brians blah blah blahg

imagine a weekend, just friday from 6p to sunday at 1p where we lived like an ethiopian. in ethiopia, the per capita annual income is $800. here in the us, it is $47,000. that means that we in the us have $128 a day, every day, 365 days a year. an ethiopian has $2.20 a day total income. imagine living off a food ration of rice and meal equivalent to 2 measuring cups. picture you and your family circled up in the less than 300 square feet of total living space. leave the car parked in the garage. shut everything electrical down at 8pm. and purify all your drinking and hygiene water. we will call it a “reality check”. for roughly 36 hours live the reality of a huge percentage of the world. and then here is the nearly inconceivable part-do it all without grumbling or complaining. that is what the bible says-do everything without grumbling… philippians 2.14.

just think about what that weekend might mean to you, your children, your outlook.

in the news today: 2 billion more to be approved so we can trade our clunkers for new car debt bondage. 2 billion so we can drive newer, greener cars. i want my slice-how can i get my 4500 for my 1996 ford explorer? 8,000 for first time home buyers. everyone is entitled to an american mortgage. we so need a “reality check” instead of bailout check.

still listed in the top 10 highest income nations in the world. spending the 128 a day as fast as we can and meeting with bankers to find another few coins to acquire more. what did i give this last week that will make a difference in the reality of someone who doesn’t have the luxury of ending their “reality check” when the weekend is over? it is time i wrote some reality checks. how about you?

consider giving to www.liaint.org or any other organization that makes a difference daily in the lives of the poor.

consider giving to churches like www.cedarridge.cc that give a percentage of every dollar to community transforming missions.

and after you have done both of those, consider giving to the reality check project that will be creating a dvd led weekend experience, guiding people through the challenges and freedoms of living on so much less. comparing our life to an ethiopian counterpart for a weekend. challenging us to pray inside a new reality for the people in ethiopia and elsewhere. and waking up to new reality of the responsibility of the generosity that has been heaped on us.

we will be teaching the “reality check” message series this november. and look at blocking out november 6 and 7 a reality check weekend.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1.27