check out these photos from yesterday here at the Catalyst office, properly labeled "Dress Up Day." For no reason other than to just be completely goofy. We tried our best to make the pictures look like a cheesy law firm. I think we succeeded.
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I am reading a brand new book right now by my good friend- Tullian Tchividjian- titled Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different.
Tullian has a unique perspective on the Church, Christianity, and living within and outside the "Christian bubble." As the grandson of Billy Graham, he's had life experiences that give him incredible insight into the always pressing question of how do we as followers of Christ live in the world but not of the world.
He recently was hired to lead Coral Ridge Ministries, and is merging the ministry of Coral Ridge and New City Church, the church Tullian founded in 2003.
Tullian wrote this most recent book to make the case that Christians make a difference in this world by being different from the world- challenging Christians to be courageous enough to be different.
Check it out, and pick it up.
Can't wait to hang with the Hillsong United team next week at Catalyst West Coast. Not only are they incredible worship leaders, songwriters, and producers, but they live out their relationship with Jesus on a daily basis. Passionately.
Listen to a recent interview for our Catalyst podcast with Joel Houston and Jad Gillies from the band. You can stream here or listen on itunes.
Their next album, a Cross the Earth, is releasing soon. Believe me, you'll want to get it. I am listening to it right now and it is off the charts.
I'll be joining Eric Bryant, author and the lead navigator for Mosaic Church, on a LIVE teleseminar tomorrow (Tuesday) April 14 at 1:30pm – 2:00pm PST (4:30pm – 5:00pm EST). During the call we’ll talk about leadership and all kinds of interesting things. Make plans to join us for this LIVE teleseminar event. Time permitting we will open the lines to allow you to ask questions and interact. You can also submit questions in advance of the LIVE call via email that we’ll try to address.
You can sign up here.
The Masters Golf Tournament is one of the most special things in all of sports. Why?
1. Great course- Augusta Country Club is one of the top three golf course in the world (Pebble and St. Andrews are the other two). And the Masters is always there at Augusta- every year.
2. Tradition- the Masters is the most prestigious tournament in all of golf, and perhaps in all sports. Past Champions are exempt to play for the entire lifetime. It's great to see folks like Gary Player, Fuzzy Zoeller, Tom Watson and other champions coming back every year to play. Pin placements are the same every year on the greens. The tagline "a tradition unlike no other" holds true.
3. Experience- people love coming to Augusta National, both the patrons (spectators) and the players. Player's families want to be there all week. Seeing the Masters in person one time in your life is a highlight for every golfer.
4. Exclusivity- the hardest ticket to get in all of golf, and overall sports. The badges for tournament rounds are passed down from generation to generation, and getting invited to attend is an amazing privilege.
5. Special auora- every person who sees Augusta National for the first time is overwhelmed. The grounds are immaculate, and the environment is special. And you can eat lunch for around $3. Seriously. Sandwiches are $1, snickers are $.50, and the lemonade is $1.50 and you get the collectors cup. Amazing.
- check out this great post from Seth on "Opening Acts and Rock Stars." - am reading the book "Why Work Sucks" right now. Very interesting book. Story of how Best Buy incorporated a results-only work environment.
- incredible basketball moment caught on video. Kid chunking the basketball. Full court shot. thanks to Jeff for the heads up.
- favorite band I am listening to right now is NeedtoBreathe. Very cool sound. Like combining Hootie and The Fray into one.
- Good Magazine now allows subscribers to pay $50 for a subscription and get a t-shirt and their name included in print. Plus all the proceeds from the regular subscription amount still goes to the charitable organization of their choice. Very innovative.
- TED had 11 million downloads of TED talks on their website last month. 11 million! That is amazing.
- Life Church.tv and Facebook have partnered to make Easter weekend monumental for all your virtual facebook friends. Check out the details here.
