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Lacking.

I have been amazed recently by the number of pastors and youth workers that have told me how their ministry feels empty and void of God's power and passion. Matter of fact, three youth pastors have recently told me they are considering leaving the ministry because of this very reason. That news has been weighing so heavily on me lately that I have spent a considerable amount of time before God in prayer, begging for Him to change their heart and to give me insight in how I could help them to make a wise decision.

I am so excited that God has answered my prayers on one of them so far and, not only that, but I believe that there are two very key thoughts when it comes to why any of us find ourselves feeling as if God is not showing up in our ministries...

1. God is not showing up personally. The book of James gives us this wisdom, "Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world". In other words, knock it off! You want your ministry to change? You want your life to change? Then stop playing for both teams! I may be stepping on some virtual toes here but what makes you think God would come near to you if you have no desire to take the necessary steps toward Him?

If you got up tomorrow morning and your television didn't work, would you fix it? What about your computer? Your car? Your toilet?

If you woke up tomorrow morning only to realize that your relationship with God is broken, would you give even the same amount of energy and resources to fixing that broken thing in your life?

I challenge you, before you blame something else for the lack of passion and purpose in your life or ministry, to take a close look at your own heart. The problem may be closer to home than you think...

Number two tomorrow...

Emerson's New Friend

You will all have to excuse my random note here, but it was just so cute that I can't pass up the opportunity!

Our daughter has a new friend... her shadow!

Yesterday, my wife was playing outside with Emerson and, for the first time, Emerson discovered this sihlouette on the ground.  For the next hour she chased her shadow, trying repeatedly to grab it!  How great is that?!  Now obviously if a thirty year old chased their shadow around trying to catch it they would be heavily medicated or committed, but she's a year old!  I don't care who you are, that's just cute!

Whiteboard Seven - Perry Noble

“Most days I feel like a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.”

How many days in ministry have you had that felt out of control?

1. Are you called?
• John 3:13
• There’s a lot of people out there starting churches simply because their senior pastor made you mad.
• “If you volunteered for full-time ministry, you’re stupid!”
2. What are your priorities?
• John 13:14-15
o Be with Him
• If our lives ever turn away from God, we have turned from our calling and fixed our eyes on
something else.
• Too many pastors are reading the mail that was sent to other pastors from God instead of getting in
the Word and getting the mail that is intended for them!
o Go and Preach!
• “It will be a cold day in hell when I preach about recycling and ignore the Gospel of Jesus Christ!”
• Are you crazy enough to believe that God has one more big move in Him?
o Have Authority
• The time has come for us to stop walking in fear and start walking in the authority that God has given.
• Sometimes God calls you to do things that don’t make sense.
• DO WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO!
3. What are the temptations?

• “How long of a marathon are you going to do?”
• “The larger your role in the church, the bigger the target on your back.”
• What are you doing to consistently protect yourself from being disqualified?
• Whatever it is, get it fixed, get it right.

Whiteboard Six - John Burke

“Our church was shagged by Austin Powers”.

Am I enough?

The answer is always no.

In our efforts to be good enough, big enough etc., we often forget to just shut up and hear from God. It is only then that we find ourselves even capable of doing what is required.

“Christianity is scandalously simple.”

John 15 – stay connected, fruit happens.

The point of grace is that we have moment-by-moment potential for connection with God, despite our failings.

This whole idea is so simple a child could do it, but do I do it?

The Big Thing: Want to see great things happen in your church? Stay connected to the Greatest.

When people connect to God, people get attracted to what you’re doing. It will be a mess, a total mess. But God will do amazing things and He will change peoples’ lives.

Get connected. Stay connected. Watch others get connected too.

Whiteboard Five - Mark Dever

“I bring greetings to you from the tucked-in generation.”

“The first you need to know about leading the church is that the church will win!”

“God has put Himself on display for the whole world to see through the local church”.

“I kind of saw the whole Reformation thing hanging in the balance.”

Mark brought up a lot of great points. Hard to take notes on. He really challenges us to take a hard look at the church and get back to looking at what it really means to be the church.

Mark brought up many conservative points. Typically, I think I would be turned off by this. However, by God’s grace, I have been able to truly appreciate the stark contrast between Mark and the previous speakers.

The challenge is very clear… culture cannot define the church or even control the church. The church is the very picture of God’s heart and character to the world.

