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http://www.colenesmith.com

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Seeing A Dream Come Alive Made Me Cry

In October of 2007, we began a series at Status called "Life In A Tent Without A Campground."  It was a 9 week journey with the Hebrew people from Egypt, through the wilderness and into the promised land.

At the beginning of the series, we built an ebenezer - a pile of rocks commemorating the miracles God has done in our lives - like the one the Hebrews built after God had led them across the Red Sea.  However, our ebenezer was two sided.  One side of our stones was thankfulness for what God had done in our lives.  The other side of the stones was where we feel God leading us next.

As I led our community through that experience, I spoke of a vision I had been having (and continue to have) for the Status community and our generation : God has placed a blessing of leadership, wisdom and adventure on us, and He desires to change the world - not from the top down - but from the middle outward.

We have been raised in an historical context of top-down leadership where the coming generations have waited and relied on the previous generation to mobilize or challenge them toward action.  But the vision God had given was clear in my mind - looking something like dripping water in the middle of a paper towel - the water creeping out into the dryness from the center.

In the past year, we've come a long way, and - through many conversations and much prayer - we are becoming an increasingly inter-generational community (more on that here and the left column on this page).

Today, I met up with a forty year old British man named Chris who has been coming to Status for a few months, and I heard him say one of the most incredible things my ears have ever heard...

"I walk into Status and see all those young people there and think, 'bloody hell, why couldn't I have been born twenty years ago?'  Those people are so talented and motivated and can do anything."

To know that Chris sees this same blessing on our generation is amazing... and more than that, to know that God has led us to tear down the walls of our man made box of twenties ministry to allow men like Chris in, is even more beautiful.

I could hardly say it without my voice quivering from the tears of joy in my eyes, "Chris, you have a lot to offer.  Let me know how I can help you invest your gifts as a contributor to the kingdom of God through Status."

Christmas at Status

We've heard the Christmas story - and every variation thereof - dozens of times. We've sung the songs to the point of exhaustion. So, with these two things in mind, I'm supposed to help create a Christmas worship gathering? Quite a daunting task... but it was a powerful night, and - best of all - we actually engaged together.

We brought everyone together for one service, and for this reason as well as our desire for people to engage in experiences around the room, we removed the chairs. Ben White, from Origins Long Beach, CA led a few songs at the beginning of the night, then Trent Sheppard, one of our teaching pastors, spoke on the parallel between the book of John (specifically the beginning) and the book of Genesis and wrapped up talking about our command as followers of Jesus to be givers over consumers.

Then, we transitioned into a time of interaction based on some questions inspired by the participants of the first Christmas (ie. Mary - "what pain has Jesus caused us? how might this pain be used for the glory of God?" or The Star - "how are we supposed to be light in the darkness?"). These questions were meant to help us be introspective around the idea of giving over consuming. Several of the questions also had interactive experiences involved with them to help people engage sensorially and not just cognitively. This time was about half an hour long and was accompanied by a group of about ten musicians.

Thanks to everyone who made this stuff happen:
Melyssa Marshall - tech director
Jenn Janaciewicz - operations
McKenzie Parker - producer

Josh Luker - engineer
Jake LeBoeuf -guitar and vocals
Luke Domeck - guitar and vocals
Noemy Olson - viola
Lu Bonilla - trumpet
Paulo Clayton - guitar and vocals
Ben White - guitar and vocals
Greg Perkins - guitar and harmonica/Designer
Sarah Hester - keys and vocals
Andrew Ross - guitar
Jordan Dowty - runner
as well as all the ops peeps that took down and reset chairs and the lighting and video crews.

Here are some pics:

If I Had the Energy...

If I had the energy, I'd write a blog post about this:

http://www.worshipleader.com/praise-awards

Something called the "Praise Awards."  Chances are, you know what I'd say about it anyway.

Rather than an entire post, here are some things to think about:

1.  A group of people sat in a room.  One of them said, "Let's have 'Praise Awards.'"  The other people in the room responded, "man, what a great idea."

2.  I've heard only one of the songs nominated for "song of the year."

3.  The music industry really knows how to squash authenticity and make everything they touch seem cheesy.

Cheers to the corporate world for doing your best to try and kill another genre of music.

