Let me reiterate how important it is for you to make plans to join our Wednesday night teleconference Bible Study starting next Wednesday, especially if you have been intrigued by my first three Catches of this New Year. These are the things we delve into much more deeply than possible in a Catch.

For instance, our title is “Transforming the Marketplace,” and let me tell you that each one of you is the key to accomplishing this. You and I are God’s strategy for change in the world. Nothing more; nothing less. It’s not politics. It’s not religion. It’s not organization. It’s not television. It’s not evangelism. It’s not outreach. It’s not marketing. It’s not education. It’s not numbers. It’s not even church (if by church you mean anything other than you and I). It is you. You are it. I am it. We are God’s plan for changing the world. Period.

Now immediately some of you panic. All sorts of excuses crop up in your mind. You’re not ready for this. You’re not mature enough. You have too many questions yourself to try and be the answer to anyone else’s. You are too sinful. You are too shy. The last thing you want to do is go out and corral people for Christ (and on and on…). Here’s the point: none of these things matter. None of these things have anything whatsoever to do with how you are going to or not going to transform the marketplace.

But there’s another way some of you will react to this strategy for changing the world. You’ve heard this before. You are ready to try this again. As soon as you are convinced God’s strategy is you, you will show up with bells on. You are ready to go – hot to trot. Just show me what to do, God, and I’ll do it! Well… that’s not it either, and you are headed for disaster or burn out (or maybe you have already gone through both and that’s why you do not want to have anything more to do with any of this!). Because here’s why: Transforming the marketplace has everything to do with you, and nothing to do with you, and if you don’t know solidly in what way each of these contradicting things are both absolutely true in your life, then you’d better be on the phone with us on Wednesday night even though we don’t start until 10:00 o’clock Eastern. (And if you can’t afford to be on the phone long distance, figure out roughly how much it will cost you to be on the phone one hour a week for 8 weeks, and we will send you a check to cover it. And if you have any other excuse why you want to do this but can’t, let us know and we will figure out a way around it. This is too important to excuse.)

So is this Catch an advertisement? You bet it is. It’s an advertisement for what could most certainly change your life and affect your world. Are we asking for money again? No! This is where we get to give you what your money is worth.

This weekend, think about committing an hour a week on Wednesday nights for 8 weeks, and if you are ready, email Marti and she will send you a free download of our study guide to get you started. It will be like no other study guide you’ve experienced because Marti wrote it and she is right-brain nuts. You will wonder: What are we doing this for? And then you will find out when you get hit between the eyes with something important when you least expect it. But do it now so you can get an early start transforming the marketplace. Write Marti at [email protected] to obtain your study guide or to tell us why you can’t join us so we can see if we can shoot down your reason.