Thr3e Event Recap

One way to get excited in some of our country churches is to holler out:

"Let the wild hogs eat!"

And Mark Nipper and I ate it up this past Tuesday in Charlotte, NC! For 8 hours, we received valuable information and soul-stirring inspirations, but most importantly, we received a holy impartation as we learned from Pastor Steven Furtick and his staff of Elevation Church. I'm not sure where to begin but it was awesome!

The day consists of three 90 minute sessions, mainly led by Pastor Steven. The last 30 minutes of each session, the staff shared "nuts and bolts" of the ministry. Each participant received a jump drive of every document that they have used for the past 3 years (they have only been in existence for 3 years). God's hand is truly on this young church and its leadership. They averaged about 5000 in attendance and have seen several thousands decisions for Christ.

In the upcoming posts, I will highlight each sessions. Here's the overview of each session:

Session 1
Casting Vision, Creating Culture

Session 2
Systems and Strategy

Session 3
The Cost of the Calling

Stay tuned! I can't wait to share with you our experiences!

Creation Minute Episode #1

My good friend, Eric Hovind, has been working on an awesome project for the past 6-8 months. I have been able to get the "behind the scene" look at this project and I'm so excited that it has finally been completed and available for the public to see! Check out the website below!



CREATION MINUTE WEBSITE

"Jewels" of the Exponential Conference

I told you to stay tuned for some more highlights from the Exponential Conference in Orlando. These were some of the "jewels" of wisdom that I received last week. They may or may not mean anything to you, but they do to me. Here they are and feel free to comment any thoughts.

Craig Groeschel

• "What you believe about church is how you will do church."
• "The church needs to be dangerous again! The message of Christ is a dangerous message!"
• "If you plant a church without humility, you will turn alot of people away."
• "Don't push people to your vision, but God's vision."
• "People don't want to know how many people you bring in or how much money you raise. They want to hear a vision on how many people you send out and how much money you can give away."
• "Don't blame yourself for the attendance decline or you'll be tempted to take credit for the increase."
• "We [Life Church] are not a mega church! We're a small church with a mega vision."
• "The only numbers we should care about are the the numbers of people we have NOT yet reached."

Ed Stetzer - "Building an Indigenous Church"

• "Often we attend a conference and we plant a church in our head and not in our community."
• "Find God's unique vision for your church."
• "Adjust that vision as you learn the context [culture]. Don't fall in love with an "era" or you'll lose the mission!

Derek Duncan

• "Church planting is a difficult experience, but God is faithful and you're not alone."
• "You will not be allowed to do it on your own because you would receive the glory."

Francis Chan

• "How can we be so educated and yet so afraid?"
• "ACTS CHURCH equals uneducated and bold. TODAY'S CHURCH equals over-educated and not bold."
• "Where are the modern day Elijahs? Could the Holy Spirit simply be too worn to engage with us? Elijah boldly stood down all 450 profits of Baal. What has happened to us and the church? James 5:17 teaches that, “Elijah was a man just like us.” And we’d all agree that the Holy Spirit is still the Holy Spirit."

Exponential Conference 2009 Highlights

This past week, Karen and I enjoyed a great conference in Orlando, FL. Approximately 3000 church planters and leaders were in attendance. The conference kicked off with Erwin McManus and closed with Francis Chan. In between, we heard from other pastors around the country and around the world. There were also some breakout sessions that we attended that range from a variety of topics from a church planter's viewpoint.

This is one of the best conferences that a church planter can and should attend. Great music and great comedy was also a part of each main session. One of the funniest moments was the introduction of Francis Chan.



I plan to post some of the "insights" from the different sessions. Stay tuned!

This Past Week Reflections

We had a pretty busy week! Here's the highlights:

• Three Easter services on Saturday and Sunday. 2,775 in attendance and between 40-50 decisions for Christ. Glory to God!
  

• Tuesday night, Eric Hovind and I preached our final message in our series "Decisions, Decisions" at SEVEN22. We talked about the value of accountability and getting the right advice from the right kind of people (usually, we get the wrong advice from the wrong people).

• On Wednesday, I kicked off a 7 weeks seminar on "Discovering and Working Your Strength" with the staff at Creation Science Evangelism.

• Thursday morning, I flew to Atlanta to spend a day at Avalon Church with my monthly coaching network with about 12 others pastors. Discuss Easter, developing a team, and small groups mechanics. I was able to fly back home that evening.

• On Friday, I spend my day getting prepared for the message that I'm bringing to my church on Sunday morning. Pastor Godfrey is in a series "Conversations with God" and I'm bringing in the 4th lesson entitled "God and Doubting Thomas Talk." I can't wait to deliver this message.

On Monday, Karen and I will be traveling to Orlando, FL for the Exponential Conference. This is THE conference to attend for church planters. I will be limited in my blogging next week, but will keep you posted through twitter. Click here to follow me. Have a great weekend!

