WholeHeartedLife

5 Things Andy Stanley is Wrestling With

I returned a few weeks ago from North Point's "Drive '09 Conference" and as usual was stretched beyond measure. However, the other day I was going through my notes from the previous year's conference and remembered... 

Andy Stanley closed the Drive 08 Conference with "5 recent random thoughts of church and Leadership" - the stuff that is on his mind. It was impromptu, a diversion from the originally scheduled message, "Making Vision Stick" (which he ended up closing this years conference with). Needless to say, as I reviewed my conference notes it rocked me the same way it did a year ago which is why I'm sharing them with you today.

1) To reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing (Craig Groeschel) - "we have 175,000 people within 10 miles of Northpoint, and we aren't reaching them. We aren't going to reach them by building another church building. We have to do something no one else is doing".

• This statement made me ask the following questions: How many unreached people are there around hyde park? Our County? Surrounding areas in our region?
• Andy's Takeaway: "Become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep. Everybody has the right answers - most people will never "live it out". DANG!

       

2) The best ideas for reaching the next generation almost never comes from the previous generation, it's going to come from the next generation.

• "Somewhere on the fringes someone is figuring out the "next thing". We can either fight it or fund it!"
• "If you are over 45 years old, you aren't going to have the ideas that reach the generations. At this point, it's your job to recognize the good ideas, to surround yourself with the "idea people"'.
• "Don't do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you".
• Andy's Takeaway: "Be a student, not a critic".
• My thoughts: this was humbling and made me begin looking for those who I can surround myself with who can help me to reach the next generations. As I near 40 I recognize that although I have plenty of great ministry years ahead of me I better keep my ear and heart tuned to the "heartbeat" of the generations. Why do you think I love college students so much?!? 

  

3) What do I believe is impossible to do in church, but if it could be done would fundamentally change the church.

• "It always used to drive me nuts that the communicator and the leader had to be the same thing".
• "Multi-site solved this. Now the great leader doesn't have to be the teacher" - (he spoke about how great a leader Jeff Henderson at Buckhead is). Northpoint has 3 Campuses that utilize Andy's teaching via live broadcast. Andy is the preacher while each campus has a Pastor/Leader that oversees and leads.
• "Like that, you may be the one to crack the code on something no one else has figured out that will fundamentally change our churches". 
• Andy's Takeaway: "Pay attention to people who are breaking the rules. It's the rule-breakers who are oftentimes the problem solvers".

  

4) If we got kicked out of our church and they hired a new guy, what would the new guy change or do different? Let's walk out the door and walk back in, and make those changes. (Unbelievable statement!!!)

• "The problem with ministry is that we (and those we minister with) have fallen in love with the way we've done ministry".
• "What would a first timer change? Do it anyway. We need fresh eyes, no attachment, don't care about fallout... quit worrying about people".
• "Local churches aren't normally preoccupied with change until the money's gone. When things get tight, attitudes change".
• "It's not 'no pain, no gain' -- it's 'no pain, no change'. Without pain, there typically isn't any change".
• "Ask yourselves: 'Where are we manufacturing energy?' The things we aren't very excited about, it takes energy to get it done, but the results aren't stellar".
• Andy's Takeaway: "Acknowledge what's not working. Own up to it. And own up to why you aren't willing to do anything about it. What is it you fear? You need to deal with that. It is a leadership lid for you".
• My thoughts: it's SO EASY to make decisions based on who you are trying to keep rather than who you're trying to reach. I believe most decisions are made with the former than the latter. He made the comment if we make decisions based on how a decision will affect our finances what does that make us? Hirelings at best - prostitutes at worst. (sigh...) 

  

5) When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don't have a lot to work forward to.

• "You better "jack-up" the vision!"
• "Are you willing to be involved in the future more than the present?"
• "Don't let success overshadow your vision. Keep the vision out in front of you and your people."
• "Remember: visions begin with a burden and reflect a broken heart. Ask, "what breaks my heart?"."
• "Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure."

At the bottom of my notes I found the following note (I don't know whether Andy said it or I just thought it): "Remember, we are to LEAD. When you lead, lead with courage and diligence. Don't let money or anything else steer us".

Hopefully this will cause all readers to think - It certainly did, is and will continue to challenge me. Your thoughts?

