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