Don't Pick on the Pastor

Today's link
the Jury is Still Out


Saying for the Day
If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others. ~Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld

Picture for the Day
(From the Archives)

"Excerpts from a sermon"

Now think about if you will, the first time you heard Jesus speak. It may have been in Sunday school. It may have been when you were a youngster in church. It may have been when you were wallowing in the mud and the muck and the mire and the mess you brought on yourself with the choices that you made. When did you first hear Jesus speak? It may have been in a sermon, it may have been through a scripture, it may have been in a song.

You think about the first time you heard Jesus speak, while I tell you what happened to me when I heard him speak. When I heard him speak, he spoke words of life--write that down, words of life. He speaks words of life back in John 6 right before this story starts, at the end of chapter 6, John 6 verse 66--you can look at it yourself--many, it says, of the Lord's disciples turned back; they stopped following Jesus and they no longer went about with him.

When Jesus starts talking about sacrifice and suffering, a whole lot of disciples desert him, because as pastor Moss said in the first sermon, they're looking for a payday. They're looking for a payoff. They're not trying to hear nothing about picking up no cross; they want to pick up some cash. Many, John says, walked away. Jesus turned and asked the 12 and said, "Do you also want to leave? And Simon Peter said, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life."

I just finished reading a wonderful sermon about new life in Christ some excerpts are above.. About the Jesus who sets me free.

It could have been preached in any Lutheran Church on any given Sunday.
It was and is truly evangelical.
The problem is it was preached by the boogie man Pastor Jeremiah Wright. You know Obama’s former Pastor. It didn’t have a single word in it about hating anybody. It was filled with the love of God.
I was surprised because I just got an e-mail saying in effect we can’t trust Obama because this man was his Pastor. Week after week according to Linbaugh he was supposed to preach hate and Obama listened to it.
He must have had an off week then when he preached this sermon.
I am so tired of the right using this Pastor as a whipping boy. They don’t care about Jesus or taking up the cross they just care about getting Obama. Pastor Wright is the vehicle for their hatred.
I challenge you to go and read his sermons.
O! Sometimes he says outlandish things. Sometimes he says politically incorrect things. But most of his sermons are straight from scripture filled with the love of God.
I am upset with Obama for denouncing him . It was the politically correct thing to do but it was morally wrong.

He is a fellow Pastor in a denomination that my denomination is in fellowship with. I don’t agree with everything he says but then I don’t agree with everything that anybody says.

But having read four of his sermons I have no doubt he is a Christ filled man.
He deserves far better treatment than he's been given.

He really does.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
It is a quiet Sunday morning in Pigeon Falls. People are trying to digest what happened at the second showing of the Mary Maxim movies ( that will be reported on here tomorrow).
Pastor Joan has finished her preparations for today’s sermon. She is preaching on the Church as the keepers of the vineyard. Here are some of her thoughts:
Because we are keepers of the vineyards God expects us to work for the Kingdom. That’s a bit scary. We want the rewards of the vineyard. We want forgiveness. We want grace. We want God to give us good health and a reasonable income. We want a lot from God. What we don’t want is to work in the Kingdom. We don’t want to take up a cross. We want to sing “ Amazing Grace and not Lead on O King Eternal. The idea that the Church is now the keeper of God’s vineyard is just plain scary.
What kind of worker are you. Have you made any attempt to share your faith with anybody? God expects you to you know. Have you visited the sick? God expects you to you know. Have you fed the hungry? God expects you to you know.
Here you are one of the keepers of the vineyard so what have you done ?

Wrap Up

Wonderful day except the house was a bit cold. Went to Church and took pictures. St. Mark's received new members today including my daughter. Everybody thought she was already a member.Pastor Steve had a very good sermon. The fellowship was great. I enjoyed the choir. When we came home I updated the St. Mark's website.Then my sister called. She just wanted to see how I was doing. I visited some of the links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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