Spanky's Place

The first two sessions were "here is what has worked for us at our church" focused. Session 1, "From Foyer to Kitchen: The North Point Strategy" was given by Andy Stanley. Andy is the founder of North Point Ministries (NPM) and senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church in the Atlanta, Georgia metro area. He holds a degree in journalism from Georgia State University and a theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary; and is a best selling author.

His session was really, really good. I understand how and why his church does things the way they do. Some important points for all Christians to focus on are:

• Intimacy with God.
• Community with insiders.
• Influence with outsiders.

In addition to these three points and the explanation of North Point's strategy, he also made some very important observations, that apply not just to "Christian Life", but to the secular world as well.

Observation 1:

Leaders like to be part of something they understand.

If a leader understands the strategy, direction, and reasons for something (whatever that something happens to be), they will be better engaged, more energetic, and more effective at leadership.

Observation 2:

Every Church has a strategy, whether this strategy is known or not. AND Every strategy is perfectly designed to get the results you are getting.

Just let that sink in for a moment. If you are getting lousy results, take a look at the strategy you are employing to get those results. Once you recognize where your strategy is weak, you can fix it and effect change.

Session two, "Family Ministry" was given by Reggie Joiner. He is the executive director of Family Ministry at North Point Community Church in Atlanta. He is the founder of KidStuf and also serves as executive director of FamilyWise, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that provides resources to help parents and children rediscover family time.

Reggie's focused on the importance of helping parents to understand that raising up children and teaching them the way they should go is NOT the responsibility of the church, it is foremost the responsibility of the parent. The church's role is to provide help and guidance for the parent; not to usurp the parent.

Session three, "Reaching Postmoderns" was given by Erwin McManus. It was so good and he was such an excellent speaker that I pretty much forgot to take notes. I did however manage to jot down these quotes:

Fellowship at most churches nowadays is like walking in on two people making out. It's intimate, but you don't really feel like you should be there.
- Erwin McManus

You should marry the person you can stay up all night talking to without having sex. Because in a marriage, no matter what you might hope, there is a lot more talking than there is sex.
- Erwin McManus

We tend to give meaning to those things that are meaningless; and we tend to take away meaning from those things that are important.
- Erwin McManus

Session four, "Reaching Neighborhoods", was given by Randy Frazee. He recently joined the staff of Willow Creek Community Church, prior to which he served for 15 years as senior pastor of Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. His sermon was really good, and like session three, I took very few notes. I did write down his "church challenges", and here they are:

1. Shift from community in the Church to church in the Community.
2. We cannot have an Acts 2 Church until we have people living Acts 2 lives.
3. Journeys take time. This is not a quick fix.
4. Transitions: Be wise about how you make this move (in your church), and expect push back.
5. Share: Tell the stories that emerge during the week at your weekend gatherings.

He also issued a personal challenge: Model the vision. I think that is a good challenge for all of us to live our lives by.

-Devin