#catalyst2014: Change Makers-Writing my takeaways on my heart & in the BLOG!

No one needs “just another conference”, where one gets pumped up and possibly puffed up, thinking all their “new ideas” are necessary for everyone in their entire sphere of influence! HOWEVER, everyone needs to take time to come together with other believers, cry out to The Lord, humble their hearts, adore their God and thank HIM for HIS Presence and power and amazing grace! Everyone needs to set aside time to forget “their agendas” and sincerely ask The Lord-“What is the next step in our Journey together Jesus?” and simply lay “YES” on the table before the revelation flows! This is the 3rd time I have attended Catalyst and the 3rd time I have experienced what I believe it would have felt like to be in Moses’ tent with the “Shekinah Glory” resting upon it!

Passion, sincerity, transparency, boldness, humility, kindness, generosity and deep deep Godly love overflowed from every servant-leader: from speakers, hosts, comedians, guests, custodians, worship bands, video testimonies, technical support, greeters, food vendors, booth representatives, etc… and I know this does not even scratch the surface of all the volunteers and backstage crews(unseen to many but FULLY SEEN by the only ONE who really matters) that came together in order to DISPLAY THE GLORY OF THE LORD! I would like to say THANK YOU! Thank you for your encouragement, for being a catalyst that ignited “fresh wind and fresh fire” for me to dream big because my GOD is BIGGER, to embrace and initiate change because:
**”the GOOD NEWS that came to me is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by CHANGING LIVES just as it CHANGED my life from the day I 1st heard and understood the TRUTH about GOD’S WONDERFUL GRACE!” (Col. 1:6)

The purpose of the GOOD NEWS has always been to CHANGE LIVES and changed lives are CHANGE MAKERS!!!

Let the TWEETABLE TAKEAWAYS BEGIN:

The following snap shot is a list of the names of the servant-leaders who gave of their time and talent to “let their light shine before us, that we may see their good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

**Hillsong made a special appearance and we were blessed by their worship and the trailer to their new movie. The trailer says, “it is not all about them but it is all about HIM. They are changing the world but the world is not changing them!” I feel this statement goes for every humble “CHANGE MAKER” that represented the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES at #catalyst2014!

I pray you glean from my notes, as I gleaned from these communicators for Christ! In an effort to write my notes on my heart, I am writing them in THE BLOG, as I process! As all good things come from the Lord, I am not going to reference each voice that spoke these powerful life applications; however, their names are listed in the picture and I pray you check them out for yourselves, not because they are great (and they would each humbly say that:) but because the GOD THEY LOVE AND SERVE IS!!!

SESSION 1

2 questions to ponder:
Who are you? and What breaks your heart? Our answer to these 2 questions determines where we will focus our talents, time and treasure!

There is an undeniable correlation between leadership and change:
1) Great leaders change things for the better
2) Great leaders love progress-change moving forward!
3) Great leaders DO NOT BLAME-they don’t point fingers in order to bring about change!

*Blame is the greatest change-avoidance strategy!
*Broken hearted leaders change things that go beyond their generation!

We are called to bring about change in the area that breaks our hearts! The burden in our heart is part of a divine design and it is TO BE LEANED INTO!
*Lean into the thing that disturbs you the most!
*If we opt for purposelessness because of FEAR, we will regret it down the road!

Many years from now, what would you like people to line up and thank you for?

*WHAT GOD ORIGINATES-GOD ORCHESTRATES!
*We are not called to change THE WORLD, but we are called to change something!

Who are the world’s most vulnerable people? How can we serve them in some way?

SESSION 2

*If there is a disparity between our inner and outer self, a collapse WILL COME. It is just a matter of time!
*The world is full of Christians who say they want to change the world, but they do not want to change themselves! Until we change ourselves, we will never change the world!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself!” (Luke 22:37-39)

Most of us really do want to love God and others; however we are loving through the filter of:
1-our broken hearts
2-wounded souls
3-tormented minds
Therefore we do not have the appropriate view of God and others!

3 Core Muscles:
1) HEART-the heart is the seed of our passion
*we do what we WANT TO from passion
*we do what we HAVE TO from obligation
*guard our hearts because it is the wellspring of all life!
*allow the WORD to READ US, AND The Spirit to purify us each day!
*If our heart is toxic, it will seep out into every area of our lives

*We were created to go from glory to glory, not burnout to burnout! Those who wait upon the Lord will not grow weary, they will walk an not faint! PRESS ON!

2) SOUL-if our soul is damaged before salvation, salvation does not instantly HEAL the soul (it does SAVE IT!)
*We must deal with our wounded soul or we will bleed all over those we lead!
*It takes time to heal!
*There is pain in RECOVERY-you have to let GOD in to heal the wound!
*having an opinion about everything but never submitting to anything, is the OVERFLOW of a WOUNDED SOUL!

*God does not want “VISITING RIGHTS” with HIS leaders. GOD wants to move into the neighborhood!
*The church was not intended to become a “life-support system” for christians!!!!
*The church is to refresh, empower, and equip in order to send out the WORLD CHANGERS FOR GOD’S KINGDOM!!!

