Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

What a whirlwind trip to Germany! Thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with friends and talking about reformation. Pretty profound experience visiting the Castle Church on Reformation Day. There was a very cool reformation festival going on so it felt like walking into the middle ages.

We shot some video in front of the church doors where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses. Our high-definition camera actually got lost on the way to Berlin. Took two days to get to us! The cool thing is that a German film crew was videotaping and we were able to use their lights. They actually thought we were "American media" so they bent over backwards to help us out. The video will be part of my message next weekend.

Well, that's a wrap for now. I'll post more pictures and reflections in the coming days. Gotta get a few hours of sleep and then head to the airport. Can't wait to kiss American soil.

I'm been marveling at European design and engineering since we flew threw thru Zurich this week. Man, love so many design features. You can flush the toilet with your foot. Pretty cool. And they have these energy-conserving motion detectors that control the lights in bathrooms. But here's the deal. If someone is in the stall for any length of time and no one else comes into the bathroom, the lights go out. I know this because I was in the stall doing a little light reading when the lights went out. Pitch black. I was waving my arms like a maniac to trigger the motion detectors, but I was in the enclosed stall so no luck. Fortunately, someone walked into the bathroom a few minutes later and triggered the lights. But then I was little too self-conscious to come out because it seemed sort of weird.

One of many memorable Wittenberg moments.

Hope that isn't too much information. Just keeping it real.

I'm no historian, but I do know this: it's small acts of courage that change the course of history. One of those acts of courage happened on October 31, 1517 in the small town of Wittenberg, Germany. A little-known Monk named Martin Luther took a stand against the practice of indulgences. The church was selling indulgences as a pardon from purgatory. Luther posted 95 Theses on the doors of the Castle Church.

Pretty cool to be at this place on this day. After our sessions we're going to join the annual reformation celebration.

Arrived in Wittenberg. Here are a few shots. Love streetscapes. Saw an actual "indulgence box" that was used to collect indulgences to help pay for St. Peter's in Rome in the 16th century. And the highlight has been the connections. I've really have enjoyed hanging out with Ron Martoia and Chris Seay along with others.

Here are some reformation thoughts. Tried to capture a meta-thought from each session. Not sure this does it justice. My synapses were firing fast and furious.

Alan Hirsch said, "We've got to get to the place where we believe Jesus is absolutely right about absolutely everything." So true. All reformation is Christocentric. Oh yeah, Alan also said, "If you're not ticking off religious people you're not following Christ." Can't have a reformation without offending a few Pharisees along the way!

Chris Seay said that 50% of our church budgets ought to go to "the least of these." That challenged me. We need to put our money where our mouth is. Love the way Chris attacks consumerism and preaches compassion.

Christian Schwartz said objective reality needs to become subjective reality. Truth that only makes it into our head is informational. But truth that penetrates the heart is transformational. Reformation isn't the byproduct of good ideas. It's the byproduct of deeply held convictions.

Ron Martoia said, "Our spiritual formation efforts have focused on information acquisition." So true. And the problem with that is this: we are educated way beyond the level of obedience.

George Barna said, "Christianity has become a way of thought instead of a way of life." Ding. Ding. Ding. I think we've created a culture where we know more and do less all the while thinking we're growing spiritually. Also love the way he said: "If you don't change you become part of the problem."

Altogether, there are a dozen presenters from a variety of countries. Here is a link to the Reformation Blog.

I hate the word "laity." Always have. I think there is a false dichotomy between "clergy" and "laity." Our language has created a mindset.

Chris Seay spoke on the topic in his session. He quoted Howard E. Butt: "The greatest schism within the church is not between races, classes, or even denominations, it is between the clergy and the laity."

Should we ban the word laity?

What happened to the priesthood of believers? I sure hope I'm not part of the problem as a "pastor." I think God does call people to vocational ministry. And I count it a privilege to get paid to do what I do. But how do we get rid of that schism? How do we end the spiritual co-dependency that is so prevalent in so many churches? How do we decentralize church? How do we overcome the consumer mentality?

