{{ POSTCARDS FROM FAR AWAY }}

I'll start this post by saying that I greatly appreciate my wife. More than typing letters into a blogger-box will ever be able to fully convey. She's so great. I'm not sure if she realizes that she does this. Maybe she does. Maybe not. But she has pushed me to scripture in a great way over the passed few weeks. I can't explain this next statement right now because I don't really understand it all yet. My faith is changing. Maturing. Growing up in ways that I've not known. And in my attempt to work it out and explain it, she's pushed me to the Word of God and for that I'm more than grateful. She is wonderful!

If I had to try and squeeze what I'm learning into some brief sentences they would look something like this...
1) I've been a man of very little faith.
2) My life is not my own.
3) God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.

I can tell you that I've come under great conviction for my lack of sharing the gospel. This is why I hate "relationship evangelism"...I don't actually hate it, but I do hate the apathy it can create. I begin to think that I'll talk with them about Jesus later. And then I feel ok about this because I'm "building a relationship." I wonder if I walk this world as one eager to share Christ with those around me. I'm not sure I look at people and see what God sees. To a degree i think that all of American Christianity has this problem...otherwise we'd actually share the gospel with people. If I truly believe in what the Bible says is true of sin, death, hell, Jesus, salvation, etc...how in the world can I so flippantly live this life? I either don't believe it (which I do) or I'm living in sin (I am). I would venture as far as to say that my heart is truly breaking for people. All people. Not just those I'll serve a few years from now...but those I should be serving who live and work right beside me right now.

You see I thought after Michael became a believer, my mission and purpose at Starbucks was all but done. I did what I was there to do. Michael was the reason I was first taken to Starbucks. And he has an incredible, growing faith in the saving work of Christ. And so I assumed I was done. I'm not. I'll never be.

If I try and explain what I'm learning and how I'm changing it will, right now, sound more like a giant pile of verbal vomit. Unorganized and messy. Unlike real vomit, this pile is pretty much awesome. Also unlike real vomit, this pile isn't pink like that time that girl threw up outside of the library at Summit Drive Elementary School when I was in the 3rd grade. Perhaps one day I will work toward explaining it all. Perhaps not.

I had a conversation the other day with an old friend. Kinjal Poonatar is his name. I knew him back in middle school. I don't remember much from him, just that we were friends and then not friends and then he became a boy scout and checked trash cans at Fall for Greenville. He's smart though. Philosophical. He wasn't fond of my anti-global warming comment on facebook. So we chatted about it a little bit. The conversation shifted quickly into a discussion of religion. He made a statement like "all religion is altered by man and driven by man" and asked which Christianity was he supposed to look at because the Catholics had done a number on Jesus. I agreed with him that man can do some serious damage to religion. Then I agreed with him about religion. All religion is man centered. All but one. Every other religion in the world centers around man. Live better to experience liberation. Do good to build up karma for the next life. Do do do do do do do. Man man man man man. Christianity, as seen in the Bible, is not this way. Rather than being built upon what man can do, Christianity rests in what Christ has done. We talked through this for a while. He doesn't believe my statements. he began listing religions that aren't man-centered. His list, however, was nothing but man-driven religions. I look forward to chatting with Kinjal again. I'm not sure if he is anymore, but he was Jain back in the day. Jainism is an offshoot of hinduism. If followed properly it is a religion of extreme legalism. So much so that those who following closely refuse to farm for fear of killing some sort of life (insects, etc.). I'm not sure Kinjal is Jain now.

in random news, how come when I pet Dudley he quickly cleans the spot I just petted? I wash my hands. He's a cat. He poops in an igloo...he's the dirty one. Whatever.
















The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore, I will hope in Him."