Your Five (or Three)

T-Mobile has made the idea of “your fave five” famous lately with their catchy marketing campaign denoting your five favorite people who are in your phone that you talk to on a consistent basis (and for free with their favorite five plan). 

On a related and more important note, however, who are your three? The three folks (besides you) who are working together to CREATE and CULTIVATE culture? Andy Crouch spoke about this at Catalyst, and I want to reiterate his point. A key element in culture creation is the idea of 3/12/120. And the first part of this equation is the THREE. This is the small group of people that you are truly creating with- an idea, a project, an initiative, a new bold concept that is going to revolutionize your industry, or even better, is going to help shape the thoughts and philosophies of your neighborhood, your community, your city, and/or your area of influence. Andy’s point is that when you look at the culture shaping initiatives around us, the core group that came up with these ideas or concepts usually is a group of three-five people. Which makes the idea really practical for all of us. Find your three (you probably know who they are) and start doing something. Together.

View from the top of the world….

at least in Georgia that is. From 4,700 feet- the highest point in the state of Georgia at Brasstown Bald State Park. You have to park and then hike up to the top… about 1/2 mile on a pretty steep grade, but the view is worth it. 

Hoops of Hope

One of the great parts of Catalyst is getting to work with great people. And also meeting great people who are doing great things all over the world, and then being able to share their story with the Catalyst community. One of those great stories from this year is Austin Gutwein, a 14 year old from Phoenix, Arizona. Five years ago, as a 9 year old, Austin was confronted with the reality of orphaned kids in Africa, and decided to do something about it. He launched Hoops of Hope, a non profit that raises awareness and funds by challenging kids all over the world to shoot free throws and raise money for kids in Africa, specifically in Zambia. 

Austin is an incredible kid. He and his dad Dan were here with us for three days for Catalyst, and it was an absolute pleasure to be around them and hear more of their story. I am glad to count them as friends and look forward to helping grow the impact of Hoops of Hope. When I was 14, and I think I speak for all of us, I was not even remotely concerned with things going on outside of my own little world, much less anything happening globally. Austin has a desire and a passion for impacting people. He impacted each of us at Catalyst. Moreover, he wants to impact the entire country of Zambia and the entire continent of Africa. Thanks Austin, for being willing to step out and make a difference! Glad to count you as a friend!

Check out this video documentary of Austin and Hoops of Hope that showed just prior to the Final Four this past spring. Ashley Judd is narrating the story:

Hobbies

Your Favorite Hobby? 

 

Mine: Golf and Duck Hunting. Equally important. And complimentary seasons ……. 

How about you?

From Our Day of Celebrating

Celebrate

So we have been celebrating all day today. It started with an 8:30 am breakfast for the entire team made all from scratch here at the office, and then included an hour of just laughing at funny stuff that happened last week at Catalyst. Next, we spent two hours celebrating each other- literally, we all thanked each other for great work. Everyone just randomly talked about the great job by other people in the room and on the team. Then we went to the local bowling alley and celebrated with some great competition on the hardwood with the pins and then spent some time in the game room hitting up the basketball hoop shoot. It was such a fun day and a much needed day to relax, enjoy each other, and celebrate.

So often we forget to celebrate. It’s on to the next event, or project, or initiative, or work assignment. No time to stop and smell the roses, but gotta go, go, go…. Yeah, in the short term there may be a desire to move on, but in the long run, if you don’t stop and celebrate, ultimately that’s the best way to demotivate everyone on the team. And it is imperative that we stop and be THANKFUL. For us here at Catalyst, Thankful for what God did in the hearts of thousands of leaders, the incredible things that will come out of last week, and the projects that are already in motion based on 12,000 leaders getting together and the incredible things that happen from that kind of momentum, energy and impact.

So take time to stop. Celebrate. Be Thankful. Be Grateful. It’s good for you. It’s good for everyone on the team. And it’s up to you to set the tone on this as the leader. If you don’t celebrate, no one else will.

Catalyst Thoughts Part Two

Round Two of thoughts from Catalyst, now 4 days removed from the event: 

- I really love hanging with the band guys in the green room. These guys and girls are the real deal. They love Jesus, and are amazingly gifted at leading people in worship. Plus, I consider folks like Steve Fee, Kristian Stanfill, Aaron Keyes, Eddie Kirkland, Chrystina Fincher, Reid Greven and Matt Adkins good friends. 

