Could it be true? I know I have friends out there (Amber) who loathe Starbucks and think their product is sub par, but I love it. While going down my morning blog roll I happened to be on a friend’s (Carrie) blog, who lives in Prague and she sited this article, Critics lining up to give Palladium a difficult arrival, that made me happy, but did it?! “Why?” you ask. Well they speak Starbucks’ arrival to Prague. Now I struggle with what Carrie discussed in her blog entry on this too. That struggle is with the commercialization of Prague. Prague is growing in popularity and seems to be flooded more and more by the positive and negative affects of capitalism. So is getting a Starbucks good for Prague? I’m not sure. I don’t think it will be cool when Prague is like London and there is a Starbucks on every corner. I’ll be honest, Starbucks espresso drinks are somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me and when I travel to a city in Europe with a Starbucks I delight in a splendid venti hazelnut mocha with caramel drizzle, with skim milk and no whip, but that is a treat. What will it be like having one in Prague? I’m not sure. I just hate to think of a Starbucks on every corner… Anyway, I am sure I will enjoy it for a season at least!

If you watch anything as far as travel these days you will notice that Prague is moving up the list of “must see” destinations in Europe. Which I love but also hate. Love because I want people experience Prague and I also want Prague to grow in influence over culture in Europe. Hate because tourist can drive you nuts! I was informed by my friend (Thanks Tricia) about Yahoo Travel’s article entitled, Save Money With These Alternatives to Popular European Cities. Czech out what was at the bottom:

A friend sent me this LINK to some stats and info about Czech. The most intriguing thing I found on the site is this map you see below. I hope the purple (unknown numbers) and the orange (less than 2% evangelical and initial church planting) are as staggering to you as it is me. I take heart that Jesus said, “I will build my church” and that God said, “The nations will exalt me!” May God cause a spiritual revolution in Czech and the rest of Europe and the world!

So it’s a day late, but that’s all good! I’m at my Grandparent’s (a.k.a. the G-Rents!) for a couple of days before going down to Xenia! Have a revolutionary night!

We all love cool stuff, right? Well, it seems like in the last couple years I have heard a ton about Moleskine journals and sketchbooks. Here is what Moleskine has to say about itself:

MOLESKINE IS THE LEGENDARY NOTEBOOK,
USED BY EUROPEAN ARTISTS AND THINKERS
FOR THE PAST TWO CENTURIES.

THIS SILENT AND DISCREET KEEPER
OF AN EXTRAORDINARY TRADITION, WHICH
HAS BEEN MISSING FOR YEARS, HAS BEEN
REPRODUCED BY THE ITALIAN COMPANY MODO
& MODO SINCE 1998. WITH ITS VARIOUS
DIFFERENT PAGE STYLES IT ACCOMPANIES
THE CREATIVE PROFESSIONS AND HAS BECOME
A SYMBOL OF CONTEMPORARY NOMADISM.

MOLESKINE IS A FAMILY OF NOTEBOOKS
FOR DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS, ACCORDING
WITH A FREE MINDSTYLE, BOTH BASIC
AND EMOTIONAL.

I figured since I am moving to Europe and I want to be an “artist and thinker” I should grab one. Well, what I found was their new product called The Moleskine City Notebook. They have dubbed the CityNotebook, “the first guide you write yourself.” Oh, how “postmodern” of them, and very cool! They have a good selection of cities in Europe and some here in the States. Here is what is inside:

I grabbed one for Praha (a.k.a. Prague) and was excited to open it up and check it out! It is a very cool little journal, I’m excited to fill it up and put it to use in about 3 weeks and begin writing my own guide! They are a little pricey, but I think its worth it. I would love to pick some up for other European cities that I get to visit. Another cool thing is that Moleskine is doing CityBlogs, where you can add and share your “personal points of view, exchange information, discover your urban paths, your interests, your itineraries.” But they don’t have an active blog yet for Praha. We will have to see what we can do about that. Have a great night!

Do you love your city? Do you long to see your city transformed for the glory of God and the good of the city? As I wrote in a previous post I’ve been getting drilled about loving the city and developing a Biblical Theology of the City and also loving the city as Christ loves the city. As of late I’ve been discipled from afar by Mark Driscoll out in Seattle as they are going through the Book of Nehemiah (click HERE to listen) and Tim Keller out in New York through some great articles at The Resurgence about the city (I’ve loved the new series that’s up – Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers). But this discipleship has also hit a lot closer to home. Whether it be my friend Pastor Steve McCoy who has a blog dedicated to Living in Woodstock, IL or pastor friends like Joe Grier or Myron Bontrager who are actively working to restore the downtown areas of their cities through renovating old theaters.

The question I’ve been asking is, How do you you want me to practically love Prague God? It’s a big city so there are lots of needs. One of the things that made me wonder is an article at the Prague Post entitled Making the Most of the Riverfront. I wondered what it would look like to get involved in a group of people that want to see Prague become a better place to live and actually do something to make it better not just complain about it. I’m not sure what it will look like but I’m praying about ways to live missionally within the city for the good of the city and for God’s glory. So I’m wondering – What are you doing to live missionally in your city? What are you doing to mix it up within it for it’s good and glory of God? Leave a response, help out the rest of us who are trying to do this thing called missional living….

Another interesting article about the city, Prague, and how its a sister city with Chicago! A New View: A cultural exchange with Chicago brings a compelling photo exhibit