Catalyst
I just got back from my 2nd annual trip to Catalyst--a conference for emerging leaders in Atlanta, Georgia. You can't summarize that kind of experience in words, but I wanted to at least crystallize some concepts. I'll give appropriate credit where credit is due. Some thoughts are simply my extrapolation on what was presented.
Pastors must be "chief confessors." (Andy Stanley) And the irony is that when we expose our weaknesses we're just telling people what they already know about us anyway!
Rob Bell shared about a "crisis moment" in his ministry where he wanted to walk away from it all. He realized that he needed to "pursue health and wholeness at all costs." In some ways I feel like that.
One of my dreams has always been to pastor a church and see it grow from the ground up. I've also known intuitively that NCC can't outgrow me and if it does that puts me in a very precarious position. Either the church plateaus or the leader collaspes . Bobby Clinton calls it phase three in his leadership emergence theory. Durning phase three, ministry maturing, you begin to experience a measure of success. But the danger, in Clinton's words, is that you can "get so busy ministering that the outer success may outpace inner growth." I know that the key to longevity in leadership is to keep learning and growing.
I feel like there are some holes in my heart--those issues that if left unresolved cause spiritual leaks in our lives. Andy Stanley talked about four of them--guilt, anger, jealousy, and greed. I can think of alot more.
Andy Stanley asks his kids a great question before bed. "Is everything ok in your heart?" Are you mad at anyone? Worried about anything? Feel guilty about anything?
Rob Bell also said something profound for preachers. "Are you saying something because you have to say something or are saying something because you have something to say."
The most enlightening part of Ron Martoia's session for me was his observation that there are 67 dialogs in the gospels between Jesus and someone else. In 50 of those dialogs, Jesus asks a question he doesn't answer. We aren't called to be walking encyclopedias. We are stewards of mysteries. Colossians 4:3 says we're called to "proclaim the mystery of Christ." Translation: we talk about unanswerable and unfathomable questions.
Tim Sanders, the Chief Solutions Officer @ Yahoo, said, "Your network is your net worth." Sanders also had a great perspective on reading. He said that reading is an act of love. I love that perspective and I think it's true if you read for the right reasons--to share that insight with others in a way that will help them reach their God-given potential.
"Great leadership is the ability to taste people's souls like a bottle of fine wine." Michael Rollins, President of Pizza Hut.
In Andy Stanley's second session he talked about pre-decisions. Pre-decisions are decisions made before you find yourself in a situation. When you make a pre-decision to do what's right you allow "Now God" moments like Daniel 1:9. God will never ask you to violate his principles to experiences his blessings. Daniel banks on it.
Here's a prayer Andy Stanley prays for his kids at night. "Give me the wisdom to know what's right and the courage to do what's right even when it's hard."
John Maxwell tied things in a knot. I love his categorization of defining moments. He said defining moments are ground breakers when you set a new direction in your life, heart breakers that force you to rearrange your life, cloud breakers when you see with greater clarity and chart breakers when you break through limitations that have held you back.
One key thought from that session is that we tend to overestimate the event (defining moment) and underestimate the process that must follow.
I love going to conferences because it forces you outside your ministry box and allows you to see how others are doing ministry. But ultimately, going to conferences is all about going back to basics. I need to work on some of the holes in my heart--those issues that if left unresolved cause spiritual leaks in my life. And I need to reprioritize and redirect my time and energy in God-honoring ways. Translation: Get back to the word and get back to prayer ala Acts 6:4.
Pastors must be "chief confessors." (Andy Stanley) And the irony is that when we expose our weaknesses we're just telling people what they already know about us anyway!
Rob Bell shared about a "crisis moment" in his ministry where he wanted to walk away from it all. He realized that he needed to "pursue health and wholeness at all costs." In some ways I feel like that.
One of my dreams has always been to pastor a church and see it grow from the ground up. I've also known intuitively that NCC can't outgrow me and if it does that puts me in a very precarious position. Either the church plateaus or the leader collaspes . Bobby Clinton calls it phase three in his leadership emergence theory. Durning phase three, ministry maturing, you begin to experience a measure of success. But the danger, in Clinton's words, is that you can "get so busy ministering that the outer success may outpace inner growth." I know that the key to longevity in leadership is to keep learning and growing.
I feel like there are some holes in my heart--those issues that if left unresolved cause spiritual leaks in our lives. Andy Stanley talked about four of them--guilt, anger, jealousy, and greed. I can think of alot more.
Andy Stanley asks his kids a great question before bed. "Is everything ok in your heart?" Are you mad at anyone? Worried about anything? Feel guilty about anything?
Rob Bell also said something profound for preachers. "Are you saying something because you have to say something or are saying something because you have something to say."
The most enlightening part of Ron Martoia's session for me was his observation that there are 67 dialogs in the gospels between Jesus and someone else. In 50 of those dialogs, Jesus asks a question he doesn't answer. We aren't called to be walking encyclopedias. We are stewards of mysteries. Colossians 4:3 says we're called to "proclaim the mystery of Christ." Translation: we talk about unanswerable and unfathomable questions.
Tim Sanders, the Chief Solutions Officer @ Yahoo, said, "Your network is your net worth." Sanders also had a great perspective on reading. He said that reading is an act of love. I love that perspective and I think it's true if you read for the right reasons--to share that insight with others in a way that will help them reach their God-given potential.
"Great leadership is the ability to taste people's souls like a bottle of fine wine." Michael Rollins, President of Pizza Hut.
In Andy Stanley's second session he talked about pre-decisions. Pre-decisions are decisions made before you find yourself in a situation. When you make a pre-decision to do what's right you allow "Now God" moments like Daniel 1:9. God will never ask you to violate his principles to experiences his blessings. Daniel banks on it.
Here's a prayer Andy Stanley prays for his kids at night. "Give me the wisdom to know what's right and the courage to do what's right even when it's hard."
John Maxwell tied things in a knot. I love his categorization of defining moments. He said defining moments are ground breakers when you set a new direction in your life, heart breakers that force you to rearrange your life, cloud breakers when you see with greater clarity and chart breakers when you break through limitations that have held you back.
One key thought from that session is that we tend to overestimate the event (defining moment) and underestimate the process that must follow.
I love going to conferences because it forces you outside your ministry box and allows you to see how others are doing ministry. But ultimately, going to conferences is all about going back to basics. I need to work on some of the holes in my heart--those issues that if left unresolved cause spiritual leaks in my life. And I need to reprioritize and redirect my time and energy in God-honoring ways. Translation: Get back to the word and get back to prayer ala Acts 6:4.
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