Ember at #CatalystNext in DC this Thursday

I will be with a team at the Catalyst Next one day conference this coming Thursday at the Lincoln Theater - would love to meet you if you are there. Long time readers know that I'm a fan of Catalyst, especially when they push the edges and concentrate on the future. In 2009, I attended their first Catalyst West conference and the absolute best part of that was the lab day called Origins that was put together with MosaicLA. That day was very much about looking at today and envisioning the future. I'm hoping Catalyst Next is so futuristic that most of us get inspired about the present. And in classic Ember form, I'm sure that we will be just about the only ones with high school kids in attendance. This is a conference about the future.... right?

It's often said that the future is now but is the church listening?

Our culture is constantly advancing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting, and if you want to stay ahead you have to know what’s coming before it gets here. Catalyst Next is a gathering created just for you. We know you’re a change maker. A forward thinking, innovative leader who wants to be ahead of the curve in addressing the issues and questions our culture is grappling with. This gathering will help us answer those very questions. Whether you are leading a church, non-profit, or business, we invite you to join us live in D.C. or by stream, for a day of intentional conversations around what’s next for the Church as we embrace progress and spearhead change for the sake of advancing Kingdom initiatives.

Catalyst Next is a gather geared towards young innovative leaders who want to be ahead of the curve in addressing the issues and questions our culture is asking. If you’re a change maker who is serious about bringing Kingdom change to your world than this event is for you.

Catalyst West Coast

Just registered on Wednesday [the early bird fees] for Catalyst West Coast. There are three of us that are going together - MPM [who you readers know about] and GKlas [whose two daughters have traveled around with me via SPACE], one of the most entrepreneurial people you will ever meet. It's going to be a blast processing with these two.

The first day of the conference is what they are calling the Origins Lab day - a workshop/breakout day. This lab day is the combination of Catalyst and Mosaic staff, Origins in the past being Mosaic's leadership conference. I'm looking forward to this the most since Origins 2005 was such a watershed experience for me personally.

Below is some of the write up from the website. Let me know if you are going to be there too.

The Event:
Catalyst West is a gathering of 3,000 next generation leaders from all over the world for three days of teaching, worship and exploration of what's possible for the church. Catalyst is a revolution of ideas: here, you'll get permission to challenge the process and think unconventionally. Join a movement of influencers who are passionate about impacting their communities, their churches and their culture for Christ.

Who is coming:
Catalyst attracts the most influential leaders from ministries, non-profits and companies. These are the do-ers, influencers and cultural architects of the future who share your desires and dreams. These are people are hungry for new information and eager to share it. Who want to be inspired, challenged and engaged. Who come together to ask questions, and seek answers and experience lasting change.

So About Catalyst

Here are some thoughts that I have from Catalyst West. Mostly, it's ways of thinking for me, not necessarily things to implement..... yet....

#1. Conqueror versus Explorer
The lab session on the Origins Day with Rick Y impacted me greatly. Specifically, it was his explanation of two different ways of strategic thinking - the entrepreneur versus the manager. I was impacted mostly with the thoughts of how we view resources, how we engage those resources and what our communities and teams become when we act in this way. [lab notes]

So the point is that I need to force myself to think this way and influence others to think this way when possible. This includes having adaptability as people show up in our organizations, having the mindset of a headhunter and the constant paradigm of creating the future instead of predicting it. It means when we meet someone who has something to offer, we engage them by making room for them to offer their talents. [Granted, this all has to fit somewhat with our DNA and our mission and values.]

I'm starting to think this way, even before this session. Two quick examples:
1. After spending a little time with a new friend GKlass, I thought to myself, "Wow, it would be fun to engage him at a deeper level." So I invited him to join me at Catalyst. [PS - He and MPM were the perfect people to take - tell you more about that later.]
2. We have a lot of college aged friends that we served with in SPACE that are now disengaged. So D and I have been exploring the idea of a little project for 2010. Of course, the project will be a lot of fun for us but it's just as important to us to provide these dear friends an opportunity. More on that later.

Find an environment that thinks the opposite - fixed resources where people have to fit to serve, low interest on the gifting of others, a static imagination of where the team is going - and we will find low engagement of people. Instead, our mission turns into a show and people attend rather than participate.

Some of this disparity in thinking is generational. But it doesn't have to be.

#2. First/Second/Third Space
+ Third space - when someone else invites you into their first space.
+ Everyone in your third space knows everything that you do in your first space.
When was the last time I was invited into someone's first space?

#3. There is no Scriptural basis for family as the nuclear family.
+ Extended family yes, nuclear family no.
What does this do to my family's idea of family?

#4. Successful elder teams see themselves as elders of the city or region, not just a church.
[From a personal off-the-grid conversation I had]
Hmm.

[Related: full Origins Catalyst notes]

Notes - #CatalystNext

We took a team of people to learn at the Catalyst Next conference last week at the Lincoln Theater in DC and it was a great time. I love the Catalyst organization and they always put on fantastic events. The audience was probably mostly people in full time vocational ministry and there were maybe about 1000 people there.

Our team was made up of adults involved in ministry bi-vocationally [board of director Matt, guide Carver and myself] and high school students - 3 seniors and one junior, two of those being current ProtoGuides and the junior being my older daughter. I'm pretty sure Ember had the only high school kids there. We also met up with some old and new friends - a leader of the young adult ministry at LifePoint Church in Reisterstown, and Ember guide Trevin and his co-workers from Bay Area Community Church. We all had lunch together which was a great time of connecting. Two of the seniors have some serious plans to join a church plant next year when they enter college as freshmen so the church planting roundtable was especially relevant to them.

The event wasn't quite as futuristic as I personally would have liked, but I realize that is sometimes too far out there. One solid principle about the future is that you imagine the future by seeing the present clearly and I think Catalyst Next did that extremely well. There was a little undercurrent of 'we have to explain what our current culture looks like to the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers.' Certainly understandable.

