the car is done.

i woke up this morning and talked to home for a bit. i was so stoked that Savannah got her purse back. exciting news. 

on the drive to class this morning the car made this really loud noise and now apparently our steering base (?) is messed up and we are missing some big ball bearing. i know nothing about cars or how they work. i just that when i hit the pedal they go. and that's all i really care about. so we are getting our neighbor to look at it. we left it up at the church for the night. i need to work out how i'm getting there tomorrow. 

i am about halfway through Jesus For President. it is messing me up for sure. challenging a lot of crucial stuff going on in the economy and government of America. and comparing it to Rome, and the early Christians, many of them being martyrs. 

there is this Jedi Mind Tricks song called Shadow Business. it's about the factories in China. while it is filled with profane language, it is attempting to do more about this situation than the Church is. 

everyone should probably check out. http://www.responsibleshopper.org 

Hanes, Levi's, Nike, among others ignore labor laws and use slaves. 

i haven't heard much from the hundo boys this week! a little here and there. 

the bus sold and we are making another deposit at First Street Studio, where we will be recording for all of October. www.myspace.com/firststreetstudiomusic

we are all getting ready for it. i have had some more song ideas as of late. i will begin getting my voice ready as soon as it doesn't hurt anymore. 

i am going to read a bit and then head to bed. 

tomorrow i will ship Savannah's b-day stuff. :) 

Chadwick

sweatshops. justice. homeless.

I'm going to start this entry with one bold statement. 

Beyond compassion lies justice. 

How can we call ourselves compassionate followers of Christ, when a desire to bring justice isn't in our hearts. We mock the homeless and turn our noses up on a lifestyle that saved our wreckless souls. "How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday." 

That lifestyle being that of Jesus... he WAS homeless, and yet we don't care about the homeless more than a food drive here and there.  Yeah, food is cool. But what about broken hearts and bare feet? Yeah, you did a great food drive with your church or school, but our attitudes towards justice aren't seasonal projects. They are what we are called to do. 

Mother Theresa said,  "Poverty is not created by God, but by you and I, because we have not figured out how to love."

Real "Christianny" folks are rockin' Jesus t-shirts, promoting His name and advertising Him to the world, but what we don't realize is the actual shirt we are wearing was made in a sweatshop somewhere. Ridiculous. The WWJD bracelets were most likely made in China with complete ignorance to any labor law or even a minimum wage. Made by children, forced to weave more "Christian" products into our "Christian Nation's" over-consumptive fiber of a being. There is way too many "Christian's" in this paragraph. While I'm on it, we should also stop focusing on striving to be amazing Christians (only used 3 times in the Bible).  Jesus was crucified for much more than us just to follow some rules than we have so carelessly named "Christianity." Do not get me wrong, they are great guidelines to live by. But He died for much more. Bearing our cross daily, is not safety insurance. In fact, following Jesus is NOT SAFE. The only promise we can cling to is that the best place we can be is in God's will. That says nothing about safety. 

"There is no more dangerous place to be, than for a Christian to be in comfort and safety, detached an isolated from the suffering of their neighbor."

We don't need to open our eyes. We just need new eyes. 

Eyes that asks questions about the things they consume and where they come from. 

We all have some work to do. 

Goodnight. 

Chadwick.