Will you join me at Catalyst Conference 2011?

You won’t want to miss the Catalyst Conference, happening October 5-7, 2011 in Atlanta, where 13,000 young leaders will converge for the leadership experience of the year, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

This is one conference where every year I network with my Twitter and blogging friends. I’d love to shake your hand.

Of course, it’s not just about me. You’ll hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Francis Chan, David Platt, Priscilla Shirer, Mark Driscoll, Dave Ramsey and Judah Smith, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, Global Soap Project founder Derreck Kayongo, Hillsong United visionary Joel Houston, Barna Research President David Kinnaman, and adoptive mother of 13 Katie Davis.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like David Platt, Michael Hyatt, Reggie Joiner, Mark Batterson, Tim Elmore, Dave Gibbons, Margaret Feinberg, Bob Goff, Susan Isaacs, Mike Foster, Bethany Hoang, Samuel Rodriguez, Stacy Spencer, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Jo Saxton, Charles Jenkins, Jim Daly, Darren Whitehead, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Lisa Sharon Harper, Jon Tyson, Lysa Terkeurst, Bobby Bailey, Jeanne Stevens, Mary Graham, and others.

Best Rates on Catalyst tickets end on Thursday, June 23rd, so register now. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystconference.com. Use Rate Code FOB and receive a ticket price of $199 (savings of $120 off regular prices). Catalyst will sell out, so make sure and register early!

Will I see you there?

Watch some highlights from 2010 in this video:

Catalyst Atlanta : Highlights from 2010 from Catalyst on Vimeo.

One of my favorite stories of Jesus’ miracles is the calming of the storm found in Mark 4. This Summer we are walking through the book of Mark with Grace Community Church in a series called Defiance.

Recently I was able to preach on this familiar and powerful passage. Do you need some encouragement in your faith these days? I hope this helps.

What is your favorite miracle story of Jesus?

This is a note to the church shopper, especially those who can’t seem to find a place to call home. You want to have a church family, but nothing seems to connect with you. You’ve tried every flavor of church, but none match your taste.

My desire would be that you learn to love your church experience. No church is perfect, but if you will follow a few tips, you may find exactly the right fit for your family. This is my best advice and the advice I would give you if we were meeting in person. Don’t give up looking for the right church until you’ve tried all of this process, because each step is necessary to achieve the best results:

If you are looking to connect with a church:

Attend - You have to make a decision that this church is part of your weekly routine. It needs to become a habit. I personally believe you should support the services the church offers in order to get the most benefit from the church. If the church meets on Sunday or Wednesday night you should support those services too as much as you can. Many of the inner workings of the church will most likely happen then. Our church limits the number of services per week, but attending regularly is the first step in connecting with a body of believers.

Commit - Decide this is your choice for a season. Stick with it long enough to form a habit of attending. You can break the habit easy if necessary…people do it everyday…but for now, unless you know the first week the church is not a fit for your family, if you’ve been a couple times and are still interested, try to stay committed for a long enough period to give the church a fair chance. Many churches experiences get “better” as you begin to see the church as your church.

Serve – Find a place to serve within the church. You’ll get to know the people involved and feel that you are a genuine part of the church. You’ll love a church more when you serve within that church.

Give - Become a financial investor in the church. If you believe in the mission, then be a part of funding it. You’ll grow to love the places where you invest your money.

Listen - Pay attention to the message then follow up with personal study or reflection. I suggest this regardless of whether you enjoy the style of the preacher or not. You chose the church and he or she worked to prepare a message. If you can’t be present in person listen online or by tape if that’s an option. Keep up with the teaching and know where the pastor is leading the church at the time.

Pray - Decide to pray regularly for the staff and church. God may surprise you with a deep love and appreciation for this church as you learn to pray for it.

Invite – Bring some friends along with you next time you attend. Invite your neighbors and family to join you. You’ll feel proud when someone you care about joins you at church and your love for the church will grow.

Have you ever had to look for a new church? How did you handle the process?

Bonus question: What is the first few things you look for in a church? What brings you back?

As we begin the series Defiance, here’s the first message from Mark, chapter 2: (There was a video I don’t have permission to insert in the message, so this is shorter than a normal length message.)

If you would like to follow this series or see the additional resources, click HERE.

There is a special moment of worship that happens occasionally where I sense so strongly the presence of God that all the troubles of the world disappear. I don’t have a care in the world except the glory of God. I call it a sacred place…for a sacred moment… It doesn’t last long, but it lasts long enough that it changes me in that moment! It certainly renews my faith and strengthens me for the journey of life. I find myself filled with tears of joy, resolved that God is more real than I imagined, and determined to serve Him more faithfully. I’ve also learned, through experience, that when these times are more frequent, it often leads to God doing something new in my life, challenging me in a new area, giving me a new passion, even bringing me through a time of testing. (Wow, that’s scary to type, but it’s true.)

I’ll be honest, it doesn’t happen often, but it happened several times this week.

