At Innovation3, John Bishop of Living Hope Church (Vancouver, WA) discussed how to have 20/20 vision.

Innovation for the future is less about innovation and more about simplification.

To us, our plans sometimes trump God’s purpose. However, it is God’s purpose will ultimately prevail.

A dangerous church cares less about having a breakthrough idea and more about having a broken heart. God does His best work in our weakness, but we hate weakness.

You have to be listening to the Spirit of the Holy God. You don’t have to candy coat the gospel. People want the truth. The gospel is powerful.

Pray that your church is rid of fears. Let yourself have a broken heart.

We have to be less about competing with each other and more about celebrating each other’s wins. That is when God will release the Holy Spirit in a way that brings revival.

Am I hot, cold, or lukewarm?

Over time you can get indifferent. You can grow hard. You can use people. Be okay to be broken. People matter.

Innovation3, Bob Roberts of NorthWood Church (Keller, TX) discussed how we can catch up with the rest of the world.

There are two core fundamental ways in which movement and transformation take place in the context of society

We know how to help our local church, but we are old school about global ministry. Being missional is more than just doing a couple of projects for the poor.

What does the Great Commission say?
As you are going, make disciples.

How did the early church produce disciples so quickly, yet we take so long? When they make disciples, they abandon themselves to live for Christ. If we could follow Christ today, where would we go? Where it is tame? Or where all hell is breaking loose?

What does it mean to make disciples? When Jesus says make disciples of all nations, what is that all about?

Abraham in Genesis 12 is the ultimate disciple. He was a blessing to all nations.

The lowest common denominator is the disciple.

Gospel > Disciple > Society > the Church emerges

What is the Non-Western Church Like?

1. We focus on the Holy Spirit, and the West is pragmatic.
2. We focus on obedience to the Word of God.
3. There is gratitude towards Abraham for what he did, but there is a focus on Ishmael.
   The Great Commission will not be fulfilled until Muslims come back to Christ.
4. It is an integration of faith, and life, and everything.
5. They is an absence of money that causes us to trust God for everything.

We need to engage the world. God is going to do it with or without you. Your only responsibility is obedience.

At Innovation3, Nancy Ortberg of TeamWorx2 discussed how to be a provocative leader for a dangerous church.

Sustainable innovation is imperative because of the gospel. Innovation should not be because of a gimmick but because the gospel of Christ transforms people. Innovation reminds us that the gospel is always provocative.

What must leaders of dangerous churches do?

#1 :: Manage Tensions

• Infrastructure and Innovation
  You need both, but you must find your balance. Infrastructure stabilizes and supports an organization. Innovators like to create and compel. Change is always two-fold - incremental and exponential.
• Passion and Humility
  Passion without humility takes us in the wrong direction.

#2 :: Have Teamwork

Innovation happens best in teams. Team is the word the world uses for community. An ego in check says I will put people on the team who are better than me. There is a magic of being on a team that is wired to do what God has called them to do.

What are the behavioral values that are necessary to set a culture of innovation?

Values inflict pain. They cause you to slow down and think about what you do.

#1 :: Learn to be a great question asker.

#2 :: Embrace risk.

Realize that risk comes with failure. What risks have you taken in the last six months that have failed and what have you learned from them? If you are innovating, you should have just as long a list of failures as you have a list of successes. Fear is the biggest thing that stands in the way of risk. The best way to get rid of fear is to increase curiosity. Fear and curiosity do not coexist.

#3 :: Collaborate.

Do not have silos in your organization. Learn how to work well together

#4 :: Trust

Needed everyone on the team and communicating that builds trust. Trust is something that is built. You have to do things to intentionally build trust.

At Innovation3, Ed Stetzer discussed what does the dangerous church look like in 2010.

IN CULTURE

The dangerous church over the next few years will have seized economic opportunity. If the current trends continue, some church workers will loose their jobs, and churches will loose money. But more people will come to Christ because in a bad economy they seek God more.

The dangerous church will address sexual brokenness. Homosexuality is an issue that the church must address in the next decade. Most churches don’t know how to address sexual issues of homosexuality, marriage, and other sexual issues in a biblical way.

The dangerous church will wrestle through the issue of gender inclusion. Can women be pastors?

The dangerous church will face increasing intolerance.

IN THINKING & METHODS

The dangerous church will have navigated the post-seeker movement. The dangerous church will have found new ways to reach people for the world.

