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Quick reflection on Verge2010:  Wow!

Was like eating prime rib followed by the smoothest crème brûllé you’ve ever consumed! Dense! Rich! Sweet! Filing!

We saw God’s Spirit move in one of the most intense, melt-your-face-off worship times this afternoon. After Francis Chan spoke and Aaron Ivey led us in worship, nobody moved.  Almost everybody just stayed where they were. Then we had about 15 more minutes of spontaneous praise and worship. Was one of the sweetest times I have ever seen!

The speakers were all intense. Much to digest. I took like 33 pages of notes. Glad all the main sessions and break-outs (all of them, so we can “attend” the ones we didn’t attend) will all be posted online.  Many new friends made,  many blog and Twitter friends met face-to-face, and many old friendships renewed.

Bottom line: God is moving across our nation and around our world. But if you’re expecting that the next move of God is going to look just like the last one, you’ll miss it.

So…get your head out of the sand (or wherever it is) and

Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.

Habakkuk 1:5, NIV

• Join us now for worship at #Verge10 http:www.verge2010.org #
• "The greatest sin in the institutional church is institutionalization." -Neil Cole, Church3.0, #Verge2010 #
• "Organic church is not a model. It is a mindset." -Neil Cole, Church3.0, #Verge10 #
• at #verge10 and ready for another great day! #
• Incredible opening day at #Verge10 Anxious to see what tomorrow holds #
• in a great workshop on networking and collaboration with James Lee at #Verge10 #
• we just stopped in a sausage factory to use the restroom! yeehaw! #
• just passed a truck pulling an outhouse with a satellite dish on it. sign read: "open both doors and stand back to ventilate." Only in TX! #
• Lots of cows and mesquite out here! #
• http://twitpic.com/11cjts – #
• Good meeting 2nite with elders at Southway Community Church. Now to bed. Excited about #Verge10 conference starting 2morrow in Austin! #
• Terra firma! #
• on board BNA–>HOU #
• on board ORF–>BNA #
• if you own a toyota that u r not supposed 2 drive due to recall, how do u get it to dealership to get it repaired? #
• Ironing and packing for trip to #verge10 tomorrow! #
• "God does not lack the means to bring us to an unconditional surrender. He does, however, take his time." -Andre Louf, "Tuning In To Grace" #
• Watching Worst Cooks in America on Food Network. This is excruciating! #
• Anybody know of any traditional/-style worship services streamed to web? Any traditional-styled worship churches doing web campuses? #
• Shoveled the driveway. Now my arms feel like jello. #
• shoveling in not nearly as much fun as sledding! #
• The snow day has been fun. I've been able to "attend" church in three cities…all without leaving the house! #
• Huge amount of snow & ice just slid off the roof. Sounded like the house was coming down! #
• All activities are OFF at Cradock Baptist in Portsmouth 2mrow. Tune n2 one of the great on-line options at lifechurch.tv or crosspoint.tv #
• What service does your church use to process on-line donations? #
• Catherine just made snowcreme for the kids! #
• New pictures of our neighborhood & kids in snow: http://tinyurl.com/yevlbs7 #
• Back inside after sledding, meeting new neighbors, and walking around taking pictures. New pics soon on Picasa. #
• http://twitpic.com/10i4gv – #
• Gonna go sledding with the kids. #
• RT @maurilio: Often the church moralizes the unconverted instead of converting the immoral. @edstetzer #

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Neil Cole’s newest book Church3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church is releasing this week, just in time for the Verge2010 Conference.  As a fan of Neil’s work, I’ve been eagerly anticipating this contribution to the organic church conversation since I first heard he had another book in the works.

It seems like everybody today is trying to get in on the organic conversation.  And, of course,  it’s all Neil’s fault.  With his book Organic Church, Neil described a model of small house churches and captured the imagination of many.  Following Organic Church, his book Organic Leadership spells out scriptural principles of leadership that work regardless of the size of the church, and in Search and Rescue Neil describes what organic discipleship looks like and how it functions.

Now, in Church3.0, Neil gives us an ecclesiology of the organic church. But the application of Neil’s message is not limited to organic/simple/house churches.  Church3.0 offers a vision of a new future for existing churches that are seeking to make the transition how they understand and structure themselves, and how they do ministry today.

The key to the future, he says, is not just tinkering with the church’s existing operating system. What we’ve got to do is a complete upgrade to an entirely new version of how we define our mission, engage activities, and make disciples.

Neil is not afraid to be blunt in his assessment of the conventional church:

One of the reasons I believe our conventional churches are not multiplying is because God doesn’t want to multiply them. Frankly he doesn’t want more of the problems we currently face. (p. xiv)

What we do not need–and what will not work–is simply finding more and better ways of doing the same things we’ve been doing. What we need is a “transfusion” of what Neil calls an of an healthy, biblical DNA:

• Divine Truth
• Nurturing Relationships
• Apostolic Mission

Beginning with an exploration of  New Testament models of church (Jerusalem, Antioch, Thessalonica, Rome, and Ephesus), Neil then turns to a discussion of a more decentralized model that has been documented in Church Planting Movements–the rapid, indigenous (organic) multiplication of churches that is taking place around the world. After defining some characteristics which consistently appear within these churches,  Neil shares practical wisdom on a range of questions–how to handle children, how to prevent doctrinal heresy, how to handle finances, baptism and communion–drawn from his many years of leading organic churches.

In short, Church 3.0 is a passionate plea to rethink the Church in order for it to do more effectively what it was commissioned to do by Christ: Go into all the world, reach those who are far from God, and then disciple them to go into the world so that the cycle repeats itself.

Church 3.0 is not a spiritual Happy Meal for a franchised McChurch.  It’s solid meat-and-potatoes for those who want to get serious about advancing the Kingdom!

Note: Even though the Federal Trade Commission (by its own admission) has no idea how they are going to enforce it, they now require that I “clearly and conspicuously” disclose that I received a courtesy  copy of  Church 3.0 from the publisher for this review.  I also need to tell you that if you click on the links above, they will take you to my affiliate page at Amazon.com.  If you order any of Neil’s books through those links, I will receive a small amount of compensation (in the form of credit with Amazon) for your purchase.  If I do not bore you with these banalities, they could come and fine me up to $11,000.  It must have been a slow day inside the Beltway when they came up with these regulations!

Due to the weather we didn’t have services today. So, in lieu of a Sunday Summary, here’s a really cool video on the missional church.

• There are 3 cars lined up at every gas pump at WaWa. The end must be near! #snowpocalypse #
• RT @VergeConference: The hashtag for Verge 2010 is #verge10 // Please use this when you tweet about Verge // Please RT! #
• Going to the bank before the Blizzard of 2010 hits Norfolk! #
• RT @RickWarren: God has ALWAYS loved you: "I have carried u since u were born; I've taken care of u from your birth" Isaiah 46:3 NCV #
• Listening to @loswhit's new EP as i drive into the office today. Awesome music! Can't wait for more! #
• Did he just say healthcare reform will reduce the deficit? #
• "Overwhelming evidence on climate change?" what's he smoking? #
• Does anyone else think the Justices of the Supreme Court look like they've been embalmed with bad vinegar tonite? #SOTU #
• Does anybody know where I could get "ACS for Dummies"? The General Ledger set up is kicking my butt! #
• RT @pwilson: Busted: 5 Myths Of Disaster Relief // Some interesting points here… http://bit.ly/6df5ae #
• RT @loswhit: The Story Behind The Carlos Whittaker EP // My EPK Is Ready For You…Come See Danny In A Whole New Way http://bit.ly/6wnT5I #
• RT @BenArment: Whiteboard Site Goes Live! http://bit.ly/7aCSO0 #
• RT @ExperiencingGod: Ignoring God won't make Him go away. It just makes Him try harder to connect with you. #
• Going with the family to see Avatar 3-D #
• Wow! Highest Sunday School attendance in 2 years! 30 children in chilldren's church! 4 new members-including 1 by baptism! #
• Just got a note: 29 children & youth in Sunday School 2day. 4 yrs ago we had 5. Pray we can find Children & Youth Director this week!!! #
• Good night's rest last night. Excited about worship today. We are talking about "Re-Jesusing the Church". Hope to see you there! #
• Had a great Night of Worship with RPM! Small crowd, great worship! #
• Processed just over 17,000 of AngelFood today. Now ready go to back for free RPM Concert tonite at 6! Come join us! #
• I think I am glad I went 2 bed even if for only 2 hours. AngelFood distribution is happening! #
• Finally home. Trying 2 decide if any sense I'm going 2 bed. I have to be up again in 2 hours anyway. Hmmmm…. #

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