Evangelism simplified.

Mug: Cobalt blue "bistro" mug from a purveyor of Texana collectibles. Nice satin finish to the exterior glaze, nice stain-resistant gloss white inside. A very handsome, but slightly awkward handling mug. Too big? Handle shape? Narrow base? Regardless of its mechanical imperfection, this is one of my favorites. It's beautifully designed, with a great concept: the two sides bookcase the slogans of the beginning and the end of the Texas Revolution.

Coffee: Colombian beans from Central Market. No adventure this morning, just comfort.

Notes: Notice the little imperfection dimple underneath "Remember the Alamo!". I bought this on the clearance/damaged goods shelf at Waterloo Records in Austin. It's a cosmetic (but real) divot in the mug (air bubble in the ceramic). Looks like a little bullet hole.

"Victory or Death!" sums up quite nicely why I am an Evangelical. We can either share in the victory of Jesus Christ, or we can suffer death. It's not our victory, but it is our death. And Jesus won his victory "so that all who believe in him will not die, but live for eternity." Evangelism simplified.

Finally, a little dig. I bought this mug at Waterloo Records in Austin. Waterloo was the name of the city that became Austin a few years after the War of Independence. It was the idea of land developers who were trying to get the capitol of Texas moved to their city by renaming it after Stephen F. Austin (it should be noted that folks in the city of Harrisburg did the same thing by renaming their city after Sam Houston). The City of Austin (Waterloo) had no more connection to the Texas Revolution than did the city of Dallas (Bryan's Trading Post). Neither existed at the time of the Revolution, either by the name we know them by today, or by their earlier names. Both cities came into being during the years of the Republic.

Austinites dislike being reminded of this.