Positivity-An Exercise (part 3)

Ok…so here’s the finale of my catch-up trilogy on the good stuff that’s been happening in our neck of the woods.  I hope this hasn’t been too boring or too personal…but sometimes the personal can illuminate the impersonal that we mostly write about.  Speaking of which, we’ll soon be returning to the typical commentary that I try to offer.  I’ve had more ideas brewing than time to write…which drives me nuts.  Anyway…on with the catch-up finale (*warning–it’s a long one).

MISSIONS/MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES SHOWING THEMSELVES
From the start of CityView Church, we’ve wanted to be missionally engaged in our community, both in day-to-day life and specific activities.  I believe we’ve done a DECENT job with this and we continue to get better.  The second half of our mission/ministry heart is to adopt a country/city that we can invest in (and that could use our help).

A few months back, we had a leader from Vancouver B.C. approach The Village and us about getting more involved in serving and assisting their churches.  While we listened, we didn’t really do anything about it at the time.  Next month, me and our ministries leader will be tripping it up to Vancouver to meet with a couple of potential church partners.  Since we were heading up there anyway (to the A29 bootcamp), this kills two birds with one stone.

Even if something does not materialize there, we’ve been invited to another country (can’t give details) by our sending-church to explore possible ministry opportunities and partnership.  Our sending church’s pastor will be taking me and a couple more pastors on a behind-the-scenes look at how things are done with their current operation.  I’m guessing that this will be one of those life-changing experiences…and I’m excited to take part.

THE WEIRD WORLD OF “C3″ AND THINGS RELATED
A few years back, I attended a conference called “Creality” at Fellowship.com.  “C3″, as it is now known, is a conference for church leaders that want to maximize their creativity and leadership within the church environment.  When I attended a few years back, I generally enjoyed the conference…mostly the Andy Stanley portions (no offense to Ed)…and completely despised the worthless waste of time known as the youth ministry breakout.

Seriously…Andy is good enough to cause me to enjoy the conference in spite of Ed’s metro-wear and the patronizing sessions offered by their former youth guy (now their worship guy?).  But I digress.  The point being…I probably wouldn’t feel compelled to attend this conference in the future, but I DID go this year for a few very good reasons.

1.  Driscoll:  Mark was one of the main session speakers at C3 this year and since he’s the leader of our A29 tribe, I wanted to see how the fellowship.com setting treated Mark.  I wasn’t disappointed (more below).

2.  It was free:  While I’m not the kind to seek handouts, even Driscoll wasn’t enough for me to pay full price to see the rest of the lineup (Groeschel being a possible exception).  The kind folks who put on C3 gave the A29 pastors comp-tickets so that we could come see Driscoll speak.  Me, Adam Crawford (our worship pastor), Bill Streger, Matt Chandler and Jimmy Shaw took them up on the offer.

3.  C3 was the “middle” part of an incredible day of fun and opportunity (more below).

Let me start by saying this:  The people who put C3 on are kind, servant-hearted and very concerned that we enjoy the conference and take away positive vibes from their place.  All these things were in full effect.  While it would be easy to be cynical and say this is basic customer service…I must point out that these people follow Jesus…so I’m guessing this is the character of Christ leaking through (or at least I’m going to assume as such).

I have to admit that part of me wanted to go for the potential “train-wreck” effect.  I love Driscoll…he inspires me and he’s personally a good and giving man.  However, Driscoll has a reputation…some deserved, yet most of it NOT deserved.  Because of this, I was half-expecting a mixed response from the C3-type crowd.  Mars Hill is artsy…but wouldn’t be classified as “innovative” or “creative” by the standards set forth in conferences such as C3.  Driscoll is a Bible preacher…plain and simple.  Therefore, I was interested in observing the response he would receive.

From the main crowd, I observed a lukewarm response, mostly.  There were some obvious points where Driscoll received good crowd response…but having seen Driscoll elsewhere on numerous occasions, he did not get as many of the laughs and hoots he gets in friendlier environments.  Familiar Driscoll humor seemed to go over the head at several points.  I expected this…so no biggie.  This really isn’t his tribe. 

From the panel discussion after his sermon, I observed excitement, confusion and a little discomfort.  It seemed like the entire panel liked Mark and was genuinely intrigued by him.  However, from the nature of many of the questions, it seemed like they just don’t “get” his wiring (and by extension, the wiring of the A29 crowd).  In other words, while they seemed to understand his answers to their questions, they seemed to follow-up with questions that tried to lead Mark into one of their categories.  It might have just been me, but it just seemed “weird” at times…like they were speaking different languages, almost.

All in all, the C3 crowd and staff seemed very accepting of the A29 tribe (via Mark, of course).  While the jury is still out, I was encouraged.  While its not my place to go into details, I can say that Ed is/was a giving and gracious host to Mark on a personal level.  Whatever else might be said of Ed, I can say the aforementioned without reservation or apology.

As for the rest of the conference, I didn’t attend too much.  I avoided T.D. “no Trinity” Jakes, mainly because I’ve heard him preach and stomp…and he is what he is…no new expectation there.  I took in part of Groeschel…mainly because I think he’s a stand-up guy (and a complimentarian to boot).  I was interviewed at Lifechurch.tv for their youth position on the OK City campus a few years back and saw Groeschel as a character-guy back then and still do.

Perhaps the best part of the C3 experience were the festivities surrounding the conference.  The day actually started off at The Village Church where Chandler invited his pastors along with those of their two church plants (us and Providence Church) to sit in on a brain-picking session with Driscoll.  This was a mind-blower…for two reasons.  One, the room was small…so much opportunity for interaction.  Second, Driscoll said some things that simply made my head spin…things I haven’t thought about.  Very challenging (I’ll unpack this at a later time).

The day ended after Driscoll’s session at C3 with a man-dinner at the Big Buck Steakhouse and Brewery at Bass Pro Outdoor World in Grapevine.  The aforemention group that attended C3 was there (with Driscoll) and we were joined by Barry Keldie, Mark Moore and Drue Phillips. 

While I always enjoy this type of hang, I have to say that this was more impacting for Adam (our worship pastor) than me.  This was his first exposure to leaders of this caliber and he went away with a “buzz”.  On a side note…this was my first trip to this restaurant…and I’ll be heading back–the steaks were INCREDIBLE…especially the Cajun rib-eye.

That’s all folks…back to your regularly scheduled posts soon.  Some will be reflective…others will sound cranky…but always keeping it real.