Neil Cole shares with us about mentoring and Organic Leadership at Student CPx: Concentrate is Las Vegas in 2009. Neil has been a true Spiritual Father to this movement of lay/student church planters…Enjoy.

“Church Multiplication Associates” (Neil Cole’s Org.) will be hosting Greenhouse: Story 1 – Student Edition, on UCLA’s campus in November. Students from “Passion Church” UCLA (Catalyzed by Jaeson Ma) are playing a key role in hosting this event. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in making reproducing disciples to see new communities of faith birthed as a result. CMA has played a key role in the spread of lay-led communities of faith all over the country and world. Neil, founder of CMA, has served as a Spiritual Father to us here at Intentional Gatherings, & many students who have planted student churches after going through our Student CPx Training. Neil also teaches at our SCPx’s. He will be teaching at this UCLA Greenhouse in November. The cost is only $35! If you’re in the LA area you will want to take advantage of this opportunity! Details below…

Greenhouse Intensive Training: Story 1

November 20-22, 2009

Location:
UCLA in Kinsey Room 1220B

Schedule:
Friday 6:00–9:30 pm
Saturday 8:30 am-9:30 pm
Sunday 8:30am–12:00 pm
(continental breakfast provided Sat & Sun!)

Trainers:
Neil Cole and friends

Local Coordinator: Myles Hamby email

More details on Facebook Event Page

This training is being underwritten so it costs only $35!

Online Registration Closes Nov 15
>>Register Now

Here’s some fun testimonies from students who are living out the Gospel, making disciples, and starting student churches in PA. It’s pretty short, but VERY encouraging. Enjoy…

Erik Fish brought a fresh word on Evangelism to the everyone at Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas in 2009. Enjoy…

{Sorry it’s taken me so long to pick back up with this last part of the “Removing Ignorance” posts regarding Muslims. I hope they have been enlightening thus far, and I hope this post is equally as challenging…it challenged me as I wrote…}

Do we as Christians avoid those of other faiths because we are afraid of them? Are we too insecure in our own faith to engage in dialogue with them? It seems that we are afraid that we might find out we are wrong or something. So, we simply choose to stay away from people who are different from us; they “threaten us”, right? I know that many people reading this feel uncomfortable at the mere thought of sitting at a table with a Muslim, listening to what they think/believe about Allah.

Do we not believe that the Gospel is also for Muslims? Can Christ’s blood cover over their sins as well? (If we’re “measuring” things here you’d probably find they have “less sin” than we do…chew on that) Is grace for “them”? If so, then how are we living our lives in such a way to prove that? How many Muslim friends, or friends of another faith do you have? Be they Mormon, Hindu, Muslim, etc. The truth is that most of us are uncomfortable being around those who are different from us. Whether it be moms who choose not to be around other moms who “mother” differently, or guys who are into sports not wanting to be around “nerds” who enjoy building computers, we all seem to migrate towards those who are just like us.

As Christians in America we have chosen our primary method of “reaching the lost” being a weekly church service that we can invite these “other people” to. Guys, when was the last time you know of a Muslim visiting your church? I don’t care what kind of church it is; you can probably not recall such a time. How will the Great Commission be fulfilled, and the nations reached if we expect the nations to come into our churches when it is obvious they will not do so?

Again, I think it’s time we each got out of our bubbles, and made friends with some people who are different from us…

Before my trip to DC a few weeks ago I visited a Mosque here in Vegas, and met some friendly Muslim men from Morocco. It was an interesting experience. They were THRILLED that I was there inquiring about Islam. They even gave me an evangelistic track about Islam. Seriously! It was as if I was the first non-Muslim to ever step foot on their property. They were excited, and desired for me to know about their faith in Allah through the Prophet Muhammad. (It was just as shocking for ME to go the THEIR “church” as it would be for THEM to come to MY “church”) They invited me, and my family back for one of the prayer times later that week. We haven’t gone yet, but probably will very soon.

So much of the experience reminded me of how we do things as Christians…the Mosque was a HUGE and beautifully crafted peace of architecture. People gather to this “sacred” place to worship and pray. (Muslims do seem to get a little better use out of their buildings than us Christians, though. They use it several times/day every day of the week) I was greeted by Muslim men who handed me tracks, and shared how “happy” Islam would make me. I was invited back to a service later in the week. They both seemed uncomfortable sharing what exactly it was that would “make me happy”, & decided it would be easier to hand me the literature & invite me to a service instead. I could go on and on…

Guys, think about it. How often have you visited a mosque, temple, synagogue, etc. if ever? Then what in the name of Jesus makes us think people of other faiths will visit our churches? We must take the Gospel to the world.

