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Do you ever wonder if you're really picking up what God's dropping for you? Like He's told you something, but you're maybe not quite getting it... Today at Catalyst I had that feeling.
Showing posts with label catalyst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label catalyst. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Could You Repeat That Please
Blogger was having issues while I was at Catalyst, so I parked this post in a temporary spot and am now moving it back over here. I have issues, too, so I'm not bitter. A little disclaimer though; my filter breaks when I'm tired, and... I was tired when I posted, plus LuAnn wasn't there to preview this and tell me how bad it sounds, so please take it with a grain of dragon salt (which Ted and I had at a Mongolian grill that night)...
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Do you ever wonder if you're really picking up what God's dropping for you? Like He's told you something, but you're maybe not quite getting it... Today at Catalyst I had that feeling.
A lot of the sessions today were messages I've heard from speakers I've heard. Not just similar messages, but nearly identical messages. I wasn't upset about the repetition (because these were great the first time and I had no worries that they wouldn't be great this time, too), but I wondered if I didn't get it last time or something...
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Do you ever wonder if you're really picking up what God's dropping for you? Like He's told you something, but you're maybe not quite getting it... Today at Catalyst I had that feeling.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Catalyst Labs Dumping Off Place
Only 5 sessions into Catalyst Dallas, through the pre-labs, and I've already been wrecked. Maybe I was damaged to begin with, but I don't remember this much inner wrestling this soon into the previous two Catalyst's I've been too. It probably more a reflection of my own spiritual-mental state at the moment than anything Catalyst's done different but it felt different today somehow. Or maybe it's the abscence of Grumpy Jim and a bumpy ride in a rented Mustang... or the acute Rodd deficiency our group is currently experiencing.
Scot McKnight opened the first session talking about the need for us to "paint the leaves" (ref. to Tolkien's "Leaf By Niggle"), to paint the small, insignificant details of our dreams and leave the significance to Jesus. As he talked about the way Jesus' parables subvert our grandiosity, our values, our plans... this was the first point where I found myself slammed to the mat. How often do I miss the details of God's dream for my life because I'm too busy trying to see the whole tree? What are the dreams I'm painting in the Kingdom?
Since I'm so deeply saturated in the hip-hop culture (cough-cough), I was excited to go to Lecrae's lab in the next session (no joke about that part, the guy is pretty awesome). His message was to engage your city, love your city, and work to bring about redemption and rehabilitation. I loved how he began his lab by saying he wasn't going to rap, he isn't a great speaker, and he isn't very entertaining without a beat track. His lab, however was deeply reflective of Acts 17 and the idea of Paul being "provoked in His Spirit." He didn't just walk away disgusted with the sin he saw, but sought to redeem and rehabilitate - to reconcile and push back the darkness.
In the midst of what has kind of been a dry time for me, I almost opted for a safer alternative during the next lab session, but ultimately went to Jon Acuff's lab talking about his new book Quitter. He talked about "closing the gap between your day job and your dream job." I love youth ministry, and the last year has seen some huge strides with a number of my students, and I'm really excited to see what God is going to do with them/us next... but I've had to face a pretty large gap between my day job and my dream job recently. He talked about defining your dream as the first step to closing that gap, and I probably haven't done that very well to this point (or maybe I have and not admitting it is a way to let myself off the hook). Dreaming is a process of recover, not just discovery: What have I done that I loved? What passion have I lost? Just as Acuff's humor had me laughing, I found myself on the mat again, choke slammed by the thought that "maybe the desert road is a gift from a loving Father." I'm tired of being patient. Thankfully, his next statement was that wrestling with God is a sign of intimacy - you can't wrestle from a distance.
Pete Wilson's lab was on transformational leadership and focused on Joshua's faithful reliance on God even when it didn't seem to make sense. He talked about how transformational leadership always requires more than you have, requires you to avoid the path of least resistance, requires God sized obedience not me sized solutions, and always relies on God promises (not on answers). I loved the thought that "every opportunity has an expiration date" and missing out will often cost more than messing up. So stop playing it safe, stop hiding, and choose to be with God.
The theme of hiding was one that stood out to me today. In several instances, I found myself being challenged - How am I hiding? Why don't I just trust and do what He's telling me to do? Am I still consecrated to Jesus, or am I just doing what I've been doing for the last 12 years because I'm comfortable with it? This last thought of consecration was the crux of Mark Batterson's message in the last session, which had me thinking back to the first Catalyst Lab I attended two years ago in Los Angeles. Then, he seemed to ditch his notes in response to God's prompting to talk about Numbers 11, where God miraculously provided what His grumbling people really didn't deserve. It was a great session that I still remember vividly. After 2 years of simmering, the message to live in a place of complete dependence on a God who is big enough to do what He says He will do was just as convicting and encouraging.
