Last Thursday Kris and I flew up to Detroit for a conference put on by Orchard Grove Community Church called Equip. Chris Cramer, a lead pastor, knew how much he had benefited from attending conferences and yearned for his whole church to go … which usually can’t happen, so he brought the conferences to Orchard Grove and called it Equip. Great, great idea.

We told the folks at Orchard Grove that we are the ones who benefit from these events in that we see so many vibrant Christians who love God and others and want to be with others who do. It was great meeting these folks and to see Eric Bryant again — I met Eric in our event in Edmonton last month, spent an evening with him in San Diego and lo and behold he was also in Detroit at Equip, both doing his comedian routines and also teaching and speaking about his book on ministry (Peppermint-Filled Pi?atas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love
).

I did three sessions: one on The Blue Parakeet and one one on The Jesus Creed and then a final one, once again focusing on the edginess themes of my book Fasting. When I walked away, I was very happy with the rousing discussion we had about fasting, but I’m committed to talking more about the body talk theme the book develops from now on.

We have to express our deep appreciation to OGCC for its vision, for its wonderful hospitality, to Chris and his wife, and to Leah Navarette who is about as efficient as someone can be, and to all the kind remarks from folks. Denise and Joe took care of our transportation and we really enjoyed them. (Blessings on your upcoming marriage.)