Normal Rockstar

Change a Life; Get a Goat

It's been privileged to be a part of The 40 Day Fast. It wraps up tomorrow - we'd love for you to join us tomorrow as we're ALL fasting the final day. One of the initiatives that has arisen out of it is Get A Goat - click here to help make a world of difference in a family's life in just 5 minutes for $1.

40 Day Fast: Part Two

I am a blessed man - I grew up with two parents who loved me dearly and made sure they told me that all the time. I was disciplined - even spanked. And to this day I can still remember my dad crying with me as he held me afterwards.

In 2003 I spent 2 weeks at an orphanage in northern Thailand. I will never forget my time with these kids - most of them were left for dead by Burmese drug lords and were taken in by missionaries, a Thai man and his American wife. They loved these kids as their own (I believe there were 40 to begin with) and taught them discipline, job skills, respect, and how to have fun. The kids got an education and studied the Bible as well. These kids learned to take care of each other - the older boys and girls would look after the younger ones. They respected their elders and worked hard on the farm. They were a testimony to me of how Christian love can literally change the course of one's life.

If you've been following the 40 Day Fast at all, you are aware by now that there are millions of orphans in the world and many different ways you can help show them Christ's love. My wife and I sponsor two African children through World Vision - they're a wonderful organization, and we've been working with them for years now. (In Africa alone, there are over 14,000,000 orphans. Let me put this in perspective: if they all stood hand in hand, that's enough children to stretch from Seattle to New York City and back again 6 times.)

But today I want to highlight a ministry that doesn't always get as much attention, participation and support from you and I as it should: the ministry of the local church. If you are a Christian as I am and believe that the Bible is God's instruction book for us, you'll know that our support of organizations such as Compassion and World Vision should come AFTER we have given our firstfruits to our local church. So, with that in mind, let me share with you briefly why my church has chosen to invest in the orphans in the country of Moldova (we currently have 62 people in 3 separate teams in Moldova - they will be there until July 11th).

40 Day Fast: Part One

We sang this song in church two weeks ago and it brought me to tears as I was thinking about the fast. Please listen to this song by Tim Hughes this morning and let the lyrics break your heart (lyrics are below). I will post my story and share my cause early this afternoon.

God of Justice

God of Justice, Savior to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, you have called us,
Freely we've received, now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry,
Stand beside the broken,
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing,
Move us into action,
We must go

To act justly every day
Loving mercy in every way
Walking humbly before You, God

You have shown us what You require,
Freely we've received, now freely we will give

Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out, Lord

The 40 Day Fast

Today marks the start of The 40 Day Fast, an initiative for bloggers started by Kat. You'll notice the list of dates and names in the right-hand sidebar - those are all the bloggers who have signed on to fast on their assigned day to highlight a cause they are passionate about and wanting to draw some attention to. I will be posting on July 3rd... if your name is not on that list, don't worry about it! Pick a day that works with your schedule and let us know you're a part of it so that we can highlight your cause as well.

Click here to read the first post of the fast from Kat.

40 Day Fast: About Something Other Than Us

Fellow blogger Kat started this initiative just the other day after viewing this rather disturbing picture. The idea is that 40 bloggers will each fast one day starting on June 22nd. Each blogger will blog about the experience as well as an area of need in the world (either a cause or a country) and an organization that strives to meet that need. Our hope is to help raise awareness and show people that there really is something they can do to help the poor and the orphaned all around the world.

If you are interested in being a part of this, either email Kat or go to this page for more information. We've got 19 signed up already - we only need 22 more. Will you join and be a part of the solution?

What the World Eats

Japan:  The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week:  37,699 Yen or $317.25

Italy:  The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week:  214.36 Euros or $260.11

United States:  The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week:  $341.98

Mexico:  The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week:  1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Ecuador:  The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week:  $31.55

Chad:  The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week:  685 CFA Francs or $1.23

What's wrong with this picture? I think you can figure it out... These pictures and more are from a fantastic photo essay by Time Magazine - click here to see the rest of it.

Is a Fourth Meal Really Necessary?

There is something about advertising campaigns and the whole marketing world that really fascinates me. When I watch movies I pay attention to product placement and speculate on the price tag associated with each spot; I first subscribed to Fast Company magazine (and still do) partially because of the extremely creative advertisements within; I enjoy reading books like The Long Tail that provide case studies for companies that have done their research and led the way to profitability and sustainability in the world of Web 2.0.

Taco Bell's Fourth Meal advertising campaign is one of the most distasteful, irresponsible, and morally disturbing campaigns I've seen in North America. Through their fourthmeal.com website, Taco Bell is obviously targeting our youth, encouraging them to enjoy a 4th meal - "the meal between dinner and breakfast."

Here are just SOME of the problems I have with this campaign:

1. Cultural Irresponsibility - fast food chains are already under fire these days for the unhealthy nature of their menus and have been pressured in recent years to provide healthy alternatives. It seems to me that a campaign encouraging the cultural acceptance of a FOURTH meal is a huge step in the wrong direction. Taco Bell is not doing its peers in the fast food industry any favors with this campaign.
   
2. Public Health Crisis - statistics show that we in North America are in the middle of an obesity crisis, ESPECIALLY among children and adolescents. Encouraging youth to eat a fourth meal from a fast food restaurant is JUST as morally wrong and irresponsible as encouraging youth in AIDS-ravaged Africa to have sex more often. In each case we know what is causing the crisis - eating too much unhealthy food, having casual sex with multiple partners who may or may not be HIV positive - and we know what the solution is - eating smaller portions of healthier foods and exercising, being monogamous and encouraging open communication and education surrounding the realities of AIDS/HIV. Taco Bell does not seem to want to have anything to do with being a part of the battle against obesity here in North America - instead, they intend to contribute to the problem in the name of profit.
   
3. Global Awareness - speaking of children in Africa, has anybody over at Taco Bell considered the fact that the majority of the WORLD struggles to get THREE meals a day? America is already dealing with a PR crisis around the world. Now, thanks to this national campaign, the whole world will know that we have so much food here in America that we thought it would be a good idea to add another meal to our day. What about your starving children? Here - here's a few million dollars. Go buy a few more bags of rice so that you and tens of millions of others like you can have two bowls a day instead of one. Meanwhile, I'm going to sit over here and get even more fat eating tacos and burritos at midnight.

   
Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Taco Bell, Mr. Joe Schmo who frequents Taco Bell on a regular basis... let's do something about this. Let's storm the golden gates of Taco Bell and make them put a stop to this ridiculous campaign. Let's get the word out, get the heads talking, and shut down what can only be seen as an extremely irresponsible and socially harmful advertising ploy aimed at making even more money at the expense of tomorrow's America. It's time to eliminate the Fourth Meal from our diet and our world.

Technorati Tags: Fourth Meal, Taco Bell

Excerpts from "Irresistable Revolution"

I'm in the air en route to perform at the Covenant Awards, Canada's version of the GMA (Dove) Awards, and I'm really questioning the validity of what I'm spending my life doing right now thanks to Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution and one of the founding members of The Simple Way. You may remember - I just blogged about this book and this guy a couple of days ago... and I can't get it out of my mind. We only had 3 hours sleep last night, so I'm struggin' a little on this flight and have been reading for a while. It's a fascinating read - this guy Shane would definitely be considered a radical by the world. He sleeps/eats/lives his life with homeless people, he goes to jail for standing up for the rights of the poor, he makes his own clothes, he traveled to Iraq to protest the war... I mean, this guy is a piece of work! And yet he calls himself an ordinary radical - ordinary because he's simply trying to live out the life Jesus called us to live. Wait a minute... Jesus called me to live a life like that?! Well, I don't think we're ALL called to sleep in a park with the homeless - but I could be VERY wrong on that, too. I'm still processing (and reading)... I DO know that I got pretty disgusted when I put down the book for a minute or two and opened my inflight magazine only to find these ads in the first few pages:

WealthTV - Your Luxury Lifestyle & Entertainment Network. "WealthTV delivers informative shows that provide invaluable insights on what every American dreams of - from travel secrets to fast cars, from better etiquette to better investing, and much more."

"Under a giant cathedral of blue skies we invite you to come and worship the game." - an ad for a beachfront country club/golf community in Mexico

I have no desire to go any further... I think instead I'm going to try and get some sleep (if I can turn my mind off for a little bit). In the meantime, why don't you read some of the excerpts from the book below - I dare you to pick up a copy and read it. Believe me - there will be more to come...

"Layers of insulation separate the rich and the poor from truly encountering one another. There are the obvious layers like picket fences and SUVs, and there are the more subtle ones like charity. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, can also function as outlets that allow us to appease our consciences and still remain a safe distance from the poor."

"It is much more comfortable to depersonalize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the catastrophic human failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedrooms in their homes. We can volunteer in a social program or distribute excess food and clothing through organizations and never have to open up our homes, our beds, our dinner tables. When we get to heaven, we will be separated into those sheep and goats Jesus talks about in Matthew 25 based on how we cared for the least among us. I'm just not convinced that Jesus is going to say, 'When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me,', or, 'When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.' Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: 'you fed me... you visited me in prison... you welcomed me into hour home... you clothed me."