While meandering through iTunes tonight, I disovered that Rob Bell and Mars Hill actually have an official podcast up and running. There is even a link at the bottom of their sermon download page. Who knew? Is this some kind of grand conspiracy that has been hidden from me for all this time?

Shane Hipps began teaching on the book of Revelation a few weeks ago. I’ve only listened to the first message, but it is a great introduction to what the book of Revelation is all about. He offers a view of what the book of Revelation (and other apocalyptic literature) is all about in simple, yet well thought out, terms. I tend to think that the book of Revelation is the most misunderstood book in the Bible, so I welcome what he has done with it so far, and look forward to hearing more.

With some iTunes GiftCards in hand, I went on the hunt for some new music. I ran across Silversun Pickups and I’m hooked. I got Carnavas, and I’m giving it some time to settle in before I go get their EP as well. If you have good taste in music, give them a listen.

I’ve had Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, on my ’someday reads’ list for a few years. I’d never found an excuse to bump it to the top of the list, so I was happy to see it on the syllabus for one of my classes.

I appreciate that this is more than just a book about how to write. For anyone who picks it up hoping to be a writer, they are going to walk away with much more — it is a book that portrays the therapy that writing offers. That sounds like a good result, whether you are published or not. A few thoughts from the many passages I underlined:

• Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen. Characters should not, conversely, serve as pawns for some plot you’ve dreamed up. (pg 54) - Obviously she is talking about writing a story here, but shouldn’t we think this way in terms of all relationship? We can define all we want to about how our interactions will look, but we are always dealing with other people who rightfully have a chance to shape those interactions. Such a simple idea — and so complex to embrace.
• You are going to have to give and give and give and give, or there’s no reason for you to be writing. You have to give from the deepest part of yourself, and you are going to have to go on giving, and the giving is going to have to be its own reward. There is no cosmic importance to your getting something published, but there is in learning to be a giver. (pg 202)
• If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Don’t worry about appearing sentimental. Worry about being unavailable; worry about being absent or fraudulent. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act–truth is always subversive. (pg 226)

With a few projects that had looming deadlines finally complete, I have a few moments to actually reflect on my experiences at Catalyst last week.

• First off, thanks to those who helped us get there. I’m so grateful to Catalyst for providing registrations for our team, as well as to JJ and Mark for sending some frequent flyer love our way.
• A dark episode of Lost on a small hotel TV with a bad antenna connection was a bit of a disappointing start to the trip, but watching it with two other Lost fanatics made up for it.
• There is a healthy mixture of both emerging/missional church and evangelical/attractional church influence that happens at Catalyst. Even trying to use terms to define those two creates difficulty for me, but it seems like there is a desire to define what movement someone is a part of a draw lines between them. The reality is that most young church leaders probably find themselves somewhere in the inbetween, and I’m happy to see Catalyst going into that inbetween to inspire leaders to forge ahead.
• I think the highlights of the conference for me were Gary Haugen, Rick McKinley, and Donald Miller, although I thought I benefitted from every sesson — at least the ones I attended. I was already familiar with Gary Haugen, but I was happy to seem him given an opportunity to speak to such an important audience. Donald Miller and Rick McKinley just sharing a conversation together was a nice change of pace in presentation styles — I think we need more of that kind of thing. Marcus Buckingham was great, although I was already familiar with most his material.
• Some of the hype surrounding the conference was a little over the top for me, and kind of set me back initially. Having been out of student ministry for a few years, and now being in a pretty relationally driven, low-key church setting, it took me a bit to adjust. I find myself trying to define between when is hype too much and when is it meaningful and usefel. Sorry…I’m just thinking out loud on this, but not going to explore it further here right now — mostly for the sake of time.
• It was great to bump into a number of guys I’ve worked alongside in ministry with over the years and see what they are up to now. I didn’t know any of them were going to be there, and in an arena of almost 11000 people, I’m surprised I saw them at all.

Twice a week, in our team meetings, we break open OneNote and have a shared session. We can all type on the same document and watch it update in realtime, so it is a great way to share and track our throughts.

A few months ago, I searched for an online service that would do something similar, but it just wasn’t there yet. The online word processors I looked into would alow collaboration, but not in realtime — until today. I just spent a few minutes playing with the new Google Docs. It doesn’t update the document instantly as OneNote does, but it can keep up well in a meeting where there is not continuous editing of the document by multiple parties. However, unlike OneNote, we can all continue to go online and add ideas to the document for others to see after the meeting is over. Not to mention it can work on both Windows and Mac (although not on Safari).

