Yesterday I had the honor to speak at the Uprising conference in Lexington, Ky with Pete Hise and Erwin McManus.

Pete gave a talk yesterday morning on purpose and the importance of evangelism in our lives. His church, Quest Community, does one of the most effective jobs of reaching people far from God I’ve ever seen.
Personal evangelism has always been important to me. For most of my adult years I’ve had several non-believers in my life.
In fact, while Pete was talking I got so convicted…

Check out the rest of Pete’s post at withoutwax.tv by clicking here.

With The Uprising 2011 now in the books, there are hundreds of pastors and church leaders soaking in all that God did in them over this one day conference.  To those pastors and leaders, Pete Hise, founder of The Uprising, had a few thoughts that he shared on his blog, www.petehise.com.  Check it out.

Yesterday was a fantastic day with Erwin McManus, Pete Wilson and 1000+ pastors and leaders diving into what God had for us at The Uprising 2011.

There’s nothing like seeing pastors and leaders meeting with God and being ignited for the cause of Christ. The potential for the local church is breathtaking…and the stakes for the people in our communities are eternal. I was undone more than once at the crossroads pastors and leaders were encountering throughout the day.

When God speaks to your heart, you can quickly move on to the next thing – or you can choose to never recover.
Here’s what I’ve seen…

To get the rest of Pete’s thoughts on The Uprising, Click Here.

The Uprising 2011 promised to be big,  It promised to be substantial.  It promised to be shifting.  And it was!  On Thursday, April 14th, hundreds and hundreds of pastors and church leaders gathered in the small city of Lexington, KY at Quest Community Church for a one day conference that featured speakers Pete Hise and Erwin McManus, as well as breakout presenters Pete Wilson, Sharon Clements, Helen Musick, and more.

As the conference wrapped, we had our ears peeled to hear what people were saying, and it was a good thing, because we caught so many great lines from people when they were leaving as they were grappling with what they just heard.  And we thought we’d share a few of those lines:

The Uprising reminded me of what God is calling me to do … if we don’t do it, no one will.
-Zach, Youngstown Ohio

The Uprising reminded me that even for someone my age, 64, the best is yet to come.
-Gary, Fayetteville, Ark.

I’m kind of timid, but it’s given me boldness to reach out to the lost. …I’ve got gumption to reach the lost again.
Mr. Price, Florence, Kentucky

As ministry leaders, it’s easy to get task focused.  Today my perspective got flipped around.
-Charles, Berea, Kentucky

I realized that evangelism can be a part of our culture, not just something that the church leadership does.
- Jimmy, Cochran, GA

You think you have all you need to lead, but there is so much more.  I learned I just need to be his daughter and lead from his lap.
-Chrissy,  Youngstown, OH

I’m going to go back and have a ripple effect. I’m going to make sure God has more control of my ministry, that he’s in charge.
-Marilyn, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

These are just a few of the many, many quotes we heard in response to The Uprising.  Here’s the thing, just because The Uprising 2011 conference is over, it doesn’t mean that The Uprising movement is over.  We’d love to hear from you about what God did in your heart at the conference.  We’d also love to hear from you about what is happening in your church back home as a result of The Uprising.

And we’ve set up a great way for that to happen.  Just head over to www.theuprising.org and right there on the home page, you can tell us your story of what’s going on in your heart and your church.  We can’t wait to hear from you!

See you at The Uprising 2012!

Session 1, Session 2, Lunch, and Breakouts were all done.  And session 3 kicked off in such a fun fashion.  Before Pete Hise, founder of The Uprising, stepped back up to close out the conference in session 3, we were treated to an interview with Joker Phillips, head football coach at the University of Kentucky.  After the interview, Pete stepped back on stage to finish out the third and final session of The Uprising 2011.  Here were some of Pete’s main points.

1. “When people need to go from where they are to where they need to be, God sends a leader.”
2. “When people see their God appointed leaders going first, it does something supernatural in their hearts.”
3. “Risk is intrinsic in living out the plans of God.”
4. “God will never send you to go do something for him… he is always with you!”
5. “The two biggest barriers to taking courage are fear and insecurity.”
6. The number one way Jesus risked his heart and showed courage was by opening his heart to people.”
7. What if the only thing that stands between people and a surrender is the example of someone who goes first.
At the end of the talk, the altars were opened and were flooded with pastors and leaders doing real work with God, ending the conference the same way it began, with open hands, palms up, refusing Him nothing.

