There are a lot of notes in this post. To view them, click “read more” below

Session 7: Radical Purity, taught by Rick and Kay Warren

Three areas we struggle with:

Lust of the flesh
Pride of life
Lust of the eyes

Given the right situation, we are capable of anything (in reference to impurity)

Titanic myth – you can compartmentalize your life

There is no power in your life without purity. The #1 thing in ministry is personal purity

I. The problem – What causes affairs?

• Unmet Needs
  • We assume our spouse knows all of our needs
  • We need to express our needs
• Unfulfilled expectations
  • Sometimes we start to feel cheated that what we feel entitled to doesn’t happen
  • You will attract somebody who feels the same way
  • The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. It’s greener where you water it
• Undeveloped self worth
  • Lack of self worth and emotional maturity causes
    • Pride
    • Jealousy
  • You’ll always be looking for somebody to make you feel better
• Unresolved conflict
  • The only way to true intimacy in marriage is through conflict
  • Two sinners can’t create a perfect marriage
  • Resolving conflict creates intimacy
  • You get from phony intimacy to real intimacy through the tunnel of conflict
  • What are you pretending isn’t a problem in your marriage?
• Uncontrolled thoughts
• Unprotected lifestyle
  • How close can I get to the fire without burned?
  • NO! How far can I get from the fire?
• Unreliable commitments
  • Not taking Christ and wedding vows seriously
  • God wants you to be holy
  • Happiness is the result

II. The process of immorality – How affairs develop

What you think determines how you feel which leads you to act

Step One: Accepting sinful thoughts into your mind

• James 1:14-15 – The battle starts in your mind
• Commit to police our minds
• We need to be our own filter
• Innocent wonderings turn into deadly mental scenarios
• Philippians 4:8
• Don’t deny fantasies – Put them back into your marriage

Step Two: Emotional non-physical involvement

• Never let somebody of the opposite complain to you about their spouse
• Don’t fish for compliments from people of the opposite sex
• Be aware of electricity between you and people of the opposite sex
• Avoid prolonged staring
• Avoid lingering touch

• Build fences to protect yourself
  • Imagine yourself having to confess the affair to God and your husband
  • Imagine having to explain to your children how everything was fake (I’m not who you thought I was)

Step Three: Physical involvement (The affair has begun)

• Excuses people use
  • I was tired
  • I was depressed
  • Just one more time and then it’s over
  • If only my spouse met my needs

Step Four: Rationalize it (Rational lies)

• We are experts at fooling ourselves
• Jeremiah 17:9
• God will forgive us
  • True, but how dare we take advantage of God that way
• He/she meets my needs
• You can’t have it both ways. You’re either pure or not

III. Pathway back to purity

1. Acknowledge my sin

2. End the relationship now (No goodbyes, no one last time)

3. Do whatever it takes to have no contact at all with that person from now on

4. Move quickly back into fellowship with God

• No such thing as “falling” into immorality
• It’s always a process
• Move quickly, however, back into a close relationship with God

IV. The preventative steps

1. Make a commitment to God’s standard

• They don’t make a condom to protect your heart
• Make a public commitment of your standard to always be faithful to your spouse

2. Maintain your marriage

• Make your marriage so solid you’d be stupid to go anywhere else
• You can get so busy repairing other people’s marriages that you neglect your own
• If there was more courting in marriage, there would be fewer marriages in court

3. Manage your mind

• The secret to overcoming any kind of temptation is not to resist it
• Resist the devil
• Refocus your attention on something else
• Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out

4. Monitor your media intake

• Garbage in/Garbage out
• Average American spends 9 1/2 years watching television
• TV and movies lower our resistance to sin
  • They glamorize it
  • Imply everybody is doing it
  • Fail to show the consequences
  • Getting us to laugh at it (the first step to getting us to accept sin)

5. Minimize the opportunity for temptation

• Recognize what tempts you and when you’re tempted
  • Traveling for business is a time when Satan works overtime
  • Rick’s personal travel guidelines
    • Never travel alone
    • Put up a picture of his family in the hotel room
    • Have hotel room cable blocked
    • Call home to family
  • Choose friends wisely – Don’t have friends who aren’t committed to their marriage
• Saddleback’s 10 Commandments for Married Staff
  • Thou shalt not visit the opposite sex alone at home
  • Thou shalt not meet with the opposite sex in a room with a door closed and no window
  • Thou shalt not counsel the opposite sex more than once without the person’s mate
  • Thou shalt not go to lunch alone with the opposite sex
  • Thou shalt not kiss an attender or show affection that might be questioned
  • Thou shalt not discuss detailed sexual problems with the opposite sex in counseling
  • Thou shalt not discuss your marriage problems with an attender of the opposite sex
  • Thou shalt use care in answering emails or letters from the opposite sex (Rick has his wife answer these)
  • Thou shalt make your secretary your protective ally for these rules
  • Thou shalt pray for the integrity of all staff members

