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Orange Session 5

Louie Giglio:

    "Can the church keep up with culture or could it even lead culture?  Probably not.  Christian tshirts answer that question."

    "What if we just decided to BE the church of Jesus Christ?"

    "God moved into the neighborhood." - John 1:1-4, 14-16

    "The church ought to be full of truth and grace and should be open for anyone who wants to come."

    "Is our church culturally transcendent?"

    "The problem with relevance is that it means 'to be in step with.'  As soon as we get 'in step with' the culture or a person or thing we're following, it moves forward and we're behind again."

    "To be culturally transcendent is to act without regard to the chronology of culture."

    "Instead of being culturally relevant we should spend our time trying to be relevant to Jesus."

    "The extremes of cultural proximity are avoidance and infatuation."

    "The 'Golden Calves' of the modern contemporary church could be relevance and worship."

    "As transcendent beings in Christ we are the only ones who can transcend culture."

    "He is.  And there isn't anybody that He can't be is to."

    "I don't know what's going to happen but I know who 'will be.'"

    "God was, is and will be."

    "Looking, sounding, and being cool won't change people but Jesus will."

    "To preserve what's great about our past AND progressing forward is a costly way but a necessary way."

    "The church be more about 'doing' the Gospel rather than 'telling' the Gospel."

    "The church should be about movement more than walls."

    "The church should be about supernatural acts, not just supernatural stories from the past."

    "The church should be more about the future than the past."

    "One day the trendy Starbuck's Latte will be the equivalent of VBS, Sunday School or the Organ."

Orange Session 4

Reggie Joiner Interviewing Andy Stanley:

    "Why do churches have a 'Department' of Evangelism?  Isn't that the point of the whole church?"

    "It's not about believer or unbeliever.  If you create irresistible environments for 'people' then 'people' will show up."

    "Rather than ask 'What's your discipleship model?' the better question is 'What is spiritual growth and how are we accomplishing it?'"

    5 Core Areas of Spiritual Development/Growth
        - Practical Teaching
        - Providential Relationships
        - Private Disciplines
        - Pivotal Circumstances
        - Personal Ministry

    "Leaders who aren't teachable show a lack of maturity."

    "At the core of poverty and injustice is greed and immorality."

    "The hope of the world really is the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

    "I don't want to have a testimony.  I'd rather just have a great marriage."

    "Why would we trade our unique roles as husbands, wives, and parents for a job that a thousand other people can do?"

Phillip's Not Creative Post #??

This is just a very cool video.  Thanks to Reid we can all enjoy this wonderful little distraction.   Enjoy.  I'm still not creative.

Orange Session 3

Donald Miller:
    "I'm not a leader."

    "The kind of leader I find myself following is a leader that gets to know me in a way that makes me want to take part ownership in his or her vision."

    "There's a difference between leadership and influence."

    "Mass recognition is influence, leadership is the list you can fit on a post it note."

    "I feel like Robin Williams on speed."

    "Leaders invite others into the vision/project/work that they are involved in."

    "If we ask 'leaders' who they're following and they don't have an answer we might shouldn't be following them."

    Three categories of people in life:
       - Mentors (People I follow)
       - Friends (People I serve with)
        - Followers (People I lead)

    "The accomplishment of the task isn't so much the important part of leadership.  The team/family/unity that happens in the process of the task is."

   

"A leader's mission should be somewhat ridiculously ambitious and specific."

    "A leader speaks something into the nothingness."

Orange Session 2

David Kinnaman:
    "There are nineteen times more Protestant churches in America than there are McDonalds."

Francis Chan:
    "I don't want to just give another message; I want something supernatural to happen."

    "Did God show up at church or was it just good marketing?"

    "What would I believe if all I had was the Bible?"

    "If Jesus had a church in Simi Valley I bet mine would be bigger because there are a lot of people that would follow a Pastor that won't follow Jesus."

    "Gangs are a better picture of community than the church in America." - Acts 4:32-35

    "The farmer will only spend time on the seed in good soil." - Luke 8 Parable of the Sower

    "God gives us ice skates and we think He wants us to be a figure skater when He was really recruiting us for a hockey team." - John 17:20-23

Orange Session 1

Reggie Joiner:

The "one thing" that makes a church distinctly different is that they treat every one the way a "loving father" treats his prodigal.

The Older Brother...
    is preoccupied with himself;
    operates from a context of shame;
    throws fits;
    criticizes a Loving Father;
    closes the door and turns off the lights.

The Loving Father...
    are preoccupied by who is missing;
    operate from a context of forgiveness;
    throws parties;
    confronts Older Brother thinking;
    keeps the lights on for as long as it takes.

Orange Conference Day 1

I've spent the day helping out and catching up with old friends.  It's crazy how all your different worlds can collide at a conference.  I think I've seen people from summer camps and churches I've worked at along with old college friends.  I can't wait for this thing to actually start tonight.  Everything today has been the Pre-Conference breakouts.  I'll try to get some snapshots of the main stage; as for now, you can enjoy me in all my VIP-ness.

Family Pictures

I added a new photo album with our most recent family pictures.  Another huge thank you to Sean Lyon for taking these amazing pictures.  Seriously, you have to check him out if you're looking for a great photographer.  Check out our pictures and let us know which one is your favorite.

Today Was A Good Day

This morning I got to ride to church with my wife and daughters for the first time in years on a non-holiday Sunday.  We went to North Point Community Church and saw some of our old friends and A LOT of my old students.  I say old like I've been gone for years instead of just four and a half months.  Either way it was great to see so many of the kids that I love.  Much love and thanks to Sara for getting us some seats in service so we didn't have to rush over to the auditorium. 

It's nice to know that you're missed.  I won't lie...it was REALLY nice to have so many people so excited to see us.  Candi Pearson-Shelton led worship and the band was ridiculous good.  Andy was on video (he's doing this series live at Buckhead Church).  The message was an enormous encouragement and confirmation about all that God is doing in our lives right now.  I can't wait to see what is next.

As for now I'm at the Orange Conference.  Aunt Chris and I drove over today to help with set up.  It's going to be an incredible conference.  If any of you out there are planning on being at Orange let me know, I'd love to meet you.  I'll be twittering throughout the conference so if you can't make it check out my twitter down on the bottom left for up to the minute Orange Conference news.

I Knew I Would Be

Long before I was ever a dad I knew I was going to be radically in love with my family.  I'm having a fantastic day here in Georgia spending time with my wife and daughters.  For some reason I'm overcome today with a sense of appreciation and love for them.  It's days like this that I'll have to remember when my girls are teenagers and lose their minds.