TODAY is the Catalyst Early Bird Deadline! It's your LAST CHANCE to save money on tickets to Catalyst Dallas. Call us at 888.334.6569 & Register Today!

Since today is the Early Bird deadline we want to CELEBRATE big! So here is the deal. If you register a group today, use the promo code BLOG & you could be entered to WIN.

Register a group of.....

2+ and you could go to lunch w/speaker.

5+ and you could win 1 of 2 Experience Kits we are giving away.

10+ could get you 5 LAB tickets.

20+ and you could win a two hour creative brainstorming sessions with our creative team!

DON'T FORGET TO USE THE CODE BLOG WHEN REGISTERING.

If you are already registered & really bummed you can't participate, no worries, we have something for you too.

1. TWEET THIS: Register for #catalyst Dallas TODAY & save big, LAST CHANCE! http://ow.ly/aemeh

2. AT 6:30PM EST today (Thur, Apr 12) we will choose 5 random winners from those who tweeted to win a leadership pack (books, dvd's, audio, cd's, etc!).

Catalyst Dallas 2012:: Preview Video from Catalyst on Vimeo.

We are so excited about Catalyst Dallas coming up May 9-11, 2012 in north Dallas.

If you are considering attending, you’ll want to go ahead and REGISTER TODAY to get the BEST POSSIBLE RATES on tickets. 

Tomorrow, Thursday April 12th is the final registration deadline for discounts on ticket prices, so go ahead and get your team or staff signed up at the lower prices. 

Here are 11 reasons why we are excited about Catalyst Dallas, and why you should attend:

1. The speaker lineup- Andy Stanley, John Maxwell, Matt Chandler, Katie Davis (best-selling author of Kisses from Katie), Judah Smith, Perry Noble, Kirk Franklin, Nancy Duarte, Bob Goff, Jud Wilhite, Jon Acuff, and Rudy Rasmus.

***We just added Tony Romo and Jason Witten from the Dallas Cowboys as speakers for a special segment on Thursday afternoon, May 10, talking about teamwork and leadership.

2. Musical Guests include Gungor, Israel Houghton and Kari Jobe, two of our favorite worship leaders.

3. Tripp and Tyler- funny guys. funny videos. they will be funny. And Chris Seay as our host, truly representing the state of Texas and the city of Houston!

4. OPEN YOUR FREE PRESENT- there are 30 songs and other great resources available to you for FREE on the Catalyst Dallas Website. Go and open your free present NOW!

5. BE PRESENT- this is our theme. And we love it. You can find out more about the theme. Your Presence is Requested!

6. LABS- wow, the wisdom and know-how that will be presenting on LABS day is humbling. Come a day early and hear from thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Reggie Joiner, Jon Acuff, Lysa TerKeurst, Mark Batterson, Herbert Cooper, Margaret Feinberg, Tullian Tchividjian, Pete Wilson, Jeanne Stevens, Brandon and Jen Hatmaker, Esther Havens, Jeremy Cowart, Bob Goff, Chris Seay, Carlos Whittaker, and many others!

7. Opening and Closing Session at LABS- Mark Batterson will be presenting in the opening session of Labs, and Reggie Joiner will be presenting in the closing session. Mark is the author of The Circle Maker and Wild Goose Chase, and Reggie is founder and CEO of Orange, and author of Think Orange.

8. 3000 Leaders- Catalyst attracts the doers, the influencers, the cultural architects, and change agents. And when you get 3000 leaders and influencers who are intent on making a difference together, great things happen.

9. Bent Tree Bible Fellowship- a great campus in Carrolton, TX (North Dallas). Top notch facilities, wireless, and a staff that is incredible to work with. The Bent Tree team is family, and we love working with them!

10. Our key partners and causes - at Catalyst we are always intentional about highlighting great organizations and leaders who are making a difference and impacting communities all over the world. Once again we’ll have a number of organizations present that you can talk with and get involved with, including Hello Somebody, Art House of America, CitySquare, Gift Card Giver, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee (free coffee!!), Compassion International, TOMS Shoes, Veritas Fashion, Mission Year, Amazima, and many more!

11. The Unexpected- Our prayer is always that God would move in the hearts of the leaders who are part of Catalyst in ways we don’t expect or plan for. We love creating what we consider to be a great event, but we trust and know that God shows up in unexpected ways and meets each leader in specific ways. We love hearing stories of life change, of moments of clarity, of great conversations, of powerful times of renewal, of leader’s walk with Jesus becoming stronger, etc. The experience of Catalyst is what we all look forward to.

Make sure and Register TODAY. Can’t wait to see you there!

We all long for more of something in our lives. In our endless pursuit to feel worth and acceptance we find ourselves sacrificing everything for the promise to be a little more beautiful, a little richer, a little more powerful and successful, a little more loved.

How do we break free from these empty pursuits and start chasing the only Promise that will ever satisfy? How do we uncover the hidden idols that are driving us and turn our devotion toward the one true God?

Join Pastor and best-selling author Pete Wilson in discovering the joy and freedom that comes with seeking after God with your whole life. Learn how to replace, and not just relinquish, life's empty promises by turning your focus and worship toward Him. It is the only thing that will set you absolutely free from the endless pursuit of everything else.

