Wow. The second day of the International Leadership Conference proved to be just as challenging and inspiring as the first. I am now fiercely determined to break the chains of mediocrity that for too many months have plagued areas of Christianity such as my intimacy with God, my personal evangelism and my preparation for teaching the Bible.
 
My first personal victory from the conference came during a prayer time with me wife, Suzanne, this afternoon. I pushed myself past the mental and emotional lethargy that so often dampens my prayers and I connected with God in ways that I haven\'t experienced in a long time. It was awesome!

And I knew it was more than just a feeling when I returned to the fellowship and discovered that I was way more giving and outwardly focused than I had been before that prayer time. It was great to really connect with people. Thanks God!
 
But enough about me. Here\'s a bit of good news: Maher Alhim, an evangelist from Jordan, shared that the church in Egypt has had 20 baptisms so far this year and that the church in Sudan has had 21. That\'s cool considering the political climate in the Middle East.
 
Here are a few highlights from today\'s numerous lessons. I really don\'t do them justice, so be sure to check out the audio files of the complete sermons, which will be available online in about a month. We\'ll let you know when and where. 
 
Boston Church of Christ evangelist Doug Arthur showed us from 1 Samuel 17:45 that there is a good chance people will question your motives as a leader when you step up to do God\'s will, but that you cannot let the accusations hurt you so much that you freeze. If you do, God can\'t use you.
 
He also called leaders to take the \scary step of submission,\ just as Jesus did (Philippians 2). Elders need to submit to the leadership talents of evangelists while evangelists need to submit to the wisdom and authority of elders, he explained. Likewise, churches should submit to each other to accomplish unity, because that is what God expects from his people, Doug preached.
 
Sam Laing pointed out that the apostles in Acts 6:4 delegated serving work in the church specifically so they could give their attention to \prayer and the ministry of the word.\ He urged staff leaders to focus on their walk with God and let their preaching and work overflow from it. 
 
Cesar Lopez called us to have pure, childlike hearts and to love God and his church the way we all loved when we were baptized (Revelation 2).
 
\If you can think of a time when you have loved more, then your heart has drifted,\ he preached.
 
Cesar thanked all of the first-world churches for their financial support of third-world churches, which has allowed disciples to \go into all nations.\
 
Well, it\'s been a privilege to attend the \For All Generations\ conference and to blog about it. I look forward to posting more tomorrow night. 
 
Brian Martinez
L.A. Church member