What’s God Saying By This?

Lately I’ve been having fun doing the Christian Football Picks. I was sent some information by my uncle about an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal about football and intelligence. Seeing as how the Wall Street Journal has gone the way of all newspapers–forcing readers to register to read their on-line version keeping more people from reading their stuff–I will have to quote my uncle, who does not have a tendency towards lying in any way, especially not about a critical issue like this one.

“There’s an article in the Weekend Journal titled The NFL’s Smartest Team. They took the intelligence test scores of football players in college and figured out the average scores for each NFL team. The test is the Wonderlic Personnel Test. The average score for all takers is 21. The Rams are the smartest team with an average score of 24.6. The Bears are 7th, with an average score of 22.6. The dumbest team — Green Bay with an average score of 19.1 and nine players with scores below 14.

Interesting fact — of all occupations (not just football players) the lowest average score for any occupation is 14.69 — for “packers.”

If only we were able to figure out what God meant by this. Hmm. . .

How Many Do You Need?

Faith is a weird thing. Faith is weird because people are weird. Some people have little trouble exercising faith, we call them “naive.” Others need so much proof that there really is no such thing as faith–if seeing is believing then believing isn’t believing.

I came across this verse yesterday and it made me laugh. Acts 1:3

After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Why is that funny? He “gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.” How many did it take?! Isn’t one enough? How do you know I’m alive? You know it and you don’t even see me. Not only that, He is doing this for His chosen guys, the ones who should have expected Him to be alive anyway. You would think Jesus would show up and they would say, “Oh, yeah, hey, how’s it going? I was wondering when you’d get here.” Instead, He has to prove it to them many times.

You and I were not there when Christ arose, yet we are called to believe it happened. It’s a tough choice. It’s not ever going to be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt. But thank God for the promise of John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Feel It

Yesterday my daughter Elizabeth was playing and was happy and wonderful. Then something happened and the pretty bracelet she was wearing broke. Oh the tears. I tried everything to console her. But the sobbing continued. It got a bit frustrating but I admired her. Her longing for beauty and perfection. And it does stink that cute bracelets have to get broken in our world. Satan is a big bully, breaking little girl’s bracelets for no reason.

In the evening I was playing some tunes on my radio a bit loud and Elizabeth came down to join me. I started dancing with her. She wouldn’t let me stop. We danced for three songs when she was called away to bed. “Can we play music and dance again tomorrow daddy?” Oh man, melting my heart even now.

It’s a temptation to squash kids, tell them not to get so upset, don’t get too excited, I might not be able to dance tomorrow. But my daughter longs for perfection and for eternity. She shows it so clearly. I love that.

It seems as if the Church tries its hardest to squash people. Don’t have too much fun. Don’t get angry. Don’t get upset. Don’t laugh. Don’t cry. Don’t play loud music, unless it’s in the Spirit of course.

We squash believers and then tell them to go out and attract people for Christ. Right. How’s that work now? The world won’t listen to people who are more squashed than they are. C. S. Lewis said, “We castrate the gelding and then bid him be fruitful.” That’s the Church. That’s why it’s so ineffective and that’s why no one comes.

I Am Not Ashamed, Mostly, Sort Of, I Mean It Depends. . .

I saw this blog post this morning at The Christian Mind about getting people into church. Keith quotes from an article about mega-churches bringing people in. The article has the following quote, “If you can’t get them into your building in one way or another, they’re not going to hear your message.”

Not only does Keith have a problem with that, so do I and many others. Why is it that the Church believes it must do something to attract people to the message? It’s as if we’re ashamed of our message, we don’t believe it has pulling power. We think that a rock concert, or a panties party, or Mr Bean can do the job the Word can’t.

For all the talk of the Holy Spirit and how powerful He is, I sure don’t see it in practice. We tend to believe that WE have the power and the marketing ability to get people to Christ. Quite frankly, it makes me sick.

If we’d cut all this junk, get our pastor’s noses into the Word, have them go through life growing and living and feeling and then presenting their growth to a group of people with passion, power, and insight, the world would flock to us. If we cut out the junk, got back to the basics. The foolishness of preaching is what God chose. I don’t know why. But all else besides that is only dressing. It might get more people INTO CHURCH, but that’s not the same as getting them INTO HEAVEN.

