A29 Regional, StL

Had a great day yesterday with Pastor Steev at the Acts29 Regional in St Louis. We had to leave REALLY early...I met him at his house at 5:15 yesterday morning. After a quick stop at Starbucks for some coffee, we drove to The Journey and got to meet with other church planters and pastors. This is a twit pic from Ed's blog at the event. You can see me in this pic if you look REALLY hard. I'm in the front row on the left...pretty much right under the stool that is on the stage. During the morning session, we listened to Ed Stetzer share about some things he's learned from the studies that he has done with LifeWay Research. Here are a few one-liners I took away form Ed's talk:

• You don't necesarrily have to convince people that Jesus rose form the dead, you have to convince them that it matters.
• We should embrace the death of cultural christianity.
• If we (pastors) do for our people what God has called them to do, the work of God is hindered, and both of us are harmed.
• BE, DO, and TELL the Good News.

We also got to listen to a sermon from Darin Patrick, the lead planter of The Journey. He preached from 1 Peter 1:10-16. Here are a few things I took away from his message:

• Be astonished by the Gospel. (v. 12) The Angels long to look into such things. They long to look into the good news. They don't tire of it. Maybe it's because they do not get to experience grace as we do. The Angels who sinned weren't offered repentance as we are. Wee must live astonished by the gospel too. Why would God love us and grant us repentance? IT'S AMAZING!
• We are to obey God like a child. (v. 14) Not like an employee who obeys to avoid being fired or getting a pay cut, or like a slave who obeys to avoid punishemnt, but like a child who obeys because he loves and trusts his father - WHY you obey is as important as THAT you obey. Just look at the Pharisees.
• We must preach sermons that are only possible if Jesus rose from the dead.

After the regional, I crashed the Church Planter's small group meeting and got to hangThere I met and talked for a while with Jon Bricker of Charis Community Church in Bloomington-Normal , IL. We hung out and talked for a while, then Steev and I headed back to Joplin. My head hit the pillow at about 12:45 this morning. So, I'm tired, but it was a great trip and a real encouragement to me. Jesus is really working on me right now. and this trip was him continuing to do so. He continues to grow in me the desire to pastor, to lead, to preach, and to see others changed by his grace. It was good to see and meet guys who are or have already gone through some of the same things I am and be reminded that he who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it!