Advance 09

I'm proud to tell you about an incredible conference coming to Durham, North Carolina, June 4-6, 2009. Advance 09 is designed to spark a resurgence of the local church, especially here in the South. It's all about God's gift to his people - the Church. Among the incredible line up of speakers includes my pastor, J.D. Greear, from the Summit Church. Then others include John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Ed Stetzer, Daniel Akin (my seminary president), Eric Mason, Brian Chapel and Tyler Jones. You definitely need to check out this short trailer and register at Advance 09. You can also follow Advance 09 on Twitter.

TOMS Shoes on AT&T

Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS Shoes, was featured in an AT&T commercial as part of AT&T’s latest ad campaign. Blake, a Christian, developed TOMS Shoes to be a shoe company that exists to provide shoes for children across the globe who don't have shoes. For every pair of shoes they sell, they give one pair to a child in need, literally One for One. I personally own a pair myself (and have an iPhone through At&T!!). They also have a cool look to them. I didn't know AT&T was going to be featuring TOMS until I saw the first commercial whiling viewing the Masters Golf Tournament this past weekend. I was blown away.

Filming for the commercial began in early February 2009. Using a variety of locations, shooting stretched over several weeks and two continents. The result is a commercial that captures the essence of TOMS.

Since its beginning in 2006, TOMS Shoes has given 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, Ethiopia, and South Africa. TOMS plans to give 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need in 2009.

First aired during the Masters golf tournament, and slated to run over 12 weeks, the AT&T ad with Blake will allow TOMS Shoes to reach hundreds of millions of people. TOMS’ simple One for One movement should inspire viewers, which will allow TOMS to give even more shoes to children in need around the world.

Make your next shoe purchase be TOMS!

Lunch with a successful church planter

On Tuesday I met with David Cox, someone I would consider to be a successful church planter. After several years of ministry, David planted a church here in Raleigh at the age of 34. He remained at this church for 7 years and watched the church grow to 700 people. The church is still thriving and keeps a regular attendance upwards of 1,400 people 12 years later. While numbers aren't the main criteria for a healthy church, I do believe a healthy church should grow.

Here are some random insights I viciously scribbled in my journal from our time together. I hope you enjoy.

• “God is absolutely faithful and completely unpredictable”

• Say “no” to the sheep when you know what is best…they are sheep; don’t be a pushover

• The people who come to a church plant are often seeking control and power

• Wait at least 1 year before adding elders

• A church plant is less defined during the beginning, and as you define the church, you will loose people who don’t like where you are going

• Be balanced in all the purposes of the church and keep prayer as the vital foundation upon which all the purposes stand

• 1 pastor can only manage up to 100 people, so equip and empower others to do ministry; let go and let them run with it; meet with a gifted person 1 on 1, inspire them with a vision for a specific ministry, and let them go for it

• 3 vital roles of the pastor—Preach the Word, Pray, & Lead…only the pastor can do these things, and if he doesn’t, no one will

• Don’t target a particular demographic, but target the purposes of the church; if you are doing your purposes, they will attract all ages

• Don’t plant a church because you think it will be cool or interesting; only plant if you know God is leading you to do so