HCLM BLOG

I have been thinking lately that our capitalist culture teaches us that we are primarily consumers. That our job is to be shrewd customers, rewarding the companies that produce the products we want for the lowest cost. For most of my life, how these companies do that has not been my concern. Recently I am starting to change my mind on that. I want to try to avoid being complicit in exploitation, and be more intentional about the places where I put my money.

When I consider the life my King Jesus lived while he was here, he spent lots of his time improving the lives of the poor, I want to emulate that wherever I can. I can’t do it all at once, and can’t be sure about where all my money goes; but I’m realizing that each purchase has potential to help out. I’m trying to make changes a little bit at a time.  

It’s in this context that I’ve started to think about coffee. Where do those delicious little beans come from?

I like coffee. I didn’t always, but I learned with beauty of the bean 6 or eight years ago. It’s a treat that encourages me out of bed in the morning, and a special incentive in some slow or tough evenings. Recently I realized that people have to grow this stuff. I mean some one some where farms the beans you use to make that coffee. It’s a nice treat for you, but serious work for someone else. It tends to grow best in countries that are less developed than the united states. In fact there are people in the world growing great coffee, that are doing good to live in small shanty style homes with dirt floors.

Recently I got connected with a gentleman that imports that sort of coffee from several small farmers in Guatemala. He pays them a better rate than they could get even with fair trade. He just wants to bless them. I do too. I think others might as well. That’s why we’re going to find places to sell it. Maybe we’ll call it Credo Coffee...what do you believe?

This "walk on water" metaphor has really been sticking with me.

here's the first thing that's coming second today cause it took a little more thought:

I have two things today. I'll give you the second one first, and the first one later today (it takes a little more thought).

I read this little blurb in TIME magazine the other day that demonstrated part of the problem. When Christians begin to think that God has a political party, things get really messed up. This idea usually stems from a misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God. Remember that Jesus came to start a Kingdom...he said as much a lot. But his Kingdom was not of this world. It is not limited by boundaries and borders, by political ideologies, or economic systems. The Kingdom of God consists of the people who allow Jesus to be King in their lives and is more closely associated with the Church than with any country. I think it's dangerous for us to think that we know how God would vote. 

I gotta say, all this health care talk is finely getting me thinking.

I have been thinking a lot lately about purpose. When you were in school they made you write out a purpose statement for the science experiment (remember that? purpose, hypothesis, blah blah blah). The point was to say, "This is why I'm doing my science experiment."

This past Sunday while we sang I was struck by how consistently God has resolved issues in my life.

I saw a little photo yesterday in Time magazine that made me stop reading for a while. There was a big whole in the asphalt and a soldier standing an looking at it. The captions said there was a bomb targeting Christians. The location was outside a church in Iraq. Christians in Iraq are a minority and under attack by the muslim majority. They are trying to drive them out, and they are down from 800,000 to like 500,000 in the last six months or so.

A friend of mind recently posted this "I'm adding music back to my life." It reminded me just how much I like music. Sometimes it takes a little effort, but when there's music, even in the background, it can significantly add to your day. Here's some music I added to my yesterday: