A Prayer for Our Site

I just read day 5 of our reading from the Journey Guide.  I couldn’t help but think of all of you today.  Here’s part of the text we were given to read and below I’ve converted it to a prayer for you/us.

Scripture -

¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Prayer -

God, may the people of our White Bear site be people who are strengthened by Your power through Your Spirit today.

May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith.

I pray that we are rooted and established in Your love

Help us to have power, together with all the saints to grasp how wide, and long and high and deep is Your love

May we KNOW this love that surpasses knowledge.

I pray we are filled with the measure of all the fullness of God.

As the One who is able to do more then we ask or imagine, help us to grasp the power that is at work within us.

And may all the glory go to You – Forever and ever.

 

Be encouraged today!

See you this weekend!

Add Some Sizzle to Your Marriage

Whether your marriage is thriving and looking for a creative boost or if your marriage is on the rocks, I want to share something that’s been going really well in our marriage recently.  It’s still new to us, but I think it’s fair to say it’s been a hit.

We’ve started setting aside Wed nights for something called “Wed’s for We.”  On these nights we put the kids to bed around 9:00 or so, then, instead of slumping into our chairs to watch some random and meaningless tv show (which has been our habit) we pull out my laptop and snuggle up to watching a video on marriage or parenting together.  We regularly will find a video-cast from a message series that focuses on us or our family.  2 weeks ago, we floated onto this site – http://marriedlifeonline.com/greatdate_np.jsp where they put together the “Great 6 Date Experiment”.  On this site are 6 dates they lay out for you as well as 6 “Essentials” that give you numerous resources to watch together so you can learn more about those topics.  After clicking on the “Big 6″ tab we went to the first “Essential – Trust God” and clicked on “Message” – there we found a series on “Expectations” by Andy Stanley that is pure gold – http://marriedlifeonline.com/messages_popup.jsp?messageId=52&messageId=48&messageId=40&messageId=3&messageId=16.  Last night we watched the 2nd video in this series – once again – amazing.  If you’re married (or thinking about it) you just gotta watch these.

Along with this series are the 6 dates I mentioned.  Kathi and I went on date #1 just over a week ago and had a blast.  Again – can’t recommend doing this enough!

In case your curious – Other great series we’ve watched together have been “PG-Required” by Andy Stanley which is a great series on parenting and we’ve watched “The Vow” at lifechurch.tv which is also one NOT TO MISS!

After we watch the video together we pray for each other.  It’s been great for us!

Finally -while I’m on the topic of resources – I added a page off my blog called “podcasting”.  I often get asked about what I’m studying.  There you’ll find the guys I spend most my time watching and listening to.

Give “Wed’s 4 We” a shot and let me know how it goes!

Time in Prison

A couple of weeks ago I had the opporunity to spend an evening at our nearby prison in Lino Lakes.  Kenny mentioned this on one of the weekends and the experience was quite memorable.  Here’s a little bit about what it was like for those of you that might have some interest.

After about 15 minutes of getting through the security (metal detector, every item searched, signing in, etc) we were given visitor passes, went through 2 solid steel sliding doors that were locked with a guard in between.  We were then given an orientation about not taking anything, not bringing anything, not agreeing to anything, not giving any personal information, and if things “happen” just do what they say and we can ask questions tomorrow.  If they ask us to leave, even if we’re just getting started, leave anyway.  I wasn’t exactly sure what the last couple of statements meant exactly, but it did raise my level of concern for some reason.

 We got to our location about 30 minutes prior to all the inmates.  The band had a chance to warm up, the main coordinator had a chance to find his computer (which he hasn’t used for over a year) and was somehow able get our powerpoint program up and running.

 The inmates eventually filed in, about 200 of them.  Most of them looked hardened, weathered, tattooed, ungroomed and some just looked unhappy, while others looked like they just stepped out of their day job at 3M. 

 The coordinator welcomed the guys, said a few words then handed it off to Kenny and the band.  Kenny led an extended time of worship in which the guys in the center FULLY engaged with.  The guys in the 2 side sections were a bit split.  Many refused to stand or sing while some insisted on standing and singing despite what others were doing around them.

