Yesterday we heard from Steve Graves and Jonathan Beasley about the "true heroes" in the church... those that are plowing through the details of every day life and the messiness of what really happens in church leadership... those that may not get stage time but are learning practical lessons discovered only in the process of digging for them. We wanted to hear from Bryan about lessons he has unearthed during his process of working in the church.

(Video and pictures on the next page)

Bryan Shock recently planted a church in Conway, AR. He brought 136 people to Catalyst this past October, his 6th time at Catalyst, and he shared some of his story with us while we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Bryan admitted what we hear all the time and what can only be understood through serving in the church, "passion ebbs and flows and sometimes it can die. At that point it becomes job maintenance." It's true. How many pastors and church leaders find themselves staring at their desk wondering they can keep up in the race and make it one more day? Probably more than we hear about... Bryan doesn't claim to have the answers and probably didn't share all he could have with us but one thing he did offer as insight from his journey was, "the process of leadership growth plays a vital role in stirring passion." Bryan wants to grow and has people walking with him towards that end.

Here is Bryan sharing more about what he is learning on the front line of the church...

Before leaving Conway Chris arranged for us to be able to meet with Rick Bezet, Senior Pastor of New Life Church. It was last minute and Rick was able to squeeze us in between a couple of meetings... it was great to have a chance to meet Rick and connect with him for a few minutes. He is a HUGE LSU fan and had to deal with Chris and his Arkansas flag hanging in the background! Sorry Rick... :-) While we were talking in the Vanagon a pre-school class came strolling by and we ended up hanging out with them for a few minutes. They saw the picture of Lanny and the camel on the side of the Vanagon and one of them decided to name the camel "Furry." We passed out some candy, much to the delight of their teacher, "great... sugar for the kids, thanks guys!"

We were thankful for time with Bryan and Rick and look forward to seeing them in October. We are staying in Nashville tonight with Nate Larkin & the guys from the Samson Socitey and then heading back to Atlanta on Tuesday. We are looking forward to getting home and doing some laundry! Chris will take off for Dallas later this week, and LV will head back to the Catalyst offices... a map of our next road trip will be released sometime in the next week. Stay tuned!

Your Friendly Vanagon Vagabonds

The Vanagon is running great and we are logging some serious highway miles! On Friday we left Tulsa, OK and drove to Fayetteville, AR where we were able to meet with Henry Ho, Rick West, and Clay Bell from NorthStar Partnering Group. The guys from NorthStar are leveraging their resources and connections to create jobs and impact people in a small Himalayan town.

Check out the video on the next page highlighting "Business As Missions" and hear more about the rest of our weekend... fun pictures to follow!

Business As Missions...

(Fayetteville, AR) Saturday morning we were able to have breakfast with Steve Graves, a consultant and founding partner of Life@Work Co., and Jonathan Beasley, Senior Pastor of The Church at Arkansas. Do you remember Craig Groeschel's message at Catlayst last year? Jonathan shared about how he and his team left that session and began honestly praying a prayer that changed the face of their church, "Lord, disturb us." Craig's message cultivated a desire to have their hearts tilled so that their young church would not be formula driven... they wanted to hear from the Lord. Jonathan shared about how that prayer, "Lord disturb us," is a dangerous prayer. Within three weeks Jonathan had to make a very difficult staffing decision which lead to a major shift in where they were going. He told us that it set the stage for the Lord to do what only He could... their vision was disrupted, but their trust in the Lord was growing deep roots.

We asked Steve to share about what he has been learning, and he took time to honor local pastors with his words. We know that not every pastor or church leader will hear these words from Steve, but it is our true hope that every pastor and church leader in the country would hear a message from someone that echoes Steve's words. "The heroes of the next generation in the church are the men and women we don't see on stage... men and women that are impacting people one person at a time." Steve is not a pastor but has HUGE heart to help the church and invest in the Kingdom of God. He talked more about how we live in a culture that loves to highlight and platform the glamorous leader (the "rock star"), and while that is absolutely ok, it can be an invitation for others to embrace a success formula that is foundationally flawed. The true experts and the leaders that we must learn from are those "launching efforts for the community, dealing with payrolls issues, pornography issues with their staff, wondering why the microphones don't work... the leaders that don't get paid well, deal with all of the behind the scenes mess, and then... on top of it all, embrace the hurt and tears of their church members." Steve's words hit home. "These are the true experts." If you are reading this and you are a pastor and/or church leader, thank you. If you are reading this and you know a pastor and/or church leader, please tell them thank you. Our unsung heroes are the men and women we don't hear from... the very men and women we hope to introduce to you throughout the Catalyst Road Trip. Yes, we have high profile pastors and leaders featured throughout this blog, but the Catalyst Road Trip began with the hope of sharing personal stories and tangible wisdom from the leaders that you may not have heard from before... stay tuned, more insight from front line experts to come!

