For several days I have been wrestling with the idea of blogging my concerns in reference to the “revival” taking place in Lakeland.  I foolishly mentioned it a couple of days ago before I had completely thought things through.  I learned my lesson last year when I wrote this post…that some things are meant for the world to see…and some things are only meant for Compass Point to see.  Under normal circumstances I would never comment on what is going on at another church…much less providing commentary as to the validity of it.  However, the fact that these “healing” services are taking place in our own backyard…and that quite a few of our folks at Compass Point are being “pressured” by friends and family to attend…we (the Elders and I) feel a need to address this issue…with our people.  I have watched many hours of the “revival” online through the streaming webcast…and have now attended a service in person.  I finally feel that I’m in a place to Scripturally discern what is…and isn’t…real about what is taking place…and to share that with the flock I shepherd.

I would encourage those outside of Lakeland to watch what they see on the webcast…and then search the Bible for Scriptural backing for what is taking place.  I would also encourage you not to make the trip down here for “healing” before you’ve consulted your own pastor about it.  I am not your pastor…it is not my place to tell you what to believe…or attempt to shepherd you through a blog.

Sorry to those that were waiting for my report.  Please don’t email me privately…I won’t be answering.

Okay, that title might be stretching it a bit…but Compass Point is taking it’s first steps into a “video venue” format by default.  We are excited to be participating in the “One Prayer” campaign coming up in June.  As a result we’ll be showing two to three Sundays of videos of other preachers…which…as we can tell…is kind of a first around here.  I’m excited…first of all…to have a week or two off from preaching.  I’m also pretty pumped that Compass Point will get to experience some pastors that greatly influence my life…Noble, Furtick and Lamb (that sounds like some kind of dysfunctional law firm).  Finally, I’m anxious to see how the video format does at Compass Point…and Polk County.  It’s an experiment…but could open up a BUNCH of opportunities and possibilities if it goes over well.

For those that have been asking….no…I decided to pass on shooting a video of the sermon I’m preaching for the “One Prayer” campaign.  I’m doing “Make Us Manly” and preaching on June 15th…Father’s Day.  However, with everything else we have going on right now…we just didn’t have the time or resources to pull off a quality video by the May 12th due date.  Thanks for asking…maybe some other time down the road.

Thanks to some help from the man, myth and legend…Jay Hardwick…and the magic of TED Airlines…Kyle (our Executive Pastor) and I will be at the Whiteboard Sessions in a few weeks.  We’ll leave Orlando about 6:00am and be back by 10:00 pm.  I so love going to conferences…and not having to stay in hotels. 

They should have saved the horse…and euthanized the damn jockey!!!  A horse doesn’t shatter two legs after she crosses the finish line…unless the horse was already in trouble before the finish line…or got pulled up too early after the race was done!!!

People always tell me how honest the posts on my blog are…how authentic and open I am.  I suppose that is true, but the one area I have never been real open about is my personal life…especially when it comes to family.  I have never posted about Denise and my struggles concerning children…but we were told it would never happen.  She is 43 years old and I am 42…the doctors had basically said it wasn’t going to be a possibility at this stage of life…the window of opportunity had passed.  We had looked into special medical techniques and possible adoption…but just kept sensing that if God wanted us to have a child He would provide…if He didn’t…then we would have to accept that.  Though we never quit trying and never quit praying about it…we had begun to come to the conclusion that God meant for us to not have children…and began to come to grips with that.  We were not bitter or angry…we were not resentful or upset…however…the realization made us a little sad…but we accepted.

Last week Denise sensed something different and began taking the home pregnancy tests….both came back positive.  This week she went to the doctor for official verification.  She finally told me last night right after our Journey Group.  Everyone in the neighborhood where we meet knew about it…a fat white guy running down the street shouting, laughing and crying kind of draws attention.

The reality is that we are older.  There are health risks to Denise and the baby.  There is also the realization that I’ll be in my fifties when my child becomes a teenager…and near retirement age when they are in college.  I don’t know why God waited so long…but I am just humbled, amazed, blessed…overwhelmed that He has provided us with a child.  We are not questioning the timing…or what lays ahead.  God already knows the outcome…this baby is a miracle and a gift from Him.  Denise and I will take it one day at a time…and be grateful for just having the opportunity to experience being parents.

I can tell you one other personal thing…Denise does not like the names Ace or Slash if it’s a boy…or Pat or Lita if it’s a girl. 

