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{warning: this is a long post}

So, I had a great time yesterday at The Whiteboard Sessions in Reston, VA.  Check out the previous post to see what it's all about.  Here I'll share some of the main things I took from each speaker and some other random stuff. 

Mark Batterson kicked it off and his big idea was that our big ideas are nothing compared to God's ideas.  He said "when was the last time you confessed your sin of dreaming too small" and it pretty much kicked me in the face.  Here are a couple other points:

• "At some point memory will overtake imagination"
• "Don't just work out of memory"
• "If you don't have any holy discontent, go on a mission trip"

Vince Antonucci was freaking hilarious and started off by telling his story about how he became a Christian when he was 20 without hearing about Jesus from anybody.  Here are some points:

• "How is it possible that I lived in America for 20 years and never heard about Jesus?"
• "We are reaching people, just not lost people"
• "How do you define success in your church"
• "Do lost people like to hang out with you?"

Tim Stevens played some great clips from the show Desperate Housewives, which meant I saw more of that show than I've ever seen.  They were great clips about church myths and problems.  Here are some points:

• "Most churches aren't impacting their communities"
• "Spiritual interest is growing"
• "Leverage the culture or risk losing your impact"

Darrin Patrick talked about idols.  Here are some points:

• "You're ruled by what you worship"
• "An idol is when we serve something created, rather than the creator"
• "We usually know our idols when their threatened"

Mark Dever was the next guy up and he and Darrin were the only two people I hadn't heard of before WiBo.  I learned that Mark was a Baptist pastor and was conservative in theology and methodology but what I didn't know was how kingdom-minded he was.  Read my Kingdom-minded Church Leaders Part 2 post to see why I care so much about that.  Anyhow, his church prays for other churches (all denominations) in their area by name and he gave away all the resources at his table for free because he cares about church leaders.  Here are some points:

• "Our job is to be faithful, not to grow the church"
• "Faith comes from reading God's Word"

John Burke was up right when the after-lunch drowsiness was set in but I didn't have any problems staying awake.  Here are some points from his talk:

• "We can have addiction to self and think God isn't enough"
• "If we just stay connected to the Vine, fruit happens"

Perry Noble was probably my favorite simply because he's funny, in your face and the complete opposite of politically correct.  He talked about pastor's needing to be called, to understand priorities, and needing to defeat temptation.  Here are some points:

• "We don't volunteer for this stuff.  We're called.  If you volunteered you're stupid"
• "If you take pride in the fact that you are called read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31"
• "We have too much imitation and not enough revelation in the church"
• “It will be a cold day in Hell when I preach a message on recycling at the neglect of the Gospel message.”
• “You and I are going to experience temptation and spiritual warfare on a level that others in our congregation will never understand.” – speaking specifically to leaad pastors

Ed Stetzer closed out the day talking about doubt and how doubt is okay. 

• "Thomas went farther than any of the other disciples" – talking geographically
• "Ministry pornography is an unrealistic depiction of something you're never going to have" – talking about the problem with desiring what other churches/ministries have
• "Saying don't ask, just do – leads to a faith that is worthless in times of trouble"
• "You know what they call people who are happy all the time? – Mentally ill"

Random thoughts:

• Perry and Ed totally "punched people in the throat" as Perry would say.  They were challenging.
• I'm too short for conferences where the seats are all on one level.  But, I could see, just barely.
• Warning, TMI coming up – In the bathroom the stall doors were like 100lbs and it shut by itself on my finger, leaving blood under the nail.  Then, I hear Perry Noble (distinct accent) talking to somebody and based on Perry's answers to the guys questions he must not have known who Perry was.  What was funny was that Perry was hitting the stage 3 minutes later. 
• I talked to Carlos Whittaker for the second time in 3 weeks. 
• I met Jay Hardwick and we had an interesting discussion afterwards.
• I follow Chris Elrod's blog and was saddened when I saw this post.  I introduced myself to him just to say that I had been praying for him and his wife, and would continue to do so……….and I did, and I will (I hate it when people say they will and they're really just saying "talk to you later")
• Portable Church Industries had the sound system kicking, but the wireless mikes cut out a lot.

Check out www.conferencechannel.org to see videos from WiBo.