I think we're doing some things that facilitate that at NCC. Going on ten missions trips this year is a start at getting people living on mission all the time. I think our free market system of small groups is decentralizing NCC. We want all of our people to get a vision from God and go for it. But like every church I know, we are far from 100% functionality as a church body. I think it starts with a paradigm shift. Each of us has to own the mission.

We continue day two in our reformation conversation. I'll try to share thoughts and notes when I get a chance to decompress.

Here's a thought from The Anointing by R.T. Kendall that has always challenged me: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

I'm hanging out with two of our staff members, Dave Clark and John Hasler, on this Germany trip. Dave is going to help us shoot some video when we get to Wittenberg. And John actually lived in Germany so he's our German guru. And for the purposes of this trip, he is John Haslerhoffencoffensnauffenlaufer. Can't believe how many syllables there are in some of the names here!

Took a two-hour tour of Berlin before beginning our reformation sessions. Really profound to see where the wall used to divide East and West. There are markers throughout the city showing where the wall once stood. Straddling where the wall once stood sort of felt like straddling the equator in Ecuador a few years ago.

Also saw some significant sights like the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie.

Headed to Germany. Excited about connecting with some friends like Chris Seay and Len Sweet. Look forward to meeting some new folks like George Barna and Christian Schwartz. Should be an interesting three days.

Super excited about visiting the Castle Church in Wittenberg where Luther posted his 95 Theses. For what it's worth, I put "a pilgrimage to the Castle Church" on my life goal list one week before getting the invitation to be part of this gathering. Gotta love God's timing!

Just shot this weekend's message. Great message to preach via video. Can't get stoned that way! Had four of my closest friends there for moral support. Gonna be an interesting weekend as we talk about the political elephant. I actually got a special bipartisan hybrid t-shirt for the occasion.

I fly to Germany on Tuesday to be part of a delegation of a dozen leaders discussing the future of the church. We will actually be in Wittenberg, Germany where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on Reformation Day!

The theme of the gathering is Acts 17:6 where it says the early disciples turned the world upside down. Each member of the delegation will share their perspective. But I'd give a nickel for your thoughts.

Here are my two questions.

1) Do we need another reformation?

For the record, I think we do. I love the way Rick Warren framed it a few months ago in a similar sort of gathering. He said the 16th century reformation was a reformation of creeds. The five solas were an important theological correction to some of the unbiblical practices that had crept into the church. But Rick suggested that the 21st century reformation needs to be a reformation of deeds. And he's obviously trying to lead that charge through a variety of worldwide initiatives.

2) How can the 21st century church turn the world upside-down like the 1st century church?

I know the easy answer: do what the 1st century church did. But I'd love to hear some perspectives. Where has the church missed the mark? What do we need to reform? What opportunities or technologies do we need to redeem? How can we recapture the primal essence of Christianity in a way that turns the world upside down?

A few months ago I did an interview with Leadership journal on the topic of politics. Just thought I'd share the link again. This weekend we'll take on the political elephant. Really tough message to preach in the vortex of politics, but I think it's a timely one. Just thought the article might be a good precursor to the message.

This summer I started to twitter and I love it. I don't think twitter has reached technological saturation within the church community, but I'm an advocate. It is basically a tool to share short life updates, 140 characters, on what you're doing or thinking at any given time.

Yes, I know it can seem somewhat narcissistic. Who cares what I'm doing! And, yes, it can be a waste of time if you follow too many people. But here is why I love it. I love it because it gives me a sneak peak into the lives of the people I follow.

For the record, I follow about 40 people. I follow our staff. And I also follow some friends. And I honestly like knowing what movies they're watching or when their flight is delayed or when one of their babies had a rough night.

I think twitter technology has huge prayer potential. One of our staff members and his wife are at the hospital right now getting ready to have a C-section. The twitter updates help me know how to pray!

I love twitter!

My last conference for 2008 is The Sticks, November 11-13 in Loudonville, Ohio. Very excited about connecting with pastors of rural churches to dream about the kingdom.

I know. I know. What is a pastor of a church that meets in the middle of Washington, DC doing speaking at a conference for pastors in rural settings? Well, I hope that leadership principles are transferable! And when my friend and the conference organizer, Charles Hill, told me about the conference I knew I wanted to be part of it.

I love my pastor tribe. And I think small town pastors are unsung heroes.