Food For Thought: because the former is true, how does the church remain the church but still be attractive to an ever changing culture?

Whiteboard Four - Darrin Patrick

Romans 1:18

Idols – how to turn from them and help your church turn from them.

Theologians called the first sin a “fall”. They “fell” into sin. Not true. It’s an exchange. We don’t fall into it like we catch a cold. We exchange the glory of God for the idols of men.

We are ruled by what we worship.

3 of the 10 commandments deal with idols
• no other gods
• no graven images
• don’t covet.

Worship is being captivated.

If you have a walking in the light problem, or a loving problem, you have an idol problem.

An idol is simply taking something created and giving it your worship instead of God. ANYTHING could be a potential idol: your spouse, your family, your position, even an aspiration.

Idolatry is an exchange, or a transaction. It’s not like lying, stealing, or coveting.

The root of all sin is idolatry.

An idol is anything in my life that occupies the place that should be filled by God.

An idol is anything that makes me say, “God I trust you but…”.

You don’t really know your idols until they are threatened or disturbed.

Questions to Ask to Discern Idols:

• What do you worry about the most?
• What is it, that when things get stressful, do I turn to for comfort?
• What do I rely on when things get tough?
• What do I do to feel better?
• What do I think about when my mind is free?
• What do I daydream about?
• What do I want to be known for?
• What gives me the most self-worth?
• What prayer unanswered would make me seriously consider walking away from God?
• What truths from Scripture that I consistently resist?
• What are the clear patterns of disobedience in my life?

The problem that you need to look out for when asking these questions remember that idols hide in your motivation.

Power, Comfort, Approval, and Control are the four primary motivations of the human spirit.

How do you get rid of your idols?

Whiteboard Session Three - Tim Stevens

1. Most churches aren’t impacting their communities.
• They’re not just neutral, they are actually getting in the way of the Gospel.
• unChristian – David Kinneman and Gabe Lyons
• Three categories: churched, unchurched, dechurched
2. Spiritual interest is growing in our culture.
• 86% said they could have a relationship with God without the church.
• Most people don’t see church as a safe place

“I am personally not ready to give up on the local church.”

“Christ became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”
John 1:14

How can we mix with the world and not pollute the message of the Gospel?

Acts 17 – simply put, Paul leveraged the culture.

BIG IDEA:
“Leverage the culture or risk losing your impact.”

Whiteboard Session Two - Vince Antonucci

Great Intro Video!

Great testimony!

Question: how is that I grew up in America and never heard about Jesus?
Question: more churches and less attendance? What’s up with that?

Great parable!

Answer: We’re reaching people, but we’re just not reaching unsaved people.

Challenge: that you would reach and save God’s lost children. That you would do whatever it takes and pay any price to see people come to know Jesus!

I don’t know how to really describe what I am hearing. This is probably the most compelling dialogue I have heard in a long time. I need to reach lost students! My leaders need to reach lost students! Our students need to reach lost students!

Jeremiah 4 – God’s heart absolutely broken over Israel being lost…

Paul’s mission was not a successful church or a big church, it was to reach and save the lost. And the reason it was Paul’s mission is because He knew it was the one thing that made God’s heart beat fast!

Are you counting fish or are you counting sharks?
Do lost people like to hang out with you?

Notes from WiBo Session One

Isaiah 55:8-9

God is comparing our thoughts and ways to His thoughts and ways to the expanse of the universe.

“Is systematic theology an oxymoron or what?”

Among all the ideas that will be heard today can we remember that we are God’s family?

The Ramification of Theological Pride:

• Your dreams are too small.
• We have underestimated God by 13.2 billion light years.
• We confess our sins to God, but when is the last time your confessed the smallness of your dreams?
• I am getting my entire team out of the office, because the office is the place I go to get nothing done.
• Like Habbakuk, find your watchtower and begin to dream, on a God-sized level.
• What would I dream if I was willing to dream without boundaries or skepticism?

We need to believe that God wants to tell His story by planting His dreams in US!

196, 800,000 square miles of planet earth… how does that change the great commission?

“call it the great commission if you want, I call it the great dream.”

Whiteboard - The Beginning

Session One is about to begin. They have kept the line-up order a pretty good secret up to this point. Mark Batterson from National Community Church will be first up. This experience is already been a mind-strectching, mind-blowing experience. I have met some incredible people and talked about some pretty amazing things. Session is starting... more in about 30 minutes!