What’s our focus? What are we here for? Why are we so ashamed of our God? Of our Gospel? Of our Hope? Of our Savior? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the POWER OF GOD unto salvation. It’s not the power of you unto church. Get it right.

Hollywood Goes To Church

The Church of England can’t get people in their churches, we can’t seem to keep people out. Hollywood is now moving into churches by showing promotional snippets in churches of movies that are “moral.”

Disney is pushing their new movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” which is, for some reason, about golf, in churches. And I quote this brilliant statement, “Its themes are about family, about not giving up on your dreams, courage,” said Dennis Rice, head of publicity at the Walt Disney Studios. “They are very secular virtues, but they also could potentially be Christian virtues.”

Riiiiight. What movie doesn’t “potentially” have Christian virtues? Good thing that boycott with Disney is over, or else pastor would have to speak for three more minutes. God forbid.

Some professor who knows more than you said, “Increasingly, the church realizes that spiritual conversations are happening in the culture and we are in danger of being left out of the conversation.” This is where I have problems. I don’t care what conversation the stupid world is having. The world is supposed to come find out what conversation we’re having!

The world is supposed to ask a question of the hope that is in us. We’re not supposed to go find out and question the hope that is in the world. Please. Boy this is irritating. I need to stop doing so many news stories. I’m gonna go knit some panties.

Why Would Jesus Party?

As we’ve been documenting, the Church of England has been having troubles getting people to church. They have pet Sundays, Mr. Bean videos, internet equipped church pews, etc. Here’s the latest in their attempt to get more people to come to church–lingerie parties.

I’m serious. Here is a quote from a bishop of the Anglican Church, “What a tragedy that we are surrounded daily with television programmes, art, film and even real-life stories sold to magazines and newspapers that champion casual sex and pornography, yet as Christians we often have so little to say about it.”

Yeah, and what a tragedy that the church hasn’t yet exploited it for church growth. They also propose doing murder mystery evenings, pamper parties, knitting clubs and book clubs as ways to spread the word about how cool church is. $10 the lingerie party gets more people than the knitting club.

I got a great idea, next Friday my church is going to have a knit your own panties party, followed by the reading of a murder mystery. That’ll bring em in. I really think the answer is to start preaching a Gospel worth listening to. Give them hope. Show them life. Don’t play games.

Anti-Itch Reminiscing

Oh man, I kill me. I read a bit more of my paper. Dying to share more with you. The next part of the paper is writing about what I learned about myself the past semester being Spiritually Formed.

I also learned that I have had an exceptional doctrinal training. I knew this before but am even more convinced of it now. Most of my opinions on doctrine and how they should be lived are a minority here. Because my views are a minority here, I know that I must be right. I have very little trouble, compared to many classmates and professors, defending my views and being pleased with the lack of inconsistency within them.

Then there’s this bit, which just slays me.

As a side note. I am currently cleaning the library every morning. There are exactly 86 signs in the library which say not to eat or drink in the library. 86. You can count them, I did. Yet every day there is food and drink all over the library. Why is this? Perhaps the sad condition of the church is a reflection on the sad condition of it’s leaders. If the leaders don’t follow rules, how can the church? Just a soap box item there.

The Anti-Itch 7 Years Ago

Seven years ago I was in seminary, not really enjoying the “full experience.” I was recently looking thru my old seminary papers I had saved on a disk. I found what I was looking for and I also found this. This is a snippet from a paper I had to write on my “growth” I experienced in spiritual formation class.

Spiritual Formation class was the seminary’s attempt to make theology “real.” To bring theology into practice, to bridge the disconnect between knowledge and action, or some such gibberish. The class consisted of talking about spiritual disciplines and sharing our feelings. Sheesh. I grew, but not quite how they wanted me to. Here’s a bit of my paper. As a side note, I got a fairly low grade in this class.

This past semester, God also let me in closer to a true understanding of grace. I am rather discouraged with this school and people’s terrible understanding of grace here. It doesn’t seem like people give Jesus Christ full credit for dying for them. They like to put limitations on Christ and requirements on man. I disagree. I even think that an overemphasis on spiritual discipline can hinder God’s grace. Focusing on your activities instead of on what Christ did for you can lead to misguided notions of who God is and who we are in God. Not that this class overemphasized this, but I have seen people here take that approach. Almost to the point where they look down on those who don’t do the disciplines they do. I am justified by faith through grace without the works of the law. Focusing on works, i.e. disciplines, puts my position in my hands rather than in Christ’s.

