LIT Lessons-Part 4 (and Final)

Written by cycleguy on May 5th, 2010

Dr. Chris Stephens and Faith Promise church were the hosts of LIT.  I want to say a few words about Dr. Stephens’ (herein: Pastor Chris) talk and then share something that meant even more to me.

Pastor Chris actually spoke twice.  The first was a “welcome to LIT and what his prayer was” for the conference.  He spoke to all of us when he said that we have all been in a place of discouragement.  Simply put: people are whacked and they are all pulling a little piece of us along the way.  He challenged us to allow Ezekiel 37 (the dry bones passage) to apply to us and allow God to raise us up just as He is in the process of raising up an army.

His final talk focused on Momentum.  Much of it I had heard before and have to admit that after the long day I was already checking out and probably didn’t hear as well as I should have. 🙂  But he did give some good thoughts:

There 3 kinds of momentum:

  1. Structural Momentum– What is your church built on?  Who are you trying to reach?  He did say something really good though.  He stated that most churches are structured for control and not for growth.  We need to ask if our structure is releasing or restricting movement.  That is a good principle that I have to consider in my own ministry.
  2. Systematic Momentum– Pastor Chris still uses an annual teaching calendar with his sermon series. They still focus around the big holidays with big events.  They set goals for the year and present them the 1st Sunday in January.
  3. Spiritual Momentum– This is where revival takes place.  He also said that most often it is not the Spirit that holds us back but our structure and systems.  He hit the nail on the head with one statement made near the end of his talk: “We want the book of Acts results without the book of Acts actions.” That is huge!

One of the big things about being at Faith Promise was the way they took care of those who came.  I was greeted with signs as I pulled into the driveway, directed where to park, greeted by several volunteers outside, and greeted inside and directed where to register.  The volunteers were phenomenal.  The worship music was exceptional.  The lunch was fantastic.  Well, since I am running out of adjectives I will just say that I would recommend LIT to anyone.  They are offering some regional conferences as well. You can go here to find out more.

 

8 Comments so far ↓

  1. Tony York says:

    Looking through those 3 points, I would have to admit that I have ran into #1 head on. While policy is very important, it shouldn’t be confused with biblical doctrine.

    #2 is good as long as flexibility is encouraged in order to allow the Holy Spirit to direct. (I would like to see more churches tackling exegetical sermon series on a book of the bible.)

    #3 .. I love the quote that you highlighted – how many people have actually studied the practices of the Acts church and taught those principles as well as applied them?

    Wish I could have been at the conference.

  2. cycleguy says:

    Tony: I agree with your assessment of all 3 points. Plain and simple our “seeker mentality” sometimes dictates what we do, how we structure, and what we preach. We need more of the Spirit’s influence. Not saying pastor Chris doesn’t but it is all too common. wish you could have been there also. Maybe next year????

  3. Jim F. says:

    Man I love the quote in #3. I might need to use that one myself.

    Good thoughts from LIT.

  4. cycleguy says:

    Jim: that resonated with me (and as you can see with Tony) as well. Glad you enjoyed the thoughts.

  5. Tom Raines says:

    This message is being made clear to metoday between your and Robin’s message from yesterday. We must be “intentional” in our actions. If we want God’s plan we must take His actions…it ain’t just gonna happen in our churches or our lives. Thank you!

  6. cycleguy says:

    Tom: gotta write a post about this someday…being intentional. I told someone just yesterday that I don’t believe in luck or chance or “it just happened.” God is in the middle of it all. he wants us to be intentional in all we do for Him. Great thought. Thanks.

  7. Michael says:

    Point one resonates with me. I want the church to be like a snowball rolling down hill. As it gains momentum it grows. I don’t want to be the one who is below the snow ball making it roll down slowly.

  8. cycleguy says:

    Good word picture Michael. I prefer to be above the snowball as well.