Information Overload

As I wrote last week, I attended the Catalyst Conference. It was incredible. My brother Ryan came down with his Pastor and they attended with me. We had a great time processing the content and laughing at the antics of the emcees. Very refreshing time to hear so many new ideas, and be centered again in what its all about: The Gospel message. When you work in the church or for a faith based non-profit, its easy to become desensitized to the point of the work you're doing. God calls us to care for others and help bring them into relationship with Him. The point of serving someone food when they are homeless or bringing a meal to a friend who just lost a loved one is to be a vehicle for Jesus' love for them. We need to partake in that selfless act as much as they need our care. Actually, we probably need to partake in the selfless act more. In a world that is so full of consumerism and "What is in it for me?", we all need grounding reminders of the Gospel Message.

Stacey and I went to see Call + Response the movie Monday night. For about two years now I've been working on the cause of Human Trafficking and Sex exploitation of minors in Atlanta. That has connected with a number of other people and organizations working on the cause. About a year ago I met a guy named David Batstone and another guy named Justin Dillon. David had created the Not For Sale Campaign to bring awareness and action to modern slavery. 27 million modern day slaves in the world. And he helps us understand not only the problem, but solutions we can be a part of. He was touring with Justin who is a musician and someone burdened with knowing the truth. He decided to make a film highlighting the issue and marrying his passion of music with his passion for this issue. Call + Response is his answer. It released Friday for one week in 12 cities at certain theaters. It was really compelling. So compelling I'm spreading the word, in the avenues I have:) Please check out www.notforsalecampaign.org, www.callandresponse.com. You can start there. Learn about the issue. If you don't know about it, you'll be appalled. We're talked about child soldiers, 11 year old forced sex slaves, families in bonded labor at rice plantations, forced domestic labor, and more. And this is happening in the America along with the rest of the world. If you want more info just ask me with a post or email. I've been in this issue for a while.

Finally, as I said earlier my brother came into town this weekend to attend the Catalyst Conference. He set a bunch of ridiculous records on the Wii Fit. I'm not sure how he managed to dismantle all of our marks on Saturday morning so easily, but it could be several frustrating weeks before my Mii (your little character representing you while you play) can obtain the levels of Guest C. Thanks a lot of bro. Not everybody can get paid for running around with high school kids like a crazy person. I'd probably be in better shape too.