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WiBo Big Ideas :: Answer to His Prayer

"How would your day change if you lived it as an answer to Jesus' prayer?"

That's the question I wrote down after Vince Antonucci finished his talk last week at Whiteboard.  I'd never heard Vince speak, but loved his energy, his passion, and his humor.  Easily one of the funniest guys I have ever met.

In talking about Jesus' prayer for more workers for the harvest, he said that we have the honor of being the answer to Jesus' prayer.  Woah...never thought about it like that.  But as quickly as I got a shot of adrenaline, the weight of conviction set in.

I am part of the answer to Jesus' prayer for more workers when I am actively engaged in the harvest. If my days are spent doing nothing but preparing sermons, thinking about and talking about church strategy stuff, and meeting with Christians about Christian/church stuff, then I'm not sure I'm much of an answer.  Not that those things are all bad, but when they are the dominant uses of my time, then I am off track.

Vince made the point that the most messed up people in Jesus' day wanted to be around Him. Do the most messed up people in your town and my town want to be around us? If we can answer, "Yes," then I think we are on our way to being an answer to Jesus' prayer. If not, then what needs to change?

As I consider what needs to change so that I will engage in the harvest all the more, I am realizing that it is not that hard. It's natural. It starts with people closest to me. It happens doing things that I love to do.

The hard part is me walking away from my laptop, my books, and my notebooks to actually do what I read, write, and talk to others about. But, the thought that I am part of the answer to Jesus' prayer is more than enough motivation!

WiBo Big Ideas :: Underestimating God

If you're like me, you are a professional when it comes to underestimating God.  Sure, I believe God can and will do great things...greater than I could ever imagine.  But on a day by day basis, I am a professional at underestimating God.

When something catches me off guard, I act as if God was caught off guard, too.

When I let circumstances tie me down, I act as if God is tied down.

When fear paralyzes me, I act as if God is paralyzed.

When I think a dream is too big, I assume it's too big for God, too.

God used Mark Batterson to smack me in the face last Thursday at Whiteboard.  I've heard him make this point before, but that doesn't matter.  It never gets old and it's worth repeating everyday of my life.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The farthest known galaxy is 13.2 billion light years away...that's a LONG way...and only Mark Batterson can talk about this stuff with church leaders and get away with it!

Which means that my best thought on my best day is at least 13.2 billion light years smaller than God's thoughts on that day.  As Mark said, "Every one of us came in here underestimating God by about 13.2 billion light years."

There is no circumstance that ties Him down. There is no fear that paralyzes Him. There is nothing that catches Him off guard.  There is no dream that He scoffs at as too big. If these things are true, then why do I sometimes live and lead as if they are?

What would it look like if you and I lived today believing that God's thoughts for us and the work He has called us all to are far bigger than our own? Would you dream bigger? Would be more willing to take an irreversible step of obedience? Would you trust Him more?

Just thinking about this is freeing to me! Can't wait to see what happens when I act on it.

Off to Whiteboard

Lara Beth, Sam the Intern, and I are on the road heading for Reston, VA for the long awaited Whiteboard Sessions!  Yes, we're driving...much cheaper than flying, believe it or not.

In the Road Trip survival pack...

• Roasted Almonds
• Trail Mix 
• Bottled Water 
• Goldfish 
• Gum 
• Sandwich stuff for lunch 
• Bananas 

Can you tell we're poor missionary church planters? :-)

Really looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and hearing some great ideas from some great leaders. Also, glad to come alongside my great friend Ben Arment to help make WiBo a world class event.

Follow The Fun

• Check out my new friend Todd Wilson's baby ConferenceChannel.org as it makes its debut at WiBo
• I'll be posting some highlights here on the blog, but probably won't be able to post session notes
• But I'll be tweeting like a mad man...follow me at twitter.com/jayhardwick

Should be a fun one...let the Road Trip begin!

Your Big Idea

A little Friday Fun...

You're on the stage in front of 900 of the best leaders in the country gathered for The Whiteboard Sessions. You've got 30 minutes. Mark Batterson just finished his big idea. Perry Noble is up next.

What's your big idea?

Exponential 5 :: Rick Warren

Tim Keller and Rick Warren shared the stage for Session 5 of Exponential.  I'll post notes from Keller later, but here are Rick Warren' s suggestions for building a reproducing church...along with a couple of other quoteables:

Never compare yourself to someone else...

