A day in the life of...Mark Williams

Francis Chan dance

They showed this intro for Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love, at the Orange Conference. 

Luo Set Free

I want to share with you about an organization that Melanie and I were recently introduced to at the Orange Conference.  Luo-Set Free is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting economic sustainability and improving quality of life through: Biblical Education + Academic Education + Financial Support + Medical Care + Nutrition.   Here is a little more from the website:

 In order to show the love of Jesus to children and communities, we base our efforts on relationship. We build relationships with community leaders, churches, and organizations in order to empower them to help the children in their areas. Our first initiative is in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. There, we are partnering with the local church and equipping them to be the hands and feet of Jesus on location. Our goal is to allow people to see the church working in its purest form and therefore get to know the true character of Christ. We are also working with community leaders, athletic coaches and teachers, training them to educate and influence the children a in a positive way. We believe that God desires for us to work together in community in order to "do" justice.

The cost to provide these essentials to a child for a year is $250.  You can also buy t-shirts from them to help support the cause.  The cool thing is that the Biblical Education is largely based on many of the virtues that we instill in our children at Agricola Baptist through 252 Basics.  Check out the video below, and check out this organization that is making a real difference in the lives of impoverished children.  We have a special print that was painted by our child.  She is from South Africa. 

Back from Orange

We made it back home last night a little after midnight.  Needless to say, I'm a little tired.  My mind is full.  I'm trying to process so much.  I thought I would share a few of the things that stood out ot me at Orange. 

Excellence--Everything is done with excellence.  Some people underestimate this saying that it can't be measured.  I believe it is vital and can be measured.  Excellence shows that you care about what you are investing in and spending your time on. 

Community--It's something about gathering with 4000 people that are passionate about the same things:  Jesus, families, children, and creating experiences and opportunities to mesh them all together. 

Worship--Steve Fee, Kristian Stanfill, and the other worship leaders were excellent, with a purpose of leading us to our King.  Amazing.

I'll have some posts spread out over the next few days about Orange.  This is just a starter. 

Live at the Orange Conference

Today is the last day of the Orange Conference.  We are about to start a session.  Dusty and I are about to hear about the Community Driven Church.  The sessions have been great.  I'll do some more posts over the next few days about different aspects of Orange.  This morning, we heard Andy Stanley speak.  Yesterday, it was Francis Chan and Donald Miller.  Pray for us as we travel back tonight.

Back home from the Orange Conference

The Orange Conference was UNBELIEVABLE!! I can’t describe something like this. Amazing worship by Steve Fee and Kristian Stanfill. Reggie Joiner, head of the Rethink Group, does an excellent job bringing the strategy and process of family ministry in a relevant way. His communication is second to none.

Other speakers were Francis Chan, Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, Sue Miller, and many other breakout leaders.  

And to top it all off, a surprise appearance by Jeff Foxworthy during the last session was awesome!! He talked about rednecks in the Bible. Then he spoke about his comments at the Country Music Awards. It was very powerful. 

 

The Orange Conference, overall, was a great experience. Our group of 6 that went came back refreshed, and have tons of ideas that we are looking at how we can be more effective in what we already do, evaluate those things, and see where we can become better at family ministry. 

 There were some great songs played during the worship times. Steve Fee was awesome. Some crossover songs we sang were Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts, and Anyway by Martina McBride. 

 

It’s great to be back in good ole’ Agricola. I love where I serve!! I love the people I serve with. I love the community. I love the students, children, and adults that we interact with every week. 

What to do with a conference

Well that was great.  I had an entire post on what to do with a conference...and I lost it.  That stinks.  It was great.  Probably my best post.  Now, though, you're going to get the summary of it.  Here is goes. 

What do you do when you go to a conference and get back from one.

1.  Soak it all in. From the time you walk in the door, to the way the staff treats you, the volunteers, the excellence with which everything is done.  Take it all in.  Listen and see everything. 

2.  Digest it. Here's the short of what I wrote earlier. You can do 3 things with what you got from the conference.
    a.  Utilize it and implement immediately.  Some things just can't wait.
    b.  Act on it in a specific amount of time (after the next few steps)
    c.  Discard it.  Not everything is meant to translate into your particular setting/culture/church.
        If this is the case, take the principles.  You don't want to BE the church you just came from.  You need to implement principles that will translate cross-culturally.

