Misc

College Football is back!

Really excited about the football season getting started back up. As most of you know, I am a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan, having grown up in the state and being a proud alum. I am also a Georgia Bulldogs fan, so with both teams in the top five this year, it could be the year we see Oklahoma and Georgia in the National Championship game. But the road is going to be tough for both teams, and several other teams looked good after the opening weekend. Here are my predictions for conference champions and also the national championship game:

Big 12: Oklahoma (over Missouri)

SEC: Georgia (over LSU)

Pac 10: USC 

Big Ten: Ohio State 

ACC: Clemson (over Virginia Tech) BORING!!!!!

Big East: West Virginia

Conference USA: East Carolina (over Tulsa)

National Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. USC. 

Winner: of course Oklahoma! the key- offensive and defensive lines- arguably the best in the country on both sides of the ball. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage controls the game. 

Your predictions?

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North Point and Buckhead Interviews

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I've spent the last two days interviewing several staff members from North Point Community Church and Buckhead Church for a new DVD set we will have available at Catalyst in October, based on Andy Stanley's talk on Systems. The interviews will serve as discussion material and bonus footage to give practical insight into how the North Point system operates- all giving greater context to Andy's talk. Yesterday was at Buckhead Church interviewing Carlos Whittaker and Jeff Henderson, and today interviewed Jenny Boyett and Andy. Hearing them each describe the environment, culture, and incredible focus on developing leaders within North Point Ministries was incredibly encouraging and inspiring. One of the things that stood out was the intense system for hiring new staff. Jeff, Carlos, Jenny and Andy all talked about the process of hiring new staff- most new hires have somewhere between 12 and 18 interviews and talk to staff across all departments within the North Point culture. But such a strong focus on hiring means that once someone is on the team, trust is very high and allows them to run with freedom and flexibility. Many times we just hire someone because we have to fill a role, and time becomes the priority instead of absolutely making sure someone is the right fit.

The great orators of our generation

Watched Bill Clinton's speech last night at the Democratic National Convention. Whether you like Bill or not, you have to admit- the man can flat communicate. He is an incredible speaker. His pauses, tone, inflection, facial expressions, and body language are all extremely engaging.  For me, watching Ronald Reagan was similar- he could draw me in and keep my attention whether he was talking about foreign policy or discussing the weather. Didn't matter- he just had the gift of communicating. 

Most of the great orators of our generation who I would include on my favorite list are all pastors. But outside of the church, who did you think brings it the best? 

Interview with Delta President

Here at Catalyst, we get the chance to hang out with some pretty amazing folks. Ed Bastian, President of Delta and soon to be CEO of Northwest Airlines, is one of those amazing leaders. Ed recently stopped by the Catalyst office and was gracious enough to sit down for an hour interview. We will be releasing the full audio and video interview soon, but for now, wanted to post a short clip. Enjoy. [vimeo 1603623]

Together #1

Alright, I am going to be writing a series of posts over the next 7 weeks leading up to Catalyst on October 8-10. These posts will all tie in to the concept of "together", which is our theme for this year's event. Let's get started. TOGETHER thought #1: How about we PRAY for Michael Guglielmucci, the writer of the song Healer, who recently admitted that he never had terminal cancer and has also been battling a porn addiction for the past 16 years, instead of all secretly reveling in the fact that someone else who was high on the pedastal of being known for an incredible song has now been knocked off the perch.

We as Christians are notorious for rejoicing in the unfortunate demise of stars, or celebrities, or those of influence within our camp. It drives me crazy. I have had at least 10 people in the last week who have done the typical "did you hear about the guy who wrote the Healer? All a scam. What a loser." Once a superstar, now trashed and thrown into the ditch while we wait on someone else to come along and hype us up once more. 

Michael needs us as the body of Christ now more than ever. Just ask all the other people of influence we've left in the ditch. He's battling with sin, the same sin that we all battle with every day. Whether lust, or lying, or pride, or adultery, or deceit, or slander. There by the grace of God go I. 

Action item for TODAY: Pray for Michael. Pray for his family. Pray that he would be healed. And when someone talks to you about this unfortunate incident, just stop and pray with them. For Michael and his family.

