• 1 Kings 18:41-48
• When God makes you a promise it starts small, as a cloud out in the distance over the sea.
• First comes the Promise of God, then you go through the process. Finally, you come to the payoff.
• God is preparing you for what he’s preparing for you.
• DO NOT miss the payoff because you couldn’t make it through the process. HANG IN THERE!
• God is a covenant keeping God!

I would have had better notes on this, but I could barely type because the guy was so stinking captivating. I needed to

J-U-S-T

L-I-S-T-E-N.

-Greatness is NOT a function of the cards you’re dealt.

-Greatness IS a function of discipline and making choices.

-the great fall by over reaching.

-how do you know if you’re over reaching? You grow do fast that you end up compromising the seats in the bus and you put the wrong people in them.

-if you get the right “who’s” you’ll get the right “what’s.”

-if you keep and live by a to do list, you need an equally robust not to do list

-we are defined as leaders often by the decisions that nobody even knows we have to make.

-the best leadership decision Nehemiah ever made was when first arrived on the scene and said “I’m not going to take my fair share.”

-we don’t have positional authority in ministry. We can’t make anyone do anything because our people are volunteers.

-we have a better kind of authority…moral authority.

-we have to align our creeds and deeds. When we do that we gain influence.

-we aren’t talking about being perfect…there’s no such thing. We ARE talking about being aligned.

The three most important ways we can apply this:

In our forgiveness, our family, and our finances.

Some good stuff:

• got to meet this guy in person. already new him really through phone, chat, twitter, blog, e-mails, etc. AWESOME GUY!
• got to see my blogging idol, Flowerdust. She’s doing an amazing job covering Catalyst 2008 with Catalyst Backstage…LIVE. If you aren’t at the conference, be sure to check it out.
• hooked up with LV Hansen and the Catalyst Roadtrip peeps for a little reunion. And I won a cool bag with some motor oil, fuzzy dice, air freshners, and something that resembles a beer bong…i think it was supposed to be a funnel.
• Saw Louie Giglio, but didn’t get to ask him any questions.
• Met Chris from ROOV.com. Pretty cool tool. Check it out. He had THE COOLEST business card ever. I will be ripping it off 100%.
• I get to share a room and hang out with two of my best friends in the world. Cole Phillips and Nic Burleson. I love these guys…

Some bad stuff:

• we didn’t get to attend the Catalyst labs.
• missed my chance to chat with Pete Wilson. I have some questions about church planting for that guy.
• had a bumpy flight coming in and a grumpy stewardess sitting next to me. tried to cheer her up but I did not succeed. Hate it when I can’t bring a smile out.

I got to hook up with LV Hanson and check out the Catalyst Vanagon yesterday. LV told me that they get a budget for food and gas. Notice anything major missing when you’re on the road for weeks at a time…that’s right…LODGING. These guys sleep on people’s couches or in the snazzy 1985 VW Vanagon popup sleeper when necessary.

They make stops along their trip to encourage leaders, interview, take goofy pictures, hand out free resources, pray together, and just show people some leadership love. These guys are intentional about doing good and changing lives.

They are even ministering while out on the road and helping people like the victims of Hurricane Gustav in Baton Rouge. Be a part of that here.

Oh, and best of all in the Vanagon – a picture of Andy Stanley wearing a T-shirt. Never thought I’d see that.

I’ve never seen a group of people pour their hearts into other leaders like Catalyst does. We are taking a group of at least 7 people to the conference this year and I am pumped up! Catalyst is more than just another conference – it’s a movement, a convergence, an experience where you find yourself fully immersed in learning, worship, and creativity. Catalyst brings the influencers, the do-ers, the cultural architects, and the change agents who will reclaim our communities and culture for good together. Then, those leaders go home and catalyze those whom they lead.

The potential for life change through the “ripple effect” is absolutely insane. God is in this event more so than any I’ve ever been a part of.

Check out the “before and after” video below. Then, check out their vimeo channel with other videos here.

Had a blast LV. Thanks for stopping by!

Catalyst Road Trip – The Beginning… from Catalyst on Vimeo.

