So I stumbled into a neat opportunity last weekend. It was as if I landed on the set of a new reality TV show: "On the Road with Third Day". Third Day's job on this 111 degree day was to rock the socks off of thousands who had gathered for Rapid City's Hills Alive Music Festival. My job on this day was to be their runner. I drove the members of the band around wherever they wanted to go (hotel, tour bus, restaurant for lunch, Mt. Rushmore, etc.), picked up their dinner and after-show food, and generally made myself available for whatever they needed.

I am delighted to tell you that the guys in the band are genuine and down-to-earth. They went out of their way all day to make me feel included and appreciated. It would have been easy for them to treat me as a fly-on-the-wall, but instead they took a sincere interest in me as a person. On top of making great music, I found these guys to be incredibly intelligent, devoted family men, and in possession of a lively sense of humor!

Also, it's important to point out that these guys are committed to making a difference in our world. The Invisible Children and World Vision are two organizations that they currently partner with to help bring awareness and justice to the plight of impoverished youth around the globe. I particularly enjoyed talking with Tai Anderson about his recent trip to Africa.

My partner in these efforts, whom I spent most of my time with, was their road manager Jennifer. She's been making the behind the scenes stuff happen for Third Day for a couple years now. She is an amazing lady and after only a single day I count her among friends.

Just as you might enjoy a basketball game better if you knew the players involved, I experienced a new level of enjoyment at their concert Saturday night upon getting to know the guys a bit personally.

Say what you want about Bill Clinton as a former president, but the man has quickly become a champion of some of the world's gravest issues in his post-presidency. Who can forget the images of the elder Bush and Clinton bopping around southeast Asia after the tsunami? Despite serious heart surgery (not too unlike my procedure) in the last year, he's back at it again. He's currently blitzing seven African nations with the intent of bolstering worldwide efforts to curb the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic. (This go around Bill & Melinda Gates were his travel companions for a portion of the trip.)

In late April Clinton was the primary guest on CNN Presents where the question was posed, "Can AIDS be wiped off our planet in this lifetime?" I know his opponents have always called him a 'slick talker', but during that show I sensed a man who is giving his all to make as big of a difference in this world as he possibly can. It's great to see someone with such influence and power using it on behalf of the world's poorest people. Now that kind of sounds like the kingdom of God.

Clinton Global Initiative - The 6 minute video on this page is worth a look: informative and inspiring.