I encourage you all to make it a priority to pursue a relationship with someone who is very different from you. You will probably be uncomfortable, but will learn a lot. Watch as the Gospel of Jesus infiltrates that relationship (as you allow it to). You may get to see a life transformed…

Brian brings fresh teaching to the students at SCPx in Vegas in 2009

I had the pleasure of kicking off Student CPx: Concentrate in Vegas with a bit of the history of how SCPx was birthed, and the desire to see students equipped to live out the Great Commission on their campuses & in their neighborhoods…

To see a bit more of what took place at SCPx: Concentrate in Vegas Click Here to watch some student Baptisms that took place & Click Here to hear from some students about what it means to make disciples/start new faith communities in their context.

I know what you’re thinking…”that’s way too much work, exhausting, & I never make any money.” However, after this past weekend we weren’t really concerned with making money (Although we did raise lots of money for “Stop Child Trafficking Now“!), or having to put work into it. We learned that putting together a neighborhood yard sale might just be one of the BEST ways to meet neighbors, start new relationships, & build a sense of community within your neighborhood. Yes, it was a lot of work. Yes, most people didn’t make much money. But, we all met tons of new people, and are hoping that some wonderful relationships will be the result…

The Simple/Organic Church we started here in the neighborhood came together to organize and host the yard sale. Our goal was to get people out of their houses to meet one another, get the word out about the neighborhood potluck dinner in the club house every month, and raise money/awareness for “Stop Child Trafficking Now”. All of the above were accomplished with great success!

We bought hot dogs, chips, and drinks for lunch. It was fee, but we asked for donations for “SCTNow”. Some little kids in the hood set up a lemonade stand. It was a wonderful time. My neighbor John “manned” the grill for us, and served his butt off voluntarily the entire weekend. Others learned about the child trafficking that occurs in our city, and will be joining us on Halloween to hand out little toys with “SCTNow” facts attached to them.

If you don’t know your neighbors, and the thought of taking fresh baked cookies to their front door scares the hell out of you…then organize a community wide yard sale! Watch what happens…

I will continue part 3 of the “Removing Ignorance” and “Removing [More] Ignorance” posts next week. However, for now I will be posting some video teachings from Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas back in January of 2009. They are in no particular order, but I feel you will find them to be a blessing to you wherever you’re at. We’ll have teachings from Brian Orme, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, Neil Cole, and maybe one from…me? =) This particular teaching is by my friend Brian Orme who joined us in Vegas, as well as Austin Student CPx this past August. Enjoy…

Student CPx: Concentrate – Las Vegas, NV 2009

We just arrived back from a 4 day planning trip in Pittsburgh, PA. 9 adults and 13 kids piled into one house for the weekend as we brainstormed, dreamed, and made plans for Student CPx stuff in 2010…

(Snow family, Fish family, McKoy family, Chang family, Pam Arlund)

Most of you know about the Student CPx training experiences we host along with several other partnering organizations. Five families make up the SCPx National Elder Team. We host the training experiences in various cities all over the world, with an upcoming SCPx in Costa Rica & our Student Church National Gathering in St. Louis in January. Intentional Gatherings is so blessed to a part of such an incredible team of like-minded brothers & sisters.

We had an incredible time of relationship building & planning for 2010. We have some exciting things in the works for this next year. We made plans for SCPx Training in several cities including Austin. We also developed a plan to visit 12 cities from Jan. 2010 – March 2010 for what we’re calling “iSCPx” (Intro to StudentCPx) where we will meet with students who have heard about the experience, & are interested in learning more about it. The weekend was incredibly productive & fruitful. Not to mention we got to spend some sweet time with some wonderful families who we don’t get to see very often…

View of the lake from the back porch of the house we stayed in. The leaves were changing & it was delicious.

(Olivia Fish, Eliza Snow, Hudson Fish, Graham Fish – SO Cute)

(The kitchen where food was prepped for 5 families-thanks Michelle & Jen!)

(Tried to get a shot of all the kids…apparently Hudson wasn’t in the mood for a photo shoot!=)

(Our little chunky monkey who’s 3 months old and pushin’ 20 pounds!)

We had a blast, and got a lot done. I can’t wait to reveal more details about the upcoming National Gathering, “iSCPx” 12 city plan, and the full length SCPx training experiences that will be hosted in 2010! Stay tuned…

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