 It came time for me to speak.  I spoke about how we all have good days and bad days.  Good seasons of life and bad seasons.  All Biblical characters shared in both the good AND the bad.  The question was, how did these men of the Bible deal with the difficult seasons and what could we learn from them.  Thanks to some inspiration by Craig Groeschel, I refered to these difficult times as…”the Dip” and drew an S curve that starts by going up, but eventually comes down to the bottom.  What does the Bible teach us to do in “The Dip?”  I spent most of my time giving them 5 ways to work through the Dip and ended by asking guys to raise their hands  if they wanted to ask God to help them in the Dip (which is obviously the most important step when there).  Most did.  I then asked them to keep their hands up if they were asking Christ into their life for the first time, about 4 or 5 guys kept their hands in the air.  One guy I noticed particular toward the back with his head bowed, holding his forehead with one hand and holding his fist in the air…unapologetically.  It was quite a sight. 

This was the first time I ever did anything like this and was thankful for Kenny and his invitation to join him in the adventure. 

Thanks for your support and your interest in this.  Here’s kind of a lame photo from outside the prison – as you can imagine taking pix inside was not-so-welcome.

A memorable evening in Lino Lakes

Nicaragua – Pt 2

Hello Friends of WB – If you don’t have time to read, skip down to the bottom for my Nic Video.  It’s taken awhile to get it edited and onto the web but I finally think I got it done.

I wish I had more time to pound out the many stories of Nicaragua.  I’d love to tell the story of how Tyler Gregory hit a small girl in the back of a head with a softball, tell stories of the sweat, moisture and digestive disturbance, and of course, the story about how Barb Knutson commented on beautiful someone’s “home” was before she realized she was actually located on a toxic pond of gu (quite the gift of positivity).  Anywho – In order to keep it readable, I’ll narrow it down to one more story.

On our last morning in Managua, we drove into a place that I will never forget.  We drove a bit to get out of the hustle of the city of Managua (which is a large metro area).  Slowly we made a turn onto a beat-up dirt road.  As we moved onto this road, our leaders clearly elevated their sense of concern as they told us to close all the windows (which had been open the whole trip) and then asked us to take off any jewelry and put it out of sight.  We drove along this winding road and began to see black smoke hovering this area while the stench of burning garbage quickly invaded our van.   We had entered an area called La Chureca.  Some refer to it as the city garbage dump and about 1500 refer to it as their home.  Most of those people comb the garbage to identify anything edible, to look for recyclable products that they can sell off and dig for any other “keepables.”  The guides we were with told us that what happens here is the worst kind of poverty in the whole world.  Even in terrible 3^rd world countries, at least most communities know to separate the animals from the people.  In La Chureca there are cattle that roam and graze through the garbage, wild dogs that scavenge through the piles and people that are there trying to make it through another day.  Therefore, the combination of garbage, animals, people (including children) and water makes for an incredibly toxic and unhealthy environment.

About 5 minutes down the road, our van came to a stop.  We got out and in front of us was a large red rickety steel gate with triangle shaped shards of metal on top – to offer greater protection.  The door eventually opened and we walked into a mob of elementary kids.  These were kids who found their way to a Christian school that is offered free to the Chureca community.  As we walked in we got pummeled by kids grabbing on our legs, insisting to be carried and climbing on our backs.  After I spent some time hanging out with kids, I noticed that our team was talking with someone.  I made my way over to the team and found that in the middle of the circle stood a 22 year old white female American wearing her blue jeans and polo-type shirt.  She is the coordinator of this school.  Her presence was a total shock to me.  Here, in the middle of this awful poverty, surrounded with rabies infested dogs, endless garbage,   toxic conditions and dirty, desperate people stood this girl who looks like she could be a Bethel student. 

It was a great reminder to me about how bright a light can be in a dark place.  This place that we were in probably was one of the darkest environments I’ve ever been in…and here stood this woman, standing as a beacon of light. 

The rest of our time in the dump was spent meeting with people who actually host Bible Studies in their “homes” – go figure!  We also met with a couple who had earned a sewing machine through the risk of some micro-finance lender and stopped by a feeding center where one of the leaders said they feed about 100 kids every day and turn away about…100 kids every day. 

Here’s the challenge I took away and leave with you.  Are you a light?  When you walk into rooms, do people think…here come’s some light? When someone receives an email from you or gets off the phone with you, do they feel illuminated? And…are you operating at full wattage potential?  You don’t need to go to Nicaragua to find dark places to shine a light.  Find a way to shine your light where you are today.  (Matthew 5:14-16)

Nicaragua trip (pt 1)

Hey everyone – thanks for dialing in on my blog.  If you’re anything like me, keeping up with blogs, facebook sites and tweets could be a full time job. So anyone who takes a minute to read what I have to offer is appreciated.

As I mentioned this last weekend at church, I had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua.  The purpose of the trip was to check out an amazing ministry that connects American churches to Nicaraguan ministries like feeding centers, orphanages, medical clinics and schools.  We had the opportunity to see numerous sites as the purpose was to get a good look at all that was going on there.

The logistics aren’t that exciting for those that don’t know the area, so I thought I’d spend a little more time talking about some “God-moments.”  These were times where I saw God and was struck by His presence.

First – the brief logistics:

-      About a 6 hour trip from MSP to Managua.

-      Spent the night in Managua – west coast of Nicaragua

-      Got on a 12 person plane to Puerta Cabezas.  There we visited a key leader along with his orphanage, school, church, bakery and a restaurant they are trying to keep rolling.

-      Came back to Managua the next day where we spent time at another orphanage, played baseball with kids, went to church on Sunday, played with kids, visited another church, feeding center, medical clinic, some small businesses that were results of micro-financing and a memorable visit to the garbage dump where 1500 people live.

 As mentioned – let’s talk about moments of lasting impact.  Instead of making a long blog even longer, I’ll tell one story today, and write more later.

 God Moment #1 on the trip – As mentioned above, we flew over to Puerta Cabezas on our first full day there.  The temperature was hot (probably low 90’s) with lots of humidity.  We were sweating most our time there.  For dinner, they treated us to an amazing shrimp meal (which comes from the coast there).  After dinner we were told to go to their café/restaurant where the AC was on and where we’d have a night of stories.

The four of us, plus our guide, 2 leaders from their organization and 4 teens (around 15ish) sat down around a long table.  We were each given a cold pop – which I’m guessing was a real treat for these kids and settled in as the leader encouraged each of us to share a little of who we are.  After doing this, the 4 kids from the orphanage told stories about the difficult circumstances that brought them to the orphanage.  Stories of poverty, abuse, abandonment and neglect.  They talked about how they ended up at this place, and someone told them about the love of Christ, how they gave their lives to follow Jesus and how their lives are now filled with hope and dreams to have future jobs and families.

Their stories were incredible, as were the stories of the 2 leaders who were originally from America.  They had given everything up, well-paying jobs, American luxuries and dreams so that they could reach these kids with the gospel.  The leaders stories were as dramatic as the kids.

It was during this time, that I felt something much bigger then me taking place.  Here I was in some café in Central America, surrounded by a city of 80% unemployment and desperate poverty, drinking a cold Fanta, looking into the eyes of 4 orphans and 2 totally surrendered leaders for Christ.  It dawned on me; perhaps God’s not only present in this moment (that was obvious)…but perhaps this IS God.  Is it possible that God would reveal himself in lives and stories of 6 other Christ followers in some far-away land?  A moment that was so beautiful, surrounded by such desperation, yet filled with such hope.  Maybe God is kind of like that, in a desperate world, God’s light shines which is so hope-giving and so beautiful.  I haven’t figured it out, but at this point, I’m sticking with it.  I saw God, in a café in some foreign land in Nicaragua…and it…I mean He…was amazing to see. 

Matthew 25:45 – ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

I’ll stop there for today.  I have a few other God-moments which I’d love to talk about…I’ll plug those in soon.  Here’s a couple shots from those first couple of days.

 

Our plane to Puerta and yup, that’s a volcano in the background

“First Class” front row seating

A boy that knew how to steal a heart in about 2 minutes…

Bonita

A memorable night of testimonies

My Trip to Lifechurch.tv

Hey all,

Thanks for your grace with allowing me to head out of town for a great trip to Oklahoma to watch and learn from one of the leading churches in multi-site…Lifechurch.  For those of you that have shorter attention spans (like myself) here’s a  few bullets from the trip.  I’d be happy to tell you more if you’d like:

Who – Your 3 faithful Campus Pastor’s – Jason Anderson, Steve Whicker and myself

When – We left early Saturday morning (Aug 29) and came back on Monday night (31^st). 

