C a t a l y s t.

Catalyst...
The definition of this word, is, "a person or thing that causes an important change to take place" (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/catalyst).

I had an amazing opportunity to attend "Catalyst West Coast" (http://www.catalystspace.com/events/westcoast/) last Thursday-Friday (April 23-24, 2009) at Mariner's Church, in Irvine (the O.C.), California.

I went with all of the staff guys from Northstar. We had a blast chilling/bonding as a team, but also I was blown away by what I learned, and what God taught me. Many of us said the phrase "Catalyst is like drinking water from a fire hydrant" several times during and afterwards. This, although not from a cursory reading, is a good thing.

Andy Stanley opened up things by challenging us to never forsake the vision that God has given us for ministry. "The higher you move up, the more uncertainty there is," Andy said, "no matter what organization you are in." He went on to say, "Uncertainty, is not an indication of poor leadership, It's ok to be uncertain, but not ok to be unclear. Our plans may change, but the vision remains the same. Sacrifice plans for the sake of the vision. In times of uncertainty, be honest with your leaders and followers, and confidently express your uncertainty." http://www.northpoint.org

Me: The most important thing that Andy said I think, was that we all need grace. Not only the grace to be forgiven of our sins, but the grace daily from God to live, lead, love, and learn that we do not know it all.

My goodness, I don't like writing long blogs, and can already tell this is wanting to be long. What if I just gave everyone a "one-quote wonder" from each speaker, so you can get a "taste of being at Catalyst." ;-)

Guy Kawasaki, "Niche thyself" (unique, valuable) http://www.guykawasaki.com

Catherine Rohr, "Prison Entrepreneurship Program has a 98% employment rate."
http://www.prisonentrepreneurship.org

Craig Groeschel, "Be a Line 3 Christian...I believe enough to give my life for it." http://www.lifechurch.tv

Ravi Zacharias, "Secular Psychologists now say that the sacredness of life has vanished, we have plundered life." Ravi also said, "We need to understand the Dimension of Eternity, Set your minds on things above, on the indestructible character of God." http://www.rzim.org

Brian Houston (Hillsong Church), "Build HIS church, provide an environment where people can flourish." http://www.hillsong.com

Nick Vujicic, "I would be dishonoring to God if I didn't live my life believing that I can change the world." http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

Conversation on Justice/Anti-Human Trafficking Panel (Jeannie Mai-Television Host, Naomi Zacharias/Wellspring International, Bethany Hoang/International Justice Mission): "27 Million people are in slavery today to sex trafficking." http://www.wellspringinternational.org, http://www.ijm.org

Erwin McManus, "We should be more committed to the dreams of others, than our own." http://www.mosaic.org

Rick Warren, "You can't win your enemies to Christ, only your friends." and "The job of a leader/pastor is to move someone from 'Come and see,' to 'Come and die.'"
http://www.saddleback.com

Jud Wilhite, "What's funny in photoshop, isn't funny in real life." and "Delegate, give power away." http://www.centralchristian.com

Francis Chan, "Our churches are stoppable. I'm astonished at how scared they are. When do we pray for boldness?" http://www.cornerstonesimi.com

Impacting Your City (Luis Palau http://www.palau.org and Kevin Palau, and John Bishop-http://www.livinghopechurch.com) God used them to serve the Portland community, and 25,000 came to the outreach event!

Perry Noble, "Leadership is as easy as listening to God..We can get too far from the vision. If we were more concerned about repentance than attendance, revival would sweep the U.S.A." http://www.newspring.cc

I don't know what more I can add to the above, other than the fact that we were drawn closer to God through worship (music), led by Hillsong, Steve Fee, and others.

As soon as I swallow all of the water that I have been drinking, I will let you know what I have processed, and how. You can pray for that. I know things are different, in a good way. And Las Vegas will not be the same because of what is to come (His goodness). I am hoping and trusting that many Eastern Europeans and youth who live here will get a drink.

Grace on "Good?" Friday.

Today here in the good 'ole U.S.A. we celebrate "Good Friday." Surprisingly yes, we still -do- celebrate it publicly. But what is Good Friday? and as some (including myself) believe, what is Good Wednesday? (Long story for another blog Lol).

You might be asking yourself, "How could that Friday when Jesus died be good?" Well that is a great question actually! It is horrible that we as humans killed on a cross (crucified) God's perfect gift to us, His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Did God know this would happen? Sure. Was it part of His perfect plan to rescue people like us from our rebellious ways? Absolutely! So, why is it good? Well, Good because, see, we as people have a HUGE problem. That's huge with 10 to the 20th power attached to it. S I N. That is our problem. Not just a church word, it's real day-to-day stuff. We lie to each other, steal, lust, puff, brag about ourselves, cut people off in traffic, take God's name in vain. See, we as people do all of these things, because, it's our nature to do so. And what do we deserve for this? It may sound harsh, but it's not, we deserve to be separated from God forever. See, God is perfect, and cannot look at any of us who have sin. The good news is that Jesus His Son, died in our place, on the cross, to PAY for the HUGE insurmountable sin debt that we all have. Isn't that good news? See why it's called Good Friday?

OK, you might be telling yourself. That's great. SO Jesus died for our sins. Now what? Well, it's not enough just to know these things. We must receive them for ourselves. If you know about flying, buy a ticket, yet never get on a plane, the ticket pretty much doesn't help you out, right? Well, Jesus has paid for our debt of sin, and He simply says "Anyone who receives Me, to those people I will give the right to become children of God, simply by believing in My name-" -paraphrased from the Gospel of John. Once we change our mind about our sinful lives (repent) and believe (trust) that Jesus died for us, we are radically, powerfully, rescued from our sins, and transformed into the new, amazing person, that God intends us to be. WE get a new Passport, a heavenly one, to the Heavenly Kingdom! : ) "God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves" (from Colossians), Isn't that something to be thankful for? If you never have admitted to God that you have blown it (sinned), and received Jesus' payment for your sins, isn't today a great day to do just that? On Good Friday?
: ) Simply just pray and do just that. God will hear. He's always listening to those who ask to be rescued.

And three days later, He arose : ) (Proving that He is the Messiah, and can make us righteous before God).