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Ladies and Gentlemen....

Catalyst has been crankin' leadership inspiration and innovation for ten years. 

Ten years. 

Dang.  And a lot of lives have been impacted because of it.  Including mine.  As a matter of fact, it was at the very first Catalyst Conference that my world was turned upside down as a young leader who was longing for something new and different.  It jacked me up BAD.  And I'll never forget sitting in the balcony at Northpoint crying my eyes out....knowing that I would never be the same.

Catalyst 2010 is coming up in five months - October 6-8 in Atlanta.  If you've never been, you need to go. 

Two speakers that I'm proud to announce for this year's lineup are two of my favorite guys - Mike Foster & Jud Wilhite.  

Those are two reasons in and of themselves to get to Catalyst in October.  Seriously.  I love Mike and Jud's hearts. God's hand is on them.

If you're not familiar with their movement called People Of The Second Chance, go check it out and catch the beautiful spirit and heart behind it. 

The new Catalyst website is now live.  Go check it out.  Oh.....and they are giving away an iPad every week between now and Catalyst.  Dang.  I hope I win one.  (Do I quality Brad?)

Stuff Christians Like

Had the chance recently to have an iChat conversation with my friend Jon Acuff.  Jon is a blogger and the author of the new book, Stuff Christians Like.

Honestly, Jon is one of the funniest guys I know and God is using him in some pretty extraordinary ways.  Go buy his book and start reading his blog today.  You can also follow him on Twitter.

Vote For Gift Card Giver!

Hey everyone...need your help!

Really excited about my friend Jeff Shinabarger and the work he's doing with Gift Card Giver!  Let's get behind it and help them win a $25,000 grant from Pepsi to fund some of the creative ideas they're dreaming up to take GCC to the next level. (see how this will impact them below!)

It's super easy!  Here's the 411 from Jeff on how to help:

Pepsi chooses the winners through voting. To win we need to finish in the top 10 for the month of April! We are already moved up to #34, which is GREAT, but I know as other organizations get their friends on board, we’re going to have to work really hard to stay at the lead.

To give context of the impact, last year we only spent $12,000 and gave $40,000 in gift cards away to organizations and people in great financial need. If we get this grant we can give away over $100,000 in gift cards this year. We have 30 days to get all the votes that we can! This is where you come in.

1. VOTE EVERYDAY for Gift Card Giver! It’s really easy! http://tinyurl.com/VoteForGCG
   
2. Follow the link and Sign up.
   
3. Then hit VOTE at the top right side of the website.
   
4. Tell all your friends to vote everyday for Gift Card Giver!
   
5. Vote again tomorrow & everyday in April
   

Thanks a ton for helping us! We can’t do this without you!

VOTE NOW!
http://tinyurl.com/VoteForGCG

What happens in Vegas.....

Had a chance to talk with my friend Vince Antonucci today about his new church in Vegas and new book, Guerrilla Lovers.  Be sure to stop by his website for some great resources. 

BTW...Be sure to catch the last minute and a half of the video.  Vince and I like you've never seen us before!

Order the book now.

UNLEASH 2010

Pastors....church leaders - it doesn't take very long to slip into "comfort" mode, does it?  Believe me, I know how it is.  If we're not careful, we get pulled too much into the day to day "stuff" and before we know it, our thinking and dreaming begins to decline....we gradually slip into maintenance mode.....and next thing we know, our focus has become more about micromanaging and maintaining than it has about the things that really matter most.

The solution?  Well for me, one of the things that always seems to help me regain focus and vision is getting AWAY from the familiar and getting around people who are thinking....dreaming....and doing things that are bigger (and different) than what I'm doing.

So here's an opportunity to do that.  Unleash.   

It's hosted by my friend Perry Noble and his team at NewSpring Church.  (If you don't know much about  NewSpring or their story, you need to.  It's evident God's hand is on NewSpring.  He's blessing it and people's lives are being changed.)

Unleash is NewSpring's dream of sharing what they're learning on their journey with fellow pastors & church leaders across America.  And pastors, listen...this isn't about you or your church becoming a "NewSpring" clone.  This is about seeing first hand how a local church is doing an incredible job of being who God has called them to be for the people God has best positioned them to reach.  And seeing that done really well....is worth a trip - especially if you and your team need to be yanked out of your comfort zones and given a fresh dose of inspiration and encouragement. 

