The Westboro Baptist "Church" group picketed Cedar Ridge Christian Church this morning. If the name "Westboro Baptist Church" doesn't ring a bell these are the people who picket soldiers' funerals, police officers' funerals, and tons of other events holding really hateful signs. I don't even think they know what they're against anymore. Everything and everyone that isn't part of their group maybe??
Cedar Ridge is where Chris has been doing his church plant residency for the past couple months. According to Westboro's website (which I will NOT link to -- it's awful), this is the reason they picketed us:
The preachers are to blame! Westboro will picket this
so-called Christian Church (read whore house) because you are ashamed of
the gospel of our dear Lord Jesus Christ! Cedar Ridge Christian Church pretends to preach the gospel of
Christ, but is in reality ashamed of it. Rather than preach the whole
word of God, warning their fellow man that their sins are taking them to
Hell, and teaching their members to strive against sin, they teach that
all you have to do is say that you looooove Jesus it is all ok!
First of all, this is not true. Cedar Ridge is totally grounded in Scripture. Chris would never serve at a church that didn't preach the whole Gospel and have high expectations of its members.
Secondly, today was Chris' first time to preach at Cedar Ridge! What a welcome! "The preachers are to blame!" Haha, he did awesome though. We've been working through an Essential Elements series on the fruit of the Spirit and before we even knew they would be picketing he was very appropriately scheduled to preach on kindness and goodness. Two characteristics that the Westboro group fails to display.
So, anyway, we had to drive right past the picketers and their horrible signs to get into the church parking lot. Thankfully, none of my kids can read yet! They had tons of questions though.
"Mommy, what are those people doing out there? Why do they have those signs? Why are they here? Who are they?" I gave very vague and apparently unsatisfactory answers to all their questions. Finally, Flora realized the answer on her own.
"OH!" she said, "I know, Mommy! They're probably holding up the words to the songs we sing in church so everyone will know how to sing them!"
Yes, wouldn't that be nice....
Ah, innocence.
