Don Miller's DNC Benediction

click on the title for the link.
what follows is a beautiful prayer for tonight's democratic national convention.
let us all echo an amen.

"Father God,

This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.

We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.

We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.

Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.

Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.

We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.

A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.

Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.

Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.

And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good.

Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.

Amen."

peace

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.

q conference update

there has been so much information and so many topics discussed that i can't even begin to write about what we've been doing yet. but i will be writing about some of the speakers and breakout sessions in the coming days.

the speakers have been amazing. the conference has focused on culture.future.church.gospel. so each presenter has taken about 18 minutes to deal with an issue within those topics.

i have been inspired the most by jeff johnson from BET, don miller, blake mycoskie, chris seay, shane wheeler, and andy stanley. i think i only left out 5 presenters.

and last night, we had a private concert with jon foreman from switchfoot. it was like a vh1 storytellers in that he explained where some of the songs came from. he also brought out a friend on cello who was phenomenal. at one point, jon started talking about a new song he had written called "cure for pain," a song he has never played in front of an audience before, and his buddy on the cello just starts improvising and adds some gorgeous fills. in many ways, he made the song alive.

i can't leave this conference and not be changed. i can't leave this conference and be satisfied with what i do. i can't leave this conference and be okay with "just." we have a responsibility to be change things. to present a new paradigm, one that truly bucks the system of the world. and its not going to be by proclamation, its going to be by participation. redeeming those places in the world that darkness has overtaken.

salvation is here. salvation from child slavery. from human trafficking. from destroying our environment. from sex slaves. from violence. from anger. from injustice.

salvation is here.

are we actually showing that? or are we just talking about it? we may proclaim it, but are we working to actually bring a change? do we really believe that the love of God is absolute and that it can change the world?

are we ready to take a look in the mirror and see all of our problems, our sins, our dirt as we so readily accuse others of homosexuality, cussing, drinking, smoking, etc?

can we take the approach paul did and has he calls the sins out in a community, he just as quickly admits his own faults?

are we ready to do that?

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