Here's the link.  Check it out.  It's happening on March 4th, 2010 in Andersen, South Carolina. (BTW....it's only $59/person.)

I'm calling it SHOCKTOBER.

Ok, so there are around 2.4 billion things that I'm excited about right now.  And I seriously feel like I need to pinch myself just to make sure this is all real.  Here's a taste.

STORY - It happens next week!  Can't wait.  Around 1,700 pastors, communicators, church leaders, writers, speakers, etc will converge for two days to learn and be inspired by an amazing line up of storytellers -   people like Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Mike Foster, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay, and others.  The first day happens on Wednesday, October 28th at the beautiful Paramount Theater in downtown Aurora.  The next day will be workshops (sold out!) happening at The Orchard.  Honored to host and be a part of STORY!

CULTIVATE - Seriously, Chicagoland is the place to be in October.  Cultivate is a highly interactive, conversational, collaborative un-conference that's all about church communication.  It's happening the day before STORY.  And the lineup of facilitators is just sick.  Wow.

DAVE GIBBONS - We are honored to have Dave speak at The Orchard's gatherings the weekend following STORY.  Not only is Dave a good friend, but he's someone God has used to impact my life in some pretty significant ways.  I'm thrilled that our church community gets to hear and learn from him!

THE NEW & IMPROVED....ORCHARD - The Orchard has had an extreme makeover!  Through the amazing "pro bono" generosity of fellow Orchard tribal members, Dawn & Keith Baldwin (Aspire One), we have a new logo and amazzzing new website that will go live later THIS WEEK.  I'll talk more about this in a later post...  STAY TUNED!

LOVE.SERVE.GIVE. - It's The Orchard's GLOCAL outreach opportunities this winter.  More about this later as well... But just know that we are going to have some amazing opportunities to bring beauty and hope to people locally in our city and globally in places like Uganda, Thailand, and El Salvador.  

ORCHARD ART INITIATIVE - Too much to type, but The Orchard is turning into an art gallery starting this month.  Our campus will be filled with art from local artists.  Huge dream come true, but only the beginning...

Ok, there's more, but I my fingers hurt and I need to study.  OUT.

Story

A few months ago, my friend Ben Arment called me with an idea about creating a first-of-its-kind experience for writers, communicators, artists, pastors, and church leaders.  The idea was to design a conference where people could learn from some of the most effective communicators of the Gospel today. 

But the best part was that Ben wanted the conference to happen in or around Chicago.  So we started talking venues...and one thing led to another.....which eventually landed the project called "Story" at two incredible venues in the Chicago area:

The Paramount Theatre and The Orchard - both in Aurora!  (For those of you who don't know, The Orchard is the church community where I serve as Lead Pastor.)

So of course, I'm excited!  But the thing that I'm most excited about is the idea and heart behind this 2 day event.  I believe that the greatest story - the story of the Gospel - is a story that deserves to be communicated in the most creative, engaging, and beautiful way possible.  And that's what Story is going to be all about.

Enough rambling...  Let me give you a few details:

Dates: October 28th & 29th

Where: Paramount Theatre (28th) and The Orchard (29th) - both in Aurora (40 miles west of Chicago).

Main Speakers (28th): Dave Gibbons, Don Miller, Ed Young, Nancy Beach, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay, and Mike Foster

How's that for diversity!?  WOW.

That's a lot to digest and this post is getting too be long, so I'm going to save the workshop speakers for another post.  But it is definitely going to be an amazing group of people who are coming together in October. 

Go to the Story website now. 

And oh yeah - they are also giving away a trip to C.S. Lewis' home in Oxford, England!

Orlando...Austin...Atlanta.....and next, Uganda.

Ok, I'm diving back in to the blog.  It's been way too long.  My lame excuse: I've been running 200MPH since a few weeks before Easter with writing, travel, etc... and blogging just hasn't been that high on my priority list.  Sorry faithful folks.

So anyway...  Rather than try to knock out a bunch of amazing blog posts, I thought I'd throw out a few random thoughts of what's been happening over these past few weeks.  Here we go:

• Easter.  This year's Easter weekend The Orchard was a record-breaking weekend!  Our teams did an amazing job and I think my head is still spinning after a HUGELY successful Helicopter Easter Egg Drop.  All I can say is WOW.  If you missed the video review, click here.
  
