¹⁶But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  -Luke 5:16

Catalyst Takeaway #6 – Call Time Out Consistently

Rick Warren dropped some amazing truths at Catalyst West Coast… one that I thought was so simple, yet so profound was the power of getting away. He said that we need to:

Divert Daily – Do something everyday that energizes you – run, play a game, watch a movie, read… and leave work at work!

Withdraw Weekly - Literally, one day a week you become “Dead to the World”. Have a family night, relax all day, go for a walk, but you should take an entire day to yourself each week.

Abandon Annually - We need to go away every year and lose the laptops, lose the cell phones, etc. Recognize the world can get along without you. You don’t want people to be dependent on you anyway.

We live in such a crazy world where it is so hard to disconnect. I often wonder where we’d be if we just called time out, spent time listening to God, spent more focused time with friends and family, spend more time just being.I think we’d all be in a much better place…

Thoughts?

They are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant! -II Cor. 10:12

Catalyst Takeaway #3 – The Dangers of Comparing

Rick Warren had an incredible talk at Catalyst. At one point he started talking about comparison and said there are two dangers that come with comparing:

1.) We’ll find people better than us and get discouraged

2.) We’ll find people we’re better than and get into pride

He went on to say that at our judgment, Jesus isn’t going to ask, “How come you weren’t more like them(your heroes, the people your comparing yourself to, etc.)?” He’s going to say,”I made you to be you – I don’t need doubles, why weren’t you more like you?”

Jud Wilhite said, “Until you settle the identity issue in your life – you’ll never have or be enough…there is no enough – you need to learn to enjoy the journey. We need to surrender our view of us for God’s view of us. When you know God’s love for you – you don’t need validated from any other source.”

I think we all struggle with identity and comparison issues in our lives, however I believe everyday we can take one step closer to realizing who we are in Him. The more revelation we have that we’re complete in our union with Christ (Col. 2:10), the faster comparison and insecurity will fade away.

Thoughts?

So Catalyst West Coast Has come and gone… What an incredible conference! Changed my life.

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!