On Your Mark, Tony and Francis...

The next three speakers were Tony Dungy, Matt Chandler, and Francis Chan. We missed Matt Chandler, and Tony and Francis can both fit into this post together...

Tony Dungy is an incredibly humble man. When he finished his time on stage, Gary and I looked at each other and both remarked on how we respect him. He is making a difference for the Kingdom in a way only he can, and isnt that what we are all called to do?

His message was on teamwork. "Help your players be the best they can be," and, "Get everyone on the team to focus on one goal." Some serious leadership lessons right there. Not anything new or remarkably life changing. But its the application of those two phrases that can change a leader's entire approach to his team.

Francis Chan led us into communion. He got up on stage and talked about how he battled with God to give him a good message for Catalyst. But in the end, let it go. Because God is God and that message is enough. He laughed in the joy of the Spirit (Heidi Baker style, but way more subdued, for those of you who know of her), and passion was dripping from his spirit. He simply wanted to read us Scripture, telling us God's Word is more powerful than any message he could give. And so he did. And in those moments of him reading, the Scriptures came alive to me again in a new way - Scriptures I have heard over and over again. Remember, he said, "the God of all grace will Himself restore you, confirm you." Such power.

As he was finishing and communion was being passed out, Aaron Keyes came up to lead us in worship again. And in that moment, he said something that has come back to me countless times since the conference. He talked about how, in the Old Testament, when someone brought a sacrifice, God only cared about the perfection of the lamb. The focus wasnt on the perfection of the person, but on the perfection of the sacrifice. Our sacrifice is Christ - the perfect and spotless Lamb - whose blood covers all. It was such a powerful reminder that its not about me. Its about standing on the sacrifice and in the righteousness of Christ. Under him, I am covered. Praise our Almighty God.

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Lesson for Today: Hurt abounds. Be gracious to people around you, even when they dont deserve it. Because you dont know what hurt they are acting out of.