Every one of the talks was excellent, exactly what you would come to expect from a Catalyst event. They were all geared towards what is next and I loved that. The day was organized into segments and then after each segment, Jon Tyson would come back with Mark Batterson, Jo Saxton and Gabe Lyons to do a little discussion on the talks.

Here is the rough outline of the day:
Mark Batterson - leadership [see below]
Jo Saxton - leadership [character, community, commission]
Gabe Lyons - culture [see below]
Trip Lee - culture [to give up hope on a specific culture/peoplegroup/subculture is to discount the power of the Gospel]
Jenna Lee Nardella - justice [the long arc of justice and sometimes you cannot make it rain]
Raj Shah - justice [lots of great content on global poverty]
Missional church planting roundtable - Jarrett and Jeanne Stevens, Gideon Tsan, DA Horton - what is your context, something you have learned from, what is next
Jon Tyson - closing [see below]

Here are notes from the 3 talks that resonated most with me:
+ What is Next in church leadership
Mark Batterson
“The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday.” - RT Kendall The Anointing
Heb 11:7 - Noah, the ark and building something that was never built before
II Cor 10:5 - Take every thought captive and obedient to Christ
Noah - inventor, maker. Made the rake, hoe, oh and the ark.
1.5 football fields long
a ship that big would not be built again in human history until the late 19th century
35:3 design ratio is still the standard
569 box cars
125,000 animals - 60 National Zoos
120 years to build - long obedience
1st thing Noah did was to plant trees
It all came from an idea in his mind
Everything starts as an idea - so often II Cor 10:5 is used to instruct us to take bad thoughts captive, but it's also a command about good ideas.

Church is a 2 way street - dreams and passions go both ways
We have a dream for our church that people help us fulfil and we hopefully help them fulfill their dreams.

*TTS - Like always, Batterson gives a phenomenal talk about the future, leadership and the most audacious dreams and ideas. And every time I've seen Mark Batterson not speaking, he is taking notes. Including today, while on the panel. The best leaders I know do this.

Discussion:
Be a first class noticier
Scripture is meant to be meditated on - for it to quicken you, you must let it burn in you
Every piece of Scripture has 70 faces and 600,000 meanings - rabbinical saying

+ What is Next in engaging culture
Gabe Lyons
Context - always start with this
*TTS - ^^^ yes. Ember mantra - "Context and culture matter."

Today - the combination of postmodern, pluralism and postChristian
the nones

New Attitudes
No authority
Happiness is the ultimate goal
Good of the individual trumps good of community
God exists for the benefit of all, if He even exists
Meaning can only be found in this world

New Rules of Social Engagement - "Sex and the I World"
One may not criticize someone's life choices or behaviors
One may not behave in a manner that coerces or causes harm to others
One may not engage in a sexual relationship with someone without consent - as long as it is consensual, it is okay.

Countercultural - the church is called to swim upstream in this

*TTS - The intro to this talk was such a great description of the context that we find ourselves in right now.

4 questions - filter for culture
What is Wrong - stop and confront
who am I, what is my identity

What is Confused - clarify and compel
identity is found in Jesus, not by looking inside
is life about pleasure or purpose
love - affirmation of anything anyone wants to do or do we want the best for them?

What is Good - celebrate and cultivate
God's design for humanity is to flourish

What is Missing - create and catalyze
we have made an idol of marraige
first family - church family - extended family - oikos
clear and confident in theology
loving to friends and neighbors
you can be both but this requires lots of courage

The slavery and women in ministry issues both get more expansive from the OT to the NT
sexuality gets less expansive

*TTS - This was a fantastic talk and really engaged the issue of homosexuality and the evangelical Church. The 4 questions were great perspectives. Extremely well done.

Discussion:
Batterson - some topics are good for teaching about from up front - one way dialogue. Others need a two way conversation. This is one of those. NCC hosted a small group on this topic called Grace+Truth because we need both when it comes to this issue. Over 200 people showed up to it.

+ Jon Tysons closing talk
The need of the hour is to make disciples. If we get discipleship wrong, everything else goes awry.
Willard - what is your plan for making disciples and is it working?

We did a good job of forming people into Trinity Grace culture but not Jesus.
Our culture is incredibly effective at making disciples into its image.

"Ultimately, each church will be evaluated by only one thing - its disciples. Your church is only as good as her disciples. It does not matter how good your praise, preaching, programs, or property are; if your disciples are passive, needy, consumeristic, and not radically obedient, your church is not good." (Neil Cole) [*TTS - So good, I think I've posted this before somewhere here]

Faith to Doubt
Love to Insecurity
Community to Individualism
Contributing to Consuming
Rest to Exhaustion

5 Shifts - The From > To Imperative
*TTS - there was a ton of info in here - no way to get it all down.
Death -> Life
Eph 2
- gospel, story, walk

Shame -> Acceptance
Rom 8
difference between shame [who I am] and guilt [what I've done]
image management
Brene Brown
disciple people into their identity
- community, freedom, authority

Self -> Others
Phil 2
the small self - Rohr
- gifts, reconciliation, presence

Consumer -> Mission
I Cor 5
- sharing, vocation, stewardship

Performing -> Abiding
John 15
- source, power, fruit

In all of this, Jesus says, I will be with you always.
Gal 4:19 - My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...
an urgent heartbreaking pastoral concern - spiritual fathers.

*TTS Right before Jon started, I whispered to our team that this was the money talk. I was right. Jon's talk was a powerful exhortation to leaders to take the issue of discipleship seriously and to evaluate how we are growing people and whether it is working or not. He has obviously done some deep thinking about our culture and what it means to grow people in the image of Jesus and his talk was a gift. I knew it was going to be good because I've learned a lot from him from a distance. [See : City Collective, the city parish model and Sacred Roots.]