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Over the next 30 days, there are six leadership conferences happening that we will be part of. I recommend you attend all of them, but that is probably not humanly possible. Catalyst West- April 22-24, Irvine, CA. Mariners Church. For leaders, primarily under the age of 40.
Exponential Conference- April 20-23, Orlando, FL. First Baptist Church. For church planters.
Q Conference- April 27-29, Austin, TX. For innovators and pioneers in the Church.
ARC All Access- April 27-29, Clayton, NC. C3 Church. For church planters.
Orange- April 29- May 1, Atlanta, GA. Gwinnett Arena. For family ministry leaders.
Drive- May 4-6, Atlanta, GA. North Point Community Church. For senior pastors.
Here at Catalyst, we like to have fun. Thought I would list out some of the things we have incorporated into our culture here that keep things fun, light, and entertaining in the office. We have a mantra: "Work shouldn't suck!" If you are going to spend 40-50 hours a week (and more) with folks, why not make it interesting? Feel free to add some things you've incorporated as well so we can all learn from each other. 1. Cornhole- beanbag toss for grown ups.
2. Basketball- go to your local Wal-Mart, get yourself a Little Tike adjustable goal, and enjoy.
3. Potluck Lunches- works in churches, why not in the office as well.
4. Random Music Mix Days- everyone has different music tastes, let them express their differences. But a key- go buy some Irish music, and make Thursday afternoon at 4:30 "Irish Dance Off Time." Highly recommended.
5. Money Jar- can use this for tips when someone does something extraordinary, or can also use it for "self-policing" rude comments, out-of-bounds statements, or out-of-date jokes. Dwayne Melton on our team pays regularly.
6. Kickball- if you have a parking lot, then game on.
7. Sports related pools- keeps things interesting during slow months, and gives Chad Johnson on our team something to do!
8. Monday morning bragathon- everyone on the team picks out another team member to highlight something great they have recently done. Not just the leader bragging on individuals, but peer to peer. Everyone takes a turn and everyone gets bragged on.
9. Toys on demand- if you want people to be creative, think outside the box, and come up with great ideas, give people the tools to be creative. Literally. I know it sounds childish, but having toys around your office makes a huge difference. Plus it makes your kids want to hang out!
10. Employee Appreciation Days- not just a day to recognize all team members- but entire days focused on one specific employee.
Want to know the people who you keep up with that are interesting. Please share with everyone the three most INTERESTING blogs you follow, and the three most INTERESTING twitter feeds you follow. If you want to share more than three each, that is fine.
Here are mine:
Blogs:
1. Seth Godin
2. Tech Crunch
3. Guy Kawasaki
Twitter:
1. Tony Hawk- @tonyhawk
2. Dave Morin- @davemorin
3. Rainn Wilson- @rainnwilson
4. MC Hammer- @mchammer
5. Jeremy Cowart- @jeremycowart
6. Lance Armstrong- @lancearmstrong
Found in Phillipians Chapter 2. One of my favorite sections of scripture. Paul was writing to the church in Phillipi regarding their inability it seemed to work together. Starting with verse 2: "Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus..... who emptied Himself.... the form of a bond-servant.... humbled Himself.... by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
And then, in verse 14, Paul lays the smack down again- "do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent.... children of God."
As leaders, it is our responsibility to model this. Quit griping, grumbling, disputing, and arguing, and start leading, serving, encouraging, and uniting.
The book of Phillipians has so much great stuff on unity, teamwork, and servant leadership. A good reminder as we lead up to Easter this weekend.
Several recent pics from the past week. [gallery columns="4"]
If you were a stock, would you buy or sell? Would you short sell or tend to stay in for the long term? What truly is your valuation? Has your overall "worth" as an employee, father, son, daughter, wife, child gone up or down in the last year? A friend asked me this the other day, and it got me thinking. Something to ponder for the weekend.
Listen to an interview I recently did with Dino Rizzo, pastor of Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, LA. Dino has become a great friend, and I don't know of another leader around the country who is more intentional about serving and his church serving the community than Dino. It is part of their DNA at Healing Place. They don't just serve to check it off the list- serving is not an event to them, it is an identity.
