This is my third year having the privilege of attending the D6 Conference and being on the Social Media Team. I love, love, love this conference! Why? I always leave this conference inspired and challenged to make positive changes in my home and my ministry. That’s what D6 is all about: the church + the home. This year was definitely the best one yet! I could probably go on for many blog posts about all the takeaways and favorite quotes from the incredible variety of speakers I have heard from over the last couple of days. Here are a few of my favorites.

Takeaways:

  • Allow kids/students to ask questions. Let them have doubts. Help them find the answers. Help them discover the Christian worldview makes sense and is backed up by science and history.
  • Be in the moment. Be intentionally present with your family. Use life lessons in the moment. Be present emotionally and physically.
  • Kids don’t need to be entertained, they need to be engaged.  Let’s spend more time cultivating honest and authentic relationships with our kids than we do putting on a “great show”. 
  • Communication doesn’t = connection. We are communicating more than ever on social media and devices, but that doesn’t mean we are truly connected. Take the time to connect with people face to face and heart to heart. What happens in those moments is what makes our communication on our devices meaningful. 
  • Be more intentional with my time. Make appointments for the things that are important in my life, including my time with God. Don’t just make to-do lists and calendars, write down how I actually spend my time. Find ways to eliminate time wasters each day to make the next day better. 

Favorite Quotes:

Ron Hunter

  • “What if you knew where your x was? (the place you will die) Would you live differently?”
  • “Scripture defines discipleship not as an event, but a way of life.”
  • “Like the little green army men:
    1. Realize our kids are different.
    2. Start as a newly enlisted private and never stops.
    3. The general does not do all the training.
    4. Prepare for life’s battles (defend their faith).
    5. If you wait until the battle to prepare your kids, the odds are against them.”
  • “Leadership and discipleship are siblings in the same family.”

Rob Rienow

  • “Don’t put your spiritual opportunities in front of your spiritual responsibilities.”
  • “The Great Commission begins at home.”
  • “Family worship is the engine that powers the Christian family.”
  • “Our good intentions and will power are going to get us nowhere fast. We need the supernatural power of God.”
  • “We have Christian families with well-fed children who are starving spiritually.”
  • “The essential program for family ministry is family worship in the home.”
  • “We have to first worship in our homes and then spread it everywhere else.”

Lee Strobel

  • “An epidemic that is happening in our homes and churches is the virus of doubt.”
  • “Barely 25% of millennials attend church.”
  • “Many young people are leaving the church because no one is giving them good answers to their questions about life and faith.”
  • “The data of history point powerfully towards Jesus claiming to be the Son of God and backing up that claim by raising from the dead.”
  • “We need to help give our kids the confidence that we have truth on our side.”
  • “Doubt is like a nightmare… if you hold it in it can erode your soul, but if you let it out and look for answers it loses the emotional hold it can have on you.”
  • “1 of the 6 reasons students are leaving the church is because they don’t think the church is a safe place to ask questions.”

Kyle Idleman

  • “Transparency is contagious, transparency connects us, transparency requires us to be intentional.”
  • “We settle for good intentions instead of being intentional.”
  • “If you want to reap a certain harvest you have to plant a certain kind of seed. (Galatians 6:7-8)”
  • “Don’t buy the lie that you can teach others what you don’t do with your own family.”
  • “Let’s live with such intentionality that we wouldn’t say, accidents happen.”

Eddie Moody Jr.

  • “1 out of every 4 adults will struggle with a mental health or substance abuse problem at some point in their lives.”
  • “Every chance you can pray with people who are hurting, pray out loud and by name.”
  • “When people use the Bible it changes them and it helps them.”
  • “It’s key that people are part of a church where they have real relationships.”

Mike and Nikki Lejeune

  • “Busyness is a choice.”
  • “Every day when you wake up you have to choose to forgive those who hurt you.”
  • “Being present emotionally is the most important thing.”

Sadie Robertson

  • “When was the last time we just had each other’s backs?”
  • “Every act of unity comes with sacrifice.”
  • “What is one thing that unites everyone? The blood of Jesus.”

