Leadership on Fire

May 7, 2008 in Current News,Mission,North Point with 6 Comments

So Andy Stanley went a little crazy during the last session of Drive, dumped his planned talk and spoke almost off the cuff (this isn’t terribly typical for Andy, who writes his messages three weeks ahead of time).  Man, I’m so glad he did.  Did he bring it. 

Some quotes:

  • If we are going to reach people on one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing. Andy borrowed this from Craig Groeschel, but man did it resonate.
  • Focus on the people you want to reach, not the people you want to keep.  Here, Andy was quoting his long time friend and associate Reggie Joiner, whose heart for the family and for a prodigal generation is enormous. If church leaders could get this, we’d be living in a different reality.
  • When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.  What else do you need to say? Church life sometimes feels like its 90% nostalgia, not 90% vision.
  • The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.  You can fight the next generation of leaders, or you can fund them.

Hey Connexus
- Andy’s talk made me so proud to be your pastor.  You are BOLD. 

This journey has only started.  So many of you have sacrificed so much for the next generation.  Meeting where we meet, doing what we do, radically
building into other peoples’ lives, welcoming people like tattoo artists with open arms. Using the culture to reach the culture.  Praying like crazy.  I love being on this team.  Keep it
comin’.

About Carey Nieuwhof: Carey Nieuwhof is lead pastor of Connexus Community Church and author of the best selling books, Leading Change Without Losing It and Parenting Beyond Your Capacity. Carey speaks to North American and global church leaders about change, leadership, and parenting.

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  • http://www.careynieuwhof.com Carey

    Okay – blooper of the month. Maybe the year. I wrote this post sitting in an airport yesterday and here's what I originally wrote:

    "Andy…dumped his original talk and spoke from his heart (this isn't typical for Andy, who usually writes his messages three weeks in advance.)

    Ummm…that's just bonehead on my part.

    As far as I can tell, Andy always speaks from his heart. (Contrary to what some people believe, the Holy Spirit can be very present in carefully planned messages and services). What I meant to say is that Andy spoke more off the cuff.

    There were like 130 people who read this post overnight before I fixed it. Sorry. It's fixed now.

    Sorry Andy.

    If I ever speak from my heart in the future, I'll be sure to alert you. In the meantime, Andy really does speak from his – a lot.

  • http://joshtalks.com josh roberts

    Thanks for the post. I visit the blog daily. You provide great insight and challenge me as a leader.

  • http://www.careynieuwhof.com Carey

    Hi Josh. Thanks! I love that leaders from all over are connecting with the people right here at Connexus and the wider church in this community. The dynamic really energizes me. Thanks for being a part of it.

  • http://www.thebassman.ca Tim L. Walker

    Yeah… wow. Andy's 3rd message was amazing, wasn't it? I think that message is one that EVERY church leader needs to hear… download it to the ipod, and just loop it on the commute to work. That was such an insightful, powerful, truth-filled message. So simple, yet so true. Bang on.

  • EM

    Is the message available for download, for those who did not attend in person?

  • http://blog.faith20.org John Alan Turner

    Carey,
    I had dinner with my folks Saturday night and mentioned Andy's message to my dad. Before I knew what was happening, he whipped out a notepad and a pen and asked for the five quotes again.

    Here's a guy who's got more than four decades in ministry, writing this stuff down b/c he's still bothered by the brokenness of the world and wondering how the church can address that brokenness more effectively.

    BTW, when you land on your June series, I'd love to see your thoughts. I just finished plotting out the first year of sermons for River Park, and I've got one called "Dealing w/ Doubt". Maybe we could share some notes.