If you haven't heard about the 7 Days of Servolution, then check it out. A great cause with over 250 churches participating around the world next week leading up to Easter. Serving together in partnership in their individual communities.
Here are a few things I am learning right now, over the last month: 1. having a great reputation doesn't mean anything unless you can execute and fulfill the latest "promise" to your customers or network.
2. No one should ever underestimate the potential of someone who is strongly motivated, for good or for worse.
3. The more and more I seek to understand others, the greater clarity I have in understanding myself.
4. If I don't exercise, I get fat. Duh. If I eat crappy food, I feel crappy. Duh even more.
5. Busyness is not getting things done. Focus is getting things done. And sometimes getting things done requires me to carve out significant windows of time for thinking, which to most people looks unproductive and not like focus. But as a leader, I crave times to think, and not just respond/execute.
6. Leaders, by their very positional influence, but also because of their DNA and hard-wired skillsets, are both obligated and expected to make the hard decisions. Deal with it. But don't gloat in it.
7. When I think of someone or God prompts a memory of someone or a moment that was significant in my life, if I stop and give them a call or write an email or send a text immediately- right at that moment, it always seems to be a great decision and have great outcomes. The key is to act immediately.
8. Keeping strong relational equity with friends or co-workers more than 10 years is a big deal. Family is expected, but friends of longer than 10 years is rare and a huge blessing.
9. Team members who are highly trustworthy and who can get it done are the most valuable employees in any organization. Someone who I tell something once and then know I don't have to worry about it again- priceless in my book.
10. Many great companies continue to go out of business during this season because of bad cash flow management. Strong potential, but bad business skills and savvy, are crushing thousands and thousands of people right now.
I read about 50 books a year, and usually skim about 45 of those. Rarely do I read a book from start to finish. But Chasing Francis by Ian Cron was one I couldn't put down.
Probably not a book for everyone. And you're not going to get 10 steps to this or the next 3 great leadership principles. But you'll be asking questions, pondering, thinking, and laughing out loud. Ian is a great writer.
A recent article I wrote that first appeared in REV Magazine. Where Have All the Interns Gone?
You can’t be president until you are 35. You can’t run a company until you are 40. You can’t be a Senior Pastor of a large church until you are at least 45…. You may have talent, but you have to wait your turn…. You have to earn the right to lead. Agree or disagree?.....
read the entire article here.
Thanks to Tripp for sharing this. I laugh uncontrollably every time I watch this. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06CvUjLgK5g]
The Archives of The Young Influencers List. 2011
2010
2009
April edition.
1. Jeannie Mai- host of Character Fantasy on USA Network, and a rising star in Hollywood for hosting award shows and events. Was the backstage host for Catalyst West.
2. Owen Leimbach- formerly with MTV, Owen is now Chief of Staff for a brand new branch of the Rwandan government in Kigali, Rwanda, helping move forward this emerging African country.
3. Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole- founders of Invisible Children. Recently appeared on Oprah. Helping bring awareness and solutions to the terrible injustice of Child Soldiers in Uganda.
4. Tyler Wigg Stevenson- A pastor and writer who is leading the charge on the Two Futures Project, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
5. Zach Wililams- incredible musician and soon to be major star. Tore it up recently at South by Southwest, one of the largest musical festivals in the country.
March edition.
1. Dan Cooper- a partner in Fox River Financial Resources, international business leader, and strategic advisor and connector with major initiatives in Rwanda.
2. Joshua Dubois- executive director of the White House office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
3. Nicole Baker Fulgham- national director of Faith Community relations for Teach for America.
4. Skye Jethani- managing editor of Leadership Journal and author of the recent book The Divine Commodity.
5. Justin Mayo- founder and executive director of Red Eye Inc., a progressive community of young leaders and peers in Hollywood who are working together to pool their talents and passions to impact the city of Los Angeles.