3) MIND-be transformed by the renewing of your mind!
*BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT WHAT WE FILL UP ON!
*Replace the lies of the enemy with the TRUTH of God’s Word! We have to know the TRUTH to believe the TRUTH!

*The degree to which we are healed and free is the degree to which we will lead others to the HEALER AND THE ONE WHO CAME TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE!!!

*Questions to consider:
a) What is keeping you from addressing the realities you are convinced MUST change?
b) What is ONE THING you could do this month to address one reality that breaks your heart?
c) Are there organizations committed to addressing your concern? If so, how can you help?

SESSON 3
*MISSIONS IS NOT A PROGRAM-MISSIONS IS WHO THE CHURCH IS!
*The first church at Antioch was a multiethnic, economically diverse church. They walked, worked and worshiped together!
*Why does church today look so different from the church at Antioch?

*God is not using the church to heal race issues. God is using RACE TO HEAL THE CHURCH!!!

*Let’s put reconciliation back in the GOSPEL, not a side issue! We are all ministers of RECONCILIATION!
*Pray for boldness and unity in the local church for the sake of the GOSPEL!
*We must preach the FULL GOSPEL! *A PARTIAL GOSPEL IS NOT THE GOSPEL AT ALL!!!

SESSION 4

HOW DO WE CHANGE DEEPLY-INWARDLY-ENDURINGLY?
*There are 4 things we need to KNOW and 4 things we need to DO:

4 THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW
1) WE MUST KNOW THE MAGNITUDE OF OUR SIN PROBLEM:
-ROM 7-Paul says sin is part of me!
-Gen 4:7-sin is crouching at our door(sin is hiding)
**sin presents itself toys as much less serious than it is.
**we are blind to it

**sin is waiting to attack
**the sin in us wants to put us in a position where we can not stop it!

*We must be killing our sin or our sin will be killing us!

2) WE MUST KNOW HOW THAT SIN CAN NOT BE OVERCOME:
*Our sin problem can not be uprooted by self-will to comply with moral law.
*sin is rebelling against GOD by putting ourselves in the place of GOD

3) WE MUST KNOW WHY THAT SIN CAN NOT BE OVERCOME BY SELF-WILL:
**Selfish motives make our “moral good” null and void in God’s eyes! God looks at the heart, man looks at outward appearances!

4) WE MUST KNOW THE VERY STRUCTURE AND IDENTITY OF OUR HEARTS MUST CHANGE:
**We can not build a righteousness of our own!
**When we see that our own righteousness can not save us-Jesus Righteousness saved us alone-then LIFE BEGINS!!!

4 THINGS TO DO:
1) Just DO IT! PRAY!
2) Pray until it engages the heart-meditate on Scripture until it becomes real to our hearts!
3) look at our sins through prayer-when we realize how sin truly breaks the heart of God we humbly come before HIM and confess-because we LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE LOVED US FIRST! and want to confess, we are not strong-armed to confess!
4) Be expectant!!! Some things are too dangerous to give us until we pray for them, otherwise we would not know where they came from!

SESSION 5

**75% to 95% of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct result of our thought life. What we think about affects us physically and emotionally. It is an epidemic of toxic emotions!
**Change in our thinking is essential to detox the brain!
**WE ARE DESIGNED TO CHANGE! Science is a description of EVERYTHING that God breathed!
**Brain change takes desperation! Desperation is like fertilizer in the brain for change-it creates and expectation of the impossible becoming possible!
**Where we direct our attention, so the brain goes!
*we are wired for LOVE but we learn fear! The opposite of love is fear in the brain!
*Our brains are designed for good choices. If we do not choose life, we choose death!
*Thoughts are REAL THINGS! THEY ACTUALLY TAKE UP SPACE IN THE BRAIN! (I had no idea! They look like trees when they are healthy thoughts. Fear and negative thoughts actually create gray space -no tree looking things-in the brain!)
*God did good stuff!! We literally build healthy thoughts (those trees) by meditating on God’s word!

**Ecc.7:29-“I made them perfect but they choose to go down the wrong path!
*Wherever you direct your attention will grow.
*Grace and Science meet all the time!

CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO GOD AND NOT GOOGLE!
WE WERE DESIGNED TO DO BUSY WELL NOT TO DO BUSY CRAZY!
**Habits actually take 63 days (3 cycles of 21)
**Daily work at least 7 minutes a day to focus on building healthy replacement thoughts (The Word)!
*Chase after change daily -be desperate for change! (Sad to say most people give up on day 3 or 4)
*As we focus on the healthy thoughts, it actually destroys the unhealthy!

SESSION 6-“On THEIR Mark”-You can not cause change until you stay in YOUR LANE!

Heb 12:1-2- KEEP YOUR EYE ON JESUS
1 SAM 18:5-9- SAUL KEPT HIS EYE ON DAVID…(Comparison put his eye on “THEIR mark” not “his own mark”)

*Create change in the environment GOD has place you in! Do not compare your race to someone else’s race!

