Posts Tagged ‘Catalyst’

Rather than regurgitating my own notes from some of the other speakers at Catalyst, here are some links to their talks that have already been written about on other blogs. Just click on the image for the link.

Andy also opened up Catalyst with a great message which you can see summarized here.

One of the highlights of Catalyst for me was Chuck Swindoll’s message on Friday. I have been an appreciate follower of his as a pastor, author, leader at Dallas Theological Seminary and speaker on his radio show Insight for Living. One of my favorite, all-time books is his Grace Awakening.

He is one of those “elder statesmen” of the church that makes me pause and listen to what he says. He is consistently faithful to the biblical text while at the same time remaining eminently practical to applying its truth to life.

At Catalyst, he was presented with their Lifetime Achievement Award. It was a fitting honor for a humble leader.

The following are notes from his message to the crowd of 12K energetic, young (at heart) church planters, leaders and supposed innovators.

He began with a quote from Alan Redpath: “If God wants to do an impossible task, he will take an impossible person and crush them.” Swindoll echoed this by saying, “In all your dreams and enthusiasm, just leave room in your life for the crushing.”

This certainly hit home with me, and for the rest of his presentation, I was glued on his every word. He spoke with gracious humility mixed with apostolic authority.

10 things you need to know about leadership

1. It’s lonely to lead. Leadership involves tough decisions.
2. It’s dangerous to succeed – especially young in life. He said, “It’s rare for God to bring young men into vast areas of leadership.” If you’re under 30 and have experienced success in the church or ministry leadership, beware.
3. It’s hardest at home. That’s where the real you lives. No pretending there. Are you at your best at home, or does your family get leftovers? No one is applauding you at home saying, “Wow, Dad, you’re incredible!”
4. It’s essential to be real.
5. It’s painful to obey.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
   Malcom Muggeridge says, “I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence by means of some drug or other medical mumbo jumbo, as Aldous Huxley envisaged in Brave New World, the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal and trivial to be endurable. This, of course, is what the Cross signifies. And it is the Cross, more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ.”
7. My attitude is more important then my actions. Swindoll said, “Some of you are getting hard to be around!”
8. Integrity eclipses image. What you’re doing is not a show!
9. God’s way is always better then my way. Our problem is that we’re too capable and can accomplish so much in the flesh. God cannot pour all of His riches into hands that are already full.
10. Christ-likeness begins and ends with humility.

Swindoll’s text was 2 Corinthians 4:5-72 Corinthians 4:5-7
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake; ⁶ seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.

WP-Bible plugin:

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

The foundational principle he drew from this was: We should be willing to leave the familiar methods without disturbing the biblical message.

He went on to describe the difference between traditionalism and tradition:

• Traditionalism: the dead faith of those still living
• Tradition: living faith of those now dead

He made three important observations about the text:

1. With every ministry, a special mercy is needed.
2. In every ministry the same things must be renounced and rejected

• Hiding shameful things
• Doing deceitful things
• Corrupting truthful things

3. Through every ministry, a unique style should be pursued.

• We don’t need to promote ourselves.
• We declare Christ Jesus as Lord.
• We see ourselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ.
• We never forget what we are… And who He is.

He concluded his ministry to us at Catalyst with “5 statements for your next 50 years in ministry:”

1. Whatever you do, do more with others and less alone.
2. Emphasize quality not quantity.
3. Wherever you go, do it the same as if you were among those who know you. (It will keep you from exaggerating.)
4. Whoever may respond, keep a level head (whether you’re worshiped or crucified).
5. However long you lead, keep on dripping with gratitude and grace.

Note: Thanks to Tim Schraeder for allowing me to use the above graphic.

I returned from Catalyst 2009 late Friday-early Saturday with my church staff, and I wanted to post some quick reflections on the experience. I’ve been wanting to attend for 9 years, and finally made it this year to celebrate its 10th birthday.

I know of no other event that seeks to honor Christ and elevate joy as much as Catalyst. There were incredible moments of tear-jerking spirituality – such as when one man was brought on stage to promote Compassion International. He had been supporting kids through CI for 12 years. The Catalyst staff then surprised him by bringing up on stage a young man from Africa – one of the kids he had been supporting for years. It was the first time they’d ever met in person. The two fell to their knees in a sobbing, joyful embrace of love and overwhelming emotion.

On the other hand, another Guiness Book record was broken as Professor Splash jumped from a 35’9″ platform into a foot of water in a kiddie pool.

There was a impact-laden lineup of Christ-centered speakers and ministers that included the likes of Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Dave Ramsey, Matt Chandler, Chuck Swindoll and Priscilla Schirer. These gracious leaders urged us to turn from sin, consumerism and shallow thinking.

Then there was the 10-minute football fight that literally looked like snow as the 12,000he 12,000
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin participants launched mini inflatable footballs at each other and a group of kids wearing football uniforms on the stage. This preceded the introduction of Tony Dungy and his clear, unequivocal and humble talk that demonstrated how one can walk with Christ and ego-addicts at the same time.

We were challenged and exposed to the depth of need for ministry and intercession as we learned about the 143 million orphans in our world (check out 143million.org) and alternatively, we laughed our heads off at the inane videos of theme interpretation of “On Your Mark.” Two of the Catalyst staffers created some of the most Jackass-like videos with the tagline “That’s gonna leave a mark.”

Catalyst 2009 was both a circus and a sanctuary.

It was the best of times and the worst of times.

Considering that Dave Ramsey’s group co-sponsored the event and then gave out 6000 free t-shirts promoting Financial Peace also left one wondering about the mixed message.

While thousands drank the Catalyst Koolaid without question, thousands also whispered in private conversations over Rwandan coffee about the confusing message of Christ, sheer entertainment, consumerism and selfless service.

One was left wondering at times, should we be more focused and less fun? Is it sinful to have a great time – especially considering the suffering of other saints? Are we magnifying the frivolous at the altar of edgy?

Yet… the moments of worship that transcended frivolity were plentiful. The humility evidenced by most of the speakers was tangible. The name of Christ was consistently magnified, and some of His most unnoticed servants – adoptive parents – were given honor and attention. Andy Stanley spoke on areas of leadership so desperately needed by the younger generation of Christian wanna-be’s.

In these hours of near-reflection, I am both grateful and embarrassed that I was able to participate. I am not critical of Catalyst. Rather, I’m challenged by it. Truly, its name is appropriate.

I’ll be posting some thoughts later on some of the messages I heard. Three of them deeply ministered to me. Stay tuned…

We had a fantastic day at Catalyst today, and I post it thoughts about it later. For now, here’s some video I shot from my iPhone, and if you want to see more, check out the media page at Cat09.

The Catalyst Conference is 10 years old this year. I’ve wanted to go each year since it was started, but this will be my first year. I’m grateful to be able to join the Northstar Church staff on this excursion in Atlanta.

I asked them both at supper tonight at Romeo’s Pizza what they felt like Catalyst’s mission and intent was. (They both attended the conference last year.) One said it was to help church leaders move from legalism to innovation. The other said that the conference challenged leaders to new ideas.

So I’m here in Atlanta for two more days to hear some dynamic speakers and biblical communicators. I’m looking forward to connecting with friends, making new ones and being deeply challenged in my faith and leadership.

On the drive down, I was tracking #cat09 on Twitter (the hashtag for Catalyst), and if you do Twitter, you’ll find some incredible quotes and 140-character reflections on Catalyst by tracking it as well. I tweeted this afternoon, “I’m thinking that Catalyst is gonna be a tweet competition for best quote.” In fact, Twitter could wind up being the Cliff Notes for Catalyst. Someone ought to publish all the tweets for it in a manuscript…

If you’re in Atlanta for the conference, look me up or nudge me on Twitter with a mention (“@journeyguy”). I’ll try to post highlights and reflections over the next few days.