TWO REMARKABLE MEN

Wow! So that was T.D. Jakes live! He has to be the best motivational speaker that I have heard in a long, long time, possibly ever. He covered so much ground this morning that it will take a while to unpack it all - that's why I ordered the CD!

You know what struck me most and sticks in my mind here in the coffee shop at Fellowship Church? - He talked about getting ready to break out, about busting out of the normal and launching into a whole new phase of church development and growth. I heard that kind of thing yesterday from Erwin McManus too. I want to think it all over, pray it through and see what that means for us at Grace. But I'm excited.

I was thinking of making T.D. Jakes our Supercool Person Of The Week, but I'm not sure he would show up to receive the award. So my mind went to someone else.

There are several thousand pastors on the internet forum I help moderate for the Purpose Driven Churches network and I have interacted a bit with a young pastor planting a church in rural Oklahoma. He never gets away, can't afford to go to a pastors' conference, but needs the input as much as I do. So I offered for him to come as our guest. He shared my hotel room and seems to have had a good couple of days.

His church is in a town of 15,000 people and it sounds like it's in the middle of nowhere, but after 18 months he gets between 50 and 60 people out every Sunday.

That might not sound like a mega-church, but consider this. In 78 weeks of his church's existence, Danny has seen 77 people come to Christ. Folks, that is a mega-church. Most established churches in this country have not been that succesful in pointing people to Jesus. Many churches seldom baptize anyone.

Danny's a giant, getting on with the job with no fanfare, struggling with limited resources, but accomplishing what he has set out to do - bringing people to Jesus.

So sitting in this mega-church after hearing mega-church pastors teaching, I want to nominate another mega-church pastor, Danny Carlisle as my Supercool Person Of The Week.

Check out his website www.churchatthemovies.org