Francis Schaeffer, Communal Living and The Products Thereof

Francis Schaeffer died in in 1984 at the age of 72, but his life had a significant impact on the way modern Christianity interacts with the world.  According to his son, Frank Schaeffer, Jerry Falwell once said, "without Francis, the Christian Right would have never existed."  But interestingly enough, Francis lived a significant part of his life as the founder and leader of a communal Christian living and learning space in Switzerland called the L'Abri community. This community was known for its loving acceptance of the outcasts and hippies of society. Young, unwed mothers and homosexuals were welcomed with open arms and compassion.

In his book, "Crazy For God," his son, Frank Schaeffer recounts how his life went from wandering thought Swiss hillside communities as a child to Christian rockstardom in his twenties to a supporter of Barak Obama today.

I heard an interview he did with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air last week on Dec 9.  My aunt emailed me today to ask my thoughts on the interview.  As I re-listened to the podcast version, I was struck by how I could tie his words to where I heard them first.  As he spoke of the backlash of his Democrat support in the 08 election, I was passing under I-4 on Orange driving into downtown.  When he talked about the opera singer that moved moved to L'Abri to be part of the community, I was turning at the stoplight on Church and Hughey near my apartment.  As I pulled into my parking garage he spoke of his conversion to the Greek Orthodox Church.  When I parked, he said, "If I wanted to be an atheist, the first thing I would do is to pray to God to help me."

The vividness of these memories says something about the intensity and impact of what he had to say had on me.  Perhaps you'll find it interesting as well.  Here's a link to the podcast of the Dec 9, 2008 podcast in iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=47184933&id=214089682

From Distressed to Raw

I'd like to think I've always had some innate value and eye for aesthetics, but I can't remember thinking about fashion for the first 18 years of my life. Just like most kids, I woke up every morning for school and put on whatever shirt and pair of shorts were laying on the floor of my room. I didn't think much about the words "fit," "match" or "cut." I just wore what was around.

One afternoon, when I was about 19, I walked into Nordstrom at the Florida Mall. My department store experiences up until this point consisted mostly of Dillards and Sears, and chances are that a store that sells lawn mowers, washing machines and apparel isn't the most fashion forward of clothiers. I balked upon walking up to a rack of jeans and noticing a price tag of over $150. So, I turned up my nose and walked out of the store in my bootleg GAP jeans and stripped polo.

Over the next few days, I didn't talk of my experience in Nordstrom, but I must admit that my curiosity had been piqued.

"I wonder if $150 jeans actually feel different," I would say to myself followed by a quick, "but there's no way anyone could justify that!" Within a week, I was standing on a pedestal in the men's dressing room in my first pair of 7 For All Mankind denim. The in house tailor pinned them up, went upstairs, hemmed them and within the hour I walked out of the store with these in my hands.



At this moment, I would have never thought that I was walking down a road that would become somewhat of an obsession. I never thought jeans would ever be a subject of conversation. I never expected to amass a collection of rare denim. I didn't think I would lay them on the ground and take pictures of them. And I certainly didn't expect that it would connect me with people I might have never spoken to otherwise.

It was a few months later when I walked back into that Nordstrom store to purchase a similar pair of 7's.

One thing I knew when searching for this second pair of jeans was that I wanted them slimmer, and the men's section just wasn't cutting it for me. In 1999, it wasn't popular for guys to shop for jeans in the women's section of the store, but the men's jeans seemed to be made for guys with a size 28 waist and 25 inch thighs. So, I would sneak up the escalator and search for the most inconspicuous entry point possible into the women's denim section. I felt like a criminal... some kind of intruder into a sacred space. In actuality, I was an explorer - charting a way for the throngs of skinny guys to follow. You can thank me in the comments section...

Purchase two:


It was around this time I met Archie. Oddly enough, we were the only two people in a group of about 150 that were wearing designer denim at a campsite. In fact, Archie was the first person I had ever even seen wearing 7s. Our conversations, and subsequent years of friendship - bound together by music and pants - only pushed me deeper into the seedy underbelly of denimology.

