Busy Day at Exponential

Great day today at Exponetial, My new bud Julio and I checked probably 2000 (exageration for effect) church planters in to the conference. Got in to hear Andy teach on vision.

Vision - What could be, fueld by the passion that it must be!

1. State it simply
2. Cast it Convincingly
3. Repeat it Regularly
4. Celebrate it systematically
5. Embrace it personally and publically

Some Questions to ask....
* What must be done in our environment?
* What would go undone if our church ceased to exist?

I got to see some great friends and make some new ones. Church planters are a so different, but a blast to hang with and I am looking forward to hanging with some of my bro's tomorrow.

Volunteering at Exponential

Worked our tails off at Exponential today. A dozen or so of us arrived at 7 a.m. to unload two PODS filled with books and other heavy stuff. Then it was off to register the first thousand attendees for the lion's share of the day. In spite of the sore back and the fried brain, it was great to work alongside my church planter buddies and to help the Exponential team encourage church leaders from all over the world. Tomorrow I hope to take some time to sit in on a class or two and Boomer and I are already planning to heckle Todd Rhoades at the Blogger's Forum.

Exponential Conference

This week I have the privilege to volunteer with my friends at Exponential, the National New Church Conference here in Orlando. I was able to attend last year and it is one of the best conferences out there as far as I am concerned. All of the guys who are speaking this year are on the cutting edge of ministry and are killing some giants. Also, they offer breakout sessions dealing with the dynamics of church planting and basic ministry practices that in my book far exceed the other conferences. I am practical to a fault sometimes, but I look forward to being a part of this conference, and I will blog this week what I am learning.

Missional and Attractional are not Antonyms

One of the best things that I have learned this week at the Exponential conference is that exponential growth comes when we realize that missional is attractional. If we define missional as living sent, or apostolic in nature, and attractional as putting on a quality church service, then the greatest amount of growth comes when we have both. We have all seen church plants that spend big bucks on gadgets that no one experiences. He has it attractionally and fails missionally. On the other side of the boat we have seen determined missional types who are out there being the church, but never building the church. We cannot forget that the word church literally means called out ... assembly. Even in the definition both sides are required. In the portable church session with Bob Franquiz, he made this point tremendously by stating Jim Collins' and the power of the "And". The best church is one that uses the power of the and. Like a good fisherman can cast his line gently over the reeds and under the limb, into the shade and make a great presentation (missional) AND then have a bait that is realistic enough for the fish to see, smell and taste (attractional). There is no war between missional and attractional. They are companions, partners, who by working together create expodential growth in the church.

National New Church Conference Day 1

What a long, but fulfilling day. I spent today volunteering with the guys from reproducing churches as we worked to help FBC Orlando host the National New Church Conference. 1800 Pastors and leaders from all around the world arrived to network, learn and grow. There was a great attitude of anticipation for what is going to be a great week. After helping with vendors and registration, I came alongside Bob Franquiz, a church planter from Miami who was teaching a session on portable churches. I volunteered to help Bob because I have been following what God is doing at Calvary Chapel Miami for a few years now, and I have been reading his blog. He had a great amount of insight and really stretched my thinking on how we can make Cornerstone a better church for the people of Four Corners. Portable does not have to be podunk! Thanks Bob!

National New Church Conference

Today I will be over at FBC Orlando helping out as they host the National New Church Conference. There will be about 1,800 in attendance. There will be workshops and some great teaching. You can look at there line up here. I love being part of a new church and look forward to rubbing shoulders with some of the greatest church planters and pastors that our nation has to offer! I will try to give an update tonight.