CreativePastors Blog & Podcast

Podcast > Too Legit to Quit > Part 2

Welcome to this week's CreativePastors Podcast with Ed Young.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Length: 27:05

Too Legit to Quit
Against the backdrop of a culture that values leaving more than lasting and bailing out instead of blasting through, this two-part message by Ed Young challenges us to calculate our commitment quotient in every area of our lives. True success in life only comes when we are too legit to quit.

Too Legit to Quit Part 2 - Ed Young, Jr. & Ed Young, Sr. discuss commitment

CreativePastors

Too Legit to Quit

If you have iTunes 5.0, click the link below to subscribe to our podcast. Twenty-four hours after Ed delivers his weekend message at Fellowship Church, it will be downloaded to your computer automatically. You can listen at your computer or take the MP3 with you on your iPod or other MP3 player.

If you don't have iTunes, you can get it here free for Mac or Windows. You can also subscribe to the podcast using other podcasting tools and RSS newsreaders. The feed address is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cpblog.

C3 2006: Session 5

T.D Jakes closed the 2006 C3 Conference with an unforgettable message: 10 Commandments of Christian Leadership. When he finished, Ed joined him on stage and called it the single best talk on church leadership he had ever heard. The talk was captivating and moving from beginning to end. I don't think anyone who was there will ever forget it. Thankfully, the conference sessions will be available on DVD in a month because there's no way words could do this session or the conference justice.

1. Thou shalt make 4 E's (Education, Experience, Exposure, and Effective)
2. Thou shalt not go without your staff
3. Thou shalt not despise obscurity
4. Thou shalt reproduce after your own kind
5. Thou shalt not esteem principles over people
6. Thou shalt make ministry out of your misery
7. Thou shalt walk amongst the people
8. Thou shalt walk before the people
9. Thou shalt walk above the people
10. Thou shalt not become bitter

Watching everyone stream out of the worship center after this session was such a humbling experience for our staff. Just to imagine the incredible impact each and everyone of you is going to have when you return home. There is no greater calling, and no greater responsibility, than the calling to serve in the local church. We hope this conference has inspired you, challenged you, and refreshed you. We hope you leave with an unbelievable passion to reach the lost in your communities.

Your stories, enthusiasm, and love of Christ blow us away. We can't wait to hear what God does next in your churches!

Technorati Tag: C3 2006

C3 2006: Session 4

Do you trust God enough to jump into His arms?

Erwin McManus challenged us to go fail boldly. To take initiative, to be proactive, to do something!
Clarity comes in the battle, not before.

Leaders don't have less uncertainty than everyone else - they are just comfortable with more uncertainty.

His talk was based on 1 Samuel 14 and the story of Jonathan. Read the passage and you'll be amazed at how God used Jonathan's boldness. His plans seem foolish, but he was determined to do something.

Erwin was phenomenal - he is a truly gifted teacher who makes you see the Christian life in a whole new way.

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C3 2006: Session 3

The third session at C3 belonged to Bill Hybels. Bill was preceded by Foreign Oren a great band that grew out of Fellowship.

Bill imagined what he would say to church leaders if he was on his death bed and could only share four ideas or principles of leadership.

1. Keep the vision clear

2. Get the people engaged

3. Make your gatherings memorable

4. Pace yourself for the long haul

It was a truly powerful talk.

Ed joined Bill after the session for a fascinating interview. Bill has long been one of Ed's mentors and was actually part of the dedication ceremony for the current worship center. In the interview, Bill talked the difference between potency and proximity - how many of today's Christian have the message and the tools, but have distanced themselves from those who need that message most. Then came the best question of the day...

What would be the soundtrack of your life?

Hybels answered immediately with a smile on his face, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction". After the laughter passed, he spoke movingly about his perpetual dissatisfaction or holy discontent. When he looks around, he sees so many things that Willow and every church can do better. From AIDS to poverty to race relations to reaching the thousands of people in our communities who are lost and separated from God, there's so much more to do.

We can do better.

Technorati Tag: C3 2006

Road Trip

If you're reading these C3 posts and wishing you could be here, we have good news! If you're in the Boston area, Ed Young will be speaking at the Vision New England conference next week. The lineup includes many other great speakers, including Brian McLaren. The CreativePastors team will be along for the ride, so register now. We'd love to see you there.

Learn more about Vision New England

And if getting your team to Dallas is a challenge, we're taking C3 on the road this year to six cities, including Phoenix, Orlando, San Francisco and Anderson, South Carolina. Our C3 Regional Conferences make it easy to bring your whole staff and key volunteers - just one flat price for the whole team!

The dates and locations can be found here. Registration and further details are just around the corner, so mark your calendars now!

Let's get it started!

Only C3 would launch with a 5-minute drum jam followed by Let's Get it Started by the Black Eyed Peas. Everyone was on their feet and fired up as the band did a high-energy worship set including No One Like You and the Newsboys' I am Free. What a great way to start the conference.

Ed began the first session with a few simple question about the they in our lives. Who are they? How do you find the right they and stay away from the wrong they? There were many incredible insights into leadership in the church, including getting started in ministry, budgets and bylaws, and behind-the-scenes details from FC, but the one that struck me was:

If you're not fearful, you're not leading.

You never know what to expect at C3, so after the rock 'n roll first session, the second session featured piano and violins with the beautiful How Great is Our God, followed by Hallelujah.