See you in the sticks!

Got up at 4:30 AM on Friday to head to the airport. Flew cross-country. And did a couple sessions at The Nova Experience. Really enjoyed doing a Q & A session. Topped things off with a concert by Lincoln Brewster. Man, that dude is off the hook.

I'm officially wiped. Gotta get some sleep and gear up for tomorrow's session.

Headed out-of-country and cross-country to Kelowna, BC. Speaking at The NOVA Experience put on by Willowcreek Canada. Two long flights in two days. Doing a break out on sermon branding and a main session on Wild Goose Chase.

O Canada.

Had fun carving some pumpkins with the kiddos tonight. You've heard of a large mouth bass. Here's a large mouth pumpkin.

Great to have our Thailand team back. Amazing stories. Amazing pictures. This is the first of ten mission trips to ten countries over the next ten months. It's called A18. And it's our way of putting Acts 1:8 into practice.

I did a video chat interview last week with one of the women who was rescued from the sex trade industry a few years ago. We'll be posting some of the videos on our A18 blog in the next couple of days. Our team of NCCers worked with a ministry called The Well. Thanks to our friend Scott Hodge for the connection. The name derives from John 4 where Jesus has a life-changing conversation with a woman who had sexual issues. Jesus spoke life and hope. And it not only changed the Samaritan woman's life. It impacted her family and her community. That is what The Well is all about.

The woman I interviewed said something so touching that I could hardly hold back the tears. She was in the sex trade for ten years. And she said, "I never smiled." To see her smiling face as she talked about what God has done in her life was pretty overwhelming. She said she always prayed, but she didn't know who she was praying to. One night, some Christians paid her "bar fee" and invited her to an event where she heard the gospel. And the rest is His-story!

Check out A18.

One of the thoughts that really struck me at Catalyst was when Jim Collins talked about creating a stop doing list. I’ve talked about this and written about this myself. But I realized that I’m not really practicing what I preach right now. To be honest, I'm having a hard time keeping up with myself. Sometimes it feels like between pastoring and writing I have two jobs. And speaking at conferences is a part-time job.

I can barely keep up with email. Last week when I spoke at Willowcreek I turned my phone off before my session and turned it back on afterwards. I had 67 new emails waiting for me. Sometimes email feels like quicksand.

I'm certainly not complaining. I love what I do. And I want to be a good steward of each opportunity. But I'm really having to recalibrate right now. Our stewardship team gives me thirty days to speak outside NCC. And I'm grateful for their generosity. But I'm going to dial it back next year. Gonna try to scale back to 24 days. And I'm not scheduling anything for 2010 until 2009. I think I made the mistake of over-committing myself too early this past year. Again, excited about the opportunities. But I think I'll be more effective if I'm a little more selective.

What I'm trying to say is this: I'm really bad at saying no! But I have to get better at it and I have to say it more often.

Sometimes more is less and less is more. If I can create more margin I think I'll be far more effective as a pastor, writer, husband, and father. It'll take a while to turn the ship. In fact, I have trips to Canada and Germany in the next two weeks. And 2009 is already booked. But the decisions I'm making now will pay off one year from now.

Here's a simple question: what do you need to stop doing?

Just DON'T do it.

My new motto!

It's difficult for me to put last week in perspective. But I got dozens of emails and had several conversations with people who have read either In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day or Wild Goose Chase. I needed the encouragement as I get ready to enter another writing season and start working on my next book.

My prayer mantra as an author has been: Lord, put this book in the right hands at the right time. And we've had a team of NCCers praying for these books since day one. Wanted to share a few testimonies. But first a picture because a picture is worth ten thousand words. I felt like this picture--the books in the hands of a Kenyan woman--is a picture of that prayer being answered. A couple from NCC is working in the Kibera slum in Kenya and they gave a copy of the book to this woman. Pray for her. This picture was taken at the hospital after a man threw gasoline on her. She is recovering from serious burn wounds.



I view writing as an asynchronous ministry. You never know when or where or who you are ministering to, but someone is reading somewhere. In the hospital. At a coffeeshop. In a bathroom. On a plane. In a bathroom on the plane.

Here are a few stories from last week.

Someone told me they named their son Benaiah. Love it! Someone else told me about the tattoo they got because of the book.