No this is no joke…we found out today that Denise is pregnant…we are going to have a baby!!! God gets all of the glory…the doctors told us we’d never be able to have a baby at our age…but God wasn’t listening. Words cannot express the flood of emotions I am feeling tonight…I have laughed…and cried…and prayed…a lot. Denise is about five weeks along…it’s going to be an AMAZING December!!!

Let me begin this series of posts by first thanking Todd Wilson for asking me to be part of the blogging team at this year’s Exponential. His invitation to have an inside look at a major conference…as well as the ability to be in such close proximity of some of today’s top Christian leaders had a profound effect on me and my pastorate. Secondly I would like to thank Scott Hodge and Todd Rhoades for putting up with me for three days. I’m definitely an acquired taste and those guys are some of the best men in ministry. God used both of them to speak into my life in ways they can’t even begin to imagine.

Day #1 of Exponential started with a flash…and didn’t let up until Rick Warren left for his flight three days later. In a sense the entire conference was a blur and it is only now that I am able to process everything I heard…and discovered there. The first order of business was to get with Todd Wilson, Scott Hodge and Todd Rhoades to coordinate the blogging and video taping. That meeting never really took place…everytime we tried to sit down to talk somebody we knew would come up to chat. That in and of itself is the beauty of Exponential….the connecting of old friends and the making of new ones…with a few great session talks thrown in for good measure.

At some point Jay Hardwick…my old “Guitar Hero” nemesis joined us…and the “party” went into overdrive. Most of the first day was spent playing a game of “hurry up and wait” trying to set up the interview with Andy Stanley. One minute it was on….the next it wasn’t…kind of like the video of the interview.

The conference kicked off with a bang…the band was REALLY GOOD!!! Ed Stetzer took the stage to offer up some pretty interesting stats on church planting in America. In nutshell he was saying that we American’s suck when it comes to church planting…compared to other parts of the world. From there he had a BUNCH of seasoned church planters hit the stage for a sit-down “round table” discussion about the future of church planting. I know I’ve heard this phrase before…but when Dr. Stetzer said, “You become what you celebrate!” it just seemed to resonate with me. Church pastors have a tendency to really explain what they are against…but never really properly celebrate what they are for…at least this pastor does.

After a break it was time for Andy Stanley. I gotta be honest with you…I had to do another interview and never got to hear Andy’s main session. I understand it was good and have checked out many of the notes that others have blogged about it…I wish I had been in there.

Soon after Andy left the main stage…the interview was on (got Chris Reeder’s question in). I will go on record as saying that Stanley and his entourage was told the interview was going out live…but somehow that didn’t register with any of them. The answers were honest and candid…it was a different Andy Stanley that I’ve ever seen speak at a conference. That was the problem…Andy was pretty candid about the church planting Northpoint is doing overseas…mentioning leaders of those churches in the process. Some of those leaders pastor in parts of the world where Christianity is outlawed…thus the video got pulled…and the remaining copies are being edited for later broadcast. Some highlights of the interview:

1. Andy won’t be blogging or Twittering anytime soon.
2. There is some concern that Los is paid too much because of the clothes he can afford to wear.
3. He was recooperating from back surgery when he hijacked Adam Cleveland’s blog…and on pain medicine…thus explains the mis-spelled words.
4. At 50 Andy still has a drive to speak into the lives of young church planters.
5. When you’ve been successful in church planting it is easy just to sit back and coast on your achievements…but don’t.
6. ChrisElrod.com has had a HUGE impact on the ministry and leadership style of Andy Stanley.

By the way..the video has been edited…is in route to Andy…and should be up pretty soon.

I had to leave the interview early to go start the blogging workshop. I must admit…I was surprised that anyone showed up. Thank God people had questions about blogging or it would have sucked. As much as Todd, Scott and I blog…we actually know very little about the technical side of blogging. It was pretty cool to see some of my friends…Adam Mayfield, Erick Bauman and Bobby Triplett…in the workshop. The biggest surprise was David Foster’s attendance (his book, A Renegade’s Guide To God rocked my world)…I’m sitting up there thinking, “Holy crap David…you should be teaching this workshop…not us”.

