Mistakes with Chocolate

I recently heard a sermon from Steve Chalke, the founder of Stop the Traffik. His crusade is against human trafficking and slavery in the world.

He issued a challenge for us to rebel against the corporate empires that support slavery by eating only fair-trade chocolate. It's an immense challenge. 42% of all cocoa comes from Cote D'Ivoire in Africa says he. He goes on to say that this chocolate is most certainly harvested and produced by slaves.

It seems vague and unreal and all, but I decided to try it. I bought a bar for $3.50! Yikes. I felt God's pleasure in it. The next day though, I forgot completely about it as I bought some Oreo Cakesters. Gosh, that was a short-lived fight.

I want to do better in this area. I think that it is a pleasing endeavor toward God to support fair-trade, so I'll do what I can. I know I'm going to make mistakes, but I don't want to get to the end of my life having never rebelled in small ways against the apathetic masses who consume without thinking.

I'll share some sites for buying good fair trade stuff:

http://divine.serrv.org/crs/cart.php?m=product_list&c=3
http://www.clothingmatters.net/Mission.html
http://store.gxonlinestore.org/
http://www.puravidacoffeeshop.com/index.html

Simplicity

Daniel is a guy I met on a trip to Haiti. He's been on Oprah for his freegan lifestyle. You should check out some of his ideas.

This is a pretty extreme reaction to the waste our country creates. Daniel chooses to dumpster dive in order to conserve resources so that he can be more generous. He is a talented opthamologist who could just be making money, but instead he uses his excess to help others out, such as the homeless. He lives in a neighborhood that is in an impoverished section of his city. He's trying to love the poor like Jesus did. This is a revolutionary act.

http://theburts.wordpress.com/

There is Nothing New

Hierarchy.
Tithe.
Temple.
Sacrifice.
Sabbath.
Levitical Law.
Passover.
Forgiveness.
Relationships.
Holy Spirit.
Fear.
Love.
Submission.
Politics.



How is it that the New Testament era has changed all of these concepts, and yet God remains the same? I hope to struggle through some of these concepts, seeing if there is room or need for helpful change so that we can serve God with each little thing we do every day. I do take seriously the fact that we are supposed to love God with everything. But what does that look like?

There is nothing new under the sun, but maybe a discovery of the original intention and context can help us to understand and love God how He intended. That is a dangerous thing to talk about. Faith acts are very dangerous. They sometimes make the system of norms angry. They sometimes inspire. They sometimes heal. They sometimes teach us that we are weak.

Life is a beautiful thing.

God gave me a wonderful day today. Things are amazing. Work was just fine. I'm healing from the bitterness. I trust that no matter what happens, I'll be okay. Whether in living or dying, I know God loves me.

I've been very disatisfied with who I am lately. I was praying to God, and He basically told me to chill. He said I thought too much in the future. He also said to listen to Him say, "I love you."

And that most definitely is the only reason I can be satisfied with who I am without forgetting to improve. He loves me.

What a beautiful thing!