JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for December 08, 2013

I’ve heard of this kind of thing before, but I can’t remember from where…

It has been done several times and, sadly,with the same results. Apparently, no matter if we are Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, our religion tends to stop at the sanctuary door.

A former Pastor did this as homeless part of his message. At my sister’s church Baptist a homeless man did go in the church not sit on the pew but the floor and one man did go to sit with him, this homeless man not the pastor.

The fake homeless man story itself proved to be a fake. The guy made it up. Be careful of what you read on the internet.

It reminds me of a poem by Helen Steiner Rice, “The Story of the Christmas Guest.”

Used to work for the state office of the “welfare” agency. For Halloween we used to have a costume party. One year a co-worker dressed up QUITE SUCCESSFULLY as a homeless person and sat down outside the front door. People walked around her, no one asked if she needed help

I like the comment about nobody sitting near him because of the odor.So I’m supposed to show compassion by breathing in offensive odors. oh please.

Church members can get picky about lots of things. My dad was brought up in a Methodist church, but one day after he was grown he went to an Episcopal church service. He had trouble with all the standing and sittiing and kneeling, reciting this and singing that, until finally a dowager behind him asked, “Don’t you think you’d better go home?” Not because of this, necessarily, but when he was older he never attended church. (I’m not saying that all Episcopalians are like that; I imagine that analogous things happen in many kinds of houses of worship.)

I remember hearing once about a time when Rich Mullins (a big time Christian musician at the time) had just finished a big concert and changed into an old pair of jeans and a tee shirt before going out in front of the concert hall. People leaving the concert didn’t recognize him and actually thought he was a bum trying to sneak into the hall for a warm place to sleep.

I was going to ask God why He allowed poverty and suffering, but I didn’t.

I was afraid He’d ask ME the same thing.

That idea is very recurrent, and sadly is more likely true:

That if Jesus would come again, we would kill him again.

A variant is that he will come again as an undocumented black lesbian, don´t remember who said it.

One more comment, the same homeless man who sat down on the floor where my sister goes at a Baptist church, I did not think to add, is the same homeless man that I think tired to either break-in the church building or steal something form the church.

Don’t tar everyone with the same brush. You haven’t been to my Church. People quit coming because of the homeless

Sorry, Rev. This came from an e-mail sent around – quite a while ago, in fact.

Snopes’ information on the homeless-pastor story

No, no… feels like i’ve heard of an older story that was similar.