• you'll always find someone who is better than you, which leaves you discouraged
• you'll always find someone who not as good as you, which leaves you prideful
• either way, you're dead in the water

Keys to a Reproducing Church

1. Never Stop Growing Personally
2. Pay Attention to Your Family
3. Develop a Kingdom Mindset (it's not about your church)
4. Focus on Building People, Not Your Church

(Warren had three more points, but ran out of time)

We have to reattach the hands and feet to the body of Christ and start being the church. For too long, we've  just been a big mouth.

A funny quote..."Some people don't like me...(wink, wink).  I figure if 50 million people can read Purpose Driven Life, then I can handle 4 bloggers.  But, the good news is that I'm no longer the anti-Christ - I'm just a false prophet now.  This week, Oprah is the anti-Christ."

If you've heard Warren speak recently, you've heard the basics of what he said today.  Not knocking it at all...it's always great to hear him encourage pastors.

Exponential :: Keller on Revival

Sitting in a breakout session with Tim Keller, Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church in New York City.  The title of the session is "How to Accomplish the Jesus Mission," and let me tell you...Keller is laying it on thick.  Wanted to share his thoughts on the six factors that must be held in balance for revival to happen:

• Dynamic and Edifying Worship
  • worship that makes the secular non-Christian feel welcomed and the Christian feel edified
• Strong Emphasis on Great Teaching and Preaching
  • not just biblical-principles - preaching must be gospel-centered and truth-oriented
  • the purpose is not just to make truth clear, but to make it real - if it's just clear, then we're just lecturing
• Life-Changing Community
  • your life changes amonst the people you hang out wiht, not the people you're hearing preach
• Evangelism
  • in revival when nominal Christians are being saved and sleeping Christians are waking up, evangelism just happens
  • when the gospel penny drops in your life, there's a humility towards outsiders that outsiders feel and there's a boldness that makes you not care what anyone thinks anymore
  • without the gospel, you're either bold and not humble or humble and not bold - only the gospel brings it together
• Strong Emphasis on Justice and Mercy
• Cultural-Engagement
  • teach people how to integrate their work and their faith
  • teach people to see your city holistically through the lens of a Christian worldview

The trick is that we cannot fully control whether these factors are held in balance.  We can lead towards it, but, as Keller said, "leading Americans is like herding cats."  It's easy to get frustrated when we think we're doing all we can, but revival is not happening...or it comes and then slows.  That shows that we don't really believe the gospel - we think it's up to us.

Keller closed his session saying, "I still think God has a few revivals up his sleeve, but the only revival that will bring full, lasting healing is the last one that's called the new heaven and new earth."

Exponential 3 :: Alan Hirsch

Late getting session notes up...but, I am posting quoteables as they happen via Twitter.  For now, I am only posting notes from the main sessions here.  I will post some summary thoughts and notes from the Missional Church track I am participating in at the end of the conference.

That being said, here are notes from Alan Hirsch's main session:

The church is in decline in virtually every corner of the western world.

The answer is not found in faddish practices and ideas - the answer is going deep into our most primal stories and re-discovering the ethos that has been lost.

The potential for world transformation is in each of us.

1. Recovery of the Centrality of Jesus in His own movement

• Christology lies at the heart of the renewal of the church
• Christology ----> Missiology ----> Eccelesiology
• It's so easy to take Jesus out (and replace Him with methodology or ministry) because it's hard to live with Him and follow Him.
• The incarnation of Jesus sets the stage for how we are to engage the world.
• If you want your kids to be middle-class citizens with PhD's, then  do not expose them to the life of Jesus.
• Not just recovering His birth, death, and resurrection, but His life as well.

2. Recovery of Discipleship as our Core Task

• You're not Jesus, but you must become like Him.
• Discipleship is the embodiment of all Jesus stands for - your life is the message.
• If we are more like Jesus, people will be more interested in what we stand for.
• Make church simple and discipleship hard.
• Only disciples can change the world.
• Leadership is an extension of discipleship.
• Consumerism is killing us from within.
• Movements can only grow in proportion to our capacity to make disciples.

