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I was driving through a parking lot over the weekend and came across these two vans parked a couple of spaces from each other.

I imagine they were inside the restaurant leaving a 5% tip and a christian tract for the waiter after complaining about their poorly prepared food and gossiping about the Jones from church.

Ok…that may be an exaggeration. They probably left an 8% tip.

By now I’m sure you’re picking up on my obvious frustration with these kind of people. I’ll readily admit that I have to go to the Lord frequently to ask His forgiveness for not loving them the way that I should.

It’s far easier for me to extend grace and compassion to even the most heinous of sinners than it is to love judgmental “Christians” (and I use that word loosely in this context).

I have to question the heart of people who choose to apply stickers to the back of their minivans warning of hellfire and judgment when Jesus himself summed up the entirety of the law into “Love God…love others.” (Luke 10:27) Why can’t we put that on the back of our vehicles?

I really do think I’m growing though. At least I didn’t get out of my car and peel the lettering off their back windows.

I just found out about Earth Hour 2008 over at RagamufinSoul.com. The goal is to raise global awareness about personal and corporate energy conservation.

Here is what they say on the web site:

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco. View cities involved around the world.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

I realize this is last minute notice for all my readers but I thought I’d pass the information along. I’ll be participating by switching everything off tonight at 8:00 PM.

How about you? Drop a comment to let me know if you’re going to be participating. (click here if you can’t see the video below)

My parents came down to visit us and help us pack this past week. I’m so fortunate to have such awesome parents who love hanging out with us and their grandkids.

On Thursday Emily, my youngest, had an earache and was running a temperature.

This is what she looked like before the Tylenol kicked in …

…and this is what she looked like after it kicked in.

Later that afternoon she wanted to do Grandpa’s hair. You know that you’re a pretty good Grandpa when you let your granddaughter do this to you.

I’m feeling the love this morning. Maybe it’s the fact that over 70 of you have subscribed to this craziness I call a blog. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had over 6,500 hits on my blog since it went online back in September. Maybe it’s because of how much fun I have writing these posts and reading your great comments.

Maybe it’s just the extra coffee I had this morning.

But I just want to say…you’re a good-looking bunch and I’m proud to call you my blog readers!

Here’s a video I put together this morning talking about what we’re up to and where we’re going. (click here if you can’t see the video below).

By the way, if you’re reading this and you haven’t subscribed…what are you waiting for? Click here to subscribe in a RSS reader or click here to get my blog posts sent to you ever day by email. You can also follow me on Twitter.

(music in the video: “Window” by The Album Leaf and “Why do you let me stay here?” by She & Him)

A new friend on Twitter posted a link to this and I just have to share this with you.

Have you heard of the World Beard & Moustache Championships? According to Wikipedia it is a “biennial competition in which men with beards and moustaches display length, highly-styled facial hair.” The first championship of its type took place in 1991.

They even have their own theme song (click play below).

In the 3 brackets of facial hair (Moustache, Partial Beard, and Full Beard) categories include Imperial Moustache, Garibaldi, Hungarian Moustache, Sideburns Freestyle, Musketeer, and Freestyle Moustache.

I promise you I am not making this up.

Here are a few of last year’s championship beards and moustaches:

It turns out you can compete in just about anything these days. Which got me thinking, I wonder if I could be good at this? Here are a few of the styles I was thinking about trying out for.

Hungarian Moustache	Dali Moustache
Garibaldi Full Beard	Imperial Moustache

Which one do think looks best on me?

The purpose of today’s post is two-fold. The first is to tell you about what looks to be a great movie coming out in April called Smart People. At first glance it looks like some of the movies we’ve been seeing from Fox Searchlight in recent years (Juno, Little Miss Sunshine). I’m putting this one on my calendar to go see.

The second reason for this post is to share some thoughts that came to me after reading the movie’s tagline, ‘The smartest people have the most to learn.’

I know I’m not the only person to get inspiration for a message or blog post from crazy places like commercials, songs or billboards. Admit it, you’ve done it too.
The tagline from the movie echoes a concept about growing in our walk with God that I’ve been thinking about recently. For me, having grown up in the church, my journey of faith has been more about unlearning things I thought were true. I’m realizing more and more all the time that my preconceived ideas of  who God is and how He works just aren’t true.

There are times I envy new believers who are developing a relationship with Christ after years of living without Him. Their journey of faith is so authentic because they don’t have years of religious baggage to get rid of. Their view of Jesus isn’t based on countless sermons, classes, conferences and books. It’s the spark of excitement that comes from discovering your first love.

I suppose that’s why Jesus said that if we really want to know who He is we have to come to him as little children (Mark 10:14-16) who are innocent and teachable.  I think those of us in ministry have the most difficulty seeing Jesus for who He really is because we feel the need to always study and delve deeper to find those “hidden truths” that we can share on Sunday mornings.

We forget that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and that Jesus’ message was a simple one of loving God and loving others (Luke 10:27).

The smartest people really do have the most to learn.

Quick…what was the last song you listened to?

