Here are some thoughts that struck me recently:

• Most people I know are time-poor
• Life is busy enough but on top of everything else we as Christians are supposed to do a whole lot of spiritual stuff (read the Bible, pray, serve others, do church)
• God doesn't want us to fulfill our worldly responsibilities half-hearted (work, partners, children, community) so it's not really an option to cut back on those

So where does this leave us?

As a follow on thought to Ben's excellent article on the parable fo the talents and Paul's excellent article on the world's best rugby flanker Dave Pocock, here's a question for you: how much thinking do you put into your purchasing?

If you knew that a supplier used unethical methods would you still buy from them?

If you knew a company has a strong philanthropic outlook would you tend to buy more from them?

I have just returned from a trip to the US where I had the privilege of attending a conference or two as well as spending sometime with friends in the mid-west. Our friends live in a university town and had started a wonderful cafe in a building next to their church. This was a great space for the local students to gather, with eclectic furniture, modern local art and fair trade, organic coffee. I remember thinking, "This is about as good as a church can do in creating a safe place for people to hear the dangerous message of Jesus". I congratulated my friend on their church's creativity, to which she laughed and said, "Ah, the students still think it wreaks of 'sneaky Jesus'..."