ME - Trying to be funny.

I need to offer an apology. In my attempts to communicate I miscommunicated.

Sunday, after describing what Jesus did at the Temple, I said something like, "Of course, Jesus must have been sinning, since everyone knows that anger is wrong" and some other things along the same line.

I hope you know I don't believe that. It was said "tongue-in-cheek," but my tongue was not far enough into my cheek to let everyone know it was an attempt at being facetious. Here is what the Bible teaches and what I believe:

Jesus never sinned. Period.

Anger is not a sin. Period. It can be sin, but we're created in God's image to feel anger. Anger is a sin only when anger is broken.

As a child I was taught by good Christians that any expression of anger was crossing a moral line, and I've heard the same instruction given in word and action in many other settings in my life. I think the teaching that equates anger with sin (as in anger=sin) is wrong and can injure our health, our faith, and our influence. That's why I poked some attention at that erroneous teaching.

I love humor, but I know I need to be careful when I communicate so that my words are clearly understood.

Thanks for understanding.

Pastor Ron

The Mess Jesus Leaves

Yes, we still have a blog.



Today we talked about Mark 11, the story of Jesus coming to the Temple in Jerusalem on Monday, the day after the "Triumphal Entry."

So what do you think about Jesus "going temple"?



One thing we didn't have time to discuss this morning was the practical implication of table turning in the life of a Christian.



Have you ever wanted to turn a few tables of your own? Is it OK? Or is this something only Jesus could do, since he was 100% God and 100% man?

If you think it's OK, under what circumstances is driving people out of the temple with whips considered good Christian behavior? If you don't use whips, what form do you use? What are good targets for this kind of action?


I will confess, I have done some temple-table-turning. I don't use whips. My method is usually words. I like to write satire. Sometimes it is sharp, sometimes just fun. But it's almost always aimed at the religious habits of the Christian culture.

What do you think? Is this a case where WWJD doesn't apply?

Next week a controversial topic: giving. The sermon is titled, Why Tithing is Sin. Here's an interesting article I wrote for Today's Christian magazine about a creative idea offered by LifeChurchTV. Click here to read the article: The Tithing Challenge

Bring your purses and wallets.

Pastor Ron