Catalyst Conference

For the last 5 years Steve Sisk and I have worked as volunteers at The Catalyst Conference every October. We have heard some of the finest Christian leaders who have influenced the modern church movement over the last few years. We have heard church leaders such as Andy Stanley, John Maxwell, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Erwin McManus, Rob Bell, Louie Giglio, Ron Martoya; authors such as Don Miller and John Eldridge; business leaders such as Tim Sanders, Malcolm Gladwell, Truett Cathy; various other entertainers, politicians and humanitarians. It has always been awesome. But alas, this year I was not able to attend because of bus driving. I didn't feel that I could ask off for 2 days after just being hired. I didn't want them to think that asking off would be a common practice for me. But Steve, my son, Joe, and Bob and Monica all are there right now. I have been thinking lately of people that are currently influencing my life and shaping my thinking. Here are 5 guys that I love:

1. Andy Stanley - I love the way he communicates the Word of God. It's amazing how preachers can take the most exciting message in the universe and greatest stories ever told and make them boring. Andy breathes life into the Bible.
2. Rob Bell -I appreciate the way he is able to take you back to the world of the Bible and how he connects the Old Teastament to the New. There is a freshness to his insights. We have Americanized Christianity far too much and he takes you back to its Middle East roots.
3. Erwin McManus - I love how he views the world and faith. His church is truly multicultural and his world view is the reason he is able to pull that off when most of us are just one demensional. His faith eyes see a big God in a big world and he moves forward with that vision.
4. Rick McKinley - growing a big church in one of the most churchless areas of our great country, Portland Oregon in the Northwest. He has done so by embracing his culture instead of being anticulture. His church is green, open to the arts, environmentally active, and urban. They are changing Portland. I love the tender way he approaches Scripture.
5. Perry Noble - a good old Southern boy building a big church in Anderson, SC. I love his heart for evangelism. I love how it permeates his preaching. It has encouraged boldness in my own efforts of reaching the lost.