+ My Reflections
- I'm pretty sure Ember had the only high school kids there. If you are a student pastor in the DMV and knew about this event, you should have brought some kids you were personally investing in. And if you aren't personally investing in any students, well, you should find a new line of work. This was a great learning experience that was easy to execute.
- Jon Tyson's closing talk. Ember needs to evaluate all of our experiences and reflect on whether we are creating disciples of Jesus or just creating kids that know a lot about global missions. Some of this is also a reflection on my leadership and whether I have the capacity to even think deeply on this subject and how it relates to the students we are entrusted with, in a similar manner to the deep thinking that Jon Tyson has done about discipleship in New York City.
- Batterson: "Church is a 2 way street - dreams and passions go both ways." I love this and Ember is really trying to engage our students with where we are headed as an organization as well as catalyze the passions, talents and dreams of them. We aren't doing the latter a ton but there were definitely a few students this past summer that fit this description. That's why we almost always visit the topic of missional imagination when we decompress an event or experience. I'm a bit sensitized to this too from some recent ministry experience as well so there's probably more in this.

Ember Mantras - 2

"Catalyst is the primary paradigm."

A catalyst is something that comes into a situation that sparks a reaction and the reaction continues after the catalyst has left. We use this paradigm for almost everything that we do - service projects, facilitating and hosting teams, missional experiences, leadership coaching and more. If you can't do it yourself after we have left, we have failed. This paradigm requires us to think critically about dependency, ensures we view a long term perspective and keeps us future and action oriented.

You will never have enough leaders. Borrowing or stealing them is not the solution. Instead, view yourself as a catalyst and perhaps leaders will erupt from those you are already working with.

Catalyst One Day at Grace

So very excited that Grace is going to host Catalyst One Day in November. If you are anywhere near DC, this is a great opportunity for you and your team. It's only a single day, close enough for you to commute to and because the content is going to be top-notch, you should process this with a team.

You might remember that I went to Catalyst West in April - a fabulous experience. So I'm a fan of the Catalyst stuff - it is some of the best leadership learning available.

I'm also thrilled that we at Grace can serve leaders here in the DC area. I firmly believe part of God's purposes for Grace intersect at this point in human history, in this specific location between Baltimore and DC, with our specific suburban socioeconomic demographic, our energy with student ministry, our global reach in growing mission team leaders. Ok, that's a lot of intersections....

Check out the video with Senior Pastor Mark Norman.

Catalyst One Day - Baltimore

Huge fun having Catalyst One Day at Grace yesterday. Loved that we could be part of inspiring and resourcing leaders around the Balt/DC area and even farther.

The content of the talks was amazing - lots of great insights. Learning from Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel never gets old. Just as much fun was seeing and meeting all my friends [hey, I'm a WOO] from the Internets. This part is just as inspiring - these friends do what they do because God has called them and there is no other good reason.

Here are some of my selected notes:

+ Andy - Gaining and Sustaining Momentum
three components of sustained momentum - new, improved, improving
:: New - triggers momentum
Org momentum is often triggered by
new leadership
new direction
new product <-> program
Do we need a new leader, direction or product?
Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old. It is triggered by introducing something new.
New does not guarantee sustained momentum. But new is an essential trigger for momentum.
:: Improved - new must be noticeable difference over the old.
If cost is an issue for something new, you are probably doing too much.
:: Improving
momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement requires systematic evaluation.
Continuous improvement requires unfiltered evaluation.
Continuous improvement requires that nothing and nobody be off limits. - everything is on the table.
Evaluation must be built into rhythm of your org.

+ Craig - Busting Barriers with Mindset Changes
3. think differently about the mission
we can't hurt someones feelings vs. we can't allow someone to hold back the mission of the church
roles -we hire for current instead of for future capacity
5. think differently about limitations
we can't because we don't vs. we can because we don't.
limitations -> innovation

+ Andy + Craig - Elder teams
: lifechurch:
14 people
5 staff
6 lay
3 pastors of other churches
can only fire him for big breaches - immorality or heresy - not for other stuff
no congregational vote
: NorthPoint
10-12 elders
Andy is permanent
elder selection team, only serve for a term
elders meet with andy once a month - their only job is to evaluate andy
church is staff run

"get the right people to the table to make the decisions"

+ Craig - Creating Personal Spiritual Momentum
1. do something to defeat your dark side
identify your dark side: my leadership dark side is ____
4. do something only you can do
You can only be the husband of your wife, the father of your children, only you can seek God on your behalf

+ Andy - Don't Be That Couch
[If you liked this talk, you should also read Erwin McManus' chapter entitled "Change Theology" from An Unstoppable Force. This talk also reminded me of Built To Last]
The Dip - Seth Godin
How The Mighty Fall - Jim Collins
Whereas programming begins as an answer to a question, over time it becomes part of org culture - it becomes to beat up old couch that people are emotionally tied to.
We must continue to be more committed to our mission than to our programming or our model.
"If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he or she do? Why shouldn't we walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves?" - Only the Paranoid Survive - Andy Grove [don't you love that book title?]
Leaders must bring the underlying assumptions that drive company strategy into line with changes in the external environment.

Here are two of my big takeaways:
+ If you want to know your dark side, ask your wife. Or your family. With some healthy and uncomfortable discussion [and I know I'm better for it,] mine are probably: a high aversion to risk, not nearly praying enough, a tilted view of success, and a gradual lessening of deep friendships. Yup, that's going to take some soul work.
+ Evaluation for improvement. Consistent and unfiltered. Like the item above, nothing about what we do should be off limits when we talk about whether it is working or not. Very relevant for Ember since culture and context are high values of ours - we have core tenets but seek to engage those in very adaptable ways.

