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You're Unbelievable

Spent the day yesterday in Alpharetta and at Buckhead. While my conversations with David are always stretching, encouraging, and helpful, the highlight of the day was getting a tour of the nearly completed masterpiece that is the new location for Buckhead Church. In one word...UNBELIEVABLE!

I had not been to the site since it was a hole with some steel beams rising up out of it. Now it is a place oozing with mission and vision, with a touch of amazing design and beautiful views :-). And, it's right in the heart of Buckhead where thousands of people walk and drive by daily.

No doubt about it...tens of thousands of people will meet Jesus in that building. It all starts on Opening Day, May 6!

I took a few pics with my Treo. There is still some set design and cosmetic work to be done in Waumba (preschool), Upstreet (children), and The Attic (students), so I didn't take any of those areas. But, I did get a couple of shots of the auditorium and their super-cool outdoor sign...

Makes me want to find 3 acres of land in downtown Greenville and do the same thing! Maybe one day...maybe soon...who knows!

On Deck

Mondays feel a little different when I know I am preaching Sunday. It's been a while...but I'm ready and excited.

It's sort of like standing in the on deck circle for six days while the stage is set for you to stand in there and make a difference. You know what you have to do...the game hangs in the balance...it's now or never... Cheesy illustration, I know, but it's baseball season and I am READY to get in that batter's box!

I love Batterson's paradox: there's preaching because you have to and preaching because you have to. One is preaching because there is a fire in your bones and a fresh word from God that has to be delivered. One is because it's Sunday and you're the pastor and that's what you're "supposed" to do.

This is definitely a preaching because I HAVE to...if you know what I mean. :-)

Put me in coach (the cheese continues...).

Getting Excited

Spent the morning shooting video and finalizing our graphics with Ryan for Catalyst's ONE YEAR celebration that's going down next Sunday.  I absolutely cannot believe it's been a year...amazing.

Hearing what folks said for the video, looking through pictures, thinking about stories, etc. makes me so thankful for where we have been and what has taken place in year 1.  We've learned so much...done some things well...done some things not so well...but yet, God was in all of it and used all of it.  It's all sort of surreal...and, it gets me even more fired up for where we are going.

I cannot wait until next Sunday!  It's going to be a bona-fide party up in the Greenville Little Theatre!  CCers...make sure you're there and make sure that person you've been inviting for weeks is there, too.  It'll be worth it, I promise.

And...on the same weekend that our church officially turns 1, my oldest daughter turns 3.  Holy smokes...I'm old and she's growing up way too fast...more on that next week.

Have a great weekend! 

That's Quotable: Seth Godin

"Within reason...

That's the killer clause.

'We did everything within reason and we still lost.'

Your competition beats you when they do things that are unreasonable. In large markets, the unreasonable competitor always establishes the new benchmark, always ends up as best in the world, always redefines what 'within reason' means.

I guess the only choice is to be unreasonable."

Seth Godin, from his new blog, The Dip, posted on 04/10

Call to Action

I told you yesterday that God has once again grabbed my attention with the story of Nehemiah. Specifically, I've been chewing on the verse that started it all:

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." - Nehemiah 1:4

God hit me between the eyes with the question: "How do I respond to the depravity of Greenville?" He has used that question to show that my response is evidence of how close my heart is to His. If I choose to ignore depravity, then I'm far away. If I am brought to my knees as Nehemiah was, then I'm on the right track. Same goes for you and the same goes for our churches.

But my next question, as with most problems I experience in life, is: "What am I supposed to DO about it?"

Maybe you're like me and when you get fired up about something, you're ready to run out and do all you can to change the world in 24 hours. My lean is always to respond emotionally...sometimes irrationallly...which mostly leads to poor, short-sighted decisions. The motive is right, but the action is not quite right.

And here's where Nehemiah sets such a great example for me and you. Obviously, he was emotional about what he heard. He had to sit down. He wept. But what he decided to do next is HUGE for me.

He fasted. He mourned. He prayed. He waited on "the God of heaven." "For some days"...meaning, he did the pray, fast, mourn, and wait deal for a long time. I don't think for a second Nehemiah was acting cautiously. I don't think for a second he was afraid. I think there was a fire in his bones that he could only take one place...the throne of grace. (I didn't even mean for that to rhyme :-)) The vision God gave him for what needed to be done was HUGE and he knew he couldn't do it alone.

