April 11th, 2008 Scott Aughtmon
Sorry it’s taken awhile to get more of these updates up. I got back and had to immediately prep for Sunday, then got caught up in other work. Today I finally have a chance to post more…
Kurt Vickman and John Crosby came up and spoke together about how they started a new service within their older established church.
Kurt said that when a church is thriving it’s hard to walk into the Lead Pastor’s office and show him what’s not thriving.
What came from that conversation is what they call “Upper Room.” When this service started growing and the established church started feeling “growing pains” they did something that was pretty amazing.
Instead of hiring a church consultant, they brought in a counselor to help them open up to each other about what they really had problems with.
They really both displayed an amazing mutual humility. It’s cool to hear all that God’s doing in and through them, because they were willing to humble themselves!
During the Q & A Erwin through out two pretty hardcore thought I had to write down…
“People love their traditions more than they love their kids.”
“How long do you have to know Jesus, so that you grow up and it doesn’t have to be all about you?”
Erwin talked about 3 different leadership approaches that they have manifested through people on their team:
1. Logistical (The specialist) 2. Strategic (The theorist) 3. Technical (The activist)
He then had 3 people share.
Eric Bryant said execution is getting things done. It’s doing what you say you’re going to do.
He said we need to make sure our communities are groups that help people get things done.
David Arcos talked about the power of chaos. He said we shouldn’t try to avoid chaos. We need to create a place for it you can create and not worry about excellence or success. It’s a place where you can fail.
He said our job is to take chaos and create beauty. He said, “The beauty we’re creating in the church lies in the fabric of chaos.”
Kim McManus said the soul of leadership is passion. Sometimes we need to ask the “why” question. Why do I love Jesus? Why am I doing this particular thing in my ministry?
In the 3rd session here are some of the things Bill Hybels said…
A vision that comes fast and is accepted quickly will not really be owned by the people. A vision must be owned on a deep level by people or it won’t become a reality.
An excepted idea nowadays is that a pastor has to paint a picture of the future that the church will aspire to. He said that this is true, but the vision must be owned passionately.
He talked about the storing Jesus tells that compares how the hireling runs when the sheep are attacked compared to the owner who stays and defends the sheep.
This is how you want the people in your church to be about the vision for your church.
He talked about two ways vision is formed:
1. Sinai - God to one person
2. Team - Gather top leaders and ask together, “What does God want our church to look like in the next 3-5 years (according to scripture & what you’ve always wished/wanted)?
He then described the process of how to discover God’s vision as a church/team.
Then there was a cool/funny group session where Erwin interviewed Bill Hybels (B.H.) and Wayne Cordeiro (W.C.).
Some thought they shared…
W.C - You must love the people God has called you to reach.
Erwin asked this cool question to them…
“What are you most afraid of?”
B.H. - Most afraid of sin
W.C. - Unresolved sin
Erwin - that I’m the guy Jesus said didn’t use the talent he was given
(* What I thought was the funniest moment: Bill Hybels telling Erwin “I’ll take you out!” after Erwin was teasing him.)
In the 4th session Wayne Cordeiro then shared a powerful talk about the simple idea of needing to be with the master (devotions).
Some thoughts…
You are the shaper of tomorrow’s church. Tomorrow’s church will be what we are now.
He shared from Amos 8:11 about the famine of hearing God’s word.
He said that God has chosen us to live in these last days. “You don’t have what it takes to be what God wants you to be.” A better way to gain wisdom that we need is from other’s experiences. This is the kind of wisdom you need to lead in the 21st century.
“People are not tired of the gospel. They’re tired of tired presentations of the gospel.”
Go gave us 66 books in the Bible, filled with leaders, to learn wisdom beyond our years!
If you’re hungry, you’ve got to feed yourself! There are mentors in the Bible that have been sent to tutor you and await your audience.
Scales (learning the basics) are the beginning of greatness in music.
