I guess one of my pastor friends felt the same way.  Pastor Justin Anderson at Praxis Church wrote a article on his blog that is getting hundreds of hits and comments.  I posted it below but you can also go to his blog and see all the crazy comments he is getting.  As far as I am concerned, “I fully agree with Justin.” (You can quote me on that.)

This was the first Halloween in my life that I didn’t dress up. I figured at 30, the time had come. We dressed up my daughter and her friends as fairies and took plenty of pictures and handed out our fair share of candy, but this Halloween was a different one for me. A couple years ago I went to Mill Avenue with some friends on Halloween and someone made the observation that costumes had changed over the years from scary to funny to sexy. He was right, I remember a few years ago trying to figure out what would be the funniest costume that I could come up with, and for guys, this is still pretty true. But something has changed for the girls.

Somebody, I don’t know who, decided that girls shouldn’t dress up as witches anymore, they should be sexy witches. No more cats, we need sexy cats! French maids have even gotten sexier over the years. How did this happen? How did Halloween become little more than a excuse for the ladies to dress slutty? I write this fully aware of the fact that I am going to sound like the old guy longing for the good ‘ol days but that really isn’t true.

I am writing this blog as a father first and a pastor second. My daughter is still years away from dealing with Halloween on her own and all the pressures that come with it. I will be able to protect her from this cultural transition for a few more years, but I wonder how much more it will have changed 20 years from now. I hope that I can love her and teach her that as a follower of Jesus we do things differently than the world does. We do celebration different, we think of our bodies different and we do Halloween different.

Facebook has become an interesting tool for Pastors all over the world. Every day I get status updates from hundreds of the people in my church, telling me what they are excited about, struggling with and how they are spending their time. This can be a great way to stay connected with my flock as it grows and changes. It can also lead to the disappointment I experienced today. Picture after picture came up on my feed today, chronicling all of the Halloween hijinx that took place over the weekend. Unfortunately, what I saw is that many of the Christians in our church dressed no differently than the folks I saw years before on Mill.

I know what you are thinking, “ease up Pastor, its all in good fun. Nobody got hurt, Christians are allowed to have a good time!” Here’s the thing, I’m sure that’s true. Many of the people that I saw on my Facebook feed today are solid, Godly Christians whom I trust and love. I don’t think for a minute that most of those young ladies dressed up with the intention of causing the young men they would meet that night to sin. I don’t think that they dressed up hoping that they would attract young men sexually. I don’t think they were thinking that they would put aside their Christian convictions for a night of fun. In fact, I don’t think they were thinking much at all. And I guess that’s what disappoints me.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul tells us, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Followers of Jesus are called to frame all of our lives in view of Christ. No matter what we do, even trivial things like eating and drinking, should be done intentionally and done in a way that reflects the truth of the Gospel.

Paul goes even a step further in Philippians 4:8 when he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Not only should we be intentional about our lives but also our thoughts. This comprehensive view of discipleship is a challenge to us to never blow things off as unimportant or see opportunities to set aside the Gospel. Instead, Paul implores us to see all things as opportunities to reflect the glory of Christ.

I hate being the guy that points out the negative when everyone else is having fun. It was just really disappointing to see so many of the people that I love, respect, pray for and pastor embrace Halloween as a day to dress and act like everyone else in the world, instead of taking the opportunity to make a statement about the different way we see the world. Next year, use October 31st as an occasion to preach the Gospel, not with a bull horn on a street corner, but by embodying things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. I’m not sure how that guides your costume decision but I hope that you will allow that decision to be guided by the glory of the Gospel.

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I really am hoping my friends can help me out, I need you to do just a couple things for me:

Go to purepathonline.com to read about it and watch the video.  Subscribe to my RSS feed and become a facebook fan and a twitter follower.  One of the biggest things you can do is fill out our online survey, so we know what we can do to serve the church better.  Most of all, will you pray for the ministry and myself?

