verbal snapshots from the a29 bootcamp

Well, the church planters bootcamp is over and life will return to normal. Before we had a church, we had dates on the calendar to host an Acts 29 bootcamp www.acts29network.org . And so, for the last year, this has been on my mind. For the last few months, this has been on my weekly to do list in some form. And for the last few weeks, it has felt like I was eating, sleeping and breathing bootcamp. And now, it's over.

Here are few verbal snapshots that stick out.

Monday October 16th--running around like crazy trying to finish those last few things.

Tuesday morning 9:00AM--All the prepwork is done. Registration has gone well. I stand at the back of Rev. Hall staring out at roughly 150 people engaging in worship as Scott Womer leads this congregation that has never been together before and in 36 hours time, will never be together again. I get that lumpy throat thing as I feel that healthy type of pride, and all I can say is "Thankyou God--This is for you". Seconds later, I over hear one of Acts 29's leading pastors say to a guy he brought with him "Man, these guys are so cool--we could really learn a lot from them". Suddenly, that healthy type of pride switches to that sinful type of pride as I revel in the knowledge that a pastor from a church 8 times the size Terra Nova feels like he could learn a lot from us. I quickly confess that sin, but there is a part of me that can't get past the fact that the band really did sound awesome.

Wednesday evening, dinner time--As I walk past Brown's Brewing, Jose Malone's, and Ryan's Wake Pub, I see each restaurant packed with people from the bootcamp having dinner and drinking a beer without fear of being seen drinking a beer. The thought strikes that some of these people are making new friendships that will carry on at some level for a lifetime. I see others sitting around the bar, like the speakers and those doing assessments of future church planters just so happy to be together again. There is this brotherhood among A29 pastors that I have just never seen anywhere else. There is a clear sense that we share a mission and philosophy.

Thursday, daytime--This is the day for assessments. Guys who want to plant churches and have gone through the rigorous process leading up to this point are finally sitting in a room face to face with a few pastors wondering if they will make the cut. For me, as an assessor, there is a somber seriousness to the whole thing. There is a great deal at steak here: human resources, financial resources, marriages will be tested, lives may or may not be changed, churches will form, some will last and others will not. This takes a great deal of concentration and emotional commitment and it is draining to say the least, and yet, I love it.

Thursday, nighttime--Time to party. It is a tradition at all a29 bootcamps to finish the day of assessment with a big bash to thank everyone for their hard work (all donated as no one gets paid). Speakers, assessors, a29 staff and wives fill up the upper room of Elda's on Lark as Acts 29's head office buys us all a great dinner. Later on, several of us retire to the deck outside as a few of the guys enjoy a good cigar, good conversation and the night air.

It is done. It has been good, and God has been glorified in everything from the intense teaching sessions to the even more intense assessments, to the relaxed atmosphere of a deck on lark st. smoking cigars with friends.

pt

Ok, I get it.

I'm going to level with you here. I really don't care for this blogging stuff. It's like taking the trash out every week. I really don't want to take the trash out every week, so I typically wait until late wendesday night when I'm really tired and I really don't want to go around the house and empty the two bathroom trash cans and the one in the office and the one in the kitchen, and the diaper pail. So, with a certain amount of protest, I do this lame, weekly chore of collecting all the trash, bringing it out to the garage, rolling out the big green dumpster and going to bed. Occasionally I forget to do that. Sometime I wake up early enough to still get the trash out before the truck comes. Sometimes I miss it and we end up with an overflowing dumpster the next week.

Back to blogging--I used to treat this like the weekly trash chore. I really didn't want to do it, but I would try to do it anyway. I'd search around trying to find something to mention. A tv show, a cd I like, some random thought. But to be honest with you, it's a chore that I'd rather not need to do, unless something really strikes me as worth writing about.

So, my last post was from 8/24 and it was about astroturf. Initially, there were a couple of comments. Then, in the last few days--I get a ton of comments from the same people. I'm pretty sure I get the point . . . time to update the blog. Well, I'm not going to do it! So there. I guess this technically counts as an update, but you get the point. When I have something I feel like mentioning, I'll blog again. Scott--go write a song. Patty, go teach someone. Rob, go fix a car.

pt

Ok, I get it.

I'm going to level with you here. I really don't care for this blogging stuff. It's like taking the trash out every week. I really don't want to take the trash out every week, so I typically wait until late wendesday night when I'm really tired and I really don't want to go around the house and empty the two bathroom trash cans and the one in the office and the one in the kitchen, and the diaper pail. So, with a certain amount of protest, I do this lame, weekly chore of collecting all the trash, bringing it out to the garage, rolling out the big green dumpster and going to bed. Occasionally I forget to do that. Sometime I wake up early enough to still get the trash out before the truck comes. Sometimes I miss it and we end up with an overflowing dumpster the next week.

Back to blogging--I used to treat this like the weekly trash chore. I really didn't want to do it, but I would try to do it anyway. I'd search around trying to find something to mention. A tv show, a cd I like, some random thought. But to be honest with you, it's a chore that I'd rather not need to do, unless something really strikes me as worth writing about.

So, my last post was from 8/24 and it was about astroturf. Initially, there were a couple of comments. Then, in the last few days--I get a ton of comments from the same people. I'm pretty sure I get the point . . . time to update the blog. Well, I'm not going to do it! So there. I guess this technically counts as an update, but you get the point. When I have something I feel like mentioning, I'll blog again. Scott--go write a song. Patty, go teach someone. Rob, go fix a car.

pt