Catalyst 2007

I just got back from Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from some of the difference speakers.

Shane Claiborne

• Community is surrounding ourselves with people who are like what we want to become.

• I'm giving up Christianity to go and follow Jesus.

Francis Chan

• Every time I get up to speak the Holy Spirit is supernaturally speaking through me, through God's Word.

• Say whatever God has told you to say, don't hold back, don't be afraid of the people.

• If Jesus or Paul had a church, mine would be bigger, because it would be cooler. People would leave their churches to come to mine. Because they would call their people to a higher level of commitment. (let that sink in...)

Craig Groeschel

• A Practical Atheist believes that God exists but lives as if He doesn't.

• We become practical atheists when we believe that our efforts are greater than God's power.

• We become practical atheists when we believe that our private life doesn't effect our public ministry.

• We become practical atheists when we believe that we must please people more than we please God.

Never Gets Old

I love change. I love to mix things up. I love new technology. I am all about finding the newest, the latest, the greatest. These days it is nearly impossible to keep up with all the new things coming out all the time.

Why do we always look for the new best thing? Why do we feel the need to fill our lives with the latest? As we were singing a worship song in church last night, I was struck by the words. They were about Jesus, the precious Lamb of God, who was slain on our behalf. Jesus died to take away the sins of the world, and through Him we have the opportunity to enter into an eternal relationship with God.

That is the oldest story in the world! It is the same story that was told in Genesis 3:15. It is the same story we read in all the Gospels. It is the same story we hear preached around the world today. Why doesn't it ever get old? What drives us to show up at church 1 or 2 times a week to sing about and preach about the same old story week after week, year after year? The story never changes, yet it never gets old!

Maybe it is because this story is the only story that is able to fully satisfy the deepest longings and needs within each one of us. Maybe it is because this story is true, and there is no other truth. It is complete, it is satisfying, and it does not need to be changed in any way.

While I love all the new things the world is marketing, I would never trade all the latest and greatest for the story of God sending His own Son to die for me--so that I could experience eternity with him. If you've never asked Jesus to save you from sin, do it now.

Caffeine

Our staff took the last couple of days to gather at the beach and dream. It's been quite an amazing experience. Twelve totally different people sitting around a table for two days can produce some pretty amazing results.

Our Executive Pastor Paul Allen was kind enough to bring along his fancy shmancy Starbucks coffee maker. He gladly filled orders for mocha's and chai. It was great!

That night Pastor Rob started complaining about a headache - but we pressed on. The next morning we all placed our orders again, enjoying every last drop of coffee and chai. Then sometime around noon, Mike Cruse spoke up -- "Paul, do you have anything that is not decaf?" I thought for a second, realizing what was going on. By this time there were about 4 or 5 of us with major headaches coming on. I said "Are you telling me all that coffee we've been drinking is decaf?" Paul said "Yup." It was at that moment that all of us with headaches realized what was going on! We were suffering for caffeine withdrawals!

There, now you know, half of the staff at Southbrook Church is addicted to caffeine.