Michelle Wegner

Time Magazine Online Article about PD Summit

Here is the online edition of the article our new friend David Van Biema wrote about the Purpose Driven Network Summit last week.  It is very well written and has a very holistic approach to what went on at the conference last week.  After I read it, I had a better idea about what was going on, even though I was there!

Even if you're not interested about the PD Summit, it is a great article describing what the next wave in world missions will look like.  Rob and I are in.  Are you?

The Road Home

 

I wrote this on the plane yesterday....

 

So, here I am flying home.  I miss the girls a lot, although I know they had a great time with their way-fun babysitters.  They are so funny, they actually talked Miss Brooke into letting them all sleep in the same bed together.  Maddie said to me "Mom!  Isabelle slept on my head the whole night!"  

 

As much as I miss the girls when we are away, these times with Rob are so important.  It's when we can talk uninterrupted about the things that matter most to us. 

When we used to date and before we had kids, we talked for hours on end about changing the world.  It's still something that burns in our hearts, but it's hard to talk when there are three little girls clamoring for our undivided attention every waking hour.  

 

I remember back to when Rob and I were dating.  We were an unusual couple, because we knew that somehow God wanted to use us in some way.  We were open to anything.  Since we lived close to downtown Chicago, we would go there on a lot of our dates.  One time we went to the top of the John Hancock building.  I'll never forget it.  As we looked out over the city, both of us had this profound sense of the presence of God.  The hairs on the back of our necks stood up as we felt God was telling us that His glory would cover everything we saw.  We knew right then that we were to be a part of some great move of God, and we were going to be in it together.

 

It's been a while since that happened, but every now and then God reminds us of our calling.  This week at the Purpose Driven Network conference  we were reminded of it again.  The call is still the same, although it's so much clearer to us now than it was then.  It's great to have a partner that is in it just as much as I am.  I'm glad Rob and I share the same passion to reach the lost all the way from here to the ends of the earth.

We're In!

Good photo above:Photo by Mark Beeson

Grainy, dark Photo to the left: Photo by Rob from my wonderful phone

We Must Go

I am overwhelmed at the attention that has suddenly been brought upon our church.  I wish you all could be here to see it.  About every 3 minutes, someone stops by our table to say how much they appreciate the ministry of our church and they want to get on board with what God is doing through us to reach the Ends of the Earth.  Rob and I were just asked to go to Brazil in a few months.  My immediate response, "Sure!"  Who would'nt want to go to Brazil?  Of course we need to be strategic and all that stuff, but I'm always up for an adventure!

God is doing something people.  Something amazing.  Step up and be a part of it.  Catch this wave.  Don't let it pass you up without getting on board and taking part in some way of God building his Kingdom where ever you are. 

"Bringing Up There Down Here" is not just a catch phrase.  It's my desire to commit my life to letting His Kingdom Come, His will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the next years.  As I said, I'm always up for an adventure, so here we go! 

Utilizing Smart, Wealthy People

This session has been very interesting.  This is a panel made up of men who have been successful in the marketplace and have also utilized their giftedness in the church. 

They say that they are an un-tapped resource because people come to them 25 times a week to write a check.  No one comes to them for relationships, and they are not good at relationships because they are bottom-line guys.

One of the men,Dave Arnold,  was brilliant, and he said that for years and years no one knew what to do with him, so he drove the shuttle bus, and worked the cameras for a long time.  This guy had huge capacity for leadership, yet no one knew what to do with him.  He retired from his job, wrote Rick a letter and told him that for the rest of his life he would work to support the P.E.A.C.E. plan, no salary required.  Amazing!  We could use a few guys like this!

The kingdom of God needs guys(and girls...more on that later!)  like this.  I am sure they get so tired of ministries asking for a check.  They have serious skills that the church can utilize. 

God has given these people more than financial assets.  They have skills to lead, build, equip, and train people. 

Character Counts

I have a very interesting position right now in my life.  I have been around full-time ministers for years and years, even though I am only 35 years old.  I have seen every kind of Pastor, Missionary, full-time church worker, etc.  there is.  I've been all over the world, visited pastors in different countries and settings.  I have lived in the middle of Uganda with no electricity or running water.  I have lived in downtown Chicago where people don't even look one another in the eye.  All this to say, "I've been around".

This Purpose Driven Conference has been very interesting to me.  As I see GCC being launched into the public eye, I have made a few observations.  I think one of the many reasons God has so blessed our church is because of the character and integrity of the staff.  Little things matter. 

Pastor Mark and Rob did not shove and push in line yesterday when they were giving away free t-shirts.  They let others go first in the snack line.  They speak graciously to other pastors and friends.  They treat waitress' and motel staff with dignity and honor.  I see these little character choices, and I know they count.  I know God sees. 

I'm proud to be a part of such an amazing move of God.  Character counts. The little things matter.

Culturally Relevant

Worship is all about connecting with God.  It's about creating a space for people to anticipate the power and presence of God.  In this session, we also learned the importance of cultural relevance. Finding a style of worship that reaches the audience where they are.  Tommy Kyllonen from Crossover Community Church in Florida shared about using a live DJ, turntables, and hip-hop music in their worship service. 

I don't think these ladies on the left would care for the hip-hop church.   This photo made me giggle.  I had to share.  I apologize if this is a photo of your Mom or Grandma.

Talkin about the Ends of the Earth...

