Or Jabez, backwards. Francis Chan recently blogged about "The Prayer Americans Refuse to Pray"
What do you think? Is this just Old Covenant nonsense? Or is it a proper ambition for the Christian life? Or something else ... ?
What do you think?
Last night Tracy Heffner rallied a small group of college students who volunteer with a high school ministry called Student Venture (and Nick, Middle School Pastor from Northstar Church) for dinner to talk a little more about Catalyst. College students are a growing demographic in the Catalyst world, and for good reason - they are the leaders of tomorrow and those that we must invest in today. Did any of you see that video from Matt Keller during our road trip in Florida? He shares about the 4 generational cycles and offers some pretty profound insight on what our response should be to this "Millenial Generation." Check it out below...
I'm not going to lie - i was pretty amped at the opportunity to share about Catalyst with a group of people that have never been, and actually, didn't know that much about it. How do you explain or describe the Catalyst experience? At times it's tough to put into words. I hope Brandon, Chelsea, Ben, Rig, and Tracy are able to make it to their first Catalyst this October. This will be Nick's second time and he is coming with the staff from Northstar - can't wait to share this experience with them...
On a side note, Student Venture is very close to my heart...in the fall of 1992 I was invited to a freshman football pizza party hosted by the staff and the leadership students of Student Venture at our high school in Carrollton, TX. I had never heard the gospel explained so clearly and ended up making a decision to trust Christ...over the next four years I learned more about what it meant to walk with the Lord mostly through the patience and personal investment of the Student Venture team. My life has never been the same...a huge thanks to the Student Venture crew for their investment in the lives of high school students!
LV
on behalf of the Catalyst Road Trip Team
Video from Matt Keller
Catalyst Voices - Matt Keller from Catalyst on Vimeo.
Are you a next generation Church leader? Brad Lomenick , the director of CATALYST, is keeping tabs on emerging leaders. He compiles a Young Influencers list every month - these are the leaders you should be aware of. (btw, if you haven't already, you should subscribe to his blog, too: here )
Here are three from this month:
+ Jon Tyson - church planter in New York City. Launched Origins NYC , and is now set on helping plant churches and leaders in strategic cities around the world.
+ Eugene Cho - pastor in Seattle of Quest Church . Also soon to launch a new organization focused on global poverty. You can watch a video introducing the idea here.
+ Carlos Whittaker - writer of the uber popular Ragamuffin Soul, service program director at Buckhead Church, and also worship leader and musician.
Read the rest of the July list
Are you a next generation leader? Email us so we can keep tabs on you, too!
Wow, cheezy title much? Tim Stevens , of the infamous Granger Community Church, recently completed the Reveal survey at their church and is making some changes as a result of their findings:
"The Reveal survey conducted at Granger in January was jarring in its' revelation of who we are as a church. It was an awakening . We learned some things that were extremely positive...and we also learned some things that were deeply concerning to us. More on that in the coming days.
But the bottom line...we are changing . Tonight Mark Beeson announced the following..."
Have you considered trying the Reveal survey? Is there anything about the way you're doing ministry that might need to change?
We are still in Atlanta waiting to leave on our next road trip to the Northeast, Friday! Before leaving town we had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with Julie Floyd and the team from Ronald Blue & Co. in Atlanta. They have been coming to Catalyst for years and are, once again, bringing a large group to the Catalyst Experience in October. 
I just got back from lunch with the team and wanted to share a little from our time together. Do any of you remember Ted Dekker from 2004? Well, his few minutes on stage are still a unifying topic of discussion mostly centered on comic relief. A brief recap of our experience with Ted was the entertainment as we gathered to get our pizza and head back to the tables...the laughter was a great kickoff to an even greater time sharing impact stories from Catalyst and hearing about what is happening in the world of these "catalysts" working with Ronald Blue & Co. Jeff, Mike, Marshall, and Julie shared personal accounts of their experiences with Catalyst and several others also added to the discussion, including Kate who shared about how she and her husband are stepping out and moving to Denver to start a new church. What is it that moves a person from a place of comfort to a place of risk? Why such a move? Yet, deep down, it seems that our souls are stirred by the example of others who have risked greatly and stepped out to do what can only be understood in a context of radical trust and surrender. What moves a person from comfort to risk? Maybe that's a question that can only be answered by those that have made the move...understood after the fact.
The question was asked, "how is it beneficial for your team from a for profit financial planning organization to spend three days at an event like Catalyst?" The responses were quick and varied along different themes - "it gets us out of our environment," "it's a tangible team building opportunity," and the one that stood out to me most because of the clear difference between Ronald Blue & Co, a for-profit organization, and Catalyst, an event whose demographic is clearly made up of mostly non-profit organizations, "our experience at Catalyst gives us a chance to challenge our customers."
Several people shared about how they supporting different causes through their everyday spending: Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee (featured at Catalyst last year) AND Ten Thousand Villages where your "Your fair trade purchase of handmade jewelry, home decor and gifts helps improve the lives of thousands of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East." Even the slightest changes in what amounts to normal every day activity can help...the team from Ronald Blue & Co. was very encouraging in their sharing about how they want to make an impact.
I hope our lunch was encouraging and beneficial for the crew from Ronald Blue; it's an easy conclusion from my perspective - any opportunity to hear stories from men and women that are part of the Catalyst movement is a huge blessing. Their story is not unique, as we see so many that continue to step forward in the journey of growing as a leader on the front line of God's work. But their story is special, and for that, I say again thanks to the team from Ronald Blue & Co. for taking time to hang out.
We hit the road on Friday for the northeast, stay tuned!
LV
on behalf of the Catalyst Team
