Archive for Networking
Links & Such… January 13, 2007
Wanted to do a rare Saturday post with some misc. stuff..
My friend Craig Groeschel has stepped into the blogging world! (Welcome dude!) I first met Craig at Willow’s A2 conference this past year and I automatically loved the guy. Why? He’s real…and he is one of the most innovative thinkers on the planet. Here is the link to his blog.
Nelson Searcy & Kerrick Thomas are going to be doing a church planting seminar in New York later this month. I would HIGHLY recommend this because…well…these guys are NOT just full of theory…but rather than have learned what to do AND what not to do–because they have been in the trenches…and are going to share this information! Here is the link to that!
With Tony’s move being announced there were several people who weighed in with a blog post…
- Here is Tony’s annoucement
- (Hey NewSpringers–leave him a comment welcoming him to the South!)
- Here is Tim’s take (The Executive Pastor @ Granger)
- Here is Kem’s take (she works in Tony’s area at Granger)
- Gary had some awesome insights into Southern living–with the exception of #1…which is heresy!
- Jonathan put a picture on his blog
- Kevin Hendricks put up a post (this is one of my favorite sites…you either LOVE or HATE the name…and I love it!!!)
And one more thing…since I saw in internet world that the cat is already out of the bag–sort of! Pastors, church leaders…whoever…mark your date books for Thursday, March 15th. NewSpring Church will be hosting our first ever mini-conference!!! It will be a one day event with two leadership lessons AND two breakout sessions where people can ask questions and get answers!!! We will be addressing things such as…
- A senior pastors only breakout
- Children’s ministry
- Creative service planning
- Youth ministry
- Volunteers
- Home groups
- Communications
And a few other things as well.
This is me really letting the cat out of the bag–stay tuned next week as we launch the website for this event. I can’t wait!!!
Excited AND Nervous! December 12, 2006
First of all–please don’t e-mail in regarding this post and ask, “Were you serious?” The answer is YES!!! Now–on to my ramblings…
This conference has asked me to come be a keynote speaker. If you are a church planter or pastor or minister or just someone who loves the church–you should come to this thing. NOT because I am speaking (more on that in a second) but because I have seen the other guys that will be speaking and I can’t wait to go and hear what they have to say. I am a student & I need to soak up as much information as possible…and this conference will provide that opportunity.
If you are going back and forth on whether or not you have the time and money–my recommendation would be for you to check out Proverbs 2:1-5…that passage rocked my world recently when I was trying to decide whether or not to go to a conference. I was seriously weighing the decision and the Lord led me to that passage…and that was confirmation that if I desire wisdom then I must search for it.
I love meeting and networking with pastors…and I have heard from a few different sources that this conference was off the hook last year. SO…come on down to the great state of Georgia (my wife is from Georgia–that fact alone makes that a great place) and lets talk about the church–I CAN’T WAIT!!! Thanks Sean for the invite.
OK…he actually invited me to speak several months ago…but I am just now posting about it because…well…I am excited!!! AND NERVOUS!
Seriously! When I spoke at the Innovative Church Conference that Granger Community Church hosted…I had to pee about 14 times the hour before I spoke. On Sunday’s at NewSpring I pace, have to go to the restroom…check my mic about 15 times…and I always…and I mean ALWAYS make sure that my zipper is up–any speaker will admit that he checks this at LEAST 20 times…a speakers worse nightmare is to begin his talk and realize that his zipper is down!!! Yes, it HAS happened to me. NO, I will NOT talk about it except to say that I am now paranoid! (I am just being totally honest!)
SO…when it comes to sharing information with church planters and pastors I am excited…excited that the tomb is empty…excited that Jesus LOVES HIS CHURCH and has called us to GROW…excited about life change. Excited about hearing stories about what God is doing all over the world.
But…I am nervous as well. Nervous because I desperately don’t want to screw anything up!!! (I have a habit of doing that.)
Some pastor may be wondering whether or not he can afford to go. Here’s my take–you can’t afford NOT to go!!! The Bible says search for wisdom…pay any price to achieve it…and trust me, after comparing this conference to other conferences…this one is a DEAL!!!
NewSpringer’s–I would DEEPLY appreciate your prayers as I have been asked to speak at this conference…and I will also be speaking to a group of South Carolina Baptist pastors in October!!! Please pray as my hearts desire is to encourage and motivate people to invest their lives and efforts in the greatest organization in the world–HIS CHURCH!
Oh yeah–did I mention that this Sunday is going to be awesome?!?!?! :-)
Network Update June 29, 2006
Wow–yesterday’s meeting was awesome! I would love to say a huge “thanks” to the people who came and were a part of the brainstorming session…your input was priceless.
We are going to begin the network…after what I heard yesterday–it’s needed. We want to do all that we can to help as many as we can. I honestly feel that we can protect others from making many of the same mistakes we made.
AND–we can provide a sense of community. Being a pastor or a church leader is lonely–despite what other people may say. And the fact is that when you are doing well in a community you are ostracized by most of the pastors there. I remember John Maxwell saying once, “The fact is that most pastors in your community would rather you run off with your secretary than grow a great church.”
So…to all who came…and to those out there who are interested–we are going to take the lessons we learned yesterday and put a plan together–we will be having another meeting either in August or September for those who want to be a part of the network.