The twitter hashtag for the event was #catoneday. Also, take a look at one of the intern's posts about the day.

Thanks again to the Catalyst team. DC will not be the same because of yesterday.

[Related: My Catalyst West Coast 09 notes.]

Origins-Catalyst West 09 - Notes

Here are all the notes I took from Origins - Catalyst West. Warning - long post. Unless you are super interested, you might want to skip reading this one. Look for a post later [maybe this week, maybe next month] on what really hit me. It was a huge amount of information to digest. Even better than the info, I'm inspired.

++ Context
Origins, lab day - Wednesday
about 1200 people, mostly church planters and pastors
really out there on the edge in terms of content and audience

Catalyst - Thurs/Fri
3300 people - much more mainstream

Twitter was mentioned most every day - Catalyst used ParaTweet. The hash tag was #catwest.

Mariners Church in Irvine - unreal facilities

++ Origins
+ Session 1 - Erwin McManus
goal is to create a better world, not necc to create a church community
is what I'm doing making a difference
if we succeeded at plan A, does it change the world?

Alex and Erwin loved to play Star Trek when they were kids - but they loved to play the aliens. Star Trek is a story about humanity's struggle to come together - the space between us.

Acts 17 - interdimension of space
Paul - distressed so he goes to the synagogue - the absolute worst place to make an impact - country club of the religious

First space -
comfortable in our normative expression
people like us
are we creating a place for us and those like us or a place for others?
Mosaic has become a human space, not a Christian space
Paul - the synagogue

Second space -
where we live
where there is discussion, questions, thought processes
we are afraid of the second space
you have to live a life of credibility
Paul -

Third space -
where Paul actually converses with the city of Athens
'they took him' - you must be invited in to this based on your expertise, character, authenticity
first space of others - earn the right to get in
they follow you first because they don't know God

God knows the optimal time and context for people to be born to know His son.

We want to be popular in the first space - we may lose the confidence of the first space when we are invited into the third space

First space - Fireproof
Second space - Exorcism of Emily Rose
Third space - Scott Erickson invited to direct The Day The Earth Stood Still

First space - Blake [Tom's Shoes] goes to Mosaic
Second space - Making shoes
Third space - invited to speak at TED, ATT commercial

When you do anything great, you are an expert at everything. Invited by accomplishment.

1960's musicians that became Christians - Maranthna music - created CCM - all focused on the first space

Everything we do in the first space is visible in third space.

+ Breakout - Jamie from TWLOHA
hugely articulate
started from one person sharing her story
organically grown

+ Breakout - Rick Yamamoto [notes]

+ Breakout - Mark Batterson [swapped sessions]
40% turnover in congregation=new community every two years

+ Breakout - Alan and Deb Hirsch
Romantic love will get you to the mission field but sacrificial love will keep you there.

Every time I open the door, I see the lostness of the world. I need that because I get lazy. [About the house they own in the red light district in Melbourne]

'Status anxiety' - Alan De Botton

Refocusing the family - there is no justification in Scripture for the nuclear family. Family is much bigger, not just bloodline. The nuclear family has become an idol for Christians.

Mission Possible episode of the Simpsons - distorted view of God

If you've been a Christian for greater than 5 years, you should read the Gospels like you are the 'religious.'

Difference in slums in the US vs. Africa - slums in Africa still have vibrant life. In the US, there is no hope.

Final session - Erwin talks again about spaces
Q&A with leaders of The Origins Project

++ Catalyst - Thursday
video open [still gives me goose bumps]

+ Hillsong United
[they could have led worship all day]

+ Andy Stanley - Leading in Uncertainty
The higher you move up in an org, the greater complexity and the less certainty.

when uncertainty goes away, we don't need you anymore. This is why we need leaders - see it as job security.

Leaders are not needed to manage certainty. God created the gift of leadership - it's not for everyone and it's a gift to be used.

Life is uncertain but God is not - Christian leadership. Uncertainty will not go away.
If you like the status quo - then this is irrelevant. otherwise you will always face uncertainty.

This should be okay with us as Christians.
Every story in Scripture has uncertainty - conflict, tension, God showing up in uncertain times. God gets maximum mileage in uncertain times.
As Christians we don't see time as cyclical. Isn't God up to something? There is more to the story.

Practically:
- clarity
ok to be uncertain - not ok to be unclear
pull back to what God called you to originally
hang on to it - leverage from clarity
There is no correlation between clarity and uncertainty - and this fact is not intuitive.
[reminded me very much of Buckingham's The One Thing]

- flexibility
plans change - vision remains the same
a vision is not equal to a plan
if the plan changes, sometimes people imply that there is something vitally wrong with the vision - not true
don't confuse a plan with the vision.
in times of uncertainty, plans change a lot.
We fell in love with our plans and forgot the vision.
Right now - no easier time to abandon bad plans - blame it on the economy.
When plans and a vision collide - sacrifice the plan.

Leadership is not about making decisions on your own, but owning the decision once you have decided.

+ Guy Kawasaki [if you don't know him, you should look him up]
The Art of Innovation

1. Make meaning
this is why we exist

2. Make a Mantra
most mission statements suck - too long, broad, can't remember them
mantra - define why it exists
2 or 3 words [you know what the mantra is around here, don't you?]

3. Jump to the next curve
perspective of innovation - create or jump the next
1.0 - ice worker
2.0 - factory to create ice
3.0 - refrigerator

most define what they do as what they currently do.

4. Roll the DICEE
Deep - lots of features, powerful
Intelligent - anticipation, smart
Complete -
Elegant - great design, intuitive, simple
Emotive - generate strong emotions

5. Don't Worry Be Crappy
can't wait for perfect or you will never ship
don't wait for the perfect world
can't get it perfect until you hit the consumer

6. Polarize People
can't appeal to everyone

7. Let 100 flowers blossom
people who are not your intended audience will love your product
wrong people will use your product - take the money
If people don't get it in the first 15 minutes, they don't get it ever - move on.