I had a conversation with someone who told me he had been witnessing to a friend for several years without much result. This friend started reading In a Pit and emailed him last week saying it changed his life. He said, "We need to talk." By the way, the guy said I'd get half the reward in heaven if he gets saved. Nice. Heavenly profit-sharing. On a serious note, that was so gratifying because it is one reason I write. I view my books as 200 page evangelistic tracts. When people are reading their defense mechanisms are down. It's a safe way to have a dangerous conversation! So cool that I could tag-team with this guy to help win a friend.

Got an email from my friends, Marc McCartney and Brian Mosley, at rightnow.org. I reference their organization in Wild Goose Chase. It's a clearinghouse for missions organizations. I actually put their website in the appendix in hopes that some people would contact them. I guess they were contacted last week by a flight attendant who read Wild Goose and wants to go on mission.

Got another email about someone I met a couple of months ago. Actually signed her book as she was coming through Ebenezers one day. She read In a Pit and felt called, at age fifty-six, to go start an ESL school in Morocco as a way of reaching Muslims.

Here's the bottom line. I don't write for entertainment. I write for mind-changing and life-changing moments. I believe books are divine appointments waiting to happen. As a preacher, I trust the Holy Spirit to do His work somewhere between words leaving my lips and hitting people's ear drums. Same with writing. You never know how God is going to use what you've written. But I trust that the Holy Spirit can take one paragraph or one phrase and quicken it to people's spirits in a way that will change there lives. And that's why I write!

Thanks for letting me download a few of the stories. My blog is one way I keep track of prayer requests. But when God answers them, like He did last week, I want to give credit where credit is due!

I'm going to do a teleseminar on @ 4 PM EST on Monday, November 3, with Eric Bryant from Mosaic church. It'll be a low-key, off-line conversation about the latest lessons were learning here at NCC. Love to have some blog readers join us. Oh yeah, it's free.

Here's the 411.

Just wanted to put a couple books on the radar. They haven't released yet, but I'm excited about getting my hands on them. In part, because I know these guys. I like reading books by authors I actually know. Helps me hear their voice.

Check out Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian. Check out the book trailer.

The Fine Line by Kary Oberbrunner. Check out the book trailer.

I'm not gonna lie. The Evolutionary Elephant is one of the toughest topics I've taken on in quite a while. Really tough to prep for it. And really tough to talk about it. I feel like there are seventeen things I wanted to say or didn't have time to say. There are so many words with so much baggage. Bottom line. It's tough to resolve the evolution vs. creation issue in forty minutes!

Just thought I'd share one reflection. If you want to get the entire message, you can get a free subscription to my weekly evotional, email version of my message. Here's a link. You can also listen to the podcast or what the webcast.

Alright, here's the thought.

Evolution is a lot like sex. It was God's idea. But God rarely gets the credit for it for a variety of reasons. The enemy has stolen the idea. He has abused it and misused it. And turned into a bad word. It's not a bad word. It's not a bad idea. It's a good word. It's a God idea.

Same with evolution. I'm not talking about macro-evolution. I'm not talking about evolution by random chance or a big bang or humans evolving from apes. Did I cover all of my bases? I'm talking about micro-evolution or the evolutionary capacity to adapt and change and evolve. That evolutionary capacity is a gift from God and something we ought to celebrate. It's somewhat counter-intuitive, but evolution is a testament to God's creativity. It was God's idea. And ironically, God's idea has been used against Him. But it's His word. It's His concept. Honestly, I think the evolutionary capacity is one of the greatest evidences of an Intelligent Designer.

I'm doing a video chat with our missions team that is in Thailand today. This trip kicks off our A18 (Acts 1:8) initiative. We're taking 10 trips to 10 countries over the next 10 months. Our Thailand team is working with a ministry called The Well that is working behind the scenes to help rescue girls from the sex industry.

Yesterday I read something my friend Paul Braoudakis wrote about in the latest issue of Willow. He said only 20% of Americans possess a passport. And suggests that maybe that is why so many Americans don't have a pulse on what's happening outside our borders. We've got to open our eyes to the injustice and pain and suffering. And we've got to take the love of Christ into these hellholes.

