Here are The Awesome Points of Catalyst 2012, Part 2, followed by some final tidbits to share....
From Jon Acuff:
- "How do you not get lost in the creative process? How do you not confuse making with achieving?"
- The process of making is to be used for God's kingdom, not ours.
- "God will never be handcuffed by your failures or unleashed by your successes."
- "God calls us to make because he loves us. There’s joy in the process. God loves joy."
From Craig Groeschel:
- Pay attention to the Spirit's prompting ("deo pneuma"). When inspired, act!
- God doesn't always show us all the details of His prompting- sometimes because we can't handle it! We need to step toward our destiny by stepping away from security and taking a leap of faith.
- "If you're not ready to face opposition to your obedience to God, you're not ready to be used by God."
- "If I blame myself when things go poorly, I will take credit for when things go well."
- Experiencing uncommon clarity allows us to say "no" to the good things that come our way so that we can seek the great things God wants for us.
From Matt Chandler:
- Our job is with the fringes of the flock- not the middle with the happy sheep.
- "Justification is the crown jewel of our salvation."
- "Don't give Jesus a makeover." Don't contextualize Christ- it's not the Gospel at that point.
- "It is not unloving of God to wound us now so that we have everlasting joy in eternity." (Rather than vice versa.)
- Don't compare yourself and seek to find value outside of you.
From Simon Sinek:
- Followers need to know why they are doing something more than what they are doing. It is the "why" that should define our identity.
- "Authenticity means that you actually believe the things you say and do."
- Leaders have a vision for the future that they can clearly articulate.
From Geoffrey Canada:
- "Do not confuse leadership with celebrity."
- You need courage of conviction to achieve change.
From Andy Stanley (Day 2):
- "It is much easier to educate a doer than to activate a thinker."*
- "If you don’t know why something is working when it is working, you won’t know how to fix it when it breaks."
- "Put people where they can make their greatest contribution."
- If people don't know the "what" and the "why" for what they do, they'll make up their own win. "The clarified win becomes the magnetic compass point for all."
- "Create a feedback loop that keeps you close to critical events."
* Being a thinker & "idea person" myself, and someone who struggles with follow-through, I asked Andy via Twitter what happens if you have a bunch a thinkers, or if you are the thinker. At first he replied back via a direct message "I'll have to think about that." Ha ha. Then responded moments later with "Just make sure the thinkers aren't in charge of projects/initiatives that require high energy and personal involvement. Good Question!" I was actually a bit surprised and excited that he took time to answer, but still unclear how this helps me. But maybe it will help you, and maybe next time I will ask the question I really wanted to ask. Lesson learned.
OK, so with all the awesome points from the speakers out of the way, here's a rundown of some of the other cool and enjoyable things about my Catalyst 2012 experience:
- The entertainment of Tripp & Tyler between speakers. (Also check out YouTube for some of their past videos.)
- The worship experience provided by Gungor. Unlike any other worship I've been part of- in a good way.
- Kid President. Don't be in a party- be the party!
- Beat boxing cellist Kevin Olusola. You may know him from a capella group Pentatonix from The Sing-Off, but that shouldn't overshadow the fact that he is a BEAT BOXING CELLIST.
- The Dan Deacon app, which we were all instructed to download in order to turn this Michael Jackson medley on Day 2 into an interactive light show.
Finally, we were left with three instructions to end the conference that I will leave with you until I figure out what I want to blog about next:
- We've all got a gift- what is yours? Use it now & use it better!
- Ask the Holy Spirit, "Who should I help"? Identify one person who needs you right now, and do what you can to help.
- Find places in our lives to remind ourselves "More of God, less of me."