• D.C. has the best 4th of July fireworks anywhere. It was insanity. Just the 10 minute firework display was worth making the trip.
• D.C. has the most rude waiters and cashiers in the world. In Texas we do this thing called “smiling.”
• The National Monument is not held together by anything but gravity. Its 500 feet of nothing but stones sitting on top of each other and in the wind it sways up to 3 inches each way. WOW!
• Arlington National will make you cry like a baby. There is no way to explain it. It make you realize the magnitude of the sacrifices that have been made so that we can live in a free country like we do.
• The Holocaust Museum will jack you up even more.
• The Vietnam memorial was one of the most quiet places I have ever been. It commands reverence.
• We also shot up to Baltimore one night for an Orioles game at Camden Yards. I had a blast scratching another ballpark off the list. It is a personal goal to visit every ball park in the country. Plus, it was Couper’s first ever MLB game! We got a ball signed by Josh Rupe, pitcher for the Rangers. Sweetness.
• Of course, I’m all about Texas so this was stinking awesome to learn.
• Cole did not call me one single time. THAT is an accomplishment.
• Got to check out National Community Church. Awesome place. More on that later.
• We wanted to be lazy by the pool one day, but never got around to it. There was just to much stuff to see.
• Going on a tour of the Capital was cool, but it wasn’t the highlight of the trip.
• Going in the White House was cool, but it wasn’t the highlight either.
• The highlight? Getting to be with my family for 5 days. I had a blast!

• We get to go to National Community Church on Sunday. I was supposed to hook up with their lead pastor, Mark Batterson, but he’ll be on vacation himself.
• We get to see the Zgarba family. They are Connectors who are temporarily living in the D.C. area.
• My brother got us a White House tour. I live in the White House, but this tour is the real White House.
• We are going to a Baltimore Orioles game. I am a huge baseball fan and Oriole Park at Camden Yards is one of the stadiums I haven’t been to yet.
• I get to run with my dad in the mornings all over our nation’s capital
• We’ll be there for the INSANE 4th of July fireworks display and the National Independence Day Parade.
• And who knows what else? We’re sure to get into trouble and have a blast!

Be sure to check back in here on the blog and on my twitter feed. I’ll be tweeting pics a TON.

Since I’ll be doing all my blogging and tweeting from my phone, please excuse the typos and mis-spellings that I’m sure to make.

• I took about 20 pages of notes from Rick Warren’s talk. That guy challenges the heck out of me as a pastor, a leader, and a Christ follower.
• Hooked up with a ton more guys I look up to and admire but I won’t bore you with a list today like I did yesterday.
• I did have a cool revelation of my own today. I’ll post on that next week…HUGE STUFF.
• I met a guy named Jim Sonnenburg. He’s a college pastor at Saddleback. Our conversation began because I had dropped something and he noticed, picked it up, and handed it to me. Most people would have walked off right then, but he just chilled with me for a while.
• Mark Driscoll is one of the smartest and sharpest men I’ve ever heard speak.
• Got to hear from Lee Mcfarland from Radiant Church in AZ. I’ve followed his church a little, but never knew much about him. Sharp guy as well.
• Also met this guy today, but didn’t get a chance to chat. DJ (is it Eugene?) let’s hook up sometime…after Carlos and Tony left him hanging dry, DJ pressed on and continued to cover the Summit like a pro. Check out his coverage links HERE.
• Mike Foster (Deadly Viper Ninja) interviewed my blogging hero Carlos Whitaker today. Check it out below.
• Signed up to teach the Purpose Driven model overseas today. We’ll see what God does with that…
• On an unrelated note, I am jealous that I won’t be at Whiteboard tomorrow. I have friends galore going. BUT, I do get to be here. And God is using this event to begin something that I believe is going to literally alter the course of humanity right now!
• I MISS Amber and Couper BAD BAD BAD.  Cannot wait to see them!

• Left the house early and hit the new toll road…but not early enough. We had to cut in the security line at the airport to make our flight. Luckily, everyone in line understood.
• When we arrived in Orange County we drove up to LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and then Venice Beach. It was a blast checking it all out with Cole.
• While on Hollywood Blvd, we shot a video for church…nothing super special, but cool because its on location. Oh, and we did it all on a terrible little camera. Hopefully the footage is good enough…
• Went to “High Voltage Tattoo” (LA INK, Kat Von D’s place) and checked it out. I was going to get the Connection Church blocks tattooed on my arm, but Kat Von D is pretty proud of her work…about $600 proud. SHEESH.
• SUPER PUMPED about the conference starting tomorrow. Look at this list of speakers. WOWWWWW!!! I am HONORED that I get to be a part of this event! Only 1,500 people worldwide are invited to this event. Thank you Jesus!
• I tweeted so much today that my iPhone ran out of battery power.
• Cole just started snoring. Crud.

Its called “snow.”
Zak White www.zakwhite.com Sent from my iPhone

Zak White www.zakwhite.com Sent from my iPhone

I was in New York last summer and got to visit the memorials and the WTC site.  It was a humbling experience.  To be right there where so many passed away makes the whole thing really hit home a little harder.  I can’t imagine what that day must have been like.

So to all of the families, to the victims, and to our nation’s leaders, know that this pastor prayed for you today and was thinking about you.