We are hosting this conference coming up the first week of march. The event is all about Church planting in Western Europe and we can be involved from stateside. The event only costs $15 and includes food. It will be well worth it if you can block out the time. Click the image for details.
The guys at acts 29 have posted the audio from their most recent church planter boot camp in Chicago, Il. Good stuff.
Church Planting Evangelism by Mark Dever
Kingdom-Focused Church Planting by Ed Stetzer
Leading the Mission in Church Planting by Darrin Patrick
Preaching the Mission by Mark Driscoll
Missional and Biblical Church Planting by Ed Stetzer
I can really identify with Brother Barry
This coming weekend is going to be pretty exciting for me. I am heading out with 7 church planters on an RV road trip to Georgia. We are heading to First Baptist Church of Lyons, where my friend and mentor, Dannie Williams is pastoring a great church. This church has supported our work to the tune of somewhere around 35K over the past three years. We will be sharing with the congregation how we have been using there funds and encouraging them to continue to give to the cause. After we leave Lyons we are heading to the Evolve Church planting conference at Mt. Lake Church in Cummings GA. There will be real time blogging going on throughout the week so stay posted.
Last week when I was in Spain the guys I was with talked a lot about the umbrella. Under the umbrella is all the folks who are pastoring, planting and leading inside of what we would call “orthodoxy”. Many of those under the umbrella are using practices, programs and methods that I’m simply not comfortable with. My temptation is to take guys like this and push them out into the rain. I’m starting to think that learning the difference between heresy and preference is a pretty important. Let me give you an example: One of the first churches I worked for was a seeker driven church and most of the people I spent time with during those days were were also promoting the seeker church. Today, I would be tempted to push those guys out into the rain because I don’t think there practices are very biblical. It makes me wonder how many times God has taught me something very important through someone I don’t completely agree with. The truth is I don’t even know if I will agree with myself tomorrow. The umbrella of the Gospel is a big one and although it doesn’t include all of creation I am beginning to believe that it includes both those who are not in my denomination and those who I would disagree with on many finer points.I am back in Baltimore now awaiting my family to arrive. Every now and then in my life God will allow me to step back from what I am doing long enough for Him to teach me a lesson or two. This week has been that way for me. Below are a few of the things I learned this week:
The IMB is starting an really exciting new program for young people in your church. Click the image to find out more.
You mist meet the following criteria
• fall between 18 and 29 years old.
• be finished with freshman year of college.
• be a member of a Southern Baptist Church
• be single or married without children.
• be able to spend four and a half consecutive months away from school, work and other obligations.
Someone I was with today said this, “Cymbala says pray -Maxwell says lead – Warren says have purpose – Osteen says smile – I’m confused” Hmm…
Hi everyone, today was another exciting day in Spain. We started off with more conference and more time with the workers. For lunch I tasted some more of the local cuisine at McDonalds and was shocked to find that you could get a beer with your value meal?! I snaked the narrow passage ways through the city to find the most unique gifts possible for my family then met up with the US pastors. This clan of cukoo clergymen visited Museu Picasso just a few blocks from our motel. Although the gallery does feature a good portion of Picasso’s art it primarily houses his personal collection of art. Later we ate at a local seafood restaurant. I am really starting to miss the family and am getting anxious to see them. Jason Pelt has been asking me to provide some dirt on PBJ from the trip. Unfortunately he has led a rather quiet week and hasn’t provided much to humor yet. He does, however, claim to be unable to sleep due to my snoring. I’m not convinced this is really his problem because I have had no trouble sleeping. The world may never know.
Today we started the conference part of our event. Eighty or so workers from W. Europe gathered at the motel where we are staying. I read about these men and women and pray for them yet I am never prepared for meeting them. These are amazing people, simply for the fact that they intentionally leave all they know that others may know Christ is pretty compelling to me. I feel a bit like I am in the presence of the apostles as a talk to these men and women who are working in cities of millions, without the support presence of a church and little to no results for years on end. I spoke to missionaries today who have been on the field for 20+ years. We have been spending a lot of time outside of the motel, to the right Ed Stetzer, 
an agency representitive and I talk strategy for planting churches in W. Europe in a workers apartment with the Barcelona team. My flat-mate Bill Jessup has been a joy to live with. We are both unable to sleep at night which provides for lots of stimulating conversations. In the final picture PBJ and I are telling the Iceland Project story to the group at the conference. It was amazing to find out that our story was not new to them. Many of them told me that they had heard of our work and were praying for us. One worker told me that they showed him one of our videos when he went through MLC (worker training). It is a bit nerve racking to talk about our project among those who have devoted their lives to this region. The only disturbing part of the whole week so far has been the consensus among these men and women that the spiritual condition of W. Europe is expected to be the condition of the US in 20 years. Perhaps we will all be on the field soon.
