I heard Erwin McManus say once that all too often we read the Bible as though we’re always the protagonist, but never the antagonist.  We’re David as he fights Goliath, but not when he committed adultery,  we’re Moses leading Israel out of Egypt, but not when he killed an Egyptian, we’re Peter when he walked on water, but not when Jesus rebuked him!

When we have this outlook in life, it’s easy to slip into a mindset of thinking we’re doing all the good we read about, and aren’t even close to doing the bad. This mindset is dangerous. It hardens our hearts to God’s correction, gets us into pride, isolate us from people, and leaves us vulnerable. We can actually get to the place where we think we’re invincible and never in danger of falling.

When we always view ourselves as the protagonist, we’ll never build the character we need to sustain what God’s called us to, and ultimately, we’ll fall.

We need to recognize that we’re all just one choice away from becoming the antagonist.

If we’re humble enough to recognize this, we’ll start to read God’s Word and other books with a whole new perspective. We’ll start to ask ourselves questions like: Why did these people make poor decisions? Am I displaying similar attitudes or making similar decisions to these men that got them into trouble? Am I actually living out the Word of God that I’m reading?

Always strive to be the protagonist, but don’t be naive enough to believe that you’re incapable of being the antagonist. Ask God for the wisdom and grace to get in the Word and evaluate where you stand on every issue, how you can improve, and what attitudes of your heart you need to change.

Thoughts?

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Here are some highlights from the talks in day 2:

Craig Groeschel

• Romans 12:2 – Don’t be conformed to the American dream!
• Don’t rely on the package of your church… Trust in the power of the Gospel
• Lukewarm Pastors build Lukewarm Churches
• Church should be a safe place with a dangerous message
• Build your church on what you’re about, not on what you’re not
• Don’t build your ministry and church – build the Kingdom
• Don’t blame yourself for the declines, you might take credit for the increases
• When your identity is in the numbers, you won’t obey God
• How can you accept the term ” ” when there are 4 billion people that don’t know Christ?
• We’re a small church with a mega vision
• People want to join a big mission, not a big building
• Level 1 Believers – Believe in the Gospel enough to benefit from it
• Level 2 Believers – Believe in the Gospel enough to contribute comfortably
• Level 3 Believers – Believe in the Gospel enough to give their lives to it

Erwin McManus

• Our job is unleash people to do good, not just stop them from doing bad
• At your church, can people discover the power to be who they are?
• Before we were pounded into the ordinary, we dreamed of the extra ordinary
• We need to be more committed to the dreams of other, than to our own dreams
• Small acts may not change the world, but they can tilt it to go in the right direction
• Our job as spiritual leaders is to detonate obstacles in the way of others dreams

Rick Warren

• Healthy churches don’t grow fast… fast growth= cancer
• If you don’t  care about numbers you’re telling people  to go to Hell
• We need to Divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually – the world can get along without you
• A crowd is not a church
• Nobody is the model… Jesus is thee model
• Never Compare – Foolish comparison: 1.) Find people better – discouraged 2.) Find people your better than – Pride
• Jesus isn’t going to ask you “How come you weren’t more like your hero? He made us to be us… He doesn’t need doubles
• Learn from Everybody
• The simpler you get, the more God will use you
• Judge your church on it’s sending capacity
• We need to be interested in an army, not a crowd
• You can fake love for a year or two, but you can’t fake it for 30!

Francis Chan

• If you hear pastors name more than God’s name when people are talking – we’re missing it
• We’re picky about going to ball games, plays, restaurants, etc…. People are the same way with our churches
• You can talk people into making a decision… but you’ll have to keep talking them into everything else
• I hate the book of Acts, you never put it down and say, “That sounds like our church!”

Perry Noble

• The size of the vision God will give me is directly related to the amount of pain and discomfort I’m willing to endure
• W/o pain and discomfort – we don’t know how much we need Him
• Dry times allow you to experience God’s provision
• When we learned to be obsessed and desperate for God and trust Him, that’s when we’ll succeed
• We don’t give into God’s vision because of: 1.) Fear 2.)  Laziness 3.) Being obsessed with being discovered instead of Development
• If you’re still where you are, you’re not ready for the next level
• Leadership is as easy as listening to God!
• If you haven’t had a sleepless night over vision – you don’t have a vision from God
• What would you do for God if you knew you couldn’t fail? -> Your a coward if you don’t do that
• Are you scared? If not, God isn’t in it, because you could do it yourself
• Listen to Jesus and when you’re ready – He’ll blow your freaking mind!
• Don’t you dare give up on a God who’s never given up on you

I’ll  probably have a post or two on my whole experience at Catalyst – God changed my life… man! So excited!

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