Are You Perfect?

I drove past a church the other day, one of the churches that have a sign board containing little snippets of a welcome, scripture, or an encouraging thought. Many churches have them, and pastors tend to use them as an evangelical tool. This church was located on an extremely busy four-lane road; lots of businesses, lots of shopping centers, lots of exposure for this church's message. And what was the message? "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."

Color me shocked, stunned, maybe even a little repulsed, being the imperfect sinner that I am!

Here's a great commentary on that verse: perfect--or complete. Manifestly, our Lord here speaks, not of degrees of excellence, but of the kind of excellence which was to distinguish His disciples and characterize His kingdom. When therefore He adds, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect--He refers to that glorious completeness which is in the great Divine Model, "their Father which is in heaven."

There's a difference in our common understanding between calling a Christian to be 'complete' in Christ, as opposed to being 'perfect.' Probably not many folks seeing that are going to grasp that understanding, or be inclined to find out for themselves what it means. More likely, it will only serve to reinforce the stereotype of Christians that think they are somehow better than others and that the viewer cannot possibly ever measure up, so why bother? Meat should not be served to those with no teeth.

I don't know what type of church it is, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone (especially unchurched people) driving by and saying, "Oh, let's go there. I want to be in the church where everyone must be perfect!"

Poor way to handle the Word of God.

Lord, have mercy!

A Few Pics

A pic of lovely flowers drenched in raindrops in the front of our house.

It's official, Callie is a registered therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International and a new member of our local TD club. We'll probably begin visiting facilities in June, after we are added to the new schedule.

The Ronald McDonald House is interested in us, too. They offer pet therapy. What a great service! I try to imagine what it might be like for families to stay at RMH while their family member is undergoing medical treatment. I'm sure many of them have left pets behind and would find comfort in playing with a friendly dog. A small thing, but an offering I make in Jesus' name.







We have a squatter! She built her home on the light immediately outside my front door! Every time someone goes in or out, she flies away. Babies haven't hatched yet, but it should be interesting.










This is a view from my yard. It rained this evening and the fog is rolling down the mountain. There is a resident in the birdhouse ... the blue bird of happiness! We're happy, already!

We've had another visitor come down from that mountain lately, but I don't have a pic. I'm not quite brave enough to get close enough to get a pic of A BEAR! He has torn down our feeders and absconded with our suet cages. The neighbors have all banded together and decided not to feed the birds for a while in hopes that this big guy will decide to forage elsewhere. I've always been a city gal; a bear in my yard is a bit much.

And his feet are BIG!