ABC

There are quite a few people in and around the town I live it that call my church "Adirondack Bible Cult". I guess that folks think we do whatever Ed Hart (our pastor) says without any thought of our own. What people fail to see is that what is taught comes straight from Gods Word. Some of what is taught is calling sin sin. There is no beating around the bushes here. I know that my church is not perfect, I also know that Ed Hart is not perfect. He has said things to me that I don't agree with, he has said things from the pulpit that I don't agree with or have a hard time with. That is OK. He is human. I know he has offended some folks too. Again, he is human. Just ask him, he will tell you that. Most of the men I know, myself included are know to put their foot in their mouth from time to time. My point is that people are going to talk. Most of that talk comes from the people who have been hurt. Some of that talk comes from pride, which by the way is sin. Most of that talk is harmful to the body of Christ. I am guilty of it. I have been both hurt and offended by ABC, or any other church I have attended. I have said things that were better left unsaid. I know that all people are sinners, myself included. We are all a work in progress.

Something was said in church yesterday that really got my attention. My pastor said, If you are offended of hurt, maybe you are thinking about yourself too much. 1 Corinthians 13 is a very familiar passage. It talks about love and what it means to love, how to love. The end of verse 5 says that love keeps no records of wrongs. Has someone wronged you? Do you still get mad about it? Are you bitter? It has been recommended to me by more then one person that I write down everything wrong that my x does, that I keep a record of her wrongs so that if it ever comes to court I have that "stuff" written down. I have tried it. I used to write everything down. I would write down things she said, things she did or didn't do. If I didn't agree with it I wrote it down. I had quite a list! Do you know how hard it is to love someone when you are keeping track of all the ways they wrong you? It's impossible. I was angry with her, I was hurt by her, I was bitter. I couldn't even talk to her without getting mad. I don't keep that list any more. Luke 6:27 says to love your enemies. I don't look at Nancy as an enemy, but if scripture says that I should love my enemies I know that I need to love Nancy too. I often have a very hard time doing that!

My point is that in this little town of ours there are quite a few different churches. There is a lot of talk. Many people are "keeping lists" of all of the ways they have been hurt. We need to get rid of those lists. Matthew 22:37-38 says "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Who is your neighbor? In this case, its the person who hurt of offended you. If we are Christians, even if we are offended, we should not be talking about it. Those outside the church hear it. They want nothing to do with it. We give our Savior a black eye. I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. I know that God will work in spite of us bickering. I for one don't want that. I want Him to work through me not in spite of me! Let us all get our minds off of ourselves and on Him who saved us.