Reverend Ref +

I AM SOOOO BAD ....

So the Lenten Breakfast today was at the NB church on the north side of town (mine being the one on the south side of town). This would be the church where the pastor enjoys the numbers game, actively works at sheep stealing, and works to undercut the "competition" in an effort to increase his numbers. This was also the guy who, when I asked what kind of sexual misconduct prevention training he and his staff have had, told me he watched a video on saving sex for marriage.

The place gives me the creeps. But . . . it's the community breakfast thing and I think I need to be there.

I will give him credit though . . . his homily was much better this year than last year. And, as an added bonus, during his extemporaneous prayer he only used the word "just" twice!

So he's talking about Jesus and the fig tree.

"The fig tree represents false religion. It was leafy. It looked like it was producing fruit, but it wasn't. So he cursed that false religion. We need to be less concerned with our outward appearance and more concerned with being fruitful for God. We need to be willing to hear God when he is telling us to do something new."

For the most part, I'm okay with this. But . . . I am soooo bad . . .

As he's talking, two things kept popping into my mind.

1) "Less concerned with our outward appearance" . . . You mean like your spiffy large screen TV, spiffy sound system and slick stage productions that you're so proud of?

2) "We need to not be concerned with leafy appearances, but work at being fruitful for God" . . . I so badly wanted to ask, "So you're saying we need more fruits in church?"

I am soooo bad.

"I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."