NOTES FROM BATTERSON:
* The farther away from home you are, the more of an expert you are.
* The longer I do ministry and lead, the more I covet the favor of God.
* Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
* Passage comparing distance between God’s thoughts to the expanse of universe
* If you were to drive to sun at 65 mph, 24 hours a day, it would take 163 years to get here. The sun warms us in 8 minutes.
* Your best thought on your best day is about 13.2 billion light years short of God’s thoughts for you.
* Systematic theology an oxymoron?
* The moment we think we have God figured out, we lose the spiritual curiosity to seek Him for eternity.
* Our best theories will probably
* 1 Corinthians 8:2 The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
* Your dreams are too small
* We confess our sin all the time, but when was the last time you confessed that your dreams are too small?
* The office is where I go to get nothing done anymore (Amen)
* You need to leave cell phone somewhere, no meetings, no appointments and get with God. He will begin to reveal dreams that were deep inside.
* One of great dangers we face: We stop doing ministry out of imagination and we start doing it my memory. We mimic those around us. Memory will overtake imagination, but God’s dream for us is that imagination would begin to overtake memory.
* Great ideas always come from a dream that starts from God.
* If you don’t have any holy discontent in your life, go on a mission trip.
* Rather have one God idea than thousands of good ideas.
* Their team will take an “imagination day” and go out to dream.
* We need to believe that God wants to tell His story through us.
* In first century, people didn’t travel more than a 35 mile radius in their lifetime. Jesus said to take Gospel to the ENTIRE world.
* Jesus is Lord and Savior, but He is a dreamer!
We made it to DC for the Whiteboard Sessions. I will try to post updates from the conference throughout the day. I must say, I’m missing free WiFi. $10 a day for internet wherever you go? Sucks.
As you’re reading this, Robin, Frankie, and I are probably somewhere near the North Carolina/Virginia line on our way to the Whiteboard Sessions in DC. It should be a blast. Heck…I think our hotel rooms at the Hilton are gonna be insane! I’m gonna be blogging a lot while I’m there, so check back for exciting updates on the conference and our adventures in our nation’s capital. Any ideas on fun things to do while we’re there?
I just saw an article on CNN’s website that broke my heart. It basically says that in Ethiopia alone, 6 MILLION children under the age of 5 are at risk of starvation. An alarming 120,000 have only about a month to live.
You know, churches could eliminate this problem pretty easily if they worked together, but we’re too concerned with our own issues. I mean…gas prices are going up ya know?
Honestly, all throughout Scripture you will find passages that talk about caring for orphans, widows, and others in need. There should not be a single child facing starvation in the world. There shouldn’t be a single kid that is waiting to be adopted. There shouldn’t be any kids stuck in the foster care program. Christians should resolve these problems.
I’m gonna figure out a way I can help this immediate hunger issue. I’m sure there are things we can all do to help.
Over the last week or so, I’ve spent a good portion of time trying to get businesses to make a donation for our student ministry auction on May 31. In honor of the places that I have personally visited, I thought it would be fun to give out some awards. Without further ado, here are today’s awards:
The “Business that Sucks at Life Award”: BEST BUY
The “Business of Great Philanthropy & Consistency Award”: STARBUCKS
The “Why in the World are you Asking Me Award”: PHYSICAL GRAFFITI SOUTH (Tattoo Parlor)
Here’s the gist of our conversation. “I’m sure you don’t get this often, but would you all be interested in giving a gift certificate for our student ministry auction?” “Nope.”
The “I’ll Give You This Because We Don’t Want it Award”: LIFEWAY.
So my new MacBook Pro came in a couple of days ago. It joins my iMac as our computers of choice in the Brickey household. This is the fourth Mac that I have owned, and I’ve noticed that Apple really has done an incredible job with their products. I think there are a lot of things that churches can learn from them. Here’s a few of them:
1) Apple values simplicty- I’ve noticed that churches have a tendency to do way too many ministries, and in the process, lose their effectiveness. As a Church, we should focus our attention on less things in order to make a greater impact on our community.
2) Apple is innovative – (I’m sorry Bill Gates. Apple is kicking your butt in this area.) I’m sick and tired of the lack of creativity and innovation in a lot of churches. The Church should be the driving force of innovation in our culture. If your church isn’t constantly evolving and changing, enjoy the ride while you can. Your church will die soon.
3) Apple products are incredibly excellent. Heck…even the styrofoam that my Macbook came packed in was well designed and appealing. It seems that the Church should strive to be unapologetically skilled and well crafted.
4) Apple inspires loyalty. Church hoppers suck. If your church is inspiring, I think a good number of people will stay. If they like your product, they will even tell others about it. Mac owners, including myself, are very dedicated to promoting Apple products. I should probably be making commission off of sales because of how many people I have converted to Mac.
I know there are other lessons to learn from Apple. What are some others?