The dangerous church will have regained confidence in the gospel. They will have clarity and biblical discernment.

The dangerous church will have addressed evangelical confusion. Evangelicalism is a broad term, a broad label.

The dangerous church will have rethought discipleship. Many churches are not making disciples well. Only 16% of Protestant church goers read their Bible daily.

The dangerous church will have worked through denominational catharsis.

The dangerous church will learn how to network will other churches. Networking should be more than interacting with clones of your church.

The dangerous church will innovate.

At Innovation3, Matt Chandler of The Village Church (Highland Village, TX) talked about you (i.e., church pastors, leaders, and teachers).

Many church leaders are divided into two camps - one says the church should be all about engaging culture and one says the church should be about building spiritual depth in community.

Paul tried to train Timothy how to engage culture and how to create spiritual depth in community. you need a balance of both.

1 Timothy 4 lists out 7 ideas to be mindful of…

1. Doctrine matters.
   Getting the gospel right is always primary to everything else. it does not matter the praise given if the worship is wrong.
2. Avoid myths, pursue godliness.
   When all you know about God is learned through someone else’s relationship with God, you cannot truly know him.
3. Don’t be timid.
4. Be the example.
5. Have confidence in the Bible.
   If you do not decide early on that the Bible is the sufficient Word of God, it will not be long before you latch on to the next big idea.
6. Remember the call.
   Remember the call that you received from the Holy Spirit.
7. Keep growing.
   Progressive sanctification is for pastors, too.

At Innovation3, John Jenkins of First Baptist Church of Glenarden (Upper Marlboro, MD) discussed having the courage to change.

Change scares people. And all leaders must face the fact that people don’t like change.

Out of all the kings of Judah, there was none like Hezekiah. God was with him. He was an agent of change. Hezekiah removed the false idols from Judah.

If we continue to do what we have always done, we will never get what we have never had. If the church doesn’t change, we are going to die.

He broke the bronze serpent that Moses had made. Long after what was intended for a brief season, people were still focusing on Moses’ bronze serpent. It took courage to remove it.

The greatest hindrance to a new move of God is the last move of God.

What are the things you are doing actually doing to address the problems you need to solve?

At Innovation3, Dave Gibbons of NewSong Church (Irvine, CA) discussed how our world has changed and is changing but how the church can adapt.

There are new rules being created. Things have changed. How do we navigate the change?

There is hope. The church can find hope in these four things:

1. Bad news is better than no news. Bad news  defines reality. No news still leaves us in a bad economy but without an understanding of our circumstances.
2. Scarcity brings clarity. As things are taken away, we go back to “why do we exist as a church?”
3. Waste less. The landfills are 30% less than they used to be when we were wealthier.
4. When darkness occurs, that is when the church can shine.

Are you adaptable?

When Jesus said love your neighbor, he was not saying love someone like you. He was telling the story of the good samaritan - someone that is not like you.

5 Contrarian Ideas to Focus on:

1. We need to move towards fueling creativity versus just preseerving our current culture.
   When you look at your church, how much of your budget goes towards innovation? We must fuel creativity.
2. Focus on the fringe.
   Typically, our movements have been about focusing on the masses. How can we reach the most people? Instead, focus on the marginalized. Create something different than you. People see God in you when you minister in a way that is against your personal preference.
3. Develop holistic and sustainable approaches rather than simple, quick fixes.
   Think long term. Not 5 years but ten generations. Maybe we are thinking too micro, and we need to think macro.
4. Think Intersections
   Place yourself at the intersection of multiple cultures that will heighten your ability to learn.
5. Seek God and pray.
   There is no way that you can be artful unless you are connected to the Holy Spirit. Learn how to listen to God.

At Innovation3, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) gives 5 reasons for why churches should use a multi-site format.

1. Theological
   Jesus wants us to multiply and expand to make disciples.
2. Missiological
   In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says that he will do all things and use all means to reach people.
3. Historical
   The church networks of the early church
4. Technological
   Technology has given us new opportunities. Seats, pipe organs, printed words, microphones, and multi-site are all “innovations” that have been implemented into the church with resistance at first. All ministry is culturally contextualized, but the question is, “What year?”
5. Practical
   It allows you to get “big” and “small” at the same time. You can improve your production and preaching and consequently grow big without having to sacrifice community and your small groups. The multi-site allows more people to specialize in their areas of ministry.