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Read a crazy book awhile back (Shelley recommends some great books!) This book was extremely challenging, convicting and inspiring for me. Shane Claiborne (the author, who founded The Simple Way) is living his life for God by loving those around him in the inner-city of Philadelphia. (The Simple Way is part of the New Monasticism movement).

This book, my trip to Africa, and some other stuff I've read/watched over the last year or so have resulted in a shift in my thinking. No one's reinventing the wheel or anything (there's nothing new under the sun, right?), but I have been forced to rethink some of my own values and attitudes. My concepts of Jesus, Christianity, church, and my life's purpose have been challenged. It's funny how we grow up with a certain idea about how something is, but then later the Lord shows us that we weren't as right as we thought we were. It's been sweet for us to talk through this stuff with Darin and Lara.

In thinking through the idea of consumerism, for example, I always end up with more questions than answers. What should an American Christian's life look like in this regard? What's an extravagance, and what's not? Is there a standard we should adhere to or does it not matter? If we have a finite amount of money coming in, how do we decide how much to give away and how much to spend? Do we buy all our clothes used, for example, and give the savings away to those in need?

I realize maybe some of this seems extreme in our culture and I guess that's yet another question, should it? Ever since seeing Ethiopia I think about some of this. About why I've been blessed with so much, while they have so little, and what that should mean for me. (So far I don't buy my clothes used, but I still feel compelled to at least think about it.) I can't save the world obviously, but I so want to "love God and love others". So I thought I'd do a few blog posts about it. I'm interested to hear peoples' thoughts on this.