Here’s a taste of what Perry shared in the first message of the new series, “No Perfect People Allowed”. I’m guessing some of these quotes will probably generate some conversation.

• “Many of us are textually active. Today we are going to talk about safe text.”
• “Let’s just admit it. There some screwed up people here today.”
• “It’s time for the church to admit we are messed up. “
• “I still believe crowds could and should follow Jesus. God’s house ought to be filled up every Sunday.”
• “If you hate crowded churches, you’re going to hate Heaven. There are going to be a lot of people there…and they aren’t all going to be white.”
• “The people who followed Jesus in Scripture were not perfect people.”
• “The deacons called a meeting and decided I couldn’t say ‘butt’ in my sermons. If they only knew what I say now…”
• “I’m not a religious professional. I’m a common man.”
• “All I was doing was teaching the Bible. That’s all I know how to do is teach the Bible.”
• “This vision is not for sale.”
• “When God has a plan, God has a way.”
• “We’ve always had one goal: Lift up the name of Jesus — not keep Christians happy.”
• “Some people say, ‘I don’t like the music.’ I don’t care!”
• “Where in the Bible do you read that the pastor is supposed to do it all?”
• “Knowing me is not going to help you.”
• “If your view of church revolves around you, get the hell out of here. We don’t have room for hell in this church.”
• “You’ve been taught Jesus-lite all your life.”
• “This isn’t feathered-hair Jesus giving people a hug.”
• “I hope you’ll pray for me that I’ll do what God wants me to do.”
• “I’m about life change. I want to see people meet Jesus.”

I couldn’t write fast enough. I missed most of the good stuff. You’ll have to listen to the entire message to catch the rest of the story.

So, if you haven’t heard, there’s this website called Twitter. It allows you to find out what people are doing (and thinking) in real time. In 140 character or less, people are addressing the question what are you doing? It’s kind of like a marriage between social networking (Facebook) and a blog (my website) only it’s for people with really, really short-attention spans (like you and me).

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I recently started following you. I’m currently following over 2,300 people on Twitter. Here’s why:

• A couple of dudes I really respect, Guy Kawasaki and Michael Hyatt, recommended I try it. They said it would help me with networking. It has.
• People assumed because I wasn’t following them on Twitter that I didn’t love them. (Do you want me to name names?)
• Now that I’m following everyone, anyone can direct message me and that makes communications a lot easier.
• TweetDeck makes it possible to track all my new friends and filter through the noise to hear my closest friends.
• It helps me meet new people I would not normally have followed in the past like Christopher.

So, if you’re looking for a good time, here’s what you can do:

1. Sign up for your own Twitter account.
2. Follow me.
3. Then I’ll follow you back.

We’ll be Twitter friends. We’ll be able to Twitter each other. Won’t that be fun?

By the way if you are already on Twitter, who are some of the people you have found that are interesting to follow?

When I read quotes like this, it makes me want to do everything I can to reach people for Jesus. Here’s what Seth Godin had to say this morning:

“We spend so much time smoothing things out, we lose the opportunity for change, or for texture or creativity. Instead of working so hard to make everything okay, perhaps it is more helpful to work hard at living with a world that rarely is.”

That’s going to mess with my mind and my faith for a while. I love that challenge!

That quote also makes me glad that we’re launching “No Perfect People Allowed” at NewSpring this week. We admit it. We’re not okay. We live in a world that’s not okay. But we actually believe things can be different. Change can happen.

I went back and looked at the stats for 2008. Outside of the United States, here are the top ten countries that sent the most traffic to my site:

1. Canada (Eh?)
2. United Kingdom (They’re going to love our new Web Pastor.)
3. Australia (Wonder what they thought of Perry’s visit?)
4. Germany (They must have heard I drive an Audi.)
5. India (I’ve been to the Taj Mahal.)
6. Philippines (I have a friend that used to eat bats there.)
7. New Zealand (I still haven’t watched the Lord of the Rings movies.)
8. Spain (Thanks for sending Christopher Columbus our way.)
9. South Africa (I’d like to visit someday.)
10. Singapore (I wonder if you have the most TonyMorganLive.com fans per square mile.)

I’m also proud to share that Italy was #25 on the list. It all began in Matrice, Italy about a century ago. I wouldn’t be here blogging without you.

My Grandma Connavino was a great cook. If you can’t tell by the name, she was Italian. This week while I was at the beach, I read an article in Men’s Health that reminded me why I loved my grandma’s food so much. Here are some secrets to authentic Italian cooking:

• Use very few ingredients including vegetables, pasta, beans, bread, fish and olive oil.
• Limit the seasonings. Try lemons, basil (pesto) and parsley.
• Use quality olive oil…on just about everything.
• Use fresh ingredients and serve it with fresh bread.
• Serve the heaviest food last. The meat portions are typically small.
• And, of course, the meal isn’t a meal without wine.

It’s simple eating. It’s healthy eating. It makes me miss my grandma’s cooking. One of these days I’m going to head to Italy and experience real Italian cooking firsthand.

Here’s the article if you’d like to read more.