Tampa Underground Network | Catalyst Talks: Recent Episodes
Underground Network
Catalyst is our weekly conference designed for missionaries to gather and affirm their devotion to Jesus and his calling on their lives.
“Our best attempts at making peace and restoration, still produce anti-Eden. We need to groan in anguish for God to come and make all things right.”
“It is hard to discern what it means to be faithful in times of exile, but we have to train our hear to listen and be attentive to the voice of God.”
“We need wisdom and tact like Daniel to interact in the systems and power structure of our world.”
“The world is craving shepherds. Your neighbor doesn’t need a CEO, it needs a shepherd.”
“Sometimes it will be precisely because of our faith that we suffer, so we must know how to endure.”
“What does it look like to live a life of honor and submission in the way of the Kingdom, while we live under the authority of Empire?”
Anchoring our soul in the "not yet" is how we can have enduring hope no matter what we see around us in the "now."
“Everything we need to go through suffering is on the inside of us. Suffering has no power against the Spirit of God.”
“Our kingdom dreams should fail without the Holy Spirit, and if they succeed without Him, they weren’t Kingdom dreams to begin with.”
“Our callings don’t guarantee the absence of shipwrecks, and similarly shipwrecks don’t negate the presence of our calling. The test is can we hold fast in the midst of it.”
“A conversion moment is not your only testimony. You can testify to his glory, grace, and mercy everyday”
“Shared suffering produces intimacy with God. And we, as a community of missionaries, we need to learn to suffer well. Why? Because there is purpose to your pain.”
“God’s will is not the most safe or comfortable place for you, but it’s the place of the most joy.”
“Will you persevere and embrace the right kinds of conflict and allow the kingdom of God to threaten worldly idols.”
At #ugcatalyst we had the chance to sit down with Brian Sanders who was visiting from Ireland. This interview featured a conversation on anxiety and risk taking for the kingdom.
“The story of God is communal. Our story is communal. It cannot be told without including each other.”
“The devil will do the minimal amount of work to keep you silent. But the Lord says Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.”
“In order to help our friends in their disbelief, we have to confront our own disbelief”
“How can we combat evil in the world when we see the co-laborers God has given us as competition?”
“We can only engage in divine intervention if we’re looking for the divine in every relationship and moment.”
“Is the good news still good, powerful, sustaining to you? Ask yourself this heart question before you ask others.”
“Great humility is to make your life ultimately about Jesus. You forget yourselves because you are so fixed on Him.”
“This is how the kingdom comes, when our hearts find their home in the heart of Jesus, when our eyes find their sight in the vision of Jesus, and when our hands wait for his hand.”
“Authentic multi-ethnic community happens when everyone can freely bring their true and full selves to the table.”
“The urgency of spreading the gospel will lead us to leave behind people, culture, customs, and safety.”
“The most woke you can be is knowing when you have blind spots and hoping those blind spots are exposed.”
“The mission of God is dangerous because it is directly confrontational to the strongest idols.”
Comparison can cause you to lose touch with your vertical connection because you turn your focus from Him on to what others are doing.
“The authentic work of the Spirit will cease if we become more enamored with the gift and less aware of the work.”
“The Holy Spirit contains all the power we need. Be about something greater and invite the world into that.”
"A real relationship with the Holy Spirit is unpredictable. It is a relationship full of surprises."
"Jesus is looking at us to see if we're a people who would put on the armor of God and stand firm, an army ready to fight back against injustice in the world and darkness unseen."
"The world chases freedom and finds death. While disciples seek submission and find freedom."
"The Church should be a place where everyone get's a chance to play. A place to express their unique God given gifts."
"In our discipleship, we will never graduate from Jesus. He is the beginning, middle, and end."
"We can't take shortcuts to the kingdom, we must follow in the crucified footsteps of Jesus."
"The spirit of God is a gift and it is in you. Man did not give it, therefore man cannot take it away."
"A sincere faith is the best inheritance we leave for our children... Not one that is just spoken but one that is lived out."
"Don't fall under the entrapment of making other people your master. People disappoint many times because our expectations of the border idolatry. Accept the freedom of God instead."
“Will you choose the costly way to life, or will you choose the comfortable way to death?”
"The effectiveness of your ministry is tied to the practicing of the presence. We need to get in the face of the Holy Spirit."
A Resurrection mindset changes the way we see the world around us. Dead things can come back to life.
Easter Sunday "Jesus invites all of us to have a seat at his table. Will we come and be transformed by him."
When we make decisions with our resources that are not eternity-focused, we build walls brick by brick that block our view of our community.
There are things in this world which are temporary and things which are eternal, and we often get them confused. We have a bias towards the temporary and a blindness to the eternal.
"Because of God's redemptive love, we press on to the things we are called to, today, tomorrow, and the next day."
If you can't see or understand your own depravity, you will never see or understand God's love and grace for you.
"God sends holy interruptions into our lives as a merciful reminder to humble ourselves."
Jesus call to 'repent or parish' is actually an example of his gentle grace extended to us.
Jesus' future return should not create fear, but a faith that drive us further into mission.
"We are eternal beings. All that you've amassed in this life you cannot take with you; it will be divided amongst the living."
"Fear creates a kind of self-absorption. It doesn't disqualify you as a missionary, but it removes you from the office of missionary when you're given over to that kind of fear."
"Jesus calls out to us to ensure that our inner life is clean and that our outer life remains committed to loving and just actions."
"Life in the kingdom goes beyond personal holiness. We've been enlisted in a battle against the work of the devil."
"Our response to the poor reveals the state of our inner life. Are we really connected to the heart of God?"
"When we genuinely ask Jesus what he wants for us, are we ready to do whatever he says?"
"The transfiguration is a reminder Jesus is Lord, Messiah, more powerful than what's happening around us.