I don’t even know what to call it, so I’ll call it preacher’s cramp.  I need your help.

The next month of preaching is all lined up, but when it comes to June, I am stuck.  I got amazing ideas on previous blog posts and have a bunch of my own promptings and ideas, but I can’t decide what to preach in the June time slot. For whatever reason, I feel like God is saying this June series is somehow going to be important – as in it needs to address issues people are really facing. And I just want to be obedient. I’m praying, but I’m stuck.  So I turn to you, my friends.

So let me ask you — what’s the most urgent issue in your life and the life of your friends?  What’s the one thing you want addressed before the summer hits in full force?  Tell me, please. Your answer may indeed help me figure out where God wants this to go in June. 

I’m in Atlanta for a few mores days. Tomorrow, almost 2500 more leaders gather for Drive at North Point Community Church.  That’s after 3700 leaders gathered last week for Orange.  I am humbled and amazed by how many American (and global) church leaders are tracking what’s happening at Connexus back home.  Hundreds of people have told me they’re tracked us, been on line to listen in and more.  So many said they are praying for us.  Amazing. I don’t even bring it up.  They just tell me.  Connexus, I wish you were here to witness those conversations.

I checked the stats on our Connexus website the other day and was a bit shocked at what I saw using Google Analytics. Adjusted to accommodate the size of our countries, twice as many Americans per capita visit Connexus online as Canadians. Isn’t it amazing to know we are being cheered on and lifted up in prayer by people who might never visit us (although so many indicate they want to make the trip!).

This week, leaders from many countries will gather at Drive. Last week, I spent time with church leaders from South Africa and met other leaders from New Zealand and leaders who work in Africa and elsewhere.

So here’s what I’m asking you to do this week.  Can you pray for countries?  Pray for those where sharing faith is harder. Please do pray for Canada, that God would ignite a huge movement that would see millions more discover what a growing relationship with Jesus means. Also pray for our friends in Africa (I had three emails this week alone from Connexus people investing in mission in Africa), for our friends all over the world who are persevering in the name of Jesus under intense circumstances.

We are all part of something so much bigger than ourselves.  God is showing up all over the planet, and we are being cheered on and prayed for by people all over the place.  Let’s return the favour.

Just said goodbye to my wife Toni a few hours ago as she flies home to reconnect as mom with our boys and back into our world at home.  I’m here for a few more days until the Drive Conference wraps up.

It’s been a full year since Toni and I have have gotten away together for a vacation with just the two of us.  As we were driving around Atlanta yesterday it just kind of dawned on us: these eight days together have been the longest the two of us have been away together since we had kids, which in our case is 16 years. While we’re both crazy about our boys and love our home community, I can’t tell you how good it was for us to get away together.  I’m so grateful my parents were willing to move in and do life with our guys for a week so Toni could come with me! 

It made the Orange Conference so much more meaningful for me.  We had a few days to hang out and go hiking (one of her favourite things) in the North Georgia mountains, and a few days to hang out with some of our Atlanta friends. 

The one thing these eight days gave us as a couple was margin. Yeah, I had a bunch of talks to do, but we actually had several days where our huge agenda for the day was NOTHING.  It was great.  We got to talk about things we don’t usually have time to talk about thing.  And we did this really novel thing: we just enjoyed being together without the pressures that usually arise when we’re at home.  It moved us well beyond the place of surviving (which is what life can feel like sometimes) and into a place of thriving.

As I was driving her to the airport, we realized how important our date nights are (usually just a few hours out for coffee, a bike ride or dinner).  We saw so clearly how important it is for us to get away with just the two of us even in small snippets.   

I know life is crazy (and not everyone has parents nearby willing to help), but even applied to your context, here’s my question: what kind of margin are you making to nurture the most important relationships in your life?

First of all, hi to everyone home at Connexus! Miss you guys (not to mention missing my kids!).  You’ve heard us talk a lot about Orange. I imagine people wonder: why would almost 4000 people leave home to attend a conference in Atlanta?  Just to get inspired?  Nope. It’s way bigger than that.

Orange is about helping church leaders to work together with parents to raise our kids morally and spiritually.  I also think it’s a huge front door that God is opening into communities world wide.  Think about it:  the average parent who doesn’t go to church rarely lies awake at night wondering what a lead pastor is going to speak about next, but the average parent who doesn’t go to church lies awake at night wondering whether their kids are going to be okay.  If we come alongside parents and simply say "we care about the same things you do", it opens conversations that might never happen otherwise.

It’s what makes me so thrilled to be part of Connexus at home, and so excited to see thousands of church leaders catch a vision for what could be as we partner with parents to help their kids become everything God dreams of us being.

This is more than a conference…it feels much more like a movement. 

Orangeologists…what potential do you see?