8. Churn Baby Churn
ignore bozos - ship - then listen to them

9. Niche Thyself
unique vs value - all you need to know about marketing
Fandango
Clear Card
Briton Emergency Watch

10. 10-20-30 Rule
[link]

11. Don't let the Bozos Grind You Down
bozosity is like the flu - inoculate just a little bit.

+ Catherine Rohr - Prison Fellowship

+ Lunch - World Vision Global Poverty experiential lunch
While the rest of the conference got free Chick Fil A, we went and had a bowl of rice. Actually, they gave us more food at the end. We got a free book, The Monkey and the Fish by Dave Gibbons [you know me and free books...] I read most of it on the flight home and it's good.

The focus was on inviting people to go on a World Vision 'vision trip' and building relationships between WV and churches. They also had some very well done handouts titled "The World in the 21st Century.' I probably grabbed 15 of them to bring home, they were that good.

+ Jud Wilhite [you will definitely hear more from this guy]
pastor of Central Christian Church - Las Vegas
fabulous speaker - about distorted view of self - wrote terms on a mirror - broke it at the end. 40 minutes with no notes.

his 1st 6 months at Central - over 1000 people left

Biggest mistake - engaging homeless to work as greeter team for Sunday mornings. They gave off the wrong impression to visitors and one of them was making money off the others.

'We should talk to ourselves more than we listen to ourselves.' Martin Lloyd Jones

Nothing left to prove, nothing left to lose.

+ Ravi Zacharias
eternity, morality, accountability, charity
[zoned out during this one. this was one of those speakers, though, where no one made a sound while they spoke.]

+ Brian Houstan
Hillsong Sydney
[also zoned out]

+ Nick Vujicic
Life without limbs

I would be dishonoring God if I didn't believe I could change the world' - Henrietta Mears

++ Catalyst Friday
+ Social Justice panel with IJM, Nightlife and Wellspring Intl.
[left me wondering what percentage of audience had never heard these stats before]
+ Erwin
His session was interspersed with two dance routines from Mosaic arts team illustrating his points. The whole thing was phenomenal. [One of the videos] He's speaking from inside a cage in the picture on the left.
The world needs each one of us to live our most heroic life.
Acts 7:17 - visions/dreams -> nurturer/educator
Ordinary Gospel is the most narcissistic narrative ever. Instead Jesus calls us to live a heroic life for others - this demands too much of us.

There has never been one ordinary child - but we live ordinary lives as adults.
Churches are not the portals to hope/imaginations/dreams/freedom.

Leader as a vision caster is almost an impossibility. Instead, maybe leaders need to be people that awaken vision in others.

+ Rick Warren interviewed by Andy Stanley
30 year anniv of Saddleback on Easter
Easter - 46 services, 50K people

Pacing schedule long haul
A church that grows too fast is not healthy - it will only be transfer growth.

Divert daily. Withdrawal weekly. Abandon annually.
Practice energy management not time management.
Never compare yourself.
Learn from everyone.
Incremental intentional growth plan - from unbeliever to missionary.
Jesus is constantly redefining what it means to follow. Keeps turning up the heat.

+ Groeschel
I was taught and I thought

1. Church should be a safe place == church should become dangerous again
correction via seeker sensitive
time to be edgy again
invite people to a safe god unintentionally
better life, marriage, finances, etc.
You are called to preach a dangerous message.
Lukewarm pastors build lukewarm churches.

2. Build my church vs. build my kingdom
build on what you are about - not what you are not about
25K churches downloading material provided from lifechurch.tv

3. success is only found in the big numbers vs. the score card is changing [reference to Reggie McNeals book - Missional Renaissance]
redefine the win
Line 3 believers
line 1 - benefit from God - sin management
line 2 - contribute comfortably
line 3 - give my life to it

+ Luis Palau, John Bishops, Kevin Palau
impacting Portland OR
seasonofservice.org

5 areas of impact
homeless
hunger
public ed
medical
dental

+ Francis Chan
Cornerstone Simi Valley
Not many notes on this one but I thought he was the most moving. You had to be there.

Do you hear your name more than Holy spirit in the conversation at church?

Diehards vs. the people who need it perfect
I'll follow even if vs. I'll follow only if.
Our churches are so stoppable.

Acts 4:13 - boldness, astonished, recognized
We have raised a generation of terrified believers.

+ Perry Noble
newspring.cc

Ez 37
There are some leaders here who this session is their last shot. Unless they hear from God, they are going home to resign. [insightful and true]

The size of the vision God will give me is related to the amount of pain I'm willing to endure.

++ My Twitter feed
[ps mpm is now on twitter.]

