Buzz Conference - Friday 29 June 2007 - Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington, DC closed out the Buzz Conference with his final talk.

Mark continued his earlier talk on The Spy Rules:

• Spy Rule #5 - Assume you are under surveillance.
  
  
• people will only be as vulnerable as their leader.
  
  
• the greatest freedom is having nothing to prove.
  
  
• don't be afraid to cry publically (john 11:35)
  
  
• quit trying to be a pastor and start being yourself.
  
  
• #6 - Blend into the Crowd
  
  
• We are to incarnate Christ into our neighborhoods
  
  
• There are 4 potential responses to culture
  
  
• ignore it
• imitate it
• condemn it
• redeem, engage, and create it
  
  
• Jesus didn't hang out at synagogues; he hung out at wells.
• Coffeehouses are the postmodern wells.
  
  
• #7 - Avoid Defensiveness at all Costs
  
  
• it can be detected.
  
  
• stay in the offense
  
  
• The enemy uses guilt and fear to put us on the defensive.
  
  
• When you are criticized, it's easy to spend too much time on defense.
  
  
• Erwin McManus says that we should not let criticism penetrate our hearts unless it's processed through the filter of Scripture.
  
  
• Criticism should be regarded in proportion to the degree to which the criticizer is close to you relationally.
  
  
• Don't allow negativity to take root in your staff or in your church.
  
  
• Start every meeting with sharing wins.
  
  
• You cannot preach out of your discouragement or an angry spirit.
  
  
• #8 - Be Aware of Your Environment at all Times
  
  
• Be a first class noticer of groups and of individuals (e.g. Genesis 40:7 when David notices the dejection of Pharaoh's officials)
  
  
• Read minds and read rooms
  
  
• We grossly underestimate the way that subtle differences in our environment can affect us.
  
  
• When we think of the DoubleTree Hotel, the first thing that we think about are the cookies!
  
  
• What stands out about the Fractured Prune is that when you visit the first time, they offer you a free donut of your choice.
  
  
• Many chapters of the book of Exodus are devoted to the details of the interior design of the Temple.
  
  
• #9 - Never Go Against Your Gut
  
  
• "I'd rather be biblically correct than politically correct."
  
  
• We live in a culture where it's wrong to say, 'It's wrong.'"
  
  
• We need more guts in
  
  
• preaching
• evangelism
• leadership.
  
  
• "The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the difficult decision that you refuse to make."
  
  
• #10 - Don't look back!
  
  
• We need to be casting vision more frequently.,
  
  
• NCC does this in a number of ways
  
  
• Leadership Retreat for all leaders (including Small Group Leaders) at the beginning of the year - paid for by NCC
  
  
• Quarterly Leadership Summits
  
  
• Monthly podcasts
  
  
• Etc.
  
  
• RK Kendall's book The Anointing: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow asks if we are living under the anointing today or are we living on the momentum of yesterday's anointing?
  
  
• If we don't experience an anointing every day, then it's only a matter of time before we become yesterday's man.
  

- Metapost to all Buzz Conference posts

- graphic by kind permission of snaptography