9:14:11 AM: Difference between fame and influence – influence is about relationships – David McFarlane

9:21:47 AM: Is what is on the wall happening down the hall – mission statements – David M

9:23:12 AM: We need to be asking ourselves – who are we and why are we here – david m

9:27:02 AM: The church must shft its focus from istitution orientation to community orientation if it is to survive – jack dennison

9:28:21 AM: For those following my twitter – I’m tweeting from the Reconnexions Conference.

9:30:31 AM: David’s observations – vibrant churches have influence in their communities.

9:36:34 AM: Roundtable discussion about what changes we’ve seen in the church in the last five years (I need to do a blog post on this)

9:37:55 AM: Wow – 70% of cdns think that new forms of spirituality are replacing traditional religions! (Vision TV telephone poll 2003

9:44:19 AM: David M – churches are training their own people rather than relying on seminaries. (Trends)

9:45:46 AM: The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning. Without mission there really is no church. – Emil Brunner

9:47:17 AM: David M – churches need to regain their sense of mission in Canada.

9:49:07 AM: We need to be a people of mission – David M

9:56:09 AM: Wish there was wifi access here? Having to tweet on my bb is much slower than my laptop

9:59:51 AM: The difference between a church driven by management vs. Mission – what is the focus? Of the church? Good question.

10:00:39 AM: Mission MUST be in the drivers seat NOT management if there is to be any hope for the future for the church.

10:01:24 AM: P1 Missional church is outward focused

10:02:07 AM: P2 Missionall chrch is motivated by Hope

10:08:09 AM: Chart on breakout churches by Thom Rainer http://mypict.me/5bWf

10:08:58 AM: P3 missional churches are intentional

10:09:31 AM: P4 – Missional Churches are equipping.

10:10:16 AM: P5 – missional church is “community for mission”

10:11:24 AM: These points I’m posting flow out of Mark 2:2-5 where Jesus healed the paralytic.

10:13:10 AM: The missional church is “in and out” – bringing people in because of mission and sending people out with mission.

10:15:09 AM: Missional churches have people wh belong first, bless and move to believe.

10:15:44 AM: P6 Missional church is innovative.

10:17:20 AM: Cool thought the paralytics friends who dug the roof were being innovative!

10:19:06 AM: P7 – missional church is about transformation

10:21:06 AM: Fishing – u can’t just throw the worms out they must be cooncted to the “hook” of the gospel.

10:21:42 AM: P8 – missional church is exciting and fruitful.

10:26:34 AM: http://twitpic.com/86sy9 – Got a free book. Not much choice but this is what I picked

10:27:32 AM: Evangelism & missional is not abt programs & systems but is abt a paridigm shift – a change of thinking 2 remember y we’re doing wht we do.

10:55:45 AM: starting session on “igniting Your Church’s Missionality”

10:57:37 AM: Merv Budd is speaking

10:58:22 AM: The church must be missional because God Himself is missional

11:00:13 AM: Christendom Framework: Theology->Ecclesiology->Missiology. Missional Framework: Theology->Missiology->Ecclesiology

11:01:31 AM: Koinonia has social networks blocked through their wifi access. WHAT? backwords thinking in my opinion… here we are at an evangelism …

11:02:14 AM: See 1 Peter 2:9 and Acts 1:8 to see examples of the Missional Call of God.

11:04:47 AM: becoming missional doesn’t happen overnight and there is no formula –> the emphasis is that becoming missional is a paradigm shift.

11:06:14 AM: great challenge: Is your church a CLUB or a life-saving station?

11:09:45 AM: one way to ignite mission in a “management” church is there must be a leader who is missional (teaches,models,lives it out)

11:11:24 AM: The form of how the church expresses itself isn’t the problem but the problem is the substance of the church – Merv Budd (paraphrased)

11:12:47 AM: this person needed in the church who is missional is “evangelist”

11:16:54 AM: Old way of looking at evangelist (not to discard but to build upon and move from): Target-non-Christians, Task->From words to sermons…

11:17:50 AM: Goal->people make a decision for Christ, Method->Itinerant Preacher

11:18:25 AM: The word Evangelist only appears in Ephesians 4:11,12 and 2 Timothy 4:3-5

11:20:35 AM: New way of looking at the evangelist: Target->Christians, Task->Form People into Body (Philm 6), Goal->Revelation of Christ (1 Thes 1:6-8)

11:21:09 AM: Method->Local Church Equipper.

11:22:54 AM: P1 Have we “personalized” the salvation message to the point where people only see themselves receiving Jesus …

11:23:40 AM: P2 …and forgetting that He has received them and they are now a part of the community of the church?

11:24:37 AM: P3 – there is a corporate side to the gospel that we need to communicate well. (which is what the evangelist should do)

11:25:35 AM: Merv started out kind of slow BUT man can you ever see how passionate he is about this stuff!!

11:26:54 AM: Evangelist shift: From being a “preacher” to an “equipper”. From forming words into sermons to Forming People into the body.

11:28:13 AM: This is stuff I’m resonating with. I really am passionate about people discovering their “fit” in the body…

11:28:36 AM: …and waking up to how they are a part of what God is doing through the church

11:32:36 AM: Want to know where I am? -> http://www.kcf.org

11:33:42 AM: Our work REVEALS what we believe. What are you revealing by your work? (paraphrased Merv)

11:38:32 AM: For those just reading my tweets, I’m live-tweeting a conference I’m at -> http://www.billygraham.ca/Ministries/ReconneXion.aspx

11:40:47 AM: Remember Discipleship isn’t just to grow….it’s to GROW to fulfill MISSION – which in the church’s case is to reach lost people. YES!!

