Our Honey Lake Church will be finished in the next day or two and we will conduct our first wedding in it this weekend. It is absolutely beautiful and the stained glass windows are breathtaking. They are the oldest stained glass windows in the state of Florida and they just don’t make things that beautiful anymore.
A friend asked how I came to own them and I told him that they came out of an old Madison Florida Presbyterian church. I was told the congregation split when the denomination’s leadership decided to open the ministry to homosexuals and women. Half did not want to do such a thing and the other half did. The half that wanted to allow it ended up with the church. The problem was that they were not the wealthy people who had supported the church financially, and after the church split and all of the wealthy people left and started their own church, it could no longer meet its financial obligations and went kaput. A private owner ended up with it and I bought the windows from her. (I like to think God led me to them.)
My buddy told me that his family originated from this same little community. His family and another one ended up in a generational feud that continues to this day, (similar to the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s). It all began in their little Baptist church when some heated words were exchanged inside the church; it spilled over into the street and culminated in a gun battle in which one man died. Four generations later there are still hard feelings over it and the two families do not like each other to this day, (some of the younger members on both sides of the family don’t even know why they don’t like the other family, but nonetheless they dislike them just the same).
I suppose this little community is no different than others all over the world. In fact wars and crusades have raged over religious disputes and all kinds of things have been done in the name of the Lord. Recent surveys show that organized religion is on the decline, but the number of those who are “unaffiliated†with any specific religious group is on the increase. Most still believe in God, but dislike the religions that claim to represent Jesus Christ.
Could it be that many in the organized religious community have lost touch with the message of Jesus which is foremost His incomprehensible love for all of mankind?
Not long ago I got a vicious letter from a lady who seemed to hate street people such as addicts and alcoholics and others whom she referred to as “losers and scumbagsâ€.
She was in her words a “Godly†person who loved the Lord.
Huh?
I told her the Bible that I read every day tells me that Jesus does not feel the way that she feels about sinners. Instead of looking at people the way they ARE, Jesus looks at them as to what they CAN BE. He is full of love and compassion and albeit He hates sin, He loves the sinner and stands ready to forgive them and strengthen them provided they will just turn to Him. He did it for me and I praise His holy name for not giving up on me.
What she does not realize is that she is also a sinner. She might not be shooting up meth or heroin, but she is sinning just the same and to God her sin is just as black as those of the “losers†she so despises.
I wrote her a nice letter and said that God loves everyone. She went ballistic and spewed her hatred at me and I ended the thread by telling her that I think it is a shame that someone like her goes around claiming to represent Christ and souring them towards Him. She doesn’t represent anyone but herself and her twisted views. I suppose she will enter heaven if she has accepted Jesus as her Savior, but I wonder how many she will turn away from it with her unforgiving manner devoid of compassion for anyone other than someone just like her…
It is an unfortunate fact that some hypocrites within organized religion have turned many a person away from God.
Folks, sin can be condemned and doctrinal disputes can be peacefully resolved without having a gun battle ensue.
The Bible tells us that we should so let our light shine that it would glorify our Father in heaven and in so doing others will look at our lives and WANT to have what we have and become Christians themselves. Too many who claim to represent Christ provide an example that is anathema to the unsaved person, and in fact, “they” would be the LAST person that they would want to be like.
I ask you to represent Christ with love and compassion towards others or stay in the closet and don’t represent Him at all…
Matt. 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.