Church Nerds

You know, since Sunday Brandon, Steven and I have been on the road (Pastor joined us Monday afternoon). We've been to 4 churches in the past 3 days (and that does not count hyde park Sunday - that would be 5!).

Why? This is what we love. We love JESUS, we love His church - our passion is learning how to be the best at what we do.

The churches that we've gone to have challenged us - they have stretched our vision. As Steven said, "I have a hard time to put my mind around the hugeness of so many people serving together, all working in the same direction.".

We check it all out - their systems, how they do what they do. We're learners - constantly learning new things and asking, "how could this help us?". We enjoy the behind the scenes stuff.

You might be tired of this much church...this, for me, is better than going to a huge sporting event or a concert.

I have officially deemed us "church nerds". Pen protectors are not required in this club (but a great bible cover could do wonders.

You Might Be a Redneck...

Today was an unbelievable day at the Drive Conference. I am so glad that Pastor decided that we needed to tak a road trip. Here's a little bit of what we experienced today...

• Started the day with Lane Jones in the breakout "How Did You Do That?" which spoke of how they do things in such fresh and relevant ways (as you may remember, i described it yesterday as Excellence). My main takeaway: Our creativity hinges on planning, preparedness, freshness and doing whatever it takes to get the ideas flowing.
• Had a great lunch - thanks North Point for going out of the way to make all things great...
• Took a short lunch trip next door to the North American Mission Board (never been there - it's literally next door). It was a priviledge to meet with some great leaders over there including Richard Harris and my friend, Tom Cheyney.
• After lunch, checked out the "Multi-Site Strategy" breakout. You know, I pulled some stuff out of there that I had never heard - very surprising being that I have really studied this subject. My main takeaway: what North Point has learned by experience will be unbelievably helpful and literally changes some thoughts i've had about our future in the possibility of multi-site church.
• This afternoon, after some really amazing worship, a ridiculously amazing and hilarious production number and creative videos, Andy Stanley brought one of the most practical leadership talks I've ever heard about "Becoming a Great Staff".
• I have so many thoughts; so many ideas that could be revolutionary for our future - pray for clarity, follow through and most of all, the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us where He would have us to go.

We then piled in cars and went on a roadtrip to Browns Bridge Church, a North Point Campus where we had a great dinner and then were treated to comedian Jeff Foxworthy (hence the title of today's post). We laughed until we were about to throw up (literally) and our heads hurt.

And yes...I am smarter than a 5th grader - I could definitely win some money there

Number 500!!!!

Guess what everybody? THIS IS THE 500th WholeHearted POST!!! LIVE from the ATL, boyyeeeee!!

Today I took a backstage tour of Buckhead Community Church as well as experienced the opening session from the "Drive Conference". What I have seen over the last 2 days can be described with one word -

EXCELLENCE

• The music tonite was incredible! Opening with "Typical" by Mute Math. The video production on it was unbelievable...we've talked about the production aspect ever since we left!
• The worship was great...we had a tremendous time of worship as we celebrated the Lord's Supper in a very unique way. The whole environment was very experiential and reverent.
• Andy's talk was exactly what I needed to hear - and i didn't like it . Thanks Andy (under the leadership of the Holy Spirit), once again, for bringing something to the surface that I didn't want to deal with.

We'll try to get some pictures posted tomorrow...had a problem getting them loaded tonite. Check with me on twitter or facebook for updates throughout the day!

The One I've been waiting for...

North Point Church has hosted a conference for a few years. I've personally never been able to attend but I've been listening to the Drive conference CD's for a couple of years - i can't get enough of them!!! The teaching that they give is the most applicable to the local church of any conference I personally have ever attended.

I decided last year that WE (us - you and I - or anyone that I could get to attend) were going to attend this conference in 2007 and guess what happened? They cancelled the '07 conference! (Why? Because they had a really busy year and needed to focus on their own ministry - THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! Always keeping the main thing the main thing - even when people want to come learn from you). They promised to be back in '08 to which I said, "we're going!"

So anyway, this morning I find that they have finally announced the 2008 conference. All of you who make big decisions, plan 2 go... all of you who are leaders, plan 2 go... BFG leaders, plan 2 go... tech people, plan 2 go... you get the picture! Here's the link - check it out! (and put it on your calendar)