Carey Nieuwhof

Introducing the Line of the Week

Okay...so here's a new weekend feature I'm calling line of the week (It's a really lame name, so if you can do better, post a suggestion baby.)  You posts lots comments most week and usually, there's a line that someone wrote that I think everyone should see that could get lost in the shuffle.  This will help reverse that.

Here's my pick for this week from M.W. Smith who commented on Preaching Cramp....Help Please:

"I doubt that we are courageous enough to love one another in a way that wakes others from their numbness."

When I read that it hit me so deeply.  How many of us are numb from lack of love?  What might happen if we really loved?  I could spend more than a morning camped out on that thought.

Hope this brings some life and depth into your weekend.

Is This What God is Up to In Your Life?

Everyone once in a while when I read the Bible stuff pops up that I just plain never noticed before.  It's been there for thousands of years.  I know I've read it before.  It's just that I missed it.

Earlier this week I was in Psalm 105, and this jumped off the page. I've always wondered what God was up to when he let Joseph get sold into slavery, then betrayed by Potiphar's wife, then thrown into prison to be forgotten about, only to be made prime minister of Egypt.  What a tough time that must have been if your name is Joseph.

But look at the GI-NORMOUS claim the psalmist makes about why God did this:

He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
      cutting off its food supply.
Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—
     Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
They bruised his feet with fetters
      and placed his neck in an iron collar.
Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
      the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
                             (Psalm 105.16-19)

Those years in slavery and jail were awful for Joseph.  What was God doing?  Testing his character. We could go on about why God might not have chosen nicer or easier methods, but at the end of the day, the text is clear.

So, over to us.  Going through a hard time?  Unable to trace out God's presence in your life?  Could it be that God is testing your character? 

And if that might be true -- think of this.  When Joseph "passed" (he rarely if ever complained and trusted God completely through awful circumstances), God gave him incredible responsibility and power, knowing that because Joseph was a good steward of the bad times, he would be a great steward of power and influence when God raised Him up.

How am I handling the bad times in my life right now?  How are you? Is God watching you to see if He can trust you with great responsibility and purpose in the future?

Tough questions.  Great illustration from scripture.

Leadership on Fire

So Andy Stanley went a little crazy during the last session of Drive, dumped his planned talk and spoke almost off the cuff (this isn't terribly typical for Andy, who writes his messages three weeks ahead of time).  Man, I'm so glad he did.  Did he bring it. 

Some quotes:

• If we are going to reach people on one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing. Andy borrowed this from Craig Groeschel, but man did it resonate.

• Focus on the people you want to reach, not the people you want to keep.  Here, Andy was quoting his long time friend and associate Reggie Joiner, whose heart for the family and for a prodigal generation is enormous. If church leaders could get this, we'd be living in a different reality.

• When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.  What else do you need to say? Church life sometimes feels like its 90% nostalgia, not 90% vision.

• The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.  You can fight the next generation of leaders, or you can fund them.

Hey Connexus - Andy's talk made me so proud to be your pastor.  You are BOLD. 

This journey has only started.  So many of you have sacrificed so much for the next generation.  Meeting where we meet, doing what we do, radically building into other peoples' lives, welcoming people like tattoo artists with open arms. Using the culture to reach the culture.  Praying like crazy.  I love being on this team.  Keep it comin'.

606,079: A Number You Need to Understand

So Drive started tonight. Wonderful to see real live Connexus people again (our road trip crew made it safely!) Also great opening session with Andy Stanley.  But here's what grabbed me as much as anything today.

I had the opportunity to be at the North Point staff meeting before Drive and all staff got a conference lanyard with this number on it: 606,079.  So what's the deal? Here it is: that number represents every person affiliated with a church that has leaders at Drive.  In other words, what we learn together as a community in these next three days can influence over half a million people globally when we get back to our churches.  Mix that in with Orange last week and the total skyrockets way past one million lives.

The great leadership team at North Point and Orange realize that great leaders multiply their influence.  The leaders here do it by investing heavily in other leader who in turn impact cities and countries all over.