I just wonder if I'll even be able to get up off the mat tomorrow...
Scot McKnight opened the first session talking about the need for us to "paint the leaves" (ref. to Tolkien's "Leaf By Niggle"), to paint the small, insignificant details of our dreams and leave the significance to Jesus. As he talked about the way Jesus' parables subvert our grandiosity, our values, our plans... this was the first point where I found myself slammed to the mat. How often do I miss the details of God's dream for my life because I'm too busy trying to see the whole tree? What are the dreams I'm painting in the Kingdom?
Since I'm so deeply saturated in the hip-hop culture (cough-cough), I was excited to go to Lecrae's lab in the next session (no joke about that part, the guy is pretty awesome). His message was to engage your city, love your city, and work to bring about redemption and rehabilitation. I loved how he began his lab by saying he wasn't going to rap, he isn't a great speaker, and he isn't very entertaining without a beat track. His lab, however was deeply reflective of Acts 17 and the idea of Paul being "provoked in His Spirit." He didn't just walk away disgusted with the sin he saw, but sought to redeem and rehabilitate - to reconcile and push back the darkness.
In the midst of what has kind of been a dry time for me, I almost opted for a safer alternative during the next lab session, but ultimately went to Jon Acuff's lab talking about his new book Quitter. He talked about "closing the gap between your day job and your dream job." I love youth ministry, and the last year has seen some huge strides with a number of my students, and I'm really excited to see what God is going to do with them/us next... but I've had to face a pretty large gap between my day job and my dream job recently. He talked about defining your dream as the first step to closing that gap, and I probably haven't done that very well to this point (or maybe I have and not admitting it is a way to let myself off the hook). Dreaming is a process of recover, not just discovery: What have I done that I loved? What passion have I lost? Just as Acuff's humor had me laughing, I found myself on the mat again, choke slammed by the thought that "maybe the desert road is a gift from a loving Father." I'm tired of being patient. Thankfully, his next statement was that wrestling with God is a sign of intimacy - you can't wrestle from a distance.
Pete Wilson's lab was on transformational leadership and focused on Joshua's faithful reliance on God even when it didn't seem to make sense. He talked about how transformational leadership always requires more than you have, requires you to avoid the path of least resistance, requires God sized obedience not me sized solutions, and always relies on God promises (not on answers). I loved the thought that "every opportunity has an expiration date" and missing out will often cost more than messing up. So stop playing it safe, stop hiding, and choose to be with God.
The theme of hiding was one that stood out to me today. In several instances, I found myself being challenged - How am I hiding? Why don't I just trust and do what He's telling me to do? Am I still consecrated to Jesus, or am I just doing what I've been doing for the last 12 years because I'm comfortable with it? This last thought of consecration was the crux of Mark Batterson's message in the last session, which had me thinking back to the first Catalyst Lab I attended two years ago in Los Angeles. Then, he seemed to ditch his notes in response to God's prompting to talk about Numbers 11, where God miraculously provided what His grumbling people really didn't deserve. It was a great session that I still remember vividly. After 2 years of simmering, the message to live in a place of complete dependence on a God who is big enough to do what He says He will do was just as convicting and encouraging.
I just wonder if I'll even be able to get up off the mat tomorrow...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Momentum Starts When You Take Action
I came across this video by Geoff Schultz that was made for Elevation Church. The graphics are fun, but the message has been recurring for me lately - take action... do something... move... go... take the next step... put ideas into motion...
I get it.
I lost momentum. Over the past year or so, I've gained some new momentum back, but there is much that still feels stalled. Pray I make the right steps next, that I incarnate the right ideas.
Momentum from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.
I get it.
I lost momentum. Over the past year or so, I've gained some new momentum back, but there is much that still feels stalled. Pray I make the right steps next, that I incarnate the right ideas.
Momentum from Geoff Schultz on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Still Distilling
I still haven't had time to decompress after returning from Catalyst West, and may not for some time, so I wanted to jot out a couple things here, though they're not fully processed. I read somewhere that a distillation is the process of separating components of a mixture from each other by tapping into their varying levels of volatility in a boiling liquid. As we distill the post-Catalyst brew... try not to blow anything up (unless it needs blown up)!
There is so much more to share, but I just can't right now. I have two worship services to plan and a message to write for my students. Throw in Kota's first baseball practice, a soccer practice, and a weekend full with an area youth event in Central and I just... well, I sound like I'm whining now, so I'll stop. I still have to sift through the tremendous amount of thoughts that were shared and captured at Catalyst. The ideas need to continue to percolate and become a brew that will strengthen the youth ministry and the body here at WestWay. But don’t just drink my Kool-aid – Join the conversation: Comment here and check out some other thoughts from our group at these links:
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Inexplicable Love + Message of the Power of the Resurrection = An Unimaginable Tomorrow! We are stewards of the same resurrection message that caused the church to EXPLODE in the first century and alter the course of history. When we wield that power in love beyond measure, ANYTHING is possible for tomorrow! What tomorrow are you working to create?
