O how we Christians can be so silly and couterproductive

Tomorrow (April 25) is the "Day of Silence" that has been talked about a lot around here. I want to say that many Christians (even well known ones that I respect) are coming at this thing completely wrong. My two good friends (Tye & Mark) have blog posts about this and I encourage anyone to go and read their blog posts (Tye's here & Mark's here) to get their thoughts on all of this. I completely and totally agree with their approach. I would be open to any discussion about this but let's show Jesus' love to those who don't know Him in a personal way. Open your eyes to Him my Christian brothers and sisters.

Here are a few statements I pulled from my friends blogs:

Mark's

- Despite what these Christian organizations infer as to the purpose of the event, I believe we must base our response on their stated purpose, not our assumptions or interpolations. To do otherwise makes us look like fear-mongering, paranoid, extremists, who don’t understand plain English.

- My opinion is that this AFA/Mission America boycott is just plain silly and counterproductive

Tye's

- I am writing today because I have never believed that we will get anywhere with those we disagree with by carrying banners, protest marches, petition drives and the like. We are called to love those with whom we disagree. This is called grace and I would rather be known for what I am for rather than what I am against.

Lindsey starts 5th grade

WOW! It is here and I'm still stunned. Lindsey (my 11 yr old) started her final elementary school year on Tuesday (Aug 21). She was excited and so fun to be around. Her friend and her got matching clothes for the day and they looked great. WELL done Lindsey and I'm looking forward to walking with you through your 5th grade year. May the Lord use you this year. You can click on the picture to see more pictures.

Going to lunch at different middle schools

I just got done spending my lunch time (plus more) going to lunch with a bunch of my jr hi youth from one of the local schools. It is awesome to be in their world and to see their reactions to me. Some get overly excited and want to introduce me to everyone in the school plus the teacher (and today even a janitor got to meet "my youth pastor"). Then there are those who see me, turn bright red, and might say hi. All of them get pummeled with questions from their friends, "who is that?" "what is he doing here?" "why?" and that is where the fun really begins. I get to have so many conversations with them after those questions come up. Today I got to talk about our announcement video we did wed night (see last post), mess fest (our big jr hi event), summer trips, school play (Aladdin this year), what class they are coming from and going to, and what type of pizza toppings they like. I love (are like) this age so much. Fun stuff!