I really love the relationships that I have with you guys and value all the feedback I can get.

If you have any questions let me know.

What is it about the face of your child that reminds you of the grace of God?  A friend, Hans, took this quick photo of my baby girl Selah Laurie and caught her with the cutest smile and a great pose.  I had not seen it until I was on facebook and for some reason it just made me thankful to God for allowing me to have 4 of the most amazing gifts of grace in my children.  Being a father cannot be explained, it can only be experienced.  Loving someone who can give you nothing in return and you not even expecting them to is overwhelming.  You give, give, give and give and they just live and that is not just enough it is a joy.  I want my children to have a full and meaningful life and I want to do all I can to provide that for them but all I want from them is a relationship.  I know that when they get older I am sure I will have more expectations but I cannot imagine loving them any less.  How did I, a totally selfish man, get a heart like that for my children?  It has to have been given to me from my Heavenly Father who has done the same for me.  Who has given, given, given so much to me and all I can do in return is live and for some reason that is not just enough it is a joy.  I am so thankful for the grace that God has shown me by being my Father and I, getting to be His Child, by no merit of my own. If me, being evil, love my children so much how much more does my good Father in heaven love me? That is amazing to think about.

For my Trip:

(1) The right words to preach while in Kuwait and the moving of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all the people.

(2) Protection over my wife and kids as I am away.

(3) Safe travels

(4) For all the leaders at Life Connection to have the grace to lead and cover for me.

(5) Most of all for Jesus to be glorified in all that is done.

Thanks all for your support and prayers.  I am going to be doing video updates about my trip so keep checking back on aarondailey.net, please comment and let me know if you will be praying for me.  Love you all and thanks for the support.

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Reformed Theology – what is it? from Grace Unknown the heart of reformed theology by R. C. Sproul

1. Centered on God
2. Based on God’s Word alone
3. Committed to faith alone
4. Devoted to Jesus Christ
5. Structured by three covenants (redemption, works and grace)

The Five Solas of the Reformation A Brief Statement Gregg Strawbridge, Ph.D

1. Sola Scriptura: The Scripture Alone is the Standard
2. Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone
3. Solo Christo! By Christ’s Work Alone are We Saved
4. Sola Gratia: Salvation by Grace Alone
5. Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone

We focused most of the class on the work of Christ alone to save. We went through some real key points of Calvanism, and we had a ton of excitement. Many people asked where they could get some real solid books that would explain Calvanism even more. So, I wanted to put it out there and see if any of our readers could give me some practical books that explain Calvinism, or reformed theology, in kind of a straight forward way. Do any of my peeps have some suggestions?

Okay hear me out.  I know this is not a preacher and he did not point it back to Jesus but Craig has some great points here.  He may be joking but am I crazy or is what he is saying actually make some sense?

I am young, and at Life Connection church we work with some young people, but when being young is worshipped then there  is some big problems.

This is a question sent in by Anonymous on the “Ask Aaron Anything” link:

As Christians, any time someone has a question, we refer them to scripture. What proof do we have that the Bible is in fact the word of God? What makes it more truth than the literature on which other groups base their beliefs?

My Answer:

This is a very good question, but answering it would take a long time for me to type.  We believe in the authority and the inerrancy of scripture, so this question is foundational and extremely important.  To answer it I am going to post a message from a friend of mine, Pastor Justin Anderson, from Praxis Church.  He is answering the question, “How do we know the bible is true?”    If you really want to know the answer it is going to take longer than a post or a short message, but this is a great start. Thanks Pastor Justin for all your work and research.

Psalm 127:3 – Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,the fruit of the womb a reward

I twittered some pics of my daddy date.

www.valleygardencenter.org

Pastor Chris Daukus Blog

PaaronD – I’m in the process of planting a church. What would say are the three things have done that worked best, helped you reach the most people or whatnot, and the three things your have done, that if you could have a “do-over”, you would do differently. Grace and Peace! -Erik

My Answer:

Erik,

First of all I am proud of you and glad to hear that you are planting a church.  I pray for grace, strength, and persaverance from Jesus as you press towards that calling in Jesus.  This question is interesting because I am still trying to figure out what I am doing, sometimes I get the feeling I am all right and other times I feel like I am all wrong.  I love what God is doing but I am sure the biggest barrier is me.