After a short 20 minute break, Session Two kicked off.  As pastors poured back into the auditorium, they were eager to hear from this session’s speaker, author, film maker, and fashion designer, Erwin McManus.  And it really felt like Erwin picked up right where Pete left off.  There were lots of stories and illustrations, but to pare it down, here are some of the ringing lines from Erwin’s talk.

1. “Life may be a vicious cycle from which there is no escape for those without God, but for those of us with God, life is passionate, untamed, and uncivilized.”

2. “The life God has for you is just beyond your fears and doubts.”

3. “People will not follow you based on your successes, but they will follow you based on your courage.”

4. “Most of us would rather live a life that we’ve worked for and paid for ourselves and miss making history than live a history making life that’s given to us for free.”

As session 2 came to a close, it felt like Erwin had just stepped up.  The anticipation of Session 3 is growing and building!

Pete Hise was our first session speaker and as he got into the heart of his talk, he made an offer to the pastors and church leaders to go back to their origins, taking a look at the crossroads of their lives.

1.  When did you gave their lives to Christ? It’s important to revisit the moment when you met Christ.  It’s the moment when everything changed.  It’s also the moment the set you on the course for the rest of your life.

2. Where were you when God called you into the ministry? One of the major crossroads in our lives is when God called us into the ministry.  Remembering where we were will take us back to why we said yes in the first place.

3. Who was it that God laid on your heart? Do you remember the first person that you realized was far from God and unless something changed in them that they would wind up eternally apart from God?  Do you remember how that ignited your spirit to impact the world for Christ?

4. How did it feel to be used by God? So how about that first person you led to Christ and you realized that it wasn’t you that changed that person, but it was God.  Yet at the same time, you were keenly aware that God used you?  How did that feel?  Enough to give you hope that he could use you to do something more substantial than you ever had dreamed of before?

5. What if the best days of your life and ministry were really still in front of you, not behind you? The first four questions, the first four crossroads all have led up to this final crossroad- how about the idea that God’s best plans, God’s best days for you haven’t happened yet…they are still in front of you.  God has written books on the plans he has for you and what you really want is to experience them all.

Session 1 ended with hope ringing out through the room.

What an amazing night as 26 ordinary people took the risky step of sharing their story of redemption and transformation in Christ to a room of family, friends, church family, and guest Uprising pastors and leaders.  Every baptism at Quest Community Church is beautiful, but tonight was special as it elevated the spiritual temperature in the room – clearing the path for Holy Spirit to do the work that only He can do at the Uprising conference.

Here are a few of the things that stood out from tonight’s Uprising Baptism service:

1. Worship was breathtaking.  No one worships like those close to the cross and our baptees led the way crying out to their Savior with hands raised and hearts humbled.  The arts teams led with strength from the musicians to the video team that created a moving collage of pictures from previous baptisms.

2. Authenticity broke loose in the room: Each baptee shared the brokenness in their life that lead them to Jesus. A heroin addict who saw herself portrayed in a video, a self-righteous man that wouldn’t ignore the emptiness in his heart, a man so betrayed by church he was surprised to find himself seeking after God.  Each story opened the door for God’s grace to spread across the auditorium, expressed through tears, laughter, and shouts of joy.

3. Hope Lingered: As service ended, community was only beginning.  People gathered in groups of two and ten to unpack the day’s events, to catch up, and to get to know one another.  The spiritual mood of the room was rich and paved the way for people to become authentic about their past and their secret fears, maybe for the first time.  It’s a beautiful picture of a loving culture of redemption at work.

God is just beginning to unleash his spirit in this place! The tone has been set for the Uprising tomorrow and you don’t want to miss it.  The Uprising begins Thursday morning at 9 am.  We can’t wait to see you then!

