Journal Notes from Catalyst Day 2

Among the highlights of Catalyst Day 2 were:  Kid President (you have to go watch his YouTube videos) and the music of JohnnySwim and Gungor (and if you don’t know either go to iTunes and download).

Along the way Chris Seay, Andy Stanley, Patrick Lencioni, Perry Noble, Bryan Stevenson, Mark Burnett, Christine Caine and Francis Chan were brilliant (and Tripp and Tyler pretty funny).  Here’s a sample of what made it into my journal on Day 2.

Genesis 1 reminds us that we were made to make (create) not to consume.

As soon as we arrive at cool the line moves and you aren’t cool anymore.

Information and insight do not make a leader.  What every leader needs are an unexpected opportunity, unavoidable adversity and an unquestionable calling.  How you respond to the opportunity, adversity and calling determines whether or not you are a leader.

Leaders seize opportunities even if it means leaving the known for the unknown.

Make your response to an unexpected opportunity, unavoidable adversity and an unquestionable calling a story worth telling.

The greatest thing you do as a leader may not be what you do but who watches what you do.

Actions don’t only speak louder than words, they echo into future generations.

Influence is more important than positions or titles.

It’s better to make a difference that to make a point.

Pay attention to the tension in life.  That’s where God stirs our hearts and shakes our categories.

Move toward messes with the gospel of grace and truth.

Whenever we sing “Just As I Am” we should mean it (for everyone).

When you are an open-handed leader God will place things in your hands, but He will make you a leader when He starts taking things out.

People need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed.

Organizational health is our greatest, and too often untapped, advantage.

Simple solutions require humility to practice.

To be successful you must be smart AND healthy.

Your staff should be able to imitate you.

Wine is the great elixir of truth.

If you can’t trust people, manage them off the team.

The leader has to be vulnerable FIRST.

The best leaders let others “see them sweat” and proudly show the “sweat stains.”

People will walk through fire for a leader they trust.

Embrace conflict.

Conflict with trust is the pursuit of truth.  Conflict without trust is politics.

We owe it to one another to disagree.

When we don’t disagree around an issue it ferments around the person and that’s destructive.

We crush someone’s spirit when we won’t disagree with his or her idea.

Great teams hold each other accountable.  They don’t go to the leader all the time.

Firing someone is the last act of cowardice.

The technical term for a leader who won’t hold someone accountable = wuss.

We avoid accountability not because we don’t want someone to feel bad, we don’t want him or her to blame us for making him or her feel bad.

You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind.  You change the world with the convictions in your heart.

Too many people are living with a profound absence of hope.

We are all more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

The opposite of poverty is justice.  The opposite of poverty is enough.

It takes courage to embrace the broken instead of the comfortable.

In a world where too many people are willing to “cast the first stone” there is a need for “stone catchers.”

No mater what I do I can’t make all the people happy – read the Bible – neither could God.

When we stop screaming at the world to “discover me” and start asking God to “develop me” we begin the journey from here to there.

It’s okay to never get noticed.

David didn’t use his anointing as an excuse not to go through the process of leadership – or to not have to carry the cheese and bread.

If you are gifted don’t tell us, show us.

The next time you think the task you are asked to perform in ridiculous – remember what Saul asked David to bring him from the Philistines.

Most of us are getting paid to do what traditionally people gave their lives to do.

God won’t trust us with greater things unless we are faithful with what we are doing now.

When someone throws a spear at you – its time to go.

1 Samuel 22: 1 is the prefect description of a church plant (or any church).  Look it up!

With ordinary people Jesus began a movement that is still moving today.

The deepest wounds lead us to empty tombs.

If you need to be certain you’ll never do anything.

If you start walking down the street announcing a parade – you might start one.

The key to story telling is to remember that everyone connects with an authentic moment.

Always ask if this is for me or for Jesus.

Read Judges 2: 10 and remember how quickly it can all fall apart.

If you don’t honor those who came before you, you will forget about those who come behind you.

The last thing the Body of Christ needs is another wounded healer putting his or her junk on someone else.

Nothing can kill you quicker than a spotlight.

Most “suddenlys” in the Bible took about 25 years.

It is better to be marked by God than marketed by man.

Get off Facebook and get your face in THE BOOK.

