If this had happened across the state line, instead of across the pond, I’ll betcha the guy would have said, “Hey! Hold muh beer, an’ watch this!”

Interesting…link via Reformissionary…

Today, I’ve already four different people find my blog by googling for “amish porn.” Of course, their search leads to this post. None of ’em are leaving comments, so I don’t know if they’re disappointed, shocked, angry, amused or what when they click the link. It is rather interesting, though…

Just kind of in that Marshall Tucker Band mood today! Especially “Long Hard Ride.”

Link via Starbucks Gossip…

One of the first places on the Web I ever bookmarked was Randy Glasbergen’s cartoon site. His simple characters often reflect profound truths about business, relationships, family, and life in general. They’re also good for a great laugh, and his stuff literally covers the little bulletin board on my office door.

Glasbergen’s entry for today shows a guy typing at his computer. He’s saying, “I’m writing about all the things I ought to do before I die. It’s my oughtobiography.”

This reminds me of the now well-worn Covey principle that says we ought to “Begin with the end in mind.” If we could somehow take the long look ahead, decide what we want to be remembered for, and then set our course according to that compass, what a difference it would make!

Covey also said…

Live out of your imagination, not your history.

What’s in your “oughtobiography?” It’s never too late to start writing it…

I got this quote from Leonardo da Vinci in my Inbox this morning…

There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.

NOTE: I’m reporting on a half-day conference I attended today. See Part One over here.

1. The Decline of the Belief in Exclusivity. According to our presenter, this is the greatest danger of the postmodern mindset and movement. His statistics show that 1 of 5 Southern Baptists believe one “might get saved” without a commitment to Christ. He also told us that this number is growing annually.
2. The Move to “Simple Church.” A sort of “back to basics” movement in which churches focus on doing a few things with excellence. He said this is the great attraction and beauty of Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven stuff. It helps churches focus on what’s important and how to do the important stuff well. This movement to “simple church” (look for his book by this title in 2006!) involves four components: clarity, movement (how do you get from point a to point c?), elimination (what are you going to get rid of?), and alignment (how do you make sure your actions are matching your values?). Interestingly to me, he didn’t make the correlation between the emerging church phenomenon and this desire to move to “simple church.” I see the emergence of the emerging church as a prime example of this move to “basic Christianity” without all the extra fluff and trappings that get in the way for this generation of postmodern believers and seekers.
3. The Move to High Expectation Churches. In 1997, 1 in 30 churches had some sort of membership class. By 2004, that number was 1 in 3. Our presenter said the importance of a membership class and other high-expectation components is information (what the church is all about, etc.) and expectation (what the church expects from members).
4. The Move to Greater Evangelistic Intentionality Among Young People. Our presenter said that 75% of people who accept Christ do so before age 15. It was during this part (I think! Gary, help me out here…) that he talked about the importance of being accepting of those who are “different” than we are – particularly “those young people with purple hair and multiple piercings.” His quote: “Accept them like they are now, because they are going to change their lifestyle later.” He related the story of one young woman who visited 11 churches before she found one that would accept her just as she was. She expressed the thoughts of many in the “younger” generation when she said most churches might as well put on their signs “Young people, go to hell!” (I was getting a little sleepy about this time, but I do remember thinking how true that is. I also remember thinking how most of those in attendance today probably were thinking, “if we can just make ’em all look, walk, smell, talk, etc. ‘like us,’ then we’ve got ’em.”).
5. The Decline of the Southern Baptist Convention. Now I know that’s a huge influence on most of you. NOT! Our presenter’s point was that we (Southern Baptists) are baptizing the same number of people now as we did 50 years ago, even though we have 10 million more members than we did then. Interestingly, he didn’t mention (although it was in a “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” bullet point) that the “conservative resurgence” in the SBC has not improved our evangelistic success. (I was going to ask him about that, but I was too tired to rock the boat at that time.) I have read elsewhere our presenter’s thoughts on the matter: “Imagine where we’d be if we hadn’t had that course correction!” Funny, I thought the “return to our roots” was the cure for everything that ails Southern Baptists. Seems to me, from this vantage point, we were just looking for something to fight about and control. Now that we’ve “rescued” the Bible, who’s the boogeyman keeping us from doing what God called us to do?
6. The Great Facility Showdown. Our presenter’s own bias had been that we spend way too much money on facilities and that we should spend that money on real ministry, real evangelism, etc. But after conducting extensive research (commissioned by large church-construction companies), he had changed his tune to see that the facilities do indeed have an impact on the effectiveness of churches. The most valuable piece of information he learned through this research? Women care about how clean the restrooms are and whether or not their preschoolers will be safe and secure. Go figure…
7. Lost Church Members. Our presenter estimated that 45% of church members in the U.S. are “unregenerate.”
8. When Good Does Not Survive: The Story of Breakout Churches. More of a plug for a recent book than an actual trend with great impact.

