experience with our kids, as people recognized them from the blog and Twitter. They were at Sojourn on Wednesday afternoon because there was no room for them at the inn, and we heard that one person said (when we weren't there to hear), "Hey, those are the McCoy kids." Weird, but cool. 

I regularly tell other pastors of the blessings of blogging/Twittering. It can connect you to a community of coworkers and friends that you wouldn't otherwise know. 

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Let me add this here at the end, as something worth spreading from the conference. Matt Chandler gave an outstanding and devastating quote during the last message of the conference. It's from Eugene Peterson's Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, which I read way back in Bible college. Here it is for you...

For a long time, I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses.

Course I: Creative Plagiarism. I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom.

Course II: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling. We would develop your own distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation that conveys and unmistakable aura of sanctity.

Course III: Efficient Office Management. There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively. If we return all phone calls within twenty-four hours, answer all the letters within a week, distributing enough carbons to key people so that they know we are on top of things, and have just the right amount of clutter on our desk—not too much, or we appear inefficient, not too little or we appear underemployed—we quickly get the reputation for efficiency that is far more important than anything that we actually do.

Course IV: Image Projection. Here we would master the half-dozen well-known and easily implemented devices that that create the impression that we are terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people in the community. A one-week refresher course each year would introduce new phrases that would convince our parishioners that we are bold innovators on the cutting edge of the megatrends and at the same time solidly rooted in all the traditional values of our sainted ancestors.

(I have been laughing for several years over this trade school training with which I plan to make my fortune. Recently, though, the joke has backfired on me. I keep seeing advertisements for institutes and workshops all over the country that invite pastors to sign up for this exact curriculum. The advertised course offerings are not quite as honestly labeled as mine, but the content appears to be identical—a curriculum that trains pastors to satisfy the current consumer tastes in religion. I’m not laughing anymore.)

Lots-o-Links 11.12.09

Creation Project: Resources for Biblical Womanhood, Resources for Biblical Manhood -- also Thinking Well About Your City

Mark Driscoll: Organizing a Silence and Solitude Day, Part 1 (4 more coming)

1. Bad review of Deep Church from Greg Gilbert/9 Marks 
2. Good response by Deep Church author, Jim Belcher 
3. Helpful thoughts from Brent Thomas

Rethink Mission: Books Every Church Planter Needs to Read

I connected at the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Louisville with a guy I met a years ago at Capitol Hill BC in DC, Brad Byrd. I stayed at his house when visiting CHBC. He gave me a copy of The Gospel-Centred Church workbook by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester from the press he works for, The Good Book Company. Hope to review it soon. I should also be getting The Gospel-Centred Life soon for review. Find The Good Book Company on Facebook & Twitter. Glad to connect again Brad!

Lots-o-Links 6.13.09

Doxa Fellowship is moving our Sunday morning worship service to downtown Woodstock, the historic Waverly House.

Jonathan Dodson: Marriage Resources

Rain City Hymnal CD is out at Re:Sound, and on Noise Trade.

Matt Chandler on the role of men

Resurgence (Bob Thune): Is preaching killing your church plant?

Advance Conference MP3s

Art21 is on Hulu. Episode 1: Art in the 21st Century on "Place."

Story .. Chicago

A couple of months ago Ben Arment of Catalyst asked me an about a dozen other folks to meet at The Orchard in Aurora for a creative meeting to discuss his plans for a conference in Chicago (Aurora's beautiful Paramount Theater) simply called Story.  You need to check out the Story website. Pretty cool.

I don't want to say any more than the website says, but I'm pretty pumped about this conference.  Not only are there some great speakers for a conference like this, but the plans for how the conference will be put together and experienced are something to look forward to.  Plus, guys like Chris Seay and Don Miller will be there. Here are the details...

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel - the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns - CS Lewis' home in Oxford, England - at www.StoryChicago.com.

As a communicator of the gospel, I'm looking forward to Story.

TGC/BoB: Art & Culture in Christian Blogging

I was asked a while back to speak at the Band of Bloggers event at The Gospel Coalition conference, which was this month in Chicago. I was happy to go and be one of the eight panel members discussing being "Servants and Stewards" through our blogs.  Each panelist was given 7 minutes to answer a particular question on blogging.  Mine was "What is the place for art and culture in Christian blogging?"  Here's a general outline/recap of my talk. It always comes out differently than I write it down, but should still be helpful. You can also view the handwritten notes from my Moleskine that I used for my talk (page 1, page 2 - page 2 is really my talk outline and page 1 quotes that I referred back to).

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*As I stood to talk I took a shot at my friend and co-panelist, Justin Taylor, who has yet to spent $9 on a domain name, but still has one of the best read Christian blogs in the universe. Justin, seriously, buy a domain name. :)

Context

1. Art - Beauty -- mention I don't have the time to explain a theology of the arts; assume the audience assumes it (later quotes should be an encouragement to look further into the arts)

2. Blogs -- mention that because we have different kinds of blogs with different purposes (pastor blogs, church blogs, personal blogs, family blogs, resource blogs, etc). I will explain what I do on my personal/pastoral networking blog and let the audience determine how to best blog on art & culture on their blogs.

