Drop everything you're doing and...

...go here and download Matt Krick's message from Mars Hill titled "God is green." They are starting a series that I'm really excited about. Matt takes you from Genesis to Revelation showing you the mandate we have as humans to lovingly care for the earth God has given us. You have to listen to it! When you're done with that go to Borders and find "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Greg Boyd and read chapter 7. If you have money...buy it...if you don't...put it back and buy it when you get some money. Or you can get it used here for cheaper. I'll give you just a taste:
Like Jesus, no part of Paul's kingdom ministry involved trying to tweak the morality of the culture at large. Like Jesus, his only concern was that kingdom people consistently live out the new life they have within the kingdom, for only when they do this will they offer the culture at large a beautiful, kingdom alternative to their present, sinful, self-centered, and ultimately, destructive way of living. (pg. 133)
I started my morning with that and searching through Numbers and Deuteronomy because I had a thought about the similarity in Moses and Jesus not being able to see the fruition of the dreams for their people. They both trusted others (Joshua, and the Holy Spirit + church) to pull off their dreams even though they knew the process would be flawed and we'd get a ton of it wrong. How crazy is that idea?
Who needs seminary? I got a Bible, a brain, some friends, a mentor, some books and my ipod. My version is much cheaper.