CreativePastors Blog & Podcast

Ed has fun with Joel

During the opening session of the C3 conference, Ed shared a fun video featuring his impression of Joel Osteen—on the Lakewood Church stage. See what happens when Joel walks in on him!

Creative Leader: C3 Reflections

Here's the latest edition of Ed's Creative Leader Newsletter. Want it to come directly to your inbox next month? Sign up here for free.

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Last week we had the privilege of welcoming thousands of pastors and church leaders to our 12th Creative Church Conference at Fellowship Church. As always, our staff wrapped up this event feeling deeply blessed and honored to have the opportunity to interact with so many incredible individuals from all around the world. More than 3,000 leaders and 550 churches were here from six continents and 12 countries. Here's a glimpse at what they've been saying about their time at C3:

“C3 has poured into and saturated my soul. Frankly, there is no way to quantify this experience for me and my team. I have never been to a better conference...really!”
      —Buddy Cremeans, Northway Church
“The past few days have been awesome. The conference was extremely refreshing and very empowering —I have returned pumped and full of ideas.”
      —Terry Johnson, Grace Point Church
“I am still soaking in everything from the Creative Church Conference. I had the blessing of listening to nine messages in two days and I needed to hear every single one of them. I am humbled by the opportunities that God gave me to meet some great leaders of churches that are getting it done for the God's Kingdom.”
      —John Cremeans, Fellowship Church (Glenn Mills, PA)
“Fellowship Church has it going on…they rock my creative world every time I get the chance to experience their environment.”
      —Abbye Printy, The Rock of Wilmington

I opened up this year's conference by talking about the Elephant in the Church—betrayal. (We brought in a live elephant to greet this year's attendees at the door and pique their curiosity.) I shared some raw, real stories from the history of Fellowship Church, particularly one event which almost brought FC to its knees. But God redeemed these heartbreaking incidents and ultimately used them to strengthen his Church. We wouldn't be where we are today at Fellowship Church if we hadn't experienced betrayal. If you'd like to hear more about this pivotal point in Fellowship Church's growth, check out our brand new Betrayal series!

Our guest speakers shared messages of hope and encouragement specially crafted to meet pastors in their leadership journey.

• Bishop Jakes brought down the house as usual. He has a gift for ministering to church leaders. “If you aren't experiencing conflict, you're not a leader—you're a follower.”
• Brian Houston, my deep-voiced friend from Down Under, taught with both humility and a big-picture perspective. “If you want to empower people, you have to have a big Kingdom mindset.”
• Tommy Barnett shared one of my favorite messages about wanting to quit the ministry. “The more you have to quit, the more you want to quit.“ And he's definitely a man who shares my love of caffeine: “Starbucks has kept me in the ministry.”
• It was a pleasure to introduce my good friends Mac Richard and Perry Noble to this receptive crowd. Mac discussed the loneliness of leadership that can result when we, “Set the bar high, and guard the bar.” Perry used his distinctive blend of humor and straight talk to drive his points home. “You may say that we are not deep. What you really mean to say is 'You don't confuse me enough.'” As I always say, it's easy to make the complex, complex. Isn't it? But it's hard to make the complex, simple.

If you didn't have the opportunity to attend this year, we don't want you to be left out! The DVDs from the conference will be available in a few weeks—stay tuned to our upcoming newsletters for further details. And if you're going to be anywhere near one of our C3 on Tour stops around the country or would like to attend our Creative Marriage Retreat, we'd love to connect with you there. Also, if you've never heard Bishop Jakes speak, it's worth your while to catch him live. I'll be joining him in a few weeks for his Manifest Conference, a great event for men held right here in Grapevine, Texas.

God really used this year's Creative Church Conference to energize us and refresh us for the marathon of ministry. And that's a good thing, because Easter is just four weeks away! We've started our planning at Fellowship Church, and you're probably in the midst of preparations as well. Let us help you out with more than 10 years' worth of Easter messages and resources that are available on CreativePastors. We'll keep you posted on what's shaping up for our services at FC, and we'd love to hear the great things in the works for your churches and communities during this important season!

Podcast > The Big D > Part 1

When most people think of delegation, they assume it’s a business term, one which is only implemented by those in mid-level management or higher on the corporate ladder. But true delegation is something that impacts every area of life: from the marriage to the marketplace, from friendships to finances.

And in the first of this two-part series, Ed Young shows us how true delegation, from God’s perspective, will help us embrace the greatness he has in store for all of us.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Length: 30:13

The Big D

CreativePastors

If you have iTunes 7, 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.

The Elephant in the Church

As attendees arrived at the Creative Church Conference this morning, they were greeted by a live elephant. But the circus hasn't come to town! Instead this pachyderm is here to represent the Elephant in the Church—betrayal. This morning Ed is sharing some raw, real stories from the history of Fellowship Church, and betrayal is where the plot clots. One particular event he's discussing almost brought FC to its knees. But God redeemed these heartbreaking incidents and ultimately used them to strengthen his Church. We wouldn't be where we are today at Fellowship Church if we hadn't experienced betrayal.