6. Magnify the consequences of sin

• There’s a major difference between forgiveness and trust
• Forgiveness is by grace
• Trust is by works (needs to be regained)
• To be a leader, you must have moral authority. If you lie to everybody, you lose it
• If schools taught drug education like sex education, they would hand out needles and drugs

This video was shown at the opening of the session:

This video was not shown, but a similar video was shown about the same series:

Here are the notes from the talk:
1. Lead with a killer instinct

• From purpose – when you know your purpose, saying no to what doesn’t match it is easy
• From your kneess
  • his staff prayer walked around high school when told the school board would not let them use it for their church
  • the doors were opened that day for them to start meeting there

2. Lead with creative change

• God’s creative change process
  • Light: An idea from God (foundational members)
  • Land: Opportunities on earth (show us who the target should be)
  • Life: Passion of my heart (exponential growth can happen)
  • Likeness: Authentic expression (God’s message through this jar of clay)
  • Leverage: multiply my influence
  • Limits: Rest in God’s power

3. Lead by launching the next generation

4. Lead from a strategy of collaboration

• One month to live
• Hispanic service

When God asks a question, he wants you to know the answer. He already knows it.

God never does a miracle to show off. He does it to teach.

Moses’ staff represented

• Moses’ identity as a shepherd
• Moses’ income
• Moses’ influence
• When God tells moses to lay down his staff, God is saying lays these things down and he will take care of things
• If Moses picks the staff back up, they will die
• The staff becomes the Rod of God from this point forward
  • Leads Israel out of Egypt
  • Parts the Red Sea
  • Brings about the plagues
• What is in your hands?
  • Identity
  • Influence
  • Income
• Money is a tool to help me fulfill the purpose of God

1. God wants me to invest in his treasury fund

• By using some of my money to: Express worship
  • It is undesignated – if you tell the money where to go, it’s not an act of worship
  • It is given where/when I worship

2. God wants me to invest in his mutual fund (Giving to help other believers)

• By using some of my money to: Encourage fellowship

3. God wants me to invest in his growth fund (To help me grow spiritually)

• By using some of my money to: Enhance my character

4. God wants me to invest in his equity service fund (Helping others financially – Haiti, Katrina, Tsunami)

• By using some of my money to: Expand my ministry

5. God wants me to invest in his global fund (Missions)

• By using some of my money to: Extend my mission
• Invest in getting people into heaven
• Will anybody be in heaven because of you
• Proverbs 30 – Prayer of Agur

DECLARATION

Today I am stepping across the line. I’m tired of waffling and I’m finished with wavering. I’ve made my choice; the verdict is in and my decision is irrevocable. I’m going God’s way. There is no turning back. I will live the rest of my life serving God’s purposes, with God’s people, on God’s planet, for God’s glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home waiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me”, character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasure. I know what matters most and I will give it all I’ve got. I will do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today. I won’t be captivated by culture, manipulated by criticfs, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I’ll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal; not on the sidelines or on those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won’t back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I’ll just keep moving forward by God’s grace. I’m spritie-led, purpose-driven, and mission-vocused so I can’t be bought. I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I’m a trophy of God’s amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me. I am a radical in the original sense of the word: rooted in Christ, rooted in love, and rooted in his Word.

I hereby declare my supreme allegiance to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I say this: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer is yes! I’m ready. Anytime. Anyway. Whatever it takes, Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I’ll hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful one. Come on in and let the eternal party begin!”

Kerry Shook showed this video in the first session of Radicalis Friday morning

My friend Chris Harkins is posting summaries of the Youth Worker Track on his blog. If you would like those notes, go there to check them out.