When the Holy Spirit highlights something in God’s Word, write it down and get all you can out of it, because it will help you what he (the Holy Spirit) knows is coming… next week, next month, etc.
I don’t think many people could’ve shared an idea like this with leaders in a way that could capture their attention!
That’s it from Day 1! I’ll post more when I get another chance. I need to go finish prepping for this Sunday! 
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April 2nd, 2008 Scott Aughtmon
Isn’t it funny how things always go wrong at the worst time?
I came to Awaken expecting to be able to post up some notes from the sessions each day and then I’ve had problems with both my laptop battery life being extremely short and also my power cord having problems charging my laptop!
Anyway, it’s been cool to see the interviews with the Attendees that Reid has been doing.
Here are some of my notes from the first day. I’ll have to transcribe my handwritten notes and put them online after I fly back home.
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Erwin McManus opened with some thoughts on leadership. He read from 1 Chron. 12:32 about the men of Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”
He said that there are different kinds of leaders who can lead at different capacities.
Then he said that we want all leaders to be the same, but David saw the nuisances in leadership. The more you have of something, the more words you have to describe it. The more we understand all the nuances of leadership the more words we’ll have to describe it.
Erwin said the cool thing about David was that if someone showed leadership ability, then he gave them a job/position.
He gave David’s strategy for choosing a leader:
Whoever leads the attack will be commander and chief.
(This seems to me to show he looked for leaders who lived out their knowledge/courage and didn’t just talk about it.)
*Erwin said that most of our churches are not lead by the one who leads, but by the one who showed up first.
In Judges 11, Erwin read about Jephthah who left because they wouldn’t accept him as leader. Later they came to him when they needed him. They finally saw their need for his leadership.
Erwin said that inside the church of Jesus Christ there are people with the potential to be leaders in many arenas, but because we’ve violated the leadership culture, these people have been left out.
He gave the example of the founders of this country who were “brits.” They left a culture that wouldn’t let them lead and came here and shined.
Erwin’s final question was:
Are you making space for the future leaders who will rise up?
Nancy Ortberg:
She said, that her father showed her that what’s inside of a golf ball is what matters. She said that it’s the same with leaders.
At the center of leadership is hope. Believing that our best days are in front of us. (See Isa 40)
How do infuse our church cultures with hope?
Everyone you see in your church has a gift that is needed.
We need to ask these questions of each person in our church…
Who are you? Who did God make you to be? How can I make you who God made you to be?
She said that part of the problem with our churches is we think the people with the flashy gifts are the ones that we really need. The truth is we need all the gifts. Sometimes especially the ones who are possessed by the overlooked people.
We need to see hope in the overlooked people and release them into ministry.
Leadership is about collaboration, where we involve the community.
Hope is involved in our authenticity and our mistakes. We need to reveal our brokenness. The hope of the gospel is there is not a mistake that we can make that cannot be forgiven and redeemed by God.
She said that we need contagious hope as a leader. Hope that reflects the nature of God.
Mark Batterson:
“The mind is Exhibit A that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
He talked about different part of the mind that handled different parts of our life.
He talked about the lft-brain vs. rght-brain. He said the brain’s two hemispheres are parallel processors.
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Left – logic
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Right - Creative
Matt. 22:7 - Love the Lord with your heart, your mind…
Are we loving God with all of our minds? Then he said, “At some point, we stop doing ministry out of creaitivity and imagination and start doing it out of memory.”
——-
That’s all I have from my notes for now. I’ll post more later!
Looking forward to the last day here.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Mark Batterson maintains an active blog, Evotional. He has three post related to Awaken2008:
Good stuff!
During his Q&A with Erwin today, Mark made a comment that Erwin said was a take-away worth the whole conference:
…every ology is a branch of theology. And when I study other disciplines I discover new dimensions of God’s kaleidoscopic personality. According to Romans 1:21, creation is one way the creator reveals His character.
