Fr. Matthew Presents - Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner

Fr. Matthew does his usual excellent job!

Forgiveness

Well this is a topic I have written on before but there is a good blog posting here about forgiveness that is worth your read.

Forgiveness

I met a young man at church this Sunday. Among some of things he was struggling with in his life which he shared with me was forgiveness. He was looking for forgiveness regarding people he had hurt in his life. My heart when out to him. I'm sure we all know the feeling of having hurt people. But I wondered if he, like many others was also struggling with the difficulty of forgiving himself. You see it seems that we never want to let ourselves off the hook too easily -- and that is a very good practice. Yet at the same time, how many of us carry around a lack of forgiveness to ourselves for the wrongs we have done others. It is often relatively easy to accept God's forgiveness (OK, that is definitely not always true!) and so much more difficult to forgive ourselves. With Lent approaching and the self-examination that usually accompanies this time in the life of the Church, don't forget to forgive yourself.

And pray for the young man I spoke to.

Pancakes

A good friend sent me this. It is a great reminder of the constancy and persistence of God's love. In those times when we feel we have failed God or when we have failed others, this is good to remember. And in those times when we don't feel worthy of love, this is a powerful reminder.

Pancakes
Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.

He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the ove n or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked!. Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon 's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process!

That's how God deals with us.. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour.

Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think of anything else to do. That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.

But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to 'make pancakes' for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried...

I was thinking, and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that need rekindling or three words needing to be said, sometimes, 'I love you' can heal & bless! Remind every one of your friends that you love them. Even if you think they don't love back, you would be amazed at what those three little words, a smile, and a reminder like this can do.

Just in case I haven't told you lately... I LOVE YA!!!
Please pass some of this love on to others....suppose one morning you were called to God; do all your friends know you love them?

Send this to everyone you love, and send it back to the person who sent it to you.. And never stop 'making pancakes.'

Let's all stop paying taxes!

Another great blog post from Fr. David Heron. If you don't read his blog, I encourage you to check it out.

Don't pay Tax!
from Anglican Priest Father David Heron by noreply@blogger.com (Father David Heron)

The Stand Firm in Faith website says: "Many people today who are gay, lesbian or bisexual in their orientation, or who have undergone gender transformation, see themselves as social outcasts on a par with the first-century tax collectors
The lesson from the Gospels is clear: Jesus did not associate with sinners to celebrate their sinful orientations; he called on them to repent of their ways and stop sinning. Still less did Jesus make Matthew one of his disciples and allow him to continue sinning as a tax collector: he required him to give up his profession altogether in order to become His disciple"
The lesson from this is clear. Those who work for the Inland Revenue must resign!
If people think I'm going to collude in sin by paying taxes to a bunch of money-grabbers, then think again. Obviously, there should be a moratorium on the ordination of taxmen. That there should be Anglican Inland Revenue employees is quite disgusting.

thought for today

It really doesn't matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on.

Real Live Preacher, RealLivePreacher.com Weblog, July 7, 2003