Catalyst is looking for guitar players! If you're coming to Catalyst, bring your guitar! We are hoping to fill a role in the program and need volunteers to help us out that can bring their guitar to the Catalyst event and be involved in a Wednesday evening practice session for preparation of the music. Please send a message to michelle.hoeft@catalystspace.com with your name, email address, phone number & "GUITAR" in the subject line - if you are available and interested.

We are expectant for more than an event this October!

Once again, the Catalyst community is joining forces with the Convoy of Hope and some other amazing organizations. Together, we have the opportunity to spread love all over the city of Atlanta and beyond. If you're coming to the conference, please consider bringing at least one of the listed items. We're hoping ALL attendees, volunteers, speakers, and exhibitors will take part as we desire to live out our faith in deed.

For Atlanta Union Mission:
· Canned Food

For Safehouse Outreach:
· Socks + Blankets

For Uganda Bible Project:
· New or Used Bibles (NIV)

For Gift Card Giver:
· Gas, Grocery, or Wal-Mart Gift Cards

Please check out these organizations and decide how your group can help out. We will have bins and volunteers to collect your donations the opening day of Catalyst. Thanks for any help you can give, thousands of people will be helped by your contributions!

CONGRATS TO OUR WINNERS! @deanmayeda, @jeffzaugg, @juliewillingham, @gordmillar, @ZebulunMattos
(Randomly chosen using random.org)

SUN STAND STILL: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible is the new book from Steven Furtick coming out TODAY!

If you're not DARING TO BELIEVE GOD for the impossible,
you may be SLEEPING THROUGH
some of the BEST PARTS of your Christian Life.

"This book is not a Snuggie. The words on these pages will not go down like Ambien. I’m not writing to calm or coddle you. With God’s help, I intend to incite a riot in your mind. Trip your breakers and turn out the lights in your favorite hiding places of insecurity and fear. Then flip the switch back on so that God’s truth can illuminate the divine destiny that may have been lying dormant inside you for years. 
   In short, I’m out to activate your audacious faith. To inspire you to ask God for the impossible. And in the process, to reconnect you with your God-sized purpose and potential."
    —STEVEN FURTICK, from Sun Stand Still

“Steven Furtick challenges all of us—from the missionary in the third world to the family in the suburbs—to believe God for the impossible and begin living a life of faith beyond the ordinary.”
—ANDY STANLEY, senior pastor, North Point Community Church

“I don’t know anyone better positioned to challenge you to rise above mundane living and embrace faith-filled audacity than Steven Furtick.”
   —CRAIG GROESCHEL, senior pastor, LifeChurch.tv

We're giving away 5 copies today!

HERE'S HOW TO WIN:

1) TWEET THIS: Win @StevenFurtick's new book: SUN STAND STILL, go here & comment: http://bit.ly/bgOBYV

2) COMMENT BELOW: comment w/ your twitter name so we can verify you did step 1.

3) At 6pm ET today, we'll choose 5 winners from the comments below!

NOTE: This contest ends at 6pm ET, September 21, 2010.

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:15-16

Jesus said to let our good works shine & be seen to glorify God. Therefore, let us engage with our brothers & sisters doing good around the world. Here are some of our friends that are doing good work. You can pray for them & check-out some of the things they're doing:

- Compassion International
- Convoy of Hope
- Uganda Bible Project
- Gift Card Giver
- charity: water
- Kiva
- TOMS Shoes

This is a guest blog post from Jenni Catron. Read more of her thoughts here.

As typical siblings do, my sister and I fought over EVERYTHING when we were growing up.  We knew how to push each other’s buttons and we thoroughly enjoyed doing it.  Most of the time our battles were over the petty things like who got the last piece of cake, who got to sit in the front seat of the car, or whose favorite TV show we got to watch.
 
Although petty, the things that we battled over were usually always things in limited supply, things that were scarce.
 
I think we learn to fear scarcity at an early age.  The fear of not having enough causes us to race to beat others to get what we want.  Before we know it this mentality infiltrates every part of our lives.
We're afraid of a friend (or colleague) becoming better friends with someone else, so we don't make the introduction
We're afraid the store might run out of that fancy new thing we want so we slap our credit card down and impulsively buy it
We keep our freezers stocked because we don't want to go hungry
We give our financial resources sparingly because we're afraid we won't have enough for retirement
We don't celebrate the accomplishment of a co-worker because we're afraid they'll get promoted sooner

We hoard.
We keep.
We guard.
We protect.
 
I believe that this mindset of scarcity is one of the most dangerous enemies to great leadership.  Our unwillingness to champion others, to give to others, or to make a way for others is a dangerous place to find ourselves.

In our efforts to guard and protect ourselves we actually sabotage our leadership influence.

Scarcity is in opposition to great leadership because I believe one of the greatest responsibilities of leaders is to generously develop, inspire, and empower those you lead.
 
If you are constantly protecting what you have, you rarely have time to invest in the people around you.

"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
Proverbs 11:25

I'll be honest; scarcity can get the best of me.  It's one of the greatest challenges to my leadership.


How about you?  Do you battle scarcity?  What do you do to combat it in your life?