The Nine's

On September 9, Leadership Network hosted an on-line leadership seminar called, "the Nines." The Nines began at 9 AM (CDT), it went for 9 hours, its presenters spoke for 9 minutes each. I was blessed to join Matt Schantz and the staff at His House Christian Fellowship as they took in the seminar.

The format was interesting - that it was held exclusively on-line. This development will continue to change the way we live and learn. One component that was missing in the day was discussion, the presenters were stacked back-to-back. Because of this format there wasn't space for corporate reflection unless you simply skipped some of the presentations. That was one improvement that could have been made.

I took in the seminar for about 4 hours. In that time span, there were many presentations that were helpful. I am going to post here a few of the comments/insights that were helpful to me.

1. Mark Beeson - On why people join/leave your team: 1) you, 2) your mission/vision/values, 3) their teammates
2. Anne Jackson - writer of Mad Church Disease - Is God your provision or your pay check?
3. Perry Noble - a movement of God cannot be planned, but it must be prepared for.
4. Skye Jethani - Editor @ Leadership Journal. A hint at a misguided understanding within the church: large ministry = legitimate ministry. Instead, Jesus said legitimacy is rooted in belonging to the Beloved Son of the Father. Our calling is based in being 1) a child of God, 2) judgment is not based on outcomes, 3) seek power to obey the Father and defy culture.
5. Steve Robinson - "worry is temporary atheism"
6. Stacy Johnson - baby boomers resist being classified as old, they aren't interested in the older adult ministry plans
7. Jorge Acevedo - concerned about Spiritual Malpractice. We ought to proclaim Jesus in a hurting world and offer Jesus along with healing places, spaces, people, and processes in which people can experience holiness and wholeness.
8. Len Sweet - how to deal with a big head? Confidence and Humility.
9. Rick Russo - Instead of asking, "how can we be the best church in our community?" we asked, "How can we be the best church for our community?"
10. Greg Surrat, from Seacoast Church - innovation grows out of Desperation. The Steps: 1) you hit the wall, 2) discouraged, 3) decide to trust God, 4) start asking barrier breaking questions, 5) collect innovate ideas, 6) you do it until it quits working. He drew a quadrant about the ideas and suggested they tried to do ideas that could give them a Big Win and were also Easy.

I'm looking forward to other leadership seminars that come in this format and sharing it with some dear people who seek to follow Jesus.