In Like a Lion...

...Out like a lamb.

Or maybe it's the other way around...at least as far as my March blogging goes. Since Mike is taking a short break from blogging, I thought maybe I would take a break from...taking a break.

Part of the silence has been that I've stayed out of the whole healthcare reform debate. For one thing, it's really been about health insurance reform--not healthcare reform. Shifting the who pays doesn't really address the problem of affordable health care, only the problem of affordable insurance. For another thing, as inexplicable as it seems, there are people that don't feel that everybody deserves decent health care. This makes the whole issue very polarizing and I'm trying not to be antagonistic toward a large portion of the population.

Don't get the idea that I'm afraid of a little controversy, it's just that I see a greater purpose for this blog than to get on my political rants and tick off a bunch of people that I would like to continue reading when I'm on more meaningful topics.

From the personal file: Aaron is engaged! He and Jenny will be getting married in August. As an added bonus, they have asked me to officiate the ceremony!

I've only done two previous weddings (both couples are still married) and I am thrilled to get to do this one. I'm certain that they will be very busy between now and then with school, summer work, wedding plans, new housing arrangements, etc. More on that as August 7th draws nearer.

From the ministry file: spring and summer are shaping up. I haven't kept up on the "coming events" section but have a few upcoming events, none the less. Church at Hopedale continues to grow with new families joining the church and new believers coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you follow along on Facebook, you already know that our choir is awesome and always does a fantastic job with leading the congregation in worship. This past Sunday was a great time of musical worship!
The evening service was a concert by singer/songwriter Chuck Day. He is best known for the song Midnight Cry. Overall, the cowboy/country style is not really my kind of music (love Midnight Cry, just not the other stuff) and I could have done without the whole God and Country rant about government, politics, blah, blah, blah. Again, don't get me wrong about this--I love my country. But I don't worship my country. And I go to church to worship my God--and only my God. There seemed to be a bit of idolatry going on as the people forgot what we were there for and got wrapped up in the moment of patriotic praise.

I do have a couple of posts that are still just in the "I need to blog about this" stage of the thought process. I'll be getting on those soon.

So bring on april and let the blogging at Out of My Hat resume!

John