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Recap of Day 1 of the Acts 29 Boot Camp

Day 1 of the Acts 29 Boot Camp is over. It was a great day. Julie and I met people from all over the country and heard some powerful talks. Here’s a brief recap of what I heard. The notes aren’t going to be verbatim, mostly quotes

Session #1: “The Gospel & Ambition” – Dave Harvey

Passage: John 12-27-32, 32b-43. Some great quotes

  • “Loving the glory that comes from God means loving Jesus”
  • “Glory that comes from God demands a pursuit”
  • “The pursuit of God’s glory is the basis of Godly ambition”
  • “The search for approval is over because of the cross?
  • “Ambition is from, not for, a position of approval from God”
  • “Ambition should lead us to explore new opportunities to glorify God”
  • We should be unwilling to settle for a completed goal

Ambition is

  1. Perceiving the value of something – we’ll never ben ambitious for what we don’t value
  2. Prizing what we perceive
  3. Pursuing

Session #2: “The Evangelism of Church Planting” – Ed Stetzer

Wow. This was an amazing talk. This one is Julie’s favorite and could be mine. Incredibly challenging. He told us again and again and again that we need to evangelize.

Passage:  2 Timothy 4:1-5.

Evangelism in church planting is

  • Action: Do
  • Labor: The work of an evangelism
  • Focus: do your work evangelistically

Luther said “God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does”

  • “Do good works. Be, do, and tell Good News”
  • Invitationalism is a problem. People should not bring people to you to find Jesus

Session #3: “The Church & Ambition” – Steve Timmis

Passage: Romans 15

He spoke on Paul’s ambition for Christ, the church, and the lost as represented by his call to the local church, Spain, and Jerusalem

Session #4: “Leadership & Ambition” – Darrin Patrick

Darrin spoke this one directly to the men in attendance who are church planters or want to be. He really drilled us about the need to discern ourselves and raise up young leaders

Passage: 2 Timothy 2:1-6

  1. Paul discerned how he was gifted and helped others discern theirs. Paul was bold, evangelistic, and visionary (Acts 20:24). We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3)
    We need to worship and serve to find out how we’re design
    Look at the three aspects of Jesus – Prophet, Priest, and King
  2. Live life with young leaders you’re trying to develop
    1. Talk regularly about your sins and fears (1 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 4:9-13)
      1. Don’t use your pulpit as a confessional
    2. Praise them publicly
      1. 2 Corinthians 8:16-23
      2. direct and indirect praise
      3. You can’t over-compliment young leaders
    3. Put young leaders in challenging situations with oversight
      1. Delegation not abdication
    4. Get and give young leaders feedback
    5. Push them to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel specifically
      1. 1 Timothy 4:12, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Titus 2:15 all deal with fear of man issues

“You can influence from afar, but you can only impact up close”

Church Planting from the Ground Up

Session #1: Gather & Develop – Kevin Jamison

Kevin is a church planter in Middletown, OH who will be one of Julie and my assessors’s on Thursday. This talk was incredibly practical and answered many of the questions that I’ve been think about with regards to gathering a core group.

II. Develop

Core development is pastoring

Develop Yourself:

  • Pastor your family
  • Watch your language
    • don’t dog your core
    • Use “we”
  • Watch your price
  • Set the pace with repentance
  • Give your wife permission to be painfully honest

Develop Your Core:

The importance of both Formal and Informal Gatherings

Formal

  • Teach & discuss
  • pray
  • sing
  • meets weekly
  • still be involved in local church

Informal

  • Hang out
  • Get to know

A Common Language = common theology

  • Clarify and define what words mean

A Common Mission

  • Help people take ownership of the mission
  • Ask others how we can reach their friends and familes

A Common Vision

  • Practical
  • “What would it look like it if the invisible kingdom were made visible in your city?”

I. Gather

  • Not an open door policy, be selective
  • Have people commit – sign a covenant

Who to Gather:

  • New Christians to the area
  • People that are F.A.T (Faithful, Available, adn Teachable)
  • People on a upward trajectory with their faith, regardless of age

Who to Avoid:

  • Wolves
  • Thieves
  • People who are skeptical
  • Taking people from churches that are growing and thriving

Where to Look:

  • Relational Networks
  • Partnering Churches

Final Advice

  • Wait for a public launch until you have 70-75
  • Go slow

Assessor and Assessee Dinner

Our day closed with a dinner with the other couples being assessed and the guys who are doing the assessment. Julie and I enjoyed getting to know Kevin, Nick, and Jerry. It was encouraging to hear their heart for us and to know that they’re praying for us. Their pastoral concern for Julie and my marriage and family is a wonderful expression of the love to be found between brothers and sisters in Christ.

Scott Thomas also shared with us the rating scale for the assessments. It’s

  1. Recommended
  2. Recommended with conditions
  3. Potential with strong conditions
  4. Not recommended

He shared some of the criteria that plays into a 4 (theology problems, financial problems, marital problems). The process is a little less daunting after tonight, but there is plenty of time left for me to get nervous. I have a gut feeling what our score will be, but I’ll save that for later …

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Acts 29, Church Planting, Missional, The Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Recap of Day 1 of the Acts 29 Boot Camp”

  1. Daniel Yang Says:
    November 10th, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Bro, I’ve been in your seat! It’s exciting! Be ready for a great ride.

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