Honorable Mention Catalyst Debrief

After this week of Catalyst Debrief, I thought I would just give you some other random quotes, which also stuck out. Enjoy! "Demons and the Holy Spirit are similar in that they both whisper to you...You have to know your word to know which is sweet and which is a lie." -Matt Chandler

"When young leaders stand on the shoulders of older leaders, they can see further ahead." -Nancy Ortberg

"I [a pastor] need to know to know [my congregants] workplace when I don't see them, but they also need to know what I do when they don't see me." -Eugene Peterson

"The tortoise always wins the race, and we live in a culture full of hares (you win battles with a thousand cuts; not one swipe of the machete)." -Dave Ramsey

"If I lead in ministry but not at home, that is not a leader; that is an actor." -Jon Acuff

"Secrets influence the way you lead because you compensate for it in the way you lead." -Andy Stanley

"'Come to Jesus and get _____.' If we fill that blank with ANYTHING but Jesus, we preach heresy." -David Platt

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What of these quotes sticks out to you most? WHY?

Theology and Experience

The conference emcee said, "You won't want to miss tonight's session with Judah Smith, cuz' that boy can preeeeeach." He could not have been more accurate. I had never heard of Judah Smith, but since that day I have since subscribed to the podcast, and I cannot get enough of this hipster glasses and skinny jean-clad fellow who preaches with the passion, wit, and impact of a black preacher in the south (though he is a skinny white kid from Seattle). Best preaching I've heard in a LONG time.

A large premise not only for his talk that night, but for his life as of late was:

"My theology will not be dictated by my experience."

After having lost his father, his hero, to a long battle with cancer this past year, Judah was and is still able to make this faith statement.

How often have we, or those around us, been caught up in life's broken circumstances and began to wonder if God and his promises are really true. We go through different situations and we begin to doubt all the foundational things we have built our lives on.

The truth is we all have a sick heart, and we are all faced with situations when the things we think were supposed to happen do not materialize, and we have to learn to take our failed promises back to God and say, "I still trust you."

------- * Judah's church in Seattle and The Podcast

*Catalyst Debrief

Faith Budget: oxymoron

It was a classic case of, "Oh yeah, I've heard of that book, but who is [author's name]." I had heard plenty about Radical. Several friend have read and raved about it, but I had never heard the name David Platt until my time at Catalyst. Putting the book with its author's name was only the beginning. David is an example of James 3:17. His wisdom is considerate, full of mercy, impartial, and sincere, but it is incredibly bold and blunt (as it should be).

I am king of honing in on statements probably meant to be 'filler' or flippant, because the statement David said that struck me most was:

"Budget season is where we come face to face with how little we trust God's word."

I have always said that if your creativity is based on your budget, then you aren't creative at all. But this statement cuts a bit deeper.

I remember the first time I heard the term "faith budget". It was a term I was never taught in all my ministry classes. Once I learned how a faith works, I got used to determining what I would seek to accomplish in ministry based on how much my budget offered me to do.

This quote was not easy to hear or apply. Truth often has this effect.

When budget season comes around, it inevitably comes with stress. Why is that? It is because we are worried. We are worried whether or not we will have the money to continue the things we are doing in ministry. We are worried whether or not we will have the money to accomplish the dreams we had for ministry this coming year. We are worried whether we will have the money to accomplish all the evangelistic methods we have acquired. (What a shame Jesus didn't have the advanced evangelistic methods we have today.)

But the starker reality is that we are worried that God's grace and the gospel of Jesus is not really sufficient. We are worried that Christ and him crucified might not be enough.

I'd say the Holy Spirit is accomplishing great things without the resources and budgets that we have here in the American Church, but we have come up with so much stuff to get us and others excited about Jesus...as he needed those things to prove how incredible he is.

I need to change some things...

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* David Platt's Church and David Platt's Book

*Catalyst Debrief

No Miracles without Risk

I had never even heard of Christine Caine. She was due to speak at Catalyst West Coast, and after her Aussie accent, he passion is the first thing to strike you. Several notes from her talk inked my journal, but one has nearly haunted me.  "We spend our life praying for miracles and live life avoiding circumstances where miracles can happen."

Our lives lurch forward in search for the next miracle to happen. Some of us are so dependent upon miracles that we avoid the responsibility of obedient living. But there are others of us who ask and hope for miracles, but we refuse to live in the space where miracles happen: risk.

Throughout scripture, the instances where miracles took place most often regarded a step out on to nothing in order to land on the hope of a miraculous something. Faith is necessary for miracles. Trust in a God capable of miracles is necessary for miracles.