There are a lot of notes in this post. To view them, click “read more” below

Who Jesus came to help

“The poor” – the have nots
Types of poverty: Material, moral, spiritual

“The brokenhearted” – the let down in life
Disappointment, rejection and resentment

“The imprisoned” – the locked up
Types of prisons: addiction, secrets, ignorance, fears

“The blind” – the shut out
Types of blindness: physical, relational, spiritual

“The oppressed” – the kicked around
Types of oppression: political, cultural, spiritual

Ministry is all about hurting people
Jesus preached to the needs of people

What Jesus came to do – Luke 4:18

1. Preach the Good News

2. Heal the brokenhearted
- Slow down – you can’t hear the cries of brokenhearted if you’re moving too fast
- Everybody has a hidden hurt – a way to tell when a person is hurting is to look for who is hurting others
- People in pain tend to hurt others

3. Proclaim freedom
- To be forgiven, confess sin to God
- To be healed, reveal your sins to others

4. Help people recover their sight
- Reveal the truth which will set them free

5. Release the oppressed
- Help those who have been taken advantage of
- A lifestyle of serving others like Jesus did

The P.E.A.C.E. Plan: Jesus’ strategy
- A lifestyle of serving others like Jesus did
- We’ll be judged, in part, by how we treated others

How can we have a heart like Jesus?
1. We must care about what Jesus cares about
- The world
- The church

2. We must be indifferent to what God is indifferent to
- Jesus was indifferent to personal danger (the more you fear God, the less you fear others)
- Jesus was indifferent to other people’s timelines (when God is late in your life, get ready for a miracle)
- Politics (Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world)
- Religious traditions
- Getting rich

3. We must get angry about what Jesus got angry about
- When the needs of children go unmet
- When the suffering of others is ignored
- People who should know better (i.e. religious leaders)
- People who took advantage of the poor
- Getting rich on religion
- Poverty
- Disease
- Injustice

4. We must sacrifice for what Jesus sacrificed
- If you only preach freedom from hell, but not freedom from sin, you’ll get people who are saved, but don’t want to be holy

Love sometimes gets angry and it sometimes confronts

Mark Driscoll

The decent of faith:
Generation 1: Believes it’s true
Generation 2: Assumes it’s true
Generation 3: Questions it’s truth
Generation 4: Denies the truth

Be a Christ-centered church, not a cause-centered church
Christ-centered churches fulfill the causes of Christ

A detailed account was given about the process of crucifixion
- Over time, executioners made the process more brutal because they would try to out-do each other
- Jesus had probably seen a crucifixion
- 600 people in one day were crucified along a road to make a political point
- Bodies could hang on a cross for 9 days

Why would Jesus’ death on the cross be considered good news?
- It paid for our sin
- The cross is something done by us, for us

The cross provides
- Forgiveness
- Righteousness
(We need both)

1. Your ministry is from your righteousness not for it
2. When you suffer, God is not punishing you, He’s honoring you
3. Because of the cross, you are clean

- John 17:18
- I don’t care about the size of your church, but the size of your vision

- To be a Christ-like church, we must have a
– local vision
– global vision

- Never confuse prominence with significance
– a nose is prominent, but you could live without it
– a heart is not prominent, but it is very significant

God responds to Isaiah’s discouragement by extending his vision

The only organization big enough to solve the world’s problems is the church

5 Global Giants That Need To Be Overcome

1. Spiritual emptiness

2. Corrupt/ego-centric/self-serving leadership
- Only 2 kinds of leaders: Selfish leaders and servant leaders
- Most people don’t have the maturity to be servant leaders
- The purpose of influence is to stick up for those who don’t have influence

3. Extreme poverty

4. Pandemic disease
- Most of the diseases in the world have a cure that hasn’t made its way to those in extreme poverty

5. Illiteracy – lack of education

Jesus’ Rules of Mission

1. Don’t take a purse – The principle is don’t throw money at the problem. This causes dependency, it doesn’t solve problems

2. Don’t take a staff (a symbol of authority) – Go as a servant. We’re here to serve, not solve

3. Eat what’s set before you – Adapt to the culture you’re in

4. Find the man or woman of peace – Bless him. If he doesn’t bless you or receive you, move on and shake the dust off your sandals on your way out of town. The person of peace can be a man or woman. This person must be open to your message and have influence in the community. Christianity is not a prerequisite (When Jesus sent out the disciples, there weren’t any Christians, yet)

Jesus’ Model

1. Preached reconciliation, peace of God, peace with God, peace with each other, planted churches
2. Equipped servant leaders (Matthew 20:25-26)
3. Assisted the poor
4. Cared for the sick
5. Educated the next generation

The scriptural basis for the P.E.A.C.E Plan: Luke 10, Matthew 10, Mark 9

P.E.A.C.E. Plan – Ordinary people empowered by God doing what Jesus did together wherever they are: Jerusalem, Judea, Outer-most part of the earth
- Do all at the same time

Ed Stetzer, Planting Churches

Only 28% of churches in America are involved in church planting
Only 3% of them are the primary sponsor for a church plant

