New Puppy Stuff Shopping!

Yesterday, Wilson and I went shopping for our new puppy's stuff. Wow, this crap is expensive! A bed, kennel, baby gate, puppy pads (training a dog to go outside to pee is hard enough when you have immediate access to the outside, let alone living on the second floor of an apartment building!), collar, leash, a tag, and just a couple of chew toys= over $100. It adds up! Yeah, I decided to go to the dollar tree to look for a brush because the ones at PetSmart looked just like the $1 ones at the Tree, except the pet store ones cost $7-10! Um....I don't think so punks! Well, we are still really excited, even if I am a little slow getting over the sticker shock.

Church was really good today. It was a little blue because Wilson had to work today, but I made it through. =) We had a missionary couple from Africa as guest speakers. The church supports them in their ministry to indigenous tribes in Niger (actually pronounced "Nee-jair" in case you were wondering). The husband preached and was very interesting. Very well-spoken and he offered us some unique perspectives, including how different parts of the world view Americans. The African Muslims that he knows love Obama because he's black and they hate Bush. But when this missionary tells them that Obama is in favor of homosexual "marriage" and abortion, while Bush was against these things, the Africans are shocked. As Muslims, they are staunchly opposed to homosexuality and abortion and have never heard that Obama supports these things. Our missionary spoke a lot about African sentiments and tribal differences, as well as the state of Christianity worldwide.

More fun facts from church today: At the end of WWII, approx. 3% of the world's population was evangelical Christian. Today that number is up to 12%. We hear that Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion, but it's not. Christianity is. In fact, Christianity is mostly growing due to conversions, while Islam is mostly growing due to reproduction and large families. Also, today 2/3 of the world's Christians live in Asia, Africa, and South America. Christianity can no longer be considered a "Western religion". Up until the 1700's, the vast majority of Christians lived in Asia and Northern Africa; it wasn't until later that the religion moved West. Interesting, huh? Do you know which country sends out the second-highest number of missionaries? (America is first with 55,000.) South Korea. 41,000 missionaries have been sent from that country alone. Wanna know who's next in line? Brazil with some 20,000. Don't think that the US has a monopoly on Christianity. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Some theologians and "missionists" (I think that was the term) estimate that by 2050, the world will see fewer non-Latino white evangelical Christians than black or Latino evangelicals. South America, Asia, and Africa are seeing a resurgence in Christianity that is unprecedented. The Lord is working among these people and they are responding in droves. Christianity is booming, my friends, and it's spreading like wildfire across the world. Get excited!!