I also learned that God’s word is not taken very seriously here either. God’s word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1). We treat the Word as we would treat Jesus Christ, our supposed Lord. This school bothers me with their readiness to culturalize out of existence certain passages which they don’t agree with. It seems similar to how many ignore Christ and in fact it’s usually the same people that eliminate bothersome Scripture are the ones who limit God. I always knew this but am continually bothered by the abundance of this in this supposed training ground for Christian leaders.

Booyah! Preach!

Fat Pastor To Help Disaster

A 378-pound pastor from Wausau, Wisconsin has decided he is going to walk to Florida to raise money for the Jesus Care Center in Pensacola, FL and for the Salvation Army.

The Rev. Travis Russ of Victory Family Worship Center in Mosinee, Wis., acknowledges his size has people questioning his plan, but he expects his bulk to attract even more attention to the cause.

He said God gave him the idea for the walk, given the plight of so many hurricane victims, especially children. “I prayed about it, and I knew that (God) was working something within me.”

Sort of makes me question this whole “wisdom of God” thing. The real reason any guy would walk to Florida from Wisconsin has to do with winter I think.

Seeing as how I’m only a 175-pound pastor, me walking to Florida would not be impressive so I think God has told me that everyone should give me Oreo cookies so that I can become a 378-pound pastor and then I can walk to Texas. Come on now, you don’t want to let down God. Where’s my cookies? Don’t you have faith?

Is There Not A Wise Man Among You?

The Anglican Church continues to struggle after the consecration of the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson. Several Anglican perishes have sued the Anglican Church over the violation of their civil rights.

The parishes had asked to be supervised by a different bishop because they disagreed with Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith’s support for Robinson. The priest for one of the parishes was subsequently suspended and five other priests have been threatened with suspension.

The lawsuit alleges that the priests were fraudulently charged and were denied due process. The Reverend Christopher Leighton says he and his fellow priests “are being punished for upholding Biblical truth as well as Anglican teaching.”

This whole thing is just so weird. The Bible really couldn’t be more clear on an issue. It brings to mind the obvious stupidity of the church in Corinth when Paul had the following to say:

I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
1 Corinthians 6:5,6.

Why Your Church Is Dispensational: Part 2

The seating arrangements prove it. Just consider the tabernacle or temple seating arrangement. Only the High Priest could get close to the altar where God was. Only Jewish folks could get close. The women had to be behind the men. Not a Jew? Tough luck pal, you sit way in back.

Does your church seat people like this? If not, you just may be a dispensationalist.

CFP: Week 3 Update

Denver 30
Kansas City 10

No surprise here really. Kansas City should have just stayed home, saved themselves the trouble. There was no way God was going to let down the fine folks at Focus on the Family two times in one week. Kansas City had to take the fall, wrong place at the wrong time.

Informed Christian Judgments: 5
More Informed Judgments: 1

Why Your Church Is Dispensational

The fact you have a Church proves it. You don’t think so? Consider the following: Where did Adam and Eve go to church? Where did Noah go to church? Where did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph go? Where did Moses go? Where did Israel go? Where did Jesus go to church?

Throughout the ages man has done different things to worship and learn about God. Adam walked and talked with God. Noah spent some time hearing God’s blueprint for a floating box. Moses got a burning bush. Israel went to the tabernacle followed by the temple. Jesus spent time with his followers wherever he felt like it.

The concept of “church” is a dispensational distinctive. If you are not a dispensationalist, then you better start walking and talking with God, building big boxes to float around in, talking to burning bushes, going to the temple, and talking and walking with Jesus. You have to do all of those now if you don’t think there are distinctions in God’s program.

If you don‘t do any of these, you just might be a dispensationalist, whether you want to admit it or not.

My Day In Rhyme

My Wife Is Home
–an original poem by Jeff Weddle

The doors are slamming and the cries are shattering,
I have things to say but they’re not very flattering.

I want to put back the jellies, but I can’t find the lids,
The house is a mess due to my brain dead kids.

Someone’s always talking, I don’t know what they say,
Someone’s always hanging on me and getting in my way.

The stench from my son says there’s a job to do,
But I can never get it all, it sticks like glue.

