The Vicar's View

The catchy theme for the Annual Men's Retreat last weekend was Bad Boys of the Bible. I never dreamed the topic would bring up the conversations it did. Alas, we agreed that what happens at Lake Logan, stays at Lake Logan

But I can tell you we talked a lot about God and learned or relearned some of the things some guys did in the Bible. Cain, Jacob, Gideon, and the Prodigal Son. We didn't have enough time to tackle Samson and Judas... 

As we reflected more together though, we decided the theme name was catchy but perhaps not acceptable. Were those boys really bad or did they just do bad things? We don't even really know what the prodigal son was actually doing; it just said he wasted his money away. We've all done too much of that. What makes anyone a bad person? 

I believe that's just a bad way of looking in the mirror and at the world. As followers of Jesus, I believe we are all worth saving, no matter how "bad" our behavior. Is that an excuse? Of course not. But it turns out God even runs down the path to welcome us home, no matter what we have done. No matter how we look, no matter how we love, matter what we believe, no matter what we say, no matter how much we exercise or earn, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord. That's transforming Good News, my friends, and our task is to go and tell and live that message in our community.

As always, thank you for being part of this community, always being transformed by the Good News to change the world!