Tim Keller: Everyone should live in the city
After hearing what he had to say about living in cities, I am so glad Jamaica and I live in downtown Los Angeles. The premise of Keller's talk about cities was that we need to live in them! If Christians are ever going to influence culture, we've got to be at the hub of where culture is created. Suburbs are affected by cities, not the other way around. A city is a mixed use walkable human settlement with density and diversity. It's made up of four components: Economic (shops, businesses), Cultural (arts, entertainment, church), Residential (housing), and Civic (government). Another thing Keller said that I resonated with was that living in cities keeps you humble. When you live on the outskirts you're usually the only one of your kind which means you're the best. You're the best singer because there are no other singers. You're the best writer because no one else does it. But in the city, you're confronted with so many people and so many people that do what you do. And usually they're better than you which keeps you in a state of humility (or jealousy) and hopefully determination to improve (or depression to retreat).

Bill McKibben: Stop destroying the planet
When God asked us to be responsible for the earth and everything in it, he gave us ownership. Yet the way we've cared for our home has been more like renters than owners. Our dominion has been dismal.

Owen Leimbach: Doing good with MTV
The guy behind MTV's think initiative is your average down-to-earth creative guy. He is clearly carrying a lot more responsibility than he realizes. Owen made an interesting point when he said that here in America we do a lot of celebrating when the majority of the world outside of America does a lot of suffering. He also talked about how MTV is stocked full of young 20-something show producers who are all growing up in single-parent homes without dads. The content we consume is being created by a fatherless generation. Yikes.