11:42:03 AM: (my thoughts) – Pastor’s, when we preach…are tying the message into the mission? Are we connecting the words to the work?

11:43:34 AM: The biggest challenge in becoming missional is overcoming this humanistic mindset of “What’s in it for me?” (paraphrased)

11:46:33 AM: Unless your vision from God is greater than the pain you face you will never endure (Merv). {Have you asked God for this kind of vision?}

11:58:22 AM: Need to discover the vision that inspires people (David McFarlane)

11:58:22 AM: Need to discover the vision that inspires people (David McFarlane)

12:48:14 PM: back to live tweeting at http://www.billygraham.ca/Ministries/ReconneXion.aspx – just had a GREAT lunch!!

12:51:36 PM: Hearing from David McFarlane as he talks about “Sparking Imagination”

12:54:20 PM: IDEAS – Innovative, Discussion and Questions, Environment of Creativity, Adaptive People, Success Oriented

12:57:39 PM: Attracting Imagination: The normal reaction of most of us to a new idea is to ignore it. (John Williams)

12:59:53 PM: When Creativity Works: Creative Event, a friend, Invitation, Value, Excellence, Gospel, Response

1:00:55 PM: David is a funny guy, has the room laughing!

1:03:37 PM: Biblical example of creativity: Acts 9:24 and 2 Corinthians 11:33

1:06:49 PM: Creative Evolution: Define Problem, Collect Ideas, Implement Solutions

1:08:05 PM: The most difficult part of Creative Solutions (not evolution) is learning what the problem is.

1:11:07 PM: When defining the problem there must be NO JUDGING of ideas otherwise the creative solution process will be killed before it even gets o …

1:12:24 PM: In creative solution meetings don’t meet longer than 2 hours…FINISH ON TIME! (David)

1:14:59 PM: David is talking about a way of creative thinking (6 Hat Thinking by Debono) – interesting.

1:14:59 PM: David is talking about a way of creative thinking (6 Hat Thinking by Debono) – interesting.

1:14:59 PM: David is talking about a way of creative thinking (6 Hat Thinking by Debono) – interesting.

1:16:34 PM: 6 Hat Thinking is a way of evaluating ideas through different hats. I.E. Yellow=Benefits, Black=Cautions, Green=New Ideas, Wht=Info nee …

1:17:34 PM: …Blue=Controls/systems/structure, Red=Emotional Reaction. Wear each hat while evaluating an idea.

1:30:21 PM: When being creative, there must a connect between what you are doing and the problem you are solving… (my thoughts)

1:31:49 PM: #fuelingimagination: 1. Lighten UP!, 2. Read Widely, 3. Become curious., 4. Change your routine, 5. Take time to think

1:32:45 PM: #fuelingimagination: 6. Enlarge your circle, 7. Be healthy., 8. Write, 9. Develop a Creative “spot”, 10. Keep passionate.

1:33:39 PM: Do we empower our people to come up and communicate great ideas?

1:34:46 PM: Imagination = Risk. Failure seldom stops you, what stops you is the fear of failure.” (Jack Lemmon)

1:35:30 PM: God of the New (Isaiah 43:19; Mark 2:22)

1:36:17 PM: Courage is the art of being the only one who knows that you are scared to death! {ha! I like that one}

1:47:35 PM: Another way of being creative (specifically regarding Outreach) – look for transitional moments in peoples lives and connect with them.

1:50:17 PM: The more you pray, the more you step out in faith, the more “coincendences” you see! (David)

1:54:41 PM: What you pray for and what you celebrate gets done (David)

2:13:06 PM: Back to Merv Budd for the next session, “Igniting an Evangelistic Atmosphere”

2:16:43 PM: Evangelism in America…will be harder than most of us ever imagined” (Gordon Scoville)

2:17:25 PM: The Western world is now the toughest mission field on earth” – Allan Walker

2:20:40 PM: Four Levels of Equipping a Church for Evangelistic Health: 1. Personal Level

2:27:16 PM: won’t you fully engage in your faith by giving it away to others (personal evangelism)

2:32:00 PM: Four Levels of Equipping a Church for Evangelistic Health: Program Level – Community+Congregation=Concept

2:34:47 PM: Interesting thought: Have we forgotten what it feels like for people who’ve never been to church to go to a service?

2:36:58 PM: Four Levels of Equipping a Church for Evangelistic Health: 3. Perception Level

2:37:37 PM: A church that wants to be evangelistic needs to be intentional about the image it presents.

2:40:39 PM: What’s your church’s reputation in your community? Ask around! (and I don’t think Merv means people who attend your church…)

2:45:14 PM: Four Levels of Equipping a Church for Evangelistic Health: 4. Paradigm Level

2:46:32 PM: four Systemic Issues for nurturing evangelistic health: 1. Unwritten Rules

2:51:28 PM: four Systemic Issues for nurturing evangelistic health: 2. Hidden forces.

2:56:05 PM: four Systemic Issues for nurturing evangelistic health: Secret Messages

2:59:05 PM: four Systemic Issues for nurturing evangelistic health: Wholeness – dealing with the big picture.