NEXT

Picture walking into an auditorium filled with more than one thousand people. As the music begins, you join in the singing and realize that many others share in your excitement for the Lord to meet them. Following the outstanding time of worship, you hear a message where your heart is filled with awe and then left in wonder as you try and contemplate the greatness of Christ. During the rest of the conference your time is filled with attending community group devotionals, and talking with old and new friends. Well, this was NEXT for me. 

Last year was the first year that I attended the conference and God was so kind to reveal more of himself to me through the worship, teaching, community group devotions and fellowship with friends. How amazing to join so many other people to passionately worship the savior. What excellent teaching we had that left me wanting more of the Lord and in utter awe of His greatness. The morning devotionals were sweet times where our hearts were prepared for the day, and we were led in discussions about what the Lord had taught us.  NEXT was also a time of making many new friends. Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone- I drove with a caravan of about ten different people that I had never met. I came away from the conference encouraged and refreshed in my walk with the Lord. I am definitely looking forward to NEXT 2010.

How do you decide what Next 2010 can do, what it can afford?

Good question; I’m glad you asked.

Next has to estimate how many people will register because that dictates the budget.  Problem: a large percentage of Next attendees leave registering as late as possible. But Next has to make decisions now, place orders now, incur costs now. What to do?!

Next has two tensions: on the one hand to be good stewards of what we have and on the other hand to step out in faith.

Please pray for the leadership of Next as these are very real (and serious) issues; issues faced on a week-by-week basis.

But also pray for potential attendees, your friends, as they too have their own decisions to make: can they afford to attend; should they step out in faith; should they ask their parents (or friends) for help?

For us all, the bottom line is trusting God; seeking His guidance; following His lead.

And remembering that the riches of the Kingdom of God are far greater than the riches of this world, and that we have a good and faithful God.

We are affected by the economy like everyone else, but our heavenly Father is not only in control, He is all-powerful and good. And He cares for our soul, not just our body.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Well, the promo is here and I’m now supposed to tell you what you can do with it.

So, to start this process, watching it might be a good idea! Let’s watch it real quick!

Next 2010 Promotional Video from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Next, you can copy the link into an email and send it to all the young adults in your contact list.

Following the sending out of that email, maybe you could facebook it, blog it, twitter it, or anything else I am missing out on! Being the technologically savvy generation that we are, I find this as a very effective method of communication.

I’m sure you all can think of other effective ways of “spreading the promo” so feel free to leave a comment and share how you are doing so.

I strongly recommend Ed O’Mara’s post from earlier this week. A highly entertaining post, somewhat “out there” (yes Ed, it is!) but one that makes you want to go out and try some of what he recommended. (note: read the disclaimer before attempting any of his recommendations)

And the countdown continues :: 97 days!!

If you were in Gaithersburg today, you just might see Paul Medler riding his trusty steed, British Beauty, and shouting for joy. Okay, well, I’m not sure I can imagine Paul on a horse. You may find him shouting for joy as he sits in his office chair (much to the amusement of his co-workers) working on conference details. Why? The Next Promo Video has been released! And that, my friends, is cause for excitement!

You can view the promo video on Next’s Home Page.

If you Twitter, FaceBook, or Blog, please help us promote Next by posting the video. You can find the video on Vimeo and YouTube.

… Not exactly the words of Paul Revere, but I think I saw Paul Medler riding the streets of Gaithersburg on his trusty horse “British Beauty” shouting “2 if by DVD, 1 if by YouTube.”

So, we know it is coming, but what to do when it arrives?  Here is a list of some helpful, and less so, suggestions. (Disclaimer: This author and the NEXT conglomerate is not responsible for any legal charges levied against those who take these suggestions, especially the foolish ones!)

The Usual Suspects
Play it at church-related contexts - Show it during your announcement time, put it on the church website, play it in the lobby, show the toddlers in the nursery (it beats Veggie Tales!), play it at your singles meetings… the possibilities are numerous

Post it - Facebook it, Blog it, Twitter it, hack into NBC’s website and replace all Olympic videos with the NEXT Promo (this is the first of many foolish, and potentially illegal suggestions that should be ignored). 

The UnUsual Suspects
Play it at work - Replace your screen saver with the NEXT Promo so your work PC continuously loops the promo… this is sure to interest your coworkers

Public TV - Ask your local public TV channel to play the promo.  I might be making this up, but there is a good chance that the FCC has regulations that require airtime to be made available for some things… I am not really clear on any of this… maybe you should read the FCC Website and find out for yourself.  Alternatively, watch the movie UHF with Weird Al Yankovich… that might give you other ideas.