After the workshop I packed up…headed to a local restaurant for an invitation-only shin-dig by folks with Fermi and International Mission Board. I was pretty cool getting to hang out with Shawn Lovejoy, Dave Putman and Ed Stetzer in an informal setting. Rick Warren stopped by and I was shocked that he wasn’t there to speak…just hang out…which was really cool. The highlight was getting to sit with Brad Lomenick of Catalyst…and listen to a bunch of passionate young church planters be on fire for God.

The night ended with an hour’s drive home…and only a few hours rest. Day #2 was coming up…

It looks like we have found a way for me to make Whiteboard on May 22nd…but I gotta fly up that morning and fly back that night.  By the way, Ben promised me that if I’d get there he’d let me be one of the speakers…at the 5:30p.m. time slot. 

Before I begin posting about Exponential…I feel a need to address something I have been questioned about a BUNCH over the last few days.  It is concerning the “revival” that is taking place at a local church in Lakeland.  The questions started last week while I was at Exponential, have continued through dozens of emails a day and now have begun showing up in the comment section of my blog.

I’ll go on record as saying this…I have not been to the church or the “revival” meetings.  I do not feel comfortable in commenting right now on whether it is real or fake.  At some point before the week is out I will attend one of the meetings…take a few days to reflect…discern what I see and experience with Scripture…and then let my congregation know my take on it Sunday.

I am comfortable enough to say that I have some questions as to the validity of it.  There are several reasons for this…the main one of which is that the Assemblies of God in Florida (of which the church in question is a part of) is not endorsing it…Southeastern University is not endorsing it (I respect their leadership very much)…and very few people in Lakeland or Polk County are even aware that it is going on…or are affected by it.  The majority of the attendance has been from people flying in from other parts of the world desperately trying to relive what happened at Brownsville and Toronto.  Those in Lakeland…or from Lakeland…are also skeptical of the church sponsoring the event.  This is not a new church…just a new name.  It is the remnants and leadership of a former hyper-Charismatic mega-church that came crashing down amid scandal.  This will not have been the first time the church or its leaders has used “signs of wonder and healing” to hype itself on the national and international Pentecostal stage.  Most folks in Lakeland are looking at the “revival”…and the hype from the church sponsoring it…as “same song second verse”.

Even though I am Southern Baptist I still believe that the “gifts of Spirit” are alive and well today…in certain situations.  It is certainly not a Biblical issue that is causing me to question the validity of the “revival”…it is the issue of integrity within the church’s leadership that is causing me to question it.  As I stated above…I will attend…and discern…and talk to my church about it.

Beginning tomorrow I will post a day-by-day summary from last week’s Exponential Conference in Orlando. It was crazy hectic the entire time and I never really had a chance to blog about much of it…or reflect on what I learned. Roughly four days have passed since I was there and only now am I starting to process everything…here are my initial thoughts:

1. I can love a man…and learn from a man…that does not share my doctrine.

2. America is more interested in church growth than church planting…I’m not sure how I feel about that?!?!

3. Twitter may be the only true social networking tool on the Internet.

4. God uses diverse styles, structures and leadership for His kingdom…there is no one right way to plant churches.

5. Urban church planters care way more than rural church planters about cultural relevance…probably because they need to.

6. The are a bunch of mixed up, running-into-walls, making mistakes, passionate young church leaders out there…that are going to set the world on fire for God!!!

7. Never judge a book by it’s cover…or the man that wrote it.

8. It is much easier to say stuff…blog stuff…or write stuff…when you are not in the same room with the person.

9. Cool “church” words are becoming dying fads…people just look like idiots when they try to use them.

10. The church has “emerged”…those still clinging to that term no longer sit at the “cool kids table”.

11. Those not in the game…are not relevant…ignore their banter.

12. Don’t get comfortable…or God will stop using you.

13. Life is too short to hold a grudge over something so stupid as the way in which we need to go about reaching people for Christ in the 21st Century.

14. A good video, cranking worship and relevant marketing…can’t take the place of one older gentleman speaking truth from the Word of God.

15. You don’t have to drink the Kool-Aid to be friends with someone.

16. The smallest voices seem to be making the biggest noise…and impact…these days.

17. We’ve lost ground in the cause for Christ…the world is becoming less “churched”.

18. Only other pastors understand what it’s like…to be a pastor.

19. The biggest names in Christian leadership…wrestle with the same things that the smallest names in Christian leadership do.

20. There is still much work to do for God’s Kingdom…and we’re wasting time!!!