John Ortberg in San Diego

This morning John Ortberg was the plenary speaker at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego. He spoke on what kind of person God uses to change communities. Great message with some very powerful insights. Citing a Harvard study, that we were assured was Harvard as in the University, 7000 people were tracked over 9 years. Those who were not in community were 3X as more likely to die prematurely as those who were in community. In fact, people who smoke and drink and over-eat, who were in community, had a better life expectancy than those with better health habits but were out of community. "Better to eat Twinkies with friends than broccoli alone." That'll preach! He also used a powerful illustration by Max DuPree regarding his granddaughter who was born prematurely. Because the father abandoned the mother, Max acted not only as grandparent but surragate father. The nurse instructed Max to stroke the tiny body lightly with one finger for one hour a day while singing songs of love to her. "You must connect your voice to your touch." It was a great illustraion for God's word and God's touch to be connected. Good stuff.