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Back from Exponential

I've been in major catch-up mode since returning from the Exponential Conference.  I arrived home in time to celebrate my birthday dinner last Thursday with Lisa and the kids.  We went to Lou Malnotti's for dinner.  We splurged a little - paid extra for the butter crust.  Very nice!  Then this weekend I was teaching at my new home - the Romeoville Campus.  Tremendous vibe this weekend.  The Gospel Choir sang and absolutely brought down the house.  Then yesterday it was back at the office . . . had an interview with Warren Bird and Scott Thuma.  They are doing a research project at several churches through Leadership Network.  It'll be great to get the results.  They are super smart dudes!

Back to the conference for a second.  It was nothing short of phenomenal.  Every session I went to was great - Ed Stetzer, Steve Andrews, Dave Ferguson, Andy Stanley, Rick Warren, and Tim Keller.  I loved Bramlett's intro for Keller.  And it was a lot of fun catching up with a bunch of our Newthing friends.  I'd have to say the highlight was getting to talk to Tim Keller.  Dave and I were fortunate to get to sit down with him on Wednesday night for about an hour.  While most of us know he is brilliant, he is also incredibly practical and passionate about helping people find their way back to God.  He had some great thoughts about reaching people in international cities.  No doubt about his mission in life. 

Rick Warren at Exponential

Tonight at Exponential Rick Warren joined the NewThing Team for a free pizza dinner.  We invited anyone and everyone interested in learning more about NewThing to come.  200 people showed up.  I would imagine that Rick being there probably had something to do with it. 

So, I walk into the hotel where we were holding the dinner, and off to the right I hear this voice, "Hey guys!"  And who is it?  A large man with with sun glasses on who looks remarkably a lot like Rick Warren.  And it was Rick Warren. He has an amazing ability to make just about anyone he meets feel like the most important person on the planet. 

I am a huge fan, and here's why:

1. He gives every thing he's got to helping people find their way back to God.  In almost thirty years of ministry at Saddleback hundreds of thousands of people have found their way back to God.  And he started with just himself and his wife, Kay.

2. He is incredibly generous.  He reverse tithes. Gives away 90% of what he brings in.  I don't care about the fact that he's no doubt a millionaire many times over, he is setting a great example for what it means to be generous.

3. He believes in small groups.  He couldn't have made it more clear tonight that the real stuff of church and discipleship happens within the context of small groups.  His 40 Days of Purpose have helped thousands of churches group hundreds of thousands of people.

4. He's all about reproducing churches.  Saddleback has been part of launching hundreds of new churches as well as reproducing a number of campuses throughout Southern California.

5. He loves alliterations and acronyms.  Say what you want, make fun of them, I don't care.  They work.  People remember memorable things, and Rick has an amazing ability to make things memorable.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Can't believe that I'm sitting in a Starbuck's in Florida, hundreds of miles away from my bride on our anniversary . . . O.k., so I can believe it.  I actually planned it this way.  I'm at the Exponential Conference, and we knew it fell on this date, but it still pretty much stinks.  And yes, we did celebrate last Thursday night before I left.

I know this might sound a little syrupy and overly-romantic, but get over it or stop reading if you don't like it.  Truth is, there are times when I'm still amazed that she said "Yes, I will marry you."  It's one thing to marry up, but this is beyond marrying up.  She is stunningly gorgeous, intelligent, fun, and the most incredible mom on the planet.  I really love her more today than ever before.  How blessed I am.

Exponential '08

I'm at the Exponential Conference this week in Orlando, Florida.  This is without a doubt my favorite conference of the year.  The energy and excitement for reproducing churches - multi-site, church-planting is at a fever pitch.  The plenary sessions should be over the top with Andy Stanley, Tim Keller, Alan Hirsch, Rick Warren, and CCC's very own Dave Ferguson.  Good times!

NewThing has a display at the conference, and tloday we're leading two pre-conference intensives - one called "The Reproducing Church Experience" and another called "7 Moves to Multi-Site."  Several CCC staff are here leading these pre-conference sessions.  The plenary sessions and main sessions begin tomorrow.  On Wednesday morning I'm leading a main session on Creating a Reproducing Church Culture with Dave Dummit - lead pastor at 242 Community Church in Brighton, MI. 

