i've got three out of four in the NCAA final four next weekend in San Antonio. I went with Georgetown instead of Kansas, thinking Kansas wouldn't be able to get it done. But Georgetown bowed out early. North Carolina and UCLA in the finals, with NC bringing home the title.
And there is no coincidence that Memphis, UCLA and NC are all making it happen- great point guards, which equal great teamwork and execution.
Spent some time this afternoon with Rusty Pritchard, who is doing great work with Evangelical Environmental Network, and is a good friend of Catalyst. Rusty spends part of his time guest lecturing at Emory here in Atlanta, and also speaks all over the country at colleges and universities on the topic of stewardship and creation care. He also is in charge of the Creation Care magazine, put out by EEN, and also spends lots of time hanging out with really important leaders talking about the future of global warming, social responsibility, creation stewarship, and how churches and Christ followers can lead in this discussion. He made an interesting point today- basically stating that their work is not focused on making people into environmentalists, but instead just purely focusing on the Biblical ideals of creation care and leading people back to Scripture, with only part of the conversation being around the environment. I love that idea.
Got to catch up with my great friend Peb Jackson this afternoon. Peb was in town to meet with Todd Peterson, the former placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons. Todd and Peb are involved in a number of mutual initiatives together, most notably a very cool project Todd is working on with some other friends from the network of influencers around the country. They are truly having an impact on leaders and significant philanthropists and givers around the country. It was exciting to talk with Peb about his soon to release book Dangerous Faith with Waterbrook Press. Peb is one of those guys who has had some incredible life experiences and journeys, and basically knows everyone. So the book highlights stories from different friends of Peb. I looked through the manuscript this evening and wanted to drop everything and keep reading. We will have more from Peb in the coming weeks.
I am a blog reader. It's a great way to keep up to date, in the know, and also continue to be a constant learner. These days, blogs are not just about keeping informed, but more geared towards relevant and practical content. So here is my top ten blogs (in no particular order): 1. Seth Godin
2. Swerve
4. Evotional
5. Sanders Says
6. How to Change the World (Guy Kawasaki)
9. Catalyst Leader Feeder (had to get that one in there)
10. From Where I Sit (Mike Hyatt)
had the privelege on Saturday afternoon to spend some time with Dan Kimball. Dan is a thought leader, pastor, author, speaker and influential blogger. He lives in Santa Cruz, CA and pastors Vintage Faith Church. His most recent book is titled They Like Jesus But not the Church. Our team is going through this book together and it is definitely creating some great discussion and conversation among our team. I highly recommend this book. Dan and I spent a couple of hours together at a local Starbucks (mocha, no whip) and had an enlightening conversation. We talked at length about the Emergent movement, publishing, his church, leadership, and the conference world. I really appreciate his heart and passion for evangelism and his message to the church through his writings. Dan is incredibly intelligent, has a strong desire to learn (which I really admire- he asks great questions), and can tell he just flat out loves Jesus and wants others to know Him. Dan is a leader that will for sure be impacting the Church and leaders in the church for a long time.
So Kevin Myers, the teaching pastor at 12Stone Church here in suburban Atlanta, brought the wood this morning. He had a great message on the conflict between faith "intention" and faith "in action." It was a great talk. Also focused around Psalm 23 and the idea that Jesus is our shepherd and wants us to find safety and security inside the boundaries of the herd and the protection of the great Shepherd.
I have had the great fortune of being able to meet lots of folks throughout my post college career, and in fact met some great folks and valuable contacts during college as well. It always amazes me how/why you meet the people you meet- I know God is in control and orchestrates connections, but it still remains a mystery to me on many occasions how certain people run across your path. So, in thinking about the blessing of relationships, friendships, and a valuable network, I wanted to list a few folks I would like to meet over the next couple of years. I will keep you updated on the progress:
1. Denzel Washington
2. Tiger Woods
3. Barack Obama
4. Tom Brady
5. Bono
6. Oprah Winfrey
7. Bear Grylls
8. Steve Jobs
9. Melinda Gates
10. Brett Favre
What about you?
so i had lunch with Alan Nelson last week as mentioned in a previous post. Alan is the executive editor in charge of REV! Magazine, a valuable resource for church leaders that is widely read across the country. Alan is a good friend and for many years has been involved with the Group Publishing world which puts out REV!. Alan has helped in making REV! work, not just from a business model but also from a content and editorial model. He continues to push in being innovative, finding new voices, understanding the context of ministry, and having a finger on the pulse of church leadership. He has a new workshop he is doing for church leaders called Me to We. I really appreciate the fact that he continues to challenge the process and work hard to create environments for leaders to grow and improve. The magazine business is such a tough thing to make work. Believe me, I know too well. As I have heard many times, magazines and restaurants are quite possibly the two worst investments to make. But magazines are also a huge part of the media world and a very strategic part of how we gather information and how we determine what is NEXT. I was thinking about my favorite magazine, FAST COMPANY, and why I enjoy reading it so much, and truly look forward to receiving it in the mail. I think it is really two main reasons: one, the content is always fresh, practical and applicable, and the design and aesthetic of the magazine is fresh; and two, it gives me the sense that I am part of an elite group of knowledge experts. Not meant in a traditional elitist way, but more from the standpoint of being in the know and having a connection to a community of experts and content folks.