5 Reasons To Be Involved In Church Planting

1. The church matters
- Many are anti-church
- Jesus is the center of God’s plan
- The church is central to that plan

2. The lost matter (Lost people matter)
- Luke 15, Lost son, coin, sheep
- Picture of church’s need to reach the lost
- Don’t make it about your church, but his kingdom

3. Multiplication matters
- Multiplication should be the norm, not an aberration
- All healthy living things multiply – if that’s not happening, it’s not healthy
- Welcome the new church in your community as a compliment to your efforts, not competition

4. Transformation matters
- Luke 18 – Jesus announces his agenda
- Changed churches change the world

5. The nations matter
- God’s desire is that we proclaim his name and fame among the nations

There are a lot of notes in this post. To view them, click “read more” below

1. Communicate the value of membership

You will succeed in what you emphasize
Nobody joins your church to conform
Human nature has a longing for belonging
Being a Christian without a church is like being a soldier without a platoon
Believing without belonging is like being a spiritual orphan

2. Establish a required membership class

You should never let somebody join your church without knowing where you’re going (vision)
Never criticize what God is blessing
You can not surrender the leadership of your church to whiners
Churches don’t typically split over doctrine, but over strategy
A strong membership class will grow a strong church
A strong membership class doesn’t have to be long
Teaching a class over several weeks will cause some to drop out
Saddleback teaches a 4-hour class once per month

3. Develop a membership covenant

The most important part of the membership class is the covenant
- Commit to Christ
- Commit to the community of believers

4. Enlist every member into a small group

Church in Acts was a church of 100k in a city of 200k
- Where did they put them all?
- Temple courts could hold 50k
- House to house
Large group worship
Small group fellowship
They grew larger and smaller at the same time
- Large groups in the temple
- Small groups house to house
When Jesus started his ministry
- He got baptized
- He started a small group (disciples)

Dino Rizzo
One of the last images the disciples have before Jesus went to the cross is him washing their feet
The heart of serving/compassion/servant’s heart is first and foremost for reaching the community in each area of the church. For example:

– Business area
- Worship area
- Children’s area

1. We are the examples

The speaker one week must serve in the parking lot the next week

2. Provide lots of opportunities to share in serve moments

College students lead service at nursing home
Nursing homes make stockings for children
…

3. Marry discipleship and servanthood together

Mobilize the heart to serve with compassion

4. Turn the people loose to care for the one

Mobilize the body of Christ to go meet needs
“Hand out towels”

Session 4: Radical Discipleship, taught by Rick Warren

Don’t measure a church by its serving capacity, but by its sending capacity
Purpose Driven strategy is a people-building strategy, not a church-building strategy

Discipleship

Any mentor relationship
Original term for Christian

What it means to be a disciple
1. I must spend time with Jesus

2. I must love Jesus supremely

You’re as close to Jesus as you want to be

3. I must love his church

Spiritual growth happens in community
We have to break the myth that you can be a disciple without a church family

4. I must obey him completely

Partial obedience is disobedience
Growth is an ongoing process
It’s measured by obedience, not knowledge
It’s based on God’s word
It sets me free
To continue in God’s word
- You need a pathway, a process
– Knowing, loving, growing, serving Christ
- Make God’s word a habit for example:
– Fasting, tithing, silence, journaling, witnessing, studying

5. I must serve others unselfishly

Spiritual growth requires exercise and sacrifice
Impression (learning) without expression (serving) leads to depression

6. I must pass on the Good News

If you’re not fishing, you’re not following
Be fishers of men

Laws of Spiritual Growth

1. Spiritual growth is incarnational

God in flesh
We grow by letting Christ live through us

2. Spiritual growth is intentional

Not automatic
Not inevitable
We grow by making choices
Tools we use: 1. Commitment card, 2. Covenants

3. Spiritual growth is incremental

Myth: Growth is instant
We grow through a step-by-step process

4. Spiritual growth is personal

We grow according to our SHAPE
(SHAPE stands for Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences)
SHAPE interview (help them discover their ministry)
Spiritual health assessment

5. Spiritual growth is habitual

Aids retention
Write things down
We grow by developing good habits

6. Spiritual growth is Relational

Growth is measured by love
Myth: You can grow to maturity by yourself
We only grow in community
Tools we use: Mentoring

7. Spiritual growth is multi-purpose

Myth: Maturity is measured only by how much you know
Reality: It takes all 5 purposes (fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry, mission)

8. Spiritual growth is seasonal

We grow in spurts
Bamboo may do nothing for 7 years then grow 90 feet in a week
Your church can be like bamboo
Maturity/spiritual growth won’t happen over night
What’s not based on truth collapses
- Communism
- Living outside God’s plan