Mobile Promos - Place a TV screen on your head and walk around, or if you have a big dog, strap a TV to its back and walk it around, or put a 52” Flat Screen on top of your car and drive around… play the DVD… watch the registrations roll in!

iPhone, Droids, portable DVD Players and more - Play it through your iPhone, Droid or other internet capable phone, or a portable DVD player in a public place.  Coffee shops and gyms are a good start, but libraries and doctor offices might allow others to hear the SWEET Promo more effectively. 

Movie Theaters - If you are making a trip to the local cinema, simply bring a laptop and projector.  Also, bring a large piece of black cardboard and a noise cancelling device.  Use the cardboard to block the regularly scheduled coming attractions, use the noise cancelling device to block the sound from the regularly scheduled coming attraction then, discreetly project the NEXT Promo on the screen using your projector and laptop combo.  The result will be droves of individuals leaving the theater, making their way to the nearest computer (other than your laptop) and registering for NEXT.

Buy a Commercial Spot - Get 100000 of your closest friends to chip in a few dollars and buy a commercial.  Since the Super Bowl is over, it is probably best to buy time during the Olympics or American Idol… maybe to save money you could just audition for American Idol by reenacting the NEXT Promo

What’s Next for the NEXT Promo
When all is said and done, what should you do with the DVD that contains the 2010 NEXT Promo.  Here are a few bad suggestions:
- Frisbee
- Coaster
- Pizza Cutter
- Ornament for a Christmas Tree or Rearview Mirror
- One Big Earring, or an Elephant Nose Ring
- Use it to focus the sun and burn insects
- Use it as a mirror to see if you have spinach in your teeth
- Collect 8 and use them as mod plates
- Make a house of mirrors for gerbils
- Ebay it for 1 Million dollars and give the money to NEXT for scholarships

Those are all the “wonderful” ideas I could come up with… add your thoughts in the comments section!

Ed

As I sit with more morning coffee trying to recover from shoveling out of another 20”+ snowfall (the southern way of life looks better all the time), I ponder this question of life “What will I do with all my NEXT stickers”. It is a deep question to ponder but in case you don’t have either the time or desire to ask such probing questions of life, let me give my top 10 suggestions of how you can use your NEXT stickers….

1. Put them on your Bible.  Yeah I know it might sound crazy but it is an awesome way to remind yourself how God has been faithful to meet you year after year….  At least I think so, I still have my “Forget Reinvention” wheel stuck on my Bible cover
2. Put them on your car. Okay I know that you like your nice clean bumper and don’t want to be one of those people whose car looks like a moving billboard but one little sticker won’t hurt
3. Put them on your grandmother’s car. Just think how awesome it would be to see a grandmother trucking down the road in her Buick supporting the NEXT generation…. BTW, you may want to ask her first and get her a really nice gift
4. Put them up at Coffee Shop. Now don’t go sticking them on every table and chair, but most of the time local coffee shops will allow you to post community gigs going on, so be bold and ask if you could put up a poster or a least a sticker who knows how God will use it
5. Give them to friends. Okay not friends that are already going but maybe friends that are thinking of going but are unsure or friends that don’t even know about NEXT and you want to reach out too, these stickers are a great tool…. I mean who doesn’t like a cool sticker
6. Put it on the back of unsuspecting friend. Pick a good friend that doesn’t mind a joke and walk up to them pat them on the back (with the sticker concealed in your hand) and tell them how much you appreciate their friendship…. And walla, you have a walking billboard (just make sure you tell before the day is out because sticks don’t do the wash very well)
7. Put them up at Campus (or Office lunch room). Find one of those community billboard things on campus or that are in your office lunch room and put them up. Just make sure you keep checking the billboard because you wouldn’t want the promotion for the next showing of Hamlet to cover up that NEXT sticker!
8. Give them as gifts. This is an idea for the college students out there that might have been like me in college, short of all things related to money…. So its your cousin’s has birthday or your parents has an anniversary give them NEXT stickers… you might want to throw something else in with it but at least it is something
9. Put them on your laptop. Just imagine right next to your glowing Apple you can have a NEXT 2010 sticker…. Now that is cutting edge!
10. Put them on the bottom of your shoes. So when you sitting down in class or sitting in that meeting at work and extend your legs forward (so to slouch in your chair) or cross them as to say “I am still listening to you but pleas hurry up”, there on display will be your NEXT 2010 sticker, what could be better than that

Okay, the coffee is done and now I am ready for my day at the office. Now only if I could get my key to work, I tried to cover that with a NEXT sticker too… that didn’t work to well but at least I tried…. Can’t wait to see you and your stickers at NEXT 2010!

It’s coming…soon…to a web page near you…Are you ready?

With much anticipation I have been following Vinegar Hill’s blog. Vinegar Hill is a very talented & creative video production company. In 2009 they took on the challenge of producing Next’s Promo Video. Last year’s video was SWEET and this year’s promises to be even better. I received word last week that VH is almost finished with this year’s video. It will be on Next’s website, Vimeo, and You Tube by the end of the month (and hopefully sooner than that). I will let you know the moment it’s available! :) So, get ready…it’s coming!

