Catalyst Day 1
I’m experiencing my first Catalyst West Coast conference this week with some of the team from Central. As far as conferences go, this one is stellar. Incredible creativity and humor mixed throughout all of the elements. I’ve also had the joy of reconnecting with a few of my friends from college that are at other churches outside of Arizona.
Here are some of the ideas that stood out to me about the first day. Note that some of these are not direct quotes but rather my own summations of their ideas.
Andy Stanley
Information and insight alone do not a leader make. What makes you a leader is how you respond to 3 things: 1)Â Unexpected opportunity; 2)Â Unavoidable adversity; 3)Â Unquestionable calling Leaders aren’t the first one to see an opportunity, but who seize an opportunity. Focus on the what before the how. Your current response to opportunity, adversity, and calling, is making you currently. God has a plan for your life and you don’t want to miss it. God takes full responsibility for a life that is fully yielded to Him. Actions don’t just speak louder than words, they sometimes echo into future generations. It’s better to make a difference than to make a point. Leaders are made one response at a time.
Jim Collins
Good is the enemy of great. The X factor of great leadership is not personality. Never confuse personality with leadership. The X factor of truly great leadership is humility combined with a ferocious and determined will. Leadership only exists if people follow when they have the freedom not to. Why should people follow if its all about you? Hubris born of success is the beginning of decline. Power is not excellence. Bad decisions taken with good intentions are still bad decisions. Overreaching is a bigger threat than complacency. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency. The challenge is to marry creativity and discipline in a way that discipline enhances creativity, not squelches it. If your organization cannot be great without you, it is not great. The greatest danger is not failure, but being successful and not knowing why. Greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance but of conscious choice and discipline. The goal is to get people to follow a cause, not to follow you.
Jud Wilhite
(He talked through) 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 NLT A faithful and sincere heart is more important than a spectacular ministry. Stay a little crazy for God. Ministry is messy because sin is messy. Be compelled by Christ’s love.
Matt Chandler
(He talked through) Psalm 8:1-4 The soul is hungry for imposing grandeur. To shrink God so you can manage Him only betrays you in the day of trouble. If we’re going to try to get joy and holiness we can’t start with us because we’re awful at them. It starts with God.
We also got to see the first-ever sneak peak of the film Noah that comes out in March of 2014. It’s got an all-star cast of people like Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, and even Craig Gross’ son Nolan as a young Ham (Noah’s son).
Question: which of the quotes stands out to you the most?
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