A few of our YD Adventures staff got a chance to go to Calibrate NW. The conference was specifically designed for Church Planters but it wasn't about the methods of church planting it was about Jesus. It was a really great two days with some heavy hitters on the preaching circuit including Francis Chan, Carlos Whittaker, Richard Stearns, Jim Putnam,John Bishop,Judah Smith,Alan Hirsch, and Mark Driscoll. I really was impressed with all of the different speakers. I liked that they all had different philosophies on the church and weren't shy about their differences. I really appreciated Judah Smith's talk. He was asked to speak on the topic of honoring those who have come before us which I think is something that is easy to forget being young and full of crazy ideas but is good to remember that none of us are pulling ourselves up by our boot straps. We are all building off of the legacy of someone who has gone before us.
The overall dresscode for the conference was pretty funny. Plain has a really relaxed, Eastern Washington style where as the average church planter apparently is an urban hipster with skinny jeans, thick glasses and urban flannel not to be confused with country flannel. They are completely different flannels.
For those of you who may need help visualizing a hipster.
4 comments:
From what I've heard from him, Francis Chan is pretty amazing.
He definetly has some good thoughts. I just added a link to the video's if you want to check them out. My favorite I think was Judah Smith.
Thanks for the link! I'll share my thoughts after I get a chance to listen to the messages.
Hi Julie,
I know it's taken me forever to get back to you on this post, but I finished listening to all the messages and took some notes. Here are my thoughts:
Mark Driscoll: I've heard ups and downs about him, and from what I've seen his preaching has gotten better. I think he made some really good points on idolatry, such as the dangers of Facebook, idolizing heroes of the faith, and obsessing over our enemies. He also gave some good reminders on how sometimes conflict is necessary - we shouldn't seek peace at the expense of the Gospel. I disagreed with was his recommendation on ignoring people, though. I don't think that's a Biblical way to handle difficult situations.
Richard Sterns: I liked what he said about actually living out our faith. I thought he sounded a little more liberal in his teaching, though. He seemed to really stress compassion and social justice, which is great, but compassion without the Gospel isn't really compassion at all.
Francis Chan: Like I mentioned before, I really like Chan. I was blessed by his message on Christian unity, and how Christ should dictate how we live, not our culture.
Carlos Whittaker: I liked how he talked about how worship leaders need to be aware of pride. However, I felt that most of the message was about ways to lure non-Christians into the church, particularly through music. My problem with that is that the church is for the gathering of believers. We don't want the church to become like the world just to increase membership. If people are joining churches, it should be because of Christ.
Jim Putman: I appreciated his points on discipleship, equipping the saints, and how our relationships with others reflect the authenticity of our faith.
Judah Smith: He made some good points on honor and leadership, but he seemed aggressive (perhaps immature), in his preaching.
Again, it's been a while since I listened to these messages, and even with my notes my memory is fuzzy. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts!
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