And to whet your appetite, here is last year’s promo video…

Next 2009 Promotional Video from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

We’re snowed in, here in Maryland—30 inches or more. But that will not stop the planning for Next 2010!

God is blessing us—we already had a number of people contact us to volunteer and we are already well on the way to filling these teams (bookstore, ushers, speaker care, etc.).  These are people who give up their Memorial Day weekend, come and work through the conference (not attending and enjoying the sessions like everyone else), and pay for their own travel, lodging and meals to do it!

Let me give an example: Bob & Marge Merryman, a retired couple, have served at every New Attitude and Next conference we have held. They don’t just serve—and serve well—but they care for attendees, interact with attendees, and pray for the attendees.

Without a large team of volunteers like this, we could not put on this conference.

Let’s thank God for the volunteers and pray that God will bless them as they serve Him and us.

I don’t like overstatement. If I ask you how a movie was, and you tell me that it was incredible, mind-blowing, and the greatest movie since “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze”, I would hope that you’re not exaggerating. If something truly was incredible, let’s call it “incredible”. But otherwise, let’s call it “pretty good”, “okay”, or “at least it didn’t give me a headache”.

So I say these next words very carefully, and without exaggeration: At the 2001 NEXT Conference I heard a life-changing message.

The message was by C.J. Mahaney and it was called “The Main Thing”.

The point of the message: we must keep the gospel central in our lives. It is THE main thing. Nothing more important. Nothing more glorious. The Christian life orbits around and is changed by the gospel. The gospel defines our relationship with God.

I had grown up in a Christian home. I was a pastor’s kid. Growing up, I had played with Bible action figures. But these were new words to me. Life-changing words.

My life has been very different since I heard that sermon. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ occupy a central place in my life and heart. My relationship with God has been transformed. All by a one hour sermon. One hour, a lifetime of change.

Go to the NEXT Conference, hear God’s word preached, and be changed.

I spend most of my life looking through a tiny window pane. The window of my own experience: the shutters that have ushered in the winds of grace, the glass squares that have braced against the rains of refreshing, coming to cleanse soul-drought. Through these panels, my soul’s window, I have seen fields of green, pasture-peace that passes understanding. I have seen valleys, dark trenches of soul-weariness that have echoed with valley-cries and always received nothing but faithfulness in return. My view is rich with God’s mercy. My view tells a story and it is one of God’s personal faithfulness.

But my view is not enough.

If you come to Next, you will see what I mean. You will hear stories and testimonies. You will look through other windows. Not only that, you will worship next to them, eat next to them, stand in line at Starbucks next to them. That is what I love about Next. It is like a house of windows. Each panel telling a different story, but all reflecting on theme: faithfulness.

“In the beginning, God…”

When’s the last time you really stopped to study the fourth word in that sentence?

If you’re like me your mind moves pretty quickly beyond that word that to all the other questions in Genesis––questions about how God made the world, or the effects of Adam and Eve’s sin, or how tall the tower of Babel was, or who in the world that Melchizedek guy is.

But the Bible is pretty clear from the beginning on what the whole book is about: God.

That’s why this month we’re featuring articles and excerpts on the Doctrine of God (basically, “what the Bible says on the topic of God”). The authors include J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Bruce Ware. The articles involve nuclear explosions, the darkest parts of humanity, all facts ever recorded, and the true source of identity and purpose.

And good news: each article is only around 500 words. You can read that. In those 500 words each article is still packed with truth that will push you to think deeply.

(Note: Initially, we were worried about giving people theology in such theology-packed concentrated doses…but our test readers only blacked out briefly and woke up reciting the Heidelberg Catechism, so I think we’re good to go.)

Read the introduction to this month, or jump straight to the webzine.

The staff at Next are very grateful for the thousands of people that attend the conference each year. It is a substantial sacrifice for so many of you. We are constantly amazed and humbled at what you sacrifice and what you give up to attend. You could be sitting at the beach, hiking in the Smokies, exploring the Amazon, or whatever you like to do on vacation. Yet you choose to spend time and money to pursue your walk with the Savior and deepen relationships with His people. We pray that God blesses you and meets you at Next 2010.

There is a group of people that we are especially grateful for…pastors & leaders. These men (and often their wives, too) take time out of their busy schedules to attend Next with their local church. They’re not attending just for the great teaching and worship. They’re attending so that they can serve those that come from their local church. They spend the conference praying with (and for) their friends. They stay up way past their preferred bed time to talk, counsel, laugh, and bless. They miss time with their family. They postpone projects and deadlines. These men and their wives are true examples of selfless service. They love their Savior and they love the people He has given into their care.

