You won’t want to miss the Catalyst West Conference, happening April 18-20, 2012 in LA, where 3,500 young leaders will converge, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including the one I’m most excited about–my beautiful wife Lori Wilhite and Brandi Wilson, who will be leading a lab!! There are many incredible speakers like Andy Stanley, Marcus Buckingham, David Platt, Erwin McManus and Craig Groeschel, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, design expert Nancy Duarte, best-selling author Donald Miller, author and adventurer Bob Goff, and Stuff Christians Like Jon Acuff.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Mark Batterson, Britt Merrick, David Kinnaman, Ryan Meeks, Lysa TerKeurst, Charles Lee, Rick McKinley,and others.

Best Rates on Catalyst West tickets end this Thursday, February 16th, so REGISTER NOW. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystwestcoast.com. You can use Rate Code FOB for an additional discount off your ticket price. Catalyst will sell out, so make sure and register early!

I’m so excited about this weekend!

Lincoln Brewster will be with us to lead us in worship at the Henderson campus and to bust out a little suprise from his days with Steve Perry (of Journey fame). Our other campuses will have some surprises of their own. I’ll be teaching on The Game of Life and there will be some tailgating going on around the weekend.

Plus everyone will be wearing their favorite jerseys. I’ll be wearing a Cowboys jersey, though I am doing it hesitantly. After so many disappointments I can’t really bring myself to wear the number of anyone on the current team, but I’ve got a special jersey just for the occasion. I’m thinking the Giants could pull it out, but after watching them crush the Cowboys twice at the end of the season I’m not too giddy about that!

This is a perfect weekend to invite a friend along, hang out, and then go to your Super Bowl party of choice. We wont be showing the game at Central. Hope you can join us at one of our physical locations or online!

Coming up March 15 is a 180-minute online conference you should check out on how to prepare and deliver better messages. This event is hosted by Jeff Henderson and will be very helpful.

I’ll be teaching the nuts and bolts of message preparation along with some of my favorite communicators like Andy Stanley, Dr. Charles Stanley, Perry Noble, Louie Giglio and Vanable Moody.

Best of all is that it is FREE. You can learn more and register here.

Everybody gets dressed up, smiles, and acts like everything is cool. Never mind what’s really going on behind the scenes in life, we feel pressure to keep up appearances. Maybe this is why I love this challenge from Fil Anderson:

“My highest hope is for all of us to stop trying to fool others by appearing to have our act together. As people living in intimate union with God, we need to become better known for what and who we actually are. Perhaps a good place to begin would be telling the world—before the world does its own investigation—that we’re not as bad as they think. We’re worse. At least I know that I’m worse. Let’s get real. For every mean-spirited, judgmental thing some preacher has said, I’ve thought something nastier, more hateful and more cutting about one of my neighbors. For every alleged act of homophobia by my fellow Christians, I’ve done something stupid to demonstrate my manliness. For every brother or sister whose moral failure has been exposed, I’ve failed privately. No matter how boring followers of Jesus may appear to be to the outsiders, they don’t know the half of it; trust me.… If we really believe the gospel we proclaim, we’ll be honest about our own beauty and brokenness, and the beautiful broken One will make himself known to our neighbors through the chinks in our armor—and in theirs.”

Only when we are honest about our “own beauty and brokenness” can we really begin to heal and become the people God desires. Some say the church is full of hypocrites; I respond with the oft quoted line that they should come along anyway because “there is always room for one more.” Thank God for his grace! We don’t have to act like we’re at the prom when we’re hurting. And when we’re honest about our sin and our need for the grace of Jesus we can be surprised at the care and concern we receive.

If you, your wife, or your co-worker needs encouragement … challenge … connection … and inspiration …

All while sitting comfortably on the couch with a Latte in hand, then check this out.

The JustONE Conference is a free for all Pastors’ Wives and Women in Ministry. This 4 week conference will include over 20 speakers sharing from their personal lives and leadership. Each session will be shown 4 times during the week on Leading and Loving Its Media Social page or through their Facebook page.

This year the conference is based on 1 Timothy 4:12b-16  (The Message) “Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed–keep that dusted off and in use. Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.”