“DO-OVERS”

(1) My damnable pride – I think when I started at 24 I had a lot more pride.  I thought I had everything figured out and did not set myself in a place where I was surrounded by coaches.  I think having good godly coaches would have been a great idea.  I had some people who I could go to but I think I have way more now that I actually use.  I think 7 years in I know less and need more help!  I wish I would have started that way.

(2) My idol of the approval of man – I do not think I had enough security in Jesus and  the gospel.  I wanted everyone to be happy and I wanted everyones approval, to the point that I had unqualified leadership who were not tested, anyone who said they could sing was given a mic (so I had more people on stage then in the seats), and we ended up having no community or commitment.

(3) Teamwork – because I rushed into it I created a one man show instead of a team.  A core team is really important.  Start by building a core team.

“WORKED” - I am not sure if any of this worked but I like it.

(1) Clear Simple Vision – long story but just getting a clear simple vision of what we were about helped us to focus and decide who we were, what we were doing, and what we would not do.

(2) Empowering team – we drastically switched and we have a real plurality of eldership and great gifted team members who care about the gospel and the church as much as I do.  I am sure that is something God did but it worked.  Building community is so important.

(3) Endurance – I think just sticking with it has worked.  By God’s grace I just got to out last some of the hardships and problems.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

I am not sure any of that will help but bless you brother.  We just joined the A29 network if you are not involved in a network it may be a good idea to get assessed and have some coaching.  Bless you.

This is a question sent in by Drew on the “Ask Aaron Anything” link:

In my adventures here in Las Vegas, recently I’ve ran into a guy at a well doctrined church who is well educated and desires to preach The Gospel purely for what it is. Yet he believes entirely that the church is ONLY, EXCLUSIVELY for believers. it is NOT a place for conversion. That unbelievers are not welcome. The Church is a barracks for training Christians and we are to evangelize and people are to come to the Lord solely by reading the Bible, evangelism, and God doing a work in thier heart. I COULD NOT disagree more. However, my problem is I don’t have any scripture to back my point. I really want to talk to the guy, open the scriptures and show him how that’s not right. But is that in the “open hand”? so to speak? Or is that a “close handed” issue that is not open for churches to do differently? Personally as I said I couldn’t disagree more, how are people supposed to come to know God, hear his Word, see how real he is and know him in a powerful way without being around his people and start doing life with them?

My Answer:

Drew, I do think methodology is an open handed position so in a discussion with this guy I would not be super strong handed but very unifying.  Let me give you some scripture to think through and use in your discussion.

1 Cor. 14:23 -  25 – 23.If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24.But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25.the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Paul is giving instruction to the church of Corinth as they gather so that unbelievers will not be confused.  It is very important that in our gatherings to function in the gifts but they are in order so that outsiders understand and are not tripping out.   I think if you do not have unbelievers and you close it off to outsiders then you quickly  start loosing perspective on what you are doing.

He also says that if prophesy is spoken then the heart will be revealed and they will repent and worship God.  Sounds like outsiders were in the gathering and experienced God by the way they worshiped and functioned together.  I think outsiders should be allowed to see what happens as we gather and maybe be drawn to worship God.

Acts 2:42-47 – 42. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47. praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Many people in the early church were being saved everyday because they were seeing them gather in the temple and in homes. They were seeing their love for one another and the community being established and because of it they believed in God.  I also think it is reflectent of what Jesus said in John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” When people get to see how we relate to one another and worship God they will know who we belong to.  To close people out of the gathering does not make sense to me but I would also love to hear different perspectives, please make some comments.