Who are you building into? Not just hanging with, but mentoring, growing, stretching?  Believe it or not, if you step forward willing to be used by God, He might use you to influence dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands over your life -- all for good, all for God. Three years into this relationship with the leaders and Orange and North Point, I can't tell you how deeply their love, wisdom, intelligence and kindness has influenced me, and consequently in some way, over 1100 people who we've already influenced in our first six months at Connexus.

So - keep the story going.  Build into someone.  Multiply your influence.

P.S. Speaking at Drive tomorrow morning and afternoon.  I'd be so grateful if you would pray for God to use that time powerfully.

Preaching Cramp..Help Please

I don't even know what to call it, so I'll call it preacher's cramp.  I need your help.

The next month of preaching is all lined up, but when it comes to June, I am stuck.  I got amazing ideas on previous blog posts and have a bunch of my own promptings and ideas, but I can't decide what to preach in the June time slot. For whatever reason, I feel like God is saying this June series is somehow going to be important - as in it needs to address issues people are really facing. And I just want to be obedient. I'm praying, but I'm stuck.  So I turn to you, my friends.

So let me ask you -- what's the most urgent issue in your life and the life of your friends?  What's the one thing you want addressed before the summer hits in full force?  Tell me, please. Your answer may indeed help me figure out where God wants this to go in June. 

Pray Globally, Act Locally and Globally

I'm in Atlanta for a few mores days. Tomorrow, almost 2500 more leaders gather for Drive at North Point Community Church.  That's after 3700 leaders gathered last week for Orange.  I am humbled and amazed by how many American (and global) church leaders are tracking what's happening at Connexus back home.  Hundreds of people have told me they're tracked us, been on line to listen in and more.  So many said they are praying for us.  Amazing. I don't even bring it up.  They just tell me.  Connexus, I wish you were here to witness those conversations.

I checked the stats on our Connexus website the other day and was a bit shocked at what I saw using Google Analytics. Adjusted to accommodate the size of our countries, twice as many Americans per capita visit Connexus online as Canadians. Isn't it amazing to know we are being cheered on and lifted up in prayer by people who might never visit us (although so many indicate they want to make the trip!).

This week, leaders from many countries will gather at Drive. Last week, I spent time with church leaders from South Africa and met other leaders from New Zealand and leaders who work in Africa and elsewhere.

So here's what I'm asking you to do this week.  Can you pray for countries?  Pray for those where sharing faith is harder. Please do pray for Canada, that God would ignite a huge movement that would see millions more discover what a growing relationship with Jesus means. Also pray for our friends in Africa (I had three emails this week alone from Connexus people investing in mission in Africa), for our friends all over the world who are persevering in the name of Jesus under intense circumstances.

We are all part of something so much bigger than ourselves.  God is showing up all over the planet, and we are being cheered on and prayed for by people all over the place.  Let's return the favour.

Margin and Marriage

Just said goodbye to my wife Toni a few hours ago as she flies home to reconnect as mom with our boys and back into our world at home.  I'm here for a few more days until the Drive Conference wraps up.

It's been a full year since Toni and I have have gotten away together for a vacation with just the two of us.  As we were driving around Atlanta yesterday it just kind of dawned on us: these eight days together have been the longest the two of us have been away together since we had kids, which in our case is 16 years. While we're both crazy about our boys and love our home community, I can't tell you how good it was for us to get away together.  I'm so grateful my parents were willing to move in and do life with our guys for a week so Toni could come with me! 

It made the Orange Conference so much more meaningful for me.  We had a few days to hang out and go hiking (one of her favourite things) in the North Georgia mountains, and a few days to hang out with some of our Atlanta friends. 

The one thing these eight days gave us as a couple was margin. Yeah, I had a bunch of talks to do, but we actually had several days where our huge agenda for the day was NOTHING.  It was great.  We got to talk about things we don't usually have time to talk about thing.  And we did this really novel thing: we just enjoyed being together without the pressures that usually arise when we're at home.  It moved us well beyond the place of surviving (which is what life can feel like sometimes) and into a place of thriving.