There are a lot of notes in this post. To view them, click “read more” below

Radicalis

• Radicalus means rooted. Radical is known in our culture as above the ordinary. However, it originally referred to the root; literally “of the root.”
• Most Christians are like zombies; spiritually dead and wandering aimlessly through life
  • because we don’t have roots
  • without roots, we won’t bear fruits
• People are looking for an authoritative message delivered through a humble personality

Putting First Things First

• Rick talked about the Great Commandment and the Great Commission
• He focused on how temptations take us away from these
• Three types of temptation he mentioned
  • Using our abilities for our own benefit
    • We are tempted more in our strengths than in our weaknesses
  • Taking a shortcut
    • Doing it my way instead of God’s way
  • Materialism

My Declaration of Allegiance

This session ended by the attendees reading aloud with Rick a declaration of allegiance to God’s way. This document will be available on the Radicalis website at a future date

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Session 2: Radical Preaching, taught by Rick Warren

1. The basis for radical preaching is the Great Commission
2. The goal of radical preaching is obedience
   • The Bible is a tool for doctorine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim 3:16-17)
3. The result of radical preaching is action/a response
   • Jesus always expected people to do something as a result of his preaching
   • You only believe the parts of the Bible that you actually do

Ten things I’ve learned about preaching for life-change

1. All behavior is based on a belief
2. Behind every sin is a lie
3. Change always starts with the mind
   • Change the belief before trying to change the action
   • Reveal the lies they believe then give actions to move the right direction
   • If you can get them to question the lie, the pastor can teach te truth and the person will make the change
   • Get to the root (ie: Why do you drink excessively?)
   • Repetitive thoughts create ruts in our minds that are difficult to get out of
   • Will power does not work. You get tired and return to your rut. The belief systems and values must change.
   • It’s not hard to obey when the mind has been renewed
   • It’s impossible to change when the mind has not been renewed
   • If you want to teach for life change, you must teach to the root of the problem (the lie) and the actions will change. The desires remain, but the actions change
4. To help people change, we must first change their beliefs
5. Trying to change people’s behavior without changing their beliefs is a waste of time
6. The Bible term for “changing your mind” is repentance
7. You don’t change people’s minds, the applied word of God does
   • Repentance = changing the way you think
   • Fruit = the proof of life change/mind change
8. Changing the way I act is the fruit of repentance
9. The deepest preaching is preaching for repentance
   • Repentance is our fundamental message – changing from this thought to that thought
10. To produce lasting life-change, you much enlighten the mind, energy, emotions and challenge the will
    • Every message comes down to 2 words: Will you?
    • Sermons BUILD UP, FIRE UP, HOLD UP – there needs to be a balance of all 3 in your preaching for balance
    • Preaching challenges the will, heart and mind
    • Preaching requires humility

Perry Noble

Acts 26:15 – Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting

• We wouldn’t speak to Jesus the way we do if we knew who he is
• Radical devotion requires action
  • I wish we’d spend less time telling God what he can’t do and do what he’s telling us to do
  • Vision impacts us personally – very few pastors are willing to fight for their church (they cut and run when things get tough)
  • Lead out of revelation, not imitation of other pastors
  • Radical devotion will lead to the super natural
  • Teach with devotion
  • Call for clarity
  • Let Jesus lead

Andy Stanley

What’s the right approach to preaching?

Approach trumps the goal every time – Your preaching method/style affects whether or not you reach the goal of your sermon

Andy’s goal is for people to to live their lives as if God is with them

5 Questions

1. Who is this about, really?
   • As long as it’s about me, I’ll fail in my approach
   • My concern for the audience must be stronger than my concern for the presentation
   • Preach like if you don’t reach them, they won’t be back
2. What is my burden?
   -The 1 message that if I don’t deliver it, I’ll die
   • Dig until you find it
   • Build the entire message around the 1 thing
   • Let it stand on its own
   -Sermon in a sentence – 1 sticky thought (some samples)
   • Purity paves the way to intimacy
   • To understand why, submit and apply
   • You are the only source of legitimate intimacy for your spouse
3. Where is the tension?
   • What is the question this message answers?
   • What is the tension this message resolves?
   • What is the mystery this message solves?
4. Do I own the message?
   1. • Stories go by quick and keep your audience’s attention
      • Talk about a piece of the message until you run out of material then move onto the next piece
   • How hard do I have to think as as I share this?
   • The best way to internalize a talk is to memorize its pieces , not points
5. Am I allowing the text to speak?
   • Bring your energy to the text
   • Uncover the energy in the text