Each week will be hosted by:
Lori Wilhite, Senior Pastor’s Wife at Central Christian Church Las Vegas and Founder of Leading and Loving It
Brandi Wilson, Senior Pastor’s Wife at Cross Point Church in Nashville and Co-Leader of Leading and Loving It

Week 1: Monday, January 23rd and Tuesday, January 24th
11am EST/ 8am PST and 9pm EST/ 6pm PST both days

“Teach believers with your life:  by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.”
Speaker 1: Kay Warren, Senior Pastor’s Wife and Founder of the HIV & AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church
Speaker 2: Jenni Catron, Executive Director at Cross Point Church
Speaker 3: Michelle Meeks, Senior Pastor’s Wife at Eastlake Community Church
Speaker 4: Jessica Cornelius, Senior Pastor’s Wife and Director or EmpowHER and Missions at Bay Area Fellowship
Speaker 5: Heather Palacios, Executive Pastor’s Wife at Church by the Glades

Week 2: Monday, January 30th and Tuesday, January 31st
11am EST/ 8am PST and 9pm EST/ 6pm PST both days

“And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed–keep that dusted off and in use.”
Speaker 1: Makeda Pennycooke, Executive Pastor at Freedom House Church
Speaker 2: Holly Furtick, Lead Pastor’s Wife at Elevation Church
Speaker 3: Julie Richard, Senior Pastor’s Wife and Director of Sisterhood at Lake Hills Church
Speaker 4: Tricia Lovejoy, Lead Pastor’s Wife and Leader of Girlfriends at Mountain Lake Church
Speaker 5: Lisa Hughes, Senior Pastor’s Wife at Church by the Glades

Week 3: Monday, February 6th and Tuesday, February 7th
11am EST/ 8am PST and 9pm EST/ 6pm PST both days

“Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching.”
Speaker 1: Tiffany Cooper, Senior Pastor’s Wife at People’s Church
Speaker 2: Trisha Davis, Campus Pastor’s Wife at Cross Point Church and Co-founder of Refine our Marriage
Speaker 3: Eleana Garza, Church Planter’s Wife at New Generation Fellowship
Speaker 4: Melissa Elswick, Church Planter’s Wife at Crossway Church
Speaker 5: Lysa TerKeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries

Week 4: Monday, February 13th and Tuesday, February 14th
11am EST/ 8am PST and 9pm EST/ 6pm PST both days

“Don’t be diverted.  Just keep at it.  Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.”
Speaker 1: Laryssa Toomer, Campus Pastor’s Wife at Manna Church
Speaker 2: Kerri Weems, Senior Pastor’s Wife and Pastor of Celebration Sisterhood at Celebration Church and part of the Lead Team for ARC Women
Speaker 3: Lucretia Noble, Senior Pastor’s Wife at NewSpring Church
Speaker 4: Kimberly Scott, Senior Pastor’s Wife and First Impressions Director at Grace Church San Diego
Speaker 5: Lisa Young, Senior Pastor’s Wife and Director of Flavour at Fellowship Church

You can receive email reminders for the JustONE Conference, just CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Registration is not required to attend, it is only required if you wish to receive email notifications.

Don’t forget to visit Leading and Loving It for all the details and if you have any questions.

Brennan is in his late 70’s now. The crowds that packed out his speaking tours have long gone. He has to have someone help him get up, help him eat, and help him do even the most basic functions of life. He’s alone except for his caretaker many days. He’s developed “wet-brain” from his struggle with alcoholism, a medical condition that affects his memory, among other things. Reading his memoir felt like a “goodbye” and reminded me how much I owe him.

I only met him once. I didn’t know much about him at the time, but a friend invited me to a breakfast he was hosting at a church. Nobody showed! It was just my friend and I, the pastor of the church, and Brennan.

This sort of embarrassing moment became a remarkable gift. He sat with us all morning and shared his story of his time as a priest, his alcoholism, his marriage, and through it all the power of God’s grace. I remember that we met for several hours until almost lunch and then he was headed to a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that was happening in town. He had such presence and such compassion. After this meeting I was so moved by this humble man I devoured most of his books.

Alcoholism continued to hound him through his life and ministry.

In The Ragamuffin Gospel he shares a question and response that has been quoted many times. He writes, “Often I have been asked, ‘Brennan, how is it possible that you became an alcoholic after you got saved?’ It is possible because I got battered and bruised by loneliness and failure; because I got discouraged, uncertain, guilt-ridden, and took my eyes off Jesus. Because the Christ-encounter did not change me into an angel.”

Even after writing this he succumbed to the bottle again and again and ultimately it destroyed his marriage and much of his life. He movingly describes missing his mom’s funeral at a nearby hotel where he blacked out from having too much to drink.

