Politics and the Church..Some Ramblings

I enjoy Facebook. I like being able to keep up with friends some close to me now and others I once enjoyed the company of on a more regular basis. One thing I am not looking forward to is the soon to be coming onslaught of political speak that is sure to increase with the upcoming Presidential election. I enjoy politics, I enjoy a healthy debate on issues, and I detest name calling and belittling over disagreements. I can say this much, there are good people on both sides of the political isle that I care very much about....with that in mind here are a few of my thoughts about politics and the church:

• My faith will NEVER be in any candidate or political party.
  
• Collectively the church, I believe, does itself a disservice by investing itself so heavily in the process during Presidential elections...these are just men (and women) as Benjamin Franklin once said "we are not demi-gods."
  
• Until hearts and minds are broken for the things of God, any victories it gets in the process are fleeting at best.
• Jesus did not come to the earth to score political victories.
  
• Will I vote? Yes, in fact, I just did in last weeks primaries...but I don't ever...ever want to get to the place where my faith, hope, and dreams rest in the hands of any politician or party.
• I will say I am praying for the country, but not for a candidate to win.
  

Sunday Mind Dump

What a nice day out there! Started out with a great church service, moved to lunch with my daughter, a two hour nap, and now the best weather in about 6 months....that is a Sunday right there! So let's dump:

• Finished up our series on parenting with a discussion about prodigals today.
  
• Couple things to keep in mind if you want to reach a prodigal: Get serious with your prayer life...some things to pray for: the right friends, pray they get caught when doing wrong, and pray god will do whatever it takes to get their attention.
• Learn to have unending patience! It's hard I know...
• Love unconditionally.
• Next week we are going to start a new series looking at some of the miracles Jesus performed and what that means to us....promise you're gonna like it!
• We can't meet at the Lighthouse on March 25th-so we are going to meet at the Greek Garden....just for that one day :)
• I am so excited about what God is going to do at 242 Church I can hardly contain myself! We are believing for some big big things!
• Next week we are going to do a new song hand picked by your's truly as the theme for the series! Hope it grows on you!
  

Sunday Mind Dump

What a great weekend! It was honestly off the charts good! So let's dump:

• Best Chili Cook Off ever! A great turn out...good food...and so funny!
• The highlight of the night was the comedian...Will McDaniel was very funny and the kids had a ball!
• Congrats to Tina Lamb! She had the chili with the most points and won the contest.
• The night was topped off with a lock in for the kids...Shout outs to John, Kelli, The Emily's, and JT for staying up all night with the kiddos!
• Message this morning on disciplining our kids. So important. A couple of things.
• Allow your kids to feel the consequences of their actions...it teaches them the concept of reaping and sowing.
• Never discipline you kids when you're angry...Ephesians reminds us "in your anger do not sin." As parents, it can be easy to cross the line if we are disciplining when we are angry.
• Next weekend we'll talk about how to reach our kids when all seems lost.

I am outta here!