Empty Promises Trailer- Full from Pete Wilson on Vimeo.

Leave a comment below, we are giving away TWO copies of Empty Promises!

As our team of twelve prepared for the first day of our oversees mission trip, the first words that came to mind were, "Be hope." I went on to challenge them with this thought, "While the people we serve will shower you with love and adorn you with homemade treasures and trinkets, it's not because of who you are, it's because of what you represent. You represent hope. You represent the food, education and hope for a future that they now have because of the ministry we support here. Today you are walking hope."

I'm repeatedly struck by how much hope is an essential part of leadership.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18

Another word for vision is hope. Personally I like the word vision reframed as hope. I get that. I feel that. I understand the effects of hope and I understand the pain of no hope or lost hope. I've looked hopelessness in the eyes and I've seen glimpses of it in my own heart from time to time.

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick."

Has your heart ever been sick for loss of hope? Perhaps it was the relationship that was beyond restoration. Maybe it was the doctor's prognosis that seemed so final. It could have been the unexpected job loss that left you without a next step. Whatever it was, lack of hope left your heart sick.

Hope is powerful and motivating. And lack of hope is utterly devastating to our souls.

As leaders it's your job to give people hope... to create a vision of the future. And for those of us who are faith-based leaders, to remind them of the ultimate hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Andy Andrews says it this way in his book The Final Summit:

"Hope is the first task of a leader."
"Hope is the captain of courage and the author of success. For the person whose hope remains unshaken has within them the power to do miracles. Hope sees what's invisible, feels what is intangible, and achieves what most consider impossible."

Hope inspires.
Hope encourages.
Hope births dreams.
Hope instills confidence.
Hope makes a way.

Where do those you lead need some hope today?

This is a guest blog post from Jenni Catron. Jenni serves as the Executive Director of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, an 8-year old multi-site church. She leads the staff of Cross Point and oversees the ministry of its five campuses. Prior to joining the staff of Cross Point, she worked as Artist Development Director in the Christian music industry for 9 years. Check out more of her stuff here!

This is the story of how God used Catalyst to confirm to a couple 40 year olds that He was calling them to adopt.

We have two beautiful daughters, Marissa 15 and Cambria 17. My wife, Michelle, is an amazing mother and we both love being parents but because of some challenges after the birth of our girls, we didn't have more.

Since the day we were married (23 years ago this June) we have talked about the possibility of God leading us to adopt. In recent years, it seems as though God has turned up the heat, leading us to scripture after scripture about adoption (who knew there were so many?).

In the Spring of 2010 we attended Catalyst West (being from Seattle, it's amazing how you find the budget to attend a conference in a sunny destination). In one of the sessions the speaker was challenging us to step out and live our faith and leadership in tangible expressions of compassion and justice; adoption being one of the things he mentioned. For us, of course this was more then a passing mention. It caused Michelle to squeeze my hand as if to say, "there is the voice of God again!"

To add emphasis, Michelle noticed an Asian girl playing quietly with her mommy just a few seats away. She remembers her eyes filling with mist as God seemed to be gently nudging and doing what He does best, whispering, "Pay attention, this is Me speaking."

Michelle leaned over and whispered sternly, "I need to talk to you after the session." She was using her "I'm not joking" tone so I knew she had something serious to talk about. So after the session concluded we hurried out to the courtyard where the Orange County sun greeted us Northwesterners with kindness. Grabbing a cup of coffee, she began to share what was going on in her heart.

I was not surprised. God had been speaking to me too. Our hearts were simultaneously filled with apprehension because we had no idea what our next steps were and exhilaration at the possibility of welcoming another child into our home. We stood in the courtyard, hand in hand, and offered a simple, quick prayer, "God, if this is your direction for us, please continue to confirm it and clarify what we are to do next."

Well, here's where it gets all "charismatic". We had no idea what was coming in the next session. (Confession: We weren't really paying attention to the schedule- we were there for the sunshine as much as anything else.) Unbeknownst to either of us, we entered the next session and learned that Kay Warren was speaking. I remember thinking, "Oh, that explains why Rick Warren was in the courtyard hanging with attendees." Well, she rocked our world! Her entire talk was about the orphan crisis and our responsibility as followers of Christ and specifically pastors and leaders to do something with James 1:27, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress... (NLT).

This wasn't just one of her points-this was her entire message! Her challenge was crystal clear: God is calling all of us to respond and many to personally adopt.

As she concluded, we just sat there. Holding hands. Tears streaming down our faces. Numb but not paralyzed. The joy of hearing God's voice and determining in our hearts to respond was both humbling and empowering simultaneously.

Our journey is still in progress but two years later we have finished all the paperwork and are officially on the waiting list for a child or sibling pair from Ethiopia. We will be opening our home in about a year to a child or children whom God has birthed in our hearts.

God has used many people along this adoption path to discern His voice and encourage us to take the next step. To the entire Catalyst community, thank you! To Brad for his sensitivity to follow where God is leading, thank you! To Kay Warren, thank you! And to that little Asian girl and her mommy, thank you!

We'll keep you posted.

Scott is Senior Pastor of Brooklake Church located between Seattle and Tacoma, WA. He enjoys cycling, traveling, writing and cheering for the underdog. Connect with him at ScottHarris.org and @ScottHarris.