She took the challenge

I received an email from a female in our church named Tonya who took me up on the $5 challenge. She wrote:

"I think it went pretty well. My $5 challenge - actually turned out to be a $15 challenge (my $5, Dad's $5 and Mom's $5). (My kids) and I went to Kids Planet in Greer and handed out $10 worth of sand toys to little children, so they could play in the sand while they were at the park and $5 worth (54) popsicles, napkins and Purell to the other children. I wore a Ridgeview cap and t-shirt, and we had a Ridgeview sign on the outside of our cooler. I gave out all the Ridgeview cards I had. A couple of people actually wanted to give us a donation which I respectfully declined. Several of the parents wanted to know more about Ridgeview. Other parents said they would share the $5 challenge idea with their church. All in all, I think it went pretty well. We did get some strange looks. I've never done anything like that before. (My daughter) was really excited about it, and I think I was more scared or at least nervous. Thanks for pushing me out of my comfort zone. "

I think that's awesome what she and her kids did. I went to Ingles on Saturday night and had to get some milk. I purposefully went through the no self checkout line and waited for the cashier to ring up my purchase. As she gave me my 19 cents back in change I gave her back a $5 bill with a connection card from Ridgeview Church. She asked, "What's this for?" I said I wanted to bless her in the name of Christ. She remarked, "Thanks!" Off I went.

I read a small excerpt from Dan Kimballs book called "They like Jesus but not the Church." I think that's the right title. Anyway, many who do not call themselves Christians actually admire Jesus and respect His teachings. It's the Christians they can't stand. I'll be honest, sometimes I can't blame them. Not that I'm without blame. My prayer is that we as Christ followers are known more for what we are for than what we are against.