Well unless you have lived under a rock for the past week you have heard that Michael Phelps has completed the deemed impossible by winning 8 Olympic Gold medals. This was an incredible accomplishment, and something we could all glean some great leadership insights from.  So just to add to the mass hysteria, here are my thoughts on 8 leadership lessons we can learn from Phelps.

Where God convicted me this past week, is that I did not spend enough time relying on God’s supernatural workings in the whole event.  Wednesday night after I got done writing the message, I spent a good time praying for our team that is out looking for a bigger box, and a good time praying that we could find the right spot, and a good time repenting for relying to much on everything but Jesus.

So I hope you will join me this week in praying for the team, the box, and the future of what God is doing at Emergence.

The truth is most multi sites out there are video venue, multi sites. A venue where there is live worship, and a video feed or dvd of the (for lack of better terms) main campus teaching pastor. This model is probably the most widely used in that it is cost effective, uses Sunday teaching as what some churches label “the brand” of the church, and is extremely safe. Lead pastors view this as safe because it prevents a young guy from breaking off of the church and starting his own deal. It is a fearful thing to potentially raise up your own assassin. A process seen in ministry far too often, for far to many reasons.

Here is the thing that does not sit well with me, the video multi site is built on a man, rather then on a mission. Some churches even call the teacher “the brand” of the church, the equivalent of the Nike swoosh, or the McDonalds Arches. While I do believe that there are a few pastors who are gifted enough and should be doing this, guys who get 10,000 downloads a week, guys who have grown a church to 6,000 in 10 years, the guys in the top 1% of teaching gift. For the rest of us, navigating our way to a thousand, or leading God’s call in their community I believe we would be better off training up young gifted leaders to either church plant, or lead via live teaching at a multi site of the church. One has a pretty hard time seeing Paul, say, “Hey Timothy they just really love me in Ephesus, so how bout you be the face with the place, give announcements, and press play on DVD”. In fact Paul’s charge to Timothy seems to be the exact opposite, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” - 2 Tim. 2:2 (NIV)

I think we will see deep flaws to the video model in about 10 years… I keep asking myself what happens when one of these guys gets hit by a bus (traditionally a question reserved only for evangelism). In all seriousness, think about the long term effect one pastor has who trains up 4 gifted teachers in his life and builds a church on the mission of discipleship, verse the guy with 6 video venues… who one day will die. The difference is astronomical when we see it in terms of multiplication verse addition.

All of this simply to say I am glad to be part of a church willing to try multi-site in a way that is new. Despite our space issues, our zoning problems, the risks associated with team teaching, and the astronomical cost of North Jersey real-estate… we have chosen to build our multi sites on our mission and not our men. Central to our church vision is a dream to see a church with a continuing growing number of disciples… our hope is that process of discipleship would be our DNA. That our disciple making DNA would be so clear, compelling and consistent across every venue of our church that that is how people would know we where one church in many locations.

I am a firm believer that there is no perfect model I just believe the majority of multi sites should be equipping the next generation of leaders and building the kingdom around the mission of the church and not the men.

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US

HOW VAST BEYOND ALL MEASURE

THAT HE SHOULD GIVE HIS ONLY SON

TO MAKE A WRETCH HIS TREASURE

HOW GREAT THE PAIN OF SEARING LOSS

THE FATHER TURNS HIS FACE AWAY

AS WOUNDS WHICH MAR THE CHOSEN ONE

BRING ANY SONS TO GLORY

BEHOLD THE MAN UPON A CROSS

MY SIN UPON HIS SHOULDERS

ASHAMED I HERE MY MOCKING VOICE

CALL OUT AMONG THE SCOFFERS

IT WAS MY SIN THAT HELD HIM THERE

UNTIL IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED

HIS DYING BREATH HAS BROUGHT ME LIFE

I KNOW THAT IT IS FINISHED

I WILL NOT BOAST IN ANYTHING

NO GIFTS, NO POWER, NO WISDOM

BUT I WILL BOAST IN JESUS CHRIST

HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION

WHY SHOULD I GAIN FROM HIS REWARD

I CANNOT GIVE AN ANSWER

BUT THIS I KNOW WITH ALL MY HEART

HIS WOUNDS HAVE PAID MY RANSOM

The health of many of our key leaders. Just recently most of the leadership team has gone through something very difficult from loss of loved ones, to health crises, to family issues. Please be praying for the leadership of Emergence…

The Easter service: One that we have space, and two that each member of Emergence will boldly ask two to three people to join us on Easter.