Pastors/Leaders, we are so grateful for you! Thank you for your godly examples and love for your churches! If you are planning to attend Next 2010, please take advantage of our free registration. That’s right! If you are a pastor or leader and you’re bringing 8 or more people from your church, you qualify for free registration! To take advantage of this, please go to our Registration Page. You will find a request form below the registration link. Please fill it out and the Next Staff will be in contact with you. It’s our small way of saying Thank You!

I’m sure we’ve all observed to one degree or another that NEXT is not just for Sovereign Grace, 9Marks or Desiring God ministries “types”... There isn’t a generic “type” of christian group that NEXT targets. It’s not just for the new, life long or struggling Christian. Nor is it just for theologians or the “spirit filled” (which both should go hand in hand no?), rather NEXT is a culmination of all sorts of Christians and even some non-christians brought along by their friends. And you know what encouraged most of them to attend this conference? You!

Sure some of the most gifted communicators will be there teaching on God’s word. Sure there will be great worship with hundreds of fellow believers… but who wants to go alone? Who wants to drive or fly several hours to a conference they’ve never been to?

When getting the word out to people about NEXT fliers, posters and pamphlets are great, but what is better is personal testimony and word of mouth. A poster may spark interest and conversation, but are you going to go to a conference due to a poster or just a web site no matter how ridiculously cool they are? You can do what the posters can’t! Answer and ask questions! Put a person in-front of one of those posters who is adamantly telling you of the growth and encouragement they saw in their life as a fruit from attending NEXT! Man! That’s an encouragement!

Now of course we are not talking about “selling” the NEXT conference, rather just like the guys and gals who invited you and me to Na or NEXT our first time: we want to share the wealth of God’s goodness and grace experienced at this conference!

So with this in mind here are some practical ideas on ways to promote NEXT on campus:

• Set up a table with info and get guy/gals to man it and discuss NEXT with fellow students. We’ve done such things on the UGA campus with large success.
• Set up a little event like an open discussion and simply plug NEXT there for a minute or two afterward or at your campus events just make a casual announcement about “anyone who wishes to attend NEXT…”
• Do something to create attention like give away something cheap and fun (like freeze pops… hahah *joke*... cause its winter see…ha-uh never-mind).
• Simply TALK to your friends about it! “hey you goning to NEXT?” is all it takes!
• Wear your shirts! They are very thoughtfully designed! I get at least one person asking me about NEXT or Na every time I wear my shirts!
• Set up posters and fliers on notice boards (get approval first).
• Get info about NEXT to leaders of other Churches and College Ministries. Its just a little thing that goes a very long way!

This list is not exhaustive and is mentioned to inspire creativity in YOU to get the word out on YOUR campus. Go and tell of the grace God had shown you through this conference so that others may receive the same benefit you have!

I asked my sister, Katie, to write a paragraph about the wonderful resources available on the Next website…


Hi, folks! Katie Britt here. Are you one of those people who enjoy fun wall paper on your computer? Are you on the prowl for new gadgets for your blog or Facebook page? Well, we have a little gift for you! Our brilliant website team has created some cool banners and wall paper. There are all sorts of options right at your fingertips. Where do you find them? Yep, you guessed it, the Next website. Play around with the available resources, have fun! Create a countdown using one of the many banners and stick it on your blog. Find creative ways to promote Next on your FB page or website. The possibilities are endless!


So, what are you waiting for? You have 121 days left to get your creative juices going and start promoting.

What I love most about this conference happened at a girls’ session in 2004.  I know it’s a bit odd for a guy to say that, but it’s true.

Of course, there are a lot of things I love about NEXT.  I love the laughter and fellowship with friends.  I love worshipping God with thousands of other young people who are passionate about Jesus.  I love the teaching, which has had an enduring impact in my life.  Last May, I remember having pizza with my friends Matt and Tim after C.J.‘s sermon on Christ’s death; all three of us had tears on our faces by the time the meal was over.  (I never did find out what the server thought about three guys in their twenties who had to ask for more napkins to wipe off their tears.)

But none of those things are what I love MOST about NEXT.

Back to the girls’ session in 2004.  A girl from our church (Sara) met a girl sitting in front of her (Katie) who had moved to our area just days before.  It turned out that they lived within a few blocks of each other.  They almost immediately became friends.  Sara invited Katie to visit our church.  And then, after the girls’ meeting was over, Sara introduced Katie to me (because I led a small group in the same part of town).  Today, I’m so glad to say that Katie is a faithful member of our church, the mother of my favorite kids in the world, and the wife of a guy who cries at pizza restaurants.  (That’s me, in case you aren’t connecting the dots.)

The moral of the story? This year at NEXT, many people’s lives will be impacted by the teaching.  Many friends will experience memorable fellowship.  Many people will build new friendships.  Some people will find a local church.  And a couple of people may even meet their future spouse.

I’m not sure what God would have in store for you.  But, if I were you, I’d sure be eager to find out!