Church

I had breakfast this past Thursday with an old friend (Scott) and a friend of his from college. It was exciting to hear how God had been working in Scott’s friend’s life. Raised in a non-religious Jewish household, he has only recently begun exploring matters of Christian spirituality. He told us how he had known very little about Jesus and was really hungering to know more. Prior to beginning his exploration, what he had known about Jesus revolved around cultural displays — the commercial symbols and bits and pieces of Jesus’ story.I stopped him at one point and asked him this question: “What do you think about Jesus now?” I loved his answer: “He’s a radical.”He went on to talk about when Jesus spoke with the Samaritan lady at the well — the lady who had had multiple husbands and was now living with a man she wasn’t married to.…

I purchased Tony Campolo's "Letters to a Young Evangelical" yesterday and am half-way through it. So far it's been pretty engaging and fun to read -- if you've read any of Campolo's stuff you know what I mean. In his chapter on why the church is important, quotes from Augustine: "The church is a whore, but she's still my mother." A good reminder that although far from perfect the church is still very important. I'll post more as I progress further through the book.

At LifePoint, we do something called "Pizza with the Pastor." It's a chance for newcomers to hear our story and interact with me. One of the best parts is the Q&A time. We had a diverse group of people at this one ... some who had been with us since day one and as recent as a few weeks ago. The best question would have to go to Cody:"If you could do one of the following things, which one would it be? A) Have a teleporter. B) Be able to breathe under water. C) Be able to remember everything you've read."Which one did I pick?

This morning I was watching the Discovery-Times channel (one of the blessings of 300+ channels) and it had a show about the New York subway system. While I've never been to NYC, much less been on the subway, I'm fascinated by these types of shows. It's the same reason I watch How Things Work, Modern Marvels, etc.I digress. One of the segments was about subway preachers -- a calling many of you didn't know existed. It featured this one older couple who spend their days riding the subway and preaching to the lost. It mainly focused on the lady who would quote from the minor prophets passages of damnation.Their name: The Kooks. I can't remember their first names but that was their last name. My first thought was, "That's impossible." But then again ...

Just a few random thoughts about commercials I've seen over and over and over. First of all, you would think that guy on FreeCreditReport.com would have raised his credit score by now. What's wrong with this guy?Why does that lady keep losing her car after all these months? Didn't she get one of those personal voice recorders months ago?Who doesn't feel pity for the Geico caveman? I have to give it to Geico for consistently producing some of the funniest commercials on tv. I've even found myself singing the song that plays as the caveman goes through the airport ("everywhere I go, there's always something to remind me"). Plus, the mock news interview with the split screen is a classic.