Catalyst Atlanta is coming soon. For more information see http://bit.ly/agfgS7. For registration see http://bit.ly/bA8vyZ.

A study was made of great cities [churches], and each also carried a great vision. The question was: which came first, the great city [church] or great vision? In each case, the vision came first.
Joel Barker

“Toto, I’ve got a felling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz

No matter how one looks at our world, the nation, and our personal lives today, one thing is certain. Extremely major shifts are taking place at this point in history on a global scale, and it is essential for even our survival to understand these. Our institutions as we know them: government, medical, economic, educational, and even the church have often become nonfunctional. Unless you understand this shift and how to lead through this you are going to have a serious problem.

Unfortunately for most of us, we build an illusion around that somehow, in some way, things will keep on going. And we keep on going like we always gone. We stay in our illusion and try to muddle on. Like the old cliché, however, if you keep on doing what you always done, you will keep on getting what you’ve always got. Unless there is a sense of desperateness (dissatisfaction), it is difficult to initiate change. This sense of desperateness is already sweeping a nation.

I like the story in the Bible of blind Bartimaeus as Jesus is leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem for the last week of his life. As the man is screaming to Jesus for mercy, Jesus replies with what seems like a really stupid question.

“What do you want Me to do for you?” Mark 10:51

The reply of the man is the heart cry of each of us.

“Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Mark 10:51b

Each of us is trapped in our illusions and we can’t see what God is really doing and our part in the Kingdom Enterprise. Until we can see that and claim authority in our lives in terms of this, nothing changes and we remain trapped in our illusions. Jesus will give us that vision if we ask, just like He did with Bartimaeus.

In an earlier posting we mentioned that Dr. Lance Wallnau will be speaking April 3-4 at the Portland Christian Chamber of Commerce conference. As we mentioned, Lance Wallnau, a business coach, has identified 7 cultural mountains: business, government, arts and entertainment, media, education, family, and church. Christians should be involved in leading the transformation that is needed in each of these.

Lance is a dynamic teacher with a gift for imparting the Word of God. His anointed messages are remembered years afterwards, He captivates his audiences by humor, illustrations, drawings, and a fresh vocabulary which penetrates deep into the heart with incredible authority, clarity, and personal application.

Lance’s prophetic teaching helps people see a clearer path into transformation. His unique style and humor are designed to keep you smiling so it isn’t too painful when the truth hits home. Such high intensity in the Holy Spirit, accompanied by his pointed, colorful delivery, and use of diagrams and instruments enable him to impact his audiences and clients worldwide. His teaching is an unforgettable experience.

If you can’t make the conference or want to hear him free, you can catch him speaking at the International Life Center on Saturday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. No reservation is necessary. The address is 10014 NE Glisan, Portland, OR.

One of the problems in the Church today is that God IS calling His people to stand up, speak, and be heard. If they don’t, God holds them accountable. We have too many geldings in the Church instead of the stallions God is calling men and women to be. Geldings are nice, but they don’t bring life – they are sterile. And, as C.S, Lewis said, the problem with the churches so often is that we don’t have the stallions – we have a bunch of geldings. We castrate the stalliion and then tell him to bear fruit.

One of the best books speaking into this is John Eldridge’s Wild at Heart. Then read his Waking the Dead. It is one thing to read these books, it is another to act on it. It is time for the men and women of God to stand up. And I don’t mean just writing a letter to your congressman/woman.

Last month in Atlanta change agents gathered from 13 countries and 30 US states for the 2009 Church in the Workplace – Reclaim 7 Mountains of Culture International Conference. Leaders such as Lance Wallnau, a business coach, have identified 7 cultural mountains: business, government, arts and entertainment, media, education, family, and church. Culture is actually controlled by a small number of people at the top of each of these cultural mountains. These are the cultural gatekeepers. The Church needs to launch a broad-base attack in each of these areas to effect the transformation necessary in our culture. It is not impossible. George Otis, Jr. with the Sentinel Group has already identified hundreds of cities in the world where it has already happened.

There is some major updating going on on this site. Right now we are working on the new library menu and you will find a lot of the old stuff there as we transisition. I worked on the Finding Vision option there today. We’ll be doing more stuff there – core values option should be next.

There will be more books referenced on the site, mostly in theiir specific areas of interest; i.e. books will be with “Finding vision” . There will be more quotations added. The blog will be updated.

Expect a lot more photos, quotations that change each time the page is reloaded that’s already true on the home page), and more.

Please forgive at the moment if a link doesn’t work or you are missing something temporarily.

Thanks for your patience.

Watching the inaugural today was a very emotional experience for me. I lived in Washington, DC from 1962 to 1968. I walked that mall back then during that March on Washington (August of 1963) at the mall when King spoke and gave his I Have a Dream speech. The emotions of that moment still flood my mind. It is still amazing what happened from that astonishing non-violent action.

Then JFK was shot (November 1963) and I was caught up in the emotions of Washington with the loss of this leader with his vision of a coming Camelot and our responsibility to make it happen . Part of that vision was to put us on the moon. And that we did. I got to be a part of that vision. After three astronauts died when their capsule caught fire, my company sent me to Houston to check out things there for ideas on how to make those flights safer.

I remember walking the streets of a poor part of Washington one day much later and not seeing not a single person. Off in the distance somewhere I heard shouts. I finally found a lonely walker and asked what was happening. One of the Kennedys’ (probably Bobby Kennedy) was moving down the street in (probably an open) car, and the people were shouting greetings with hope in a coming Camelot.

Then Martin Luther King was shot in April of 1968. Again the emotions of another leader’s death shook the city. I was working at the coffeehouse of a church in the inner city that night, and calls were coming in to us that the city was burning just a few blocks from where we were. We stayed at the coffeehouse. And not even a single window was broken there that night as we worked.

Then, a few months later (June, 1968), we saw the death of Bobby Kennedy. Camelot never came.

Today, again, at this same mall we see the visions that these leaders held in the past beginning once again to break loose of the bondage that has held them for years. The most important thing about President Obama’s inaugural speech, however, is that the President only used the word “I” about three times. What really happens here in this change is up to us. It wasn’t “A change I can believe in” but “A change we can believe in”. The responsibility for leading is with us – not President Obama. What are you going to do about it?

What gifts would you like to bring to the Christ-King? Pick from the list or create your own as the Spirit leads you.

Enjoy this story of the seasons of life.

The Seasons of Life

A special message for those wondering if God can use them during this next year:

Noah was a drunkard, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar,
Joseph was abused, Moses was a murderer, Gideon was afraid, Rahab was a prostitute,
Timothy was too young, David had an illicit affair, Elijah was suicidal, Job was bankrupt,
Peter was hot-tempered, Mary Magadalene was demon-possessed,
the Samaritan woman was divorced more than once,
Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was too religious,
and Lazarus was dead.

No more excuses.