Matthew 9

Please, if anyone is reading this, pray for Haiti in the aftermath of their earthquake. I'm not sure how to pray for them...but at this point I think it would be for rapid recovery of everyone buried in the rubble and then quick and sufficient help with food and medical care.

Matthew 9, we meet Matthew, talking about himself in third person. A tax collector. We all know how we feel about tax collectors! So Jesus is hanging with Matthew and his tax-gatherer friends and sinners. The pharisees (big church muckety-mucks) want to know why. Jesus' response, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick...I desire compassion not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Amen, right? Christians that just hang with fellow Christians are missing the opportunity to shine their light in the darkness of so many people's lives. Crusades are great and certain organized ministry opportunity but even more is the day to day impact on the world around us. Work is a great place for me to show the compassion and grace of Christ. For my kids, it is their college campuses. Funny, but I was telling a story and for whatever reason, used the sh** word and my co-workers mouths dropped and said they had never heard me swear before! (Of course they don't live with me.)But it made me realize that I do make a difference in my small portion of the world.

When I was growing up in church, women wore dresses and the men, ties, to church. Women, me included, had bows in our hair. If you had asked us we would have said that we were showing respect to God, but really we were trying to portray a certain image. Have you ever seen someone smoking outside at church? Why is that? And how do you treat someone with tattoos or whatever that walks through the doors of the church? What if "he" actually accepts Christ and wants to comes back? How are you going to treat him if he doesn't fit into the 'norm'? These are important questions that we as Christians have to ask ourselves. The churches I've attended have been filled with middle class white folks. Why is that? The Bible, clearly, is for everyone.

Cheers "where everyone knows your name". Do you know everyone at church, or if it is large church, your corner of it? There is a song, "I love this bar" by Toby Keith. When you listen to it here, say to yourself, "I love this church". We need to have 'sinners' coming to church. The fact that we expect people to clean up to attend church - at least they think they need to be better to come to church - needs to change.


Come as you are...I love this church.