Mark Batterson did a great job of capturing all the Perry Noble one-liners I missed yesterday because I was doubled over laughing most of the session. Check out the list on Evotional.com.

Mark Beeson spoke the final session of this year’s Innovative Church Conference. Here were some of the highlights from the session.

• Mark told the story of "Neck Man."
• Focus. Lots of people will have plans for your church. You have to learn to say no.
• Get away. Get away with your team. Have honest conversations. Have fun. Renew. Refocus.
• Prioritize. Do what you do best. Empower others to do the rest.
• Kem Meyer and our communications team are phenomenal!
• Mark outlined how we are doing "Focus on Five."
• "Click" was our weekend series to help people "focus on five."

Right after Mark Batterson wrapped up, Perry Noble took the platform. Among other things in his introductory comments, he challenged the pastors in the room to get rid of their pastor’s hair. Then Perry dove right in and challenged church leaders to take action. He started telling the story of NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. I wish I could detail the story for you. I can’t. I was laughing too hard. I couldn’t type. You’ll have to buy the message and hear it for yourself.

He shared four thoughts on how we can impact our communities:

1. Engage — Church should be fun. If the message isn’t empty, we should get excited telling people about it.
2. Enlarge — We want to see the Kingdom of God grow. We’re going to be more concerned with who’s coming in the door than rather than who’s leaving the door. If you target the people no one else wants, you won’t be able to stop the growth of your church.
3. Endure — A church is not effective when a pastor ministers to the people. A church is effective when the body ministers to the body. You’re successful as a pastor when people love Jesus, love others and depend on both…not the pastor.
4. Enable — If God lays something on your heart, you go for it. But your passion is not my burden. We’ll empower them to accomplish what God lays on their heart.

Mark Batterson took the platform first this afternoon. Keeping with the "elephant" theme, Mark pointed out up front that elephants poop 80 pounds a day. He admitted that has nothing to do with anything, but thought we needed to know that as Innovative Church Conference participants.

Mark suggested the cure for the fear of failure is not success. The cure is small failures along the way. You become immune to failure and are willing to take more risks. He then shared some of his journey that included a church plant failure and a struggle launching National Community Church in Washington, D.C.

Then he talked about how God opened doors for the church to begin meeting in Union Station, just four blocks from the Capitol. That led to a vision of meeting in metro stops throughout the DC region. They currently meet in two locations and with a third metro stop coming. Additionally, they have a coffee house just half a block from Union Station. In addition to being a gathering place on Capitol Hill, it’s the location for their Saturday evening service.

After telling a little bit about his story, Mark challenged us with this statement. He said, "There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of." He talked about how part of our responsibility is to "compel people to come in." He explained, among other things, that means his church is using the movie screens more and more to teach biblical truth. And, they’re teaching less from behind the pulpit and more on location…using video.

Mark shared that he’s rethinking ministry. He mentioned blogging and podcasting as new vehicles for sharing the Word of God. He likened it to the ministry of John Wesley and his circuit riders.

In conclusion, Mark encouraged us with these thoughts:

1. Enjoy the journey.
2. Be yourself. I tried being a pastor, and now I’m trying to be me.
3. Stop criticizing. I’m tired of the church being known for what it’s against.
4. Offend Pharisees. If you’re going to follow Jesus in ministry, you’re going to offend the religious establishment. Any time you do something innovative, someone is going to criticize you for it.
5. Make mistakes. Those are the experiences you eventually look back and enjoy.

Mark Waltz and Butch Whitmire talked about how we design a weekend service–and experience or environment–at Granger to help people feel safe enough to take steps toward Christ. Mark explained that our arts experience is very intentional to help people focus on one main theme in every service.

Butch then walked through the service planning process. It begins with the senior management team selecting a theme and message topics. Then that team develops the "big idea" of each message. After that’s decided, the speaking pastor develops the big idea through the message and the creative arts team develops the big idea through the arts programming. The arts teams develops live music, live drama, video, transitions and ambiance to supplement the spoken message. This is the palette our team uses. We don’t add anything to the palette we can’t do well. (Butch highlighted several forms/charts he uses in the arts planning process. They’re available on WiredChurches.com.)

With that intro, Mark and Butch showed a number of examples of arts elements that we’ve done at Granger over the last 12 months. Many of those elements are available on the brand new "media player" at GCCwired.com. (I’ll tell you more about that later.)

Shane & Shane opened this afternoon’s session with a time of worship. They’re going to be back this evening for Granger’s midweek service. That, of course, will happen before this evening’s Film Festival.

