Hey Guys,

First of all- has anyone else noticed A LOT of porn on Google search lately?  I searched a pastor’s name today and crap came up.  Maybe it’s just Satan trying to trip me up…let me know what’s going on with you.

Okay here it is fellas…

God is God and we are not.  Man is nothing.  The Bible says that our best righteousness is like a dirty tampon.  We got nuthin’ yo.  We were created in the image of God- for His purposes, and for His glory.  And I’m totally cool with that.  And here’s the most excellent thing- God still chooses to use people to accomplish His dream!

Every week, I want to highlight/pimp/share the story of a Christ-follower who God is using to rock the world for His kingdom.  It’s my man (or woman) crush of the week.

This week, it’s Ed Young Jr.

“You can drink toilet water, and it won’t kill you.  At least, not at first.  But if you keep drinking it, long enough and deep enough, it will start to make you sick…and eventually, you will die.

Lust is alot like toilet water.  It won’t kill you- at first.  But keep drinking it and see what happens.”

-taken from Ed Young Jr.’s series “Leaving Lust Vegas”-
(and yes, he had a toilet on-stage, from which he pulled up glasses of water!)

The “Stats” on Ed:

-He’s the Senior Pastor of Fellowship Church down in the great country of Texas.  With about 20,000 people attending one of their four campuses every weekend, Fellowship is considered the 3rd Most Influential Church in America according to a 2007 survey.

-He used to play basketball for Florida State…awesome.

-Ed and Lisa have been married for twenty-four years and have four children.

-Ed’s latest book is The Marriage Mirror. Other books include Beauty Full, Outrageous, Contagious Joy, The Creative Leader, The Creative Marriage, YOU! The Journey to the Center of Your Worth, and Rating Your Dating While Waiting for Mating. (I’ll will put some of them up in the Sex Shop later today)

-Ed is a frequent conference speaker, and he provides resources for church leaders through CreativePastors.com and the Creative Church Conferences (C3).

Reasons I have a crush on Ed:
He doesn’t listen to the naysayers.  Someone with influence like Ed takes ALOT of flack.  But Ed doesn’t let it get him down.  He just let’s it roll off in time.

Ed is super creative.  His sermon illustrations are amazing (especially the Ferrari)

He isn’t afraid to challenge the way people think AND live…seriously, some of the challenges he issues on his podcast make me cringe.

He is based in the Bible.  Constantly going through scripture, mining it for truth.  Then Ed finds ways to make the messages stick in your mind.  (ps, he’s a HUGE fan of acrostics and rhymes!)

He offered his church a 7 day sex challenge…for every married couple in his church to do it seven days in a row, just to see how it would impact the intimacy of their marriage.  Yeah baby!

On January 26th, he was even on the The Colbert Report

Be sure to check out some of his stuff…maybe listen to a few messages (the Leaving Lust Vegas series was awesome), grab his podcast on iTunes, or read his blog or one of his books.  Maybe you’ll love him, and maybe he won’t be your style.  Either way is okay- I’ll post another crush next week!

Leaving Lust Vegas Video Series
EdYoung.com
Fellowship Church
Ed’s Blog
Creative Pastors Website

What can I learn from Ed?  After watching some of his messages, what impacted me the most?  What I am going to do to change my views on lust?