Blessings to you, loved ones.  Here’s what’s happening.

I really enjoyed the service last Sunday.  Priscilla did such a great job with the Sunday school lesson I wondered if I shouldn’t just end it right there so people would think about what she had to say.  We missed having Edith for the worship, but it went pretty well this time with the canned music I was able to find.  I enjoyed sharing with you from Romans 12 as we continue the study of Paul’s teaching on living a transformed life.

Paul wasn’t done yet, so I’m not either, and I think what he has to say next is very appropriate with what’s happening around us right now.  He has instructed us on our relationship to God and then to others in the church.  Now he seems to be moving outward to address how we relate to the rest of the world, even those who mistreat us.  We’ll read from Romans 12:14-21.

It seems right now that we are more divided than we have been in a long time.  It is as bad as I can remember.  Half of us seem to believe that the other half is truly evil and incapable of having a pure motivation for anything they support.  Violent and near violent confrontations are on the rise.

Please don’t misunderstand me.  There is evil and there is good.  There is truth and there are lies.  If we don’t actually believe that what we think is true, then we become liars ourselves to argue for it.  Where we go wrong, especially in matters where scripture is not explicit, is in ascribing evil motivations to those who disagree with us.  You may think that I am wrong, but i hope you will give me the grace to accept that I may be wrong for the right reasons.  Especially in the church, we should be expecting the best of each other.

The versus we’ll study this Sunday suggest a very different code of conduct than we’re seeing on ether side right now.  One may be more obnoxious and even more violent than the other, but both have forgotten these words.  I have definite convictions about who is right, but I have been guilty of saying or sharing things on social media that contribute to the problem instead of the solution.  If we believe we have the truth, do we really think we’ll convince anyone who disagrees with us by calling them evil and stupid?  It didn’t work in the schoolyard and it doesn’t work any better carried into adulthood.  Let us approach those who disagree with us, and yes even those who hate us, with humility, mercy, grace, compassion, peace, and love.

I hope to see you there.

Love y’all!

Larry