We are in DC right now visiting with our family up here after being with family in Roanoke for the last week. Hannah is having fun with all the love and new places, and it is a very refreshing time for us. We're going to a wedding celebration tonight.
Driving down 81 in Virginia reminded me of how much I love the East Coast. Even though Southern California is beautiful and great weather, it can't touch the beauty of the mountains and countryside out here. Plus, we don't have smog.
peace
cp
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Sleepy Sunday...
I woke up early to get Hannah this morning and then had a great day at Mosaic and time with friends afterwards. Then, the whole family crashed out for a Sunday nap.
This should be a good week as I finish up a class and get ready to go back to Virginia to see family and friends. We leave Saturday morning. This summer seems like it's flown by.
On another note, anyone got any good music they think is worth listening to? I realized I'm really lame when it comes to knowing good music.
This should be a good week as I finish up a class and get ready to go back to Virginia to see family and friends. We leave Saturday morning. This summer seems like it's flown by.
On another note, anyone got any good music they think is worth listening to? I realized I'm really lame when it comes to knowing good music.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Changing the World?...
The other day, I was working out at 24 hour fitness, when I noticed a sign that said something like, "join now- we are changing thousands of lives."
As I thought about that while walking into the gym to lift weights, I began thinking about all of the organizations from Subway to Starbucks to churches to civic organizations that claim to be changing lives. I mean, even I am developing sports leagues that raise money for orphans in Africa.
Then, I flashed back to this conversation I had with a guy at a local coffee shop earlier this year. We were talking about meaning in life, and I shared with him that Jesus has changed my life. And I'll never forget his response, "So, coffee changes peoples' lives."
His statement has stuck with me because I think it reveals a lot about our culture. Everyone is claiming to have the life-changing answer out there and Jesus has become just another option for change. It's easy to get jaded and skeptical about Jesus because people have used Jesus to justify whatever they want to do so much that he is only another option like coffee to give someone energy and meaning in life.
Ever since that conversation, I have been thinking about his question: how is Jesus changing someone's life different than coffee changing someone's life?
Without going into the obvious differences, I think it really boils down to hope. The movement that Jesus brought into the world through his life, death, and resurrection and offers to all humanity is inspired by hope. When I look at the world, I often get jaded and cynical or else just self-absorbed and thinking about what kind of coffee I can buy today in view of all the problems around us from broken relationships, to hurting and lonely people, to the wars and poverty we see around us, to the pain I often feel in my own life. But when I look to Jesus, I find hope because He calls to a life bigger than my taste buds, preferences, and even cynicism, into a life given for the good of others. The more I follow Jesus and see the reality of the broken world, the more I am hopeful that more people will join us in the movement to bring hope to those in despair, love to the lonely and hurting, and faith to those who are searching for meaning in life.
Can coffee really give me that kind of hope?
Maybe the reason there are so many organizations marketing changing the world is this desire has been placed in our hearts by the Creator?
As I thought about that while walking into the gym to lift weights, I began thinking about all of the organizations from Subway to Starbucks to churches to civic organizations that claim to be changing lives. I mean, even I am developing sports leagues that raise money for orphans in Africa.
Then, I flashed back to this conversation I had with a guy at a local coffee shop earlier this year. We were talking about meaning in life, and I shared with him that Jesus has changed my life. And I'll never forget his response, "So, coffee changes peoples' lives."
His statement has stuck with me because I think it reveals a lot about our culture. Everyone is claiming to have the life-changing answer out there and Jesus has become just another option for change. It's easy to get jaded and skeptical about Jesus because people have used Jesus to justify whatever they want to do so much that he is only another option like coffee to give someone energy and meaning in life.
Ever since that conversation, I have been thinking about his question: how is Jesus changing someone's life different than coffee changing someone's life?
Without going into the obvious differences, I think it really boils down to hope. The movement that Jesus brought into the world through his life, death, and resurrection and offers to all humanity is inspired by hope. When I look at the world, I often get jaded and cynical or else just self-absorbed and thinking about what kind of coffee I can buy today in view of all the problems around us from broken relationships, to hurting and lonely people, to the wars and poverty we see around us, to the pain I often feel in my own life. But when I look to Jesus, I find hope because He calls to a life bigger than my taste buds, preferences, and even cynicism, into a life given for the good of others. The more I follow Jesus and see the reality of the broken world, the more I am hopeful that more people will join us in the movement to bring hope to those in despair, love to the lonely and hurting, and faith to those who are searching for meaning in life.
Can coffee really give me that kind of hope?
Maybe the reason there are so many organizations marketing changing the world is this desire has been placed in our hearts by the Creator?
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