I was wrong

With the help of a few friends I have finally finished putting up my garden shed only to find a couple of pieces left over. Don't you hate that? Where do they go, what do they do? By not having them in the assembly does it compromise the structure? I know hide them and no one will ever know. I have just finished reading "I was wrong" by former PTL director Jim Bakker, what a sad but necessary read it was. Talk about people hiding and pretending that some things didn't matter.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by there right name". Facing current reality isn't something we like doing or spend much time doing. Reading the fine print and pondering the assembly instructions of life are vitals if we want to maintain strong character.

Circumsition

One of the toughest jobs as a Pastor is to keep the church focused on people who don't know Christ rather than trying to keep the "saved" in church or to stop the "saved"from leaving church. So much of where our money, focus and energy is directed is at that second group.
The gravitational pull on every church is toward this.
James when faced with the dilemma of church goers wanting new believers to be circumcised, or well meaning people who had already been rescued trying to create a culture that seemed reasonable to them, responded in the following way.
Acts 15:19 (Msg)
"So here is my decision: We're not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master.
Lets make it easy for people to find their way to Christ. Lets not complicate it with religion and rules. Now there is a challenge. Are we a church (that's us as people) that makes it easy for people to come to the grace of God?