Mark expands this idea in his Open-Minded post.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Ken Ballard and Jimmy Chaney lead the Church of the Beach Cities in Manhattan Beach California. Their ministry is representative of major social change in the church. They serve a diverse congregation that’s made up of people of different races, nationalities and socio-economic status. They’ve come to Awaken2008 to explore new ministry options. They’re particularly intrigued with how artistic dance can serve to communicate the gospel.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Meet Duve & Ben- Duvineel Cabrera and Ben Guyton are helping to develop cell-church ministries in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California.
Ben’s leading a cell-church in Antioch and Duv is ministering in Brisbane. Ben and Duv are two young ministry leaders working with West Coast Celebration to nurture cell churches.
They’re attending Awaken2008 in order to gain insight and ideas on developing more intimate spiritual communities.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Robbie Stewart is a church planter from West Lafayette, Indiana.
Robbie has a strong interest in urban/inner city ministry. His current focus is serving the homeless and poor unchurched of West Lafayette.
Robbie came to Awaken2008 to learn about the new ministry forms that might help move ministry beyond some of the limitations of current models.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Robert Yang (right, here with Kelly & Tim Young) came to Awaken2008 to share the story of Kindle.
Kindle is an online web service that helps people share their prayer needs with each other.
Kindle is an example of an amazing application of technology to facilitate faith and prayer.
Visit the Kindle website to learn more about Kindle and see how the internet can be used to encourage people to pray.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
J Cavness (yes “J” is the name on his birth certificate) is a leader of Logos Builders in Phoenix, AZ.
Logos Builders is a diverse group of building contractors who seek to live in Christian Community. Besides building houses they come together for prayer and fellowship with the aim to be a living church of Jesus Christ. J has attended several Mosaic events over the years.
Asked why he came to Awaken2008, he stated “I want to be shocked and driven out of my mind by the Holy Spirit”.
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April 2nd, 2008 ReidR
Kelly & Tim Young lead the Young Adult Ministry at the North Phoenix Baptist Church.
Like many leaders they’re looking for ways to be more effective in their ministry.
They’ve come to Awaken2008 to explore and discuss options for the ministry that God has called them to.
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March 28th, 2008 Scott Aughtmon
I just got back from being on Spring Break vacation with my family. It was a really fun time.
I’m looking forward to my next trip to the Awaken 2008 conference this Tuesday, April 1st.
Here are some more quotes from the diverse group of people who are joining the conversation…
- “Start looking for God in the most unlikely places, and you’ll be shocked to find that Jesus shows up outside the places we normally think are “Christian.” Jesus spent his time where the people were – in the marketplace, social gatherings, on the road, and in the homes of friends.” - Phil Cooke on living outside of the “Christian Bubble”
- “In our attempts to become holy or “set apart,” we have mistaken a call for “living with a different standard” with “living in a different place that has a different standard.” We want to live in an environment where the laws or policies enforce our beliefs & morality rather than engaging a lost & broken world where they live.” - Eric Bryant from his book “Peppermint-Filled Piсatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love”
- “I guarantee there isn’t a homeless person in Portland who couldn’t tell you the gospel verbatim. They’ve had to listen to it three times a day to get a sandwich. They’ve heard about Christ, but they haven’t seen Christ. Who will sit next to them while they panhandle, who will enter their world? I’ve had friends doing that for 15 years. That is seeing the gospel.” - Rick McKinley Taken from “Dei Laborers” in the Fall 2007 issue of Leadership journal
- “We can get so easily entangled and ensnared in internal issues, questions and personal situations in our churches that it’s hard to remember that the primary we remain on this planet is to reach the people “out there.” Just like commercial organizations need to get their focus off themselves, we as individual Christians and collective churches need to recalibrate our sights on the target God has given us: spiritually lost people.” - Mark Mittelberg from his book “Becoming A Contagious Christian”
I’m excited to be challenged to recalibrate my vision and reach those God is aching for me to touch.
It looks like you can still grab a ticket if you’re interested and able to attend. Go here.
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