E-mail us if you have any questions about this…and we will get back with you ASAP.
Network Update June 26, 2006
We are SO pumped about this coming Wednesday! It has been our passion since beginning NewSpring to one day be able to pour into other churches and share with them the lessons they can learn from our mistakes so that they do not have to make them.
We are expecting a great crowd for our first meeting – and due to a few unexpected circumstances among those who were coming–a few spots have opened up!
If you still want to come–but have thought it was too late–the door is now open. Once again–the meeting is at 10:00 this Wednesday at NewSpring…it will last through lunch (which will be provided) and will be an awesome time of sharing our hearts and brainstorming as to how this network can REALLY assist you in your ministry.
So…if you have recently discovered that you CAN be here…and you are a current senior pastor or staff member at a church–then please contact me through this blog by the end of the day today (MONDAY) and let me know you are coming. (If you contact me through the blog then please send me your name, e-mail address, church name, and a number where you can be reached.)
OR…you can call our church office at 864-226-6585 and ask to speak to Midori Thompson & she will be more than happy to sign you up.
Looking forward to it…
What A Week–Random Thought On A Friday… June 16, 2006
Parents–be warned…your kids are fired up! Last nights service actually topped the night before…it was one of the BEST services I have ever been a part of in my sixteen years of ministry. These teens are coming back with a passion to reach their friends for Christ…I told them that when we designed our current 2,500 seat sanctuary that we did so with the desire in mind to one day make it our YOUTH ROOM and that we will build a larger facility for the adults–THEY ARE PUMPED!!!
As you can see, Lee, Jon, DJ and I made it home safely last night. I actually crawled into bed at 6am!!! If you EVER want an interesting experience…you should travel through South Alabama at night! WOW! It is hard to find good food late at night. We did find some Krispy Kreme doughnuts at one gas station–but they reminded us of hockey pucks–so we passed. And everywhere we stopped had pork rinds–there is something about fried pigs fat that just makes me sick to my stomach!
To those parents who let their kids go on this trip–THANKS! We have an AWESOME group of teenagers and I was so honored to be a part of everything that took place. If you are NOT involved in youth ministry–you are missing out!!!
THIS SUNDAY AT NEWSPRING is going to ROCK! Invite EVERY MAN YOU KNOW to be there. On Mother’s Day I challenged the women–this will be Father’s Day…and so I am going to challenge the men. I am REALLY looking forward to the service! The band will be doing a song that it going to part people’s hair! Men–you had better represent this Sunday!!! AND…we will be showing a video of some of the stuff that took place at camp after the service.
The network thing has had an amazing response…over 30 people who are interested–we’ve had people as far away as Arizona express an interest!!! YEAH GOD! For those who signed up–we will be sending you some information about this soon!
PRAYER REQUEST–MAJOR!!! Please pray for my voice!!! After speaking every night this week it is SHOT and I have three messages this Sunday! Thanks!
Got to go know–I hear the gym calling…
Network Update–Another One, Please Read If You Are Coming To The Meeting! June 14, 2006
WOW–I had NO idea! A huge “thank you” to everyone who responded today. I knew the need was out there…but wow!
For those that ARE coming and have responded…please e-mail us and give us the following information…
- Your name (yes, some have sent an e-mail saying you are coming–and we have no idea who you are!
- Your e-mail address
- A telephone number where you can best be reached
- And a physical address
Thanks!!!
So…there is still room. At first we decided to open it to only 20 people–but with the overwhelming response we received today we are going to make it available to any pastor or church leader who contacts us by the end of the day on Thursday, June 15. (You can e-mail us from this site or call our church office at 864-226-6586 and ask for Midori.)
This is going to be a lot of fun…remember the date–June 28th, 10am at NewSpring…we will feed you lunch AND I promise it will be good…if I do anything well it is being able to consume food! I anticipate the meeting to be done no later than 2:00.
One more thing…if you are interested in being a part of this network BUT cannot be at this meeting then please contact us through an e-mail so we can put you on a contact list and inform you of when the next meeting will be.
Pray for this–it looks like it is going to TAKE OFF!!!
Interested In Being A Part Of A Network? June 13, 2006
I had a conversation with this dude the other day about networking with pastors in our area and eventually all across the United States AND the world.
I have a passion to help pastors, plant churches, and meet with like minded people who can encourage, challenge, and motivate each other.
I hate politics–and I want to meet with a group of pastors who are serious about doing all they can to reach as many people as they can…and who love Jesus and love church so much it isn’t even funny.
One of the things that God has been placing on my heart lately is to begin a network here at NewSpring.
If you are a pastor/church leader and are interested in meeting with us and discussing this idea then I would like to invite you to a meeting on Wednesday, June 28th at NewSpring Church. The meeting will begin at 10am and will conclude around 1:30 or 2:00…and it will include lunch…our treat.
We will open this to the first 20 pastors/church leaders that call our office (ask for Midori) or send me an e-mail…you can do that from this site.
I would ask that if you are going to bring someone with you that you limit that to just one person…and that you let us know if you plan on doing so.
I am PUMPED about this opportunity. We are excited here at NewSpring about finding out how we can assist other churches in reaching their community for Christ.