Magazines truly are a great way to get in front of an audience, but the downside can be considerable as well. So what is your favorite magazine? Runner up for me is Business 2.0, although I think it might have gone out of business.
March is one of my favorite times of the year, mainly because of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, apply named March Madness. If I had to choose the final four as of today, I would have to take North Carolina, Tennessee, UCLA, and Kansas. I would love to see Oklahoma just make the tournament this year, as my alma mater has had a tough time the last two years following Kelvin Sampson's departure to Indiana, although Jason Capel is doing a pretty good job, and is recruiting very well. They should start to show some major improvement next year. I also predict the following teams to win their conferences:
PAC 10: UCLA
Big 12: Kansas
Big East: Georgetown
SEC: Tennessee
ACC: Duke
Big Ten: Who Cares
What is your final four prediction?
While spending time in Denver and Colorado Springs the last two days, had the chance to connect with three great leaders and visionaries.
so I am spending some time in Denver over the next couple of days, with several meetings related to Catalyst and then off to Vail for some skiing with friends. Denver is a great city- a great sports town plus within two hours of basically the best skiing in North America. Being here in one of my favorite cities made me wonder what would be my top ten cities to live in around the world, if all things were equal and it was easy to travel back and forth. So here you go:
1. Auckland, New Zealand
2. Atlanta
3. Denver
4. New York
5. Edinbourgh Scotland
6. Hong Kong
7. London
8. Paris
9. Costa Del Sol, Spain
10. Palo Alto, CA
noticeably absent from this list are any cities in Italy- tough choice to leave them off, I know.
So what are the top three TV stations that constantly show up on your tube? Mine are easy- ESPN is by far #1, followed by Discovery Channel at #2, and a tie at #3 between CNN and Fox News. Coming in a close #4 is the Golf Channel.
A couple of observations so far on the Oscars:
So I just listened to an interview including Seth Godin and Tim Sanders. It is outstanding. Two great minds on a number of topics. Seth brought up a great point about blogging. At the end of the day, most people who are currently blogging are just plain boring or extremely selfish at their core. Nothing to say that someone else isn't already saying, and they are only in it for the gain they can personally receive. Tim backed that up with the Love Cat principle. Really good stuff. Make sure and listen in. The link included above is from Tim's blog site. And don't just listen, enjoy and then move on. Actually go and buy Seth's new book Meatball Sundae or Tim's book Likeability Factor. You'll be glad you did. Everything these guys write is incredibly practical and applicable.
Alright, I have to admit- I am usually a major critic of Christian fiction books. They just usually don't deliver on expectations. But I recently came across a gem- The Shack by William Paul Young. You have to check it out. It will change your perspective and stretch your spiritual paradigm, especially as it relates to the Trinity and God's desire for relationship with us humans. As you read it, just keep in mind that it is written as Fiction. I can't speak for the author, but I don't believe he is trying to make some sort of theological statement. It's a gripping tale of a man's desire to find true community with God.
Saw the brand new film Vantage Point last night with a number of friends. Very mixed response among our group to the movie. Some liked it, others really disliked it. In particular, a good friend Tripp Crosby (who is a film maker and extremely creative) had something to say which made me really think about our numb culture- Tripp commented that we have become so numb to a "different" kind of movie or entertainment style that when we are confronted with that different style or model, it seems so out of context that we can't handle it. In simpler words, we are a stupid culture, especially in regards to entertainment. I tend to agree with him. You will have to see the movie to understand the context, but basically you get the perspective of a 30 minute block of time from 8 different people. And each time the story is laid out you see a bit more until the last time you see the full context of the movie. I thought it was pretty clever, but I am sure lots of folks will think it was just too different and outside of the typical "stupid" movie we are used to seeing. Now there were a few dumb parts during the end, especially related to the ending and the lame script, and a couple of scenes and tangent story lines didn't match up, but other than that it was a fresh approach to telling a story. Lomenick gives it 3 out of 5 stars.
So if we could choose a President, and the only stipulation was it had to be a celebrity, who would it be? I would probably have to go with Tom Hanks, Arnold, Denzel or Garth Brooks. Who are you putting in the oval office?
I really enjoy the political process, especially when the system allows for the people to decide. Besides, didn't the founding fathers set up "by the people, for the people, and of the people." But this whole democratic superdelegate thing is a disaster, regardless of whether you are Republican or Democrat. If Hillary gets the nomination while Obama wins the popular vote, it will result in absolute chaos among the Democratic silver hairs and blue hairs. I still can't figure out when the superdelegate even started, and whose idea it was in the first place. Now, in regards to the current debate happening.... Hillary and Barack going at it. Yawner. I do love seeing both Campbell Brown and John King on the stage asking questions. Maybe instead of Hillary and Barack we could have Ann Richards and George W.... back to the glory days of mid 90's Texas politics.
We are working on a pretty significant project right now here at Catalyst- trying to identify the top 1000 influential leaders/churches right now in the US, particularly those leaders under the age of 40, but not limited to age, demographic or size of church.
Blog Archives by Year: