Last night in the car, I told my daughter Abby about a pastor who'd made a huge difference in my life as a child. Three things he did in particular endeared me to him.

1. He let us decorate the loft of the church for Halloween--even though that was kind of controversial. I think he loved that we wanted to spend an afternoon in his church.

2. He took us swimming in a little creek at Falls Creek during junior music camp because we were too old for the classes. He dozed and let us play around after we walked forever to get there.

3. He opened his home on numerous afternoons when my friends and I would ask him for theological direction because our friends from another denomination had a different view on baptism than we did. And, of course, we were arguing with them.

I loved Finis Steelman. He was an amazing Indian Cowboy who loved God and loved us. He welcomed us just as we were--little children. He's gone on to heaven, but I just wanted to memorialize this sweet saint today in my blog!

I'm so inspired today by the Chile miners who've endured hardship together underground for two months. Now that freedom is so close they can taste it, they're arguing. Not about who will go first, but who will go last. That actually gives me goosebumps. How many of us would do the same?

It just reminds me of what Jesus said that the first shall be last and that if we want to be a leader, we must be servant of all.

God bless those men and their families--and may they arrive home safely very soon!

It's October which brings out spooky things related to Halloween. And it brings out varying views from church folks. What do you do with it?

Our family has done everything from leave town, stay home with the lights out and cringe at every doorbell ring, give candy to kids with scary masks, go to/throw fall festivals, not carve pumpkins/do carve pumpkins. Back in the day when we were a "leave town or turn off the lights" family, I felt like Halloween was evil and we just needed to avoid it.

Then I read an essay by a Christian man who talked about being a light in the darkness. His approach was that he didn't want to be the one house in the community--on a night that children came to his door--that wouldn't receive them. And I remembered those curmudgeons from my childhood. For whatever reasons they didn't open their doors to us, I wasn't sure of, but they weren't someone that conveyed love and acceptance for us trick or treaters.

So, now I take a more moderate approach. We don't decorate or dress up, but we do have a giant bowl of candy that has way too much candy left over at the end of the night--even though we give handfuls to kids no matter what age they are.

Is it the right approach? It is for us. Everyone must decide before God how to handle it.

Last year on Halloween, we were at my parents' house in Oklahoma and I was "uptown" when the Halloween parade started. I saw costumes with kids with their heads cut off and lots of gore. The word that came to mind at the time was "vapid." It was so empty. But it was one community's desire to be there for their kids (they've been doing this since I was a kid). Then they gathered for a carnival type of thing (again, a tradition).

I came back with renewed vision for the two fall festival kits we were working on: Slime Time and The Great Tomb Raid (where Jesus is the greatest tomb raider). I know that people want to give kids a safe alternative on Halloween, why not make it an alternative with a message and have kids gather at the place that always has its arms and doors open wide to them? Your church!

If you'd like to learn more about these two fall festivals (and order one in a hurry), go to http://search.group.com/search?p=Q&w=fall+festival

So many kids in the news recently are killing themselves because they've been bullied for being gay. That breaks my heart! And when I listen to Dan Savage, creator of the "It Gets Better" campaign, say that the pain these gay and lesbian kids are suffering is due in part to the "religious right," I get even sadder.

What have we as a church communicated to these kids--or to Mr. Savage--that makes him not know that Jesus loves them and wants to give them hope? What are we communicating to a lost and hopeless generation about the love of God?

What matters most in the church? It's not being right! We need a new definition of "righteous."

We need a loving response to kids who are struggling with their sexuality and trying to come to terms with their creator--were they made that way? is it sin? is it a choice? Does it matter if these kids don't know Jesus' love?

How can we show kids our amazing Jesus who's full of love and compassion first and foremost? It's the work of the Holy Spirit to grow all of us to be like Jesus--and every single one of us in process. I heard someone recently say that our job is to encourage what the Holy Spirit is doing--and will do--in others' lives if we allow them to draw close to God.

My heart is broken that these kids who killed themselves--and those who are struggling still--don't know our loving Savior. What can we, as the church, do to change that?

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life recently conducted a survey of what Americans know about religion. I just took the 15-question quiz, and I scored a 100. Does that mean I'm a better Christian than others? Does it even mean I'm a good Christian?

Does it matter if I know Mother Teresa's religion? Or what Ramadan is? Or which one of four statements is not a Ten Commandment? (Take the quiz for yourself: http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/index.php?)

It makes me wonder when a research organization makes sweeping statements about how ignorant we Christians are about religion, what is it that they're measuring? our level of faith? our relationship with Jesus? our trust in him? our contentment in tough times? the measure of our character?

I don't think God looks at the things the Pew Center measured because after all, God looks at our hearts--not our knowledge base.

What is it that we're aiming for when we teach our kids in children's ministry? A body of knowledge or a relationship with the living God?

And, can you have one without the other? I'd say yes, because I've known some pretty illiterate people who love Jesus with more passion than many learned people I've known.

We need to focus on what really matters in our ministries--and not take studies like these to heart.