Again, Google rolls out a great tool and integrates it in all else they offer with a clean UI. I’m certain I’ll be pestering my mates to try this in a new meeting very soon.

The church keeps following the culture around it
• It happened in the middle ages, the enlightenment and in the industrial revolution
• Today, that means the spirituality is a product and we are consumers
• And the new false god of culture is entertainment, so where does that mean the church is heading?
• To some degree, the church is a success because it has consistently translated itself to the culture around it

Three dominant influences on the church in N America culture
• Free market economic system
• Darwinian theory
• Bible

The lens through which we see Christian spirituality
• 3000 commercial messages a day
• we are continually convinced that we are not happy, and then offered something that will make us happy
• ie, there’s a hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill
• free market finds the most simple solution that does not require time or effort – snake oil!

What happens when we sell Jesus as a product, and then you have a bad day after you accept him
• Is he a bad product?
• Are we presenting the truth of who Jesus is in the wrong way?

What does Jesus teach in Matthew 6? – The Lord’s Prayer from the Message
• Don’t roleplay, just simply be yourself before God
• When your honest, the focus switches from you to him, and you begin to sense his grace
• Don’t fall for the nonsense about simple answers that are all around you
• We are dealing with our Father, he will not always give us what we want…he is okay with us being in discomfort
• God’s metaphors for us are that will grow slow and steady, the consumer culture tells us we should have access to whatever we want now

Spirituality works like reality
• Reality is just a supernatural tool to teach you about God
• When culture says you can have you want anytime, we acts as prophets and point out the lie

The church works like family
• We reunite people with their Father and brothers and sisters
• The only rules we have for what church should be is to have elders

God is sending us out to announce that the kingdom of God is near
• Not that we have a cool church

Let’s change the conversation from “the church let me down” to “Here’s the way that God has empowered and inspired me to pick up the work of the church and carry it forward.”
• God’s plan will move forward
• The truth is, we’re doing good
• Maybe we paint a horrible picture because we think we need it to motivate people

But what God is calling us to is a dangerous thing
• And it needs dangerous people
• It’s not at all safe
• If we all embrace the voice of God’s Spirit, there are going to be some really difficult stories told

The disciples were God’s first-gen leaders
• They heard the voice of the Spirit.
• They didn’t need to be told it was going to be dangerous, but they just headed into it.

God is inviting you into the story – go for it.
• You don’t have to be sure if it is going to work
• It’s okay if you might fail
• What idea is God calling you to that is bigger than you are?

What is our life going to look life if we do this? (with apologies for the alliteration!)
• God lovers – people who above all else are in love with God and moved by an intimate connection with Him
• Christ likers – mature people who shine like stars in the universe
• Culture pacers – you don’t have to be a preacher – what is in your heart that is a God-wired passion, and how can you run after it with everything you’ve got in the name of Jesus?
• Hell raisers – we are a spiritual mission fueled by the Holy Spirit of God
• Inside traders – we take a risk because we are pretty darn sure about the income – we have an inkling that Jesus will ultimately determine what matters for eternity

Rick and Donald shared a casual conversation that was delightful to just sit and soak in. Here are a few of their thoughts from the discussion:

R: Once everybody left the doors of the church, we realized God was in the streets.

R: Discipleship is meant to happen on the road, but we’ve turned it into ten books about whatever. It’s not about information.

D: If you tell your congregation to go, won’t they become alcoholics, and drug addicts, and prostitutes themselves? Are you crazy?

R: We don’t need a list of rules to engage with our culture, we need discernment from the Spirit.

R: The primary identity of the church is that we are the sent people of God. The church exists for the world, not itself. … What are the gifts and passions that people have been created with, and how can we come alongside that and release them for the ministry? … The Spirit of God is still very creative, and creating ministry is one of His greatest passions.

D: The staff is serving the hearts of God’s people as they go out and do ministry.

D: In the church, we tend to strengthen what we do like, and ignore and set aside what we don’t. We strengthen the family and step away from divorce. That comes from Darwinian evolution. We might as well teach it in the schools if we’re going to teach it in church.

R: When we started, we thought that the city would be against us. When we began to care about the things they cared about, they had open arms.

R: When the church is on mission, there is nothing more transformational for the world. We are the leaders of the church, and if we don’t lead our people into mission, then the church gets misrepresented to the culture. It’s not size or programs – it’s just disciples on mission. It is our job to lead them out to get messy. Discipleship happens when we lead people out into the streets where God is.

