Message from the President

Zaccheas was a tax collector who His whole family had rejected. One day he heard that Jesus was coming to his town and wanting to see Him he climbed a tree to lift himself above the crowd. Jesus approach with Zach nervous and excited not really knowing what to expect when suddenly Jesus looked up at Zach in the tree and invited himself to dinner at zach's home. All were enraged because Zach was seen much like some christians might see an abortion Dr. Why would Jesus notice Zach when there were so many "Christian type people" present. Not only did Jesus notice but He wanted to be a house quest which in the first century meant someone totally accepted another. A tax collector being totally acceptable to Jesus? This was strange because the jews did not approve of tax collectors. This did not stop Zach,he put on one kind of a meal and they had fellowship all afternoon while the "Religious looked through the window"!

Could it be that Jesus accepts people that the Church does not. Could it be that those acceptable to Jesus are not acceptable to the Church? That scares me-how about you. The story of Zach is a good one and we get the chance to find ourselves in the story. Some of us have been totally surprised by the grace of God in our lives and identify with the sinner that had no right to be with Jesus. Others unpleasantly find that they uncomfortably more like the Legalist that have added to the list of what makes someone acceptable to God! Still others identify with just looking through the window and never sitting with Jesus and wonder if He even knows our names?

What are the Church of the 21st Century requirements for membership. What activities do we grade people down and look a little down upon. At what point has some one hit our acceptance level and we tend to see them as suspect? Would the homo sexual, or perhaps the drug dealer at our children school, or maybe we think those with a past in sexual abuse are inevitable. I know one Church that made a past sex offender Pastor (25 years in the past) leave the movement because they were afraid of being sued. So all that could be done was to kick him out to reduce liability. One man's life humiliated and family crushed but no one lost any money. After all do we not all remember Jesus saying it is much better to hold onto your money than people with past sins. What parable was that in?

I ask who am I and who are you in the story? I think to the honest person it is obvious when we do away with our defenses and accept our true role. How do we like it? I most certainly am Zach but I regret I used to be the legalist. Funny thing when I was the legalist it was so easy to judge the Zach's. All I had to do was deny my sinfulness and blame everything on the Zach's of this world who I outperformed. Why do I have to look at my sins when there are all of those Zach's that are obviously worse than this pastor. I trust sometimes in my position,use anger to get my way, treat other people as my way up, and certainly know I am above many. In that mind set I can rejoice that at least I am not a Tax Collector. But wait are we sitting outside of the window while the Zach's are dinning with the Lord. What group are we in? Do we love the sinner or does "respectability effect who we hang out with. Just a question but for me a very serious one when I see the antitheses sometimes coming from the Church. It seems the Zach's are looking in the window while the proud gather to worship a God who acted just the opposite. Have we settled down to a faith and religion that even the Church does not know what the Lord is really like because we are so opposite and reject the Zach's and are comfortable with the legalist.

We want to tell stories to reach the upcoming generations. Like Jesus' ours need to have a prophetic bite that calls us into the story to find our part to play. Please look into our Schools if becoming a story telling Christian leader appeals to you.

Thanks'

Bill Twyman