We Can Campaign

Have you seen the ads for the "We Can Solve it" Campaign? It is an initiative to come together around the issue of climate change. Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection is behind this innovative campaign. Whether you agree or not, and regardless of whether you like or agree with Al Gore, the beauty of this campaign is its simplicity and the strong pull towards working together, no matter what the differences are of those involved. It feels to me initiatives like this are portraying a much greater sense of unity and purpose than some of our churches. Can you imagine hundreds of Churches getting behind an initiative that encouraged unity? Well, I think we saw a glimpse of that with One Prayer, and hopefully some more opportunities in the coming months.  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck_exdACPN8&feature=related]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ49e8YKycs&feature=user]

Dreams

What are you dreaming about lately? As in truly the dreams you are having at night while you sleep, not just the things you want to do someday. I know those are hard to remember, but a couple of things keep recurring for me: - showing up for college classes and realizing that I have a test that day, and then remembering I haven't attended that class all semester, so I am not in any way prepared....

- on a plane that is flying really low right above the highway, and barely not hitting the tops of trees. we can't gain altitude so have to eventually fly in between buildings, and the ride keeps getting scarier. Not sure what airline I am on.....

Can anyone decipher these two dreams? 

How about you? What dreams are you having? 

Dinner with Dan Kimball

Had dinner with Dan Kimball on Tuesday night. Always great to see Dan and hear what is going on with him, his church, and some of his latest thoughts on the church and culture. He was in town to speak at 7:22. Charlie Hall was also here in the ATL for 7:22 to lead worship. You should check out Charlie's brand new album. It is different than anything he has done before, but feels really fresh. 

Dan will be speaking during the Origins lab environment at our Catalyst West Coast event in April 2009. And I have a huge amount of hair envy. The last time I could get my hair to stand up like Dan's was in 7th grade.....

To Twitter or not to Twitter....

that is the question. or at least a big question right now. 

I've been struggling lately with whether I should personally be twittering. I actually have a twitter account, but have never posted. And just today moved the account over to a new combined Catalyst twitter account, that will be Catalyst related and not about me personally. Obviously tons of my friends, and probably many of you who are part of this blog community are regular twitterers (is that a noun or an adverb...?). I am just not sure that folks are really going to care what I am doing throughout the day.... and whether it will be interesting to ANYONE, other than my family and very close friends.

In relation to a recent post from a few weeks ago (Church Communicators), the same group of friends discussed the good and bad of twitter. I seemed to be the only one at the table (6 folks) who was in favor of it. Everyone else had a strong sense that twitter only accentuated and highlighted this idea that everything is about our own lives, and the infatuation we all have with trying to be the center of attention. It was a civil but very heated discussion. 

I'm torn. Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Jump in to the deep end.

Andy Stanley Interview; Rick with the candidates

A few thoughts and links to start the week: - I recently had the chance to sit down with Andy Stanley at the North Point offices for a conversation on a number of topics, including his most recent series Letters to the Next President, as well as details and insight on the upcoming Catalyst One Day events with Andy and Craig Groeschel. You can stream the interview live here or you can listen/download at itunes. 

- In case you missed it, Rick Warren interviewed both Barack Obama and John McCain over the weekend during Saddleback's Civil Forum. If anyone is keeping score, McCain clearly won the evening, according to all the political pundits, even though this obviously wasn't a debate. This election is going to be a fight to the finish. 

- And speaking of Rick Warren, it's a big week for him. Besides hosting the two presidential candidates, he is also on the cover of Time, and will also appear as the special guest on Larry King Live on Monday night. 

- In the latest issue of Business Week, there is a great series on Creating a Great Work Environment, featuring some great insights from Jim Collins.

Highlights from the Catalyst programming meeting

Earlier this week we spent a couple of days locked in a room planning the program for the Catalyst Conference coming up in October. You were probably expecting something of value, but unfortunately these videos just show more of the fun and zany side of our team. I promise, we actually did some real work! We definitely enjoy being around each other! [vimeo 1529508]

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Computers, the Church and personal discipleship

Had a meeting this morning with a number of leaders, and a pretty interesting discussion emerged regarding the basics of computer technology and how that compares to the essence of our Christian faith and the basics of discipleship. Thanks to Mike Breen for bringing up this one big point that I thought was profound.  At the very basics of computer technology, you have three main ingredients: applications, an operating system, and programming language/binary code. So for example, with Apple, you have great applications such as itunes, iphoto, ilife, and the ipod. The operating system is Leopard, one of the greatest ever, and the programming language is an off shoot of Unix- but at its essence the DNA of how the system is put together. 