Rob Wegner took the platform for the final session of the day. He addressed the power of story. He explained:

• The power of story means shifting from a linear presentation to an engaging conversation.
• Engaging conversations happen when three stories intersect: my story, their story and God’s story.
• My Story — Use vulnerability and humor–especially self-deprecating humor.
• Their Story — Taper the story to your focus audience. We have got to get into our people’s lives. That’s what Jesus did. It’s awkward. How invested are you in the relationships of people you are trying to reach? And, let your people tell their stories.
• God’s Story — We have to put Scripture into its historical dimension. It’s not just a topical self-help book. The truth is embedded into real people’s lives. People will start to identify with the story. Instead of asking, "What do I want to say about the text?" ask "What does the text want to say to me?" Begin the conversation, don’t end.
• We need to become story collectors. Find stories in metaphors. Find stories in other communicators. Find stories in culture. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, he didn’t use God talk. He used every day real life stories.

Mark Beeson launched session two by giving away an iPod. Then the arts team shared a PureSex video and Angie sang "Stickwitu." After that, Tim Stevens took the platform to talk about buzz…more specifically the buzz that surrounded Granger’s MyLameSexLife.com campaign earlier this year.

Tim then shared his thoughts on the "buzz flywheel" effect. He explained it as beliefs plus the language you use plus the impact you’re having generates buzz.

• Impact — It means to have an immediate and strong effect on something or somebody. Where’s the impact of the church? Would your community be any different if your church ceased to exist?
• Language — Do the unchurched understand your message? Tim explained that everyone has various filters through which they hear messages. Pop culture is one of the filters. We live in a media-driven world. TV, movies, books, magazines, etc. shape people’s values. Pop culture is the language of our day. Every church makes a choice with pop culture. Churches: (1) ignore it, (2) separate from culture, (3) condemn it, (4) embrace it or (5) leverage it. Tim believes we need to leverage the culture. We have to see ourselves as cross-cultural missionaries…as if we were entering a foreign land. They use the language, the signs, symbols of those cultures to reach people for Jesus. We need to build bridges from culture back to Scripture and a personal relationship with Jesus.
• Impact — It only happens if you’re being understood. Part of having an impact is helping people with their felt needs.

Tim concluded his message by demonstrating how the arts can be used to translate biblical truth into today’s culture. The band played "Dirty Little Secret" by the All-American Rejects followed by a video/drama called "What Happens in Vegas, Doesn’t Stay in Vegas."

The 2006 Innovative Church Conference kicked off with a visit from "The Culps", a worship set that included "Salvation is Here" and "Here is Our King" and then Trace kicked into "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects.

Mark Beeson took the platform for session one to equip and encourage church leaders from across the country. He opened the session by sharing the story of "Judo Boy." He shared the story to encourage us to know who we are and who we’re not. That gives us the passion and resolve to build a team. When we know what we can’t do but there’s a task that’s important, then we we’re more likely to look for teammates.

Then Mark showed the iDate video to demonstrate the power of team to communicate a message. It’s unbelievable would a team can do. We can’t get at this by ourselves.

Mark also affirmed and encouraged the gathering to recognized we are all a part of the body of Christ. We are different. But we have the same mission. We deliver the hope of change lives through Jesus Christ.

The people you’re trying to reach, your focus audience…

• are a people with a past. The past will try to condemn them and hold them back. They have shame. They have embarrassment. Many people are hurt and wounded. They believe they have no worth. You have to find a way to communicate that they have value.
• needs a translator to take God’s truth to a world that doesn’t get it. That’s our call. It’s not easy. But it’s a great mission.

I just got back from the Granger Community Church campus. The arts teams are wrapping up their final rehearsals. The facilities team is setting up the auditorium. The big white tent is in place to accommodate breaks and lunches. Our ministry partners are setting up their exhibit booths. Tim was locked away in his office. I’m assuming he’s putting the finishing touches on his session for tomorrow. Perry called to let me know he’s on the way from South Carolina. Guests started arriving from all over the country today to participate in pre-conference workshops. In only about 14 hours, we will be launching the our fifth Innovative Church Conference. It’s going to be the biggest ICC ever. And, I’ll do my best to blog the play-by-play action beginning tomorrow morning. Remember…it’s not what you think.

Our friends at Catalyst gave us a nice surprise today by featuring the Innovative Church Conference on their blog. I thought that was "clearly" a great gesture from the folks that bring us the Catalyst Conference.

In case you’re wondering, I’m keep hearing from more and more folks that are planning to join us for next week’s conference here in Granger. Registrations have already jumped about 50% from last year’s event. I say that with some reservation because I don’t want Perry and Mark getting big heads thinking the buzz is all about them. I personally think it has more to do the elephant deal.

By the way, does anyone know what’s up with that elephant?