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If you went to the conference, you can post your testimonies and notes and stuff in this thread

The conference was great! For those of you who don't know, six of us spent the last two days at the 2005 Evoke Student Leadership Conference at Faith Assembly Center in Pasco, WA. I got to spend a few days with my homies, and just hang in the presence of the Lord. There was life changing teaching, preaching, praying, and singing.

It was a multi-componant conference, mixing state-of-the-art video graphics on the multiple giant screens, drama, loud modern rock-driven worship, and well known and respected speakers as well as interactive sessions where we split up into different groups to attend the seminars and teaching sessions that we wanted to be a part of. Blaine Bartel, Mark Moder, and Jeffery Portman were the key note speakers.

Here are my notes from the key speakers' general sessions:

General Session 1 - Blaine Bartel

-God approached a man who didn't feel qualified. Will we be waiting a long time before being called into leadership? Leadership is something you decide to do all the time.
-Judges 6:11-16, "one man".
-Sometimes leadership is lonely and disconcerning, depressing, fearful.

General Session 2 - Mark Moder

I didn't get notes, he was so captivating I couldn't. He spoke about authenticity and be a leader for the right reasons. He also posed the question, would you be a leader if you were never recognized for it? If nobody ever saw you do it? If you were never rewarded on earth? He ended his speech in tears, passionate about a generation of up and coming leaders who have every opportunity to "get up and doing something about it", but we fail because we contain ourselves in a sub-culture protective bubble. The bible is pointless without action.

General Session 3 - Blaine Bartel

-Do one thing and become an expert at it. If you commit yourself to do study and grow in something for an hour a day for five years, in five years you will be an expert at it.
-Set your standards and stick with them
-Make people wonder every day who you're talking to. Stay in continuous prayer (Jeremiah 3:33)
-Eat like a hummingbird, poop like an elephant. Consume, learn, grow, ask questions, the give it away!
-Leaders have to be readers.
-Commit to delegate and close the dump (2 Timothy 2:22)
-Stupid people succeed every day.
-Never ever ask your feelings what they think about the facts

General Session 4 - Jeffery Portman

I did not take notes, this was a commissioning service for the newly empassioned student leaders.

I chose the following interactive sessions. Here are my notes from them:

1. Ignite Your Passion - Chad Alvarado

-"Is your fire white hot?"
-Defining: What Is Passion?
* The willing sacrifice of the life Jesus gave on the cross.
-"Salvation gives birth to a new appetite, a hunger for God."
* Taste and see that the Lord is good - Psalm 34:8
* Restore unto me the joy of my salvation - Psalm 51:12
-"God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him." - John Piper
-Ignition: The most difficult person in this world to impassion is you."
* The inward heart and mind of a man are deep, and depraved - Psalm 64:6
* The heart is deceitful above all things, and accursed - Jeremiah 17:9
-Reflection: What type of fuel are you using to ignite your passion? What should you be using? (the Word of God, prayer, worship, fellowship, etc.)
-Four results of passionate living:
1. Mercy
2. Ministry
3. Mission
4. Martyrdom
* "Passion is not meant to be physiological icing on the cake of superficial Christianity." - John Piper
* All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted - 2 Timothy 3:12
-Four stages of passionate living:
1. Inspiration - Being inspired
2. Realization - Realizing the cost
3. Consideration - Considering it and doubting
4. Sacrifice - Doing it
* "Every passionate follower of Jesus will experience a crisis of belief that will require sacrificial action" - Experiencing God
* Through many trials and tribulations we will enter the kingdom of God - Acts 14:22
-Things to understand when struggling with passion
* There is a seson for everything (Ephesians 3)
* When you cannot hear God, obey the last thing He told you.
* A companion of fools suffers much harm. (Proverbs)
* Joy comes in the morning (Psalms)
-Things to remember when you have already ignited
* God is the giver of grace and truth and spiritual passion.
* Our strongest attacks from Satan come immediately before and after times of great victory.
* Passion for God is one diet that cannot become gluttonous.
* A thankful heart instills joy and passion those closest to us.
-STAY COMMITTED!

2. Preparing Yourself for Full Time Ministry - Brent Johnsen

-Purpose: To encourage and equip you with knowledge on how to navigate the road to full-time ministry.
-Investment model:
* Social - Inside & Outside of your ministry
* Education - Go to Bible college, READ YOUR BIBLE, do daily devotions, don't ever stop learning and growing.
* Experience - Work in ministry in you local home church. Experience carries the most weight of any of your investments. Quit making excuses to get OUT of leadership; stay committed.
-YOUR FUTURE IN MINISTRY IS NOW! The choices you make begin today.

3. Leadership is a Pain in the Neck - Jeremy Johnson

-The pain of leadership stinks, but the pain of regret is worse.
-Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 4:1
-There are three levels of leadership:
1. Necessity - Leader when I have to be.
2. Selective - Depending on what I'm leading and whom I'm leader it for.
3. Decisive - Do it because you choose to.

It was amazing. LATER!