Steve is in the Boston area at the ENC trustee meeting. He'll be home tonight. The puppies and I are missing him! I just need to find someone to meet him at the airport. I'm sure I can find a good friend somewhere out there who'll help me out! We do have lots of great friends and we always enjoy getting together.
Tomorrow night we begin a new small group. I'm not sure who is coming but Steve and I have decided to study the book, Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell. I have read the book twice now and really am struggling with a lot of his thoughts. I am a 3rd generation Nazarene and Steve is 4th generation if that means anything to anyone. We are very traditional and conservative in a lot of ways probably due to our parents and grandparents influence. However, we consider ourselves "pretty cool" and not really dogmatic when it comes to theology and the Christian lifestyle. Of course, that is comparing us with our parents and grandparents. We've come a long way, baby!
We raised our boys in the CoTN and they are pretty solid when it comes to their relationship with the Lord and Church. We're all still growing and that's a good thing!
But we do hear their generation telling us that we need to grow with the culture and find new ways or methods of reaching the unsaved. That has always been a challenge and we are continually searching for better ways to live out our faith and be a witness to the world. But one thing I am concerned about is watering down the message and not being distinctive enough to tell the difference between those who are walking with the Lord and those who are not.
I realize it's not about external do's and don'ts, it's about where our hearts and treasure are placed. The external will reflect the internal. I'm excited how the Holy Spirit is leading in this endeavor and I pray He will be very clear and give us wisdom and discernment to follow His way, not just the latest theologian's philosophy.
So, what we are attempting to do is- have a "conversation" about these new ideas and wrestle with how they are aligned with the Word of God and what they mean for the Church. (sorry for adapting that new buzz word). For any of you who may be interested, I'll try to post some of our thoughts and summarize our discussion on future blogs. Feel free to comment.
Enough of that, last Easter Sunday, we had my brother David and wife Debbie and Randy and Jamie for dinner. Each holiday we celebrate reminds us of those family members missing. It seems our table is shrinking. We talked with Chris, Min, Luke and Will. They are getting ready for Chris' departure which should be within 2 weeks. Please pray for them as it will be very difficult for Chris to leave his family. Hopefully, things will work out for Min and the kids to come back here. We'll just have to see how God works the details out with the Army!
Here's a couple pictures for your enjoyment:
Who is that young looking couple!
Our puppies Riley and Kailee
Little Big Will
Luke and Will in their Easter outfits
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