X Conference Snippets

If you went to the X Conference on Long Island last week, you were X'd.  It was a great conference on church planting. I'll try to share few snippets from the notes I was able to take from the different sessions. Great speakers with experience and an annointing to lead.

From Mark Batterson:
- Remind ourselves of why we do what we do…
- “Abraham” moment to pack up and move & obey His calling
- Close your eyes so you can see only the vision from God in your spirit … don’t depend on the visible

- Grow more to give more

- Have a LONG vision instead of BIG vision

- Mental dominant vision of Jesus Christ is Him on the cross … but He’s not there now, He is living and sitting on the throne

- Minister TO Him first then FOR Him

- Who are you going to offend? As leaders, we are going to offend someone … need to offend the Pharisees.

More to come from great men of God ... stay tuned!  Feel like doing some planting! 

Enjoy The Ride,

Cecil

Worth The Wait

Do What ...

Do what God wants you to do and then He will do what you want Him to do!

I had an opportunity to share a similar idea with someone recently and it kind of stuck with me. This particular phrase came to mind early this morning while still in bed.  We want God to do so many things for us in life.  Sometimes He's just waiting to follow through on those requests.  Why is He waiting?  Maybe because He wants to see us do what He wants/needs us to do. 

As leaders, we want to see things accomplished, the vision becoming reality, lives changed, and new frontiers being explored.  We want God to do so many things according to our wishes.  But in the middle of the process, we lose sight of what God needs us to do ...

...love Him, obey Him, follow Him, worship Him, & serve Him! 

He's ready to make a move for us!  Are we making a move for Him?

Enjoy the Ride,

Cecil

Family Planting

If you asked me five years ago or even 2 years ago, if I'd be planting flowers and vegetables at our home, I would have looked behind me and back at you and said, "are you talking to me?" ... and then probably laughed! Now you can laugh at me.

Last year I did some planting of flowers in our flower bed and some other parts of the yard just to make it look neat and lively. The bushes are growing and perennials are back ... so something worked. This year, we just took it to a new level ... it was a family affair. My lovely wifey helped plant some annuals in the driveway and even our little girl helped daddy with planting perennial bulbs. The wifey was on a roll and kept going by raking "organic choice" (her choice) garden soil into the garden patch in our backyward ... why you ask? Because we planted vegetables.

The same guy that kept asking his dad while growing up at home, why waste your time gardening vegetables is now the guy that is digging dirt and planting SQUASH, BELL PEPPERS, AND TOMATOES. Funny part is that wife wants the vegetables but she didnt want to get in the dirt. We made a deal, I'll plant, but she will have to water and take care of it. We'll see how long that lasts! =) I love her and cant wait to get the first meal from our own garden! Hopefully something grows!

There are more plants waiting to be planted still sitting in the garage. It's been a bit chilly the past couple of days here. To be honest, planting flowers and taking care of the yard is kind of relaxing ... until the back aches later that night.

Enjoy The Ride,

Cecil

A BUG IS GOING AROUND ...

What a week that just went by? National Day of Prayer on Thursday. Remix on Friday.

Thursday ... Truly a night where the community of Elmont came together for one purpose - TO PRAY FOR THIS NATION! I personally walked out of that place knowing God was there and He did hear our prayer and He will answer. After talking to others in attendance, similar sentiments were shared. About 45-50 people came out and it was awesome to see a multi-generational, multi-cultural gathering of believers praying for America's government, military, education system, media, businesses, families, and churches. The team leading worship was inspired. The prayer stations were vibrant. The corporate prayer pressed into the deeper end of the pool of the presence of God. Many believe this could be just the beginning of focused prayer times for the nation and community - by the community!

Friday ... I think the prayer bug just spread from Thursday into Friday. The focus at Remix this session has been on the facets of prayer: the APPEAL, the POWER, and this week the DIALOGUE. In essence, the ground has been fertilized with the study from the Word on prayer. Thursday night activated the seeds into active growth through our expression of prayer and worship. We studied on how God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit want to hear from us all the time but they also want to speak to us. The night was starting to close with any prayer requests - which there were a few. Then the worship team sang the song based on Psalms 121 - "I Lift My Eyes Up To The Mountains". We were ready to just sing it once or twice and close out with prayer but ... thats not how it went down - THANK GOD! The group stood together in a big circle and just kept singing and worshipping as the Spirit lead. People speaking to God in the heavenly language, people shedding tears, people praising God, people praying was a sight to see. A call for prayer was put out ... to pray for all students to be successful as they close out this academic year and as some close one chapter in their life to start a new chapter in a couple of months. They all came to the front and the rest of the group surrounded them and prayed over them as the Spirit lead. Then roles reversed. The students stepped back and the adults / parents of little children (who requested prayers for their kids' health and education, etc...) stepped into the middle. Now they were surrounded by the students and others and prayed over. The following quote sums up the experience ... "Yesterday i really felt the amaizing presence of the Holy spirit in our midst...Pls pray for the next meeting."

God is alive and well and is speaking to all of us! Let's continue to DIALOGUE with HIM so He can accomplish His plan through our lives. I dont mind catching and spreading this bug around ...

Enjoy The Ride,

Cecil