Mark Beeson is my hero.  He is up in front of 1500 pastors and leaders telling them all about the amazing work God is doing and India, and how the members of Granger Community Church get to be a part of it.  Here's the scoop:

We have been doing wok in Southern India for the past 7 years.   We love the Purpose Driven Conferences, but what we are doing with the pastors is giving them the "how to" application process of the PD model. 

 

In 7 years we have had 119, 419 core class members.  90,000 graduates.  80,000 have accepted Christ.  38,000 baptisms. 

 

Baptism in India means you are forsaking your caste, there by forsaking your pre-destined place in the caste system.  This is dangerous ground to walk on for those who are in the "Untouchable" caste.  Many of our own Pastors have endured much persecution because of their own faith, and for spreading the news that the untouchables can be free in Jesus.

 

This is personal to me.   These are not just numbers.  These are my friends that are living in poverty.  They are financially poor, but the richest souls I have ever met.  These friends have risked everything for the sake of knowing Jesus, and making him known.

More on Preaching

Becoming a Purpose-Driven Preacher

1. The goal is not instruction

   Not information But obedience.

2.  "DO"  not just "Know"
3. "Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you."
4. Jesus should be the model for your preaching.

   He was the perfect preacher.

5. Every preacher in the New Testament talks about character.

 

 

 

1. Knowledge without application produces pride
2. Knowledge without application brings judgement
3. People already know more than what they are doing.
4. 50% of Romans is application
5. 50%of Ephesians is application
6. 100% of Galatians is application
7. 100% of sermon on the mount is application.

 

 

What I've learned about Preaching for Life-change  (Not me, but Rick)

1. All behavior is based on what I believe.
2. Behind every sin is a lie that I am believing.

Building Bridges

How in the world do we build bridges from the ancient text of the Word of God to the contemporary culture of the "Here and Now"

How to we do this without falling off either side?  The challenge is to make the Bible relavant to a culture that is ever changing.

We don't have to make the Bible relavant.  We have to show it's relavance.

The Bridge is the timeless truth. 

The Bridge is the method to get from "Here" to "there"  The Bridge is the timeless truth.

The message must never change, the methods must.

Sometimes when we are trying to be "deep", we are just getiing "muddy."  Other people can see that.

On Preaching

There are 3 types of preaching, those messages that build up,those that fire up, and those that hold up, (edification, exhortation, and comfort) 

 If a preacher preaches all comfort or edification messages, the church will become a wimpy church.  If a preacher preaches all fire-up messages, the church will burn up and burn out.  There really needs to be all 3.

Preachers should take a multi-facited approach to preaching.  Preach to the young people as well as the old, the married as well as the single.

Don't ask the question, "What should I preach?"  Instead, "To whom am I preaching?" 

People learn best in the midst of crisis.  Take advantage in moments of crisis. We will have trials and tribulations.  Be ready to lead people through that time, because those times will come.

Humor

Using humor will catch people off guard because they are not used to any humor at all in Church.

People are hurting.  They're beaten down.  Humor can disarm people to open them up to further things.  Don't take yourself too seriously.  No one else does anyway. 

God is looking for an authoratative message in a humble personality.

On Small Groups

Highlights on Fellowship:

The purposes of small groups in a church setting are Spiritual growth, Pastoral care (among small group members), and life change.

Small groups are weird, because it's almost like you are administering relationships.

There is a real difference between growing Christians and a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Jesus had a small group...his disciples. 

In John 13 he taught them to serve

John 14 to Encourage

John 15 Fruitfulness

John 16  Accountability

John 17 Unity

I bet Jesus was a good small group leader.  I bet these Aboriginals are talking about the importance of small groups too.

God's Ideas on Church Growth

Quit focusing on Growing the Church and focus on Growing people.  God will grow His Church.

His Light Shining Through My Flaws

The first session, Rick Warren talked all about "How to survive in ministry."  How to make it.  So many people who begin in ministry drop out due to moral failure, criticsm, and a host of other reasons.  He reminded us that "It's not about Me." It's about God building his Church through broken people.   God is most pleased with people who are in touch with their humility.   God doesn't want us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to, but also, we need to know that we are valuable to Him.  God loves us when we are in full time ministry, and when we're not.  He loves us when we're doing his work in India, and he loves us when we are at home cleaning the toilets and folding socks..

God's love for us does not change based on what we do and what we don't do.  He loves to use people who are broken, and with flaws, because God gets the credit for the amazing things that happen through these people.  We are cracked pots letting the light of God shine through.

Purpose Driven Network Summit Day One

To worship with Pastors and full time ministers is one of the most amazing things I ever experience.  You would think the room would be filled with confident, strong, head's up high men and women.  I find that to be true partly, but for the most part, I see brokenness.  I see men and women heads bowed before God in humility.  Simple men and women aware of who they are in Christ.  Broken, humble people who have been called.  People with an anointing from God.  I wonder where and when each one of these men and women were when God called them to full time ministry.

We sang "How Great Thou Art" this morning.  It caught me completely off guard.  This is my all-time favorite hymn.  It struck me to the core.  The voices around me were so beautiful, so perfectly perfect.  When I hear that hymn sung how it was this morning, I am immediately transported in my mind to my Grandma's church when I was small.  I hear her voice singing that song next to me, and I am deeply comforted. 

I am looking forward to hearing the speakers this week talk and strategize on how to bring God's Kingdom to the ends of the earth....More later!