While I’m on a roll with the links to the Q 3 minute sessions, let me finish out.

Matt Poe started a company called 25cloth as a vehicle to raise money for the clean water initiatives. In the year they have been in operation, they’ve been able to sponsor a well and make a difference. The t-shirts they sell are dog-gone cool, too.

One Village Coffee, presented by Scott Hackman, is a good example of coffee with a cause. There’s nothing I like better than a good coffee shop, unless of course it is coffee that also DOES good. (corny, I know — I’m really tired!)

There were several 18 minute Q sessions today, as well, two of which really fired up my imagination. Shane Hipps spoke on the downside of the digiatl age. Shane used to be an ad exec with porsche, and is a student of culture and media. It was very interesting to hear him discuss how the “medium” not only shapes the message, but IS the message. I don’t know that I agreed with all of his premises, but I was fascinated and engaged. Go to this blog by Scott Hodge to read a detailed summary of Shane Hipp’s presentation. I plan to buy his book, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture.

The other speaker who inspired us today was Os Guiness. Os is an amazing theologian, preacher, thought provoker. I first heard him in college. He challenged me then and he challenges me now. Today he asked us to be mindful of basic challenges coming at the church, from both inside and outside the church. They are:

We need to face up to the wars of the Spirit. There are more worldviews, and conflicts between the worldviews, than ever before. We have secularism vs. extremism, fundamentalism vs. revisionism. The goal of followers of Jesus Christ is to find the middle way.

We need to face up to the profound anti-Christian assumptions in the secular world. This movement without a name has as its goal the removal of religion from the public discourse.

Finally, I was struck by Os Guiness’s call for a new movement to remember the grand, over-arching task of the church in the west, which is to restore the integrity of faith, restore the credibility of the gospel, and restore civility in public life. Several other people spoke today, but these two really had the most impact on me.

And so, with one last call to remember the beloved community that is the church, Gabe Lyons closed out Q 2008. It was a bittersweet time to see Q end. I would have loved to continue on, but there is only so much information I can process in 72 hours! So with some fond farewells and new email addresses exchanged, David and I walked out the door with Buddy and the gang from Grace Fellowship, watched the Christ Fellowship gang get in the car to the airport, and left for a little shopping in SOHO. All is well.