I appreciate your stopping by. Some great points that you brought up.

I do agree that we are first and foremost called to love the LORD will all that we are. I’m not advocating for an across the board tolerance of all people and all things, but rather an acceptance of people and not their (our) sinful actions. Jesus loved the Samaritan woman at the well through her sinful ways. So, I agree with you that the judgment is a different kind of judgment.

Halloween — Let me be a little more clear. I don’t think that we should suit up as Lucifer and send out legions of demons to scare the Hell into kids. In many parts of the world All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos, etc are celebrated in light of those who have passed on. I’m not sure that remembering the people who have impacted our lives is a bad thing. What if you had a ‘haunted house’ in your basement/garage/church/backyard where you had seemingly spooky things all pointing toward a grand finale where the whole place is illuminated with gigantic floodlights exposing these seemingly spooky things for what they are….peeled grapes in a bowl, spaghetti made to be brains, a string with chains clanking on the floor and other normal objects posing as something else?

You are right…all ‘names’ have baggage. Five or six years ago I described myself as a follower of Jesus to someone who didn’t share my faith and they were basically confused as to what that meant. While “Christian” appears only a couple of times in the N.T., it is the most widely accepted and recognized nomenclature.

Thanks again for stopping by. I dig your blog. Keep up the good work.

Concerning point 2: We are to love others, yes Jesus said that. He summed up the law and the prophets how? (A) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and (B) love your neighbor as yourself. We cannot forget the first one. Loving God is the primary calling of all people who have been saved by grace. Loving neighbors comes out of that. ??Judging?? others, as the Pharisees did, as the police, prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner is wrong. However we are to call sinners to repentance and faith, and in order to do that they must be shown that they are, in fact, a sinner who is at enmity with God. If I am speaking with someone and sharing the gospel and they admit that they??ve told lies, had sexual thoughts (not about their spouse), and been angry, it is not ??judging?? in the same way to say that this person is a sinner and guilty of being a liar, an adulterer (at heart), and a murder (at heart) and that they will be judged by God and condemned to hell based on those things. That is not the judging in condemned by Jesus in Matt 7, Jesus did the same with the woman at the well and called the Pharisees on the carpet for the false religiosity.

Christians are not the Judge, jury, and executioner, but we act more as a speed limit sign that makes sure you see it. The speed limit sign doesn??t ??judge?? you, the police and the courts do that ?? the sign tells you of the standard and, if you??re speeding, shows you where you??re wrong.

Concerning point 3: Some boycotts are bad ideas, I agree. But if a company is on the offensive against Christ in the causes that they promote or products that they sell??why would/should I give my money to them to help them fight against me?

Concerning point 4: Participating in some degree with Halloween may be ok, but I don??t think that we can or should celebrate the gross and wretched nature of things that is Halloween ?? death, blood, witches, witchcraft, horror, satan, etc. Whether or not harvest festivals are the answer, I don??t know, but how can a Christian host a haunted house when the pagan/common idea of ghosts and witches is so opposed to the Truth of Scripture? Can your kids participate in trick-or-treating? That??s a call for every mom and dad, but I firmly believe that Christian parents having their children dress up in costumes that are evil or vile (not as something like an animal, astronaut, etc) is a very bad idea for all those involved. Also, the tracts comment was addressed by my previous comment with the audio link.

Concerning point 5: I actually agree ?? I knew many more of my neighbors when I lived in a small town, but living in suburbia, the atmosphere is different. Christians do need to do a better job interacting with and witnessing to our neighbors.

Concerning point 6: Also agreed. Target marketing to demographics is not the biblical formula for a church. All believers have a common denominator: we??ve been saved by the grace of God from our sin. Likewise, all unbelievers have a common denominator: they are all lost and dead in their sin and need to repent and believe in Christ. Relevance is always two steps behind, a little late, and never really relevant to the current culture. You ever notice how the Christian relevant trends are always a few years behind the pagan world?

Concerning point 7: All labels or category names do, or will, have negative connotations. You say that ??Christian?? has one, and you might be right. ??Jesus Follower?? or ??Christ Follower?? has a negative connotation too ?? the air about many of those who call themselves this is that they care more about fitting in, getting big churches, and being liked at the cost of Truth in doctrine and preaching the True Gospel. I will stick with ??Christian?? because it is a name that has been applied to those who follow Christ (i.e. Christ followers) for close to 2000 years. Do some people have baggage with the name? Yes, but changing the name won??t eliminate the baggage, it will just delay in dealing with it??maybe.

Soli Deo Gloria

http://www.freewebs.com/ejthecontender/george%20st.mp3

Depending on the church that you wear your shirt to, I don’t know if they would get it. haha.

I didn’t think of the harvest festival thing from the point of view that the churches are doing it for the benefit of their own people. I can understand it that way. It is a ’safe’ environment for kids and parents alike to participate in a family event. My brain works in funny ways because I automatically think of outreach opportunities instead of catering to your own people. I do think that there does need to be a balance, but a lot of churches do so much to cater to the needs of their sheep that they forget about the ‘lost’ ones.

Thanks for the thoughts.

I am not going to be too hard on churches for ‘harvest festivels’. They are catering to their own crowd, anyway.

I agree that handing out Bible tracts has limited impact. If someone wishes to leave a display for the taking then you may reach someone who is intersted n the subject, but I guarrantee that 99.99% of tracts handed out end up in the trash.

Concerning point 7. How about a T-shirt that reads ‘I am not a christian, I am a Jesus-follower’. Try wearing that to Sunday service!! I might just be onto something……? Or on something. Anyway, I get first-dibs on this since I thought of it.

Good thoughts. I have to agree that in my experience, non-Christians do show love, compassion and care for people on a much larger scale than Christians. It is interesting that in our ‘training’ for evangelism, we talk a lot about overcoming fears of being rejected, etc by non-Christians, when really it is us that is rejecting them. I’ve been accepted with open arms by more non-Christians than Christians. Anyway…just my .02.