Next was the - now obligatory - Diesel purchase. What this pair of jeans has become is somewhat an area of pride for me. While the wash was pretty distressed from the beginning, there was virtually no physical distress on the jeans. After about 5 years of everyday wear, the knees wore through, the thighs became paper thin and the pockets started fraying.



Unfortunately, Diesel has become the bottom half of the drunken frat boy party costume. That - combined with the fragility of the jeans - has forced them into retirement.



I spent a majority of that summer in Tennessee. One weekend, my band and I traveled to Memphis and found a store on the bottom floor of the Peabody called Lansky's. This was a first introduction to regional denim - specifically Japanese denim. Japanese denim is characterized by the old world style of hand made garments and moves away from mass production into more individualized styles. What I loved about these jeans is how light they were... 9 oz, I think. I patched them until they were just worn too thin to keep going. These Paper, Denim Cloth jeans were definitely my favorite.



As new jean designers and manufacturers would come upon the scene, I'd inevitably try them on and purchase some... Antique Denim, Joe Jeans, Earnest Sewn and Rock and Republic were to follow...



But my preferences changed over time. Eventually, I started sewing in flares and cutting my jeans into new fits.



... even turing some of them into shorts...



I took a several year sabbatical from buying jeans, but a few months ago, the bug bit me again. I was back in Memphis... this time with an entirely different band, and we were talking about jeans. Sean mentioned his friend, Sam, who had purchased some APC jeans earlier that year. He said they were some type of jean that came as solid indigo and became distressed with time. I had missed a new era in the course of denim, and I was hooked again. With the internet as my guide, I found raw denim.

Eventually, Sam and I ran across each other online and were connected by this denim sickness. He led me to forums where hundreds of people from all over the world talk about how jeans are made, what kind of fabrics are used, how to wear them well, how they fit and where to find them.

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/forumdisplay.php?f=15
http://www.mynudies.com/

Since raw denim brick and mortar stores are so rare, they are next to impossible to try on before buying. So, these forums as well as conversations with other raw denim owners are necessary in making the right purchase online. My next purchase was from the Swedish company, Nudie. They are one of the only companies in the world that uses real indigo to dye their jeans, and they don't wash them before sending them to reatil - thus raw denim.

When my jeans arrived from Australia, they were completely blue. All raw denim companies suggest wearing jeans for at least six months before washing them to give them indigo opportunity to wear to the specific contours and bends of the wearer's body. After almost daily wearing for three months, here's what my Nudie's look like.



The color changing on the front of the jeans is called "whiskering" and is completely reliant upon the specific shape of me. You can see too where I keep my chapstick in my right front pocket.



The wear behind the knees is called "honeycomb" and you can see where I keep my credit cards in my back right pocket.



It's all really futile and quite ridiculous, I know. I'm not sure what has drawn me to denim over the last 9 years of my life, and I don't know what keeps me coming back. I do know that it sounds lame, but I really have made significant friends because of jeans. Like a lot of things (fixed gears, harleys, sports, music), jeans can bring people together. It's amazing that just by the insignia on the back of someone's pocket, I can make pretty accurate generalizations about who that person is or what they think about certain things in life. I guess to those who know about them, jeans can be like a secret handshake - some sort of secret society - a wink and a nod.

While I'm still a 28 (or sometimes a 27), i have grown and changed quite a bit from that first time I put on a pair of 7s in Nordstrom, and maybe my jeans - in some way - reflect that change.

Christmas List

Every year, my mom asks, "what should I get you for Christmas," and I always reply, "I don't know."  So, I've been withholding some purchases I want to make and have listed them here, mainly for her, but you can take a look:

http://www.wishlistr.com/oooff

Gay Marriage and Christian Persecution

My friend, Joey, posted a note about being a liberal. Several of the 40 or so responses were people giving their opinions on gay marriage. Then, at Status this week, Kate gave a stunning sermon addressing many of the same philosophical issues. Below is my response which outlines how the recent votes banning gay marriage are the beginning of a very dangerous road.

-----

I have so much to say on all this, but there's just one aspect of this conversation I want to steer. Gay marriage.

We have to hone in on what the actual issue is here.
The issue is NOT, "is being gay a sin."
Nor is the issue, "do churches have to perform homosexual wedding ceremonies."