Your talent will open the door but only your character will keep you in the room.

There’s really only one love language – to die to self and pray “nevertheless….”

If God puts you somewhere its His responsibility to keep you there.  If you make your own destiny then its up to you.

If it’s not about the numbers then how come everybody is counting?

Before you go and make disciples examine your own life and ask if it’s a life that should be replicated.

Does my life remind anyone of Jesus? Can I say follow me as I follow Jesus?

It’s easier to make friends at church than to go out and make disciples.

Jesus sent us to go and make disciples but we like to sit and make excuses.

When we get scared and need more boldness we need to pray. When the early church did this the ground shook!

Pray for power and courage.

And then take a look at Kid President and don't join a party - be a party!

And now it's time for Day 3!

Journal Notes for Catalyst 2012 Day 1

Below are my journal notes from Day 1 of Catalyst 2012 – lots of thought provoking presentations - especially loved (Perry Noble, Bob Goff, Mark Batterson and Bobby Gruenewald).  These are from the notes I took - some are statements I agree with completely - all are statements that make me think - and that's why I am here. 

The temptation is to study what “use to work” when we need to step toward where God wants us to go.

A leader who will take God at His word is a dangerous leader.

Steps of faith never get smaller - they only get bigger.

We know God is with us when we have an increased desperation for His word, increased love for people (especially messy people) and increased love for the vision.

If there’s a resume on your computer – use it…

Too many churches are enslaved to the personal preferences of out-of-touch leaders.

The purpose of the church isn’t for everybody to know everybody but for everybody to know Jesus.

If you aren’t excited… something is wrong.  If you have to manufacture energy… something is wrong.

If you don’t have someone mad at you, you aren’t leading well.

We have carpeted and air conditioned churches to make something that’s supposed to be messy, comfortable.

Quit something every Thursday.

If you “cleared the deck” and started adding things back – what would be number 7 on the list?

Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

No one has cancer when they are talking on a walkie-talkie.

God is a creator not an editor.

Never give a girl a daisy unless it has exactly three petals left.

Everybody wants to make a difference but no one wants to be different.

Love God.  Love People.  Do Stuff.

God has determined that certain expressions of His power will only be revealed through prayer.

The one thing a leader can never delegate is prayer.

Prayer is the difference between the best you can be and the best God can do.

Sometimes God shows up.  Sometimes God shows off.

We want God to do something new while we keep doing the same old thing.

Stay humble.  Stay hungry.  If you aren’t hungry for God you are full of yourself.

You may have to risk your reputation to establish God’s reputation.

What if we were known by the problems we solve?

Do we plant churches where we can grow the bigger churches or where people need the church?

Help others not to offer charity but dignity.

We are good at binding up the brokenhearted.  What do we do with ordinary-hearted?

Embrace the inconvenience of crossing the street.

The degree to which you are willing to be interrupted or inconvenienced is the degree to which God can use you.

The job description for each follower of Jesus:  “I’m personally responsible for the evangelism of the planet before the second coming of Christ.”

Think inside the box.  Constraints are a requirement for innovation and limited resources are an ingredient for creativity.  Embrace constraints.

Limited resources + passion = innovation.

Regularly exercise your change muscles.

Failure is a requirement for innovation.

I can hardly wait for Day 2!

A "You Don't Want To Miss This" Sunday

I am so excited about this Sunday – from morning to evening this is going to a “you don’t want to miss this” day.

First we are welcoming one of my favorite speakers to Mountaintop.  I first heard Bill Butterworth at a Willow Creek Leadership Conference and I was instantly impressed by his humor, depth and ability to connect God’s story to our stories in memorable ways.   In the years since I’ve been blessed with opportunities to bring Bill in to speak to various groups and I was thrilled when he accepted the invitation to join us at Mountaintop.  Sunday morning – and evening – will be “you don’t want to miss this” moments.

Secondly, our Taste of Hope “garden party” which will take place Sunday evening before Bill speaks promises to be another “you don’t want to miss this” event.  Ten different local restaurants ranging from Thai to BBQ and Indian to Italian with some awesome desserts mixed in will be generously setting up tasting tents on our lawn under the stars.  Tickets are $10 (you can purchase them on Wednesday evening, Sunday morning or at the door) and all the proceeds go to support ministries for Children at Risk.

