man.of.depravity

I added a search box on the sidebar to the right. I’ve had people email me asking if I’ve written about this or that. Feel free to use that box to search for anything on this blog, it is a great tool for that.

Also thanks to those of you who shared some of your painful Summit stories. That is just one example of why I love blogging.

Blogs

• We raised over $1,300 for Vernonia during the praise night last Friday. Awesome!
• I blogged about sex addiction when I talked about the book Porn Nation. Here is a blog that gives you a first hand experience of what it truly is and how it effects people.
• Pastor Greg Laurie lost his son to a car accident. It is kind of surreal to me because he looks so much like my dad. This is a video of him sharing about the loss.
• Phil Wickham recorded a live album in Portland back in May. I was there. Now you can get that album for free on his blog.
• Jill is blogging!!!! She has an awesome post about people being bored in church. Head over there and say hi.
• Todd Hiedstand on being the church in suburban America. Great stuff.
• Romal Tune on the question of whether he is liberal or conservative. It is pretty sad that I get asked this a lot. Even more sad that people form their opinion about me around the answer (as if there is a great answer).

News

• This is the best article I’ve seen on the petty level the Presidential race has stooped to in recent weeks. I hear now that McCain has ads ripping on Obama for taking a week of. Seriously?
• For those of who you do not think the mob is real, read this.
• Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife interviewed with ABC News. I don’t know how you can watch it without crying.
• Tim Hughes has a sweet new song “Jesus Saves”.
• Big news the past 24 hours…John Edwards had an affair. I have 2 thoughts: why now? and stop throwing stones at him from the sidelines.
• For those of you who missed the Opening Ceremony last night, you really missed out. It was absolutely incredible. That is the very best way I can describe it.

For those of you who think I’m too serious on this blog: please enjoy this (below). Ross, Matt, and I were best friends in high school. We always danced to techno in Ross’ car. We decided it was time to do our first techno video shoot.

I can’t believe I’m actually posting this on my blog.

Today was the first day of being a satelite host for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Aside from saying hi to friends from all over the state, watching the sessions, and eating…I was running around doing all sorts of things to make things go off without a hitch. I’ve been going since 7am and now its 9pm. Wow! What an awesome day.

Special thanks to those of you who came out for dinner after wards, so great to connect and meet new people.

Lots of the Leadership Summit is on philosophy, ideas, and vision casting. It is heady stuff. My highlight of the day was when Wendy Kopp spoke about how her idea for Teach for American began to take root. Her target group for workers: college seniors from elite universities. This idea came out when she was a senior at Princeton University. Her advisor thought she was crazy. These students generally graduate to six-figure salaries and she was trying to recruit them for a salary no where close to that.

Here was my first thought about her idea: genius.

You see I’m only a year and half removed from undergrad education. Most of my friends from college graduated to dead end jobs, or were working endless hours just trying to move up. Most of them have now decided to go back to school for a masters or have moved on to a more meaningful, low paying job.

If you wonder why your church doesn’t reach college graduates, I think I know why. College grads are qualified enough to be given respect, power, and leadership. Most churches don’t give any of those to people who are 22. Wendy Kopp and Teach for American is a success story because she knew that college grads don’t just want money, they want to work for meaning and signifcance.

Question for you: Would you rather do a meaningful job or a high paying job?