Mind-Bloggling!

For Friday, the Council organizers decided not to schedule any meetings during the day so that delegates could enjoy the Orlando fun. So, I have nothing to report about the day, but I have a few follow up comments to previous posts.

First, I discovered that the trolley passes which I thought had been gratuitously provided by the Peabody hotel were not, in fact, gratuitous. Neither is the "complementary coffee" in the lobby served between 5:30 and 7:00 AM. For these amenities, along with the wireless internet service that I am using to upload this blog, we are paying a daily fee.

Second, we got to see the ducks waddle down the freshly groomed red carpet to assume their daytime home in the lobby fountain today. And, as providence would have it, we were walking through the lobby when they retreated to their suite for the night.

Third, a few more thoughts on Scott Slocum's message. I found it a bit ironic that the worship team from Mr. Slocum's church led us in an extended version of the popular song, How Great Is Our God--which speaks of our King's splendor from which the darkness hides, and the greatness of God which if sung will let everyone know--and then we were told about God's worried and anxious heart frantically, desperately, seeking His lost child like a finite, weak, ignorant, helpless, human father who doesn't know where the kid has wandered off to. That is not a great God worth singing about; that is a being in dire need of someone else's help.

Another point stressed by Pastor Slocum was that Jesus spent time with, and accepted, sinners (implying that He would hang out with lesbians and abortion advocates). This came up several times when he compared the present day church with the Pharisees. As I pointed out earlier, this comparison is highly offensive. It is true that the Pharisees were too caught up in their religious rituals that they missed the Messiah, but it is also true that they were self-righteous unbelievers. Is Mr. Slocum suggesting that the Christians whom he was criticizing are self-righteous unbelievers? That would follow from what he said. If he does not believe that, then he should refrain from making the comparison. Furthermore, the Pharisees were sinners in desperate need of a savior, but Jesus did not have a great concern for them. In fact, He went so far as to praise the Father for hiding the truth of the gospel from them (Luke 10). Instead of frantically seeking lost Pharisees, God actually prevented them from observing the means of salvation. It seems that even God does not possess the "Father's heart".

Jesus did spend time with sinners; in fact, every moment that was not spent alone was spent with sinners. And yes, some of them were prostitutes and adulterers, but He did not make them feel comfortable enough to remain both in their sin and in His presence. He confronted their sin, He exposed it, He called for repentance. The apostle John reveals that sinners don't want to be near the Lord because they love their sin, "the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:19, 20). Sure Jesus spent time with sinners, but those who were unwilling to change were not willing to spend much time with Him. When the lesbians, etc., come to Mr. Slocum's church, if he confronts their sins, then he will find that they will not be too interested in hanging around very long (unless they repent). If he doesn't confront their sin, then he is not being with sinners in the same way his Lord was.

Well, that's enough for now. It's time to go dream about ducks.