August 26th in Seattle, Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel will be sharing practical leadership strategy for creating and sustaining momentum.

Also, there will be a few Q&A sessions with Andy & Craig and a candid conversation between them about their different leadership styles and common lessons they’ve learned.

Here’s a preview of the ONE DAY content:

Catalyst One Day from Catalyst on Vimeo.

I don’t usually give stuff away here on my website… so this is a rare treat. I think this definitely a valuable win. PLUS, I’ll be there… so you’ll get to spend some time with a pretty cool Asian chick!

HERE’S HOW TO WIN:
1. TWEET THIS: Win Tickets to Catalyst ONE DAY in Seattle: http://bit.ly/d0aakF

2. COMMENT BELOW: with your twitter name (so I know you did step 1) and your strangest habit (just for fun)

3. AT 5PM (PST) FRIDAY TUESDAY, June 18 22 : I’ll randomly choose 2 entrants below to win 1 ticket each!
**Sorry! I had to change the date because we gave out a lot of tickets this week… so it’s been changed for next week. Thanks for rolling with it.**

Ready? Get set? GO!

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AND THE WINNERS ARE:

Jeff Holton and Jennifer Radar

Yes… I’m no longer working at Church! at Bethany.

On Monday afternoon, in a meeting room with Brian, me and our church Treasurer… Matt relieved me of my duties as the Creative Arts & Worship Pastor. He stated the reason as: “different visions” which are somewhat irreconcilable. I guess that will work for now.

Our meeting lasted between 10-15 minutes.

Brian and I were not surprised this happened when we went in. We walked into Church! at Bethany two years ago two VERY different people. And in the past two years, we’ve journeyed a road most people don’t ever need to travel and became two different people… BETTER people. Matt and Church! at Bethany were a key piece to my confession and our healing afterwards… and for that, we will forever be grateful.

We will forever love our church.
We will forever love it’s people.
And we will never stop fighting for it’s people.

Our next step? We don’t know yet… but for now, we’re going to enjoy not having ANY responsibility, be poured into by other churches (we are one body, after all) and hang out with our beloved houseguests, David & Diane. We’re going to rest in God’s grace, trusting He already knows our paths.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Where do you put YOUR faith?
Your plans or His?

You start out dreaming it. You start out expecting it.

I’m gonna marry Prince Charming!
We’re gonna build a ministry overseas from the ground up.
It’s gonna bless millions for God’s glory.

We all dream these dreams as kids. But the more time we spend on this earth, the quicker our dreams and expectations change. By the time you’re almost twenty years of age, your dreams may get just a smidge smaller.

I’m gonna get out of this place one day.
I’m gonna make it through this beating.
He can’t hold this gun to my head forever!

It’ll get better by the age of 30, right? But then you stare 30 in the face and your dreams sound like this:

He cheated on me and lied.
Did he EVER love me?
All I know is this ministry and life WITH him. How do I ever transition?

Problem: that’s not a dream. That’s reality.

Sometimes the dreams you dreamt as a child are squashed by the reality of… life. The older you get, the once HUGE window of your dreams becoming reality begins to shrink till it’s barely the size of a mousehole. The simple answer of “Have FAITH… God is in control!” seems trite and a lot like another impossible dream.

You try. You muster up the last bit of faith you have…
… but sometimes, our life here won’t end up with a happy ending.

Meet my two friends: Tammy & Alece.

Those dreams listed above were theirs. Both have overcome the most monstrous and impossible hurdles. One is still in the midst of survival mode at times… but BOTH have looked life’s dirty leftovers in the face and said, “You don’t GET to choose where my dreams end up!”

They’ve changed their dreams. They’ve taken their stories and have matched them up with GOD’S story FOR them. Their stories are no longer about them… they’re about God.

Which leads me to “Plan B” by my friend, Pete Wilson. I was gonna write about the release of his book this week… but it’s so much more than a book now.

I’ve watched my friends at CrossPoint step up this past week when their community in Nashville faced the most trying devastation their area has seen in the past 1000 years. I am watching them actually BE the church to their community instead of just TALKING about it. Like Pete says… “There is the direct correlation between crisis and spiritual transformation” and they are IN crisis right now.

For more information of how to help, CLICK HERE.

It’s our chance… to be like Tammy, Alece & CrossPoint. When Plan A isn’t working out and in the midst of crisis, let’s align ourselves with God’s story… where it’s ALL about Him…

… and less about us.

Alece is here!

She arrived on Saturday… and with her, she brought some “calm”. How does she do that?

If she sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you saw her guestpost HERE awhile back. If you don’t know of her yet, YOU SHOULD!

You can read:
Her Story – HERE
Her Mission – HERE

Alece talks a lot about her life being “mostly grit”, but I disagree (and have for some time now). Her life… almost everything about it… reveals glory.

God’s glory.
God’s providence.
God’s timing.
God’s restoration.

I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone more willing to be God’s pliable & moldable clay. Though painful and unsure of when the kneading will end, she continues to be worked through.

