Thursday, May 23, 2013

A 19th century Jewish mystic

A 19th century Jewish mystic, whose name escapes me, a Ukrainian rabbi, said that he learned the love of God from a drunken peasant. He was traveling in the wintertime and took refuge in an inn where two drunks were hugging each other and expressing their undying love for one another when one stopped and asked the other, "What hurts me?" The second drunk asked, "How should I know what hurts you?" The first drunk said, "If you don't know what hurts me, how can you love me?" Jesus knows what hurts you...

Monday, May 13, 2013

One Body, Many Parts

The apostle Paul compares the Church to the human body, one denomination is the hand, another the feet, and still another the butt.
The Pentecostals, Assemblies of God and other charismatic groups know how to worship. They worship like David worshiped. I'm convinced that, like David, they'd strip down to their skivvies if they could, since it happened once in the Bible (makes it scriptural, right?).
The Methodists and Presbyterians have the order of things. They keep worship running smoothly and on time.
Episcopalians, Anglicans and Roman Catholics have the pomp and ceremony that helps to inspire awe during worship.
And Baptists have the market on community outreach and making a newcomer feel as welcome as a prodigal son.
But it's the baby Christians of ANY denomination who have the heart of God, I think. Baby Christians are like people with Downs Syndrome. They love unconditionally...they love like Jesus.
You can worship long and loud and sing your praises to God, you can keep everything running like a well-oiled machine, with incense and alter boys, but if you don't have love, its all for nothing.
You need to get hugged by Jesus, you go find a baby Christian