Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

PART FOUR:  IT'S A BIG BAD WORLD Matthew 12:22-28 Romans 14:1-12 It's doubtful that neither Little Red Riding Hood nor Grandmother could have taken on the Big Bad Wolf all on their own.  Any beast that could swallow an elderly woman whole, clothes and all, had to be quite a monster.  No, they needed help to overcome this evil beast. On June 16, 1858, in a campaign speech for the Illinois race for U.S. senator, Abraham Lincoln quoted Christ in Matthew 12:25, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."  It is as true now as it was when Jesus was defending himself against accusations that he was in league with the devil.  Division was an issue in the early Church. During Paul's time, there was a faction of the Jewish Christians that believed that Gentiles had to first become Jews before they became Christians and were required to follow the Jewish law.  That sparked arguments as to whether it was proper to eat meat from sacrificed animals at t

Well, dear readers, beloved friends in Christ (for that is how I think of you all), I'm going to take a break in the current series to talk about something I haven't had the time to touch on, and frankly, I don't have the time to do it in a Sunday sermon (although this will probably make the next newsletter). And that is:  the discipline of intentionality. In Wesleyan theology, we're taught that we're expected to participate with God's grace.  It's not, like "ZAAAPPP!" and your life is producing goodness and love.  No, grace is given to transform us, but we have to accept it and apply it in our daily life.  It's a lot like 4-H:  learning by doing, or in this case, learning and changing by doing. Just a friendly reminder, we can't do it all on our own.  We have to apply this discipline with the help of Christ and with the help of others.  Remember, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto (more on this next week). #1.  Taking Account.  From