Day 3 - Catalyst 2007 - Atlanta GA

I hope you know by now that you can click on the links on this page - any of the type that is in a different color - just move your mouse around and you'll figure it out!

Today is the last day - another power packed day. We are supposed to be through by 5 pm. My flight out of ATL is at 9:25 p.m. so I shouldn't have to miss anything!

Oh - in yesterday's post I talked about helping people by buying coffee. We learned today about another of the businesses with a display - Tom's Shoes - apparently for every pair you buy - you make it possible for someone in a developing country to have a pair of shoes - well I will have to read more about it! Here's the link!


Today we are hearing...

CRAIG GROESCHEL - he is a pastor in Oklahoma - check out his blog here - the heart of his message was very personal - "Too often I am a practical atheist...because even though I believe that God exists, I behave as if he does not." He challenged us all to pray this prayer - "Lord, disturb me."


JOHN MAXWELL is the guru of leadership, and he helped start the Catalyst event 10 years ago. Read about him here.

There was a special tribute to him - they decided they wanted to give him something he didn't have - so they brought in a live camel for him - the look on his face was something else. He challenged us with this:

"The one thing I want to tell you is this. Intentionally add value to people every day. The greatest way to do this is to find your strength zone and stay focused on what you do very well. You are either adding value to people or subtracting value from them - sucking the life out of them. Which is it?"


We heard Jud Wilhite (the Las Vegas guy) tell us about the Deadly Viper Project:

What would radical integrity and grace look like for leaders? I only heard the last part of this presentation. Check out the link above.


Dave Ramsey - the Financial Peace University guy - was here to speak on making money make Kingdom waves. If you've heard his stuff, his presentation was pretty familiar, but he took it to the next level.

What could the people of God do for the Kingdom of God if they were debt free? He shared a real-life example that was quite amazing - I won't post about it here because I might be sharing the story soon in another context!

His teaching outline was this - It is not my money; I am just a manager for the Lord of Hosts. To make your money make Kingdom waves:

• have a written plan (Luke 14:28)
• get out of debt (Proverbs 22:7)
• act your wage (Proverbs 21:20)
• save and invest (Proverbs 21:20)
• give - invest in heaven (Malachi 3:10)

Well I have been resisting the temptation to buy everything in sight, but I have picked up a couple of things, namely the CD of Leonard Sweet's talk (see day 1 post) and the book UnChristian (mentioned on day 1 and day 2).


ERWIN McMANUS was the next speaker - lead pastor of a community of faith in L.A. called Mosaic. Here's some of his message:

"Too often we are taught that if something good happened, it was God. If something bad happened, it was us. The point seems to be...do nothing! But God actively works through those who are the most courageous! See Isaiah 43:18-19.

"Could it be that we have trained ourselves to miss that which is most beautiful? We need fewer teachers and more poets!"


We heard speaker and singer WINTLEY PHIPPS. He sang a rousing rendition of "Amazing Grace" and you can actually experience that one for yourself if your computer will accommodate video/audio....click here!


For our final presentation, we heard ANDY STANLEY again. This one was dynamite - wow he packed a lot into this presentation. It was all on the power of systems. "Your current system has the potential to crush your enthusiasm and your inspiration."

He said too often people look at a dynamic church and then say, "Well our people just won't do that!" Any time you hear that, beware....you may not be understanding the power of systems.

"There are organizational systems that are conducive to ministry and those that impede ministry. There are organization systems that free leaders to lead and those that obstruct workers."

The reason good ideas don't seem to stick is that they are not addressed at the sytem level. If not addressed at the system level, nothing changes.

Mission statements are important - but systems have a much greater impact on organizational culture than mission statements. They trump mission statements 100% of the time! "Your mission statement is hanging on the wall; your systems are happening down the hall!"

Your system should:
allow you to involve and hire the best person for the job
provide you with the flexibility to get the right people to the table
allow you to make complex decisions within the context of a small group of empowered individuals

"Congregational rule" never seems to work. It is not biblical. When the congregation "ruled" in the Bible these things happened:

• they voted to build a golden calf
• they voted to throw their brother (Joseph) in the pit
• they voted to follow a king (Saul) rather than God's prophet (Samuel)

Oh man there was much more, but I'll stop here. Andy gave us some helpful tips for putting it into practice as well!

If you have read this far, pat yourself on the head. You have done well!