3.  Get other people on board.  Excellent leaders surround themselves with excellent staff, excellent volunteers, and people who "get it".  You've got to have those people on board.

4.  Implement with excellence. You've got one shot at your first implementation.  DO IT WITH EXCELLENCE.  Do it right from the beginning.  You can't expect great results from a half-hearted implementation. 

5.  Stay with the vision.  If God has given you the vision for something...word of wisdom--you better stick with Him.  Let's weigh this thing out.  Hmmmmmm   God--the creator and one you're serving....or   some stick in the mud who's tried to stop anything positive from happening in your church over the last 10-15 years and is proud of that accomplishment.  I think I'll choose the CREATOR!! 

6.  Actually this one overlays all the rest.  You've got to begin with this, keep doing it through the process, and then continue it after implementation.  Here it is:  LISTEN TO GOD. 

Add your own thoughts to this list.  It's just that:  a list I was thinking about tonight.

We made it to Unleash

Today has been great.  Tommy, Neil, and I made it to Anderson, SC late this afternoon.  We got checked in at the hotel, and then made our way over to Newspring to register for the conference.  Man, we made a great choice.  We got our stuff and met with some of the Newspring staff.  Their chief operating officer, Jason Morehead (?), gave us a "behind the scenes" tour of Newspring.  Man, tomorrow is going to be AWESOME.  We met Tim Wilson, director of Video, and J.D. or D.J. who showed us some amazing video editing stuff.  I loved the office.  We met Cherie Duffey in the hall of the preschool and children's area scrubbing the floor.  She was getting paint off of the floor from their recently painted murals.  Cherie, your walls ROCK!!  We went over to the Anderson Mall to check out FUSEBOX, and the Wed. night high school ministry gathering.  We met Alden there, along with some part-time student ministry staff, who gave us the tour and showed us around there.  Great things are happening here!!

The main thing that stuck out to me on this first encounter with Newspring and the staff was the willingness to take 3 "Mississippi Boys" and show us some of the behind the scenes stuff.  Even in the midst of preparing for 900 people attending the conference, they found time to show us around. I am SUPER PUMPED about tomorrow.  I'm ready to hear from Perry Noble, and I want to meet Tony Morgan at some point too.  I truly believe this conference is going to be more than I anticipated.  Looking forward to a great day.

Other info:  Ate Ruby Tuesday's for lunch in Auburn, AL on the way over.
Ate me a steak at Outback for supper.  Man I'm stuffed. 

Leaving for South Carolina

We're leaving in about 30 minutes to attend the Unleash Conference at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC.  We are going to have a blast the next 3 days.  I can't wait to get there and soak it all in...and then get some things rolling.  I'll hopefully be posting updates about the conference here on this blog.  Until then....hasta la vista.

Top 8 things to gain from the Unleash Conference and trip.

In less than 48 hours, our staff team will be leaving for South Carolina for the Unleash Conference at Newspring Church.  Below are the expectations and goals that I have for the conference. 

1.  Worship the King of kings with other leaders.

2.  Soak in the main sessions as a challenge to "go for broke" and "Jump'.  Life isn't worth living if we aren't willing to take the risks.

3.  Come away with some fresh thoughts on youth/student ministry.  I'll be going to the Student Ministry breakout session first. Student ministry is a tricky and ever-changing thing. 

4.  I want to get the details on the creative process at Newspring.  I believe that a diligent creative process is what keeps many churches from taking that next step in creativity.  Because there is no deliberate process, creativity is stunted.

5.  I want to learn about the environments that Newspring creates.  Creating environments that make the presentation of the gospel fresh is something I want to gain more insight on. 

6.  Re-ignite my passion for parts of ministry that are sometimes frustrating.  This wil be a great opportunity to take a step away and evaluate why I (we) am doing what I (we) am doing

7.  Find out 2 new things about my pastor and our Minister of worship that I didn't already know.  Same for them with me. 

8.  Come away with something that, principle-wise, I can transform at Agricola.  I don't want to "do" what Newspring is doing for the sake of doing it.  I do, however, want to reach children and students in a way that is effective, efficient, and engaging to them and their culture. 

These next few days will be an "unleashing" of some creative ways that people are reaching others for Christ.  It will be an exciting time as I see new and fresh ideas.  The really fun part is letting the wheels turn in my head