NewSpring Leadership Conference

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. -Luke 12:48
Yesterday was a day of Jesus Immersion for me and few friends of mine. We traveled down to Anderson, SC for a leadership conference at NewSpring Church. Check out who was there preaching!

Perry Noble, Pastor of NewSpring Church, Anderson, SC

My Pastor, Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, Charlotte, NC

Pastor Craig Groeschel, lifechurch.tv, Edmond, OK

Pastor Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church, Atlanta, GA

Pastor Jud Wilhite, Central Christian Church, Las Vegas, NV

Pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA

Pastor Judah Smith, The City Church, Seattle, WA

All these men are great men of God, they are, I believe, some of the best pastors in the world. I'll speak more in this in just a minute, but first I want to point something out about the verse above, Luke 12:48. This verse is about responsibility, it's about leadership. It has nothing to do with how much money you have been given, or anything like that. What have you been given? What are you doing about it? I have been given much, and I am doing much. At this leadership conference these pastors that I heard have been given much and entrusted with much, and they are doing much, and much more. They are reaching those that the traditional church wouldn't reach with 39 and 1/2 inch pole.

This brings me back to my life verse Romans 12:1-2, "1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." These men have continued to renew their mind and not stay in the formality of the traditional so that they will be able to take the calling God has put on their life so that God's perfect will would be fulfilled. What is God's will? 1. That when He gives people a task to do, they do it, and 2. The great commission, Go and Tell. The message is still the same, but the delivery has to change. That is what these great men have accomplished. There is nothing wrong with the traditional church, everyone is different. But, we have to understand that we all have the same goal, we are all preaching, we are all trying to reach people for Jesus. One of the core things we have to learn in our churches, whether traditional, modern...is that we have to make a difference, and not constantly try to get a point across to people. Often times when we make a point it pushes the people we are trying to reach away. We must earn the respect of people through compassion and love on people. No one can compete with our love and compassion. Christians are known as the most compassionate people, however, we can also be known for how we act and treat each other in the church. What kind of message does it send people when we fight and bicker and gossip and put each other down? Why would anyone want to be apart of that? I know we aren't perfect, and we do get on each others nerves at times. But we posses a different kind of love, and we have to tap into it everyday, it's the love of Jesus. These men have a passion to change the world, I have a passion to change the world, and I think everyone who was at this leadership conference has a passion to change the world. Jesus has put that passion inside of us. It was such a rich blessing to be spiritually renewed and Jesus Immersed yesterday. We were in session from 8:30-6:00, preaching all day, it's fantastic! And it was fun! Preaching doesn't have to be this serious thing, church should be a fun place, but not in the way of programs and activities. Was Jesus always serious? No. I will post more about this conference and things I learned, and other things I have outlined about the kind of theology we hold. For now, think on this. Plan to go next year! Start saving your pennies!