More on the Catalyst Conference

Craig Groeschel - Practical Atheism
Here is a brief overview from one of my favorite sessions at Catalyst.

...Hello, my name is Craig Groeschel and I’m a practical atheist. At least, I’m in recovery from being one. The way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me. My outward show looked like a pastor, but my heart was far from God. Sermon preparation became a replacement for my personal time with God. I told people I would pray, but I was lying. My prayer life was what I did from the pulpit or did in a moment of pastoral counseling. I became full-time pastor, and a part-time follower of Christ.

Practical atheism: here’s how it affects us.
1. We start to believe our effort is better than God’s power. We would never say this, but our ministry reflects it.
2. We believe that our private life doesn’t affect our public ministry.
3. We believe that we must please people more than we must please God.

WOW. Aren't those three points great? We are made to PLEASE God and we must act according to the power of God that is at work within us! Another statement that really spoke to me was..."There’s far too much preaching coming as a response to culture rather than coming from God’s Word and being spoken into the culture." This past Wednesday night I told our High School students that they need to KNOW the Bible. It might not always apply directly to their life at that moment but Christians need to KNOW God's Word so that they can speak it into culture. I'm tired of Christianity being known for what it is "against" rather than what it is "for."