I'm just now posting one of the videos I recorded at the 2009 Orange Conference.
It was an amazing conference indeed.
Francis Chan delivered one of the most challenging and compelling messages during the conference. This was my favorite session.
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
I'm excited about the Orange Conference coming up this Wednesday through Friday.
If you haven't heard, the Orange Conference is a conference developed around challenging church leaders in "what it means and what it takes to reach the next generation. It's the only place that a senior pastor, student pastor, children's pastor and volunteers that work within these ministries can learn together and begin formulating a strategy to impact the lives of the people in [their] congregation".
Over the course of 3 days, influential leaders and pastors will be speaking during various sessions throughout the conference. Some of these speakers include Reggie Joiner, Francis Chan, Perry Noble, Nancy Beach, Jeff Henderson, David Kinnaman, and others.
I'm really looking forward to sitting in on some of the sessions. Excited about the content and the fact that I have an opportunity to serve in the conference...
I was invited to sing lead and backup during one of the sessions as well as run Keynote during some of the breakout sessions.
I'm so pumped!
I know!
But I refuse to spend this life being your typical American Christian, content with a bunch of Bible studies, church services, and devotionals. I mean - COME ON!!! We have the message to the world and the best we can do is on a Sunday from 10am-12pm? I mean we're Americans! We're content. We like it. We like being Christians. It's easy as HELL. Doesn't require much from us, plus we get to keep our American Dream alive. And as long as we have our freakin' iPhones and cool environments and degrees, we're good. Right?
I mean...
...forget it...
...why keep blogging about it. It's just another blog post, right?
...
...
"May God paint this nation with His love because people like you and I made the decision to make Him the SOLUTION!"
You can watch this video if you want, I don't care. Hopefully it will piss you off like it did me!
Question(s):
I stumbled upon this video after getting an email from Jesse Phillips from Catalyst. I watched it and my adrenaline started pumping.
This pumps me up!!!
May this video stir up the passion in you as you see what we can do if we stop HAVING church and start getting real...
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10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website
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Here's my suggestion regarding church websites... either you do it RIGHT or don't do it at all!
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Here's Tony's post:
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"10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website"
- Avoid telling me what’s going to happen at your church this weekend. I found churches that had weather reports but nothing about their upcoming weekend service. I found two churches that had prominent information about upcoming golf scrambles (which I appreciated as a golfer), but nothing about this weekend’s service. Why would I come if I don’t know what I’m going to experience?
- Put a picture of your building on the main page. After all, ministry is all about the buildings.
- Use lots of purple and pink and add pictures of flowers. Really. Are you expecting any men to show up? And, for my benefit, please don’t put any doves on your website. Doves scare me.
- Make me click a "skip intro" or "enter site" link. I don’t have time for that and it’s very annoying. If I have to wait for something to load or have to click around intro pages to get to the real information, I’m probably going to skip your church service.
- Add as many pictures and graphics as you can to the main page. My life is already complicated. I don’t have time to figure out what’s important at your church. If you dump everything on the main page, I’m assuming you don’t know what’s important either.
- Use amateur photography. And, for the record, it would be helpful to have at least one normal looking person on your site. Do us all a favor and hire a graphic designer, a professional photographer or purchase some stock photography.
- List every single ministry you have at your church. Frankly, I don’t care what ministries you have. I just want to know whether or not I should visit your church this weekend. My first step isn’t the men’s Bible study or joining your church’s prayer partners ministry.
- Make it as difficult as possible for me to get directions, services times, or find information about what will happen with my kids. It’s important that my kids have a great experience. If you can’t convince me that that will happen, I’m probably not going to risk visiting your service.
- Put a picture of your pastor with his wife on the main page. That tells me it’s all about a personality, and I see enough of those people on television. I actually found one church that had not one but two pictures of the senior pastor on the main page. He was looking mighty dapper, though, in his fancy suit.