*If we preach from our own weaknesses, we will never run out of material!
*Comparison will constantly cloud the clarity of God’s call on our lives!
*A career is what you are PAID to do. A call is what you were MADE to do!

*WHAT YOU WERE CREATED TO DO, GOD HAS GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DO IT!
BOTTOM LINE:
1-RUN MY RACE
2-STAY IN MY LANE
3-KEEP MY FOCUS ON JESUS

*If the brightness of the blessing blinds you to the BLESSER, then the blessing is no longer a blessing!
*Comparison is always the beginning of the end and it always starts with BUT ME!
The “BUT ME” glasses will blind us because they can never celebrate another’s success!

*Has social Media become our mirror to see who we are?
* Social “ME”dia can end up being all about “ME”-which really isn’t “social” at all!

*God has given us the perfect GRACE to run OUR RACE!

SESSION 7-PUTTNG A NEW SONG IN OUR MOUTHS(CHANGE-A NEW SONG MEANS THE SONG WAS NOT THERE BEFORE:)

*No one can “out sin” the CROSS!
*We are all heralds of the Gospel! God saves and reconciles through Jesus through us! The Holy Spirit is responsible for opening hearts and eyes and ears!
*Change is going to happen and GOD is still in the business of bringing us up out of the muck and mire!

*We are wooed by the FATHER
*Empowered by THE HOLY SPIRIT
*Saved by the SON
-As believers, We are called into the ministry of reconciliation! There will be dangers we need to be AWARE of but not AFRAID of!

*CHANGE IS SLOW-It is a marathon and not a sprint!

2 Tim 4:1-8
-We are changed to preach the WORD-preach the GOSPEL WITH OUT LIVES!
-Be prepared in and out of season!
a) REPROVE-to correct error by reasoned argument-arguing for the souls of others! We must have confidence in the WORD in order to REPROVE-(There is a way that seems right to a man, but is the way to death!)-Reproof is LOVING and not rude! It would be “evil” to not tell someone that the bridge was out as they drove on by!)
b) REBUKE-entering the space where there is error-saying BE CAREFUL, this will end badly!
Rebuke is also LOVING and not rude! If I knew the poison was disguised as chocolate, why would I not tell someone?)
c) EXHORT-to give hope to the faint hearted, encourage, speak life into

WITH ALL PATIENCE AND TEACHING-LET THE WORD OF GOD READ US!

**Jesus does not need us to make HIM palatable! Where we give ground in cultural accommodation is where the death of change begins!

THE CALLING:

A) Be sober minded: keep your head-be watchful, stay calm in spirit!
THIS TAKES SOUL CARE:
1) Be serious about rest-rest that is “gazing upon the majesty of the LORD”-the HOLY SPIRIT drawing us into communion with HIMSELF! (this is not necessarily sleeping or vacationing away to another location)
2) Guard your mind -OUR THOUGHTS ARE PUBLIC TO THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS! Our minds will betray us! Do not put a leash on a lion(entertaining dangerous thoughts) we must put them to death!
3) Watch your rhythms-
*honor this fact: I AM DESPERATE FOR THE LORD! Set rhythms that call you to worship-encourage-prayer! Schedule regular moments of remembering HOW GREAT GOD IS and HOW SMALL WE ARE! Reading the last 3 chapters of JOB once a month in order to simply focus on the MAJESTY of GOD is a great rhythm to set!

B) Endure suffering
*Don’t let suffering surprise you
*But don’t be afraid of suffering either!

**Love the fact that GOD NEVER PANICS! God is at work in the storm!

C) Do the work of an evangelist-Desprerately desire to see souls transformed but the HOLY SPIRIT!)
*Being reminded of “how sharp we are NOT” is not a bad thing! Apologetics may remove some hurdles but it does not SAVE SOULS!
*The work of an evangelist will humbly put us on our face AND it will show how HAPPY WE ARE IN THE LORD! A happy heart in the LORD will talk about THE LORD!

D) Fulfill YOUR ministry(DO NOT COMPARE-to want to have someone else’s ministry is a slap in God’s face)
-We should be saying “What a privilege it is to be placed exactly where GOD has me!”
-If “Ministry” is HARD for me then that must mean the God sees “HARD MINISTRY” as good for me!

**FACE TO FACE FELLOWSHIP IS OUR FUTURE WITH FATHER-SON-HOLY SPIRIT! In light of that, whatever HE calls me to, and equips me for, is my blessing, responsibly and divinely designed personal calling AND my answer is YES!

These were my notes for “Day 1-#catalyst2014” and this has been more than enough for me to chew on today! I “Chew” in order to digest and receive nourishment and strength! May I always be a “transformation junkie”, not simply an “information junkie”!
I plan on blogging “Day 2-#catalyst2014” this week! I pray this has made you hungry for the WORD! And the WORD we feast on will be a time of fellowship with JESUS that leads us to personal revelation!

Lord have your way in me! To God be all the glory!
GoGod