Generosity - Yes!

This past weekend was a history-making day in the life of Community.  For several months we've been laser-focused on two key priorities that we now believe will provide direction for many years to come - reaching the 67% of our world who has yet to find their way back to God, and helping the 20% of our world that lives in poverty.  We partnered with four teams who are all about those two objectives - The Barangay Team, The Village Team, The Neighborhood Team, and the Reproducing Church Team.  The entire offering from every location and every service will be given to these four teams.  And while we have yet to announce the final number, not surprisingly the people of Community have shown themselves to be incredibly generous and it looks like we'll be well beyond $200k for the weekend.  Thank God for an incredible weekend of generosity at Community!  I couldn't be more proud to be part of such a missional church.

History-Making Generosity at Community

After months of planning and preparation, sharing many dreams and visions, this weekend is CCC's Celebration Generosity.  It was in December of last year when the leadership of CCC believed God was telling us to focus our energy and resources on two key priorities:  1) Reaching the 67% of our world who has yet to find their way back to God, and 2) Helping the 20% who live in poverty.  This weekend's celebration services will be devoted to these four CCC teams who are committed fully committed to these priorities:

• The Village Team (Ugand - GFR)
• The Neighborhood Team (Community 4:12 - East Aurora)
• The Barangay Team (Frontline - Philippines)
• The Reproducing Church Team (NewThing)

The service will close with a "Giving Back to God" time that you won't soon forget.  Our entire offering will go toward reaching the 67/% of our world who has yet to find their way back to God" and the 20% who live on less than one dollar a day!

Be prepared for a history-making day at Community! 

Reproducing Church Team Dinner

The Reproducing Church Team Dinner was great! Last Saturday night we brought together some of the people from Community who have decided to join NewThing's Reproducing Church Team.  Over 100 people gathered at JFK Middle School where our new Plainfield Campus meets for great food, lots of fun interacting with new friends, and some very inspiring vision about where God is taking NewThing in the future. 

Aaron Monts, a NewThing leadership resident who will be launching a new church in San Francisco in 2009 shared his experience at Community over the past nine months. Greg Lee, lead pastor at Suncrest Christian Church in St. John, Indiana talked about the impact NewThing has had on his church and staff as they become a reproducing church.  Dave and I took a few minutes to share the vision God has given NewThing to double the number of churches in our networks, recruit 10 more leadership residents, and hold four recruiting events in four different cities in the next year.

One of the most amazing things about the evening for me was to realize just how many people who attend Community don't know the incredible impact they are having all over the country. For more reflections on the evening, check out Greg Lee's blog.  Not only is Greg the lead pastor at Suncrest, he also leads one of NewThing's three networks.   Sherry Gossman who continues to volunteer lots of time with NewThing from her remote office in Omaha, NB also blogged about the dinner.  Check it out here.

Romeoville Campus Pastor?

Late breaking news on the personal front.  For the next several months I will be the Interim Campus Pastor for our Romeoville Campus.  Jim Semradek the current Campus Pastor is going to fulfill his life-long dream to launch a new church in Schaumburg, IL (more exciting news on that in later posts).  The Romeovile Campus celebrates its 10 year anniversary this year.  Over the past ten years the campus has grown from a handful of people to close to 1000 celebrating every weekend.  The campus has also been involved in launching our Carillon, Montgomery, Shorewood, Yorkville, and Plainfield Campuses.  Not only that, the founding Campus Pastor of Romeoville is Troy McMahon who recently moved to Kansas City to start Restore Community Church.  The Campus also has a unique partnership with the Institute for Community that brings hundreds of people through the Friendship Center and Children and Arts Center every week.  While my time will be limited due to my other responsibilities, I am super excited about the opportunity to serve this campus during this transition. Romeoville has a great staff, lots of energy, and tremendous plans for the next several months. If you live in the Romeoville area or haven't been to the Romeoville Campus for a while, be sure to stop by on a weekend, I'd love to see you there!