Little Update On Life in France

We organized an event for young adults. It was four intense days of preaching, fellowship, and encouragement. If you want to see some of the photos, they're on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183837&id=690647348&l=8c9e542199

Having Some Laughs at a Convention for Secretaries

Stéphane and hundreds of women in the same room. Occasionaly I bump into a suited male. I sat through a conference on note-taking and was the only guy sitting in the room. What shall I say? Life is hard, but someone has to live it. No seriously, I'm surprised to see so many secretaries for a convention. Most seem quite old and are looking for all the training they can get. I think the girls from my class are the youngest attendees.


On a side note, I found a great job opportunity. And even if it doesn't turn into a job, it would make a great scam. There was a bald, well-dressed middle-aged man drawing a large crowd around his booth. With a professional camera, an iMac, and photography equipement, he was offering his "coaching" services. He claims that his coaching allows people to project the image they have of themselves to the world. In other words, your self-image meeting what others think of you.
I'm not saying his services are great, but boy was he drawing a crowd! Coaching has a lot of potential. Image the hundreds of women that will meet him today. He takes some photos of them and then takes their email addresses to send more information. You don't need a lot of clients and the future is bright. There's never been such an image-conscious society.

Books, Where and When I Read Them

As I was going through the routines common to all men, I had a laugh. I really have books everywhere. It's almost obsessive compulsive. I'm not sure what is the limit, but you can tell me.


Francis Schaeffer's Christian Manifesto in the bathroom. Alcorn's Purity Principle in my school bag. The Deliberate Church, The Power of Mentoring, Mornings and Evenings (Dever/Alexander, Martin Sanders and Charles Spurgeon) at my bedside.
A New Testament in my coat pocket, a cheap Bible (1€50) always at hand and various books by John Piper can be found everywhere (did I mention how much I loved God is the Gospel?). From my bedroom, to the top of the stairs, the door and everywhere in between (almost), you can find books. Then there are the newspapers and magazines.


Most evenings, as I crawl into bed, I'm too tired to even read the growing pile of books. On top of all that, there are many books that BLF asks me to evaluate (and I gladly do). I recently read Vintage Jesus AND Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Both were good.

How Do You Break Free from an Addiction to Entertainement?

JT posted this from my good buddy JP: 


1. Seek the Lord earnestly. Pray like crazy that God would open your eyes to see wondrous things out of his law.


2. Immerse yourself in the Bible, even when you don't feel like it, pleading with God to open your eyes to see what's really there.


3. Get in a group where you talk about serious things.


4. Begin to share your faith. One of the reasons we are not as moved by our own faith as we are is because we almost never talk about it to any unbeliever. It starts to feel like a kind of hothouse thing, and then it starts to have a feeling of unreality about it. And then the powers of entertainment have more sway in our life.


5. . . . [T]hink about your death. Think about your death a lot. Ask what you'd like to be doing in the season of life, or hours or days, leading up to meeting Christ. I do that a lot these days. I think about the impact of death, and what I would like to be found doing, and how I would prepare to meet him and give an account to him.


Read the whole thing from John Piper

Who Doesn't Like A Shower?

Just took my morning shower. I know many people find it a very productive time. We have so many ideas that come to us and we wish we had a notepad close at hand to not forget them. My Dad has his most inspirational thoughts on Bible passages and sermon prep (ok, this isn't totally legit. info) while showering.


I, on the other hand, shower downstairs, and the experience is somewhat like entering a bunker. The farmer that sold us the house must have built it. Big and wide, you'd think that showering in such spacious luxury would be pleasant and uplifting. Not quite. I'd exchange the foot thick concrete walls for a star-lit sky any day.

Francis Chan Says: Don't Be Stupid, Live For the Rope

Ok, that title doesn't make any sense. Unless you do as I did and listen to Francis Chan's recent sermon:
Living a Life That Matters: Living Eternally 
The sermon starts from the 4th minute. If you want to download the sermon or listen to others, go to Cornerstone Church Simi. 


It was good and I would love to hear what you thought of it. I heard the name of Francis Chan for the first time last month. Since then I've ploughed through his excellent book Crazy Love  (it's about lukewarm Christians, such as myself). I recommend it to all of you. It's brilliant!


Love you guys… Let's stick close to Jesus.

OK, So I Didn't Join the French Army

My day in the army is over and I am glad. The food was OK (but then who am I to say, I've done 3 years of Doulos-time), but the dining hall was cold. Really COLD. It snowed all of Monday. I hope it sticks around for a while. I've been asking God to make it fall thick and that the weather would stay cold. I love snow and walking in snow is among the nicest things ever, just as long as you don't actually have to be somewhere.

After countless videos all promoting the army, but not as propagandic as the American "Army of One" campaign (nor as slick), I finally decided to stay put and stay on the Jesus team. As the now corny joke goes, "God's retirement plan is out of this world." I really love Jesus. I'm going to go read my Bible now and just talk to Jesus.

I'm Off Serving The Nation... Or Should I Dodge The Draft?

I finally got my letter. Just like men used to get drafted, I received a letter from the French army and a train ticket telling me what time to show up at the train station in the city nearest my house.

Once I arrive at the base, who knows what will happen to me. They'll start filling my brain with all kinds of images of glory. Bullets, mortars, and glorious near-fatal wounds. I suppose the officers must do all they can to recruit us. 

Hopefully I'll be strong and just comply with their tests and their questioning and return home asap. I wonder, should I purposefully fail the test? Will they be used against me? In times of war, will they look back on my results to send me on suicide missions? Make me an officer? Would it be safest to play the illiterate French kid?

I guess I'll have to decide when I get there. All I know is that I'm glad this will only take a day. How did guys do it, when the draft lasted a year? Or a whole war? I hope the food is good.