catalyst

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

This is the gospel.

I witnessed the testimony of Jimmy Wambua at Catalyst this year. He was a child that was supported by Compassion International for 19 years. Our family supports a little boy in Peru and they’re a great organization.

His testimony starts around the 3:45 minute mark. It’s an great testimony, but that was only the half of it. They united him with his sponsor for the first time. All they could do was embrace and weep. It was a beautiful moment. And there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole conference.

This is powerful. This in unbelievable. This is the gospel.

Hey all, I’m looking for a song. Here it is. I think it’s “Glory to God” played by Steve Fee. We heard it at Catalyst, but I can’t find it anywhere. Any help?

It’s been really resonating with me, but I can’t find it for the ol’ IPod…

So help me Obi- Wan… you’re my only hope.

Evidently the folks at Catalyst were worried about our sexual orientation. Good thing they had these signs around.

I’ll just recap my experience by saying this… Catalyst was the best conference I have attended. In many ways it put YS to shame. One problem I’ve experienced with YS is that there’s no real cohesive theme – aside from “youth ministry”. It feels like a shotgun approach. I loved how for Catalyst they brought speakers (Christian and secular) together with one singular purpose in mind. The results were fantastic. My favorites were Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley. Craig was simply powerful and Andy was full of wisdom. I gleaned much from this and am still unpacking it in my mind…

I also got to connect with the Kevin twins (Bussey and Twombly). Bussey and I go way back and spending time with his is like a family reunion. Twombly I only knew through the blogosphere. We talked, prayed and had lunch together. Getting to know him better was a blessing to me. Spending time with new and old Kevins is always a good thing.

So to bring this Catalyst recap full circle. Here’s my vote of confidence… I’ve already got my tickets for next year. Enough said.

Oh man, what a day. It pays to have good friends. Kevin Bussey scored us some VIP seats, sweet cushy seats on the floor of the Conference hall. All the action happened 6 feet in front of me. It was awesome.

I’ll say this, I’m not a conference guy. They’re okay, I just don’t get real excited about sitting all day and not doing much. YS is great, but I’ve been once and don’t really need to go back. So, I carried this mindset into Catalyst and was blown away. The day passed so fast – it was amazing. Great speakers, it was incredible.

I was really hit by Craig Groeschel. He is a phenomenal communication, and I’ve never seen someone so powerful and transparent. He really shook me and leveled me. I’m still unpacking much of his message in my heart. The basics: we need to continue to be stretched, pushed and ruined by God. We need to pray for that. If we’re not face down and broken on a regular basis, then something is wrong. Powerful message.

And we were also part of making the world’s largest ball of Floam.

All is well on my insane 11 day road trip (pray for my wife!) of the South. I’ll hopefully update you more as I encounter more internet hot spots. I’ve spent time with family that was good, had a retreat with some friends, and, yes, I’ve seen the king (as pictured above). He sends his love (the hunka, hunka burning type).

Tonight, after some spelunking in Tennessee, I’ll be speaking at a youth group, then heading to Atlanta (my old hometown). After the Chaco incident, I’ve absolved my hometown roots of the ATL – I’m a Northwesterner who just happens to follow the Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs and enjoys the occasional Chick-fil-A sandwich. So I consider myself a visitor in this large Southern metropolis.

Catalyst starts Thursday and I’m excited to connect with a bunch of you guys. See “ya’ll” soon.

Note: I still have no accent.