From Mars Hill Church in Seattle...

At Mars Hill Church, we don’t believe in the deities worshipped by the Celts or the rituals used to appease or summon them. We do, however, recognize that there are evil spirits that confuse and lead people astray from relationship with the one true God. Many of the ideas and rituals that have contributed to the Halloween mish-mash aren’t congruent with our beliefs. However, setting aside times to remember or honor those we love that have passed away (hopefully to be with our Savior Jesus) is not a bad idea. On a less somber note, wearing Spider-man costumes, making funny faces on vegetables, and engaging in neighborhood activities where one can both give and receive hospitality is not something we oppose. Fictional fantasy tales of monsters and elves even scary ones are not wholly inappropriate either, whether punctuated on this particular weekend or sprinkled throughout the year in classic tales from authors including Tolkien and Lewis. We regard Halloween as a second-hand issue and ask that every Christian examine their response to the modern-day Halloween celebration in our culture.

I absolutely subscribe to this!

I'm testing out the new iPhone interface for my blog...let's see if it works!

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I had to end the WAY Early Show at 8:30AM today to make it to my son's school so that I could be there for his choir performance (his first ever!).  One listener didn't get it...

My son, Tommy, met Zachery four years ago when first grade began.  Zachery was a husky, loud and aggressive kid who often needed the teacher to intervene, especially on the playground.  During Tommy's first week at school that year, he'd go to sleep crying because he was afraid of Zachery.  I thought about calling a conference with the teacher to stop this intimidation of my son ( who suffers from mild autism).

By Christmas, Zachery was Tommy's best friend.  He had a keen sense about him and I think he knew there was something different about my boy, so he befriended Tommy.  He acted like he was Tommy's personal bodyguard.  He gave hugs and high-fives and always made sure that my son was included.  Zachery was part of a "village" that was raising my son!

What a great gift God gave us in Zachery.  He's moving away soon...to Ohio.  I will be so sad to see him go because my loving Heavenly Father knew that I needed a community of friends and family to raise Tommy.  He gave us Zachery and I'm so grateful.

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I saw a sign in front of a church the other day.  This church was obviously trying to reach out to their community so they thought it would be cool if they promoted themselves as "The Friendly Church".  At first, I had no reaction, but then as I thought about it, I thought, "Isn't every church 'The Friendly Church'?" To me friendliness is an assumption and a given.  As a seeker, I walk into your church expecting friendliness.  I don't think I'd choose a church just because they thought they were friendly.  Undoubtedly, the church had deemed itself friendly, but why put that on a sign?  Is that the best you can say about your church?  Really?!

The problem is that I think a lost and dying world is looking for more than just friendliness when they walk through the door of a church.  Go ahead and BE friendly...but if you want to attract people to your church, show them that you've created ministries within your church that are designed to meet the needs of real and broken people.  Show them that you value single moms.  Make it clear that addiction is something that you talk about at your church! 

Today's church better have a lot more than friendliness in it's tool belt if we're going to reach people who are far from God. 

The Children's Network of Southwest Florida is looking for loving people to become foster parents. 

Applicants of all kinds accepted, find out more: http://www.childnetswfl.org/

"Building Strong Links for Children in Need"

The Children's Network of Southwest Florida is committed to working with the community to protect children and preserve families.

Recently, I've dropped 15 pounds and I'm really pretty excited to be able to fit into more of my clothes.  It's not about vanity as much as it is about feeling good about what I look like, and feeling good PERIOD!  I have tried many times to shed the weight and I failed every time.  Have you ever set out to accomplish something in your life and failed?  For some reason, in August of 2010 I was filled with "discontent" about the whole weight thing.  Like Popeye, I got to the point where I cried out, "It's all I can stands...I can't stands no more!!!" 

So far keeping the weight off hasn't been a huge challenge, to my surprise.  I'm learning to look at food and life differently and these new attitudes and behaviors are starting to take hold.  Who's have thought??! 

Have you reached the point of "discontent"?  Have you had your Popeye moment about that thing in your life?  Let's journey through our "stuff" together...

My wife, Larisa, has obviously been watching too much HGTV and it's starting to affect MY world...

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