Happy Friday. It’s September 6, 2024. This weekend, we’re gearing up for “Cowboy Church” at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Eugene, Oregon. Services are on Sunday at 9 and 11. I’d love to see you there! I must admit that Ezekiel and Revelation was a tough read this morning. However, I did find something that caught my attention. Remember: don’t journal on the things you don’t yet understand. Journal on the ones you do! Read on …
Today's Reading:
Ezekiel 29,30,31,32; Revelation 11
Scripture
"I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.” (Revelation 11:1-2)
Observation
Peter repeats this injunction in 1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household…”
We often judge non-Christians and preach against their sins, all the while overlooking our own. For example, the United Methodist Church recently elected its third openly lesbian bishop, married to another woman, to lead its Western Jurisdiction. Not the first—third! Three leaders living immoral lives, as if it were biblical and normal. What do you think Jesus would say?
If Jesus came physically today, these might be the first He’d address. Yet we hesitate to mention names or use specific words like "homosexuality," which has become accepted in the house of God, for fear of being labeled “judgmental” or “biased.”
Application
We are more concerned with those who oppose us than God, who gives us a measuring rod. We measure sin in the White House far more than we measure sin in God’s House. We allow adultery and fornication, gossip, complaining, and resentment, yet we are quick to judge our non-Christian neighbor for their drinking or weed smoking.
We must work hard at cleaning our own homes, churches, denominations and hearts, and if we will, God will use us as messengers to bring the Good News of Christ to our nation and the world. (click here for Galatians 6:1)
Prayer
Father, firstly, forgive us for our blindness to our poverty while pontificating about others for theirs. We tend to be either overly religious or overly compromising. Bring us back to You - not to one side or the other … but back to You!
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