Influencers Conference 2011

Hi Leaders / Church
Dr Samual Chand called this session 'Transitions - In the meantime' This was the Leadership selective session. (very summarised as he spoke for 1 hour) Enjoy.

Leadership involves change he asked the question;
"Have you outgrown the place you are in?" Its important that you handle the 'meantime' of your life well.

Ambiguity in life leads us into a 'fog' and this can be a dangerous place. Its important we emerge with a clear direction for our lives / clear understanding of who we are in God and where we are going in God.

Some of the dangers of the meantime:
Complacency       not being aware of the timing & seasons of life.
Distraction             the tyranny of the urgent over the necessary
Frustration             letting negative emotions eat us up & rule our spirit
Competition           thinking that we are competing vs complementing each other
Doubt                      allowing unbelief to rob us of our future blessing

Dr Chand gives us a formula for success:

Preparation + opportunity = success

As leaders he advised us to continue our growth and preparation at all times / God will bring the opportunity so we can trust him in the 'meantimes' of life.

He suggested that every leader should go through a radical reinvention of themselves every 10 years. This may involve a brutal self & peer assessment / commitment to change / re consecration to God. 
He spoke about our relationships in life as being primary, as leaders can get fixated on task / goals and neglect the very thing that is most important PEOPLE & RELATIONSHIPS

He says leaders should always be cultivating new relationships and maintaining existing ones:
Dr Chands suggestions for the 'open' leader

• Send emails / SMS / letters / cards to people
• Be open to the 'lobby' or random encounter

He recounted the stories of Joseph, King David, Elisha & Jesus who handled their meantime well and came into the destiny that God had planned for them.

May God bless you and strengthen you to do your 'meantime' well!
Ps Rhett

Influencers Conference 2011

Hi Leaders / participants /any one that cares!


In this session Jane Evans told the hilarious story of her attempts to be a little more 'adventurous' with her husband Ps Ashley. She recounted the 'parking incident' where she convinced her husband to go parking with her one night - against his better judgement - they parked in a primary school car park and, well ahem - got into the back seat! a little while later a police car pulls up behind them and orders them out of the car (I don't think either of them was in any state to be seen publicly) The police officers informed them that they were trespassing and that there had been break ins recently at this School! (We fell about laughing at this stage of the story) Anyway the next question was "So what do you do for employment?" They had to tell them that they were Pastors of a local Church! 'But its alright Officer blurts out Jane - we're married!"


They were doing the right thing - just in the wrong place! This was the premise for her message about the Christian life and doing the right things, outwardly - but being in the wrong place spiritually, i.e. serving, ministering, functioning from a place of fear, bitterness, resentment, ego or regret.


She spoke about 'changing the place you walk' walking closer to the 'middle' of God's word, and closeness to the Spirit.


Abraham walked in the flesh, and an 'Ishmael' was birthed that was the cause of much trouble to the Jewish nation (and still are!) Because there is a child of promise & a child of the flesh, when it comes to the product of our decisions and choices. We don't want to have to deal with a flesh-child running amok in our life, due to a poor decision made at a critical moment. We would rather the placid child of promise playing nicely in the corner wouldn't we? Saying in the spirit / walking in the spirit will help us to operate from the Spirit and will guide us to wisdom in life. Remember Jesus said "Wisdom is justified by its children?" remember this when you come across a delinquent child! say to yourself "Must make better decisions!"


Jane observed that Jesus cast out demons in Mark from a position of authority that was a result of his relationship with the Father, a robust faith and the discipline of Prayer & Fasting. The disciples were incapable of dealing with this situation because they were insufficiently prepared / not operating from the right position.


Advice to parents:

• Change your position & perspective
• We are the right parents for the children God has given us.
• Sometimes we can be financially miss-positioned - this causes pressure on family life
• Be relationally aligned with your children

By changing ourselves and aligning with God we can be in a position to influence and change others.


This was a great session & I loved Jane's ability to share their journey with honesty & humour.


That's all this week - (The only parking I'm doing from now on is in front of Big W / in broad day light!)
Ps Rhett

Influencers 2011 Conference notes

Hi leaders / Church family,
In the introduction to this session Ps Ashley Evens made the statement that "the ability to get through life is dependant on our partnerships" I agree! We were never meant to live an isolated life, as Paul said "we are members one of the other"  There is a vital connection within the body of Christ not only with the Savior but with each other. You need me & I need you - to achieve our personal & corporate potential.

Dr Dollar spoke on "Walking in the light" - 1 John 5 he said we often take the 'cheaper' over the 'deeper' when it comes to our God experience.

Again Creflo said to ministers "Be satisfied with your portion" - I guess its easy to fall into the sin of comparison when it comes to leaders and ministries! O - it would be great to be him / be in that church / have that exposure / fly in my corporate jet / on & on it goes! The reality is that God has assigned us all a 'portion' and a 'cup' - if we can't be satisfied with that now - we won't be with any one else's in the future.

We need to say what God says about sin:
Ps 51 "Against you and you alone have I sinned and done this evil in your sight"
Three definitions of sin:
1. Sin (Gr Harmartia) A missing of the mark
2. Transgression - usually against someone; First God then man (as in the scripture)
3. Iniquity - Generational sin, passed down from sins of the fathers.

Gods shows mercy to thousands & thousands of those who love him and keep his commands, but a curse is on those who sin to the third & fourth generations. Besetting sins are usually those issues that are passed over from generation to generation. i.e gambling / immorality / drunkenness / theft etc.

Dr Dollar explained we are born of 'incoruptable seed' - therefore the hold that sin has on us in all these three areas is broken, and we can now inherit the 'blessing' God has for us by faith & obedience. Its time to be free form sin! Some scriptures that Creflo used were:

Ps 119:133 "Direct my steps by your word, do not let any sin dominate me"  obedience to the word ends the dominion of sin over us.

Nu 16:5 "The LORD knows those who are his" God is not fooled by religious activity or posturing.

PS 18:23 "I kept myself from sinning" The importance of our self-control & decisions.
To the world our message should be "be saved!"
To the church our message should be "Be renewed!"

Gal 5:16 "Walk in the Spirit & you will not fullfill the lusts of the flesh."

Rom 8:5 "Set their minds on the Spirit" or a mindset towards God.

A mind on the flesh is death (eventually leads to death because the flesh cannot be redeemed)
A mind on the Spirit is life & peace because it is the Spirit that is saved and eternal
Therefore Rom 12:1-2 is our flagship scripture: "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
Thinking ---> words ---> feelings ---> decisions ---> actions ---> habits ---> character ---> destiny
This is the anatomy of life according to Dr Dollar so if we can change our though life to line up with God's word we can change our destiny and enjoy peace & success in the Christian life.

Good advice I feel! Now lets go and DO IT! No really! pick up that bible and read...Gen 1:1 "in the beginning was God..."
Ps Rhett

RANDOMS: Getting your self out of trouble!

I had a bit of a scare the other day as my daughter was involved in an incident down the beach. She and her friends had decided to go swimming in the afternoon during the large swell pulse that was a result of the Cyclone. Swimming conditions were not favourable and soon they were caught in a rip. Unable to fight the strong current they had to be rescued and brought to shore.

You know in our lives we can make 'spontaineous' decisions that seem like a good idea at the time! but conditions are conspiring around us that can be treacherous if not navigated carefully. Sometimes our impulsive actions pay off for us or have no immediate consequences - at other times they can be disastrous! This time around things worked out well and they were safe.

Thank goodness we have others around us; even strangers at times that are looking on and thinking 'They need saving!" and are willing to intervene. This is also a picture of our lives without God, thoughtlessly we enter the ocean of sin and begin to wade in its cool waters only to be lured deeper out of our depth and swept up in a current we have no power to resist. Christ is the strong man who rescues us spiritually and brings us back onto the shore of salvation. Are we drowning or just waving? desperation is a great motivator!

I encourage you all to raise a hand to Christ if you haven't already and be saved.
I'm glad that there was people around my daughter & her friends that saw the danger and acted promptly.
Ps Rhett

Influencers 2011 Conference notes

Well this was the first time I heard Dr Creflo Dollar he ministered from Gal 5:16 about 'walking in the spirit'

Dr Dollar took us on a great scriptural journey (which I appreciated, as his message was very connected to the bedrock of the word)
He called us to see that walking in the spirit is actually adopting the 'mindset' of the word as Romans 8 shows us. We get very hung up on not doing the 'donts' of scripture, but neglect doing the 'dos' of the word! - a great point - perhaps victory would be more quickly achieved if we were more actively obedient, in conjunction with our avoidance of sin.
Dr Dollar spoke about becoming a 'spiritual intellect' and using our knowing for practical living in other words spiritual wisdom = practical application of spiritual truth.

Christian progress, spiritual growth & success are rooted in the 'renewing of our minds'; as ministers and leaders he encouraged us to be at the forefront of this and continuously submitted to Godly mind transformation. The Christian disciples of prayer, reading & study, giving, fasting, service, Etc are difficult, but produce the type of transformation that God is looking for.

Are we willing to 'exchange' our thoughts for God's thoughts - he discussed the principle of 'exchange' as a spiritual law. Rom 8:5 "to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life & peace."

"Be satisfied with your portion" Dr Creflo Dollar. Seemed a bit random, but I guess it was a word for God for many (including me!)

Creflo took us on a journey through the story of the prodigal son:

"Father give me" ..."my inheritance"  Son was self centered and indulgent he THOUGHT that his needs/wants were primary! But when he came to himself in his THINKING he changed his actions & behaviour and returned to his Fathers house. His salvation was begun by a change in his thinking. Rom 12:1-2 Discovery of the will of God is begun by surrender and mind renewal.

Ezekiel 18:30 "Therefore REPENT & turn yourself...put away"
Matt 4:17 "REPENT because the Kingdom of God is at hand."

Changing our thoughts and focusing on the heavenly - 'fits' us for the earthly!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds"

Strongholds are mental constructs that resist or contradict the word & will of God. Dr Dollar described them as habits, addictions & restraining mindsets that imprison us. Victory in our lives begins with destroying this 'stinkin thinkin' & replacing it with the word of God.

Stay tuned for more session notes to come! Change your mind change your life!

Ps Rhett