6. Leroy Barber- founder of Mission Year and author of New Neighbor. Leroy is doing great things with college students and young professionals all over the country.
February 2009 Edition:
1. Barton Damer- motion graphics, animation, designer and illustration guru. Follow his blog here.
2. Wendy Kopp- founder of Teach For America, an amazing organization that places recent college graduates as teachers in poor communities and underperforming schools across the country.
3. John Bishop- pastor of Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington. This guy is the real deal.
4. Kristian Stanfill- many of you are probably aware of Kristian. A talented songwriter and worship leader who recently released a new EP. Leads at North Point, Catalyst, and Passion events regularly.
5. Jon Gordon- best-selling author of The No Complaining Rule and The Energy Bus. He is impacting major influencers in the business/corporate community.
6. Austin Gutwein- founder of Hoops of Hope, and one of my heroes. Austin has impacted more people at 14 than most of us will during our entire lives.
January 2009 Edition
1. Josh Loveless- leads the charge on Status, a ministry to students and young professionals in Orlando, and also brand director for Neue.
2. Vicky Beeching- talented worship leader and songwriter born in the UK but now hanging out in the US.
3. Jon Bell- works with The Image Group in Grand Rapids, and also leading the charge on Rob Bell's upcoming tour (you'll hear more about this later). Very involved with Heart Support, an online care community.
4. Dave Barnes- uber talented musician, singer, songwriter, and insanely funny and all-around good guy. Take time to watch some videos on his site. You will laugh.
5. Lindsay Orr- founder of LUO, an initiative focused on setting children free from poverty, sickness, slavery and other injustices around the world. Talented artist as well.
6. Scott McClellan- editor of Collide Magazine, and also purveyor of the Collide blog.
The December edition of the Young Influencers List.
1. Tad Agoglia- founder of the First Response Team of America. This is an amazing organization and Tad is one of the winners of the CNN Heroes Award.
2. Natalya Radford - worship leader at Crossroads Church in Costa Mesa, CA, as part of the Generate Student Ministry.
3. Tripp Crosby- sketch comedian, host and filmmaker. Founder of Green Tricycle Films and the maker of perhaps the funniest video ever at Catalyst featuring Lanny Donoho and Jeff Foxworthy.
4. Jessica Flannery- co-founder of Kiva, an incredible organization that is a platform for micro-finance throughout the world.
5. Rick Devos- founder of Spout, an interactive online community that is designed to connect and inspire film lovers.
November edition of the Young Influencers List.
1. Cathleen Falsani- award winning Religion columnist for the Chicago Sun Times. Her recent book Sin Boldly is a refreshing take on faith in today's culture. Love her humor and wit.
2. Kevin Palau- EVP of the Luis Palau Association. Among his many duties, Kevin spearheaded the Portland City Fest, which has helped churches, schools, the mayor's office, businesses, and local government all collaborate on service projects in the city of Portland. Amazing work.
3. Santino Stoner- Partner with Dot Cross. Also Film Director on the very popular NOOMA series.
4. Jay King- A and R guru at Integrity Music. Jay is one of the good guys in the music industry. He is out constantly finding new talent as well as handling current artists such as Hillsong United.
5. Brian Pirkle- COO of BigStuf Events. You will usually find Brian with a headset on calling a show from the production area. 20 years from now will be the creative/technical producer for the Grammys, or the Oscars, or the Presidential Inauguration!
October edition of the Young Influencers List
1. Daley Hake- talented musician and photographer from CA. Check out his work and some recent shots he took at Catalyst. He makes Carlos Whittaker look like a runway model! Daley- help me!
2. Steven Furtick- you've probably already heard about Steven and the incredible work happening at Elevation Church in Charlotte. Make sure to subscribe to his Sermon podcast. Prepare to be challenged.
3. Justin Dillon- visionary and Director of the recent rockumentary Call and Response. Also a musician and former member of the band Dime Store Prophets. His work in fighting sex trafficking and slavery is inspiring.