My hope is that just by having her under my roof for 5 days, a miracle will happen and some of her obedience and humility will transfer to me. God knows I need more of it in my life!

Oh… and the boys love her too!

If you don’t follow her, follow her now:
Alece’s Blog: gritandglory.com
Alece’s Twitter: @gritandglory
Thrive Africa: thriveafrica.org
Thrive’s Twitter: @thriveafrica

Now… this is LAST years intro for Francis:

Just thought you’d enjoy that before you read my notes!

Speaker: Francis Chan

1. Amos 5 – “Woe to those who are comfortable.”
2. God is calling ME out of my comfort. But what/where is OUT?
3. What types of leaders would we be if we heard the voice of the Lord and did not obey?
4. Biggest desire needs to be to hear “Well Done” from God, not people.
5. All that matters is that we get ready to face God. There is SO much on loan.
6. Why are we thinking about retirement when the END is in sight.
7. We’ve got so many pastors that seem to be “called” to the rich people. LOL!
8. No one wants to care for the poor because we would have to suffer.
9. I don’t only want the resurrection, but I also want the fellowship of the suffering.
10. Mark 8:34
11. Luke 6:22
12. 2 Corinthian 1:5
13. Galatians 6:12
14. Ephesians 6
15. Philippians 1:29
16. Colossians 1:24
17. When people look at my life, how are they seeing Jesus?
18. You will feel the Holy Spirit when you are put up against the authorities.
19. … when YOU’RE in danger.
20. If I’m not listening, what kind of Pastor am I?
21. Between you and God: ARE YOU REALLY AT PEACE WITH HIM?
22. Forget the rest of America… I just wanna do what YOU want me to do.
23. If you were stuck on an Island with only the Bible for years, would your really come back and invest all your time on a Sunday service?

I’m pretty exhausted right now… and I’m still processing all of this.

The reality is my heart is stirring right now, in ways I’m not sure I can really put into words yet… but I’m hoping soon I’ll be able to communicate it.

Aslan is on the move.

Speaker: Reggie McNeal

1. Missional Church: The people of God partnering with Him in His redemptive mission in the world.
2. Church was an “it”. We grew up with church being a “what”.
3. Church is a “who”.
4. How do we be THE church.
5. Plant THE church… don’t plant A church.
6. Release people to BE the church where they already are.
7. Be the church where you are already assigned.
8. Church is not a destination…
9. Why are there students who can’t read past a 4th grade level when our church is FULL of people who can?
10. How are we doing at blessing the world?

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Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer – interviewed by Dave Ferguson

Ed Stetzer:

1. We are to reflect His glory and be transformed
2. You cannot LEAD what you do not LIVE.
3. Churches too often are holy merry-go-rounds. Lights, bells, whistles, attraction… but just goes round in circles.
4. We celebrate what we become.
5. You cannot love Jesus and ignore or marginalize His bride (the church).
6. The gospel isn’t something you get over… it’s something you live in.

Alan Hirsch:

1. How we measure something shows WHAT we value.
2. When we play it safe with the church, we aren’t being like Jesus.
3. We become insecure. We begin to fear each other within the church.
4. Love is to risk.
5. The only place where you can be safe from the disturbances of love is hell.
6. You cannot lead where you will not go. You cannot teach what you do not know.
7. You must risk failure to become a stakeholder in the outcome.
8. If we stay where we are, we will only produce what we’ve produced in the past.

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Speaker: Efrem Smith

Matthew 25 (starting at verse 31)

1. We are to have Kingdom URGENCY. This is evangelism.
2. We are to be ready. There is preparation work.
3. We are to be the bridesmaids of Jesus. To prepare the bride.
4. KNOW YOUR ROLE!!!
5. We need to be about Kingdom MULTIPLICATION. This is about discipleship.
6. We have separated compassion, mercy & justice… but God hasn’t.

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Speaker: Shane Claiborne

1. We’re not just told to make believers, but make DISCIPLES.
2. What we can learn from both liberals and conservatives is no matter what your ideology is, you can be mean.
3. Mother Theresa didn’t wear a shirt that said “Abortion is Murder” but she came alongside pregnant women and said, “we can do this together!”
4. Transformation takes more than just a good vision.
5. “Everybody wants a revolution, but no one wants to wash the dishes.”
6. The mega-church thing is so 1980’s. It was a good thing, but often-times, God does His work in the small things in your neighborhood.
7. Virtual communities: FB & twitter is good… but if you eat ONLY virtual food, you’re gonna die.
8. Transformation takes imagination.
9. We cannot truly recover ourselves until we help the community that made us sick recover too.
10. We’re just the asses that get to bring Jesus in.

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Speaker: Dave Gibbons

1. Transformation starts in the mind and is honed in GOOD community.
2. If Satan was smart, he’d put us all in a group and let us talk about the bible, then let us call it a small group. Then he’d let us go even deeper and let us call it community. When in reality, it’s just a farm.
3. Are we captured by movements because it’s the next big thing.
4. Movement of the masses vs. the movement of the Holy Spirit.
5. You don’t need the answers. You need the tools.