Take 10 seconds and let me know the last song/artist you listened to on your iPod, CD player or radio (TV, movies & commercials don’t count).

But be honest. If I caught you listening to Celine Dion in your car when you thought no one was listening, it’s time to fess up.

It’s the Monday mornings after Easter that remind me why I love the Church.

In spite of all the scandals, hypocrisy, and legalism that exists in churches today I am in love with the church. Sure, there are plenty of things not to love, but I’m learning to look at the Church through Christ’s eyes and see what He sees.

I get so pumped when I read blogs from the weekend about how

• A church in Charlotte, North Carolina that is just over two years old celebrated as 4,800 people showed up for services and over 500 people gave their lives to Christ! (read about it here and here)
• An amazing church in northern Indiana went viral with the message of Christ. They even had thousands of glow sticks…how cool is that? (read about it here and here)
• Orchard Church in Illinois dropped Easter eggs from a helicopter. 20,000 eggs and thousands of people (see pictures here)
• Another Church also celebrated with 20,000 eggs and a baptism service on Saturday (read about it here)
• NewSpring Church saw 12,000 people attend their services and over 120 people receive Christ (read here)
• A Church in Nashville had an amazing Easter at their two campuses (read a great letter from someone who caught the vision here)
• Oak Leaf Church, less than 19 months old, left their mark by giving tattoos live on stage for all three services. They were praying for 1,000 people but had 1,350 with 60 people accepting Christ (read about it here)
• A worship leader in Atlanta experienced what true worship is really all about (read this moving story here)

Stories like that are what make me so excited about the future of the church. God is doing some amazing things and I’m excited to be a part of it!

Let me know what happened in your church this Easter. Remember, everyone’s numbers or stories may not look the churches above. That’s not what’s important. What is important is that we’re all part of the body of Christ and can all rejoice together for every new soul that’s redeemed, wherever they’re at!

I read a column this morning by Garrison Keillor (host of Prairie Home Companion) in the Opinion section of the Journal Gazette. I don’t know why but it really jumped out at me. Keillor paints a very real picture of someone who is struggling with their faith.

Take a few minutes to read this and remember it on Sunday when you’re shaking hands with those people who may only come to church once or twice a year. Put yourself in their shoes.

Making No Sense of the Easter Story

by Garrison Keillor

I came to church as a pagan this year, though wearing a Christian suit and white shirt, and sat in a rear pew with my sandy-haired gap-toothed daughter whom I would like to see grow up in the love of the Lord, and there I was, a skeptic in the hen-house, thinking weaselish thoughts.

This often happens around Easter. God, in His humorous way, sometimes schedules high holy days for a time when your faith is at low tide, a mud flat strewn with newspapers and children’s beach toys, and while everyone else is all joyful and shiny among the lilies and praising up a storm, there you are, snarfling and grumbling. Which happens to me this year. God knows all about it so I may as well tell you.

Holy Week is a good time to face up to the question: Do we really believe in that story or do we just like to hang out with nice people and listen to organ music? There are advantages, after all, to being in the neighborhood of people who love their neighbors. If your car won’t start on a cold morning, you’ve got friends.

A year or so ago, I sat down and read the four Gospels in one fell swoop and somehow the jaggedness of some of it shook my faith, which maybe was based more on visuals – Jesus tending His flock, and little children gathered at His knee, sunbeams bursting through storm clouds, and so forth – and then I read about how the early Church cobbled the Scriptures together, which has to raise doubts in anyone’s mind. The Jews got stone tablets, and the Mormons arranged for an angel to bring them their holy text, but ours was hammered out through a long contentious political process, sort of like the tax code, and that’s something you don’t care to know more about.

I don’t doubt God’s existence – there He is – but I doubt His interest in us right now, and I haven’t the faintest idea what He wants from me.

There is comfort for the doubter in the Passion story. You are not alone. Jesus’ cry from the cross was a cry of incredulity. The apostle denied even knowing Jesus three times. The guys spent years with Jesus, saw the miracles up close, the raising of Lazarus, the demons cast out, the sick healed, the water-walking trick, all of the special effects, but when the cards were down, he said, “Who? Me? No way.”

He repented. I would too, but not quite yet.

Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous – I’ve been one myself – the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was roughter on those people than He was on the adulterers and prostitutes.

So I will sit in the doubter’s chair for a while and see what is to be learned back there.

I love my girls. They both had today today off of school for Good Friday so I slept in a little and played with them this morning. They’re so much fun.

Emily, my 4 year old, has this thing right now with always wanting to play this game,

Give me five…on the side…up high…down low…TOO SLOW!

It’s really fun to see her face light up. And because she’s only four, she will play it with you over and over and over…

While Lisa was making breakfast Chloe found our “Pass The Pigs” game we had set out for our trip and wanted to play. If you’ve never played this game you’ve got to pick it up. Now that the girls are old enough to understand the concept it’s hilarious to watch them play.

As I’m in the driveway getting in my car Chloe threw open the front door with eyes as big as saucers and yelled “Dad! I got a Leaning Jowler!”

That made my day.

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