- Try to sell your church rather than telling me how I will benefit from the experience. I don’t care how great your church is. I just want to know if visiting your church will help me and my unchurched friends take our next steps toward Christ.
What are your thoughts?
Hey guys.
Just wanted to drop in a few buzz words...
I'm in the process of trying to attend the Catalyst One Day coming up Feb. 26th, 2009.
Being a full-time college student, it becomes extremely difficult to take advantage of amazing opportunities such as this. Part of my heart and concentration in ministry is understanding church culture and development. I've had a growing burden for helping leaders in effective ministry since I was a kid.
So, I'm posting to ask you a small favor...
Will you donate $5 to help a young kid like me follow his passion? Will you help me attend the Catalyst One Day event?
If you're curious to know exactly what this event is all about, here's a link to the site...
Thanks!
Shaun King is in the middle of a remarkable series right now @ Courageous Church called "GREATER THAN GOD". Indeed, one of the first of its kind that I have seen. He's addressing 5 ways God wants us to change the world.
Check out DoGreaterThanGod.com.
During the Grand Opening service - which was last week - Shaun tackled the topic of Hunger from both a Biblical and social perspective. I was literally close to tears as he charged the audience to do GREATER than Jesus by partnering to support a brand new cause that Courageous Church is launching known as the Plumpy Nut Initiative.
Check out TheyWillDie.org.
This past Sunday, Shaun discussed the topic of Thirst. He referenced in Scripture the wedding where Jesus turned water into wine. What I found so interesting about Jesus was that He was more concerned with meeting needs than performing miracles. All of the miraculous and remarkable acts that He performed were in response to a need. The takeaway from this message was...
"We don't need to turn water into wine. There's no need for that. What there is a need for is to turn dirty water into clean water."
At the end of the message Shaun charged the audience to do GREATER than Jesus by drinking water for the next 2 weeks with their usual meals. And all of the money that is saved from not drinking Starbucks and sodas will be donated to a charitable cause that supports global clean water initiatives.
Now hear me...
Many people can argue what they want...
But I must say, I don't know too many pastors who are bold enough to launch a church discussing real issues that challenge attendees to get involved - upfront - and BE the type of church Christ dreamed of... a church of catalysts (change agents).
Most pastors wait until they have enough members or until they are "liked". But Shaun's a different kind of leader. He's a Catalyst. And I admire that about him.
I mean, Courageous Church's vision says it all...
"Love God, Love People, Prove It."
Well, take the Challenge.
Click on the image below...
.
This is what happens when a few people gather around a big vision to do something massive in the name of Jesus Christ.
$21,000 raised in 1 month through Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter to give 500 kids a Merry Christmas!
One church.
500 toys.
500 uniforms.
One vision... "Love God, Love People, and PROVE It!"
Shout out to Shaun King and Courageous Church!!!
It was an honor to be apart of that great day and to see the lives of 500 kids touched in a unique way!
Here's my conclusion:
Not only do I wanna be apart of the church that throws parties for prostitutes, I wanna be the type of follower of Christ who lives a life on the fringes. Who lives a life totally entrusted to God, where throwing parties for prostitutes doesn't seem outrages but more like something Jesus would do anyway.
For those of you who don’t know, the Catalyst Conference is coming up in about 3 weeks and I’ve yet to get my ticket. If you haven’t been to the Catalyst Conference or at least heard of it - I promise you - you’re missing out.
The Catalyst Conference is an all-out palooza of fun, creativity, teaching, imparting, worshipping, equipping, and so much more...
As stated on the Catalyst Conference Website, “Catalyst is all about shaping leaders in the Church, presenting the next big ideas, practices, and content. Catalyst exists to ignite passion for Christ and develop leadership potential in the Next Generation, equipping them to engage and impact their world. Every year, 12,000 next generation converge on
Andy Stanley of
Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv
Erwin McManus of
Louie Giglio of Passion Conference
Kevin Carroll of The Katalyst Consultancy
S. Truett Cathy of Chick-Fil-A
Rick Warren of
Bill Hybels of
Rob Bell of
I am making it my mission to go this year - even though I haven’t purchased a ticket yet. I mean, help a brother out here... I’m a college student. $179 is a lot for me.