- Brad Scholle from Rethink and Gwen Blythe from Big Stuf were absolutely ESSENTIAL to our team. They kept Reggie and Lanny in line and made sure they were prepped on transitions and scripting. Thanks to Brad and Gwen for your contribution this year.

- Melissa Kruse did a great job in project managing all the details of Catalyst. She is the quarterback, and performed great. 

- It was great to be able to profile some amazing projects and amazing people from the main stage on Thursday and Friday- Austin Gutwein of Hoops of Hope, Chris Seay from Ecclesia Church in Houston and Dino Rizzo from Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Safehouse Outreach from downtown Atlanta, Justin Dillon with the Call + Response Rockumentary, Lejla Allison from Samaritans Purse, Michelle Toletino from Compassion, Jeff Foxworthy and the 410 Bridge, and Nathan George who founded Trade as One. 

- We’ve created a unique post event “serve together” project plan in conjunction with ROOV. You can get involved here. 

- Catalyst LABS were packed. Each room was filled to the brim with attendees. Over 2100 leaders showed up for the Wednesday sessions. LABS are quickly becoming one of the most popular parts of the Catalyst experience. 

- Really proud of the videos that were shown at Catalyst this year. From the opening video (thanks Jonathan Bostic) to the funny sketch videos from Lanny (thanks Tripp Crosby), the entire scope of videos was better than ever.

Catalyst Thoughts Part One

Random thoughts from Catalyst, Part One:

- I think I slept a total of around 18 hours over 5 days. Not a good ratio. However, on Saturday, I think I slept 18 hours in one day…. so quickly made up for it. 

- Lanny Donoho was perhaps funnier this year than any other year in recent Catalyst history. 

- Speakers/content were the best ever. Hands down. 

- There was not an empty seat in the arena. 12,415 leaders (give or take a few) in attendance. 

- The only session I was able to listen in on was Craig Groeschel’s on the idea of “God ruin me.” It did. In a good way. 

- Eddie Kirkland leading worship at the end of Day One was an incredible moment. Nobody wanted to leave. Literally. People stayed until 7:15 pm, and the day ended officially right at 6:20 pm. 

- We had a camera crew catching ALOT of the backstage conversations, moments, decisions and happenings. Most of these were involving me. Not sure it will be interesting to anyone else, but our team will get a laugh or two out of it. Supposedly this footage will be on the behind the scenes DVD included with the DVD’s of the speaker sessions. Wow…. what a bonus!!!!

- Jesse Phillips worked his guts out over the 5 days of Catalyst. Thanks Jesse- you are a Rockstar!

- The Daraja Children’s Choir from Nairobi, Kenya left me speechless and weeping. Seeing them lead “Mighty to Save” with Kristian Stanfill on guitar was a moment I won’t soon forget. There weren’t many dry eyes among the audience. 

- The entire morning session on Friday that was geared towards the “Gospel in Action” hit me like a brick. I knew what was in store, but God used it in ways we never imagined. 

- The “Serve Together” tent outside in front of the arena was really cool, and featured 12 organizations that we wanted to highlight in regards to the work they are doing, along with a couple of organizations in the lobby as well. Here are the organizations in no particular order: Hoops of Hope, Samaritans Purse, To Write Love on Her Arms, International Justice Mission, Call + Response, Compassion International, Convoy of Hope, TOM’s Shoes, Gift Card Giver.com, Rwanda Clean Water, 410 Bridge, Word Made Flesh, HOPE International, Prison Entrepreneurship Program, Land of a Thousand Hills, 

- I missed out on most (really all) of the great conversations happening backstage, in the green room, and among many of my friends who were here because I was running around constantly. I love seeing so many conversations happening, which turn into great projects and initiatives. It really is amazing how many great things occur because of conversations happening among all the attendees at Catalyst.

- Jon Foreman from Switchfoot was amazing. He and Keith (Keith Tutt who plays the cello) were extremely gracious in making a stop on their way to Minneapolis for a concert to play several songs during the afternoon on Thursday. Thanks Jon!!

- It was great to finally meet Dino Rizzo in person. We are planning a duck hunt in Louisiana for sometime soon. 

Catalyst Thoughts Part Two coming soon.