Dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams that seemed so real, seemed like they were not a dream? Last night, I had a terrible dream, one I still remember. Cindy had been struck and killed by a car. I cried and cried and prayed. I remember asking God, when I went to bed that night, to let me wake up in the morning and have everything be back the way it was; I would do anything He asked of me. Then I woke up. Cindy was downstairs. And, I was left with the problem of deciding what was real. Thanks be to the Father for my wife and daughter! Amen.

10 Commandments

The OT reading today was The The Commandments. It can really be divided into two groups, offences against God and offences against other people. Jesus sumarized the law. When the religious leaders asked Him what the most important commandment was, He said that it was to love God more that anything and with all your being. He then said that the second greatest was like it, to love others like you love yourself, and that there were no other laws as great. The summary of the law.

Turn Off Your Phones!

...and then Chandra's cell phone went off during the Eucharist.... Can you say very angry?

The Rite Stuff

On Wednesday night, Fr. Ted read a hard passage from Isaiah. At first glance, it appeared to be saying that all religious festivals and rites are wrong. This troubled me. But, Fr. Ted explained it in his homily. God was calling them hypocrites, through the writer. They paid so much attention to the rites and the law, but neglected the poor and didn't show mercy to others. It gives me comfort that Jesus was circumcised, went to the festival of shelters, was baptized, taught in the temple, participated in wedding festivals, prayed, spent time in the temple even as a child, had a passion for the temple and drove out the money lenders, gave thanks for the bread, spoke the scriptures out loud, recruited the religious leaders like Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and St. Paul, and celebrated the passover with his friends.

Peace Bumper Sticker

I was driving along the other day, and I saw a John Lenin bumper sticker that said to give peace a chance. I'm so sick of atheists and secular humanists that I just wanted to pull him out of his car and beat him at that point. To my credit, I know it's wrong and I didn't. If I was a Muslim I'd have that to my credit on judgement day. But because of it (and so much else), I need Jesus.

Gandhi Quote

One of those kids I was talking about earlier posted a Facebook status quoting Gandhi saying that Christians are unChrist like. These people think they're inventing the wheel. St. Bonaventure said to feed the poor first, then buy silver and gold for the altar. St. Francis felt that he was called to overhaul and refit the Church. Martin Luther felt there was great wrong in the Church, and it needed sweeping changes. Jesus called the Church leaders vipers and hypocrites. All Christians are hypocrites because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, especially me.

Hypos

Chandra had a friend that she wanted to bring to the 30 Hour famine at St. Paul's who is an atheist. So, I was giving the whole thing some thought. The more I thought about it, the worse I thought it would be for this friend. Chandra, I think, hopes—as I do—that this friend will become a believer. Well, to put it bluntly, the youth group at St. Paul's sucks. There's no life. One kid is a Buddhist, only going to Church because of his mother, and another is an atheist (or so I thought). Chandra corrected me. He's not an atheist, he's just anti Church. Well, it's a short trip from one to the other. So, I asked her why he is anti Church and she said because of all the hypocrisy. I have my own opinion, but I'll get back to that.

I had an awesome conversation with my youngest brother not all that long ago, who is somewhat anti Church as well. I wish I had a transcript of that conversation; he actually seemed to come around a little. I said that it's easy to see the hypocrisy. It's right there in front of your face. And, society and the anti Church and atheists are more than happy to point it out to you. What's hard to see, is all the good that lays below the surface, that isn't visible, all the poor that are fed and clothed, all the groups that are hosted, all the downtrodden and depressed that are counseled, etc... You really have to look to see it. Church members aren't going to blow their own horn, most of the time. And, the anti Church sure as $h1t aren't going to point it out. There seems to be such a public backlash, anti Church movement growing. Anyway, I digress.

We're all hypocrites. Jesus himself said that he came for the sinners. The scriptures say that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus said that he didn't come for the righteous, that those who are not sick do not need a doctor. We are all sinners, every one of us; that's why we need Jesus. Christians aren't hypocrites, their just sinners trying to do good. WHERE DID THIS COMMONLY HELD NOTION THAT CHRISTIANS ARE FAULTLESS COME FROM! We sin. I sin. And, it's not the Church's fault. I'm not pretending to be good; I'm trying to be good. There's a difference! "Oh, look, he's doing this, and he calls himself a Christian," and comments like it are why we are labeled hypocrites. It makes me want to pull my hair out! St. Paul said that he wished to do the good he wanted to do and not do the evil he didn't want to do. We all sin. Christians sin. We don't decide to become Christians and magically stop sinning. I'm not pretending I don't sin either. So, don't judge me; I'm not a hypocrite. I'm a sinner.

Some Christians don't go to Church (which I think makes them last generation Christians) because they don't believe that they need to go to Church to be Christian. I've said it many times; that is so selfish! Going to Church is not just about you. In the parable about the man who gives his servants coins, Jesus is telling us to invest our faith. Those who don't go to Church are the servant who buried his money in the ground. St. Paul cautioned us not to give up the practice of meeting together. We are to help each other, council each other, guide and nurture the faith in each other. We pass on our faith at and through Church. Plus, it's a great convenient place to worship God too. ;) But, it is so selfish to hoard your faith. So hypocrites hang out at Church. So what! It's God's Church. I'm going.

They say that the worst kids are always the children of police officers (perhaps it's a blessing of sorts that I never found employment in my field) and ministers. Two of my good childhood friends were the sons of clergy. One is an atheist and very anti Church (to the point where he has deleted me a few times from Facebook because he couldn't stomach my comments of faith), the other is at least agnostic and equally as anti Church. Is it just rebellion against one's parents? Sometimes I wonder if Satan doesn't work extra hard on them. A sort of, "Well, I can't get you so I'll go after your precious children" sort of attitude. It's easy for these kids to see the hypocrisy.

Bishop Bob (the son of a priest) wrote a column in the Huron Church News about how he once told his mother that he wasn't going to Church because they were all hypocrites. His mother said something like, "Come along dear; there's always room for one more."

Red and Yellow, Black & White

Not too long ago, I was asking my daughter if she sang with her Sunday School kids. I think she said no. I said that we used to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children." I began to sing it. She was horrified. Not by my singing, she was repulsed by the language. When did we make black, white, yellow, and red bad words? Native, Asian, African, Caucasian, doesn't fit. And caucasian doesn't rime with sight either. We make words bad. Retarded was never a bad word when I was a kid. We made it bad when we started to use it as an insult, used to belittle a person who did something stupid. My theory has always been that if you're not taking the LORD's name in vain, you're not swearing. It's just vulgar. There's a time and a place for that language, and you have to know the difference.

Eat My Flesh

So I was reading the 27th Psalm tonight and when I got to the part about the evil doers eating my flesh, I wondered if this was Jesus giving his body for us sinners to eat....

Stumbling

Speaking of stumbling, I was at Church on Wednesday and I really liked the collect for the day. It tied in nicely with stumbling.