Continue to pray for the Sunday night service… So far the launch has been great, but prayer can’t hurt.

Continue to pray for our long term expansion solution… for vision, leadership, and clear sense of God’s leading.

Personally, I would just appreciate prayer for Rochelle and the baby on the way…

Thanks so much for praying for this community. We probably will never realize the impact, and importance of the prayers of this community.

I want to confess something… I love North Jersey. I love the fact that we live in the most densely packed state in America, I love the fact that the pace of life is moving faster than anywhere else in the world, I love the fact that you can get the finger driving down any street at any moment for any reason….(I got the finger today on the road, because I drive a reliant K that goes from 0-60 in just under 2 minutes).

But most of all I love that God is up to something in North Jersey… just a few highlights:

Is North Jersey reached?… far from it. All my friends from high school still laugh at me for being a pastor…and believe I am a lunatic… But I can not help looking around at my friend Tim, and my friends at Powerhouse… and say thanks, Jesus… thanks for this season…

Genesis 9:20-21 (NIV) 

    Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. [21] When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.

Seriously, this is what I am teaching on… if not bad enough the term uncovered means exposed.  The image is of Noah drunk walking around his tent nude flexing like a professional wrestler.  Obviously, this is not the week for a drama to illustrate the text, and I can’t find this page anywhere in my daughters Noah coloring book.

Now here is the thing… when I get honest this is why I have come to love teaching through the bible.  So often at church we teach biblical highlights, or preachers pets, or we build whole sermon series off of props and tv shows, but at the end of the day there is nothing more true… then a righteous guy who had a sinful day to remind me of God’s grace.

For all the reasons I love preaching expository, reasons like:

-         it forces me to deal with tough doctrines

-         it forces me off my pets

-         it models good study

-         it gives us all a healthy diet

My favorite reason for expositor teaching is simply that as I study the bible I study about guys who where perverts, murderers, liars, cheats, cowards… lifted up as the righteous men of the bible because of God’s grace.  It reminds me that I have faith in a savior, and like Tim Keller says, “The gospel is ‘I am accepted through Christ, therefore I obey’ while every other religion operates on the principle of ‘I obey, therefore I am accepted.’ 

I get encouraged that Noah a righteous man had a sinful day… because I have days where I sin.  I thank God for including Noah’s sin in his word to remind me that my faith is in Jesus and not myself, and that God’s grace is enough to cover my sin and shame.

For further thoughts on Expository preaching check out: http://villagechurchonline.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/what-is-expository-preaching/

Periodically I will update my blog with prayer requests… there is a ton going on at Emergence and it would be arrogant to think Steve and I could make any of this work without supernatural help… and the army of saints.

part 1

A synopsis of Darrin Patrick’s work on the Missional church.

After studying this issue intensely for the last three years I have stumbled across a teaching series done by Darrin Patrick (Journey Church St. Louis, Discovering a missional milea) {journeyon.net}that is the best thing I have yet to see on this subject. The hope of this entry is to pull out some of the key findings Patrick came across and share them with you…

What I appreciate about Patrick’s work is he interviewed and investigated the key players as well as key events that have shaped this movement and then divided the emerging church up into the best classifications that I have yet to see.