When it comes to matters of faith, there is a strong connection that follows the same basic premise of the three levels: the application is the church (small c), the operating system is discipleship, and the programming language is Scripture. 

This point created some great discussion, as most of us would think that the operating system would be the church, and the application would be discipleship, but it is just the opposite. The church is what is created as an application from Scripture and discipleship. 

Interesting thoughts from this morning. Still thinking through it.

Make the DMV Remarkable

So I went to the Georgia DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) office last week to pick up my new tags, and had a thought....

How hard would it really be to make a trip to the DMV a remarkable experience? Well, actually not that hard. We all know how much we dread going there. A trip to the DMV is up there with going to get a root canal or jury duty. And the same is true in every state and in every county across the country- the DMV is usually a miserable and painful conclusion to what most of the time is an overall great experience- purchasing a new vehicle. So thought I would give a few ideas on how to make it a memorable experience.

1. Smile and be friendly- maybe the folks who work there could do these two things. I know it is a challenge. I probably wouldn't smile if I had to work there, but let's give it a try.

2. Better lighting- usually the saddest and dimmest lit place in every government building. How about an upgrade to some better bulbs, and maybe a plant or two to freshen things up.

3. A candle or plug in scent maker- yeah, usually these places stink. A couple of glade plug ins would do wonders.

4. Excitement- how about a giveaway or a raffle every 15 minutes? A daily "get your tag for free" contest- the only way you can enter is if you have all of your paperwork and don't hold up the process for all 100 people in line behind you.

5. Snacks and drinks- seriously, some good snacks and a complimentary beverage would make my 30 minutes in line alot more pleasant.

6. Entertainment- a good itunes mix over the speakers would go a long ways. Or maybe a couple of flat screens in the corner that are showing Sportscenter or the Price is Right. 

What else would make your experience at the DMV a REMARKABLE one?

The Week Begins

A few nuggets, links and thoughts to start up the week: 1. Ben Arment and I have been challenged to a dance contest by Stephen and Jay at Integrity. Game on. Expect a video in the next couple of days. You can't hang Brewster!

2. By the way, has anyone noticed the striking similarities between Ben Arment and Ben Curtis, the pro golfer? Both Ben's, but look like twin brothers!

My Photo

3, Our creative program team is meeting for two days to finalize the flow for Catalyst. Updates from the meeting will be available on the Catalyst Space blog.

4. The opening ceremonies of the Olympics might have been the greatest live show I've ever seen. Wow. 

5. According to those who attended the Leadership Summit, friends Craig Groeschel and Catherine Rohr totally hit home runs with their sessions. You can find interviews with them after their session here.

Now on Alltop

Check out Alltop, a great site that aggregates different blogs and feeds from a number of categories. It is a great tool for keeping up with your favorite sites and blogs in different areas of interest.  They have a specific page focused solely on blogs by and for Church Leaders, which I highly recommend. 

This is one to visit daily.

Young Influencers List- August edition

Here we go, the August edition of the Young Influencers List. Again, for all of you who like to try and read into things, there is no significance to order- simply listed alphabetical by last name. 1. Chuck Anderson- a great designer/illustrator in Grand Rapids who is doing work for the likes of Puma, Amp Energy Drinks, Honda, VANS, Nike, and Mountain Dew. He's good. 

2. Alex and Brett Harris- twin 19 year old authors who have taken the teen world by storm with their best-selling book Do Hard Things. These guys are the real deal, and are challenging teens around the world to not settle for mediocrity. 

3. Daniel Homrich- founder of The Passport and Innocence Atlanta. Daniel is working on a number of projects in the Atlanta area and globally, specifically to bring attention to and raise awareness of issues of sex trafficking, slavery, and child pornography.

4. Anne Jackson- blog queen of the church leadership world. Anne recently moved to Nashville where she can get her fill of sweet tea on a regular basis!

5. Mark Reddy- founder of Karbon, a film/media company out of Sydney, Australia. Mark is a talented director, and currently working on a great project called The Disposable Ones in conjunction with Compassion International. He also has worked on a number of projects with Hillsong. 

And now you can see the entire archive list of Young Influencers so far in 2008.

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