Monday, October 08, 2007

Catalyst Conference was Cata-Rific!

From Richmond, I headed about 600 miles south west to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference. This is a leadership conference for church staff and lay leaders. It was a great two days of worship, fun, and thought- provoking instructions and testimonies from a wide variety of great speakers.

Here are some pics that don't do the conference justice. I sat in the "horn" section on Friday. We were all given horns to join a Guiness Book of World Records for largest symphony! Last year they had the world's largest pillow fight (you can see it on youtube).

The camel was given to John Maxwell, Christian leadership author for a lifetime achievement recognition. Two years ago they gave Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, a cow. It was an unexpectedly "cool" moment!



Memorable Quotes:

God, give me the ability see myself for who I really am. I’m a fool to think that I could ever fool You. Give me the eyes to see myself clearly. As painful as it may be… I don’t want to be a part-time Christ-follower who calls others out of casual Christianity yet chooses to stay casual. I don’t want to be a practical atheist. Jesus, I want to believe in You with all of me. All of it. Go ahead, Lord. Disturb me. Amen. Craig Groeschel (Pastor of Life Church in Oklahoma)

“If Jesus had a church in Simi Valley, mine would be bigger. People would leave his church to attend mine because I call for an easier commitment.”
Francis Chan
(Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA)

Stop trying to change culture, just create it. - Rick Warren

I learned that the purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. - Rick Warren


Most of the time, the church is known for what it’s against and I intend to change that. I want the church to be known for what it is for. - Rick Warren

A practical atheist is one who believes God exists but behaves as though he does not. As pastors, sometimes we believe God exists but we do ministry as though he does not. - Craig Groeshchel

“It’s not so much about what I need to do in leading my church, it’s more about who I need to be.” Francis Chan

For more on Catalyst goto:
http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/?m=200710 (October 4th - 8th)
For video clips of past conferences goto:
http://www.catalystspace.com/events/video.aspx



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Most of the time, the church is known for what it’s against and I intend to change that. I want the church to be known for what it is for. - Rick Warren

All churches are known for something, whether we realize it or not. That has been going on since New Testament times. Hopefully each of us is out there contributing to the positive "knowing" of not only our own church, but more importantly the body of Christ.