Patrick’s observations:

- Movement began to take shape in the mid 90’s although some of the earliest literature dates back to the early 1970’s

- In 1997 Leadership Network charged Doug Pagitt youth pastor at Wooddale church MN, with the task of identifying and recruiting the leading young evangelical innovative pastors in the United States to take part in learning communities. The hope of leadership Network was to become an environment of young leaders who could share best practices who where reaching “Gen X’ers” (1965-1980) a large group that was leaving the church in droves…

- Some of the young gifted leaders Pagitt selected where Chris Sea, Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll (and our own Glen Ridsdale).

- The original driving question of Leadership Network became how do we reach Generation X with the gospel. The hope was through best practices, this young group of pastors would be able to create the next (Willow Creek or Saddleback church) for Gen X’ers.

- At the first meeting Brad Cecil stood up and challenged the group that this was not a generational issue, but a philosophical issue. Cecil challenged the group that this was not an issue of generational theory but of epistemology.

Cecil argued:

1. The middle ages where characterized by mysticism.

2. In the modern age (17th century) we entered an age of empiricism.

3. Currently – Post Modern age enlightened mysticism.

This created the first huge divide in the young team from how to do church in a cool way to attract young people vs… how to do church to a whole world that is beginning to think differently.

- As a result Chris Sea, Doug Pagitt & Mark Driscoll under Leadership Network formed the Young Leaders Network and traveled the country looking for young leaders.

- The movement moved from Baby Busters, Gen X, to Post Modern, to Emerging.

- In 1997 Mark Driscoll spoke at Gen X 2.0 and spoke on how this was not a generational issue, but an epistemological issue. (Mt. Herman California)

- In 1998 Brian McLaren joined the Young Leaders Network, as McLaren joined the tone of the group began to change from what are best practices… to rethinking everything (theology included).

- Leadership Network noticed the change in the group and grew uncomfortable as a result the group soon disbanded.

- Shortly thereafter Terra Nova Project was formed by McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Brad Cecil, Karen Ward, Mark Driscoll, and others… Terra Nova began to not just challenging ministry practices but to challenge everything including core doctrines of the church, issues like substitionary atonement, an eternal and literal hell, and male pastors and elders.

- In 1999 Driscoll drew a theological line in the sand and became divisive in the group over his firm conviction of, the authority of the bible, male elders, the belief in penal substitutionary atonement, the belief of an eternal and literal hell and claimed he was a reformed theologian to the core… as a result this group of men who coveted to be friends divided over theology. Driscoll left the Terra Nova project.

- In 2000 Driscoll started ACTS 29 a church planting network with the vision of churches planting churches

- In 2001 McLaren founded Emergent Village a website community conversing over issues of theology and revision. To this day Emergent village contains no theological statement of faith

- Patrick sees these two groups as the two most influential groups in the emerging church Acts 29 to the right, Emergent Village to the left.

- In 2001 Karen Ward purchased emergingchurch.org

- In 2001 Emergingchurch.net was purchased by Dan Kimball

- 2001 Emerginchurch.com purchased by Youth specialties

- Emerging Churches are not monolithic

Currently Patrick believes you can divide the Emerging church into three broad categories.

Darrin Patrick labels the key leaders in this movement as: Doug Pagitt, Tim Keil, Karen Ward Pastor of Apostles church, Rob Bell Jr., and Brian McLaren.

Key theologians: Walter Brueggemann Scott McKnight, Nancy Murphy Miroslav Wolf.

a. Reformed.

Matt Carter, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, David Fairchild.

Key theologians: John Piper, Graeme Goldsworthy, Tim Keller, Calvin & Luther.

b. Neo Seeker.

Andy Stanly, John Burke, Perry Noble, Greg Holder, Dan Kimball, & Erwin McManus

Key similarities between reformed and neo seeker – creative and take risk, focus on worship gathering and bible teaching.

Patrick labels the key leaders in this movement: Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Stewart Campbell, Rob Turner.

Patrick says to the left is the “Emerging Conversational Crowd”, to the right the “Emerging Attractional Crowd”, and floating from left to right is the “Emerging Incarnational crowd”.

- Ryan