After having some time of sifting through much of the information (some gold, some garbage) I downloaded in my mind last week, I am quite sure God is stretching me with new radical thoughts (at least they are new and radical to me).
I count myself quite blessed to have listened to godly men such as Alan Hirsch and Tim Keller who break down preconceived methods sought by some to be universal to all churches and church leaders. I am now reading Forgotten Ways by Hirsch. Quite frankly, it scares me to death but at the same time excites me at the potential. Can't wait for May 12-13 where I will join the rest of the NewThing affiliate church leaders in a smaller more accessible setting with Hirsch.
Rick Warren's final session wrapped up with a special prayer and commissioning of those who have planted a church within the last year (i.e. The Pursuit) and those who are about to plant. The picture above is from Dave Ferguson's camera.
Being surrounded by 2700 church planters is never a bad thing. But it does have it's challenges.
1. The constant comparing and contrasting church size. I love what Warren said, "If you compare yourself to churches bigger than you, you will never be good enough and you'll always be disappointed because there's always someone doing better. If you compare yourself to churches smaller than you, you get filled with pride because you think you are doing better. Either way you lose."
2. The Ego Factor. Somewhere down the road, church planting became the "cool thing" to do (whatever that means). Mix that with young guys who think they are already too-cool-for-school and you get egos run-a-muck. This why I am such a big fan of guys like Dave and Jon Ferguson, Travis Johnson, Mark Nelson and Matt Payne. If you met these guys in the coffee house or bar you would never be able to guess they lead big or small churches. And they actually listen to you instead of just waiting for their moment to speak.
Looking forward to next year. Looking forward to seeing what The Pursuit will look like as I go to Exponential '09.
Matt,
You're way too kind...appreciate your friendship.
Posted by: travis johnson | April 28, 2008 at 02:50 PM