God is using Catalyst to transform lives in ExCitInG ways! Ken from MRC wrote this letter to his flock:

I have a girl who is six years old. She is in 1st grade. It's the first year that she goes to school for the whole day. It's wonderful and scary because it's a big step up for her. This weekend, MRC turns 6. In a way, it's a big step up for us too. We are leaving the days of being an infant to grow up into the elementary stage. We are leaving the days of learning how to stumble, walk and stumble again to run and run faster than ever before. We are leaving the days of finger painting and Elmo for riding bikes. Today we enter into a whole new world. We may not be fully grown yet but we can do more today than ever before. It's new, fun and scary.

Jesus explained the kingdom of God like this.

Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.

Then those 'sheep' are going to say, Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you? Then the King will say, I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.

MSG Matthew 25:34-40

As the leader of MRC I want to officially declare, the infant stage is over. MRC has been created and we have survived, in fact, we are thriving with people who love God and want to make a difference. I am writing you to declare that MRC's focus, now that we are ready, is to love Jesus so much that we feed Him, give Him a drink, a room, clothes and we visit Him when He needs us. Practically that means we love others so much we take our time, money and energy to end a social injustice.

This past weekend at the Catalyst conference, one pastor from Southern California said that his church was ready to build a 60 million dollar building. He was so convicted by the above verses that they decided to plant grass and worship in the sun and rain. Why? That money needs to go toward feeding Jesus. He said, "If the Green Bay Packer fans can stand in freezing cold weather for over four hours to cheer on their team, we can stand for one hour in Southern California weather." He drew the line in the sand and boldly said, "If you don't want to worship in the rain to feed the poor, I don't want you at my church." What is he doing? He's calling people to a radical life, the same life Jesus called us to years ago called 'disciple of Jesus', a life that makes a difference. Christianity isn't about programs, buildings, success or creating a country club for the insiders. It's about joining Jesus on the cross where we lay down our lives with Him to defend the defenseless. To love the loveless. To feed the hungry.

This fall, I am gathering the leadership team for a time of fasting and praying and asking God to reveal to us where He is and how we can join Him. If you want to come, let me know. Our infant days are over. We now begin our elementary days together. That means we now learn what it means to love Jesus by loving others. Where it takes us I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want to pass down a religious country club and bible study group that does nothing to our children. I want to pass down a relationship with God that so radically transforms their life that they engage their culture and end social injustice, whatever that might be for them. I want to model for them what it means to live out Christianity, not just talk about it.

- Ken Landis

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Some recent blogbuzz about Catalyst Reverb 2007: I got A LOT out of this conference. I guess I can go ahead and say I'm a changed man, and I know it might sound stereotypical. I just know it and God knows it too. And that's all that matters... I feel a little like Neo tonight. I feel as though I've been offered a red or blue pill... Wow - 11 hours of sitting at the feet of some of the brightest minds of our day. Catalyst 07 is amazing... Day one was... almost too much... our God's presence in the arena was thick... it was overwhelming at times... Lastly, Andy Stanley came back for session number 9, closing out the conference this afternoon. such a practical talk! i don't know how i ever led anything or anyone effectively before listening to this talk (maybe i never did!)...

It's Friday afternoon break, and we just heard from Erwin McManus of Mosaic Church in California. His presentation was a call for us to embrace our humanity and live authentically. I loved his view of history--God taking tragedy and shaping it into beauty. Some of Erwin's soundbytes are below: We have an improper perspective of our role in the creative process. We are called by God and placed here by God to create the future. We're trying so hard not to infringe into God's sovereign space that we sit passively by until the future happens to us and we must respond to it. The human spirit cannot live in falsehood. We are designed to live in truth. Our souls long for the authentic and the real. Perhaps human history is a conflict between tragedy and beauty. Through human history, God is taking all the tragedy, brokenness, tears, loneliness, and garbage, and creating something beautiful with it. What the world needs for us is not great sermons or brilliant messages, they need us to take them to a place they cannot go without us. We have been with God, and we can take them there. They need someone that can take the tragedy of life and teach them how God is weaving his story in their lives.

It's now Friday afternoon, and we still have the pleasure of hearing from Erwin McManus and Andy Stanley before the day is done. Coming back from lunch, Catalyst interviewed Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms shoes. For every pair of Toms shoes sold, another pair of shoes is donated to a child living in poverty. The generous spirit of the company has gained national attention, and now Toms are on the shelves of Nordstrom's, Macy's, Urban Outfitters, and more. As I look throughout the arena, it's still jam-packed with leaders. I'm not a production guy, so I can't do justice to the arena's lighting and how much it adds to the atmosphere of the conference experience. The band is in the middle of rocking another worship set. I love how worship is spread throughout the day at Catalyst. Not only does it create a great pace for the conference, but also it allows us to shower God with praise and adoration. He is the reason we're here. He is our Life-giver, our Redeeming Savior, and our Leader into all things lovely, pure, and true. The place is erupting in worship this afternoon. I'm surrounded by the beauty of the redeemed souls calling out in gratitude to their Savior. It's exhilarating! Time to join in...