He says he has a shorter answer to the question now in his memoir: “Brennan, how is it possible that you became an alcoholic after you got saved?” Answer: “These things happen.”

Sadly, these things do happen. None of us are immune to temptation or the pull of sin; none of us are ever beyond the need of God’s grace in Jesus.

Life this side of heaven is messy and people of faith can often find themselves living in a contradiction they can’t explain. The temptation can be to pull away from God, but what I appreciated about Brennan’s memoir is that he’s still clinging to Jesus. He could define himself by a lot of things—failed priest, divorcee, alcoholic, etc. But he’s spending his final days hanging on to Jesus.

I’m not seeking to justify Brennan’s life or overlook his mistakes. Sin is serious and needs to be faced with the grace and power of God. But I was reminded that we can all be justified by Jesus.

He’s the only one worth hanging onto, no matter what “these things happen” we find ourselves in.

He implied that the real joy in life is not in all the success, but in the work itself, in loving what you get to do and doing it with excellence. He spoke of never working just for a paycheck and not coming into money until his late 30′s, and then feeling guilty about it!

Everybody today is real concerned about whether they can be successful at something or not. Some have even suggested that if you can’t be the best in the world at something, then you should find something else to do. How ridiculous! I’m sure glad Van Gogh never heard that advice, or many of the other artist’s who died in obscurity only to have their work later hang in art museums.

Success is great, but what is more important is simply getting to do what you love to do and giving it your best, either for your paid job or your “night job.” As far as getting paid for what you love to do, my friend Jon Acuff wrote a excellent book called Quitter.

Do you love to paint or write or run or speak or sing or play? The joy is in the act itself.

Years ago I read a book for a college course called “Writing Down the Bones” on the craft of writing. I remember it vaguely as a kind of a zen-ish look at the importance of stream-of-consciousness writing. The key wasn’t to talk about writing the great American Novel or to think about someday writing that book, but to grab a pen and just…write. Our creative writing professor wouldn’t even allow us to punctuate or take our pen up off the paper for certain exercises! The first draft, writing down the bones, was pure flow, even it if made no sense.

A question we asked a lot in the course was, “What makes a writer?” In the end, you can’t say it is books or sales or tours or bestseller lists. What makes a person a writer is that they love to write and they just do it. Writers write. It’s that simple.

Writers write, salespeople sale, runners run, painters paint, songwriters write songs, guitarists play guitar, cooks cook. It is first about finding joy in the act of doing these things irrespective if anybody else ever notices.

So grab a pen or a paintbrush or sign up for the little theatre or start training for the marathon because that’s what God has put in your heart! Find joy in the work.

All this to say, thanks Ricky. I’m sure you’ll offend half the known world on the Golden Globes, including me. But I appreciated the nugget I got from the interview this morning.

Happy New Year everybody!

It’s crazy that we are in 2012, but here we are. This year with resolutions and everyone gearing up for the future, I’m remembering what a counselor told me in a very important appointment. He listened to me talk about my life and history and asked question after question.

After he heard me talk for a while he said, “Jud, let me repeat back to you a phrase you used, because I think there is something there we need to consider. As you were speaking about your life you used this phrase more than once–‘do it on my own with God.’”

The reason that is important is we have a kind of logic that we develop in our hearts about God and our life. Often this way of thinking comes form our past or our upbringing or our church experience, but it may not come from God.

He continued, “What concerns me is that your emphasis seems be on the words on my own.”

Now, my first thought was, “I didn’t say that…”

But I had said it and it revealed that I while I talked real well about doing things with God, the truth was that I had a long way to grow in this area. I need to invite God in more and live from his grace. I need to stop worrying and doing it on my own. I need to stop idolizing my own independence, and start allowing God’s grace to work through me in all that I accomplish. I need to stop assuming I have grace all wrapped up nicely with a bow on top when I’m not applying the depth of the gift. I need his undeserved favor for more than I ever imagined.

If you are looking out at 2012 and tired of trying and failing in your relationship with Jesus, maybe it’s because you’re relying on your own strength and not on the Lord. He can break the unhealthy attachments you have made. He can heal from the past disappointments. He can shake you up out of apathy and indifference. If you’re trying to keep it together, trying to work out your marriage, trying to stay involved at church, trying to pray more, trying to keep juggling everything to keep it from all crashing down, maybe you should just stop trying so much and focus on surrendering to God’s power.

You don’t have to do it on your own.