The real issue of the American gay marriage debate is, "should the United States government grant marriage licenses to gay couples."

My answer is absolutely NO. However, if you asked me, "should the Unites States government grant marriage licensees to heterosexual couples" I would respond with the same resounding NO.

Stop being misled by the gay marriage issue, and ask yourself the real question, "should the government really have the power and authority to determine with whom and the extent to which I am in consensual relationship with another person."

The government will take as much power as the people relinquish. We must stop giving it up!

This past November, the state of Florida passed Amendment 2, defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. All it took was for 60% of those who voted on the issue to approve the amendment... effectively legalizing unconstitutional discrimination against individual liberty.

So, when 60% of the population wants to amend the state constitution to define legal religion as any religion other than Christianity, know that it was largely Christians who set the precedence.

-----

You may be able to read Joey's original facebook note here:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=100144330234

You can hear Kate's message here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=46484313&id=119875638

Books To Read

Here is a list of book I've read in the last few years that are worth the hours of investment. Do it.

Books that reveal truth about the human condition (aka... art)
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray... Wilde
2. This Side of Paradise... Fitzgerald

Prophetic Genius
1. 1984... Orwell
2. Anthem... Rand

Beauty of life and nature
1. The Sun Also Rises... Hemingway
2. A Land Remembered... Smith

Non-Fiction
1. Walking On Water... L'Engle
2. Irresistible Revolution... Claiborn

Short Stories
1. The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol 2
2. The Sons... Kafka

Different Time or Place (Nostalgic)
1. Their Eyes Were Watching God... Hurston
2. The God of Small Things... Roy

From the Stage
1. A Streetcar Named Desire... Williams
2. The Importance of Being Earnest... Wilde

These are in somewhat of an order from what I suggest first to what I suggest last.

The Beauty of Bocce

My first time playing Bocce Ball was with my friend and workmate, AJ.  Bored of office and coffee house meetings, we would hit up Portofino Bay...

... or at least as close as the two of use could get to the actual Italian village... the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando.

AJ has since moved to California, but Bocce remains.  Over the last few months, when the weather's nice, we've arranged picnics at Lake Eola, and my other friends Ian and Melissa Soto have brought their set to the park.

I finally broke down and bought my own set a few weeks ago.  Here are some pics from our last Bocce picnic in the park.

I'm sure true Italians would find our court-less games laughable, so I was inspired to find some examples of real technique.  First, I found this, which made me feel okay about our games in the park - except for the fact that Eleanor Foltz is apparently a Bocce stud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPUQUmV0ePE

Then I found this video of Josco Mardesic, a Croatian Bocce Champ in what is called the "Progressive Throw."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0HGEHXAkoo

I kind of want to see Eleanor try the Progressive Throw competition now.

Maybe we can convince Leo, the park manager at Lake Eola, to install some Bocce courts out at Lake Eola, but until then, we'll keep biking to our games in the grass.

St Pete/Tampa Art Show

If you're in the Tampa/St Pete, FL area tonight, be sure to check out this gem of an event.  A t-shirt art show put on by some of the top designers in the country.  Sure to be a good experience.

http://backinblackapparel.com/

Coldplay, quitting?

Saw this news article today.
It reports that Chris Martin expects the band to be done by the end of 2009.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn

RadioLab

If you haven't heard of it, you have lots of catching up to do.

Remember when you'd be watching Sesame Street as a kid, and they'd cut to the factory scenes where they'd show the machines making crayons or peanut butter cups? That was always my favorite part. RadioLab is the same thing, for adults.

The show is produced by New York Public Radio (and is the best produced audio program I have ever heard), and distributed on some NPR stations across the county. It's also available as a podcast.

The first episode of season five called "choice" was just released. You can get it free, here.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=152249110

My favorite is the one on "emergence." It's #20 at the same link.

Enjoy learning science again... and if you end up going and listening to the "choice" podcast, you'll come to see that your role in the entire decision was rather small.

Want To Know What Makes Me Cry?

