q reflections

over the past few days, as i have painted, painted and painted; i find myself going back to the conference, and here are the highlights.

- catherine rohr sticking to the pastors about not being welcoming towards former prisoners as they re-enter society. how pastors read moses, david, and paul and they were all murders, so why do act different towards murders today?

- chilling with the guys from imago dei and new providence at ted's thursday night. rick mckinley is absolutely hilarious. meeting christian was a good time. a few drinks, many laughs, great stories. . . i have got to get down to the bahamas.

- the worship experience thursday night. rob bell led communion, and the worship was communion with God. an intimate time, yet a celebration of life, forgiveness, and love. singing tim hughe's song everything was a profound spiritual experience for me. everyone should go and download it right now. no questions asked.

- beating hootkey, shotgun, and pony in poker tuesday night and making a quick 15 bucks.

- eating at fire of brazil. the amount of meat i ate for dinner thursday night was phenomenal. seriously. filet mignon, flank steak, top sirloin, chicken, lamb, sirloin wrapped in bacon. . . i can't remember all of it. there were no exotic meats, like gator or kangaroo, but i don't care. one of the best dining experiences ever.

- the panel on homosexuality with shane wheeler and chris seay as well as the talkback session with them. while they remained fairly conservative on their stance towards homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle, i felt they still approached the topic with a grace that is not usually exhibited by pastors at conferences. they were still very thought provoking and i believe will help move the conversation forward. i thought it was interesting that they didn't let them talk, but instead they were interviewed.

- blake mycoskie from tom's shoes. click on the link to the right to find out about them. they're great. and i love ideas like this that will change the world. basically, you buy a pair of these argentinian shoes, and they give a pair to someone in argentina. its that simple. and there are tons of different colors and styles.

- the private concert with jon foreman of switchfoot. i wrote about this before, but this was one of the coolest concert experiences ever. during the whole thing i kept thinking about mckinna, and how i wished that she was there with me, and how much she would enjoy it, and right after it was over, her mom called me to tell me that she had talked to her, and kinna wanted me to know how much she loved me and missed me, and how she couldn't wait to see me. that was exactly what i needed to hear.

anyways, it was overall a great conference. i hope to go next year and continue to meet new people, continue to be inspired, and continue to move closer to God.

be good to each other. look at Christ. peace.