AWAKEN, Day Three

Yesterday morning, I, Jumaine, and our fellow panel guests were first up on the agenda at 9am... the topic of the discussion was "Where Do African-Americans Fit In to the Metanarrative (Big Picture) of the Gospel?" Honestly, the question needs to be tweaked, b/c we (African-Americans) are like Baskin Robbins ice cream... there are alot of different flavors, as was even depicted by the panelists: Yvonne Latty, an NYU professor; Marlon Hall, Cultural Architect of the Awakenings Movement in Houston, TX; Jumaine Jones, Lead Pastor of The Bridge in Silver Spring, MD; and moi. Yvonne came from her experience as an African-American writer/journalist, and the pain that has sometimes brought her... Marlon's movement in Houston (and now Detroit) is a very hip, urban, predominantly African-American gathering... Jumaine is a Caribbean-American, planting a multi-ethnic church in a very eclectic area of Silver Spring/DC... and I'm a Worship Leader-turned-Church Planter, planting a Mosaic Church in College Park, MD... whom God has called to be a catalyst to bring people of different races/cultures to learn to follow Jesus together and build strong, healthy relationships with one another.

It was definitely a great experience... and glad Ju and I got that type of exposure! It felt like we were celebs (lol!), because after the panel so many people were coming up to us after the session saying, "I think that was the best panel discussion of the conference!" I don't know if I'd go that far... but it was cool, still. ;-)

Special thanks to my good friend, Marcus "Goodie" Goodloe, for making that panel happen. You're an awesome mover and shaker, man! Keep living your story!

AWAKEN, Day Two

Yesterday was a good day...

I actually missed most of the conference sessions... I kinda hung around outside and just connected with people (who I guess were also missing sessions b/c they were "connecting"... ha!) Had a chance to connect with my Facebook friend, Emily Adjoa Skinner... awesome musician... hoping to get her to come out to the DC area and tear it up!

Got a big surprised handed to me at the end of the day: Jumaine and I will be onstage at AWAKEN as part of a panel... that is WAY cool!

I'll let you know later how that goes! ;-)

AWAKEN, Day One

Having a great time at the conference so far... it's been great seeing alot of people I met here in January, and the speakers have been awesome! THE WEATHER STINKS, THOUGH! I thought it'd be fairly warm, but it was nicer back in Jan! It's rainy today... ugh. But the conference has been well worth the crazy weather... especially since I got a chance to spend a few minutes with the greatest pastor's pastor around... which, for me, was worth this entire trip!!

There were so many great talks yesterday... I don't even know where to start! The keynote speakers were Erwin McManus, Bill Hybels, and Wayne Cordeiro... while Mark Batterson, Eric Bryant, Nancy Ortberg, David Arcos, and a couple of others did 10-minute spots...

Here are some takeaways I got from Day One:

Nancy Ortberg on "hope":
* We have to give people hope, and not make them feel guilty for not being "good enough." The point of the Cross is that we don't have to be good enough... we CAN'T be good enough."
* When I blow it, remember: 1) the world is still spinning on its axis - God is in control; 2) God still loves me; and 3) tomorrow is another day. There is no mistake that I can make that would move God to turn His back on me!

Mark Batterson on "creativity":
* At some point, we stopped doing ministry out of IMAGINATION, an started doing it out of MEMORIZATION (yup... that's pretty deep!)
* Faith is the willingness to look foolish for God.
* There are ways of doing church that no one has even thought of yet!

Eric Bryant on " the corporate leader"
* When leading like Jesus, we need personal humility and professional will.
* A leader "takes people places" (quoted from his daughter).
* Leaders are to create missional environments.

David Arcos on "creating chaos"
* Leaders are called to organize, but not be restrictive, in what God is doing.
* Creating beauty is better than pursuing excellence.
* Chaos is the place where God challenges us to live our greatest life.

Bill Hybels on "vision"
* If we cast a truly God-honoring vision, people will give their lives for it!
* The formation of a vision: 1) Sinai approach: "Here is what God gave me for us to do." 2) Team approach: "What does God want our church to look like in 3-5 years?"
* Language matters when casting vision... the language has to LIVE and NOT DIE over the long haul.
* "I have never found another alternative reason compelling enough for me to leave the local church."

Wayne Cordeiro on "growing a church"
* Grow your SOUL as you grow your church.
* Ask God for the "keys" to your community (those things that will open up the community for us) and REDEEM it!
* The Holy Spirit's job is to illuminate what is truth in our message; it is OUR job to be innovative and creative.

Cordeiro on "wisdom"
* On gaining wisdom: 1) learn from personal experience (but can devastate us); 2) learn from other peoples' experiences
* God knew before we started that we were going to need more wisdom than we had when we started... and He gave us 66 books from which to glean.
* Earthly friends come with expiration dates... our friends in the Bible don't.
* Every leader needs to be faithful in "playing their scales". The "habit' you develop of spending time alone with God will enable your ministry to flourish.
* Every pastor deals with the Art of Preaching vs. The Making of a Disciple: in the former, we take the Word, and we distribute it to our people... in the latter, we take the Word... hide it in our hearts and let it change us first... then we feed the people with it.