Our team is blogging some pictures and thoughts.

Check it out.

Every time I go back to Willowcreek it's like a spiritual pilgrimage for me. It was during seminary that I went to my first conference. It's hard to put into words, but I felt like Willow fueled my dream of planting a church. And it gave me permission to do church different.

So grateful for the investment Willowcreek has made in so many leaders, including myself. So it was a cool opportunity to "give back." Not sure I would have imagined, a decade ago, that I'd ever speak at a Willowcreek conference. Grateful for the opportunity.

I thoroughly enjoyed our session. I did a tag-team with our Pastor of Discipleship, Heather Zempel. And we'd never done that before so we weren't sure how it'd go. But I thought it was fun. And hopefully it helped attendees to hear a little bit of banter between a lead pastor and discipleship pastor. Two voices. Two perspectives. Small groups in stereo.

Just did a little fine-tuning for tomorrow's session at the Willowcreek Group Life Conference. I'm doing a tag-team session with our Pastor of Discipleship, Heather Zempel. Wonder twin powers activate! Should be fun. We've got some cool experiments planned--with the help of Willow staff. We'll drill down on four of our core values and share some best practices:

1) Everything is an Experiment
2) Maturity Does Not Equal Conformity
3) Expect the Unexpected
4) Love People when the Least Expect it and Least Deserve it

Before Amazon.com there was ABC books. This is the bookstore I frequented in college. Prior to my senior year of college I'd probably read a dozen books that were NOT assigned by a class. And most of them were sports biographies with lots of pictures and stats! But I got bitten by the reading bug my senior year. Read an 800 page biography of Albert Einstein and a Dale Carnegie classic titled How to Win Friends and Influence People. Those two books were intellectual catalysts in my life. I feel in love with books. After college I read about 150-200 books per year.

By the way, here is my philosophy of reading. I once heard that the average author takes about two years to write a book. So I felt like each book I read was like getting two years of life experience. So when I read 150 books in a year I gain 300 years of life experience.

By the way, I don't read anywhere near that volume of books now. I'm closer to 50-75 books per year. The more I write the less time I seem to have to read.

Last week at Catalyst I felt like the Holy Spirit said to me: what happened to the guy that used to pace the chapel balcony for hours seeking my heart? It really messed me up. But I feel like God has been breaking my heart in some new ways. Really tapping back into that original calling.

I actually had the opportunity to revisit that chapel balcony today. God's timing is impeccable isn't it? I think He knew last week that I'd be here this week. It was an Ebenezer moment for me. Hitherto the Lord has helped me. So healthy to go back to those burning bushes in our lives!

Here's a shot of the balcony. One of my sacred places.

I'm continuing to process the things that really impacted me at Catalyst. Several years ago I got tired of going to conferences, getting really inspired, and forgetting everything I heard within three days. I try to go back over my notes the next week. And I try to come up with one or two or three action points.

One of the speakers at Catalyst was Franklin Graham. Spitting image of his dad! So forthright. One thing he said really stuck me: "You don't have to help the gospel." He said, "The gospel works." Such a profound reminder.

I feel like all of us could do a better job of consistently communicating the simple gospel message. I'm thinking and rethinking how we help people cross the line of faith. As a dad, one of my roles is to engineer experiences that create memories. The end result is a defining moment.

In the same sense, as a pastor, I want to set up God encounters. I'm obviously not suggesting we can or try to man-u-facture anything. But I need to be more intentional about helping people create spiritual memories.

Just thinking out loud.

Really enjoyed teaching at AGTS. Six hours is a long time to lecture. But I felt like there was great energy. I don't feel called to teach in the classroom setting, but I've always enjoyed an occasional teaching gig. A few years ago, before I started writing, I did a little stint as an adjunct professor for Regent University. But I'm a pastor--nothing more, nothing less.

Topped off the day at Mexican Villa with my friend John Jay Wilson. It's a little dive we used to hit when I was in college. Three words: Burrito Enchilada Style!

I'm teaching a class for AGTS in Springfield, Missouri this week. Excited about hitting one of my favorite dives--Mexican Villa. Hoping to fit in a little pilgrimage to my old stomping grounds, Central Bible College. Lots of memories!