Taste of Hope is sponsored by Mountaintop’s Singles and Young Professionals but everyone invited to join us.  Even more, everyone is encouraged (challenged) to invite a friend.  This is one of the events we’re offering this fall for you to use to bring a friend to join us at the Banquet – and this week it is an actual banquet!

Details

Taste of Hope Tasting:  5:30 – 6:30 on the lawn

Taste of Hope with Bill Butterworth and a Message of Hope:  6:40 – 7:30 in the Atrium (there is no charge for the message portion of the evening)

Taste of Hope Door Prizes – following Bill’s message there will be a drawing for some “delicious” door prizes.

Wisdom from Dabo Swinney

I continue to be a sporadic blogger but this is amazing article on Clemson coach Dabo Swinney encouraged me to write.  The article is a must read – and not just for Clemson fans (though it sure makes me proud to be one) - just click here: Dabo Swinney.

Some of what Dabo said really got me thinking:

Clemson had fallen into an accepting mindset, with non-existent facilities, non-competitive salaries to keep talented assistant coaches, and a generally defeatist attitude about its spot in the football pecking order. The place seemed somewhat satisfied to just have a big orange party every Saturday and watch the guys touch the rock and run down the hill.

"For whatever reason, I think Clemson lost their way, lost their swag if you will," Swinney said. "And really kind of lost their commitment. This place was not committed facility-wise. And I don't personally think they were committed resource-wise on a national level…. I'm not really interested in this conference. I'm interested in being the best. I'm interested in competing with everyone out there…. That's my mentality."

The Dabo sensation has not gone unnoticed within the program. Longtime staffers speak of his unapologetic sense of drive. Coaches marvel at his endless positivity; "he's a glass-half-full guy," said defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who was lured from Oklahoma. And the players say the place thinks like a champion now, which makes the players realize everything is possible.

"I think it's a certain mindset, a certain attitude, that for awhile wasn't here," said quarterback Tajh Boyd. "But I think this program, the type of players we are recruiting here, the kind of coaches that we have here, are changing that culture."

Dabo said it had to occur from the inside out, and it had to include bricks and mortar.

As a Clemson alum and fan I both hate (that we fell into an “accepting mindset”) and love the direction we are heading.

It also makes me recognize how easy it is for churches to fall into an “accepting mindset.”  Sometimes churches adopt their own version of a “defeatist attitude” and make too many excuses about why they can’t be successful – not in competing with other churches (though we do way too much of that) but in fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commandment and Great Commission.

It requires an investment of resources – including bricks and mortar (and LED screens and online media) – and it requires a mindset and attitude that is committed to winning.

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote about what that sort of winning attitude looks like:

I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

I Corinthians 9: 19 – 27 (MSG)

Whenever we begin to accept what we can’t do – or make excuses for what we can’t do – or believe that others can but we can’t – we are adopting a defeatist mentality and falling short of believing what Jesus promised when He told us we would do even greater things than these.

For church a staff I believe there are warning signs of an accepting mindset and defeatist attitude.  :

We accept “good enough” rather than pursuing the very best

We accept worn, torn and stained as just the way things are

We accept clutter, mess and disorder as normal

We accept budget constraints as an excuse of why we can’t

We accept showing up late and leaving early

We accept a lack of preparation and “just wing it”

We accept too many mistakes (and I am sure there are typos in this post that I need to find - point them out and I will fix them)

We accept “I don’t have time” instead of “making time" for what’s important

We accept “I can’t” instead of finding a solution to how “we can.”

We are never going to be perfect – and heaven help us if we ever think we are – but when a church falls into an accepting mindset and a defeatist attitude eventually it loses sight of its purpose to introduce people to Jesus and His way of life.  The church become somewhat satisfied to just have a big party every Sunday and watch the guys upfront as we all head downhill.

The article on Dabo concludes:

"I grew up in a world where I was told, ‘you can't, you can't, you can't, you can't," Swinney said. "And I had every reason not to believe that I could be successful.

"And that's what happens in this world," he continues. "They buy the lie. They buy the lie that the devil's trying to sell them. And I don't buy that lie. And I never have and never will."

Not for him. Not for his mom. Not for Clemson.

And not for me and not for Mountaintop!