Snippets of Wisdom from Exponential

Last week Les and I had the privilege to attend the Exponential conference in Orlando. Exponential is a conference for people who plant (start) new churches, and there were 5000 of them in attendance. I loved the energy, the sense of mission in those around me and in the speakers and workshop leaders.

I served as part of the social media team, which meant that I tweeted as much as I could from the conference on what was being taught. Since most of you don’t follow me on Twitter yet (feel free to: @speakcarolcool) and the autoposts to Facebook were stopped by Facebook, I thought I would share some of the powerful points that impressed me from the speakers. Their Twitter usernames follow the post if you wish to check out the thought originator. And there are more if you check back on my Twitter feed. You can also order a digital pass to view the main Exponential sessions for yourself.

  • “Does a painter fear a painting or just destroy the canvas?” God doesn’t fear Satan (@prophiphop, spoken word artist Propaganda)
  • “You can be a church IN your community or a church FOR your community” (@shawnlovejoy)
  • “The fighting inside the church is killing people outside the church.” (Nicky Gumbel)
  • To be a missional church does not mean a fight with your church people. It’s a fight with the cultural values of the day–individualism (vs. community), consumerism (vs. mission/giving), materialism (vs. blessing tangibly). (@matt_smay)
  • The average homeless person in America is 9 years old. (@pastorchoco)
  • “What happens when people show up at church for bread and get hit with a rock?” (@flatironschurch)
  • The #1 question asked of/about Jesus: “Why does he hang out with people like that?” (@flatironschurch)
  • “The Holy Spirit interrupted me rudely–that’s how you can tell the Spirit is a woman.” (@djstrickland)
  • “Our lives should be such that it makes it hard for people not to believe in Jesus.” (@hughhalter)
  • “Live a life that evokes curiosity.” (@michaelfrost6)
  • “If you are willing to listen to people, that’s intriguing.” (@michaelfrost6)
  • “We value kids today but in a way that almost idolizes them. We need to value them spiritually.” (Jamie Reese)
  • 80% of our prison population has spent time in the foster care system. (@gregnettle)
  • “Dallas Willard says we’re often vampire Christians–we only want Jesus for his blood.” (@jameschoung)
  • Did Jesus say, “Go to Hell”? Check out Matthew 25 (@revjamesmeeks)
  • “I can’t make people fall in love with Jesus, but I can set up dates.” (@andystanley quoting @mattchandler74)

And the question that has had me pondering for days:

“Are the things you’re living for worth Christ’s dying for?” (@OscarMuriu)

Is that true for me? I want it to be. How about you?

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