3. Christians in general -- mention the need to enjoy, support, and create the arts; our blogs are a good place for us to do that

Abraham Kuyper quote, found in Art for God's Sake by Philip Ryken -- "Like God himself, we have 'the possibility both to create something beautiful, and to delight in it.'" - and I add "...on your blog"

Use the quote for a two part outline, in reverse. As we delight in and create art (and blog on it), we encourage others to do the same.

1. To Delight

Someone who delights in the arts is called an arts patron (observer, supporter, advocate). Use the questions from and Tim Keller quote in "Are you a patron?"

Questions:

Have you attended an arts event or venue in the last six months? (live music concert, museum or gallery, play, dance performance, independent film, etc.)

Do you have a favorite art form that you particularly enjoy experiencing and learning about?

Do you occasionally attend different types of arts events/venues, besides your favorite?

Do you have a favorite artist or arts organization whose work you follow closely?

Do you ever spread the word about a particular arts event or artist?

Do you sometimes look through the Arts section in newspapers or magazines?

Have you financially supported an arts organization or artist (outside of purchasing tickets) in the last year?

Do you know an artist, are you involved in his/her life, and are you actively supporting his/her career?

- The more "yes" answers = the better patron. Where there is a "no" it's good to stretch ourselves.

Quote:

"Christians cannot abdicate the arts to secular society. We must consume, study, and participate in the arts if we are to have a seat at the table. Whether it has a religious theme or strikes us as irreligious, we must be patrons if we are to have an impact on how the world interprets and responds to the arts. We cannot be wary, we cannot be afraid, we cannot be self-righteous. Christians must look, listen, read, and experience the arts if we are to lead our culture to renewal." - Tim Keller (via)

*As I mentioned I was going to quote Keller I took a second to mention my Tim Keller Resources page.  Then I told the attenders that they received a Tim Keller book in their bags (each received 10 books as a part of attendance).  I told them Keller's new book is very short and titled Unfashionable, which includes a lengthy epilogue by Tullian Tchividjian. As you probably know, attenders did get Tullian's book which includes a 3 page forward by Keller. People laughed. [By the way, get Tullian's book. Like it a lot so far. He graciously signed my copy after.]

How I delight in the arts at Reformissionary...

Music Monday: I use my enjoyment of music to fuel a weekly post on music, CD's, music videos, concert experiences, etc.  Illustration: recently at the Brandi Carlile concert my wife, Molly, for the first time heard the background singers because she could see them.  It was a learning moment for her. Patronage increased her appreciation for and delight in music.  Now the CD sounds different to her. As we blog on these kinds of experiences we will encourage others to become a patron and delight as well.

National Poetry Month: Each April I blog on National Poetry Month with numerous poems, poet highlights, videos of poetry readings, etc.  We can take advantage of nationally recognized arts emphases to become patrons and to encourage patronage.

2. To Create

"The characteristic common to God and man is apparently that: the desire and the ability to make things up." - Dorothy Sayers in The Mind of the Maker

"The primal artistic act was God's creation of the universe out of chaos, shaping the formless into form; and every artist since, on a lesser scale, has sought to imitate him." - Perrine's Sound and Sense

How I blog on my creation of art at Reformissionary...

Phriday is for Photos: The last few years I have taken up photography. While I've been a little too infrequent in my Friday photographs lately, it's been a staple at Reformissionary for a long time. When I've slacked I've gotten notes from friends and readers mentioning they've missed it. Because I'm creating and blogging my art, my readers have been an encouragement to me to keep creating. And through blogging my photography I hope I've encouraged my readers to create themselves.  Actually I can say that I have talked to several readers who have taken up photography because (at least in part) they have enjoyed my Phriday is for Photos posts. [One Band of Bloggers attender talked to me after the event and said he just upgraded from a Nikon d50 to d90, to some degree because of my blog. I'm jealous.]

Conclusion: A quote by Luci Shaw from her chapter "Imagination, Beauty, and Creativity" in The Christian Imagination (Ed. Leland Ryken)

"We were each, in the image of our Creator, created to create, to call others back to beauty, and the truth about God's nature, to stop and cry to someone preoccupied or distracted with the superficial, 'Look!' or 'Listen!' when, in something beautiful and meaningful we hear a message from beyond us, and worship in holiness our creator who in his unlimited grace, calls us to become co-creators of beauty."

Select art/culture websites:

• ArtsandLettersDaily.com
• ArtsJournal.com
• CuratorMagazine.com
• InternationalArtsMovement.org (blog)

Select art/culture podcasts:

• IAM Global - outstanding on all arts
• Filmspotting
• NPR All Songs Considered
  
• The Writer's Almanac
• Pen on Fire
• Creative Screenwriting Magazine
• NYT Book Review