I am a big fan of Ben. Ben is pulling together a great event for creatives, communicators and leaders called Story. He’s hosting it with Park Community Church. I am a big fan of Park as well. So, I think you’ll want to be there. Visit www.storychicago.com.

STORY is a conference for the creative class in ministry on September 23-24, 2010 at Park Community Church in downtown Chicago. The purpose is to fuel the church’s artists, writers and producers in communicating the greatest story ever told. You’ll hear from some of the best creative practitioners in both ministry and the marketplace, from filmmakers and authors to actors and musicians. Presenters include:

# Dan Allender – best-selling author, professor at Mars Hill Graduate School
# Charlie Todd – creator of Improv Everywhere in New York City
# Princess Zulu – AIDS victim from infancy, advocate for the oppressed
# Jason Fried – founder of 37Signals, creator of Basecamp, author of Rework
# John Sowers – president of Donald Miller’s The Mentoring Project
# Shauna Niequist – former creative director at Mars Hill, author of Bittersweet
# David Hodges – formerly of the band Evanescence, award-winning songwriter
# Leonard Sweet – futurist, author of 40 books, professor at Drew University
# David McFadzean – creator of Home Improvement, producer of Roseanne
# Richard Walter – accomplished screenwriter and professor of film at UCLA
# Sean Gladding – member of Communality, a new monastic community
# Andrew Klavan – author of True Crime (Clint Eastwood) and numerous novels
# Gary Dorsey – founder of Pixel Peach Studio in Austin, TX
# Music by Vicky Beeching, Kari Jobe and Carlos Whittaker

Jud Wilhite serves as Senior Pastor of Central Christian Church. Thousands attend Central’s campuses along with a global community who attend online. Jud is the author of several books including Eyes Wide Open, Uncensored Grace and Uncensored Truth. Under Jud’s leadership, Central is dedicated to helping people find their way to God. He is known for his conversational approach to teaching the Bible and his passion to help others know God and love him more. Jud and his wife, Lori, reside in the Las Vegas area with their two children and a slobbery Bulldog named Roxy.

Backstage Leadership is a chance to get behind the scenes with today’s top influencers and ask the questions you want to.  Learn how they communicate, how they make decisions, how they lead their ministries, churches and businesses.  Backstage Leadership is about building and replicating leaders.  If you’d like the chance to learn from Wess and other amazing leaders this year, sign up today.

The only way to win the lottery is to place your bet. The only way to hit the game winner is to shoot. The only way to hit the jackpot, is to take a chance.

Here’s the problem though. Most people want the winnings without the cost. Most of us want the accomplishment without the investment. Most of us want the victory without the sweat. Most people want the reward without the risk. I am not immune to that either.  The easiest way does seem desirable. But that is the lizard brain talking according to Seth Godin.

One of my heroes is Walt Disney. I have been doing quite a lot of reading about him as of late and it is blowing me away. He was creative and entrepreneurial and by most standards successful.  But Walt bet everything he had multiple times in his career and had he failed, there would have been no more Walt Disney, no Walt Disney World and no more movies past the 1940s.  Walt hit the jackpot because he went all in.  Walt was successful because he worked his butt off. Walt shows us that taking a risk and working hard are the two ingredients that must be taken if we are to accomplish the visions and dreams we have. Every great venture requires risk and hard work.  If you find someone who is not willing to take a risk and work hard, then you’ll find someone won’t accomplish very much.

Are you willing to take a risk on your vision?

Are you willing to work hard to see it come true?

Your church won’t get off the ground unless you take a risk. Your book won’t get written unless you work hard. Your business won’t grow unless you take a chance. Your marriage won’t be great unless you put in the effort.

If you want it to be great…take a risk and work hard. And that will be hitting the jackpot!

There are few organizations I love as much as Compassion. My wife and I have been sponsoring kids through them for years. It has been an extremely rewarding experience. I love getting letters from Vika and Ricardo and to see how much they’ve grown. That is one reason why I am so excited that Wess, the president of Compassion is allowing us backstage to learn from him. He’s an amazing leader with an amazing heart. You will surely be blessed to learn from him.  I will send a copy of Wess’ book to the first person that signs up today.

Backstage Leadership is a chance to get behind the scenes with today’s top influencers and ask the questions you want to.  Learn how they communicate, how they make decisions, how they lead their ministries, churches and businesses.  Backstage Leadership is about building and replicating leaders.  If you’d like the chance to learn from Wess and other amazing leaders this year, sign up today.

I’m excited to share the next amazing leader who is joining us for Backstage Leadership this fall.  Come back tomorrow morning and see who’ll be joining Francis Chan as the second speaker for the fall. If you are not familiar with Backstage Leadership, visit here for more information.

Francis Chan

Francis Chan is one of my favorite communicators on the planet.  His passion for the gospel and the church is contagious.  He was the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Semi Valley, CA. He is the author of Crazy Love and Forgotten God.  You will not want to miss the opportunity to learn from Francis as a part of Backstage Leadership this year.

What is Backstage Leadership?

Backstage Leadership is a chance to get behind the scenes with today’s top influencers and ask the questions you want to.  Learn how they communicate, how they make decisions, how they lead their ministries, churches and businesses.  Backstage Leadership is about building and replicating leaders.  If you’d like the chance to learn from Francis and other amazing leaders this year, sign up today.

Be on the look out for the next speaker release!

This week I am beyond excited to begin sharing the amazing group of leaders that will be leading Backstage Leadership sessions this year.  Last year was unbelievable and this year is shaping up to be even better.  Join a selected group of leaders in an intense time of leadership growth. This is an experience you will not forget.

We are also having a special component this year specifically for church planters. So, if you are a church planter or know one, then you will not want to miss an amazing learning opportunity.  More information to come.

Sign up today!