Upcoming Conferences

The next three weeks, I will be attending 3 different conferences that I'm excited about:

H.O.P.E. Pastor Coaching Network - Thursday, April 16

This is the monthly coaching with about 12 other pastors that meet at Avalon Church in McDonough, GA with Pastor Ritchie Miller.

Exponential '09 - Tuesday-Thursday, April 21-23

My wife and I will be traveling to Orlando, FL to attend this amazing conference that is specifically designed to the different stages in church planting. We will be attending the "pre-launch" track at this conference. The lineups for this conference is amazing. Here are a few of the main speakers: Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, Erwin McManus, Ed Stetzer, Mark Batterson, Matt Chandler, Ron Sylvia, and the list goes on and on.

Thr3e Conference - Tuesday, April 28

This is a one day conference in Charlotte, NC and is hosted by Elevation Church. This church has only been in existence for only 3 years and was rated by Outreach Magazine as the 2nd fastest growing church in America. Last I've heard, they were averaging about 5,000 in attendance. Steven Furtick is the pastor and just turned 29 years old. I heard him speak in Dallas at Fellowship Church C3 Conference. God is doing some amazing stuff in Charlotte. The conference is full at only 150 people and I'm attending with Mark Nipper (have you been to his blog?). We will gain insight into the logistics of the launch of Elevation as well as the past 3 years.

I will be sure to blog about each one of these experiences. Pray for safety on the road for the next 3 weeks!

(Be a prayer partner! Sign up at Lakepointe Church website.)

The Value of Teamwork

It's always easier to go on a faith journey with others. I'm thankful for my wife, Karen, who has been 100% supportive of this venture. She is making the ultimate sacrifice by leaving her family behind in Pensacola to Detroit. She will make an awesome pastor's wife!

I'm also thankful for Mark and April Nipper and their kids. April is also making a huge sacrifice by leaving her family as well. They are both giving up good jobs and an established future in Pensacola to help start Lakepointe Church. These are awesome people who understands the vision of Lakepointe Church and they are "super-pumped up" about it! Again, this makes the faith journey easier when you have others who are supportive and are willing to sacrifice and follow as well.

If you are interested in being a part of a church planting team, let me know. I promise you that there is nothing like going all out for God to make kingdom impact for Him. Check out the following hilarious video to see what happens when teamwork happens!


Teamwork from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

March "Top 10" Quotes from Perry Noble

Recently, I've joined the Twitter movement and is pretty interesting stuff. One of my favorite tweets is Perry Noble, pastor of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. These are my top 10 favorite tweets from him in March.

10.
Fear of failure is one of the quickest ways to remove God's blessing from a church!

9.
One of the mistakes I've made as a leader is always expecting God to show me the EASY way instead of asking Him for the right way! (People often look for the road to "least resistance.")

8.
Positive change can never take place until a person (or organization) is willing to admit the truth and then do something about it!

7.
If you don't learn to handle insecurity then it will handle you! (Currently learning this lesson!!!)

6.
Church services SHOULD be WAY more exciting than March Madness! If Jesus isn't boring then His people and His house shouldn't be either!

5.
Many people say they desire change...few people actually possess the passion & courage to make it happen...and they are the difference makers!

4.
How long should we invest in something that is not making progress? Wait! Denominations have been doing that for years!!!

3.
Getting obsessed with routine and ritual is one of the quickest way to become irrelevant. (Currently learning this!)

2.
If the Great Commission is taken seriously...a church cannot stop growth. If it isn't then a church defends its "right" to "stay small!"

1.
You can tell what kind of ministry you have by who your church is attracting...and also who your church is ticking off!

Share a comment on your favorite quote from above and why!

Faith Against All Odds

With less than three months before we move to Michigan, you can almost feel the pressure! Against all odds, I'm praying that I will be completely dependent on God and for Him to "increase my faith!" It makes great sermons and it's easy to talk about it to other people, but when it comes time to take "giant steps of faith" on your own - whoa!! This makes me both excited and nervous at the same time.

• Excited because I know that God has great things in store for us for His glory!

• Nervous because of the unknown - I don't know how God is going to accomplish His plan through us!

This is how God works - He wants us to depend on Him on a regular basis so that we are not dependent on ourselves. He doesn't tell us in advance how it's going to work out; but rather, it's a day by day journey. Matthew 6:34 (NIV) says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Please pray for us this month that we will continue to develop new partnership with us. Several pastors have called and expressed interests but cannot help financially because of hard times in their own churches. However, we have some great leads as well. Pray that God will give me wisdom to think outside of the box to find ways to support the mission. Finally, pray for me not to worry about the future (I have tendency to be worrisome!) but to completely trust in God - one day at a time!

If you are interested in supporting Lakepointe Church, please contact me at scott@lakepointechurch.tv.