Orlando Church Planting Conference 2006

So it's our first day of the Orlando Church Planting Conference. 275 church planters, from 32 states and 4 countries, coming together to learn how to better plant gospel-centered, culturally relevant churches. Here are some random thoughts from the first day...Arrived at our hotel at 2 AM and immediately fired Ivy for not writing down the DANG ADDRESS for where we were supposed to go. Seriously!!!!!Hung out at Einstein's Bagels this morning, enjoying some good breakfast food and listening to Gavin and Todd spin the tallest true tale I've ever heard about chasing a tornado, almost getting sucked up in it, and shooting a lame horse. JD called Trevor Carden to confirm the details of the story, since Baker and Gavin have a tendency to get a little 'fuzzy' on the details...Sat in conference meetings from 1 to 4 PM today, learning from some of the wisest leaders in church planting today.At the end of my chapter in The Kingdom of Couches, I wrote that by changing the way we think about church, "we can be on the leading edge of the new reformation." This sentiment was confirmed today by Steve Ogne, who said that "the cultural shift that is taking place right now - and its effect on how we do church - is as significant as the shift from pre-Reformation to post-Reformation thinking."We are sitting in our hotel room discussing right now how what we're doing with Coram Deo might be challenging the whole dominant paradigm of church planting (which tends to think attractionally). We are beginning to dream about what the Coram Deo Church Planting Network might look like. Pray for grand vision from God as we think and dream together.