Small steps in faith

Monday, December 19, 2005

Bill,Bono, and Melinda


Persons of the Year Posted by Picasa

I thought this was a cool picture..2 have billions..1 just has pure charisma



The rocker and the geek
“The rocker’s job is to be raucous, grab our attention. The engineer’s job is to make things work,” Time said, describing the unlikely alliance that developed after the three met for dinner in 2002. They were reunited on Friday in Omaha, where Bono was performing with U2, to be photographed for the cover.

The Gates Foundation funds hundreds of projects around the world primarily focused on public health, from vaccinating children to developing new drugs, as well as educational programs and scholarships in the United States and abroad.

Bono and fellow musician Bob Geldof spearheaded a popular campaign to tackle poverty in Africa through canceling the debts of the poorest countries in the world, raising global awareness through the Live 8 concerts in July.

Partly due to popular pressure, the world’s industrialized nations agreed in July to double aid to poor countries by 2010, adding $50 billion a year, and to cancel poor countries’ debt.

“Bono charmed and bullied and morally blackmailed the leaders of the world’s richest countries into forgiving $40 billion in debt owed by the poorest,” Time said.

Kelly said he expected the choice to surprise some people, but the unlikely alliance of the richest man in the world and a “hell-raiser” like Bono was an inspiring example of how different approaches could be effective.

5 Comments:

  • At 9:10 PM, Blogger Adam said…

    I wrote this two years ago in a different journal about Bono, and I still believe it today:

    There are a couple of comments that I just can't stand as a church staff member from members of the congregation.

    #1, which will always be #1 in my mind, is some kind of derivative of "I really got a lot out of worship today."

    But #2 is right behind #1. It's the statement that you often hear people say as they're leaving your church - "This church just isn't deep enough, and we want to go deeper."

    Our staff talked about #2 this week as we are dealing with a couple of our members who are struggling with how "spiritually shallow" our congregation is. The youth minister said something which I'm still thinking about two days later: "You're never gonna go deeper in your faith than when you apply to your life what it says in the Bible."

    If so, then U2's Bono is the deepest Christian I know.

    Bono isn't just trying to get deeper into the Bible - he's living out what the Bible commands us to do.

    'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

    He has founded an organization called DATA, which attempts to get countries to cancel debt that African countries owe, so that those countries can use their own money and resources to take care of their people rather than paying back countries who really don't need the money. (check out the website at www.datadata.org)

    He has been involved in Operation Christmas Child, a program of Samaritan's Purse (Billy Graham's son Franklin is founder and president) that delivers Christmas shoeboxes to thousands of kids who usually never receive presents of any kind.

    He has become the hands and feet of the AIDS epidemic in Africa, speaking at churches and in front of dignitaries around the world to inform them of the problem and to encourage them to show compassion to the African nations who are struggling under the weight of AIDS.

    You may question his music, his interviews, his lifestyle - but never question this:

    Bono is a saint.

    A saint who is "walking as Jesus did".

    And an example of a deep Christian.

     
  • At 11:12 PM, Blogger darker than silence said…

    Bono!!!

     
  • At 8:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    2 have billions..1 just has pure charisma(and millions)

    It is refreshing to see someone(Bono)who has fame & fortune use part of it to help others, rather than focus only on themselves or simply spouting stupid political comments.

    Adam - you are dead on about your "going deeper" comment.

     
  • At 1:16 PM, Blogger Dylan said…

    GOTTA LOVE BONO! MY ROOMATE BACK IN COLLEGE IS TRULY OBSESSED WITH U2! HE IS A GREAT GUY!

     
  • At 9:01 AM, Blogger darker than silence said…

    That youth minister seems like a wise guy ;)

    I love Bono. Ron Smith got me into U2...

     

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