Any sponsors?
I could surely use some help.
I would encourage any pastor, church leader, church staff, student pastor, or young/relevant/creative/passionate college student (like me) to go this year. Don’t miss out - I hope I don’t either (lol).
THINK | CHANGE
I gotta ask this question because it’s been on my mind...
Are You Going All Out?
Now I’m not talking from a naive standpoint... I’ve done my research (or at least some research). What I’m finding is that for many churches, the idea of church for them is this mundane attending of church service on Sunday, listening to another message about some story in the Bible, and singing in the choir or something. It’s like we’ve lost the fire to be excited about the Gospel. Now I know that’s not every church’s style or whatever, but I’m saying... regardless, are YOU going all out?! I mean as far as everything... evangelism, messages, designs, websites, outreach, making a difference, engaging the youth, etc.?
Think about this...
What new and exciting thing is happening at your church? What is God challenging you with that is something you’ve never done before? Name at least two people in your church that are creating a buzz or conversation around the sermons/messages being preached/taught?
If you’re speechless... you’re probably NOT Going All Out?
I ran across this video by LifeChurch.tv that stirred something up in me. They made a video about their upcoming “At the Movies” message series that rocked my world!
Note: If you aren’t familiar with LifeChurch.tv, you are definitely missing out!
The video is a walk-through tour of one of the environments that they made at one of the church campuses. They revamped the entire church facility using the “
And I love it!
So, I hope this video stirs up the creativity in you or in your ministry. Go All Out!!!
I came across this video and it brought me to tears. The video was made by Hillside Church of Amarillo , Texas
This video will leave you in tears. There is such a freedom and such healing that takes place when believers can just “be” with one another. This is what I dream for us as believers...that we can all be transparent, honest, and real... celebrating how a loving God embraced each of us in our time of need.
Please, if you’re gonna watch it... watch it all the way to the end. Thanks.
Here’s my letter to the president (if I could write one)...
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Dear Next President,
I would first like to say that my words may go overlooked and my voice may go unnoticed, but I represent many people today whose voices are never heard at all. Today, I speak for them...
The presidency has lost immense respect not only from our nation, but from the world at large. This position of power and authority has been polluted, exploited, and corrupted through years of scandals, fraud, greed, injustice, and lies that have hid truth that we may never know. Today, voting has even lost its significance within our nation. As
Mere selfishness!
I wonder are we as Christians more concerned with higher tax cuts, lower interest rates, and how much income the President can promise us that we can keep, or are we concerned with the issues of this nation that is pulling us further away from God? Why do we as Christians vote? Is our political view democratic, liberal, republican... or God? If Jesus ran for president, would we vote for Him?
Think about it.
My letter to you, Mr. President, is one that knows that it may never get read or seen by your eyes. It knows that your agenda is far more important to you than its mere words. My letter to you, Mr. President, is that of a challenge: A challenge to reThink what it means to “be” the president of the
Will you be that interruption in time? Will you be the president that this nation and world will remember years and decades from now - as the one who chose to "be" the difference instead of merely "making" a difference?
If not, I vote Jesus for President.
Thank you,
Antwon Davis
T H I N K | C H A N G E
If you visit your average church down the street, you’ll find that many of them use marketing to some extent. What you’ll also find is that most of them miss the bar... dull signs, clip art flyers, bland websites, billboards with pastor and first-lady, ridiculous commercial slogans... the list goes on. As much as we want to make it seem that topics like marketing, branding, and networking are irrelevant to the church, avoiding them can be severely damaging.
Most if not all churches use some form of marketing - logos, websites, email blasts, flyers, signs, posters, business cards, programs, brochures, radio commercials, tv commercials, newspaper ads, etc. Whether we like to talk about it or not, marketing is a big deal and it plays a big role in the church.
