Last night Jeff and I had a great dinner, met a lot of new friends, and heard some exciting stories about how God is working in and through the local church across the nation.

As we sat with the guys from ARC three themes stood out:

1. These are generous people. From the moment we walked in until the moment we left, they were giving us stuff.
2. These are humble people. God is doing exceptional things in and around them and they are quick to reflect the glory and honor back to Him.
3. These are people who recognize the most important element in the life of the church- the power of the Holy Spirit. We have all read, learned, discussed, and implemented best practices in the church, our leadership, our staffing strategies, etc. but at the end of the day the make-or-break factor is the presence of God in and through our ministries. These guys started off talking about this last night and it was a common theme throughout the evening.

I’m looking forward to a day of learning and networking with some new friends.