Nehemiah wanted to see what God could do, not what Nehemiah could do.

Three years ago, God pierced my heart with a vision for Greenville that literally changed my life. One year ago, He paved the way for that vision to take a big step towards becoming reality with the launch of Catalyst Church. Now, as Catalyst nears its one-year anniversary, He is answering the prayers that have been prayed for three years...

I want to see Greenville turned upside down. I want to see people who are far from God fall on their face before Him and give their lives to Him. I want to see the poor and underserved cared for and loved. I want to see Christ-followers live out a missional lifestyle everywhere they go. I want churches in this city to be packed to the gills Sunday after Sunday. I want the local church to take the lead in shaping the future of Greenville.

What started three years ago with me praying, and then with my wife praying, and then two other families praying now has literally hundreds of people praying the same thing: "God, use Catalyst Church to change this city."

A CCer sent me an email yesterday. Here's part of what she said:

"I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to be a part of something great. It's incredible to see how much our church has grown in just the past few months and I am looking forward to the future when we can all look back and witness all the great things God has done...I believe that Greenville will be changed by the presence of Catalyst Church and our people."

Folks, God is answering our prayers! He has given me and given our staff a vision for year 2 that is unbelievable. As a friend of mine has said, if year 1 was about gathering, year 2 is about invasion. Invasion in a good way, of course!

The bottom line...when God grips your heart with a big vision, the first thing to do is pray and fast, pray and fast, and pray and fast. He honors it. He speaks through it. He gives clarity. He puts feet on that vision. And when He says, "Go," nothing will be able to keep from doing what He has set in your heart to do.

I've learned that first hand as God has broken me down over the last 3 years. And just so you know, He said, "Go," a little over a month ago! And, on April 22, He is going to say to us as a body, "GO!"

Are you ready? The time is NOW!

How Do We Respond?

I jumped back into Nehemiah last week. Nothing refuels the vision for Catalyst better than reading this guy's story. Last Thursday, this verse grabbed me and has yet to let go:

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." - Nehemiah 1:4

The context is that Nehemiah asked one of his brothers who was visiting from Judah how things were going back home. The report of the city being burned and the people walking around in defeat led to Nehemiah's response. The report he received was so bad that he literally could not even stand up. And beyond that, he wept. Not shed a little tear. He wept. I imagine his weeping to be the convulsing, stomach-tightening type of weeping.

I have to ask myself, "Do I respond with the same kind of emotion to the depravity evidenced in Greenville?" Saturday at the Egg Drop, on three separate occasions, as I looked out across the field and saw all those people, I literally had to fight back tears. Yes, I was so very excited to see that many people in one place. But that's not why I fought back tears. The only thought in my mind was, "Most of these people have no idea what's available to them through Jesus. WE HAVE TO TELL THEM!" Even now as I am typing this, I am seeing a replay of Saturday and all the people...their eyes, their faces, their expressions...and my heart is clinching wanting so desperately to lead our church to always be RELENTLESS in figuring out how to reach those people. That relentless spirit is born out of our response to depravity.

God is doing something in our church right now and it's a result of what He's doing in my heart and in the heart of everyone on staff. Everyday, I get multiple emails from CCers who are responding the same way. The bottom line of it...God is teaching us to respond to depravity the way He does.

Do we seriously think God is happy that 60% of Greenville has something better to do on Sundays than involve themselves in the irresistible environments of a local church? Do we seriously think God is happy that most churches are very resistible and have little to no influence in the community? Do we think God is happy that most churches and "Christians" have decided that everybody knowing everybody is more important than everybody knowing Jesus?

Uhhh...I'm going to say He is not happy about that. I think God weeps over cities where authentic Christ-following has been lost in religious protocol. I believe He weeps over churches that have decided "us 4 and no more" is easier to achieve than "to the ends of the earth." I believe He weeps over those of us who call ourselves Christians yet ignore the depravity all around us on our way to our Beth Moore Bible study or our pot-luck fellowship.

How you and I respond to depravity is evidence of how close to the heart of God we are.

