Had a great time at the Velocity Conference a couple weeks ago with our team from BridgeWay.  One of the highlights was getting to hear Rick Warren speak in the closing session.  It was great to get to hear him speak from his heart for the first 20 minutes or so before he got into his actual presentation.  Pretty much every paragraph the man said was rich with meaning and worth writing down, but here are some of the things that stood out...especially from the opening off the cuff stuff.

• Nothing matters more than the church.
• Few nations that existed 1,000 years ago exist today, but the church has remained.
• 1,000 years from now many nations will cease to exist, but the church will still exist.
• Because the church is so important, we must be all the more HUMBLE.
• The higher you LEAD, the more humility you NEED.
• Do you want to be a church that is a mushroom or an oak tree.  One grows fast, the other grows strong.
• A crowd is not a church.  Move people from the crowd into the committed.
• Churches must move people from "come and see" to "come and die".
• You measure a church by it's SENDING capacity, not its SEATING capacity.
• If you want the anointing of God, you have to get over yourself.
• To lead well, you must build your life on INTEGRITY, HUMILITY, AND GENEROSITY.
• You don't have to be COOL or CLEVER to be a LEADER.
• We're not tempted at our area of weakness, we're tempted in our strengths.
• Humility is not denying your strengths, it's being honest about your weaknesses. 
• If you can learn from anybody, God will honor you.
• We must do what Jesus did, disciple people and release them for ministry.
• Stop worrying about building the church, and start building people.

Great stuff from someone who's living what he teaches.