It doesn’t seem to be something I can plan. If it were, I’d stay in that place and moment, but I’ve discovered there are a few things that might trigger such a time:

• Listening to a special song that was meaningful…
• Studying a favorite passage of Scripture that has impacted my life…
• Disciplining myself to be totally removed from the chaos of life…
• Meditating on one thought…of grace…of His love…of His provisions…
• When I’m sitting at the beach…or looking at a sunset…or the stars…

Have you ever been in that sacred place and sacred moment as I describe? Have you been there lately?

What triggers those moments for you?

A recent college graduate from our church sent me an email recently. She’s struggled with her spiritual past. She became a believer early in life, got off track for a while, and now she’s on fire for God, Her dilemma is whether she lost her salvation during that time. She wonders what would have happened to her eternally had she died during her time of wandering. She wanted to know why I believe in eternal security.

I realize I’m stepping in dangerous territory with this discussion question. This issue divides people theologically as much as any other. Some of my closest believing friends would disagree with me here, believing that one can lose their salvation, but I believe in eternal security. I am not a theologian so I look for simple answers.

Here is my quick answer to my friend:

Dear _______,

These are standard questions most people wrestle with at some point in life. Great questions.

Here’s a short answer. I believe in eternal security, because:

Ron

There is so much more to this issue, but I suspect many others, including me, have wrestled with this same issue.

How would you have answered?

What questions do you have about eternal security?

Does this testimony resemble your own?

Share your thoughts!

I love being a part of what Casey Graham is doing to raise funds for victims of last week’s tornados. Sunday, Casey called and asked if I would help by serving on a temporary board to oversee expenses. He wants everything done above board and expeditiously. We are focusing on the Lost, the Least, & the Lonely – people without insurance or who are under insured. We are going to smaller towns and low income areas that don’t have the news reporting on them right now.

We are providing immediate relief to people on the ground through gift cards & buying stuff they need immediately.

Our strategy is unfolding quickly. The money will be given for immediate needs, but as we raise more we are going to dive DEEP with families and adopt them in and help them with everything.

Grace Community Church is participating this Sunday in THE TORNADO TITHE CHALLENGE : 100 churches giving 10% of May 8th weekend offering to provide hope for the Lost, the Least, & the Lonely.

Below is the 4 Step Strategy To Implement this week:

1. Pray – Ask God for the courage to be generous this next weekend!

2. Prepare – Giving is always better when you let people know an ask is coming

3. Promote: Create an intentional offering moment for your church next weekend

4. Provide – Provide hope to the lost, the least, and the lonely through the Immediate Relief Fund

You can get all the materials you need to participate HERE.

Will you join us?

My friend Casey Graham is a game changer. When he is passionate about something, he doesn’t just talk about it, he does something. This past week, Casey’s home state of Alabama was devastated by one of the worst tornado disasters in history.  Casey knew that in any disaster, the greatest need is always money, because money allows the team on the ground to do what is necessary to address the greatest needs. Casey went to work. In just 24 hours, this effort has raised over $75,000.   You can read more about it HERE. Casey is working through Cross Point Church in Decatur, Alabama.

Casey has set up a leadership team to oversee this process. He’s asked me to be a part of that team. You can read about that HERE.

He’s challenging churches and others to be a part. Read the latest challenge HERE.

There are many great efforts out there. Americans show their generosity during times like this. Casey is attempting to assist people without insurance or under insured. If you’d like to help, click HERE.

What other ways are people helping? Feel free to point people to those ways to support by leaving a comment.

Thanks for the encouragement to do this by seeing my friends Michael Hyatt and Tony Morgan list their top posts for April. I should do that more often.

Here are my top 10 posts for April 2011.

Why Was David a “Man After God’s Own Heart”?

10 Random things to Know about Pastors

10 Inexpensive Ways to Offer Development

5 Ways to Rebuke a Friend

God Will Allow More Than You Can Bear (Alone)

7 Reasons People Disappear from Church

5 Reasons a Church or Organization Stops Growing

5 Ways to Attract Young People to Church

Don’t Pray Before You Eat

5 Ways a Leader Responds Under Stress

Did you have a favorite among this list?

It’s been a fun month of posts. It’s interesting that several of these first appeared months or even years ago. I thank you for reading my blog. If you want to sign up to receive it by email or add it to your reader, you may do so HERE.

To make this post better, do you have a blog to share with my readers? Leave a comment and point us to your top post for April 2011. If you give me your link as a comment, I’ll add it to my Google Reader.

Have you ever been curious about the 10 Commandments, specifically how we can implement them into our life today? A couple years ago, I wrote a series about each one. I’m a grace guy…if you read this blog much you know that. We are not under the law, but under grace. There are great Biblical principles, however, that these commandments have for us to live better lives today.

Here’s a repost of all of them together…just click on the link:

Ten Commandment Number One

Ten Commandment Number Two

Ten Commandment Number Three

Ten Commandment Number Four

Ten Commandment Number Five

Ten Commandment Number Six

Ten Commandment Number Seven

Ten Commandment Number Eight

Ten Commandment Number Nine

Ten Commandment Number Ten

Questions:

Which is the hardest for you to keep? Be honest!

What would you add as ways we violate these commandments today or how they have meaning for us still, even in the days of grace?