I am currently at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, FL. I am part of a 3-church team (Westwind, Cornerstone of Ames, Cornerstone of Iowa City) that will hopefully glean what we can, but also create the way to plant more impact churches in Iowa. One of the most interesting facts about churches starting out is that the ones that make planting a church a priority to their future usually grow and become more healthy quicker. Westwind is interested in church planting even though we are just 21 months old.
So, this week, I hope to create a rough plan on how Westwind will plant a church in the no-so-distant future. I think that in doing so, we will create in our people a sense of urgency to 1) ignite a passion for the lost in their environments and 2) use their times, gifts and talents to help expand the message of Christ. My plan is to post some notes and thoughts throughout the conference. If you are someone who wants to plant a church, let me know and I will be sure to send you all my notes.
When is the last time you cried for a person? Not a TV show, or a stressful moment, but for an actual person. This last week I was in SD on a mission trip with Westwind Church. We were in the town of White River. As part of our trip we hosted a VBS program in a local church. It was standard: songs, skits, crafts, games, lesson. Just when you think that VBS is an old school method of evangelism, a young girl talks to one of the leaders and makes a personal decision to follow Christ. This is the method that we wanted to take since, if we were numbers oriented, we could have asked the kids to raise their hands to accept Christ and we would have had 100% of the kids raise their hands.
The response after her decision is what got me. She actually wept for her two sisters who could not be at the VBS club and wished that they could have been there to hear the message. We were blown away as a team as we were told this.
It got me thinking about my soul and it’s desire for people to know Christ. I am not sure I have wept in a long while over someone not being able to hear about Jesus, and what he did for them. It is easy to get cynical in ministry and roll your eyes at situations like this. We hear stories like this, it impassions me to clear my heart of anything that makes me sarcastic or cold to stories of God at work. I want to join this young girl in weeping for those who don’t know that Jesus is the savior of the world.
I had this idea for Challenge to break a Guinness Book of World Record, LARGEST KAZOO BAND. Thanks to JD Greear, Shane Stacey, and Starfield for their awesome performance.
The current record (current as of Friday, October 12, 2007 5:53 AM) is:
The world’s largest kazoo ensemble involved 2,600 participants at an event
organized by Camp Good Days and Special Times, Inc. (USA) in Rochester, New
York, United States on 31 December 2006.
So, as Rally Coordinator at Challenge 2008 I have to balance a lot of details and handle a ton of issues. I tried to solve two problems every 30 minutes. That is about how fast they were piling up. After taking care of umpteen issues we were ready to go. At about 10 till doors open and 5300 people come streaming through, I was told that two of the main video projectors were out of commission for the session. This meant that 75% of our people would be without the benefit of screen, worship lyrics, and video. You could not have planned this any better. There was actually nothing we could do, which is exactly what we did.
The band, Starfield, did its best to teach the words and the speakers walked around the stage as best that they could. The energy level was definitely affected. But God still worked. It was a powerful night in which Francis Chan spoke about how amazing God is. So amazing that I don’t think that we are even capable of impressing him with our technology. I was so blessed to be a part of the evening. I told the group, this was my best Challenge Conference rally ever as a director!
My hats go off to everyone who made that happen, which include:
Getting ready for Challenge has be a great experience. Karla, Ryan and I are feeling the calm before the storm. we spent the last 24 hours getting on bearings in SLC, enjoying some unique cuisine, and spending time at the Gateway. All the staff are joining us, and everyone is very excited.
A few observations after getting here:
1. It is impossible to get used to mountains.
2. Mountain people are not-midwestern.
3. There is one way to get around in SLC, walking.
4. The is more than one flavor of Mole (I don’t mean rodent or skin conditions).
5. The better your team, the less stress on you.
That’s it for now. Check back daily and I will let you know what’s happening.
