For all you business minded and entrepreneur folks, here is a few highlights of Guy Kawasaki's speech on advertising and marketing at Catalyst West. These are must haves/dos of every organism. 

Made it back safe and sound yesterday. What an amazing trip. I will be posting some thoughts about it in the near future. Yesterday Shelly and I went to the Orioles games. It was such a nice day out we just got in the car and ended up there. We grabbed lunch, an amazing esskay ballpark hot dog! We only have a hot dog probably once a year and going to the park without getting one just seemed wrong. We sat down to devour our lunch at the center field seats. I am not sure if that was a good idea or not. It happened to be batting practice and we almost got hit 3 times because we couldn't see through the piercing light rays of the sun. But, we had a blast dodging the bullets as people soared over us with their gloves to catch them. Overall a fun day! Now, we are heading to Ebs to gear up or round two of our Influence Series. Tonight 3 NCCers speak to us via video about their strategic influence in the city. You will be surprised of what you will see. Tune in to check out the videocast this week at NCC.

Had the awesome privilege of having dinner Erwin McManus, Dan Kimball, Dave Gibbons, Margaret Feinburg, and Mark Batterson last night. Great time to connect with such great leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The topic of conversation was how we can mobilize today's leaders and fuel the "out of the box" thinking for the local church to become most effective in the community. I was so excited to exchange thoughts with such great thinkers. They have launched a group call ORIGINS to serve leaders and entrepreneurs who desire to bring innovative thought and genuine Christianity to the world around them. Check out the website to learn more information and to see how you can get involved.

Talk about creative communications. This touch screen cpu was in the lobby of our hotel in Costa Mesa, CA. You can use it to find weather, food, directions, entertainment, etc. You move it around by touching the screen to transition in and out of windows and pics. It is awesome. It reminded me of minority report. This is creative at the finest level:) Love It!!

Pastor Mark spoke on creative communications for the past two days in Orlando at the Exponential Conference. This is such a hot topic among churches today and as we continue to evolve it will remain a hot topic. Here is a few highlights from his talk:

Here in Orlando wrapping it up. Great talks on creative communications. Hop a flight at 1pm to LAX for Catalyst West.

I leave with Pastor Mark for Orlando in the morning for a church planters conference. Then we hop a plane over to CA for Catalyst West Coast. Should be a great time. I will try to post some pics and thoughts as we travel. Looking forward to making some great connections. Hillsong United will be at Catalyst. Hoping to have the chance to meet everyone! That would be awesome!! Out for now. Enjoy your Sunday night.

This mornings assembly was awesome. Felt like I was firing on all cylinders. Here is a pic of Gavin, one of our 7 Project Presenters, bringing it to the 9th and 10th graders at Chopticon HS. Tonight at 7pm we will hold the night rally at the HS. Cant wait to see the turn out. I will post pics and details in the morning. Say a prayer for us as we introduce students to the 7th Solution. 

This morning I spoke in a School Assembly at Chopticon High School in Mechanicsville MD. Today we shared with the juniors and seniors. Tomorrow we will share with the freshman and sophomores. Love speaking with The 7 Project. I had the privilege to be on the 7 Project Launch team over 4 years ago. Since then we have had the opportunity to influence thousands of students and see hundreds come to cross the line of faith into a relationship with Christ. I covet every opportunity to get to influence student's lives. Even if only one student out of hundreds gets the message, its all worth it. These are our future leaders. Whatever we can do to help funnel their dreams and choices, we are all for it. If you are interested in having The 7 Project come to your town, check out this link and email Kevin Dawson at yadawson@aol.com.

So excited about our upcoming series: INFLUENCE. We have such a privilege here in DC to be able to influence people who are such influencers themselves. A good number of our congregation are Hill Staffers, Legislators, Lobbyists, Lawyers, Judges, Cabinet Members, CIA, FBI, ect. So the topic is always on the forefront. During this series, we will have a few guest speakers come and speak about how they have had the chance to influence people and the world around us. 

Video Link- SCARs SERMON

Sorry that the layout is acting funny today. We are trying to get it back running as soon as possible. Thanks so much for your understanding!!

We are up to our ears in stuffing easter eggs full of candy and shiny coins. Those who stumble upon a colored shine coin will be able to exchange their coin for an amazing prize from the one and only Disney Store! Props to Disney for all their awesome donated prizes. Can't wait til this Saturday..It is going to be such a great time to bless out community! T-minus 2 days and counting for the EasterEGGstravaganza.

Just had a little sushi with our friends Dave and Kate Schmidgall. We went to this place called Sticky Rice oh H Street. Scored the Godzirra Roll. For lack of a better word it was, SLAMMIN!! Its a good hot spot. i would recommend if you are in the area.

So excited about our Easter Celebration services. Easter is a great opportunity to invite family and friends to church. To leverage the holiday, we just mailed out 100,000 invite postcards around our community. Each postcard equals a life that can be redeemed and introduced to such a loving God. What an opportunity and responsibility we have as the local church. 

This morning in my devotions I was reminded, or just realized, that right after the Triumphal Entry, you know, when Jesus road in on the colt that "had never been ridden before", and everyone shouted with joy "blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord", Jesus went to the temple courts were he cleared the temple in righteous anger because of the selling and trading (everything but prayer) that had been going on. I didn't realize the timing of this I don't think. All the while Jesus was preparing people for what was to come, His death & resurrection. First, the triumphal entry, then the clearing of the temple. Each event bringing focus to Jesus and turning people towards the glory of God. 

Shelly and I took a detour on the way to work yesterday by the Tidal Basin to check out the Cherry Blossoms. If you look closely you can see the Monument. It was rainy so we just drove by and took a glance:)