Catalyst West Review (part 8)...

A few thoughts from Friday, April 24 at Catalyst West.

Erwin McManus is a creative genius. And his talk challenged me to look around me to see how I could possibly help others to awaken their dreams.

Rick Warren was interviewed by Andy Stanley. Good stuff. And funny to boot. Rick is a wise man with lots of great insights, even if you aren't a fan of the whole "purpose driven" thing. The guy loves Jesus and loves people. You cannot miss that when you see him talk.

Particularly helpful is his advice to:

• Divert daily: know what energizes you
  
• Withdraw weekly: if you aren't taking a day off every week, you are breaking the commandments
  
• Abandon annually: the world can get along without you.

Craig Groeschel hit the stage to break apart some common myths that he had been taught, but then eventually began to think himself. The idea that the church should be a safe place, the idea that building his ministry was his highest calling, and the idea that success is only found in the big numbers. I appreciated his honesty and could see how I myself have bought into these myths from time to time.

He also introduced us to the concept of 3rd line believers.

• Line 1: I believe in the Gospel enough to benefit from it.
• Line 2: I believe in the Gospel enough to contribute comfortably.
• Line 3: I believe in the Gospel enough to give my life to it.
  

Think about it. If you are currently involved in church leadership of any sort, what are most of the people around you living like? What are you living like?

Me? I'm Line 1 with gusts of Line 2. I need Line 3 and I'm realizing more and more that I have a long way to go and that some major changes are needed in my own life in order to do so. Maybe I'll share more about this in the future.

Francis Chan was the wild card for me. I've heard so much good stuff but never heard him before. I had also read Crazy Love and wasn't crazy in love with it. But after hearing the man pour his heart out, I've got nothing but the utmost respect for him.

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I should point out that I am not doing justice to any of these speakers. And if you're tempted to dismiss anyone based on what I've typed here, please be kind enough to reconsider.

I'm still working through some of these thoughts/words/challenges in my won life. It's a work in progress that I'm hoping to spend some more time reflecting on at an upcoming personal retreat that I NEED to take.

All in all, I'd say Catalyst was worth the time and money, and I'd like to take it in again next year. The only change I would like to make is being able to attend with some more team members so that we could spend time processing together.