Grace is not just a one time gift that allows us to “get saved” – it is the power we need to live every day. If we limit our view of grace to only our salvation, we’ll doom ourselves to an anemic spirituality because we DO NOT have the power to do what God calls us to do until He unleashes His power in us. The ministry He calls you to will force you to beg Him for help. What obstacles are you facing that God is wanting to help you with today?
People become the character in the story that they believe. If you believe you are a broken down old hag with nothing to live for… you’ll live a pretty bitter life. If you believe no one loves you… you’ll live as if no one does, even rejecting the love that is given to you. But if you believe you are a child of God, with a role to play in His narrative… That changes everything. Who you are will be shaped by what story you believe is real. What story are you believing?
The Church is His and it is UNSTOPPABLE! The very same tools that were available to the first believers are in our toolbox: the teaching of Jesus, the Resurrection Message, and the Power of the Holy Spirit. The early church rocked the planet with these three tools. What will we do with them?
(more to come)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
How's My Driving?
This morning started with a drive down from Orange to Irvine for Catalyst West Coast Labs. The drive went alright, but we were close enough to the local morning drive time that there was a lot of traffic crawling. I don't know if I should really call it traffic, though because that image insinuates that something is actually moving. In the church van, every motion is exaggerated, so start/stop - one bumper to the next isn't all that great. No incidences, but I did make an observation: I've never met someone with a cleaner driving record who takes more crap about how he drives than I do. File that under 'Perils of Being the Youth Minister'.
Anyway, upon safe arrival at Mariners, we all checked in and started the labs. First up for me was Susan Isaacs' lab regarding the value of writing your spiritual autobiography. I'll be bringing her book home. One of the most meaningful writing assignments I've ever had was a few years ago, when I had to do a brief spiritual autobiography for a spiritual formation class. One question from the lab that really sparked my synapses was:
What is the story that I can no longer NOT tell?
It reminded me of the fire in Jeremiah's bones that he could not keep in anymore. We have to deliver the message God gives us to deliver.
Dan Kimball's lab was also good, talking about exchanging religion for the mission of God. I always appreciate the gentle heart from which Kimball speaks. He had some great stuff that the church needs to be teaching. (It sounded like more of it will be explained in whatever his next book will be.)
Scott Belsky's lab about Making Ideas Happen was pretty thought provoking, too. I am full of ideas, but I've become disordered to the point where most of them gain no traction and fizzle out. The class stirred some thoughts about how that's happened and what I need to do about it. I'm an easy going person by design and I don't see that changing, but somehow that laid-back approach to life has combined with a deficiency of hope and the resulting apathy to at least make me appear unorganized. That needs to change.
As I was driving to lunch today, I missed the exit & consequently the entry into the parking lot we needed to get into. It wasn't a big deal; we easily took the next exit, got back on the freeway, re-exited and hit the lot from the other direction. It was similar to the airport yesterday, when I navigated a different route because I misjudged the intended exit. I realized: I will probably miss some turns in life, but I'm good at improvising a new plan and still getting where I needed to go. There are lots of ways to get from one point to another - as long as we remember where we're headed to begin with.
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I'm operating on about 6 hours of sleep since Monday morning, so these threads are not yet fully woven together. So... feel free to pick a little, but please don't pull them too hard or my whole sweater may unravel, which would be very unfortunate because this is not the typical OC sunshine week - I need that sweater. Good night.
Scott Belsky's lab about Making Ideas Happen was pretty thought provoking, too. I am full of ideas, but I've become disordered to the point where most of them gain no traction and fizzle out. The class stirred some thoughts about how that's happened and what I need to do about it. I'm an easy going person by design and I don't see that changing, but somehow that laid-back approach to life has combined with a deficiency of hope and the resulting apathy to at least make me appear unorganized. That needs to change.
As I was driving to lunch today, I missed the exit & consequently the entry into the parking lot we needed to get into. It wasn't a big deal; we easily took the next exit, got back on the freeway, re-exited and hit the lot from the other direction. It was similar to the airport yesterday, when I navigated a different route because I misjudged the intended exit. I realized: I will probably miss some turns in life, but I'm good at improvising a new plan and still getting where I needed to go. There are lots of ways to get from one point to another - as long as we remember where we're headed to begin with.
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I'm operating on about 6 hours of sleep since Monday morning, so these threads are not yet fully woven together. So... feel free to pick a little, but please don't pull them too hard or my whole sweater may unravel, which would be very unfortunate because this is not the typical OC sunshine week - I need that sweater. Good night.
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