Tomorrow, the Renovare Interanational Conference is kicking off in San Antonio, and I will be there. For those of you that are not familiar with Renovare, they are an organization, started by Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline), that focuses on Spiritual formation. In other words, they help believers grow in their pursuit of Christ, especially in prayer, meditation of the Scripture, and other spiritual disciplines. These guys have had a huge impact on me in the last year. In fact, the things I learned at the last Renovare Conference were foundational for the starting of EXAMEN.me.
The keynotes of the conference are Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Ortberg and many others. I am excited to see what God does in my heart.
I will try to update the blog as we move though the conference, but I am assuming I will have limited access to the interwebs. So, make sure you follow me on twitter to catch the updates.
If you are going, I would love to connect. You can contact me through the contact page or through twitter.
When my kids go crazy and decide to challenge everything I say, throw fits, and do things their own way, here is the process I go through.
Oh no you didn’t.
Frustration
Develop a plan to eliminate the negative behavior – still very frustrated.
Realize that I rebel against God just as much or more than they rebel against me. I challenge everything he says, throw fits, and do things my own way.
Humbled and regain patience.
My kids and my wife are gifts from God that constantly reveal that I am broke and in desperate need of a saviour.
Working with Bob Roberts means that you get nuggets of wisdom all the time.
A few years back I remember him saying, “Most people spend all their time and energy trying to find a way to get to the table of influence and power. Don’t worry about the table. Sweep the streets and do it with excellence. You will eventually be asked to come to the table.”
Bob’s advice has been true in my life. It turns out, it is also biblical.
Luke 19:17 - And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
It is can be difficult while you are sweeping the streets to not get distracted with all those around you are moving up to the table. Keep sweeping. Our Father, the the most influential person at the table, is looking down to and is eager to reward faithful workers in his kingdom.
Yesterday was an incredible day at NorthWood. We have been implementing what we are calling the “Time of Obedience” for the last two months. It finally feels like we are getting close to the sweet spot.
The Time of Obedience is where at the end of the service, we are giving time and space to let people respond to what God has been speaking to them. We have Alter ministers positioned in 4 places around the room to lead someone to Christ and pray for them, we open the altar for people to come pray by themselves or as a family, we have cards for people to sit and write what God has been doing in their lives, we sing, and yesterday we took communion. It is controlled chaos, but our people are responding to God, and I could not be happier!
There are two areas of my life God has been working on. The constant message over both of these areas is “Be strong and courageous.”(Joshua 1:9)
I am usually a confident person, but in these two areas of my life, I have been scared like a boy at a middle school dance. The problem is my fear is starting to hinder my obedience to what I KNOW God has called me to do.
Over the last two days, God has given me the grace to step out with courage and faith in both of these areas. I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that even though I have not arrived, or conquered my fears, I have trusted God and stepped when he said to step.
I am thankful for baby steps, and asking for grace to keep going.
One of the best books I read in 2008 was Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin. Quite frankly, it was 1 of 3 books that created the perfect storm that helped me gear up to release EXAMEN.me.
If you haven’t read the book, or don’t intend to, make sure you check out this video, a 20 minute TED talk summarizing the book..
Do you take Jesus literally when he says “Give to everyone who begs from you…” (Luke 6:30)?
What is your approach when you are sitting at a stop light and someone is begging with a cardboard sign? What do you you when you are walking downtown and get hit up for some change?
Just Curious of your approach, and how you justify your approach.
A few weeks ago we did Cardboard testimonies at NorthWood. The impact was massive for the congregation and those who gave their testimonies on cardboard.
God is Good!
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony… Rev 12:11
EXAMEN.me is a simple-to-use web site, provided by Worshiply, that fosters your personal interaction with God.
EXAMEN.me lets you choose how you want to interact with God by providing guided experiences that will lead you through scripture, prayers, and let you journal your experience.
What are you waiting for? Go create your account today and revolutionize how you interact with God.
About Me
My name is Brent Minter. I am a follower of Christ, husband, father, and a Worship Pastor. My life’s pursuit is to lead others in worship, not just from the stage, but in their personal lives as well. This starts with my smoking-hot wife Kari, and our 3 kids. Then it moves to NorthWood Church in Keller, TX, a truly remarkable place, where I design and lead worship services/experiences. I love the interwebs, any music that has soul, theology, hunting, learning, being the only worship pastor in America who still uses a PC I gave in, and scooters. Those who ...
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Tomorrow, the Renovare Interanational Conference is kicking off in San Antonio, and I will be there. For those of you that are not familiar with Renovare, they are an organization, started by Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline), that focuses on Spiritual formation. In other words, they help believers grow in their pursuit of Christ, especially in prayer, meditation of the Scripture, and other spiritual disciplines. These guys have had a huge impact on me in the last year. In fact, the things I learned at the last Renovare Conference were foundational for the starting of EXAMEN.me.
When my kids go crazy and decide to challenge everything I say, throw fits, and do things their own way, here is the process I go through.
Working with 
I am usually a confident person, but in these two areas of my life, I have been scared like a boy at a middle school dance. The problem is my fear is starting to hinder my obedience to what I KNOW God has called me to do.
Do you take Jesus literally when he says “