Ed's second talk took us from they and me to He. He challenged us to stop comparing ourselves to other leaders and other churches and instead see ourselves as God sees us: called, gifted, unique, and strong.

Anyone who has listened to Ed talk knows that there is the message he is preaching and then there's the bonus elements - the sidebars - that he throws in for free. If you're on staff or serve in lay leadership at a church, you have to pick up the second session when he talks about the topic nobody wants to talk about - paying your staff. It will revolutionize your view on salaries in the church.

Billy Hybels from Willow Creek is up next.

Checkout Mark Batterson of National Community Church in DC on the first session.

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C3 Kick-off

Let the fun begin! Thousands of pastors and church leaders from across the country started arriving early this morning for Day 1 of the 2006 Creative Church Conference. Today is officially the pre-conference, so the general sessions don't begin until tomorrow.

What's so cool about a pre-conference? Think about the difference between weekend worship and small groups. Together, they're a powerful combination. Without one or the other, though, it feels like something is missing.

The pre-conference day is filled with opportunities to connect with the FC staff, tour the campus, and get answers to your questions in two breakout sessions.

We'll be blogging throughout the week. If you're blogging the conference, post a comment to let us know. Also, be sure to tag your posts or Flickr photos with C3 2006 so we can all follow the conversation.

Josh from Keypoint Church in Arkansas and David from National Community Church in D.C. are two bloggers already on campus.

Technorati tags: C3 2006, Fellowship Church

Podcast > Too Legit to Quit > Part 1

Welcome to this week's CreativePastors Podcast with Ed Young.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Length: 42:43

Too Legit to Quit
Against the backdrop of a culture that values leaving more than lasting and bailing out instead of blasting through, this two-part message by Ed Young challenges us to calculate our commitment quotient in every area of our lives. True success in life only comes when we are too legit to quit.

Too Legit to Quit Part 1 - God's definition of commitment

CreativePastors

Too Legit to Quit

If you have iTunes 5.0, click the link below to subscribe to our podcast. Twenty-four hours after Ed delivers his weekend message at Fellowship Church, it will be downloaded to your computer automatically. You can listen at your computer or take the MP3 with you on your iPod or other MP3 player.

If you don't have iTunes, you can get it here free for Mac or Windows. You can also subscribe to the podcast using other podcasting tools and RSS newsreaders. The feed address is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cpblog.

C3 Countdown

We're in the home stretch! Right now, the anticipation for C3 (Creative Church Conference) feels like waiting for Christmas as a kid. We can't wait for the thousands of church leaders who will flood our campus next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It's always energizing and encouraging to visit with you, share stories and learn from each other.

This year's conference is shaping up to be an over-the-top mix of new ideas, fresh approaches, and favorite features. It's always great to hear the special words Ed has for church leaders and we're eager to learn from Bill Hybels, Bishop T.D. Jakes and Erwin McManus. Here's a quick glimpse of what we've added in '06 (click here to find more information or to make arrangements for the items below):

• A special satellite campus pre-conference breakout session, which will take place at our Plano campus.
• Reduced pricing for spouses - just $10 to attend C3! Ed and Lisa have such a passion for supporting couples in ministry that they want to make sure you can attend together and come away refreshed and renewed. They will also be hosting two luncheons for senior pastors and their spouses.
• An opportunity to travel through FC's past present and future, featuring multiple stops around the metroplex, dinner and a guided tour.
• A technology meet and greet with the leaders of FC's IT and Web teams to talk about tools and get questions answered.
• A stress-free zone featuring chair massages, healthy giveaways and Body for God resources.
• An internet cafe where you can check in with your peeps, look up restaurant information or write a quick blog post.
• Two free workout classes developed by personal trainers and based on the Tone-N-Tighten exercise class offered to FC staff.

That's just a taste of the new offerings this year. We're keeping a few things up our sleeve, so make sure you sign up if you haven't already! You can register online through Sunday or show up and register at the door. We'll see you next week!

The Best Illustrations

In this selection from Ed's latest book, The Creative Leader, he discusses why personal and biblical illustrations are always best.

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While most speakers know the importance of timely illustrations, let me add a few final comments that I have gleaned by observing many great communicators. For biblical preaching and teaching, I’ve discovered that personal and biblical illustrations are always the best way to give an abstract truth a concrete home in everyday life. I have nothing against illustrations and anecdotes from books, but I have not found those as effective as using stories from own life or those of biblical characters. I love to hear speakers talk about their lives, so why would I expect my audience to be any different?

When we allow the audience into our lives, to discover that we aren’t perfect, we will connect more deeply and identify more significantly with them. An important warning here is to emphasize our weaknesses more than our strengths when we use personal illustrations. In other words, don’t make yourself the hero of all your stories. Talk about your bad days as well as your good, but also how you have submitted to God in all circumstances and have been blessed because of it. In other words, whether you’re talking about good times or bad, God is always the hero of the story. His strength, not ours, is the catalyst for change.

As far as biblical illustrations go, you know as well as I do that the Bible is rich with stories that communicate with great emotion the love, mercy and grace of God. God could have had the biblical authors pen a heavy doctrinal dissertation on God’s historical interaction with humankind, but he didn’t. He had them write the stories of their lives and God’s faithfulness in spite of their failures. God knew that we would connect in a deeper way with stories, so he used stories to communicate his great love for us. We should follow His lead when we teach and preach.