Exponential Reflections-Part 2

Continued thoughts from last week's conference in Orlando:

• You cannot expect your people to be what you are not. -Matt Chandler
• Be careful-since we deal with the divine it can become routine to us. -Matt Chandler
• Your call is to Christ first and foremost-then to your mission. -Matt Chandler
• Every church planter starts with a good vision-most of them don't resemble that a year later. -Shawn Lovejoy
• The only way you can stay away from criticism is to do nothing significant with your life. -Bill Hybels
• Whenever we answer God's call there will be much personal pain with it. -Shawn Lovejoy
• Finishing the great work (of church planting) will take courageous conversations and courageous calls. -Shawn Lovejoy
• The greater the work is, the greater the opposition will be. Opposition reaches a fever pitch right before God does something awesome. -Shawn Lovejoy
• A pastor must have thick skin and a soft heart. -Darren Patrick
• We complexificate things. -Reggie McNeal
• The church is too much like a merry-go-round. It has lights and cool music, but it's only going around in circles. -Ed Stetzer
• Two groups that pastors should spend more time with: leaders and sinners. -Alan Hirsch
• God desires to advance His Kingdom through our transformed and transforming lives and churches. -Efrem Smith
• We have separated evangelism from compassion, mercy & justice. -Efrem Smith
• Whenever someone is lost and alone, God's reaction is to "go" and to "send."- Dave Ferguson
• When we maximize the ministry outside of the church walls, we don't minimize the ministry inside of the church walls. -Dave Ferguson
• How do we step out of our homogeneous, ethnocentric holes? -Brenda Salter McNeil
• Leaders need to count the cost and be prepared to go the distance. -Brenda Salter McNeil
• The process of engaging diversity will make you the church. -Brenda Salter McNeil
• There are a lot of virtual/pseudo communities. -Shane Claiborne
• Don't just tell people what not to do-give them replacements! -Shane Claiborne
• True transformation starts in our mind. It is honed in great community. -Dave Gibbons
• Why don't we stop focusing on the movement of masses and focus on the movement of the Holy Spirit? -Dave Gibbons

Exponential Reflections-Part 1

Mike & I were in Orlando last week for the Exponential Conference-essentially a church planting conference, but also a time to see what God is doing in churches both big & small as He calls His people to Him. I took copious notes (and also posted many quotes on Facebook &Twitter), but thought I would hit a few highlights here too-more thoughts will continue tomorrow:

• Are you willing to trade your life for what you believe in?
• It's never about where you are going, it's who you're becoming. -Mark Batterson
• There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. -Mark Batterson
• Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way. When we realize that our frustration evaporates. -Mark Batterson
• How much do you need power and need life? Be in the Word(s). -Louie Giglio
• The operational power of the Kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit! -Louie Giglio
• Rejoice in the cross, but don't forget the power of the resurrection! -Louie Giglio
• God's words have an assignment & they never fail their assignment. -Louie Giglio
• The harvest is now! Let's not be a group of people who want to wait for the harvest! -Rick Bezet
• If you just send your money to the mission field and not your people, there is proof that the next generation will do neither. -Rick Bezet
• It's not the idea that gets rejoiced at-it's the fruit that gets celebrated. -Matt Chandler
• You are never going to make the gospel so cool that everybody understands it-it will always be offensive to some. -Matt Chandler
• When your desire to draw a crowd is greater than your doctrinal integrity, you're out of bounds. -Matt Chandler
• You can't protect (your church) from suffering/persecution, but you can prepare them for it. -Matt Chandler
• We have to live a simple life to model a simple life for our people. -Matt Chandler
• Are we crying out for good soil & good seed? -Matt Chandler
• It's not about a "system" for producing fruit-it's about following God and being faithful to where He has called you. -Matt Chandler
• Has there ever been a greater need for servant leadership than now? -Ken Blanchard
• You have to be a servant 1st and a leader 2nd. -Ken Blanchard
• Any time you don't feel joy, peace & righteousness, you are detached from the vine. -Ken Blanchard
• When you follow God you get three consultants in one-Father, Son & Holy Spirit. -Ken Blanchard