home from #catwest. major processing to do. happy to see the fam, except for one of the dogs. 1:22 AM Apr 26th
@bradlomenick more notes soon tonytsheng.blogspot.com 4:45 PM Apr 25th
Thanks for the great times LA see you next time 4:44 PM Apr 25th
World malaria day. Look it up. 10:12 AM Apr 25th
@BenArment @bradlomenick - thanks for all your hardwork for #catwest - fantastic experience! 1:26 AM Apr 25th
Mpm is going into the pacific 10:26 PM Apr 24th
Balboa island ferry http://mypict.me/cQl 9:41 PM Apr 24th
Aaron keyes #catwest http://mypict.me/cts 6:21 PM Apr 24th
@decart @dawnnicole @djchuang @cynthiaware anyone get the 5 areas of influence in Portland? Homels Hunger public ed free med... I missed 15:18 PM Apr 24th
Loved my catalyst cupcake yum delicious! #catwest 4:34 PM Apr 24th
Just met virtual friend @bethanyhoang face to face www.ijm.org ngo for human slavery #catwest 2:08 PM Apr 24th
OMG @erwinmcmanus and mosaic life wife awake wow #catwest 1:32 PM Apr 24th
fun seeing @catwest tweeps f2f - @benarment, @cynthiaware, @dawnnicole, @djchuang 12:24 AM Apr 24th
great day2 at #catwest. 1 insight - i'm tired of my season of rest 12:18 AM Apr 24th
Saw prescreen for To save a life youth movie hmm #catwest 11:23 PM Apr 23rd
Nick from life without limbs wow #catwest 8:09 PM Apr 23rd
Global poverty lunch while free chick fil a outside hmm poor guys I brought with me #catwest 3:39 PM Apr 23rd
Open of #catwest so moving church poised to make a difference http://mypict.me/9RU 11:47 AM Apr 23rd
amazing day at origins. will take weeks to percolate. 3 hours of discussion with @jmldad and mpm. #catwest 1:05 AM Apr 23rd
Batterson session stand room only #catwest 5:54 PM Apr 22nd
Rick y from mosaic on two models of org entrepreneurs - amazing session #catwest 5:29 PM Apr 22nd
First session was nuts @erwinmcmanus everything you would expect and of course more now in twola lab #catwest 1:59 PM Apr 22nd
My bionic travel friends mpm and @jmldad http://mypict.me/7KC 12:39 AM Apr 22nd
Hello LA when I grow up I want to be as cool as you 12:09 AM Apr 22nd
minor travel details at the last minute. plan B, it's always about plan B. 11:02 AM Apr 21st
RT @d_ehart @tonytsheng so whats catwest to you? its a local strip joint here! [haha uh no just about the opposite #catwest] 11:05 PM Apr 20th

[Update: What I'm Going to Do About Catalyst]

Catalyst West Origins 09 - Notes - Becoming an Expert

I'm posting these notes because this was a fantastic session, even though I'm still in LA. Like my friend DJ Chuang said, this lab was a gold mine. More processing from Catalyst West later next week.

Rick Yamamoto
Becoming an Expert/Managerial vs. Entrepreneurial

fund researcher/venture capitalist
researcher for Erwin
elder at Mosaic

strong Belief strength - 'no, I cannot do that'
John 4 - Samaritan woman

++ 2 models of strategic thinking
#1 - Managerial - "Conquering"
traditional, business plan, maximize performance, predict the future
typical MBA strategy
a. a goal or objective
b. have resources lined up
c. act on the plan
key - control efficiency/resource allocation
failure in this context is fatal - it is your fault

#2 - Entrepreneur
minimize risk - creating the future
a. start with what you have done before
b. acquire resources in stages - resources acquired through relational capital - resources determine the goal
whatever I get, that's what I'm starting with
c. goal - adjustable
key - empowerment, depth and breadth of commitment
failure early, not large, adjust from it
contingency plan
piece meal-raised up resources, localized, contextualized

'Mosaic will never be the same' - statement when someone shows up - perspective on expansion of the goal since a new resource has just arrived
When resources come, adjust the goal - expansion

You will interact with someone differently if you are always a headhunter. When you are an entrepreneur, you are always looking to resource and unleash

Permission issue in managerial vs. entrepreneur
I'm either willing or not willing to release people to do things.
People that are process oriented will go crazy with the entrepreneurial strategy.

++ Talent Spelunking
share accomplishments - what did you accomplish in the past?
people don't want to brag.
do they people working with you know about your accomplishments?

Create environments where we are interested in others accomplishments - acknowledgment of great resources.
What would you love to do - What were you meant to do?

++ Characteristics of an expert
- somebody has practiced for 10K hours [right from Gladwell]
- perception is different
holistically vs. individually
underneath vs. outward
experience vs. formula
patterns vs. no patterns - fills in gaps
- knowledge and experience - rethink information differently than the novice - org info around their principles
- problem solving
short term vs. long term
experts transfers short term into long term
experts come sooner to most critical factors
high self awareness
accurate memory of their performance

If you want to be an expert at something, be an expert at relationships.

3 phases to job performance
1. don't get fired
2. minimize mistakes/maximize performance
3. do the job with your eyes closed
Experts never let the job get to #3. They are always raising performance.

[See my full post of notes from Origins/Catalyst West.]

Wednesday Burn

::: Catalyst West Collecting
Love that Catalyst West is collecting donations how cool.
Link
Also, my notes from Catalyst West 2009 here


::: Leslie's notes from IJM Global Prayer Gathering
Link


::: Tweet quotes
"If homeless ppl are discouraged from coming to ur church you don't have a church you have a country club." @matthewbarnett

"The classical way you bog down a movement is to lock-down things that only clergy can do (i.e. communion)." @alanhirsch @timastevens

Off to Catalyst

I'm off to Catalyst West Coast for the rest of the week, there might be one or two posts that are scheduled to fire later this week. I will probably be updating via twitter but won't be updating with too much of the content. In light of my past experience at Origins, I've got a feeling that a lot of the content from the conference is going to need to percolate - it's not an open-the-box type of thinking. So the plan is to flush some of that out here on the blog at a later time.

If you are at Catalyst West Coast and you see me, please introduce yourself.

Catalyst As the Primary Paradigm

I know the term 'catalyst' is probably way overused these days. But the longer we are involved with students and mission, the more the term makes sense to me. In light of all that we are learning about aid, development, indigenous leaders, and all that kind of stuff - and in the context of the current explosion in short term missions, the paradigm continues to be extremely valuable and our primary role.

We aren't the only ones that 'bring God to a given place.' There is something redemptive in a specific context already. Teams, individuals and hosts already have God ordained talents and skills. They have the potential to change the world and that potential doesn't depend on us.