Dannah Gresh

  • “Over half of Americans are stressed.”
  • “Lie 1: We need to be normal to be relevant.”
  • “Truth 1: God wants us to stick out.”
  • “We want to fit in, but we don’t want to be all in.”
  • “Lie 2: We can go without God.”
  • “Truth 2: God’s presence is what we’re missing.”
  • “What would happen if you first started talking to God about people instead of talking to people about God?”

Robby Gallaty

  • “God works the best in our waiting.”
  • “The Christian life is either easy or impossible. It’s impossible if you try to do it in your own strength. It becomes easier as you allow Christ to work in and through your life.”
  • “We are looking for people to disciple who are faithful, available, intentional, teachable, and hungry.”
  • “We have taught people how to share their faith, but not how to share their life.”
  • “Baptism isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting line.”
  • “People know that they are saved FROM something, but we fail to tell them they are saved FOR something.”
  • “We have created generations of generations of spiritual infants in the church.”
  • “We can’t expect from other people what we aren’t emulating ourselves.”

Aaron Pontious

  • “A worldview is how one views or interprets reality.”
  • “If we are not intentional with the next generation, culture will be.”
  • “Establishing a proper understanding of the Christian worldview is foundational for every student.”
  • “The Christian story is the only worldview that addresses the problem head on and provides the solution.”
  • “Being able to choose or reject God elevates our love for Him.”
  • “If there really is a Creator, should His ways matter more than my own?”
  • “If worldview questions are addressed regularly, our students will be better equipped for life’s battles.”
  • “Invite more questions and ask more questions.”

Leneita Fix

  • “Our kids have become so focused on excellence they have forgotten about adventure.”
  • “This generation (Gen Z) is looking for reality and authenticity.”
  • “Parents are living in fear and protection mode.”
  • “Aspirations for Gen Z = Security and Stability.”
  • “We have forgotten how to be with each other.”
  • “Gen Z are private, driven, perfectionist, realists.”
  • “They have become a generation that is constantly presenting themselves. They just want to get it right and give you the right answers.”
  • “They don’t need to be entertained, they need to be engaged.”
  • “Mistakes are opportunities to learn.”
  • “In small groups to get Gen Z talking: Have them talk to the people sitting next to them, then share with the group. Ask them individually and pointedly. Have them pick a picture that represents how they feel.”

David Prince

  • “We are not entitled to see the beauty we see.”
  • “Sports expose character.”

Dale Hudson

  • “When you take a child by the hand, you take a parent by the heart.”
  • “Keep doing the small things that add up to a big impact, but if you really want to impact them in a big way, have home run experiences.”

Meredith Andrews

  • “Worship is not just music, it is the posture of our heart.”
  • “We must find the most joy in the presence of God.”
  • “Worship is a response to God’s presence.”
  • “When we experience God’s presence in our lives worship is the only right response.”
  • “When you sing the Word of God it gets into your soul like never before.”
  • “It cost Jesus everything to bring you into His presence.”
  • “When we worship it not only set us free, it sets the people around us free.”

Tim Goodyear

  • “Don’t miss that equipping the parents is part of equipping the saints.”
  • “If we are expecting parents to have the faith conversations with their kids, are we equipping them to do it?”

John Stonestreet

  • “American Christians do a lousy job understanding the larger culture, and the larger culture does a lousy job understanding Christians.”
  • “You can’t escape culture, culture is the water in which we swim.”
  • “There is no such thing as being on the wrong side of history, there is only such a thing as being on the wrong side of right.”
  • “The most true thing is that Christ is risen.”

Jim Wideman

  • “Organization works and helps us in every area of our lives.”
  • “Whatever you know right now is getting replaced at some point.”
  • “If God leads me in steps why am I trying to move in leaps and bounds.”
  • “Sometimes order is a mess we are not willing to make!”
  • “Whatever you do not manage you lose.”
  • “Make an appointment with Jesus every day and keep it.”
  • “Get on your face before God and suck rug! Do what God says!”
  • “Have a smart phone just don’t do dumb things with it.”

 

It has been another inspiring year at D6 2018! They have just announced that D6 2019 will be held in Orlando, Florida on September 26-28. Save the date! I hope to see you there!