Sunday September 25

Saying for the Day:Matthew 21:31 ----" Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.
------ As expected Pastor Marvel worked the white rabbit into his Sunday sermon. He said " Everybody seems to be trying to figure out if the white rabbit is good or bad. Well let me tell you I don't have the slightest idea. In fact I don't even believe there is a live three foot rabbit in a pink sweater running loose in the community. I think its some kind of hoax. I do know, however, that it is part of our human nature to categorize people into good or bad. Since the white rabbit seems to have human characteristics we need to categorize him as well. Now if we are going to put people into categories we need some criteria. One set of criteria would be the ten commandments but nobody uses those any more. That's because if we applied them we would all end up on the bad side and that's not good. So we each set up our own criteria for good and bad. The criteria says in effect things I don't do are bad. For example if I don't smoke then people who smoke are bad. With our own personal criteria we always end up on the good side. Once there was a group of people called Pharisees who worked very hard to keep the ten commandments and looked down on everyone that didn't try as hard. On the really bad list were tax collectors and prostitutes. Then along comes Jesus and throws out their criteria. In fact he tells them that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into heaven before them. Now if you have been seeing yourself as one of the vary good look out for Jesus as he is likely to throw out your criteria. The good news in all of this is that Jesus loves us so much that his criteria for saving us was that we believe and trust him. You see the good things we do don't come from us they happen because the God of our Baptism is working in us. WE can't use our good deed as a way of putting ourselves ahead of others but rather as evidence of God's love for us. Now the next time you try to decide on who is bad examine your criteria and do something else." People went home and talked over that sermon at lunch. I'll keep you informed.
----- Had a good night last night. In the morning and most of the day Betty worked on Bree's Halloween costume. She took some time out to go and buy some food for coffee at the Church after the guitar service. I updated the Christmas list and worked at cleaning up the garage. Then I transferred and old fourth of July tape from video tape to a DVD so Peter can have a copy. I also sorted a lot of old video tapes. The organization continues. I tried the new DVD in my little potable player and it works fine. Then I cleaned up the office a bit. How quickly things get out of hand. I got an e-mail note off to Bill and Mary Bennet to tell them I'm still living in Crystal Falls.
Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA