This probably breaks all the rules of conference workshops, but I’m still going to do it.

Tomorrow (Friday) I’m going to be doing two breakout sessions at the Thrive Conference at Bayside Church near Sacramento, CA. Here’s the schedule (and the notes) for each session:

• Breakout B @ 9:00 a.m. – “Finding Your Focus“
• Breakout C @ 2:00 p.m. – “Empowering Leaders“
• Breakout D @ 3:30 p.m. – “Finding Your Focus“

Now that you have my notes, you can attend another workshop without any guilt. If you see something in the notes that intrigues you, though, then feel free to join us for all the fun.

If everything goes as planned, I hope to both challenge and entertain you. Hope to see you at Thrive!

I’m considering a temporary shift in my reading strategy. I read a lot of books on faith, church and leadership. I’m thinking about pushing the pause button for six months on those genres. I might continue reading the Bible and books that stretch my thinking about faith, church and leadership but from a different perspective.

If I do that, what would you recommend?

The newest album from Carlos Whittaker released this week. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the full album, you can do it here for free:

Like what you hear? Then hustle over to iTunes or my Amazon link and download the album.

One more thing, check out what Mike Foster had to share about the new album.

With the update of the mobile version of my blog a few weeks ago, I implemented some new features to better track traffic from mobile devices using Google Analytics. It’s been fascinating. Here’s a chart showing you what types of mobile devices people are using to access my site:

Here are a few quick observations:

• The iDevices (iPhone, iPod, iPad) are obviously cornering the market.
• Android seems to be gaining steam.
• Windows Mobile devices are non-existent.

Microsoft owned desktops for so many years, but it’s amazing to see how little traction they have in the mobile market right now. Wonder if that will change…

Here’s a free spiritual gifts assessment we use for everyone we hire at West Ridge. This is one of several profiles we use to make sure we are hiring the right person for the right role.

I just took the test again today. Here are my top five gifts according to this assessment:

1. Apostle
2. Leadership
3. Administration
4. Discernment
5. Giving

Probably won’t surprise you to learn that “mercy” was near the bottom of the list right above speaking in tongues. (Sorry my charismatic friends.)

How has God wired you? Just curious to know the profile of the folks that are a part of this conversation.

I wanted to give you a quick update on a few different job openings. There are currently two great opportunities here at West Ridge:

• Worship Leader at the current campus
• Media Director on our creative arts team

For both those positions, email me your resume, a cover letter and a link to your online home so we can check out samples of you leading worship or the medias you’ve produced.

Additionally, the Vanderbloemen Search Group just announced a new Executive Pastor position today. This is going to be a great opportunity to serve at a fast-growing church on the east coast. Submit your resume if you’re interested in that role.

A friend of mine asked about the posts I did last year on my theology of leadership. If he was interested, some of you may be interested as well. With that in mind, here are the links to the four posts in that series:

• Part 1 – Overview
• Part 2 – Servant Leadership
• Part 3 – Empowerment
• Part 4 – Character

I’m going to have to go back and read these myself to see if I still agree with what I wrote. In the mean time, what are your thoughts on the theology of leadership?

I can’t express in words how honored I am to serve at West Ridge with Brian Bloye. He’s a great leader and a great friend. Earlier this week at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, he shared some insights from his experience as is relates to maintaining spiritual vitality. The audience was a group of about 200 church planters. Believe it or not this is an important topic for pastors.

Here are the seven categories of spiritual vitality that Brian highlighted with a handful of Bible references for you to review on your own.

1. Healthiness (spiritual, physical and emotional) – 1 Corinthians 3:16
2. Humility – 1 Peter 5:6, James 4:6, Isaiah 42:8
3. Home
4. Happiness – 1 Chronicles 29:11-12
5. Holiness – 2 Corinthians 7:1, Joshua 3:5
6. Honesty – Romans 12:3
7. Hunger – Matthew 5:6, Deuteronomy 4:29

Hope you get to hear Brian teach on this topic at some point. I love hearing his heart.

Francis Chan shared these thoughts in the final session of the Exponential Conference:

> “It has been a crazy week.”

> “I feel like I’m alive again.”

> “Am I going to do whatever He asks me to do right now?”

> “It’s just about being a follower of Jesus.”

> “I just keep thinking about the end. I need to get ready to face God.”

> “We have so many people called to where the rich people are.”

> “There’s this sense in our Christian faith where we should be suffering.”

> “Where is the servant side? When people look at my life, do they see Jesus?”

> “I just want to look at the Bible and have peace.”

> “There’s something about experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit when we’re in danger.”

> “I get scared of His will sometimes.”

> “Are you really at peace with Him?”