  
• Orlando.  Had a great time at Exponential in Orlando.  Exponential is sort of a like a big family reunion (but without the weird uncle and the funky potato salad).  This is actually the largest church planting conference in North America and one that I would definitely encourage all church planters to attend in 2010.  Had fun teaching a session with Gary Lamb (did he really say "wanker"??) and then participating in some great conversations in the Exponential Lounge with guys like Erwin McManus, Francis Chan, Dave Ferguson, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, and others. 
  
  
• Austin. After a couple of days home I found myself in the amazing city of Austin, TX to be a part of Q.  Q is one of my favorite gatherings of the year.  It's small and all about influencing and changing culture.  Think TED format.  Loved connecting with a bunch of friends - both new and old.  People like Kem Meyer, Mike Foster, Jeff Shinabarger, Tim Stevens, Alan Hirsch, Kyle Zimmerman, John Burke, Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, Gabe Lyons, Mel McGowan, Charles Lee, and a bunch of other amazing people. Next year, Q will be here - in Chicago!
  
  
• Austin II.  All I can say is - what a cool city.  And with a slogan that's all about keeping it "weird" what do you expect??  Check out a few photos I posted in Facebook.
  
  
• Jackie Huba.  Writer, Author, Speaker, Blogger, Marketing Guru-ess, co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth.  Forbes calls her work "the word of mouth gospel."  Anyway....  Had a chance to grab lunch with Jackie while in Austin.  That was worth the trip alone.  If you don't follow her twitter you need to. 
  
  
• Atlanta.  Orange.  It's THE premier and the BEST family ministry conference in the flippin' universe.  Loved being a part of this and having the opportunity to share The Orchard's story and some thoughts/ideas on the topic of navigating change with a room full of Lead Pastors and Senior Leaders.  Just wish I could have stuck around for more than a few hours, but was glad to be able to hang with a few of our staff who were attending and introduce them to some killer Korean BBQ. 
  
  
• Uganda.  In a couple of weeks.  More on this later, but looking forward to getting my heart messed up by this trip. 
  
  
• Study.  It's what I should be doing right now.  So I'm done.  Hopefully back in the groove of blogging.  We'll see.  Thanks for the encouragement folks.

Meet Dave Gibbons!

I’ve gotta be honest... I am blown away at the caliber of people God has surrounded my life with.  I'm serious.  The leaders, pastors, entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, etc... who I've had the opportunity to get to know and become friends with over the years is something that I am so grateful for!

One of those people is a very new friend of mine by the name of Dave Gibbons.  Dave is....umm...let's  see.  Well let me just paste in what Zondervan says about him:

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with Dave while at The Idea Camp in  Irvine, CA.  In fact, not only did I have the privilege of spending some time learning from Dave, but  SOMEHOW......I also found myself sitting between him and Eugene Cho during a Leadership Q&A  session at Idea Camp!  That was quite an honor... (even though he made me eat this.)

SO ANYWAY....with all that said, there’s two things I want to tell you about:

First...

DAVE'S BOOK.  The Monkey and the Fish.  I read a lot of books, but seldom do I read one twice.  I'm already half way through my second reading...

It’s hard to describe how much I have found myself resonating with Dave’s heart through his book.  Plus, watching how God is using him, not just in SoCal, but also in places like Bangkok, India, London, Mexico City, and multiple other cities, is stretching and challenging me in some unbelievable ways.  (You can read about my visit to NewSong Bangkok here.)

Second...

THE VIDEO.  The other thing I want you to know about is this video interview recorded last weekend by Eugune Cho (who you also need to get to know...).

On a side note, Dave will be speaking at this year’s Leadership Summit at Willowcreek. 

Lastly, here’s some linkage.

Dave’s Blog

Dave’s Twitter
NewSong Church
Buy the Book

Get to know Dave Gibbons folks.

Dim Sum Today

Enjoyed some wonderful Dim Sum with Mike & Kristen Jones and Ted & Kathryn Egly today.  Tried out Triple Crown in Westmont. 

Let's see....  Here's a sampling: Roast Pork Buns, Shrimp Dumplings, Pork Dumplings, Spring Rolls, Shrimp Rolls, Steamed Pork Ribs, Stir-fried Chinese Vegetables, Steamed Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaves stuffed with Chinese Sausage, Mushrooms, & Pork. 

Sorry, no Phoenix Talons (chicken feet). 

In case you're wondering....  Dim Sum is a Chinese cuisine that involves a wide range of small dishes - similar to Spanish tapas.  You can read more about it here.

Here are a few photos (click for larger images):