Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Preface

Preface

Many people will ask “why write this kind of blog?”

I guess I can answer that by sharing a statement that I heard my father use in argument with many a person so long ago…

The missionaries, with their long sleeved shirts and ties, with their big “King James” Bibles would be talking to a non-Christian person about God about heaven, hell and the plan of salvation and inevitably “The Hell bound Lost person who is headed to eternal damnation” would say “Well… don’t all religions teach us to do good?”
And even today I can hear the response ringing in my ears “Yes!” they would say sarcastically “But you’re not good are you… So what good is your religion?”

Hmm.

Let me ask a question… If we were to look around at the majority of churches and places of worship and look beyond each of the seemingly endless denominations, the cool names on the signs, the big crosses, the steeples, the big choirs, the expensive hairdo’s, the flashy personalities, the screaming red faced evangelists, or for that matter the flip-flop wearing, relaxed, contemporary preachers of the modern day, if we could see beyond the flashing strobe lights, and the fog machines, or how about the strange tongue speaking head smacking healers, if we could see through the diamond wearing, ritzy car driving, money hungry televangelist…

If we could look beyond all that and ask the question…

“If you all teach us to do good then why aren’t you good?"

Sunday, August 23, 2009

preface 2

Why is it that very seldom a week goes by that we don’t hear of another priest in trouble for molesting another adolescent boy, why is it that the very same pastor who screams with great passion about your wife or daughter wearing pants or going to movies, are on a weekly basis led away in handcuffs for sexually ruining some five, six or seven year old girl? Why is it that not a month goes by that we don’t hear of another “great man of God” who is fired, or arrested for stealing the tithe? And these are the ones you have heard about!

As a child who grew up in church circles and as the son of a preacher, as a young man who went to Christian School, as a young adult who moved his family to a different country to be a missionary and now as a Pastor who a few months ago read the words “The surest way for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing!” has now realized that that quote doesn’t go far enough. The right quote should be “The surest way for evil to succeed is for good people to SAY and do nothing!”

The stories you are going to read are just an extremely small percentage of the stories that are being experienced every single day in…well… CHURCH.

Read it and Weep!!!

Because we should!