Ready or not here I go… So the bags (I did pack light! I have one bag, plus my “murse“. Ok that doesn’t sound right, let’s call it my I-carry-my-bible-books-moleskine(s)-and-wallet-in-it-bag. That sounds better.) are packed and I’m gearing up for the most driving I’ve done since the last week of August 2007. I drove across town today to drop off some goods to one of the camps, before going to church to run the A/V and lead the prayer, and once I got to church my blood pressure was definitely a bit higher than normal. I realized there are infinitely more reasons NOT to own a car when living in a city like Prague! So many… One of them being the ridiculous amount of money it took to fill this car up I’m using and it is a small European car! Please pray that this week goes well and that God moves in deep, significant ways in each of these 6 camps! Here are two of the places I’m driving past/staying near. Oh I love this country…

Today I have sat in front of my computer for a few hours today trying to figure out how I’m going to survive the next week. See I will get in the Novy Zivot (New Life, what we call Campus Crusade here) and I will visit 6 different AIA camps this week. It will be about 800 km total and hopefully not much more than 12 total hours of driving. Here is what it looks like:

You can learn a lot about a people by watching how the spend there time. Well, this morning I’ve found a video that helps one learn much about the beloved Czech people. Enjoy…

Well I finished up my two weeks of preaching at my church here in Prague, Faith Community. It went well. God showed up in some cool ways. I would like to write some follow up posts about conversations I had about the talks and also the content of the talks themselves. God really used both talks from 1 Corinthians 14 and 15 in HUGE ways in my own heart. It is always beautiful when you are teaching in a church and that content you are preaching you are just really preaching to yourself. So, so good. Well, before I get those other posts up (if I do) I wanted to share with you the benediction I used at the end of the talk. The benediction was adapted from Jeremiah 29:4-7 and 1 Corinthians 15:58 from The Message paraphrase and then it has a little Prague spin on it. I hope you enjoy it and that it causes you to love your city even more…

This is the Message from God, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from around the world to Prague:

Build houses and make yourselves at home. Put in gardens and eat what grows in that city. Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in Prague and not waste away. Make yourselves at home there and work for the city’s welfare.

With all this going, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

Finally, pray for Prague’s well-being. If things go well for Prague, things will go well for you.

…the resurrection that is. Here is a quote for us.

The resurrection addresses those who insist on protection and security of the individual, institutions and country. Such persons set up mechanisms of defense along economic, racial and national lines¦ In sharp contrast, the life of the Spirit, with its hope in the resurrection, does not, indeed, cannot, dwell on the preservation of the flesh (personhood, institution and nations). Rather the corporate life of the Christian becomes one of risk. A Christian hospital can accept more welfare patients than economically advisable because it knows God’s love for the poor does not depend on its continued existence. Christians can call for total disarmament in the midst of a cold war because they know the future of the world does not depend on the survival of the nation. A Christian can risk his or her life because a Christian knows this life is not the end. – Graydon Snyder

nough said… It burns a little doesn’t it? I hope it does, because it burns me a bit. Let it burn, sit in it! Let the truth of the resurrection change everything!

Yesterday, I met with my Czech teacher, Lenka, and we had an interesting conversation that was very varied! Meaning we covered a wide range of topics for three hours, all in Czech! She gave me an article she copied for her class at the Charles’ University because it contained somethings that were topics in our class during the semester – Czech atheism and Czech women’s propensity to go topless at pools or in the park (like where I would normally run). Well, I found it in English to share with you! The author of the article, Police Tolerate Nudists at Swimming Pools, seems to link toplessness (or tolerance) with atheism:

“Czechs belong among the most tolerant nations in the world – something that’s related to the high percentage of atheists here,” Petr Weiss, a sexologist, told iDNES.cz. “That’s why most people don’t care if a woman swims without her top. Only older people who are religious might be offended.”

Interesting… Can’t say I agree entirely, but it is none the less amusing and interesting to wonder if this has a correlation. I also like the “only older people who are religious might be offended” line. Assuming that only older people are religious and that is just a matter of religion or offense. Much can be said about this and I’ve actually been sitting an a post I haven’t finished yet, entitled An Open Memo to the Women of Prague. Maybe once I get this sermon behind me coming up on Sunday I will get this up. I have reason to now, I guess…

Prague isn’t known for being the cleanest of cities throughout Europe, which saddens me, because it is so beautiful in so many other ways. That is why this is exciting (from article, Ban on littering in Prague brings thousands in fines):

As of July 1 you can be fined up to CZK 30,000 for spitting out a chewing gum, not lifting your dog’s excrement or dropping a cigarette and other ways of littering.

Victory! People clean up after your dogs! Or else! I was so excited to read this and actually read that the police are enforcing it. Great! In reading about this on a few other sites, I found this hilarious ad from a couple of years back. It roughly says, “Like man, such is dog. Prague 5 thanks all polite people, who clean after their own dog.” Too funny…