I apologize for this brief interruption to the previously scheduled programming. I just had to get something off my chest.

There are very few things I am fanatical about. I guess I am just not wired that way. I appreciate most things in a more sedate way. But over the last year I have found one thing I have “an obsessive enthusiasm” for…Catalyst.

Maybe it is the shear fact that every fall they gather over 12,000 young Christian leaders in Atlanta, GA?

Maybe it is how their conferences entertain me with two days of content from some of the best speakers the world has to offer?

Maybe it is how their resources equip me with sound spiritual and leadership wisdom?

Maybe it is how their team continually introduces me to new thoughts, ideas, and voices?

Maybe it is how Catalyst ALWAYS manages to exceed my expectations?

Regardless, I am ready to admit it. Me = Catalyst freak.

So, naturally I feel compelled to tell you that you don’t want to miss Catalyst Conference this year. It is October 6 through 8 in Atlanta, Georgia. It truly is an experience unlike any other.

This year’s main stage line-up includes Andy Stanley, Seth Godin, TD Jakes, Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, Perry Noble and Christine Caine.

And on the 6th, the Catalyst Labs will give you a chance to hear from some of today’s innovative thought leaders like my boss Michael Hyatt, my pastor Pete Wilson, my new favorite leadership guide John Ortberg, and my friend and blogging mentor Anne Jackson.

The best rates on Catalyst tickets end tomorrow (Thursday, June 24th), so register NOW. You can call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystconference.com. Use Rate Code FOB for an additional discount off your ticket price. And as always, Catalyst will sell out so don’t dawdle, register NOW.

So, what do you think? Will you join me in Atlanta this October?

Today is the day.

Today is the day we all have been waiting for, or at least the day I have been waiting for.

Today is the official release date for my pastor and Thomas Nelson author Pete Wilson’s debut book Plan B.

Have you ever had a shattered dream? An unmet expectation? A failed plan?

Does it feel like life is full of disappointment?

If so, you need this book.

If not, you still need this book. (Because unfortunately sooner or later, I’m pretty sure that you will be knocked down, feeling hopeless, and desperate for understanding.)

Plan B is a life-changing reminder that God does his best work in hopeless situations.

Find more information about Plan B here.

Buy Plan B on Amazon here.

I promise, you won’t regret it.

What shattered dream are you battling right now?

This morning at Cross Point, Pete Wilson talked about our greatest temptation as Christians. He said, “Our greatest temptation is not that which is ridiculously evil, but that which is deceptively good.”

Oh, how that rings true in my life. Oh, how I seem to place too much importance on WHATEVER is going well in my life. Oh, how I love to distort my blessings.

My career, my relationships, my church, my family, my online community, my wealth, my health, my comfortable existence – each are blessings. Each are blessings that I have ungratefully distorted. Each are blessings I have ungratefully distorted by making them seemingly MORE IMPORTANT than He who so generously bestowed them on me. (more…)

One thing I love about Social Media is that it is an easy what to know what is going in people’s lives (not everything, but certainly the very good and the very bad tend to pop up). So you can kind of keep tabs on what to be praying for. I am sure you already have a laundry list of prayer requests but can I suggest a few more?

Sweet, sweet, sweet Kate McRae’s family has had to make a hard impossible decision about her future treatment plans. Now that is behind them, they have a long road of ahead with chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Pray that the family would endure, stay faithful, and that their little girl would be healed. (more…)

Last week Pete Wilson posted on “Impression Management” what he calls “the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them. It’s a conscious or unconscious (but usually conscious)  attempt to influence the perceptions of other people through controlling information in social interaction.”

I am pretty skilled in this. Not that it is something to brag about. Maybe my “impression management” skills make me more qualified to be in communications? Maybe it is my WOO factor? But maybe they keep me from ever really feeling completely known?

Here, on the blog, I have figured out how to reveal enough that I seem transparent while leaving out the tidbits that I fear might send you packing. (more…)

Disclaimer: If you wanted something light and fluffy today, this post is not for you. But you can go here where we are discussing “guilty pleasures.”

Disclaimer 2: If you wanted something that was poignant and tied up with a pretty bow, this post this blog is not for you. But you can go here where I at least make a concise point.

Most of the time my thoughts are linear. You know the kind? A + B = C?

But everyone once in awhile when something big happens my brain just gets stuck, stuck in a circle. And I keep processing the same thoughts over and over, and over. I just can’t seem to make sense of them. I just can’t come to any kind of definitive conclusion.

And, as you can imagine, the “thought death-spiral” is quite frustrating. It halts productivity. It drains energy. (more…)

This is the third post in my “Drafting Blueprints” series. The series is prompting me to think through what I want to do with my life as a first step for creating a life plan. I have already tackled getting married and getting fit.

So here we go, Part 3…I want to get my hands dirty.

It is easy for me to dream of changing the world from the comfort of my living room couch but I lately I have felt called to do more. I want to go to the ends of the earth. And I want to get my hands a little dirty. (more…)

Most of my “in real life” friends are not very into Social Media, Web 2.0, Blogging, Twitter, etc. Yep, they think I am kind of freaky, or more accurately geeky. But a few have even expressed interest in reading my blog but complain that they never know when I have posted something new.

So…I thought I would share with simple step-by-step instructions on keeping up with their favorite blogs using a Google Homepage. Google Homepage enables me to keep up with all my favorite blogs and is very simple and easy-to-use.

Here’s how:

1. Make a list of blogs you want to read regularly. (more…)

Have you ever sat in church and felt like your pastor, priest, or minister is speaking directly to you? Or actually that God is screaming at the top of His lungs at you through your pastor, priest, or minister? And instantly a gut-wrenching conviction bombards your soul. Unfortunately, I know this feeling all too well. Selfishly I so wish I could sit through just one message and think, “I am so on top of this, God. I’ve already got this one covered.” But somehow I doubt I will ever get there.

Last Sunday at Cross Point, Pete encouraged us to take a moment and ask God if there was something, anything, He was asking us to do that we were neglecting. Painful question, right? Because of course, several things came to mind. Several things that I knew God was calling me to take care of and I was avoiding. Or maybe I wasn’t completely avoiding them, but I wasn’t quite doing them either. Several things God was asking me to change, but candidly I was still trying to negotiate the deal with God (But I guess that is not really how it works?) (more…)