Love thy neighbor

I have had several people tell me that the font size of my "love thy neighbor" post was very small. I'm not sure what I did different, but this should be much larger. Here is my Mulligan.

I'm speaking somewhat in generalities today, because of other people involved and this is a conglomeration of several different situations.

In the Bible it says that we should not be surprised, as Christians when we are attacked, hated, made fun of, or shown disrespect because of what we believe. Jesus said, because they hated me, they will also hate you. Up until recently, I have not noticed this, not because it wasn't happening, but probably because I wasn't aware of it. Reading the Bible is much easier than doing what it says to do. Loving your enemies, turning the other cheek, and many other things that we as Christians are supposed to be striving to do. I know for myself, I am work in progress. I have plenty of faults and I know that there was only one who walked this earth without a fault. Jesus.  I've been told recently that the Church, and all of us who believe the Bible are bigots and hypocrites, intolerant people, and several other names associated with being "politically incorrect".  I do agree that every church is full of sinners, and any church that is not, is already in Heaven. I know personally that I'm not where I need to be, but Thank God I'm not where I used to be. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. He then went on to define the word neighbor. I'll let you look that one up, in case you don't already know, It is the parable of the good Samaritan.    THUD.

That was the sound of me jumping off my soapbox.

I just want to say that I believe that it's okay to make fun of yourself, and I thought this joke was appropriate because there are hypocrites in every church, and on occasion I've been guilty.

　

A drunk man who smelled like beer sat down on a subway next to a preacher. The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half-empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.

After a few minutes the man turned to the preacher and asked, "Say, Reverend, what causes arthritis?" The preacher replied, "My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of a bath." The drunk muttered in response, "Well, I'll be darned, " Then returned to his paper.

The Man of God, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?" The drunk answered, "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Billy Graham does."

MORAL: Make sure you understand the question before offering the answer.

Much love, Dennis