The Hybels-Driscoll “Grudge Match”

Yes…I was there.  No…I’m not going to comment about the video or the response.

Mark Driscoll and Bill Hybels are both men of God that have followed their calling and have reached a BUNCH of people for Christ.  In my book…they have BOTH earned the right to say whatever they want to say.  I was just thrilled to hear them both speak at a really good conference.

Move on…

More Photographic Proof

Thanks to Michael Dixon…the one and only Mississippi Jobless Minister…for emailing me this picture from the "Blogger’s Round Table" at the National New Churches Conference.  That is Andrew Jones (man, myth and legend) on the left and Tony McCollum on the right.  Even more photographic proof that I got to sit next to "Neo" of the church blogging "matrix".

A couple of observations here…before some other wiseacre brings it up:

1. Yes, it does look like a "before and after" picture for some advertisement for Trim-Spa baby!

2. Yes, it is ironic that the guy that probably needs a sandwich doesn’t have one in front of him, but the two guys that should probably go without food for several months look like they just wrecked an entire Subway Sandwich Shop.

3. Yes…Tony and I do treat lunch like a full contact sport.  Thanks for asking. 

Photographic Proof That I Met Andrew Jones

A Question That Plagues Me

If we live in a country that has more religious freedoms and more churches than any other nation…then how come 50% of Americans don’t know Jesus?

Comments

I’ve had a few folks complain to me at the conference that they’d like to leave comments on my blog, but they don’t want to sign up for a TypePad Key.  Therefore….I just took the TypePad Key Authetication step off of my comments section.  You still have to leave an email address (no annonymous comments) and I’ll still moderate everything before it’s posted.  The moderation is not to limit the negative comments, just the porn and Viagra adds (porn and Viagra…if you have one…are you really going to need the other?).  So….comment away!!!

All Quiet On The Conference Front

For the last two days I’ve been at the National New Church Conference in Orlando.  Tonight I passed on dinner with some of the incredible folks I’ve been hanging out with because I finally "hit the wall" today.  Since the "man thing" all started a few weeks back I haven’t had any down time and I think my body just gave out about 2:00 PM.  I came on home and have just been resting tonight…no phone…no email…and except for this blog post…no computer.

Let me say, that I have thoroughly enjoyed myself at the conference.  The Reproducing Track and Post-Launch Track has been incredible.  Not so much for the practical things…but for the emphasis that each of the speakers in those tracks have put on following God…first and foremost.  I also want to give props to all of the main session speakers…they have been tremendous.  While I have been inspired by everyone I have heard speak, Ed Stetzer and Larry Osbourne have been the two guys that have really rocked my world.  They are saying stuff that I have been saying…thinking…for a while now.  Stuff that no one else is even acknowledging…future stuff…stuff of tomorrow.  If nothing else…those two guys have validated a lot of things that God has been revealing to me over the last few months.

I have also been incredibly moved…and blessed…by Shawn Lovejoy and his staff.  They have really been pouring "Spirit-stuff" into my heart over the last couple of months…many times without really knowing they were doing it.  God has used Shawn, David and Casey to really speak to me…and I love them for taking the time to do it!!!

One of the highlights for me today was hanging out with other bloggers at the Blogger’s Roundtable.  It is so cool to really get to know these brothers and sisters in the Lord and hear their heart.  It was like a big fraternity and I wish we could have spent more time together.  The biggest thrill for me was sitting next to Andrew Jones and getting to talk with him for a moment or two.  He is the reason I started blogging and was just the nicest guy.  I really want to commend Ben Arment and Drew Goodmanson for  taking the time to put the Roundtable together.

The most refreshing thing though, has just been getting to hang out with my friends…my brothers in church planting…Gary, Travis and Tadd.  Those guys are just golden and a lot of fun to be around.  Not only do we laugh a lot…and cut up a lot…but I know they have my back and pray for me.  They inspire me in so many ways.

We have an extremely busy weekend coming up at Compass Point so I may not blog again until next week.  I’ll try to hammer in some time to mention all the great folks that I met…or got reacquainted with at the conference…there are so many!!!  If you want to see some really good notes from Ed’s talk today then click here.

I’m going to watch LOST, spend some time praying with Denise and then head to bed.  I have a big day tomorrow…Drew Goodmanson’s track session, Ed Stetzer’s track session, Bill Hybels’ main session and then lunch with some really cool folks…it should rock!!!

A Hero In Blue

As many of you know I am a huge aviation nut…one of my unrealized dreams was to fly for the Blue Angels U.S. Navy flight demonstration team.  This past October I shot this picture at an airshow in Jacksonville that I attended with my Dad.  One of the pilots in this photo is no longer with us.  CNN is reporting that a Blue Angel crashed and died during a performance at an airfield in South Carolina.