I'll be at AGTS for two days then I head to Willowcreek for the Group Life Conference. Going to do a tag-team session with our Pastor of Discipleship, Heather Zempel.

One of the things God did in my heart during Catalyst was remind me that I need to start my day with worship. So many of us start Sunday with worship. Why not Wednesday? Or Saturday? Verily, even Monday?

So here is what I'm doing. I'm creating another worship playlist on my iPod. And I'm going to surround myself with some songs that wake up my spirit each day. For what it's worth, I think we need two wake up calls every day. Whenever I have an early trip or important meeting I try to set two alarms. That insures that I'll wake up. We need two alarms each day. A physical alarm and a spiritual alarm. We need to wake up our bodies. And we need to wake up our spirits. Too many of us let our spirits sleep Monday to Saturday.

So here's an idea. Why not create a worship playlist for your commute to work or work out at the gym or early morning office routine. We need those songs to saturate our spirits.

For what it's worth, my favorite Catalyst song was God in this City by Chris Tomlin. Really got into my spirit.

So great to connect with Chris Seay last night. And great concert by the Robbie Seay Band. Love their music. Love their spirit.

Chris pastors a great church in Houston called ecclesia. He also coordinated a Bible translation project that just released The Voice. Got my copy last night.

Check it out.

We continued our Elephant in the Church series with The Suffering Elephant. Brilliant trailer. Amazing message. And to top it off, we had the Robbie Seay Band lead worship at our Union Station location. Great music. Great cause. Part their tour is introducing people to Compassion International. Sort of like our coffeehouse--coffee with a cause. Their tour is music with a cause.

So cool to see people sponsoring kids on the way out. Felt like it gave us a way to continue worshiping God after the service. During worship I felt like the Holy Spirit really convicted me: do you think I'd rather hear you sing songs or help these kids? What is worship? It's got to be more than singing songs.

For what it's worth, part of the way we alleviate our suffering is by alleviating the suffering of others! We can talk at a metaphysical level about suffering until Jesus returns. And we need to wrestle with it. That's what this series is about. But we need to be the solution!

So here's a question: do you spend more on your TV package than you give to missions? Can I come right out and say it. That's wrong! No excuses. We are selfish, materialistic hedonists AKA western Christians. And we need some good old-fashioned Holy Spirit conviction. Then we need to turn that conviction into action.

Sponsor a child.

Had a thought during one of the sessions today.

There are three ways to translate the Bible. You can translate it with 1) your mind 2) your heart and 3) your life.

I think a lot of us settle for the mental translation. But the end result is information. And what happens is this: we learn more, do less, and think we're growing spiritually. But not if that's the only translation.

The second translation is emotional. And the emotional translation may seem more subjective than intellectual translation. But that is when our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. It’s not just information. It’s transformation. For the record, I think one person with one deeply held conviction will make more of a difference than someone with a hundred good ideas.

Finally, there is the life translation. That is when we become a “living epistle.” That is when the noun turns into a verb. And that is how we change the world. At the end of the day, Jesus isn't going to say, "Well thought good and faithful servant." He's going to say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Imagine a church filled with people who are translating the Bible with their lives!

Catalyst is an annual reminder of how far we've come as a church. I still remember going to our first Catalyst Conference and there we're only two of us on staff--myself and Joel Schmidgall. Over the years our team has grown. This year we brought 26 staff and proteges. Someday we'll have to charter a flight.

So grateful for our team! Such a great chemistry. I think how much you enjoy ministry is directly proportional to how much you like the people you're working with. I love ministry, in part, because I love our team.

Here's a shot from annual Thursday night dinner at PF Chang's.

I think this is my eighth catalyst conference. And I have to say that today was maybe the most powerful day of speakers I've ever heard. It ministered to my mind and my heart.

The last session of the day was Craig Groeschel. And his last point or last prayer was "ruin me." It comes down to this: our hearts need to break for the things that break the heart of God. And I felt ruined. In fact, we usually try to beat the traffic and be the first ones out. But our team couldn't leave. We found a conference room to talk and cry and pray.

As we sat in the balcony during that last session, I felt like the Holy Spirit took me back to my initial call in college. And He said in that spirit voice: what happened to the guy that used to pace the chapel balcony for hours seeking my heart? It messed me up. Broke me. Wrecked me.