Where – We stayed in Edmond, Oklahoma but visited 5 of their 14 sites. 

Web – www.lifechurch.tv – check it out – it’s cool.

Size – The weekend we were there had just under 29,000 attenders.

Key takeaways – What a Campus Pastor should be doing during the weekend (HIGHLY relational), how to streamline purchases, technology and training so that each site doesn’t need to figure it out on its own, and a phrase they said often “How can we do the most with the least?”  This church is efficient and focused on reaching people for Christ.

Points of interest – Yes – we did meet Craig Groeschel.  After shaking his hand he “acted” like his phone was ringing.  None of us heard it…fishy…  Also, we spent an hour or so visiting the Oklahoma City Bombing site.  Quite remarkable.

I’ll stop there with the ultra brief report, but before I show you some pix from the trip…this weekend is Fall Kick Off.  As promised we have some exciting things up our sleeve.  Some of the highlights include dinner served by Buca at 5:00 on Saturday, homemade brunch served at 10am on Sunday and something new we’re trying that will begin 3 minutes prior to our normal start time (be in your seats early!)

Enjoy a few pix from our trip and I’ll see you soon!

Your 3 favorite CP's

Their newest building (built from ground up)

A Walmart converted to a church

Oklahoma City Bombing site

 

Largest Site - For fun, count the screens...

My interview with Bob on July 4th

Ok all you WBLer’s – As you all know, living (and working) at a video venue means we are a bit dependant on technology to make a weekend service fly.  Have you ever thought, “What would happen if technology died or even had a significant glitch of some kind?” “Who’s going to fill the 30 minutes?”  “Will we just sing songs, will we have a discussion with our neighbor the whole time?”  “We won’t have to listen to that Graffam guy try to fill the time will we?”

 As you can imagine, it runs through my mind about every weekend and almost at every service.

To be honest, some of you have sat through a service where we did have a technology break down.  If it happens at any service, other than the 4:05 service, we can quickly move to a recording that we take every weekend at 4:05.  This has happened a few times since we started the live-feed and some of the times I wasn’t even aware the shift took place.  It has happened right before connecting to Lino and, even during a few times, it happened midway through the message.

Now, the 4:05 is a whole different deal.  If that service has a glitch, there are obviously no “tapes” to fall back on.  This was brought to life for us on July 4^th, when our technology gave out on Saturday evening.  We sat in the back room looking for videos to use instead.  At one point we were looking at 3 different old messages with less than 20 minutes before the 4:05 was to begin.  At about 10 minutes before the message, we determined we COULD show one of these older messages but felt terrible for the people who just left their 4^th of July picnics to come and be with us.  They deserved more.

At about this time, someone mentioned that Bob (our Sr Pastor) was coming to this particular service.  The light bulb went on and I suggested that he fill the time with something “from the cuff.”  I was told that he doesn’t do “from the cuff.”  I threw out the idea of shifting it to an interview format so he has some help coming up with direction.  I was again reminded that he doesn’t do stuff “off the cuff.”  However, we determined to at least ask.  We jogged through the hallways and café until we found Bob, dragged him into the worship center where, with about 5 minutes before the service begins, we updated Bob that our connection to Lino had died and was wondering if he’d be open to doing a live, spontaneous, interview.  I think it was Laurie (his wife) who first said, “You should do it.”  This helped!  He then said, “I’m open to it.”  I said, “Ummm – How open? – cuz this service starts in like 5 minutes.”  He said he’d do it and we dropped into a room near the multi-purpose room and talked about some topics that he’s been thinking about as the music played in the next room.  I took as many frantic notes as I could, attempted to re-write my notes so I could read them, compile them, prayed, then stood up and realized it was time to walk on to stage.

I gave little thought to how I’d actually inform the congregation what was going on and babbled my way through it on stage.  Eventually, I think people caught on as I introduced Bob for this one-time, exclusive interview on his life as a father, husband, pastor and author.

Here is a link to the interview.  http://www.eaglebrookchurch.com/media_player.asp?type=large&messageID=38281

As it turned out, Bob and I both felt good that our plan B turned out pretty well.  Feel free to leave a comment on what your thoughts were. Hopefully, we won’t have to turn to plan B again, especially at the 4:05, but we do have a little tighter system for what will happen if it does occur again.

