Root, Root Root for the Home Team.

"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."
- Hebrews 12:15 (New International Version)


Church people are great. Truly they are. If you find a good Church, you can't find a better group of people anywhere. Think about it, people that forgive and love one another and do their best to help each other out. When God gets a hold of a life, it can be a great thing.

But, I think people can, from time to time, forget that whole God thing and treat other people meanly. People outside of the Church do it too, so don't use that as an excuse not to go to Church. Just don't be surprised when people act in ways that you don't think they ought to. Church people are still human and if you can't forgive them, then you are certainly no better than they.

That being said, here are some crazy things I heard at the first Church I was Pastor of, back in 1995:

After our daughter was born, one elderly gal came by and held her.
"What a beautiful baby. And such beautiful hair."
Then, her face contorted and she said, "Not like those Mexican babies."

When we explained to her friend that we were going to see Diane's sister in Chula Vista, she scowled and said, "Chula Vista, you can see Mexico from there." She went on to explain how those "Mexicans" always ran their carts into her's at the Walmart.

One lady who heard that Diane used to have a horse, let us know that "...horses are a rich man's hobby."

She also remarked that we"....must not of had a yard sale" before we moved to town, after she saw what we were moving into a new house.

She did redeem herself, when she let us know that she was saving a blanket for "the next baby that was going to be born. I guess that's yours, so here."

Another man let us know that "...if you hug someone for more than a second or two, you are fondling them." He was also kind enough to write a sermon for me that he thought I should give sometime. Oh, and he also gave me a fifty that same day, saying that he thought it would help us out, since we just moved to town.

I didn't have a chance to give the sermon before he left for another Church down the street. The Pastor, a friend of mine, let me know that the same fellow told him, as he was hugging one of the Church folk goodbye, that he"....abhorred pastors that hugged people." My friend told him that he needed to find a new Church. No dice, he had already been to most of them in town, so he hung around.

If you have had trouble with people in Church, or in life, you're not the only one.

If they made you bitter, get over it.

If you don't, you could very well end up like them.