Oughtta be Criminal

Friday mornings are often reserved as family mornings. I usually take Fridays off, and sometimes Em and me and the boys go out to breakfast. That was the case this last Friday. The boys chose the "Pancake House." We know it as IHOP. Let me say that I love IHOP and I love pancakes. I think they make a quality product. We actually had a buy one, get one free coupon. All the more better, right?

Em and I ordered pancakes. She chose blueberry and I chose the new butterscotch rocks. The boys got the kids menu pancake face. Em and I got large chocolate milk. No meat. Just cakes. Did I mention we had a buy one, get one free coupon. With the coupon (so minus one adult meal) and a 16% tip, our bill was $26.78. Are you serious? For a large glass of milk, they charged us $2.89 each. That's not a glass of milk, friend, that's a gallon of milk. Without the coupon, our breakfast would have costs over $30. After re-attaching my arm and leg and walking to the minivan, I told my beloved, "That's the last time we're going to IHOP for a long, long time." I don't begrudge them. I'm not boycotting them. That's just not a good investment for my family in these economic times, and I can't be responsible with my finances in a Godly way and spend $30 on breakfast. Heck, kids eat free at Digger's on Sundays and free on the weekends at Steak-n-shake. I've got college educations to pay for one day. I can't spend $30 on pancakes and 2 glasses of milk. Just one of those things that makes your wallet go "hmmmmm".

Leadership Conference

I keep hearing from God telling me all the big plans He has for The Way. I believe He has big things in store for our community and beyond. This Sunday is the beginning of a series that has the potential to heal marriages and prepare people to be the best spouse they can be. I'm super pumped about what God is going to do....And, I'm super pumped that Jacksonville has a rockin' '80s radio station.

Finding "the right church"

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Matthew 16:24

I can't help but steal a line from a good friend of mine in ministry (I'll withhold names, but thanks for the insight, buddy!). Someone came to him and said they'd been looking for years for the right church and hadn't quite found the right fit and were thinking about checking his church out. He asked them if they'd ever thought about being "the right church member" instead. He's that way. And he's so right. Discipleship isn't easy and Jesus clearly states that we are called take up our cross, to join the fight, to find our place in the battle, to become part of the mission. Deny and self don't go together in our language these days. Years? Really? Years to find the right church? The church is what it is: the Body of Christ, but filled with flawed individuals. Never expect her to perfect. She won't be. But the call of Christ is for us to do our part to make her more perfect…in the world, on Sunday mornings, to the community. The truth is there is no "right church." Some are bigger and have more flawed people. Some are smaller and have less flawed people. Some have flawed preachers in robes and flawed people playing pipe organs. Some have flawed preachers in jeans and flawed people playing electric guitars. But the issue Jesus would have us focus on is how we can take our cross to enable the mission to be accomplished, for all people to know His amazing love, and to experience his extravagant grace. When you focus on that unbelievably daunting and holy mission, you realize that the only thing that matters finding the place where you're going to serve "the right God."

I'm Back

Okay, okay, I've been a delinquent blogger. I'm trying to get back into the flow.

So, last night I see something that one should never see. I'm in Walmart a little past midnight. Hey, it's not crowded and I'm a night owl! Anyway, I see a young couple come in with a one year old in the buggy like it's 3 in the afternoon. I wondered about some social implications here. What are our social guidelines for caring for children in our society? I mean, what responsibility do we all have? If you hear someone use foul language or racial slurs in front of children, what responsibility do we have to quiet the loud mouth down? If we see children at Walmart in the middle of night, do we have any responsibility at all to pull mom and dad aside and say, "Hey guys, this isn't healthy for her"?

I'm not sure where those social boundaries are, but it at least raised some interesting questions in my mind about parenting and a community awareness for the well being of all children. Of course, it was freezing cold, and when I told my wife about it, she responded, "Maybe they don't have a home and they new Walmart was open all night and they were trying to make sure they kept the baby warm." Once again I was brought down to earth. So, I felt like a "judgmental joey", and the point is well taken. At what point do we cross the line from care to judgment? And is it always clear-cut? And what behaviors merit crossing that line for the sake of children. In the end, it was a lesson to grapple over some of those hard issues. I'm not sure I have the answers. But I am sure that I'm called to love everyone. I am sure that I'm called to take care of my own business before I worry about others'. I am sure that I'm called to be light in the world for God, and not judgment.