Tony Jones in Baker City

So we hosted Tony this past Sunday. And it was an awesome day. I told Tony that he was like a birthday present to myself since this past Sunday was my birthday.

Anyway, he promised me that he would drop a couple grenades Sunday PM and he let a couple small ones go in the AM. What I found interesting was that I didn't think he dropped any. As I processed that I realized that I did not think he dropped any because I agree with him.

Not surprisingly, there were some folks that did not agree with him and in fact were hit by those grenades. What really struck me though was the fact that they are upset over the fact that we brought Tony to Baker City. Like it is a bad thing. So I try and look at it from their perspective. Still I can't get there. Because I actually think it is a good thing to listen to, read and try and understand those that I disagree with. Because I think it would force me to be a critical thinker. Guess that is a bad thing though.

We have already had a couple of people lash out, last night and this morning. I think it is going to be an interesting week.

Needless to say, Tony challenged us and made us think. I have had the opportunity to talk with several people about this as well. I was very surprised by how many people there are that are excited about what Tony brought. I just was not sure before that there were this many. I told Tony later that at least now we have a pretty good idea about who is and is not at the table.

I have to say that the best part of the weekend was getting to hang out with Tony and his brother Andrew. I almost feel bad that I took so much of their time and not many people got to hang out with them as well, almost. It was sweet getting to know these guys and form a friendship. I look forward to the continued formation of that friendship. we were even late to church Sunday night because we were hanging out at my house.