My wife is at work and the hours are slow,
I wish they’d hit the toilet but on the floor they go.

I have visions of escape, maybe go to Rome,
But ah my wife, my wife is now home.

Jesus Is Not All White With Me

A new statue of Jesus in Camden, New Jersey has been revealed at Sacred Heart Church. It features Jesus standing with arms outstretched, nail wounds in his hands and feet, his heart bulging out as his heart goes out to us.

There is one other feature of this Jesus statue and that is that he is black. The sculptor said, “I read that two-thirds of the students in the (Sacred Heart) school are black, so I thought, “They should have a black Jesus.’ I wanted to do this for them.”

He also added, “Public art is so important. Dostoevski, he said that three things will save the world — truth, goodness and beauty. If the first two fail, beauty will do it, because it has the other two. The beauty tells that there’s good inside.”

I thought Jesus was the only thing that could save the world? Hmm, must have missed something here. Does Jesus save the world, or do beautiful statues of Jesus save the world?

Speaking of Church Splits

The Episcopal Church, already an off-shoot of the Anglican Church, is set to split after they got their first openly gay bishop.

“This is at least as much about power and control as it is about theology and Scripture,” New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson told The Associated Press in an interview. “It’s about who’s going to be calling the shots, and who’s going to be in and who’s going to be out.” All church splits are over power and rarely over anything substantial.

The openly-gay Robinson also said the following poor choice of words to a gathering of Episcopal leaders, “I said I’m here to talk about how we can live together.” For some reason, that didn’t work.

Funniest Religious Joke

As reported earlier this summer, Ship Of Fools was on a quest to find the world’s funniest religious joke. They have their answer, it is the following joke.

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.
“Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Are you religious?”
He said: “Yes.”
I said: “Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?”
“Christian.”
“Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”
“Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”
He said: “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915.”
I said: “Die, heretic scum,” and pushed him off.

Why All Christians Are Dispensational: Part 2

The fact we believe in a person named Jesus Christ proves it. People have always been saved by faith. Romans 1:17 says the just shall live by faith and it has been that way from “faith to faith.” There have not been different faiths, but there has been a different responsibility on man’s part in exercising that faith.

Adam and Eve did not believe in “Jesus Christ.” They believed in one who would come and bruise Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). Noah did not believe in a man called “Jesus Christ.” He believed that God delivered his people and would ultimately do so in a Deliverer who was to come. In fact, Noah was a picture of Christ–who delivered his people BEFORE the world-wide judgment, by the way.

Abraham did not believe in “Jesus Christ.” He believed that God was going to give him a nation that would deliver all nations thru one Seed. Abraham’s faith allowed him to act on God’s command to sacrifice his son, another picture of Christ (Genesis 22).

Moses did not believe in “Jesus Christ.” He believed that God’s nation was to be delivered and he was another picture of Christ in that he delivered his people.

The Nation of Israel placed their faith in the Messiah, who did not have the name “Jesus Christ” given to them anywhere in Scripture.

Faith in “Jesus Christ” was only something for those in Jesus’ day and thereafter. The name Jesus doesn’t even show up in Scripture until the Gospels. If you say you believe in Jesus Christ, you are admitting there is a distinction in God’s program through the ages, which means you are a dispensationalist, whether you want to admit it or not.

CFP: Week 3 Update Seattle 37-Arizona 12

Well, God has made a pretty clear decision for us, clearing up an issue that has brought much confusion to believers. Bill Gates is not the Antichrist, so we can cross him off our list of hopefuls. Beyond that, the pope is still on shaky ground.

Guided Christian Judging: 4
Misguided Christian Judging: 1

Christian Football Picks: Week 3 Update

Many of you are probably confused right now since the first CFP has come up wrong. Never fear. The score of the picks is not really God vs. sinners. It’s the Christian’s judgmentalism that is being tested. God is always right. Christians aren’t.

But God is trying to help us be better judgers by giving us hints as to His ranking of priorities. Like today, St. Louis, beer manufacturers, beat Tennessee, the country music purveyors. Now, Christians generally are more judgmental about beer than country music. But God wants to set us straight.

Now we can know for sure that country music is more or less of the devil, whereas beer, may not be all that bad. Lets remember, last week rock music beat beer. So, with this new knowledge, Christians can now start judging accordingly:

Not All Bad: Rock music
Bad: Beer
Of the Devil: Country music.

Let us all learn our lesson and adjust our judgments as necessary.

Correct Christian Judgmentalism 3
Incorrect Christian Judgmentalism 1

Christian Football Picks: Week 3

Each week I pick football games based on the current state of God’s opinions on things as given by modern Christianity.

Tennessee Titans at St. Louis Rams
A classic confrontation. Tennessee clearly represents country music and St. Louis represents beer manufacturers. Christians look at this one with much interest, what’s it going to be God, beer or country music? Most Christians side with country music as it is close to bluegrass, which is close to Gospel, which is close to churchy, whereas beer is just plain evil.

Tennessee 31
St Louis 13

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
This is a very interesting match-up. What we have here is the team from Arizona, named after Catholic higher-ups, taking on a team from Seattle, which is home to Microsoft. As we all know, Microsoft is fulfilling the work of the Antichrist, in fact, there are many who think Bill Gates himself is the Antichrist. Who does God favor more–the pope or the antichrist, or will it be a tie, because really, they’re the same thing aren’t they?

Seattle 24
Arizona 23

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
This past week Focus on the Family laid-off 79 employees and will not seek to fill 83 positions. As we all know, Focus on the Family is basically God’s right hand in our world. Although Focus on the Family had to make some tough choices, God will give them some consolation by allowing their football team to beat the team from Kansas City, a place only known for greasy food and blues music, which we all know is just a Satanic perversion.

Denver Broncos 17
Kansas City Chiefs 14

No Fail Church Growth

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has discovered a brilliant way to grow their church–let a stray cat hang around.

Ever since this cat, named Angel, showed up, church attendance has doubled and the choir has gone from 12 to 50 people. St. Paul’s has also recently renamed their bookstore “Angels Book Nook” after this cat.

The pastor was “not a cat person” when Angel arrived, and he tried to determine which of the church’s neighbors was missing a cat. But no one was. So he fed her some tuna fish, and she’s never left the property since. Shortly after naming her, Lang said he referred to her during a sermon and, to his surprise, she spoke up from the back of the sanctuary: “Meow.”

I’m sorry, but church growth aint worth that.

Famous People

I am currently reading The Fifties by David Halberstam. It’s about, um, the ’50’s. He details the happy surface of the 50’s that is covering a very turbulent time, which will explode in the 60’s. I just read a chapter that included brief biographical sketches on two people you will recognize, can you guess who they are? The answer will be in the comments.

1. A quote about one of this person’s foster parents. “Jesus is supposed to be forgiving, but they never mentioned that. He was basically out to smack you in the head if you did something wrong.”

2. The following describes this person’s parents. “Their Christianity seemed to him a cold, emotionally sterile one, separated from all pleasures of life. His grandparents were pious Nebraska farmers, and theirs remained a God-fearing home: There was no drinking, no swearing, no smoking. Sunday was for church.”

Why All Christians Are Dispensational

The fact that we are called “Christians” proves it. The name “Christian” was not applied to the people of God until Acts 11:26 in Antioch. The disciples of Jesus were called Christians. Even in that one verse you see a shift in recognition–no longer “disciples” but Christians.

God’s people were called different things throughout the thousands of years of history. Psalms calls them “godly” a few times. They are called “righteous” a number of times. Of course, once Israel was established as a nation they are called “Israel,” “my people,” “children,” and various other terms.

The fact that we call ourselves Christians today is a relatively new thing. If you call yourself a Christian you are at the same time admitting that there are differences in God’s relationship to His people over the years, which is called dispensationalism, whether you want to admit it or not.

Jesus Is One Busy Guy

Jesus, who apparently enjoys spending eternity in odd places in America, has now shown up on a smudge of mud on a tire. I’m serious. The man who saw the smudge is a CART racer and after a recent accident he noticed the smudge on the tire while changing it.

“I wouldn’t say it?s changed me. I was raised catholic. I don’t attend church anymore but I know a picture of Jesus when I see one.”

Reporter: “Do you think it’s a miracle or do you think it was coincidence?” Wisniowski: “Maybe it was. Maybe spinning out, not getting in a big wreck or something, you know?”

Reporter: “Why do you think when these kinds of things happen people always see Jesus — they never see Buddha or Moses?” Wisniowski: “I don’t know I can’t answer it. It was just the first thing that popped in my head — looks like Jesus to me.”

Here’s his eBay auction. Happy bidding.

Pet Blessing!

If you hurry, you can make it to California to get your pet blessed this weekend. St. Francis Church in Simi Valley, California is going to host the annual pet blessing event.

Each pet will receive an individual blessing from the vicar, Fr. Steven J. Dean, and Holy Communion will be served. Blessing of the animals is a tradition dating from the fourth century in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is celebrated on Oct. 4. According to legend, Francis could talk to animals and often preached to them.

Pets must be leashed or in a carrier and don’t forget about the “pet romping” room in the backyard. I know I’ll be there.

Who Would Jesus Expel?

A Christian school in Ontario has expelled a girl for having lesbian parents. There is a statement in their school policy that says at least one parent may not practice “immoral or inconsistent with a positive Christian life style, such as cohabitating without marriage or in a homosexual relationship.”

this is a tough one really. I affirm the right of an organization to accept money from whomever they wish. I’m all for that. At the same time, it’s not the kid’s fault her mom is a moron. I don’t know. That’s tough. It seems like the article is saying that the mom was telling everyone about it at a football game or something. I guess if she’s going to be a nuisance about it, it had to be done.

All I know is that when I saw this headline “School Expels Girl for Having Gay Parents” I knew it was going to be a Christian school.

More On 1 Timothy 4:16

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Seems to me there are three groups of Christians.

1) Those who live a certain way and assume their way is righteous because how could it not be? Others are held up to their way of living rather than any standard in God’s Word. They don’t produce followers of Christ, they produce followers of them.

2) Those who know doctrine and assume because they know it they must be doing it. These people are not always the most informed. Their main problem is that they think they know what they are talking about. Usually they have a half-knowledge of any given subject and thus assume they are all right.

3) Those who heed Paul’s warning and learn God’s Word and watch how they live. These are the ones who really help others. Watching your life and doctrine leads to salvation. If what you are doing does not match up with what you believe–check what you believe–is it biblical? If so, then change your behavior. If not, then change your belief.

I often hear people criticize those who emphasize doctrine and I also hear criticism of those who emphasize victorious, happy-happy living. Both are good in one aspect, both are bad in another. If you combine the two–sound doctrine with victorious living, benefits will abound both for you and anyone who hears you.

If the Church did both of these it would be running smoothly. The fact that it’s not running smoothly is proof that we are not. So what are we waiting for? Know it and live it.

I Want To Cry Too

More than 100 people of various faiths and ages descended upon the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of St. Sophia yesterday to witness The “Miraculous, Myrrh-weeping Icon of St. Anna.”

Droplets of myrrh, an aromatic substance used in perfume and incense, could be seen yesterday on the body of the colorful icon which has purportedly wept for the last year.

“It’s really just an honor to have it,” said parish president and former Bayonne resident Donald Zyry. “Hopefully people will come away from it with a sense of spirituality. In the time we live in now, many people aren’t spiritual.”

I’m sorry, but is it just me or is the state of the Church just sad these days? A picture of a woman crying stinking perfume makes people spiritual? We’re in trouble.

A Sign Of A Man’s Time

Ross Verba used to play football for the Packers. He also used to be an outspoken “man of God.” He is neither now as his life has basically fallen off the deep end. Now, it’s hard for me not to make jokes about the Packers, but this story is kind of sad. I don’t wish to make light of a man’s struggles.

His fast-lane life now is “a 180-degree turn from the born-again Christian who in his four seasons with the Packers would engage almost anyone walking past his locker in a conversation about God.”

Which brings up a point I’d like to make very carefully. Anytime someone has to go out of their way to make their faith obvious there are more than likely problems underneath. Christians who are always out there incessantly talking about Jesus are usually, not always, but usually, covering up a lack of something on the inside. Many times new believers will go hog-wild giving the Gospel only to fall away themselves.

It’s like married couples who use public displays of affection incessantly, it’s almost a sure sign of marital problems. If you have to try that hard to prove it, there has to be problems.

I’ve known people like Verba who seemed so gung ho for Christ only to fall flat and turn away. They never seemed to get it. They were so busy talking about the little bit they got that they never moved forward in their growth. Be careful out there. Continue to grow. Take heed to your life and your doctrine and you and your hearers will be saved.