4. Danielle Bennett- Virginia native, a Junior at USC (that's Southern Cal), and the most recent addition to the Catalyst team- our West Coast Catalyst intern. Danielle is gonna be president of something substantial someday.
5. Aaron Keyes- gifted worship leader, and a fresh voice to worship leaders all over the world. Aaron has forgotten more scripture than I can remember. His approach to leading worship is fresh and extremely Biblical.
6. Jonathan Bostic- if you need motion graphics, amazing videos, or just basic branding/graphics, Bostic is your man. Jonathan did the recent opening video and motion graphics display on the screens at Catalyst. He also helps out with Orange Conference, Passion Conferences, and does work with several bands and musicians.
September edition of the Young Influencers List:
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.
July edition of the Young Influencers List
1. Jon Tyson- church planter in New York City. Launched Origins NYC, and is now set on helping plant churches and leaders in strategic cities around the world.
2. Blake Mycoskie- founder of TOMS Shoes. You may know about Blake's story already- if not, it is worth knowing and getting involved.
3. Bethany Hoang- director of the International Justice Mission Institute. Bethany is very involved in a number of projects around the world, is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, and a frequent speaker.
4. Eugene Cho- pastor in Seattle of Quest Church. Also soon to launch a new organization focused on global poverty. You can watch a video introducing the idea here.
5. Carlos Whittaker- writer of the uber popular Ragamuffin Soul, service program director at Buckhead Church, and also worship leader and musician.
June edition of the Young Influencers List:
1. Jonathan Acuff- writer/blogger/consultant, and the voice behind the wildly popular Stuff Christians Likeblog.
2. Chris Heuertz- International Executive Director of an amazing organization called Word Made Flesh. Chris spends most of the year around the world serving the poorest of the poor, and has a new book out called Simple Spirituality due out in July.
3. Shannon Sedgwick Davis- Shannon is incredibly well connected, and is involved in a number of projects, including The Bridgeway Foundation and The Elders, which boasts some amazing names attached to this high level humanitarian project.
4. Tony Wood - leader of the College/Young Adults ministry at Crossroads Church in Corona, CA.
5. Lecrae- songwriter, rapper, musician and speaker. Lecrae is part of Reach Records, and very involved in the Memphis community.
May edition of the Young Influencers List.
1. Bobby Triplett- pastor of a great church plant called Element Church in Lakeland, FL.
2. Jared Herd- great new young communicator. former associate teaching pastor at Rock Harbor in Orange County, and frequent speaker at Big Stuf Camps, Orange Conference, North Point, and other student ministry environments.
3. Shauna Niequist- The author of Cold Tangerines, daughter of Bill Hybels, and former creative director at Mars Hill Bible Church.
4. Chris Capehart and Micah Davis- founders of Roov.com in Dallas, an innovative new social network community.
5. Elizabeth Paul- have you seen the latest commercials with Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, or Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson sitting together on a couch talking about solving the current global warming issues? Well, Elizabeth is involved in crafting those commercials.
6. Krish Kandiah- my friend over in Cambridge in the UK, who helps run the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, and is a budding author, speaker and thought leader for the global church. Started Slipstream which is a great network for young global leaders in the church.
April edition of the Young Influencers List:
1. Jamie Tworkowski- Founder, To Write Love on Her Arms
2. David Hodges- Singer, Songwriter, and Producer
3. David Platt- Senior Pastor, The Church at Brookhills, Birmingham
4. Matt Chandler- Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Dallas
5. Catherine Rohr- Founder, Prison Entrepreneurship Program
Two great articles in the most recent issue of Fast Company. 1. Chris Hughes helping launch Facebook and the Obama online campaign- the 25 year old has helped lead two of the most impressive online community projects ever.
2. Rwanda Rising- a report on the progress in the country of Rwanda, and how business partnerships are fueling the way.
Blog Archives by Year:
