June 30, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

The Love Of The Church

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?"
Matthew 5:43-46

A preacher in Tennessee said his father was not a Christian and never went to church. He said everyone else in the family would get ready and go to church and his dad would stay home. The preacher would come by and visit and his dad would always give him the same pat answer; I know why you’re here and I know what you want, you want another name and another pledge, you don’t care about me. He said if I heard my dad say it once I heard him say it 20 times. He said towards the end of his life his dad got throat cancer. He had surgery and couldn’t talk. He said as his dad was wasting away in the hospital room it was filled with flowers and cards almost all of them from someone in the church. Food came to his house from his mom’s Sunday school class at the church. He said people came and prayed with my dad from the church. He said one day even though my dad couldn’t talk he took a scrape of paper and scribbled words from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “In this harsh world draw your breath in pain to tell my story.â€