But my question is, “Why does church marketing suck?
Why don’t we leverage it properly?
It bothers me (personally) to see companies invest millions into their brand. It’s common to find companies like Apple and Starbucks - my two favorites - go the extra mile because they believe in their brand. They believe they have something unique to offer and they believe that the world needs to see it, touch it, hear about it, and own it. So, why is the church (as a collective whole) lagging behind? Don’t we have the most unique gift to offer the world? Don’t we believe that they need it? For more insight on this topic, check out my friends at ChurchMarketingSucks.Com
So... why does church marketing suck?
Chew on that for a moment, and let me know what you think...
T H I N K | C H A N G E
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I’ve been following the ONE Prayer series from church to church and it is a remarkable moment in time for the church today. Being a constant admirer of Craig Groeschel and his passion to “lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ”, it didn’t surprise me to see him step to the forefront, compel the body of Christ to unite, and lead one of the greatest movements in the Christian faith of
THIS IS HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!!
I’ve been doing my monthly visits of a lot of the churches that I stay up to date on, and it is such a blessing to see most of them advertising the “ONE Prayer” logo on the home page of their website. This is a great time to be apart of the Church. Watching Craig deliver his “One Prayer” message at LifeChurch.tv - which is, “Lord, make us ONE!” - fired me up! You should check it out. Also, other pastors like Steve Furtick, Perry Noble, Ed Young, and others have delivered their “One Prayer” messages as well, and I must say, these people are serious about this thing and I love it! With the Church being known for being divided, I think we are witnessing a massive imprint being made in history that will put a dent in the divided Church forever.
I’m sure Peter, James, John, Paul and others are in Heaven saying, “Finally, someone got fed up enough to do something different!”
So I would admonish you to stop by oneprayer.com and get acquainted with what’s going on if you are not already. See that exhaustive list of churches uniting, and just image all of those pastors, people, denominations, and differences uniting as The Church - let it ROCK YOUR WORLD!!!
T H I N K | C H A N G E
The idea behind this post is to present a question that you've always wondered about or wanted to ask but didn't think it was safe or questionable. The goal is to get readers to THINK in an effort to challenge and provoke them to go on a personal pursuit of understanding. So here's the question.
...What exactly is a Christian?
Where does this word come from? Where exactly do we derive it's present-day meaning? And most importantly, does it carry the same meaning today as it did centuries ago? These questions spark interest in me. I'm finding that so much of the Christian faith is taken out of its proper - or should I say original / Biblical - context. I do believe that our finite minds cannot conceive all of what God knows, but I also believe that He has made an immense effort to reveal enough of His Truth at a level that we can understand. And that portion of insight can be found in a collection of writings we refer to as the Holy Bible. As I continue to challenge the idea of what exactly is a Christian and begin to rap my mind around what Jesus defines as a Christian or follower, I am discovering a huge disconnect of what many of us define as a Christian today.
So, what exactly is a Christian?
You tell me...
T H I N K | C H A N G E
Have you ever thought about why we as Christians behave the way we do?
This question drove me to remembering how I used to behave when I first devoted my life to Jesus Christ. I noticed that I immediately began picking up certain Christian behaviors and Christian lingo that really wasn't me. I figured that was how we were supposed to act or talk. Clearly, I had yet to read the Bible to the extent that I have now. What I have realized over the years is that the closer I get to the Father, the more I understand who I really am underneath the images, retoric and perceptions. I'm not just a Christian. I follow Christ, and wherever He goes - I go. I realized that Christianity today has become a legalistic way of forcing people to conform to a list of do's and don'ts. If you don't do this or that then you're a Christian or it's okay to do this or that because you're a Christian. The rest of the world looks at us and laughs. They aren't moved by our self-righteous lists of how good of a person we are.
Where is the true life transformation of Christ in the lives of believers in
