:: AIP#65 - Fall Training #3: Northwood Turbo, 1 ::

Northwood Church is one of The City Church's planting/sending churches, and one of the most significant ways they're pouring into us is with training and coaching. So Oct 1, I joined a couple dozen other church planters from across the nation for a training called "Turbo." It's rightfully named because it's an 8-hour day jam-packed with so much great info that my head was spinning before it was over! And as my friend Brent commented, "'Turbo Training' sounds very intense... Sounds like something a superhero would go through. Are you secretly a superhero?"

Yes Brent, I'm a superhero. But it's no secret.

Here's a recap of the morning - yes, all this was just the morning! Tomorrow I'll post insights from the afternoon. But read the bullets - which ones stand out to you? Thoughts?


Highlights & quotes from session one: Bob Roberts

• Over the last decade, the # of megachurches in the US has gone from 350 to 2000, but church attendance has flat-lined or declined. =lots of transfer growth, not conversions.
• If you start a church of 100, then start a new church every year that grows to 100, and each of those follows the same pattern, then after 20 years, you're engaging 1.2 million people!
• Don't focus on planting churches: in the New Testament, folks lived out the gospel, then made disciples, then churches popped up as disciples formed a community.
• Pastors need to pour their entire lives into their church: through good times and bad, is Jesus enough for you?
• The Kingdom of God isn't a strategy; it's an action, adventure, river to ride.
• We have to learn to speak about our faith without the Bible - from the philosophical, logical, and scientific realms instead - because many folks don't believe it.
• Church planting isn't about the church or the preacher; it's about society and disciples: religion isn't one domain of culture; faith must exist in every domain of culture

Highlights & quotes from session two: Jordan Fowler

• The "Transformed-Life" model has three directions: UP (interactive relationships with God), IN (transparent connections with others), and OUT (global and local engagement).
• The gospel of God is the reconciliation of ALL things back go Christ: how do you reconcile art, music, work, food, etc. back go Christ?
• In the Bible, Jesus is who builds the church; our job is to make disciples

Highlights & quotes from session three: Omar Reyes

• Responses to the "Glocal" [global+local] Paradigm Shift: we can re-apply the old ways of thinking (BAD OPTION); we can try to change pieces of it & make it better (BAD OPTION); we can create a new framework for it (GOOD OPTION: "new wineskins" in the Bible).
• We mobilize people through the domains God carved into society (Paul calls them "sovereign authorities"): in order to have influence, a few folks must be willing to engage each domain: Eph 2:10 - we all have good works prepared for us.
• When we engage domains, we make disciples; when we make disciples; we transform cities. That's church planting.
  
• We don't take God somewhere new; he's already working there, whether we're involved or not!
• We serve not necessarily to convert, but because we've been converted.