First of all—please don’t e-mail in regarding this post and ask, “Were you serious?” The answer is YES!!! Now—on to my ramblings…
This conference has asked me to come be a keynote speaker. If you are a church planter or pastor or minister or just someone who loves the church—you should come to this thing. NOT because I am speaking (more on that in a second) but because I have seen the other guys that will be speaking and I can’t wait to go and hear what they have to say. I am a student & I need to soak up as much information as possible…and this conference will provide that opportunity.
If you are going back and forth on whether or not you have the time and money—my recommendation would be for you to check out Proverbs 2:1-5…that passage rocked my world recently when I was trying to decide whether or not to go to a conference. I was seriously weighing the decision and the Lord led me to that passage…and that was confirmation that if I desire wisdom then I must search for it.
I love meeting and networking with pastors…and I have heard from a few different sources that this conference was off the hook last year. SO…come on down to the great state of Georgia (my wife is from Georgia—that fact alone makes that a great place) and lets talk about the church—I CAN’T WAIT!!! Thanks Sean for the invite.
OK…he actually invited me to speak several months ago…but I am just now posting about it because…well…I am excited!!! AND NERVOUS!
Seriously! When I spoke at the Innovative Church Conference that Granger Community Church hosted…I had to pee about 14 times the hour before I spoke. On Sunday’s at NewSpring I pace, have to go to the restroom…check my mic about 15 times…and I always…and I mean ALWAYS make sure that my zipper is up—any speaker will admit that he checks this at LEAST 20 times…a speakers worse nightmare is to begin his talk and realize that his zipper is down!!! Yes, it HAS happened to me. NO, I will NOT talk about it except to say that I am now paranoid! (I am just being totally honest!)
SO…when it comes to sharing information with church planters and pastors I am excited…excited that the tomb is empty…excited that Jesus LOVES HIS CHURCH and has called us to GROW…excited about life change. Excited about hearing stories about what God is doing all over the world.
But…I am nervous as well. Nervous because I desperately don’t want to screw anything up!!! (I have a habit of doing that.)
Some pastor may be wondering whether or not he can afford to go. Here’s my take—you can’t afford NOT to go!!! The Bible says search for wisdom…pay any price to achieve it…and trust me, after comparing this conference to other conferences…this one is a DEAL!!!
NewSpringer’s—I would DEEPLY appreciate your prayers as I have been asked to speak at this conference…and I will also be speaking to a group of South Carolina Baptist pastors in October!!! Please pray as my hearts desire is to encourage and motivate people to invest their lives and efforts in the greatest organization in the world—HIS CHURCH!
Oh yeah—did I mention that this Sunday is going to be awesome?!?!?! :-)