If you don't want to read all this... skip to the third video. That's the important part :

I'm often asked, "do you allow yourself to be emotional?" The answer is, of course, yes. I do feel. I'm not a robot. The things that affect me most are not those that make me sad or depressed... I can - fairly easily - pick up the pieces and move on.

Rather the things that affect me most emotionally are the things that inspire. I remember watching the preview of the release of Mac OSX (Panther) in 2004 and crying and asking myself, "why in the world?!"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfg1lC7Y5J4

Rather ridiculous, right? But I cried nonetheless. It's because I saw a corporation looking at the way things currently exist and saying, we can make this better. Then investing themselves in hard work, creativity and determination to achieve their dreams.

Then there was this. The finale of Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba in Orlando. They call it the Power Track. I call it amazing. All of the performers in this show are incredible, but there's the one creepy guy at the beginning of the video who pretty much just walks around the whole show. Then... in this scene... he unleashes! There was something hidden in him, and now it's realizing its potential. Then the rest of the cast joins him for an amazing display of team work and skill.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whiiF2svQNs

Now... This is the important part of the post - the video you actually should watch. My friend, Nathen, posted this on facebook. So far, I've only watched the first 9 minutes and 40 seconds, and I had to stop and share this video. It was created by John Stossel, and it shifts the political conversation from, "who's policies are going to fix the country," to "can the government really solve our problems?" It's the same paradigm shift that Ron Paul was trying to accomplish in the debates, and most people didn't understand. But Stossel has done an amazing job at using illustration and example to clearly convey his message.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phs6CwnutoY

Unfortunately, most people are reactionary, so it's hard to keep the kid from touching the stove until he's done it once and sees how bad it hurts. That's why we have Obama and McCain as presidential candidates. Regardless of who wins - Obama or McCain - we're going to feel the pain (Obama more than McCain - but they are both for HUGE government). My only hope is that the reaction (a subsequent shift to small government and - therefore - liberty) happens sooner than later.

Why did this one make me cry? Maybe a little sadness. Sad that people are sheep. Sad that they blindly follow charisma. Sad that they are looking to the government for hope and change. But mostly out of inspiration. Inspired by the few, lonely voices crying in the wilderness. Inspired by those who haven't given up. Inspired by the hope that there is a possibility of a future where freedom lives.

Even NPR is saying it...

If I'm listening to the radio, it's most likely NPR. They are great at producing quality, creative journalism and feature stories. Being an avid listener, I'm no stranger to their left leaning tendencies. That's why I was surprised to hear economist, Susan Lee present a story on Market Place yesterday, Oct 7, promoting laizzes faire government.

It's fascinating that most economists (and in relationship to the 700B dollar bailout - most Americans) are for smaller government, yet our Senators and Congressmen vote their own way in these issues. What's even more fascinating is that politicians like Obama even have a viable voice on the national stage.

The problem is, most people are libertarians until socialism entices them toward greed... evidenced in the lure of "free" healthcare. Most Americans aren't willing to give of their money voluntarily (Joe Biden, for example, who has given around $300 on average to charity in the last 10 years despite making more than $300,000), but are fine voting for policies that take money from someone else and redistributes to their pocket. Americans aren't upset that corporations are "greedy." Americans are upset they aren't CEOs of large corporations.

Now, back to that NPR piece... Both the transcript and the audio segment can be found here:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/07/libertarian/

Ha! I just pasted the link and noticed that the last word is "libertarian." I knew there was a reason I wanted to seek this segment out after hearing it on the radio.

I can only hope that Lee's statement that laizzes faire government has come to an end is false, but this would take an awakening in our country that might not be possible. A country of fat, tv watching, video-game playing, quick-fix sleepers might never awaken from their lethargy. I don't know how loudly I can shout or how seductively I can whisper.

How can you expect change from a man without his own ideas?

It's okay to quote others, but it's one's moral obligation to give credit where credit is due.

A few days ago I was involved with a discussion on 407fixedgear.com about a pro-obama get-out-the-vote bike ride. There were several on the site that were saying, "I'd go if it was a ride to promote political choice and getting out the vote, but I'm not sure I want to endorse a particular candidate." One of the responses was this: "I'm pretty sure the "make up your own damn mind" ride is the same exact thing as prObama ride."

