back in time for break

it is spring break this week. it is interesting that this unofficial holiday comes during the lenten season, when we are called to take time away from worldly things and focus on our faith in Christ. interesting in the sense that i am sitting in my office watching students head out to exotic locales to throw off accountability for their behavior, forget their faith and indulge in worldly things. the log in my own eye on this one is that i won't be doing any better as i will be sitting in my office throughout this week indulged in the daily grind of work rather than joining my wife in mission work or my friend at tiaze' community in worship. i pray for travelling mercies for all of those heading out and hope that whatever we engage in this week will enrich our lives.

i have been reading a lot since the last time i posted almost a month ago. one of the most influential things i have been reading is shane claiborne's the irresistible revolution. i have been reading this for an amazing class i am taking in evangelism. claiborne and a group of others live in Christian community called the simple way (www.thesimpleway.org) in philadelphia. there they have set up their tents among the homeless and hurting and live Christ in the midst of a seemingly broken part of town. as a tangent, why do we still type "www." anymore before website addresses, isn't that a given. anyway claiborne was deeply influenced and affected in his convictions from a variety of different sources from mother teresa to willow creek community of rick warren fame. claiborne has stood on the side of the poor throughout it all and developed a real sense of what it means to live Christ in the world. claiborne writes:

"if you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you, 'Christians believe that Jesus is God's son and that Jesus rose from the dead.' but if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. we have not shown the world another way of doing life. Christians pretty much live like everybody else; they just sprinkle a little Jesus in along the way. and doctrine is not very attractive, even if it's true. few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers them only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death.

i am convinced that Jesus came not just to prepare us to die but to teach us how to live."

amen. this will be my focus over spring break and i hope to come out of it more informed about what that way truly looks like. i think that i am getting glimpses of it as i read on and dialogue with you.

blessings and peace