Orange Tour 2013 Learnings

I’ve always been honest in saying I’m biased.  I have favorites.  The reThink organization(www.whatisorange.org) is one of my favorites and has been for over 10 years now.  For the past several years, the staff of reThink has traveled around the country to put on a one day event for church leaders—focused on family team staff and volunteers. Most of these are quotes directly from Reggie Joiner, Sue Miller, Carey Nieuwhof, Amy Fenton-Lee and Jeff Henderson. 

Here are some of my take-aways from yesterday’s conference in Dallas:

·         We have 3 possible responses to change: 1) Ignore it and drift nowhere, 2) Hold on and let it drive you where you don’t want to go, 3) Make an adjustment and use it to get where you want to go.

·         Leadership is leveraging change so you can move in the direction you need to go.

·         When you lead change, you decide to make adjustments to present methods for the sake of a sacred mission.

·         Only 25% of our families in America are the traditional mom, dad (who are married to each other) and kids.

·         Children will one day decide what they think about Church based on how the church treats their parents (and vice-versa)

·         We need to be willing to change anything we have to for the sake of the mission.

·         The greatest enemy of your future success is your current success.

·         The audience’s interest is directly tied to the presenter’s preparation

·         We can’t get so accustomed (and caught up) to “Sunday’s Coming” that we forget the POWER of the message.

·         Great leaders think more than they react.

·         If we’re reacting, we’re not leading

·         It’s just as important to know what you are not as knowing what you are.

·         1 Thessalonians 2:8—“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become  so dear to us”

·         The concepts in “Lead Small” are amazing!

·         It’s not our job to make everyone the same.  The Bible says “LOVE your neighbor” NOT change your neighbor

·         You should be packing a student’s (or kid’s) bag the day they enter your ministry.

·         We HAVE to lead in TEAM!

·         The best leaders call out the best in their teams—they don’t just let them slide by.

·         I should always be thinking “What can I do better for my teams to fly?”

·         When making a big change, always start by telling volunteers what they are doing right.

·         Helping kids engage is as easy as dollar store “tools”—there are too many tips I learned here to list!!!!

·         There was no way for Jesus to do what he did without getting messy.  The same applies to us.

·         Jesus didn’t die to make us HAPPY.  He died so we’d be FORGIVEN.

·         Jesus didn’t call us to follow him to safety.  He called us to take up a cross and engage in mission.

·         We have 2 choices:  1) We can protect them or 2) we can engage them.

·         This generation will never understand until they experience.  They won’t love until they serve.

·         When it comes to discipleship, it’s less about how many attend your programs and more about how many engage in the mission.