Robert Pooley

Day off...

Its been a nice day off... going to settle in and catch up on a couple of movies...The first one is "Last King of Scotland." I have friends who were anthropologists in Uganda during the Idi Amin regime... and they almost lost their lives.  And Forrest Whitaker got the oscar for it... should be interesting.

I also rented "De ja vu" but I keep getting the feeling I've already seen it.  Weird huh?

I'm done!!!

I am NOT upgrading to Vista... I am not buying another PC.   I left Macs years ago when I couldn't get Microsoft office... that's not the case anymore...  When the current computers go down (which could be any time since they are pc's) I'm buying Macs...  I am so done with PC's.

That's it... short rant...  feel free to resume regular programing.

Ouch!

After a six month lay off... the family hit the gym today...  ouch!

Highlights from the ARC Conference Part 2

There were so many highlights... but here are a couple more... Craig Groeschel knocked it out of the park.

Craig spoke about "IT"  He said you its hard to define "it" and its hard to know what "it" is.  But its kind of when you walk in a place and there is just this buzz... People are on track together... its like they have all drank the Jesus Kool aid.  They have a sense of destiny. They are excited about the future.  They have "it"

What are some of the elements that contribute to "it?" 

• When you have "it" most things you try just seem to work
• Creativity flows
• You know you are part of a divine mission
• the room has a buzz
• Your people do more than you expect
• lives are changed

When you dont have "it" you are just going through the motions.

He quoted Acts 2:42-47...  Look at the extreme words...  Everyone    Many wonders     All the believers       Everything in common      gave to everyone      Everyday     Favor of all the people  Lord added to their numbers daily   

He said "it" is the anointing of God mixed with passion, creativity, teamwork, focus, faith, intensity, divine hunger, desperation and divine expectation.

7 Things that are present when "IT" is present.

1) Vision Alignment.  Proverbs 29:18  Chazown       If you have ever driven a car that is out of alignment, it is always pulling you off the track.  When a church is out of alignment with its vision, it pulls off track.    

Many churches have a vision statement... but no vision.   The church is here to reach the world!   Preach vision... then preach it some more...  and remember, according to Andy Stanley, "Vision leaks."

Question:  Do you have a God given vision?

2) Divine focus -   He talked about being focused and that it requires a divine abandonment.   You decide ahead of time what you are not going to do.   He said at Life Church they only do five thing...

Weekend worship.  Small groups.  Missions.  Kids' Ministry.  And Teen Ministry.  What about Ladie's ministry, or men's ministry, or single's minstry?  He said, "We have small groups for them."

He reminded us, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you are supposed to.

Question:  What are you doing that you should stop doing?

3) Unmistakeable comradarie  -  You just like being with the people you are with.  He talked about enjoying each other and the value of fun.

Question:  What would make your ministry more fun?

4) You have a very high pain tolerance -  When you have "it" and others dont... they shoot at you.  They say you are gimmicky... you just have more money... etc.   The deal is...new levels... new devils.

You have to learn to be criticized with grace.  Then Craig addressed the 20 and 30 something crowd.  He said, "I appreciate your passion, but your anger scares me."  He said, many just go back on the attack when they are attacked... they blog about it or speak about it...  He said, we need to receive with grace.    When the pain comes, embrace the pain and worship God, and thank Him that you have an opportunity to endure just a portion of the pain His Son endured.

Question:  What painful decision are you avoiding?

5) A willingness to fail -  He talked about the parable of the talents... Two of the guys must have went, "Uh oh... I hope this works."  They were taking a risk.

Failure is not an option... its an absolute neccessity.  Peter couldn't have preached like he did at Pentecost if he hadn't of failed.

Question:  What has called you to do that you are afraid to try?

6) Kingdom mindset -  When you have "it"  its not about you... its a kingdom thing... you want to share it.  He talked about life church giving away their resources.

Question:   What do you have that you can give away to others?

7)  You have "it" -  If you don't ... the question is, what are you going to do to get it.

He closed with this quote from Sir Francis Drake from 1577

Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

I will post more from the ARC conference later....

Highlights of the ARC Conference

Here's a few highlights from my week in Austin at the ARC Conference.

Joe Champion from Celebration Church in Austin spoke on lessons from the Animal Planet based on the story of the Ant, the badger, the locusts and the lizard from Proverbs chapter 30 starting at verse 24.  A couple of highlights from him.

• These animals are small but powerful.  Sometimes we feel small but God can do great things through us.
• What has to be in us?  Purpose - We need to know our purpose
• Preparation - Ants prepare...  Become a gatherer.  Gather ideas... and information.
• Provision.  When you have a purpose, and you prepare... then comes provision.  God can give you what you need.  Sometimes it gets hard... but the badger can build a home in a hard place...  God can work in you no matter the circumstances.
• Priority - Locusts have no king... but they stay in ranks.  They stay on mission.  People will always try to pull you off mission... you can't let that happen.
• Promotion - The lizard can be held in the hand but it winds up in the palace of kings... Promotion comes from God...  As you follow the purpose He has for you, and stay on track, He will give you the provision and the increase.

Dino Rizzo from Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge talked about Surfing the Waves.  He quoted Rick Warren "You can't make waves... God sends them... we just need to learn to ride them."

Dino's points:

• Never surf alone  - You need accountability
• You will hit the reef of rejection.  Everyone does at some time
• Go find the big unridden waves
• Let's surf the world

One funny thing... he talked about people leaving your church that die the cowboy death... they die, get back up again, die and get back up... they want everyone to know they are dying.

I will post more in the next post.

Late night in Austin

Its late after the Tuesday sessions at the ARC Conference.  Everyone today was really great...  but tonight Craig Groeschel knocked it out of the park... i will try to post some of my notes when I get back...  Craig talked about "it."  And some thoughts about what "it" is and how to get "it."   Wow...  This is the kind of stuff that keeps you up wrestling through... 

Looking forward to tomorrow...  The conference ends at noon... then Vicki and i will try to see a little bit of Austin and then we fly back early on Thursday to Gulfport MS and then drive home... and then I will rehearse the worship band.  I'm leading this week with all of our worship leaders in Ireland...  Should be a great weekend as we start our new series.. "The Game of Life."

ARC Conference

We are in Austin... actually outside of Austin in Georgetown TX at the ARC Conference... ARC is the Association of Related Churches.  Tonight we heard from Billy Hornsby and Joe Champion...  (Great name eh?)  Celebration Church here has been great...  very servant hearted people. 

We had dinner with other leaders and I found myself talking with a gentleman about Men's Ministry...  Turns out the man I was talking to was Paul Cole, son of Edwin Louis Cole... the author of Maximized Manhood and quite a number of other boks on Men's Ministry.  I have really been praying and asking God to lead me concerning our the men at Coast... and I remember how much Maximized Manhood impacted me as a young believer.  I really believe sitting and having dinner with Paul Cole was a God thing... He was very encouraging...  So... off to a good start.  Also great seeing people that we have been developing a relationship with over the years...  Tomorrow night Craig Groeschel speaks...  should be awesome!

ARC Conference

Sitting at the airport...   love when airport's have free wifi...  Headed to the ARC Conference... will post more later... Should be a great conference...  And Austin is a very cool city... 

Blue Angels

Its late and I'm getting ready to turn in... big day at Coast as we celebrate our 9th anniversary.  But just seconds ago I had a chance to check the news and saw that one of the Blue Angel pilots was killed during an airshow in South Carolina. 

These guys are based out of the Pensacola area where we are... and I just want to take a second before I go to sleep to say... make no mistake... these guys are heroes.  They are the best of the best... and they are inspiration to everyone who has watched them.  My heart breaks for the team and for the family of the lost pilot... as you get a chance be sure to pray for all of them....

Bored?

  I really enjoy Craig Groeschel's blog  Craig will be speaking at the ARC Conference that Vicki and I are headed to in Austin on Monday.

Below is a great post from his blog for church staff members who are bored...  I think its a good check list for all of us to consider from time to time... here it is.

"I’ve noticed something recently while interacting with different staff members. Some seem to be on a mission. They’re focused. They’re driven. They’re moving.

Others seem bored.

I started asking some questions:

• Are you challenged?
• Do you feel like you’re maxing out your gifts?
• Could you do more if we needed you to do more?

Several of our team members feel underutilized. I’m certain the percentage of church members would be dramatically higher.
If you’re bored… PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

• Talk to your pastor honestly. Offer to do anything that needs to be done.
• Walk outside your church building. Pretend like you’ve never been to that building. Walk in and look around. Write down your impressions. Change something.
• Write some letters to volunteers.
• Pick up a great book.
• Be still. Listen to God.
• Pray for ten churches in your city.
• Go to the coffee shop and strike up a conversation with a stranger. Listen to them with no agenda.
• Think of some people you haven’t seen in church. Pray for them. Then call them.
• Look at your web site like a first time guest. What could be better?
• Think of a church member who might be bored and offer to help find them a place to use their gifts.
• Go mow someone’s yard.
• Post something positive on your favorite blogs.
• Go home and spend some time with your kids.

Whatever you do, don’t be bored for long!

What productive things do you do when you’re bored?"