Even though The Uprising conference doesn’t officially start until tomorrow at 9 AM, the Lexington campus of Quest Community Church has been alive with pastors and church leaders who came early for the pre-conference workshops.  Attendees had the opportunity to attend one of three tracks of workshops, or they could mix and match to create their own

Track 1, 21st Century Evangelism, focused on giving really practical handles on how to talk to people about where they are with Jesus.

Track 2, Transformational Sundays, focused on what actually goes into a weekend service that goes beyond business as usual and moves into the realm of sparking real transformation in people’s lives.

Track 3, Creating Redemptive Cultures, focused on the leadership aspects of creating an environment where people are regularly giving their lives to Christ.

As the pre-conference wrapped up, here were the top 3 things that we gathered from attendees as they recapped their experiences:

1)  The momentum building through the pre-conference is tangible. More than one person has been saying, “If what is happening at the pre-conference is just a precursor, then I can’t wait to see what the actual Uprising conference has in store.” The excitement for tomorrow can be felt throughout the campus.

2)  They are having so much fun meeting old and new friends. Many of the pre-conference attendees came to last year’s Uprising conference and they’re back!  And so are the people they met last year.  They are loving getting to see each other again.  Not only that, they are meeting new friends, new partners in the gospel that they are linking arms with.

3)  They are excited for Baptism tonight.  Yes, the pre-conference is over, but that doesn’t mean that nothing else is going on for people tonight at Quest.  About an hour and half after the workshops wrapped up, Quest had it’s Spring Baptism service and all the attendees have been invited to attend.  And they’re coming!  So many from last year’s Uprising said that one of the most memorable highlights was the baptism service the night before the conference, and this year they are making sure they are here for it!

What a great start to The Uprising conference these pre-conference workshops have been! We can’t wait for tomorrow.  It’s not too late to get here.  So whether it’s you or a friend that has been debating whether or not to come- stop debating!  Just come!

We’ll see you tomorrow morning!

The Uprising is almost here and the campus of Quest Community Church is buzzing.  Volunteers are setting up tables and chairs and there are four giant baptism tanks on stage.

In just a few hours Pre-Conference will kick off with workshops that will provide great tools for churches as they create loving cultures of redemption in their community.  It’s not too late to register for Pre-Conference, and for $10, you can really do it.

Facebook and Twitter have also been buzzing.  You can follow @Uprising411 (link to Twitter http://twitter.com/uprising411) for all the key information and a look behind-the-scenes. Here’s just a few of the Tweets we’ve seen.

TheA21Campaign The A21 Campaign

Special thanks to @petehise and @uprising411 for your support at #TheUprising in Kentucky this Thursday! #TogetherWeAllMakeADifference

Larryboy777 Larryboy777

Getting ready to head out to Kentucky to see my brother and go to #theuprising

PastorTonyMoore Pastor Tony Moore

@PeteHise @questcommunity @anyerin I hope Surrender is on the list for @uprising411. Can’t wait!

stevenfurtick Steven Furtick

Join my buddy @petehise for The Uprising this wk. Could be a turning pt for your ministry. http://www.theuprising.net/

And, just in case you missed the buzz on Twitter last night, we had hundreds of volunteers on campus preparing the way for pastors during arts rehearsal, meetings, and getting the facilities ready.  You can head over to Vimeo (link to vimeo video – http://bit.ly/eCE74M) to watch all the videos, but here’s one of them.

We are so excited to see you this afternoon for Pre-Conference, tonight for Baptism, and tomorrow for the Uprising! And if you haven’t signed up for the Uprising, it’s not too late.  You can still buy your tickets online or at the conference.  Shift around your schedule, grab your team, and GET HERE!!

And wouldn’t you know it, our Uprising Cam was around last night after baptism run through to see what was going on when we bumped into one of the baptees.  Check it out.

Be sure you don’t miss it.  And one other fun surprise.  We also managed to catch our craftsman team in action prepping a stage prop for The Uprising conference and couldn’t miss the chance to give you a sneak peak into what you’ll see on Thursday!

Stay tuned and be the first to see these videos by following us on Twitter at @Uprising 411 or on Facebook.com/uprising411.

See you in 2 days!