Sometimes, our interns even get it.

Traveling and Humana 2.08

The blog will be a tad silent over the next 10 days or so. Here is what is on the agenda of this particular student ministry global catalyst.

+ Disconnecting from the world with the fam this weekend.

+ Speaking at my second GCC Leadership Development Program workshop, "Leading in the Global Matrix" on Monday evening. If you are around and interested, I can sneak you in.

+ Flying to Orlando on Tuesday afternoon through Friday evening to attend Humana 2.08 with a team of people from SPACE. Should be a very exciting time of learning, processing and connecting. Although I won't be updating this blog, I will be updating Twitter. You can see the updates in the sidebar on the left or at this link. I did this a few weeks ago while in NYC and really just had a ball with it. The 140 character limit is a great catalyst for creatively summarizing what you are doing and why. Expect to see some more detailed reflections next week. [Related: Humana 2.0 2007]

+ Summer 08 plans get published next Sunday, 2/10. Some are going to be amazed and some are going to think we are out of our mind.

Book 123 Meme

I got tagged via Chris and Ben for this meme. Like them, I hardly ever do these things either. But because we just hung out a few weeks ago face to face and because they are cool....

Here are the rules:
* Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)
* Find page 123
* Count down five sentences
* Post the next three sentences
* Tag five people

"Are these people for real?" we asked ourselves. Time and time again, the answer was a resounding, albeit surprising, "Yes, they are."
Wanting to help is the fuel that drives a catalyst's ability to connect people. - The Starfish and The Spider

[Related: posts on this blog with the word 'catalyst']

Futurecasting with LinkedIn

"The future is embedded in the present." - mindset #9 from Mind Set!, John Nasbitt

Here are some fun job titles - and the appropriate search term - I pulled out of some searches within my LinkedIn network. LinkedIn is like Facebook for your professional and career life. It's good, if you have a real job or are searching for one, you should sign up.

And if I picked your job title, feel free to add me to your network.

"organic church"
Independent Missional Church Leader
Missionary in Residence
Lead Pastorpreneur
Catalyst

"international development"
International & Linguistic Product Management

"global leadership"
Director, Leadership Development
Leadership & Talent Consultant
Thought Leader, Community Leader, Software Architect

"global missionary"
Church Mobilization Director

"global youth"
Creative Cultural Youth Communicator
youth counselor; budding data analyst
Creator of Powerful Ideas
Connector
Director of All Things Fun, Meaningful and Rewarding

"cultural anthropology"
Iconoclast
Education Abroad Professional and Applied Anthropologist
Cultural Exchange & Conflict Transformation Professional
culture/technology catalyst

In other words, who says you can't?

[Related: My LinkedIn profile]

Teaching Notes - LC 5 Feb

My teaching notes from yesterday, where I spoke to Light Company, our middle school ministry. Notes pasted here below, slides here. Steal what you want, keeping in mind that middle school kids are not too young to learn missiological concepts.

intro - student missions | dteam leader way back | ember

the big idea - if you are walking with Jesus, you are a catalyst for His Kingdom
most amazing time in human history to be a jesus follower
catalyst requires you to live a heroic life - it was

lighter, firestarter, poppers
1 - POTENTIAL
affluence, education, unique in this moment in human history, choice, optimism
more potential than any invention
in every apple there is an orchard

genesis 12
what the world looks like | global poverty | unreached people groups | urban migration
first world problems rap

2 - KNOW - filters | think
tribes
cultural distance
person of peace | lk 10

3 - DO
be a nice person - ST: guy in church who stole someones seat
get to know someone different than you
move from awareness to action
granola bars in your car - homeless ST: stalking homeless man
cupcakes for compassion
LR
take the first step of an adventure
CC
courage
courage, bravery, risk, faith, adventure - this is what christianity looks like
this is the life you want to live
ending story

Book Notes - H3 Leadership: Be Humble, Stay Hungry, Always Hustle - Brad Lomenick

Great read by one of the current day leadership sages, Brad Lomenick. Great read and I loved the perspective from someone who has worked with some of the most effective leaders of our day.

Let your team manage up more than you manage down

Start a "Better than I do" List. Leaders need to be reminded often that they aren’t the only ones who are good at what they do. Keep a running list of people who do what you do better than you do. Whenever you find yourself reading too many of your own press clippings, spend some time reviewing this list to regain perspective. This has the added benefit of giving you a contact list where you can find people to learn from.

Reward Those Who Push Back - Healthy organizations incentivize moderate levels of dissent.

When I walked into the green room and encountered the Hillsong United band after their first set, I was nearly knocked off my feet. The band members were huddled together around a tiny television with a closed-loop feed of the first speakers. Then they watched the second presentation. Then, the third. Many of them had Moleskine pads, and were furiously scribbling notes. No one was talking. No one was checking text messages.

One of the great memories I have of a Catalyst Conference is a panel discussion with Andy Stanley, John Maxwell, and Erwin McManus during the first ever conference in 2000. Erwin said something profound, and John immediately looked down at Linda, his longtime assistant in the front row, and made a motion as if he was writing, indicating he wanted his Moleskine notebook to capture what Erwin had just said. In front of two thousand young leaders, John demonstrated his desire to learn. Andy Stanley made a great comment later on, and satirically asked John, “Are you going to take notes on my answers as well?”

But as I learned while working at Catalyst, creativity is not completely inborn. It’s not just the musician sitting on the rooftop, dreaming up new lyrics about the color of the sky at noontime. It is the man in the third third of his life, taking a college course to learn more about his field. It is the CEO who schedules a lunch with a local graphic designer to talk about trends in logo design. It is the team of accountants who train themselves to use a revolutionary computer program before anyone else in their market does. The key to innovation is intentionality.

You are the chief, but not the only, vision caster. When you hire new team members, don’t hire only staff executers. Stack your roster with some dreamers too. They’ll take the vision you’re placing in front of them and will run with it. Make sure to ask questions designed to reveal how much time they spend dreaming each day.

MURDER, WHEN APPROPRIATE. This habit must be handled with care. Don’t complete a project for completion’s sake. You’ll often realize that an idea should be killed while you’re still attempting to execute. When this becomes clear, murder it and move on. However, if you find dead bodies lying all over the floor, you should evaluate your creative process to determine why so many of the ideas your team is generating are unsustainable.

Disclosure: Thomas Nelson provided me a copy of this book for review purposes.

World Malaria Day

Since today is World Malaria Day, here are some notes from the first Action Summit to End Malaria that I was at last week. Kt, our 12 year old, is doing a big school project on malaria so it was a great opportunity for us to attend together. Special thanks for World Vision for hosting the event. Big points first, then some other notes.

1: 2,000 children die every day from malaria. 1 every 40 seconds.

2: There are proven, effective and inexpensive solutions that are working. Second to childhood immunizations, these malaria solutions are the best return on investment in the fight on global poverty. The four solutions that must be implemented together: long lasting insectiside bed nets [LLIN], indoor spraying, anti malaria medication, intermittent preventative treatment in pregnancy.

3: The fight on malaria is working. There have been 1M lives saved in the last 10 years. We must finish to eradication - otherwise malaria will come back in the next generation even more powerfully [due to acquired immunity].

Other notes:
+ Hidden victims:
contributes to child trafficking : parents sent their kids out of the specific geography because otherwise they would contract malaria but they have to find 'work
contributes to child soldiers : they are safer with the army than contracting malaria
kids that were born with low birth weight due to malaria infected mother eventually had low growth rate and were ostracized by community
local community used mixture of cow dung and chalk as an insecticide but kids were getting sick and losing sight and hearing from the mixture
+ there is a vaccine in the final stages of development
+ the bednets and indoor spraying work because 90% of the mosquitoes that spread the parasite live indoors and bite indoors.
+ the crowd and speakers were major movers and shakers about malaria. lots of the crowd spent time in Africa doing NPO/NGO work.
+ "Poverty doesn't cause terrorism. It causes despair which terrorists exploit." - Mark Green, managing director of Malaria No More
+ Zanzibar, Tanzania successes against malaria
+ 300K bednets delivered to Zambia - from start to finish took 3 months.
+ The first day of the Summit was dedicated to information. The second day [which we skipped] was dedicated to lobbying - meaning actually going into to congressional offices and talking with elected officials. That would have been an interesting experience.
+ Kt and I had dinner at the same table as one of World Vision's doctors and a PhD candidate in entomology specifically studying mosquitoes. As you can imagine, the conversation was on another plane. Takeaway - there are not enough entomologists for the field of infectious disease research.
+ My daughter was the youngest person there. Lots of people wanted to know why she was there. Her project got lots of questions.
+ All day session on Wednesday was held at Top of the Town reception center. I don't know who World Vision knows but....
+ Evening session was at Arlington Temple United Methodist Church - a church that sits on top of a gas station.
+ Read up on Pastor Keith Stewart's journey including a World Vision trip. Remarkable story of a church being transformed. [I also heard him speak almost exactly a year ago at Catalyst West 09. @mattmaloy and @jmldad might remember our global poverty lunch...]
+ We are called to create the right kind of environments for our kids. This day was a big win in that area.

For more info - see http://www.endmalaria.org

Ember AZ 12 - first team meeting

Our first Arizona meeting was this past weekend. With a young married couple, one high school senior, one just graduated college young adult, one Ember board member, and all 4 Shengs, it's a small and eclectic team. [But we've got some other things in the works...]

After our time together, I'm even more confident that God has placed each person on this team for a specific reason and for His specific time in history. Our hope is that some amazing things happen in Queen Creek AZ and to us because of this investment.

Here's some of the things we talked through:
+ the paradigm of a catalyst
+ the history of working with Ben Cloud
+ person of peace [part of our preassessment]
+ some admin stuff - meetings, travel logistics, etc.
+ blood sugar sensitive dessert

If you are in charge of a short term student team this summer, I'm sincerely hope you are preparing them. One of the reasons The Ember Cast exists is to help leaders do this.

[Related: 2010AZ mtg #3,
2008Hungary mtg #3,
2007Hungary mtg #3,
2006Cameroon mtg #3
2005Brasil mtg #1]

Seven Years Later

In the middle of March, I'm traveling to New York City with a small team to facilitate some mission team training. The connection is via some friends who work with Christian Associates and it's a real privilege to help out in this kind of manner.

Our goals include the normal team preparation - helping the team learn to communicate clearly, see something different from the familiar, build a team identity, etc. We are also eager to help each person see their unique role on the team and for each person to experience valid but different expressions of Church. Overall though, this weekend serves to help jump start this team so they can continue to prepare well for their summer experience. For each segment of the weekend, we are providing some followup material to the leaders involved. This context requires leaders that understand not only the specific elements of leading teams in other cultures, it also requires leaders that understand how to be catalytic - how to give it away.

I'm delighted that KevGN and his wife KeelyN are on the team - you'll remember them from serving with the SPACE 08 Hungary team this past summer. Also joining me are JAB and FB - long time readers will remember them from the SPACE 05 Brasil team, before they were married. Each one of them has served in a leadership capacity in other cultures, they understand serving and they are super excited to be a catalyst for this team. It's plain awesome to serve with these four, whom I've worked with on separate occasions, but now all together at once. Extra bonus - Kev and Andy were in my small group when they were high school students.

Kev, Andy and I traveled to NYC with some other students in the summer of 2002, serving with a YWAM base. Seven years later, it gets even better.

Photo: Kev, me and Andy, NYC, 2002.