If you'd like to hear more about this pivotal point in Fellowship Church's growth, check out our brand new Betrayal series!

C3 Kickoff

The Creative Church Conference got a great start last night with an incredible evening of worship and teaching for our C3 Nights Celebration Kickoff. Check out what our friend Buddy Cremeans had to say about the event. If you've not been able to make it to C3 this year, you can check out the remaining two C3 Nights events broadcast live on Daystar: Thursday, February 21st, 7:30pm thru 9:00pm (CST) and Friday, February 22nd, 7:30pm thru 9:00pm (CST).

Podcast > Masterpieces > Raising of the Cross

Have you ever felt like just a face in the crowd? In this special Easter message, based on Rembrandt’s self-portrait, The Raising of the Cross, you'll discover how God has communicated what He thinks about each one of us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Length: 29:59

Masterpieces

Sometimes a great work of art can take your breath away. But we see even greater masterpieces every day, human lives in the hands of the Creator. In this series, using some of the world’s great masterpieces as backdrops, Ed Young reminds us that the canvas of life is still wet.

Masterpieces

CreativePastors

If you have iTunes 7, 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.

Podcast > Multiple Choice > On Board

Negotiating the Multiple Choice maze of life is no easy task, especially when we try to become lone decision-makers. This concluding message of the series highlights the wisdom in a multitude of counselors.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Length: 28:55

Multiple Choice

Choices. You are faced with them every day. Some are mundane and others meaningful, but each choice leads somewhere. In this series of talks for the New Year, Ed Young issues a "multiple choice" challenge to make better decisions toward better living.

Multiple Choice

CreativePastors

If you have iTunes 7, 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.

Countdown to C3

In less than one week, we'll be opening the doors of Fellowship Church to thousands of church leaders from around the world. We're in the thick of our preparations for next week's Creative Church Conference and we're all looking forward to the opportunity to interact with the bright, energetic and idea-filled attendees. This year's event is shaping up to be an incredible experience, with a lineup of gifted speakers, the addition of C3 Nights, and a few other things we've never done before. We hope you'll be amongst the friendly faces at C3 2008—be sure to stop by our CreativePastors booth while you're there and say hi (we'll have some fun giveaways too!). And if you haven't signed up yet, it's not too late. Online registration will be open through February 19 at 5 pm. See you soon!

Fundraising Followup

In November's Creative Leader newsletter, we shared a bold goal we were striving for at Fellowship Church: a church-wide cash gift of $5 million in the month of December. Ed presented this challenge during the Off the Chain series and with a campaign called, The Gift , which would be invested in our campuses, completing our camp and contributing to an effort by Fellowship of Maceio in Brazil to eliminate hunger and homelessness in two cardboard cities.

Ed shared the exciting results of the campaign during a recent weekend service. We stood and cheered as a ticker on the screen climbed upward, paused at the $5 million mark, and kept right on going. Once again, the people of Fellowship Church rose to the challenge with their faithfulness as they responded to God's leading and contributed not $5 million, but a cash gift of $6.7 million in one month! We can't wait to see how God uses these gifts to impact this generation and the next!

Unleashed at NewSpring

Several years ago, Ed heard about a young pastor named Perry Noble whose church was setting attendance records that were unthinkable for the small town of Anderson, South Carolina. With roots in that region, Ed was amazed by his story and had to hear more.  It became clear that God was doing incredible things at NewSpring Church and He hasn’t stopped since!

After getting to know Perry, Ed invited him to speak at Fellowship Church in the summer of 2004 and called on him during the 2005 C3 Conference to offer his perspective on church leadership:

If you operated an airplane like you operate most churches, you'd have a pilot and his crew in the cockpit, and they know how to fly that plane, they know every instrument—that's their job.  But if it was run like most churches, these pilots, or this crew, before they needed to make an important decision, would have to come out of the cockpit and go into first class and meet with a plumber whose cousin was a pilot at one time, an electrician, a housewife, and a doctor and then after they met with those guys, they would take it back to the coach section for a "business meeting" and a vote. Then after they voted they could go implement what the coach section had told them to do. Now my question to my congregation is, "How many of you want to fly on that plane?" But you want to go to that church?  That's why so many churches are crashing and burning—because they are not properly structured.

Not only is Perry one of our featured speakers at this year’s upcoming Creative Church Conference, but this spring, he and his team will be hosting Unleash 08, a conference designed to challenge, encourage, and motivate church leaders to take action to reach their communities for Christ. This one-day conference takes place on March 13 in Anderson, SC. Early bird registration deadline is February 11—learn more here.