Catalyst 2013: Mark Discoll

Driscoll is a Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  He most recently has written a book entitled Who Do You Think You Are?  These are some of his thoughts from Catalyst 2013.

Identity:  Who do you think you are?

Complete this in your mind:  I AM ____________.

How you complete this, and who you think you are determines what you will do.

Who does God say you are?

1 Corinthians 15:25 outlines the 2 most important people that ever lived.  1) Jesus 2) Adam.

You need an identity that is life proof. The difference between a normal person and leader is the impact their decisions have on others.

Whatever your job description includes, make sure it doesn't include anything on Jesus job description...

"When your leadership role becomes your identity, it becomes your idolatry."

For many young leaders, we have a full tank of gas, and no map or direction.

Catalyst 2013: Louie Giglio, Dave Ramsey

Louie Giglio

Pastor, Passion City Church

Founder, Passion City Movement

He is also the author of  I Am Not But I Know I Am which is a great book that radically transformed some of my thinking patterns.

Louie preached a basic Gospel message and reminder on our Power Source. 

1 Peter 3:18 – Jesus brings you to God.  There is NO participation on our part.  We do not serve God by propulsion from our own effort by by the counterweight of the great exchange in our lives that comes from Jesus Christ alone.

We don’t have to ‘pad’ our testimony…our testimony is not about what you have done, but what God has don’t in your life.  Its not about YOU!

Too often we are so busy scaling through our contacts that we don’t even realize that Jesus is all we need and we have direct access!!

Dave Ramsey

National Radio & TV Host

Recently, he is the author of EntreLeadership an excellent book on leadership.

According to Dave, he believes that Luke 10:38 outlines 3 spirits when it comes to wealth...

1) Pride -- hard work makes us money...wealth does often result from hard work, but God gives everything we need along the way.

2) Devil provides wealth -- this is simply silly but many individuals believe it..

3) Graditute  - this is the spiritually mature approach.

--The final spirit says that God has given me wealth and He still owns it!

Money is not a pleasure, it’s a responsibility. 

Catalyst 2013: Andy Stanley (talk 2)

Andy Stanley – Senior Pastor, North Point Ministries

Team requires something beyond a paycheck or an office position.  Team requires Synergy. 

Synergy – when a combination of elements produces an effect greater than the sum of individual elements.

If you don’t know why something is working, you can’t fix it when it breaks!!

To Create A High-Performance Team

1)   Select performance-oriented people and position them for maximum impact.

High performance teams are action oriented people with clarity.

Seminaries attract thinkers, NOT doers.

a.     Recruit DOERS not THINKERS.

b.     Its much easier to educate a doer than it is to activate a thinker.

“If you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away.  The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up.” – jim Collins

RENT thinkers -à Hire Doers!

c.      Position Individuals for maximum impact

                                              i.     Put people where they can make their greatest contribution

                                              ii.     Connect the Dots

2)   Clarify the “what” and the “why”

a.     Performance-oriented people like to win             

b.     Team dissolves when the problems are all solved.

c.      Organize the what

                                               i.     Create an organization where the lion’s share of  time and resources is allocated to the ‘what’

                                              ii.     Don’t force people to work around the organization

1.     What is the problem your team ahs come together to solve?

2.     What is the task your team has come together to accomplish?

3.     What is the opportunity your team has come together to leverage?

4.     What is the what around which everything should be organized?

d.     Create terminology around ‘why’

                                               i.     Why is where the team finds its inspiration.

                                              ii.     Why addresses the issue of ‘whats at stake’

3)   Orchestrate and evaluate EVERYTHING

a.     Orchestrate: “This is how we do it here….until further notice”

                                               i.     Orchestration brings consistency and predictability to all your processes and environments

                                              ii.     This will actually make your organization feel more, NOT LESS personal

                                            iii.     You already do this in some areas.

b.    Evaluate EVERYTHING

                                              i.     Evaluate formally and systematically

1.    With the people involved.

2.    As often as the event occurs

                                            ii.     Create a feedback loop that keeps you close to critical events

1.    Growth distances leader from the events that matter most

2.    Numbers don’t tell the entire story

3.    Information is often filtered as it makes it way up the org chart

CONCLUSIONS:

1)   Select performance oriented people

2)   Clarify the what and the why

3)   Orchestrate and evaluate everything!

