Our church marquee made the pages of a blog I read. It's a liberal blog with a large number of people who bash Christians, churches and anyone who doesn't support homosexuals among other things. The blog author posted a picture of our sign with the message that we are to be witnesses, not lawyers and judges. One of the respondents posted Church Sign=Savage Hipocracy. I another wrote that most churches of Christ are judges.

I'm confident neither of these people have entered a church building in some time, at least not with the right attitude and intention of worshipping God and edifying the body. I'm confident they do not tolerate anyone who is not tolerant of their views. I'm confident they have no intention of looking for the good Christians do but only in their failings.

I hope God will work on these people, that He will open their hearts to the beauty and joy that I see in our family. I hope He will give them the ability to listen and understand as we worship together, as we lift each other up, as we rejoice with one another and cry with one another. I hope they will be able to forgive those who have hurt them and seek God's forgiveness for turning from Him.

I know our little church isn't perfect. We are all sinners yet I can look at all the people there and instead of seeing the ugliness of sin, I see the beauty of Christ, I see His cleansing and know that we are all loved, we are all covered in mercy from our Savior. I hope others outside of Christ can come to know that peace. I hope God will open their hearts and their minds and use us to show them the power of an incredible Savior.