As I was driving her to the airport, we realized how important our date nights are (usually just a few hours out for coffee, a bike ride or dinner).  We saw so clearly how important it is for us to get away with just the two of us even in small snippets.   

I know life is crazy (and not everyone has parents nearby willing to help), but even applied to your context, here's my question: what kind of margin are you making to nurture the most important relationships in your life?

Orange Potential

First of all, hi to everyone home at Connexus! Miss you guys (not to mention missing my kids!).  You've heard us talk a lot about Orange. I imagine people wonder: why would almost 4000 people leave home to attend a conference in Atlanta?  Just to get inspired?  Nope. It's way bigger than that.

Orange is about helping church leaders to work together with parents to raise our kids morally and spiritually.  I also think it's a huge front door that God is opening into communities world wide.  Think about it:  the average parent who doesn't go to church rarely lies awake at night wondering what a lead pastor is going to speak about next, but the average parent who doesn't go to church lies awake at night wondering whether their kids are going to be okay.  If we come alongside parents and simply say "we care about the same things you do", it opens conversations that might never happen otherwise.

It's what makes me so thrilled to be part of Connexus at home, and so excited to see thousands of church leaders catch a vision for what could be as we partner with parents to help their kids become everything God dreams of us being.

This is more than a conference...it feels much more like a movement. 

Orangeologists...what potential do you see?

Orangeology (3)

This is like so late because the internet connection at the Gwinnett Center was worse than dial up. 

Orange 2008 is over.  It was such a great thing to see so many gathered with a heart for families and a heart for those who still don't follow Jesus.

Day two and three reflections:

• Lanny Donaho and Reggie are so uncannily funny it's still surreal.
• The worship was soul-stirring.  I loved seeing people caught up in Jesus.
• Apparently I say "amazing" a lot.  Thanks Fred.  That's so completely amazing to know!
• Francis Chan went for the jugular.  A former gang member who Francis baptized quit his church after six months. His observation: he could find more community in a gang than in the church.  Do we really care for each other? Do we have each other's backs?
• Donald Miller:  leaders speak something beautiful into the nothing, the way God spoke something beautiful into nothing to create.
• Andy Stanley forced my notebook open (every time I'm with him I get fresh insight).  I took copious notes.  Then I lost them after his talk.  Darn. I'm such a bonehead.  Good thing I'm at Drive next week. Andy did make me realize how unbelievably influential and important small group leaders are.  And every time I'm even near Andy, his deeply pure character shines through. Thanks Andy!
• Louie Giglio spoke passionately about the church needing to lift up the transcendent Jesus.  Bang on in saying relevance, worship and justice can easily become the golden calves of our generation, and this from the man who brings us the Passion movement.
• Reggie Joiner...I just love this man who not only won't quit on the family, but who deeply pursues innovative ways to partner with parents across North American and the world in the name of Jesus.  Thanks Reg!

Hey Orange people, what did you love and what did you learn?

What's Up @ Orangeology

So it seems like right after going to bed last night, it's time to his the shower and start again. 

Today we'll hear from people like Francis Chan and Donald Miller.  I'm teaching on how to simplify your church ministry model and doing  breakout together with Reggie Joiner about what it was like to work with Andy Stanley and what we can learn from that (which is kind of interesting, since I've never worked directly for Andy Stanley, but I guess that means' I'm the 'here are the principles we can learn about this' kind of guy.)

Plus, today our friends from Global TV are hanging out with me all day today.  They are filiming today as part of the one hour Kevin Newman special they are creating on what churches are doing to reach people who don't go to church.

Hey, Connexus friends - once again your story is being told at Orange to encourage other leaders to take bold risks.  There's a two page write up in the Orange Conference book about your incredible faith in starting Connexus.  Reggie also had fun explaining why we left a building we built to move into a theater church so that, like a loving father, we could reach more people who were missing.  I'm so grateful for you and proud of you!

If you want pics, check out Dan Scott's blog.

Hey, one last but most important thing - happy birthday to my completely sweet bride, Toni! It will be great to hang out together again today.