If it doesn't bother us that 3 out of every 5 people we see everyday in Greenville don't go to church, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that most churches are half-empty at best on Sundays while Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot are packed, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that lost people live, work, and play all around us, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that people in Greenville suffer all alone because of HIV/AIDS, homelessness, domestic abuse, poverty, child abuse, etc., then we're far from the heart of God.

If we weep and cry out to God on behalf of our city, our church, and the people all around us who desperately need to know Him, then we're moving in the right direction. As He did with Nehemiah, God will blow our minds with His response. And, He'll call us to action...

Enough Said

Love getting emails like this one from CCers...

I just wanted to say thank you. I've meant to do this for a while, but I just haven't. After never being able to experience a church like Catalyst it is wonderful to finally have a place to look forward to on a regular basis. (This was supposed to be much more drawn out but a few sentences is the best I can do right now)

Enough said. And carries more weight than you'll ever know.

Encouragement is a good thing!

Catalyst Heroes: Egg Drop Freaks

Yeah, freak is about the only word to describe the people who got to Eastside at 7:00 am when it was like 28 and the wind chill was some ungodly number lower than 28.  They're freaks because they believed in this idea and wanted to be a part of making it happen.  They're freaks because they worked like crazy to make it happen and celebrated like crazy when it was over.  Hard to single out one or two, so all of them are Catalyst Heroes this week!  Here's to you...

Lara Beth, Julie, Kristi, Emily Ann, Greg, Amy, Stanley, Alicia, Rita, Mike, Casey, Chelsea, Jennifer, Shannon, Helen, Abbey, Tyler, Jennifer, Carrie, Shannon, Mandy, Patty, Patty's friend, Kenny, Brandon, Thomas, Daniel, Brad, Christina, Debbie, Kattie, Lindsey, John, Don, Ryan, Courtney, Ryan, Sara Lynn, Wendi, and of course, Casey, Jake, Sarah, Philip, and Caroline from our staff.

I'm sure I left someone off...forgive me and let me know so we can give them props, too!

Hard to believe that a little over 40 people put on an event for our city that attracted around 2000 people.  God MUST have been involved...sort of like He was with this guy.  He definitely used this event to give Catalyst extended favor and to give those 2000 people a favorable first impression.  We'll see people walk in the doors at Catalyst for months to come who's first impression was the Egg Drop!

Thanks for being freaks about advancing the gospel and doing whatever it takes to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus!

Easter Sunday Reflections

Wow...what an awesome Easter @ Catalyst! 8 people publicly stepped out of darkness and into the marvelous light of Jesus today! We saw lots of people who came to the Egg Drop yesterday check us out today. Our volunteers did an amazing job with fewer hands on deck because of the holiday weekend. So many other things to talk about, yet they require some processing and reflection.

I wish I was smart enough to figure out what God is up to...yet, I love being totally surprised as He lets us see a little more of what's ahead. I know I sound like a broken record, but He is up to something big at Catalyst, I'm confident of it.

Check out the pics from the Egg Drop on GreenvilleOnline.com. For more, one of our own photographers took some great shots and posted them on her website. And, you can see a quick 40 second video one of our video guys produced to show today at the end of our services.

Tomorrow, we take the day off at Catalyst...a much needed day off for our incredible staff. I'll be out of the blogosphere for the day and back on Tuesday.

A Little Trivia

It's 12:22 am and I cannot sleep. Is it because...

A. My adrenaline is still pumping from the first-annual GREENVILLE EGG DROP?
B. I'm PUMPED about Easter @ Catalyst at 9:30 am & 11:00 am Sunday?
C. My nose is like a faucet, my head feels like it has been packed with sand, and I can't stop sneezing?
D. All of the above

Definitely going with D. on this one.

WOW...the Egg Drop got some great pub on WYFF and FOX tonight. Right after the Egg Drop segment on FOX, the anchor said, "And there were some more conventional egg hunts today as well..." Love it...I'll take the "unconventional" or "different" tag everytime!

I am so excited about the experience people will have at Catalyst tomorrow. I have a clear sense that God is going to give some people new life and totally redefine Easter for them...and for those of us who get to experience it first hand. Can't wait!

Hand me a tissue...:-)