I need to quit ministry and go back to calling.

May God ruin us!

My day started with my alarm going off at 5:18 AM. I always set it to an even time! Caught a 7 AM flight to Atlanta. For what it's worth, sat right in front of Dick Gephardt, former Majority leader and presidential candidate. Grabbed a bite at Chik-fil-A. Gotta eat at Chik-fil-A when you're in Atlanta!

Really enjoyed connecting with some pastor friends. Catalyst feels like a reunion. Fun to talk with people who have been influenced by In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day or Wild Goose Chase. And I loved doing the lab.

Had dinner at the Leaping Leprechaun with some of the speaking team. Waiting for the rest of our team to arrive. They fly in tonight. Gonna be fun to hang out for 48 hours!

Hop an early AM flight. Headed to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. This is an annual pilgrimage for our entire staff. Honestly, it feels like a reunion. Love reconnecting with friends. And it's fun hanging out with our team.

I'm doing a lab today. Then I can kick back.

The second printing of Wild Goose Chase just came off the press. Just got 1863 pounds of books delivered to our office. If you'd like a bulk discount on a case of books (24 books) email resources@theaterchurch.com.

Gonna celebrate the second printing with a 50% discount. Want to get as many books into as many hands as possible.

Chase the Goose!

Sometimes my ineptitudes amaze me! I don't even know how to operate my office phone. So today I noticed a blinking light so I asked our Media Pastor, Dave Clark, for some tech support because I don't know how to get into my voice mail. Long story short, the message was from June 13. Nice! Thinking about putting a greeting on my voice mail: Leave a message and I'll try to get back to you within four months!

If you want to get a hold of me you probably don't want to call. Long live email.

Just wanted to let locals know that we've got the Robbie Seay Band in concert at Ebenezers Coffeehouse on Sunday, October 12 @ 6 PM. It'll be a great concert for a great cause.

Check it out.

This summer I spoke at Northwaychurch.tv for my friend, Buddy Cremeans. Love hanging out with Buddy! He's one of the good guys. And by the way, he is now a triathlete! When I was there in August I told him about my triathlon and the next thing I know I get a call from him a week ago and he's running a triathlon. That's some microwave training!

Anywho. I did a little interview. And he humbled me on the basketball court. This week in my message I talked about a reverse dunk I did in college. But in the spirit of "keepin' it real," my first shot in HORSE was a good old-fashioned air ball.

Watch the air ball.

Kicked off The Elephant in the Church series this weekend.

I love the challenge of taking on tough topics or controversial issues. Too many churches are answering questions no one is asking. We dance around the real issues. But when we have the courage to talk about tough topics I think we experience a healthy tension as a church. I also think it's as good opportunity to remind people that I'm not omniscient. In fact, I told our congregation upfront: don't take my word for it. Go back to the original source. The Bible is the ultimate authority.

Some of the issues we'll explore in this series are things that God-fearing, Bible-believing, Christ-following people have disagreed about for two thousand years. And because of that, we often steer clear of them. And I'm certainly not advocating that we major in minors. But I think it's disingenuous when we ignore them. We've got to think about them and talk about them. And that is what this series is about. It gives us permission to talk about tough topics. And we may agree to disagree. But we'll be better off having had the tough conversation.

So this weekend I talked about spiritual gifts and I Corinthians 12-14. If you want to check out the message, you can sign-up for a free subscription. All of my messages are turned into transcripts and sent out via email.

I bumped into one of our volunteers at 7:15 AM on Sunday morning and I was filled with such a profound appreciation for the people who make NCC happen week in and week out. They are the heart and soul of NCC. It takes a boatload of volunteers to make church happen in four locations. And I know it would be much more relaxing sleeping in on Sunday. So grateful for the people who are pouring their time and energy into NCC.

By the way, I don't love the word "volunteer". Any churches call their "volunteers" something else? It just doesn't seem to capture the heart or skill or passion of the people who serve.

Wanted to put a theater church conference on the radar. It's being put on by Cinemedia and it's coming to DC, October 22-23. I'm speaking on day two. Would love to connect with some other theater churches!