In many ways, today far surpassed yesterday! I guess that’s what happens when you give Donald Miller two slots in the schedule. I don’t know what it is about him, but he seems to speak my heart language. If you have not yet read “Blue Like Jazz” it is worth your time.

Donald Miller began the day by interviewing his pastor, Rick McKinley, from Imago Dei in Portland. There were several things that were said during this time that floored me. I’ll share two quotes - obviously out of context (but I did get the dvd’s if you want to watch them).

Quote 1: “It’s not a matter of ‘how to’ reach the world, it’s an issue of ‘wanting to’ reach people who are not like me.”

Quote 2: (I don’t have a direct quote here, so I’ll give you my best summary.) The church clings to and strengthens what we like and we ignore and hope dies what we do not like (in the world). It is Darwinian Theology - the survival of the fittest. We might as well teach Darwinianism in our schools if we are going to live it in our churches.” WOW!

Louie Giglio followed and he is always inspiring. It’s his gift. He reminded us that God is calling the church into danger, not ease. It should be the least safe place on the planet because it should call people to encounter a God who will radically challenge and change us and lead us to dark places where Christ’s light will make a difference. He also reminded us that it is okay to try and to fail. Fear of failure holds too many people back from ever trying.

Kevin Carroll was unique in that he was the only speaker who did not share out of a Christian worldview. He is a catalyst for change in corporations all over the world and inspires people to realize their own potential to instigate change. While what he said was inspiring, he came across too much as a self-help guru for me. I’ll leave it at that.

Donald Miller closed the day out talking about the importance of the church staying on course and not veering off toward culture. Now, what most people would hear in that first sentence would be a challenge to remain moral - as opposed to the culture. That was not his point. His point dealt with the issue of consumerism. We choose churches that we like and stick with churches that “meet our needs”. Consumerism. We offer the gospel to people by selling Jesus, rather than entering into personal space with people whom we love and egaging life with them. Instead, because they are not like us, we must “sell” them the cure in order for them to be like us and able to spend time with us. In this we miss the point of Jesus’ life. We are called to invite people to reingage with their Father.

It is obviously impossible to summarize our days in a few short paragraphs. My prayer is that God would passionately empower us to live out the convictions of our calling in relationship with each of you as we work side by side to reach a hurting and hopeless world. I can’t wait to get home and see you all this weekend.