Already there posts online from Navy personnel that were at the show talking about what happened.  From what I can gather it was probably a bird sucked into the engine…thus causing a total flame out.  Reports are that the pilot could have ejected safely, but knew he was over a populated area.  He rode it in…guiding the jet…dead stick…away from houses.

The Navy has not released his name pending notification of his family.  Right now we just know him as a…hero!

Batterson Belts A Big One

Mark Batterson hits one deep today in his post about church structure.  While I don’t totally agree with him on point #3 (I believe an Elder
led model is more close to Scripture…more on that later)…he
does lay out some great things about how churches need to be structured
for the future.  In essence, I think Mark’s concepts and ideas are a great foundation for future church leaders and planters to begin to formulate the base structure for their churches.

By the way, his fifth point is really wonderful!!!  The Bible never gives ANY example of the church as a democracy. 

Blogging

After a two week hiatus I feel it is now time for me to blog again on a farily “regular” basis (about once a week). During my “time off” I have learned a lot about myself, this blog and where God is taking Compass Point Church. It was a time of re-evaluating my calling, passion, priorities and where God is leading me in every area of my life. Through it all I have learned the value, strengths and…limitations of myself…and blogging.

Before I went semi-dark I left a vague posting. I must admit that…at the time…I was bored with blogging and reading blogs. They…I…had become a clone of what everyone else was writing in the blogosphere. It was sad…uninspiring…and definitely not where my mind and heart were at. For me…I’m more about tomorrow…the next great mountain to climb. Most of what is being written, blogged about or published right now is today’s news…which for me is really yesterday’s news. I am moved by what could be…what is still yet to come…what is truly innovative.

Obviously I have become very aware over the last several weeks that people read blogs…this blog. When you look at the TypePad stats page you just see a Google search listing or click link…you never really know the true identity of who actually reads the blog postings. No one was more surprised than I when one of those readers turned out to be a writer for the Associated Press…or the producer of a cable news network program. It was the craziness of the last two weeks that has taught me that blogging is important…and needed. Blogging…unlike magazines and books…is immediate, accessible and timeless. It can stir people’s emotions or inspire their dreams. It is…for all practical purposes…a fairly pure form of communication and information.

Yet with the ease and influence of blogging also comes a huge responsibility. For me that involves content and direction. I realized in my time off that there were just too many topics, ideas and goals trying to be put forth here. I was trying to communicate to my church, my friends, my church planting peers and my acquaintances in pastoral leadership. In the process, any real message was getting lost among the stories about my life, personal opinion about current events and recommendations for classic rock albums. I have come to realize that I do not need an online diary as much I feel passionate about talking about the future of church. I have also come to realize that the things I want to convey to my church are completely different from what I want to convey to the world. For that reason I have set up a completely separate blog for my flock. Not that they won’t also read this one…it’s just that the other blog is directly for them.

God has blessed me over the last two years with the ability to reach, communicate and befriend people much younger than me. I have no clue what that says about my maturity level, but I do consider it a privilege when a 23-year-old asks me to join him for a Flaming Lips concert or a 20-year-old considers me his friend…not just his pastor. With this “inside look” at what young 20-somethings desire in their spiritual life comes a basic understanding of what tomorrow’s churches need to look like. It is much different that what is popular…and successful today. The days of a building a high-tech worship center, mailing out a few postcards and waiting for people to show up to hear a “relevant” topical message are coming to a close. In fact, the church of tomorrow will no longer be defined strictly about what happens on Sunday. It will be defined by their ability to create community, serve others, individually shepherd, display authenticity and preach the truths of the Bible with very little window-dressing.

I do not perceive to be an expert, yet I am observing first hand…and gaining much knowledge…about the change in culture, attitudes and needs from younger Christians and non-Christians. Not just in Lakeland, but in the hundreds of emails, phone calls and conversations that I have had over the last year…particularly in the last month. The modern churches of today provide a great foundation of ideas for tomorrow and are a catalyst for future leadership. However, some of the churches that are hot today are “dinosaurs eating buttercups while the cold sets in” if they continue to hold on to the importance that style, strategy and structure are “hills to die on”. The inerrant Word of God is the only constant to build a church on…everything else is expendable. Post-modern churches are a style. “Big Idea” church leadership planning is a structure. Multi-site churches are a strategy. They are also albatrosses around the neck of the Church if they are given undo importance. They are good foundations to build off of…but they too will change…must change…in the days to come.

There is a new day dawning in the world of church leadership…and church planting. This blog will continue to push for new commentary, new ideas and new concepts concerning what that day may look like. It will not focus on Compass Point, my personal life or the next Aerosmith album. Those days are gone. The future of the Kingdom of God and His church is just too important to waste this kind of forum on such trivial matters.

Fun, Flash And Fox

It was fun.  It was exciting.  It was incredibly quick.

I’m glad it happened.  I’m glad it was easy.  I’m glad it’s over.

It’s all just a blur in my memory now.  Thankfully I can go here to see that it actually happened.