International Justice Mission

Christians feel like they are traveling with Jesus, but missing the adventure
-How do we respond to that as leaders?
-God calls us to an adventure of struggle in the world

The leader provides clarity about:
-Where Jesus is heading – out into the world
-The nature of the world that Jesus is heading into

Jesus has defined his followers as the light of the world
-Those who bring the gospel
-Those who bring food or medical care
-Those who show others that God is good
-And we need to be those who are moved against injustice

Redefining injustice
-how does the Bible define it?
-The abuse of power – taking from others what God intended for them

What does injustice look like today?
-There are 20-27 million people living in slavery in our world today
-About 1 million children are taken into forced prostitution every year

How does God feel about injustice?
-Psalm 10:17-18 – God will hear the meek and desire to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed
-Micah 6:8 – what God requires of man is to do justice

The church is God’s plan to fight injustice in our world, but we feel powerless against it
-We tend to see the magnitude of the problem and assume it is more than we can take on
-Like the feeding of the 5000, Jesus asks us to give him what we do have, and he is responsible for the miracle
-Let God rescue us from all things small, and all things afraid, and let our churches lead out to the adventure of being who God has called us to be.

No organization has a culture
-It has as many cultures as it does managers
-People don’t quit a culture, they quit a boss
-The manager makes the difference

What does a manager do?
-The job of a manager is to turn one person’s talent into performance.
-A catalyst – you speed up the reaction/performance of those who bring their talent.
-The best manager’s can’t help but see growth in others and enjoy it
-Great managers see people as an end unto themselves
-Great managers find out what is unique about each person and capitalize on it.

Strengths vs. Weaknesses
-Typically we teach how to maintain someone’s strengths and focus on their weaknesses – and that is backwards.
-Building on your strengths will help you be more successful than fixing weaknesses
-We can’t say our people are our greatest assets, but we can say our people’s strengths are our greatest asset.

3 Myths that Keep You From Playing to Your Strengths
-As you grow your personality changes – instead, you become more and more who you already are.
-You’ll grow the most in your weakest areas – actually, they are the areas of least opportunity. Our best growth comes in our areas of greatest strength
-What the team needs for you to do is chip in and do whatever it takes – instead the team needs you to identify your strengths and volunteer them most of the time.

Trying to post some notes from the messages as they happen, although I’m not sure I’ll have time to post any of my own thoughts at this point…

The nature of leadership makes self-centeredness unavoidable
•We must declare daily that the most high God is sovereign over the kingdoms of this world and he gives them to anyone he wishes.
•Following through Daniel 4-5

What will keep us centered despite all the attention we get
•It is the most high God who is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, and he gives them to whoever he wishes. (Daniel 4:17)

Leadership is a stewardship – it’s temporary and you are accountable.
•All leaders are accountable
•Ultimately, we don’t rule – heaven rules (Daniel 4:26)
•Even at the highest levels, leadership is a temporary stewardship that we are accountable for

No one has the right to question the ultimate wisdom of God
•Even one who is in the position of a king
•All of his ways are just — do you believe that?

Three words that come out of this story
•Diligence
oIf God has placed you where you are…It means you need to get up every morning and lead with all diligence
oGod knows where you are, and God has put you where he has put your for a reason and a purpose
oMost days in leadership seem mundane, and we lose perspective of who has put us in this position

•Fearless
oIf God has placed you where you are, who should you fear
oThat’s why you get up every day with a sense of clarity – I don’t work for men…God is my ultimate authority

•Humility
oOf all the leaders in the world, those who are in Christian ministry should be marked by humility more than anyone else
oIf it is temporary, and we are accountable, there is no room for any arrogance in church leadership

I’m off early in the morning to the Catalyst Conference with Dean and Josh. I’m hoping to blog some thoughts from the conference for my future thoughts and for the benefit of those who aren’t able to be there.

Not that I’m not looking forward to the conference, but at this point, I think I’m most excited about watching the season premiere of Lost in our hotel room. It’s the best show on TV with the lamest opening title, and we’re just a little hooked. (Better yet, we might need to head out to the most deep south small town bar we can find to watch it. The season premiere of Survivor came while we were on a staff retreat, so we watched it in a tavern in backwoods, Washington — words can’t describe… I tried to post a picture on the moblog, but it just turned out as a neon haze.)

On an entire unrelated note…I had a maple macchiato this morning. Good job Starbucks.