Thanks to the 4:05 attenders on July 4^th for their support and grace with allowing us to make the shift.

Baptism for non-Baptists

Hi everyone – One of the things I enjoy doing is teaching the Starting Point class.  It’s a good way to get to know some of you more and it’s a great way to spend an evening talking about the greatest mission on the planet.  A common discussion that comes up during this class is in regard to our position on baptism.  I had someone email me a dilemma they are in talking with their mother about their baptism and trying to explain how the church that he’s a part of as an adult, and his Biblical perspective, are different then what he grew up with.  I thought it might be interesting to post our dialogue  (with his permission).  Let me know if you have thoughts/question, but hopefully it’s helpful for some of you that might be involved in similar conversations.

Don, We met again yesterday, my name is …. and I started volunteering yesterday at the 9:05 ushering.  My daughter Shelby and I are getting baptized on Sunday and are very excited. The excitement was lost on my mother who I invited.  She is a Catholic and said when you’re baptized you are baptized for life.  I explained that I wasn’t trying to undo my infant baptism, I am simply reenforcing it.  I quoted Mark 16:16 and told her I wanted to be obedient to what the Bible teaches and publically declair it for myself my decision to follow Christ.  I thanked her for my Christian upbringing and that this is a good thing and she should be happy.  Any pearly of wisdom to make this less traumatic for her?In Christ,

Hi …… – Thanks so much for jumping in and serving.  How was your first experience?  It looks like you are on an all-star team.

First of all – way to go on the move toward baptism.  I believe God will bless you for this.

The issue of baptism is a tricky one.  Families can face a lot of tension when they come at it with such different perspectives. 

Let me break our teaching down into 2 concepts.

Salvation – As you’ve heard us teach, the Bible is quite clear that baptism is not salvation and salvation is not baptism.  They are two different acts.  So…when a parent strongly believes in infant baptism, it’s often because they believe that their child will be “saved” if something were to happen to him or her.  So…if they are “saved” through baptism, there’s no need to do it again.  However, salvation is taught clearly that it is about an act of repentance  (Jn 3:16, Eph 2:8-9, Romans 10:9, Romans 10:13 and others).  So…salvation is something that an infant is not capable of.

 Baptism – First of all, the definition of the word baptism is to be “immersed” in something.  The idea of sprinkling people (or babies) didn’t come till much later in church history.

More importantly – the Bible gives regular examples of people “repenting and being baptized.”  Again – you can’t do this as an infant.  Acts 2:38 is Peter’s instruction to the people to “repent and be baptized” and later in Acts 8:26-38 is a great story about how Philip shares his faith with a man, wins him over to “repent” and quickly has him baptized right afterwards.  Just 2 examples of people confessing, believing and baptizing…again – not possible for infants.

 Other great resources are to listen (or have your mom listen) to Bob’s teaching last summer from the “Water, Wine and Worship” message.  The “Water” message is all about baptism.  It would make for a great conversation piece for the 2 of you.

One other resource is at our website at http://www.eaglebrookchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=39166

 However, after all that said, the bigger question even still might be to figure out how best to say this to your mom so that she knows you still respect her decision to have you baptized as an infant and yet have her respect your decision to be baptized as an adult (even if you have Biblical understanding of this).  Here’s a few suggestions – realizing I don’t know all the ins and outs of your relationship to each other.

1. Assure her you appreciate her commitment to you and to God – which it already sounds like you’ve done.
2. Ask her to watch the “Water” message I referenced earlier and see if she’ll agree to discuss it with you.
3. If appropriate, send some of these verses I gave you, or other parts of this email to help her to see your perspective.
4. Ask her to give you better understanding of why she believes so strongly in infant baptism.  What scripture and theology does she rest her beliefs in?  It might be a good way to understand more of her perspective.
5. If it’s a BIG barrier for the 2 of you, one idea would be attend this weekend’s baptism together.  That way she’ll hear a short teaching on baptism that we’ll do at the location, she’ll see the energy and hopefully have a great experience.  The two of you could plan to grab dinner afterward and talk about what happened an how you want to participate as well.
6. My LAST suggestion (and I’d try many others before this) would be to make the decision without her approval.  This is obviously to be avoided however much is possible, however, there might come a point where you develop a Biblical understanding that’s different and may be worthy of responding to as an adult.