I could say a lot more about the conference itself. However, I really don’t want to be considered a cynical jerk. (“Too late,” some of you are saying!).

I really do appreciate the guy’s experience and insight. I really do appreciate our local folks putting on this kind of thing. I really do appreciate the people who attended, took copious notes, nodded, and “Amen-ed” at the appropriate times. But I left with a let down feeling that I hadn’t really taken much away that would help me and my church.

But, wait! I said earlier that I did, in fact, get something important and valuable out of the conference. I’ll tell you about that later. Don’t let me forget…

…Least Likely to Impact You and Your Ministry, But Most Likely to Bore You Silly and Pretty Much Waste Half a Day. No, that really wasn’t the name of the conference I attended today, but it could’ve been.

I usually get something – even if it’s a little something! – out of every conference I attend, and actually I got something out of this one. But overall, I don’t think it’ll rank right up there with the greatest learning experiences I’ve ever had.

First, the good…

• The price: You can’t beat FREE, no matter how you slice it! Our local association does a pretty good job of putting these things together from time to time, and the fact that they do something like this at no charge is to be commended.
• The eats! Sausage, country ham, biscuits, nuts, cheese thingies, muffins of all kinds, Starbucks coffee, juice, and “Miss Janice’s” blueberry cheesecake pie…Yes! Yes! YES!
• The fellowship: I know that word gets thrown around and misused, but it was good to get together with a bunch of guys and gals that are looking to learn.

Now, to the conference itself…

My buddy and everyone’s new favorite golden boy and leadership guru blogged about the conference. He didn’t include any of the material, so I will (thanks to my trusty little notebook!).

Here are the 12 Trends presented today…

1. The Decline of the Open-Ended Small Group. Our presenter said he wasn’t necessarily advocating a return to the traditional Sunday School model. Funny, it sure sounded like it to me. He did make some pretty good – though maybe unintentional – points about the value of getting folks involved in a worthwhile small group experience.
2. The Single Most Correlative Issue in Evangelistically Growing Churches: The Pastor’s Personal Evangelistic Involvement. He talked about how important and vital it is for pastors to intentionally share their faith – not just for the not-yet-believers but for the pastors’ spiritual health as well. Pretty good stuff here, except I got the sneaking suspicion that the vast majority of those attending the conference would neither (a) be very comfortable at all with spending any significant time with unchurched folks, nor (b) be very hip to their pastors “neglecting the church” to do so. Of course, we had the obligatory “witnessing on an airplane” story – this time, including George Foreman’s personal encouragement!
3. A Growing Receptivity to the Gospel. According to our presenter’s statistics, just about 4 in 10 unchurched people in the U.S. are “receptive” or “highly receptive” to the gospel. Their biggest obstacle to coming to faith in Christ? “No one ever invited me to church or showed me how to become a believer.”
4. The Emerging Church Phenomenon. Did you know that there are only two major spokesmen for the “emerging” church? Dan Kimball and Brian McLaren. One is “orthodox” and one has “left the building” of evangelicalism. Guess. No…go ahead! Guess! Our presenter predicted that Dan Kimball will more than likely “declare a schism” in the emerging church movement, probably within the year, and move to break all ties with Brian McLaren. Interesting. The emerging church is anti-megachurch, anti-seeker-sensitive, anti-almost-everything. Our presenter recommended D.A. Carson if we really want to get a handle on the emerging church phenomenon, which all of us will be addressing from our pulpits this year.

Stay tuned…more to come…

The other day, someone “accused” me of being a pretty good “pointer-outer” of stuff – websites, book, other resources. (I think they meant I’m full of useless information, but I took it as a compliment nonetheless! Everybody’s gotta be good for something, right?)

OK, so for all the millions! and millions! of faithful Just Charlie users out there, I’ve got a huge favor to ask. And not only will it help me (thanks in advance!), but you just might have the opportunity to impact someone else’s life in a positive and practical way. Here’s what I’m looking for…

What are your current and/or favorite “Top 5s” in these categories?

• What music you’re listening to (may be CDs, streaming Web audio, whatever)
• What you’re reading (books, journals, magazines)
• What you’re surfing (“non-blog” websites)
• What blogs you’re checking out (this, of course, would be Weblogs)

I can’t wait to see what goodies you come up with! Let the “pointing out” begin!