Make your mark!
That’s the theme of this year’s Catalyst event in Atlanta. David and I are here to soak up the teaching, the atmosphere, the leadership skills. And there is just so much to soak up! If you imagine Thanksgiving Day, and the feeling you have in the morning as the smell of turkey starts to blend with Gramma’s squash casserole and an apple pie or two… well if you image that, you can imagine the anticipation and reality of Catalyst. It is like a day of feasting. And now, now it is after the feast and I’m sleepy and full.
Arrival at Catalyst is always exciting. There are pre-show bands playing, food, and — memorably — a helicopter drop of paratrooper Chick-fil-A cows. Unfortunately, I missed that because we were stuck in the horrendous traffic trying to turn into the convention center. Once you turned in the drive, by the way, there were pink flamingos lining the entryway. I have no idea why. But I enjoyed them!
We had a great lineup of speakers today, interspersed with legendary Catalyst activities and comedy. The day kicked off with Andy Stanley, then Jessica Jackley (founder of Kiva), Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers), Shane Hipps (“Flickering Pixels”), Rob Bell, Tony Dungy, Matt Chandler and Frances Chan. Unbelievable.
To get a little taste of the teaching, here are a few of my highlights from the day.
- Whose mark are you making? Yours or God’s?
- You won’t recognize your “mark” until years later. You don’t know the thing that will make the greatest difference.
- The Angel of the Lord has not come to be part of your story; he has come to invite you to be part of his story.
- Don’t just be a leader in authority, but a leader under authority.
- Who are you FOR?
- Be more concerned whose side you’re on than who’s on your side.
- Incompetence irritates me; over-confidence scares me.
- Don’t be trapped by your confidence.
- In times of crisis what we need from our leaders is humility
- A sign of over-confidence: you stop listening to those around you.
- How you say something is as important as what you say.
- The medium IS the message.
- Words invite argument, but images bypass logic and are not argued. Hence advertising.
- The ever-changing gospel never changes
- What if the gospel is a living thing rather than a lifeless artifact?
- We need gardeners, rather than guards. The gospel is more like a garden, growing and alive, than a priceless painting.
- In the gospel there is no room for fear.
Rob is an experience, more than a list of bullets! Honestly, I can’t even break his message down because he sent my mind spinning in so many directions. I did very much enjoy his advice to pastors and others very involved in the church to keep a Sabbath and take care of your family first.
- God created everything.
- Everything creates a sense of worship in the human soul…even a good meal or a beautiful piece of music.
- What God said he was going to do, he’s doing right now! He is doing it!
- Get up, repent and mature… learn to live in deeper waters of intimacy.
- Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Francis Chan and Aaron Keyes
Day one of Catalyst 09 ended with a worship service and communion. It is difficult to make 12,500 people feel intimate, but somehow they did. Aaron Keyes is an amazing worship leader. He happens to be the worship pastor at Buddy Hoffman’s church, Grace Fellowship. If you have read Coffee Shop Journal at all you know that this is my “home” church in Atlanta. We love Grace Fellowship, and it felt like getting to see your own team play for the World Series. Aaron’s music is worship music, and worship we did. When Francis Chan got up to speak, he read the scriptures over us. Yes, that’s about it. He read the scriptures over us because he realized that to display the grace of God, you must soak in the grace of God. In the end, we took communion together and stayed to worship as a (very big) family. It was intense and powerful and felt like the Spirit was pouring rain down on us after a long, long day.
I can’t even begin to imagine day two!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Thanks for the summaries and commentaries. For us who couldn’t make it to the conference this is priceless. Hope and pray God continues to fill you up!