Before leaving Fayetteville Saturday morning we stopped and spent a few minutes visiting with David Roth, president of Work Matters, an organization bridging the gap between work and faith. Even though we were only able to spend a short time it was an honor being able to meet David and hear first hand about their ministry. Make sure to check out what they are doing by clicking on their website (above). You can see a picture of David and his family to the left...

Saturday afternoon we drove north to Branson, MO and spent time with the leadership from K-Life, a youth ministry focused on mentoring and discipling today's teenagers. K-Life began as a follow-up ministry to campers from Kanakuk Kamps, and their relationship with Kanakuk continues to be an important part of both their vision and their heritage. Kyle Unruh, the president of K-Life, opened his home to the Catalyst Vanagon Vagabonds and even let us hang out with his kids! We had a great time connecting with Kyle and enjoying a day of rest with good friends. Kyle & Amy Unruh lead a great family, and their kids are incredible - check out some of our pictures around the Vanagon... we were having way too much fun with the whistle pops!

Tonight, Sunday night, we are enjoying time in Conway, AR with Chris' family. (picture to the right) We are gearing up for the final two days of Road Trip #4. Tomorrow morning we are meeting with Bryan Shock from Turning Point Church, a new church in Conway. Bryan brought his team to Atlanta last October for the Catalyst Conference... we are excited to have a chance to spend some time with him and hear more about his experience on the front line of the church.

Tomorrow night we will be back in Nashville, TN... stay tuned for more from

Your Friendly Vanagon Vagabonds!

2 gas stations, 5 cities, 10 Catalyst Friends, multiple 500mph winds across the plains, and a partridge in pear tree... our day was full and fun! We have some pictures and two videos highlighting our time between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, wow, what a day!

From Oklahoma City we headed to Edmond where Terry Storch from LifeChurch.tv invited us to spend the morning with him and gave us a chance to hear about his role as "Digirati Pastor" and the power of leveraging technology to impact culture. We thought, "great, now the 'Digirati Guru' gets to see us recording our conversation on a bottom of the line Sony Handycam - perfect!" Terry shared about their virtual campus, Second Life, and how they are already seeing impact... check out Second Life and learn more!

Click "read more" to hear about our time in Shawnee, Bristow, and Tulsa. Mark Steele from Steelehouse Media shares great insight about authenticity in our culture today...

From Edmond we traveled to Shawnee where we spent time with Jay Sampson from Heritage Church and Dale Griffin from Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU). Jay came out to Catalyst last year and worked it out so that we could come by and spend a few minutes with him before a late morning meeting. We surprised Dale at his office and had to say hi given the fact that we spent a few minutes with his brother, Ray Griffin, the day before. The brothers connection! Dale is the campus minister at OBU and rallied some of their staff to come check out the Vanagon parked outside. Fresh reactions to the highway highlighter never get old!

Bristow, OK was next on our Thursday Itinerary. How many of you have ever heard of Bristow, OK? As a fan of Catalyst you must know that Bristow is the home of our fearless Catalyst Leader, Mr. Brad Lomenick. We had to meet Brad's parents, Penny & Jerry, and offer tangible evidence to the rumor that their son really does work. :-) Penny and Jerry introduced us to Pastor Tim from the First Church of God Bristow and we had a great time hearing stories about Brad... sorry, these stories will have to stay in the Catalyst family!

We left Bristow and ended our day with two visits in Tulsa, OK. We were able to spend a few minutes with the acting President of Oral Roberts University, Dr. Ralph Fagin. Dr. Fagin took some time to share with us about a leadership principle that has been vital to him as a leader, "As you lead others, seek to meet their needs. The more you look for ways to meet other people's needs the more they will look for ways to help you accomplish your goal and vision." To have even a few moments with Dr. Fagin was a gift and we are so thankful.

Before the day ended we stopped by Steelehouse Media and met with Kevin Anderson and Mark Steele. These guys are a blast and have done a lot of creative work with Catalyst. The video below offers great leadership insight from a man honoring the Lord with his life while serving on the front line of business. "Be who you were meant to be" are his words to leaders... hear more by watching the video below -