[Remember way back here, I told you I'd keep you up to speed with church plant training I'm doing this year? Yeah, nearly a month later, here's the first installment of that...]
ENDURE
I was only able to attend the first day of this fall's Acts 29 Texas Gathering earlier in mid-September: in order to teach at TCU at 10am Wednesday, the trek turned into a fun one-day roadtrip with my friend Josh that arrived back at 2am Wednesday morning! [Yes, I was tempted to cancel class. No, I did not cancel it.]
These "Boot Camps" are a time where planters from all over the country (and depending on the location, some come from other nations as well) to hear some great words - not always "encouraging" in the way we typically think, but always exhorting for sure! - from Acts 29 pastors. New folks get assessed to join the network, and for those who have been around for a bit, it's a great time to reconnect and get updates on what God is doing around the world.
It was great to see some "Texas region" guys, all of whom shared in our excitement of what God is already doing in The City Church. The theme of this Boot Camp was "Endure: Leadership for the Long Haul," and while there was some practical planting advice along the way, the call to endure in many elements of both personal and pastoral life rang out strong!
Here were some good words, quotes (or paraphrases), and concepts from the day:
- Matt Chandler: You know what will happen to God's work in the world if I die tonight? He'll accomplish exactly what he wants.
- Matt Chandler: We're about making disciples, and simply carrying out the next step in the same mission God's been on for all of history - the same mission by which God brought each of us to himself.
- Jonathan Dodson: The gospel carries with it three conversions: to the gospel, to community, and to the church.
- Jonathan Dodson: (quoted from his blog) What we need is Jesus not numbers, models, mission, and community. All these things make very bad masters. When we fail in community, community is not merciful to us. Master Community kicks us when we are down, but Jesus dies for us. Master Mission is not a good master. When we fail to be missional, to serve enough, witness enough, preach enough, Master Mission will beat us down. But what does Jesus do? He dies for us; he lifts us up. Only King Jesus is that merciful, gracious, and satisfying. His acceptance alone frees us to be ourselves for him, instead of being somebody else for others.
- Kevin Cawley met with over 1100 people for meals and coffee in Kansas City in the year before he planted. Yes, that's eleven-hundred. And he did it while living in Little Rock, AR! Why? Simply to get to know them, to learn the city, and learn different walks of life, perspectives of the gospel, and obstacles to Christ.
- Matt Carter gave a fantastic talk about keeping the priority of the family above ministry, looking at the lives of John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Jonathan Edwards.
**This is a talk everyone should listen to - pastors, regarding ministry and everyone else, insert your job and responsibilities when he talks about ministry. Download the audio here, and see a quick video preview here.
And I hear Day Two was equally great! Plenty more good stuff, and full streaming/downloadable audio, at Acts 29's Houston Bootcamp media page.
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