I wonder how these news clips about Joe Biden's plagiarism fit into the "make up your own damn mind" category.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIaALKHVrAA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rkoqglq9dU

700 Billion Dollar "Bailout" Rejected!!

Thankfully, the congress did not approve the 700 billion dollar bailout. It was rejected today (Monday) by 228 votes to 205. Governmental socialism is bad for our country and bad for individuals wether it's a corporate "bailout" scheme or stealing from one income bracket to redistribute to another. Email your congressman today to ensure that this bill continues to be rejected. You can search for your congressman's contact info here
http://www.house.gov/

Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to email my congressman, Ric Keller because the email form on the house.gov website doesn't work... and you're thinking it would be good for these people to control healthcare and have $700B at their disposal? Think again :)

More from Ron Paul on the Economy

It's interesting that, in the presidential primaries, the media (and Americans at large) treated Ron Paul as an inconvenient outlier. Now, the media can't get enough of him. Unfortunately, the American public doesn't care to understand much of what is happening today in our country. People love words like "hope" or "change," but start talking about something real like "bailouts" or what's "constitutional," they can't hear it.

I've been wavering on my resolve to vote for Ron Paul in the write in section of the presidential ballot, but really, I don't know if I could feel right about doing anything else. If only this financial crisis would have been so apparent 5 months ago, we'd have a real option for president.

Take ten minutes and watch this video. You'll hear someone talk about something politically deep and real... what an idea!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwPkTmqfpg

Biden and Paul on the Economy

Socialism is increasing, and it's sticking its neck father out into the open. Biden, today, didn't even try to mask his socialist comments.

''We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people,''

Take from who? The "rich."

Biden suggested today that it is the patriotic duty of wealthier Americans to pay more takes. Why? So the government can redistribute it to the less wealthy. God help us!

Here's an article about the Biden quote
click here

Granted, Biden while making over $300,000 a year has only give $319 a year on average over the last ten years. Looks like he doesn't even believe in his own words. (reference)

Now, there's one man who understands that government isn't the solution, it's the problem. That man is Ron Paul, and he should be president. Here's a youtube clip of his statement about the economy.

Holy Week in Sept

This past Sunday at Status was one of the most meaningful experiences I think we've shared together in a long time. One of the things I love about our community is that we are willing to step into new things together and believe that we will see God in them. I have heard dozens of stories from people about that night, and has we have continued meeting together every day this week, God has continued to show himself to the hearts and stories of individuals.

If you weren't there Sunday night, here's a picture to give you a sense of the place:



The goal of the night was to hear stories from our community of the ways God has been moving over the last 9 months. Through audio, video [the geek in me loved this part... 6 projection areas in the middle... but purposed to not be a distraction :)], live stories and emails, we heard from close to 40 people.

One of the most compelling parts to me was the inclusion of three songs that were inspired through the things we talked about in the series. I've seen an increased passion in our worship recently, and I believe that it is because there are songwriters listening to what God is saying and creating works that help us declare those truths together.

You can hear some of the recordings in this week's podcast...
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=119875638

The rest of the week has been pretty incredible as well. We've gathered every day to focus in on the emotions and experiences of Jesus and the disciples. I have really been amazed at how God has allowed me to see and feel the last week of Jesus' life in a fresh way. Beautiful.

Some amazing people put a lot into this night to make it happen, and God certainly honored those endeavors.
Thanks to:

Jenn Gilanfar (who made the vine animations we used during the night. She did all of this while away competing to become the women's WORLD CHAMPION wake skater... Yes. WORLD CHAMPION).

Sean Curran and Jake Leboeuf who both wrote songs and led us beautifully.

The other musicians, Melissa Mage, Luke Domeck, Nick Torontali, Chris Baker, Kirk Chambers and Josh Jove

Michael Dalton for shooting those video stories.

Melyssa Marshall, Casey Stewart, Jenna Dey and Zack Howes for making the tech stuff happen.

Everyone who was willing to sit at a microphone and finish some phrases about Jesus.

And of course the Status staff who all did a great job speaking:
Josh Loveless, Jenn Janaceiwicz, Tom Gustofson, Kate Lynch