3. Recovering the ethos/structure of Apostolic Movements

• What we need are missionally responsive, culturally adaptive, organizationally agile, multiplication movements.
• Movements...
  • mobilize the whole people of God
    • every believer a church planter
    • every church a church planting church
  • are reproducing and reproducible
    • is your model reproduce-able - if it costs millions of dollars to reproduce it, the answer is "no."
    • bring leadership back to the people
  • structurally networked (avoid centralization of power and function)
    • every declining organization has de-legitimized the apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic functions of Eph. 4

4. Recovering a Missional/Incarnational Impulse
(Hirsch's time ran out and he did not get to elaborate on the last point)

It's hard to reduce Alan Hirsch to a few bullet points.  You miss so much of the context, but I hope the statements I've shared will trigger you enough to ask some questions, wrestle with some ideas, and maybe read some of Hirsch's work (The Shaping of Things to Come and The Forgotten Ways).

Exponential 2 :: Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley spoke on Making Vision Stick in session 2 @ Exponential.  A few quoteables...

"Every Student Pastor is just buying time until he starts his own church..." (funny poke at SP's as Andy told thestory of North Point's beginning - he was the SP on his dad's staff at FBC Atlanta)

"'You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God...' - that is the glue that holds us all together.  We may not agree on anything else, but we can agree on that."

Vision always begins as a burden.
The challenge for those of us in leadership is making what's clear 'in here' has to become clear 'out there' or people can't follow us.
Making vision stick is central to leading people.

5 Keys to Making Vision Stick:
1. State it simply

• Memorable is portable
• The Curse of Knowledge - you know so much about everything you're doing, but the people you're leading don't know. It's your responsibility to make it clear.
• What do people show up at work everyday to do?
• If you can't communicate it simply, it won't stick.
• Is it any advantage to have an incredibly well though out plan that no one knows about or understands.

2. Cast it convincingly

• Define the problem
  • what must be done in our environment?
  • what could go undone if we ceased to exist?
• Offer a solution
• Explain the why and why now
  • this is where the passion comes - this is what motivates people to act

3.  Repeat it regularly

• Discover your rhythms and cast vision accordingly
• Vision doesn't naturally stick..it leak.  You have to repeat it.

4. Celebrate systematically

• There are no photographs to show people if you're taking them to a place they have never been
• When you catch someone living out the vision, make them a public example
• Stories do more to clarify the vision than anything else
• People need living illustrations

5. Embrace it personally and publically

• When you do, it's obvious that you really do believe it
• When you share your own stories, you're not bragging, you're letting people see your commitment

Andy Stanley talking about vision is like throwing him a slow softball pitch - it's a home run every time.  The greatest part of this talk was how frank, open and honest Andy was at the beginning about his personal story and how North Point began.  For more, check out his book by the same title.

Exponential 1 :: Ed Stetzer & Panel

Ed Stetzer kicked off Exponential 08 with a load of new research on church planting. The good news is that it's really good. The bad news is that he went through it at Mach 5 speed. But, his notes and presentation will be on his blog later today.

Stetzer then invited a panel on stage that included Bob Roberts, Randy Pope, Ron Sylvia, and Neil Cole. A few quotables:

B.R.::"North America has yet to see a church planting movement."

R.P.::"When you think Kingdom, you think 'What's the best way to reach our city,' not 'What do we need to do to make our church look better.'"

R.S.::"Our goal is to learn and return to the Kingdom."

N.C.::"Multiplication starts at the smallest level. If you can't multiply disciples, then you can't multiply leaders, churches, networks, etc."

"It's not about whether a chimney or a steeple is on the roof - it's about the relational vitality."

"It's a lot easier to bring the Kingdom of God to lost people...it's what Jesus did."

B.R.::"One of the greatest obstacles to church planting is great preaching. Great preaching can feed the idea that church is an event."

R.S.::"You are doing the greatest work being done on the planet. You are engaged in the X-Treme Sport of ministry."

"Link lives with other planters and leaders in your area. Do not go at church planting alone."

It's hard to blog a panel discussion...but, Stetzer is the master panel discussion leader. Great ideas and stories shared by these guys.

Off to Exponential

Heading out this morning with a group of church planters from South Carolina to attend the Exponential Conference in Orlando. Looking forward to three days with thousands of members of the church planting tribe...and, temps are going to be in the 80's everyday!

Can't wait to see old friends, meet some new ones, and hear from voices like Keller, Stanley, Warren, and Hirsch among many, many others.

I'll do my best to do some live blogging and twittering so you can attend vicariously...:-)

If you're going to be there, let me know - would love to connect!

See you in sunny Orlando!