Most of us are too worried to live lives of faith, and the risk that faith necessitates. If you have not had to take a risk, then you have not trusted. If you have worried and worried and worried without risking and trusting, you have missed out on the miracles God may have been doing all along.

"Who needs the devil sometimes when you have so many worrying Christians around you?"

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* More about the A21 Campaign or Equip and Empower Ministries that Christine is a proponent for

*Catalyst Debrief

Finally...Imagine a World Like This...

A few weeks ago, I was able to attend the Catalyst West Coast conference primarily for ministry leaders and pastors. Conferences are incredibly refreshing for me; even if that refreshment means cramming my mind and heart with information I will never remember in its entirety.

That is why every time I go to a conference,  take crazy notes and then follow it all up with a couple key steps. 1. Go back to each talk and highlight my top 4-5 points. 2. Go back to those points at a later time to highlight the 4-5 things I want to be SURE to remember and apply.

This week, I'll be reflecting on and sharing with you those highlights.

I will begin the week with a quote by Scot McKnight.

"'Imagine a world like this...' could begin every parable Jesus told."

I loved this thought. It was such a flippant and passing part of all the things he had to say in that talk, but isn't it amazing how those tiny things can stick out to someone in a way the speaker had never intended?

I have begun to take a look at the stories Jesus told with new eyes and mindset. Jesus dealt in story and dreams, and we would do well to remember that when it comes to our reading of scripture.

The kingdom comes alive when you begin to imagine a world like this...

Catalyst Lab Day Highlights

Here are some of my highlights from the labs I attended on the first day of Catalyst (italicized the particularly strong statements I want to ruminate on) Scott McKnight - One.Life - To ignite a dream in a student is an incredible opportunity - Jesus traded in dreams --> and we need our dreams to be swamped by Jesus' dreams - "IMAGINE A WORLD LIKE THIS" could begin every kingdom parable Jesus told - "to be a writer, you have to like sentences" (a quote by Annie Dillard) - You have to do little things well and with faithfulness to plot the course for the DREAM God gives you - parable of the weeds and wheat --> let Jesus say what he says here...they are go grow together...the world is the field, the field is not the Church...but we like to rule people out, but Jesus says we are to co-exist together until the harvest - When Jesus says to love our enemies, we ask, "Who are our enemies?" --> Muslims, Homosexuals, Homeless --> we can tell they are our enemies because they are never in our homes

Rick McKinley – “A Kingdom Called Desire” - Matthew 13:44 à the one word that ruins me is “joy” à in his joy, he sold everything - Desire is that thing which makes us ask “Why WOULDN’T I do that?” - If I’m not honest with the places in me where I don't completely trust that Jesus is enough, then I can only fake it...you can fake it in church, but you cannot fake it in the kingdom - Jesus is intent on killing you and wrecking you SO THAT he can resurrect you anew - Most of us would trade our people for Pharisees any day of the week --> they do it right, they're easier to work with, they got the duty down...but THEY'RE PHARISEES - we're joining Jesus on mission, we're not creating mission...

Michael Hyatt - The Leadership Edge - Your heart is the key to influence as a leader - Your heart should be your #1 priority (Proverbs 4:23 says "above all else") - If you do not guard your heart, things will fail and fall around you - Your heart is the essence of your identity - Ask yourself the question frequently: "How is my heart?" (ask others the same) - Your heart is the most important leadership tool you possess....do you value it as such - closed heart:  you're distant and aloof...communication shuts down...you're more interested in finding out what people have done wrong...you're critical and demanding - open heart:  fully present, engaged in the conversation, communication is wide open, you are a resource to people, you're more focused on people than you are on yourself, NOT focused on finding what is wrong - people will emulate the leader whether he likes it or not...whether the leaders heart is open or closed

Anne Jackson - Permission to Speak Freely - The common denominator in the things people felt they could not talk about in the church was "brokenness" -Whatever is broken we tend to sweep under the rug - If we don't show the world that we are broken, how will they ever believe in a healer? -  "vulnerable" comes from a word that means "to be wounded"

David Platt - Radical - Luke 9:57-62 --> doesn't it seem like Jesus is trying to talk these men out of following him? - Which is so unlike us...we spend so much time and effort trying to draw as many people as we can...each time a large crowd came to Jesus he says something HUGE about what it means to follow him - Unfortunately, Jesus did not have the advanced evangelism methods we have today *sarcasm* --> people turn away from the call He places on them, and he SEEMS to be alright with that - "Come to Jesus and get ________." --> if we fill that blank with anything but "Jesus" we preach a false gospel - We have come up with so much stuff to get us excited about Jesus...the Holy Spirit is doing just fine without all the resources we surround ourselves with in our Churches - Budget Season is where we come face to face with how little we trust God's word - When you know God truly you love God deeply