 OK – I’m sorry this got so long, but hopefully some of it helps.  Let me know what you think.

 Again – thanks for making some bold moves with your faith to get baptized and to serve at our church. 

 Don

Early Summer Activity

Hey there WB peeps,

Just wanted to send a note to stay connected as we get into the summer months here.

I thought I’d take a minute to hit on a few things going on with our site as well as personally.

If you missed last weekend, I think you missed one of the more powerful conclusions to a weekend service that I’ve seen.  As the service came to an end, Jason Strand invited people to come forward if they’d like prayer for spiritual, physical, relational or emotional healing.  I’ve never seen our site respond with such an eager nature to receive prayer as people lined up in the aisles.  I had 2 significant thoughts driving away that Sunday afternoon.  1.  It’s fun to see the church in ACTTON.  Not just sitting together, but interacting, praying for each other and caring for each other.  What a great image.  My other thought (2) was that our church is always carrying a lot of pain.  We all come to church, behaving, sitting quietly, and looking good (some of you guys even shower for the big event).  But…underneath it all are so many stories of relational pain, health crisis and emotional trauma.  I realize there’s a room full of joy and peace as well, but sometimes I just find myself humbled by the storms of life that our room is regularly filled with.  What a great reminder to know that God is present, attentively listening and extending his love and grace at all times.  As I think about it, church makes total sense for people who are battling through life.

At the same time, as much as it might have felt like the total other end of the emotional spectrum, we gave out “Floats for Fathers” in our multi-purpose room in order to say thanks to all of our WB Dads! Here’s a couple shots from that event.

Here’s a couple other quick site announcements.  This weekend we’re going to watch a Bill Hybels message that will rock you…or your money back!  This is one of the most profound messages that I’ve heard Hybels give.  Odds are good, it’s going to take you a little bit of time to think this one through.

The following weekend is 4th of July.  I know your first thought is probably not to make your way to church on 4th of July, but I’d like to encourage you to come…particularly on Saturday.  Just think about it, you can come to church, have plenty of time to get to your favorite fireworks display, AND, sleep in on Sunday – what a deal!  Also, we’ll have our favorite harmonica player in the house and Kenny has put together a solid set.  So…much of the country will shut down on the weekend of the 4th…but WB won’t – it will be rockin!  Don’t miss it!

Finally – on a personal note, I think Aaron might have mentioned this while I was gone 2 weeks ago, but June has already proven to be a busy month for me.  I’ve officiated 3 weddings, celebrated our 11th anniversary, completed my first triathlon and celebrated my wife’s milestone Bday by throwing a surprise party (She’s not 50…not 30…but somewhere in between ).  Here’s a shot from my first Triathlon which proved to be much more fun then I anticipated.

The Before Shot

The After Shot

 

Well – Know that I’m thankful for you and pray for all of you/us regularly that God would use the people of this site to make a huge impact in whatever sphere of influence He’s given us.

See you this weekend!

Don

Relevance Conference

Hello all,

To me, Memorial day begins that wonderful window of time in the year where we spend more days without a coat then with a coat.  LOVE IT!

With summer also seems to bring chaotic schedules…this was evident with our attendance last weekend for Memorial Day weekend and I know it’s throwing numerous curves in my schedule as well.  I have the honor of officiating 4 weddings in the next month and a half.  This weekend is one that I’ll be a part of which will cause me to miss Saturday, but be there Sunday.  So…be good to my good friend Aaron Steffen who’s pinch-hitting for me on Sat.

I also wanted to give a quick update about the Relevance conference that we hosted last Thursday.  If you haven’t heard, we had over 800 leaders in attendance representing close to 150 churches.  This is one of those deliberate times in the year that pull back the curtains and try to give other church leaders a sneak peak on how we do things.  We recognize we have a long way to go, but it’s fun to help others best we can.

One of the cool parts of my Relevance experience is that I got to be in the car with one of our featured speakers, Bill Hybels.  He’s the pastor of a large church in IL.  It’s the church where I first met Christ and Hybel’s was a key person in making that introduction happen in a way that I was willing and wanting to listen.

Hope all of you are able to enjoy some time in the great outdoors and we’ll look forward to seeing you on the weekend.

Oh, BTW, I put myself on facebook some time ago and if you want to connect there it seems to be a bit more conducive to discussion.