This weekend you’re going to hear me share a quote from one of my favorite authors (Dallas Willard) who says, “You’ll never understand God until you understand this about Him: God is the happiest being in the universe!” What God is inviting us to do with our Richmond Road Campus will have its challenges and will undoubtedly cause us to scratch our heads from time to time, but I think it’s going to be a whole lot of fun loving people! I’ve seen too many Christians and too many churches who take the fun out of life. Yes God knows sorrow, but God’s sorrow is like God’s anger in that it’s God’s temporary response to the fallen world. In the same way that God is love, God is also joy! Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) His words weren’t written in the context of, “Rejoice when you feel like it or if you feel like it.” His words were not a suggestion, but a command! I think the new world God creates will be fun and filled with joy! So if that’s what is coming, doesn’t it make sense to you that the church today and Christians today should be a preview of coming attractions?

I like things that make me smile and maybe that explains why I like eating fun foods. Foods like Mike ‘n Ikes and Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls and Cheetos and slushies and plums. I ate a stellar plum this week! And I know for all you health food fanatics out there you are wanting to tell me that most of what I just mentioned isn’t really, technically food. Hey, don’t rain on my parade! This is my blog! I also like to go to fun places like movie theatres (“Inception” blew my mind and “Despicable Me” got my heart!) and swimming pools with my kids—who are learning to do back flips off the diving board! Sometimes you have to go through some pain to find the fun! Just ask Silas about landing on his back 10 times before nailing one! I also like doing fun things like trying new restaurants and going to baseball games and concerts and shooting off fireworks in the office with my fun friends Chris and Jeff.  I also like scaring our lead Elder, Craig! Ask him about it sometime! My point is this: Lexington needs more fun! So have fun! Make fun! Pursue fun! Because at the end of the day, there are enough things in this city and in this life to make us sad. I say we reverse that trend by doing things that make people smile! So to all my friends in the grocery store industry, what do you say you weld some skate boards to the back of a few carts for those of us looking to have some fun while we pick out our plums? It doesn’t hurt to ask…