12:07pm
What separates a level 5 leader (one able to take an organization from good to great) from a level 4 leader? Collins says according to the research the answer is: Humilty. "If it's about you, you cannot build a great organization."

He says the temptation in the church is to build it around the magnetic personality of one leader. Collins calls this highly "irresponsible."

11:57am
Collins believes the church should not become more like a business. "Most businesses are average, so why would we want to export the ideas of average business to your world [the church]." His focus is becoming great (surprise), and the way to become great according to Collins? Discipline. "That is not a business idea," he says, "but a great idea." Discipline is found in a great symphony, in Lance Armstrong's cycling team, in great public schools, in any great cultural enterprise.

11:39am
Jim Collins is wearing a jacket and tie...probably the only person within 1/2 mile of this arena.

11:37am
A school bus just drove into the arena...literally. On the bus: A mariachi band, a world-champion dodge ball player, a banjo player, and a pig named Rafael. This is the Catalyst way of introducing Jim Collins who taught us the importance of getting the right people on the bus.

11:12am
William P. Young, a.k.a. The Shack dude, is being interviewed on the platform. He wrote the book for his six kids, and it was originally self-published by Young at Office Depot. He describes The Shack as a parable and a metaphor for the damaged heart of a human being. The shack is where we hide all of our secrets and brokenness. But God can be found in our shack, and his desire is to heal us from the inside out.

Young thinks part of the reason the book has taken off is because of word of mouth. He says, "Religion has promised us a relationship [with God] but it hasn't delivered." Young people are particularly fed up with it. They "have the best crap detectors," he says.

What about the heat Young has gotten for his depiction of the Trinity? "It would be helpful if they [the critics] read the book," Young responded. "Some theological paradigms can be just as binding as emotional abuse," he added. Controversy and conversations are good, he believes, it leads to growth.

"God has an affection which is relentless in our direction." That truth took Young fifty years to realize because of wounds he's carried. "God heals us not so he can use us, but because he loves us." Young's passion was evident.

10:54am
Session 2 begins with a brief interview with Mark Batterson from National Community Church in Washington, D.C. I met Mark a few months ago. You can read the full interview at www.LeadershipJournal.net.

9:37am
Andy Stanley takes the stage. A lesson from the life of Nehemiah. "Once we become adults, the people who influence us the most rarely have authority over us." "As leaders, we need an authority beyond positional authority?we need moral authority." "Alignment between our creed and our deed?between what we say and what we do."

After explaining the way Nehemiah used his moral authority to lead the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Stanley applied moral authority to three areas of our lives: forgiveness, family and finances.

9:17am
Opening welcome by Reggie Joiner focuses on Jesus' words from John 17 about unity. Jesus prayed for unity, and that should be important to us. "There are Democrats and Republicans here together. There are some people from the emerging church and traditional church here together. We are all in the same room together. There is one thing that brings us together: that what is important to God is important to us."

9:02am
The worship band has everyone on their feet. This is definitely the largest ministry conference I've been to. At least 12,000 people in the arena. I'm curious what the arena employees (the concession workers, facility people, and cleaning staff that I've seen around the building) think about all of this?

8:40am
The morning session just kicked off. The center of the stage featured an enormous barrel shaped lcd screen that levitated above the platform to reveal a drummer underneath. His rhythmic pounding sent shockwaves through the arena. I could feel my own internal organs shifting. It then broke into the first song of the event: "We will, we will?rock you!"