Church ministry in focus

Brian and I attended the Church Ministry in Focus conference today at Dallas Theological Seminary, where Andy Stanley was the keynote speaker. We had a good time. I ordered a DVD of his two sessions today as well as the church pastor panel if anyone’s interested in watching it later.
I thought I’d share some notes from the conference before I head to city council tonight and I’d love to hear some feedback.
These first notes are from the pastor’s panel, which included Carl Anderson (Trinity Fellowship Church), Gary Brandenburg (Fellowship Bible Church), Dr. Phil Humphries (Clearwater Community Church), Dr. Andy McQuitty (Irving Bible Church), Dr. Maurice Pugh (South Arlington Community Church) and Matthew St. John, (Scofield Memorial Church):

  • We must raise the level of unification in our churches to the Kingdom of God – regardless of race, age, or demographic. If we are unified around the Kingdom of God then people will unite.
  • The Kingdom of God transcends era and generations.
  • People want something bigger than themselves to look towards.
  • We must put feet to our faith and get involved in actually touching lives.
    And here are some notes from the workshop over Developing Mature Believers, taught by Todd Wagner (Watermark Community Church):

  • We must first ask what do we want to produce? What is a mature believer?
  • Christ said a student will not be greater than the teacher.
    – sounds like Star Wars to me
    – if we want a mature church we must be mature and seeking Christ fully ourselves

  • Local communities (churches) do not expect enough out of Christians
    – we don’t expect what God expects
    – we’re happy if they show up, bring a few friends, leave money in the plate and come back next week

  • There must be a ripple effect
    – we can only reproduce after our own kind
    – if we’re not living as mature Christians we can’t expect others to

  • Our goal should be to make people like Christ
    – not getting them to read and fill out three notebooks on how to be like Christ
    – focus on the goal

  • A fully devoted follower of Christ is someone who, when shown an area of their life that needs improvement, will say, “Thank you,” and move forward and take steps to make corrections.
    – you can be a fully devoted follower of Christ the second you accept Christ
    – there’s a difference between a devoted follower and a mature Christian

  • Spiritual leadership is not a question of knowledge, it’s a question of passion and seeking Christ.
    – a spiritual leader can lead without a lot of book/Bible knowledge if they make every decision based on what scripture tells us. they may not know themselves but they can seek God’s will and direction from others.

      A mature believer:
      1. Spends time in God’s Word
      – buy a Bible you’ll read
      – knowledge does not equal maturity
      – we will be what we are now becoming
      – it is up to us to build the means for people to find God
      2. Runs with other disciples
      – avoid isolation
      – if people are not willing to build community they are not really seeking Christ
      – community is transforming, authentic and relational
      – authentic community brings about conflict
      — think about marriage
      – conflict is not a problem, it’s an opportunity to glorify God
      – when working through conflict we’re making disciples
      – any moving machine has conflict or friction
      – if you want to avoid conflict, live in a cemetary
      3. Is involved in the game and other people’s lives
      – push people into other’s lives
  • Communicate why being a mature believer is important
    – tell people what their marriage will be like
    – tell people what their funeral will be like
    – tell people what their job will be like
    – tell people what their relationships will be like

  • Are you being shepperded?

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    Jonathan Blundell

    I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.

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