Catalyst 2013: Reggie Joiner

Reggie was a part of the North Point Church plant in Alpharetta, GA and is an expert in family ministry.  Reggie's talk centered on the future, and what people would remember..here are some of this ideas:

You will only be remembered by the people you know now.

Make your time count over time.   Psalm 90:12

When we keep time on our forefront, it makes us make our time count.

With limited time, we make what matters, matter more.

Investing in the next generation is so important because of our limited amount of time.

"Your going to die, and no-one will remember you.  But that's ok, because its not about you."

"Your sweet spot if the intersection of passion and talent."

Catalyst 2013: Lysa Terkeurst

Lysa is a New York Times best selling author and national speaker.  Her latest book is Made to Crave. Following are a few of her thoughts from Catalyst 2013:

Your Reactions determine your Reach.

4 Types of Reactions:

1) Exploder who blames others.
2) Exploder who shames themselves.
3) Stuffer who builds barriers.
4) Stuffer who collects retaliation rocks.

In any of these reactionary types, the growth question for us, is "Am I trying to prove I'm right, or improve the relationship.

'There are a lot of people in the world who would love to have our problems.'

Catalyst 2013: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel is a dynamic speaker who is passionate about God's Kingdom.  He is the pastor of lifechurch.tv.  Here are some notes from his talk at Catalyst Dallas.

The Making of a Spiritual Leader:  Acts 20:22-24

According to this passage, Craig sees 4 phases that God will take us through as leaders.

1) The Spirits Prompting
     -- "Compelled by the spirit"
To step toward your destiny is to step away from security.

2) Certain Uncertainty
     -- v22b "not knowing what will happen to me"
You can't handle the details of God's Plan for your life.  Thats why you don't have them.
God gives us a lamp instead of a flashlight for this very reason.

If you are not leading in uncertainty, you are not leading God's way.  (Without faith it impossible to please God.  (Heb 11:16))

3) Predicable Resistance
    --Act 20:23 - Paul tells his story of prison and hardship
If your not ready to face opposition when you are used by God, your not ready to be used by God.  When we blame ourselves for the declines in ministry, we take credit for the increases.

People are going to criticize.  If your not called a cult every once in a while, you are not doing anything!

4) Uncommon Clarity
   -- "I consider my life worth nothing if only I may finish the race and complete the task" Acts 20:24

Catalyst 2013: Jon Acuff

Jon is a very humorous engaging communicator who has a lot of positive things to say.  He joined the Dave Ramsey team a while back and now is a New York Times Best Selling author.  Here are some notes from his talk:

What do you do when you run out of excuses to NOT chase your dream? ... Most of the time we stop and ask...how did i get here?

Life is no longer defined by when you were born, but when you decide to live.  This has changed for 3 reason...1) Retirement is dead.  2) Anyone can play the game (age is no longer an issue) 3) Hope is Boss.

Tradition thought that challenged this required generations to act a certain way, but with the growing gap and leadership vacuum impending, Jon suggests that anyone can play.

Life is NOT about being ready.  The only line in your life you can control is the starting line.

"You don't have to be ready, because God is always ready."

God doesn't need your platform and he is not handcuffed by your failures.  He is GOD!

Jon's latest book 'Start' hit the best sellers list while we were at Catalyst.  You can buy his book here:
Start by Jon Acuff.

Catalyst 2013: Andy Stanley

Catalyst 2013 Andy Stanley gave a great talk on leadership and focus.  Below are some notes.


Information and insight alone do NOT make a leader.

We rarely learn in life on wrinkle free days.  Our leadership development is determined by how we respond to:
     1) Unexpected Opportunity
     2) Unavoidable Adversity
     3) Unquestionable Calling

How we are CURRENTLY responding is how we are developing CURRENTLY.

"God has a plan for your life, you don't want to miss it. "  This is the though that guided Andy's life for many years as he grew up in a household of a celebrity pastor.

"Most importnat contribution to the Kingdom of God might not be something you do, but someone you raise."

Obey God and trust him with the consequences.

Action doesn't merely speak louder than words, they can speak into the next generation.

"Its Better to make a difference, than make a point"

Leaders are made one response at a time.  Each response is an opportunity to shape and mold into what God has next in ones life.  You have no idea what hangs in the balance of your response.