It is easier to fight for one's principles than live up to them.

Christian: One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.

Well done is better than well said.

It seems rather hypocritical to be pro-choice after you've already been born.

You call me Master and obey me not, You call me Light and see me not, You call me the Way and walk not, You call me Life and desire me not, You call me Wise and follow me not, You call me Fair and love me not, You call me Rich and ask me not, You call me Gracious and trust me not, You call me Noble and serve me not, You call me Mighty and honor me not, You call me Just and fear me not, If I condemn you, Blame Me Not.

When Italy started strictly enforcing the seatbelt law entrepreneur Claudio Ciaravolo saw a great opportunity. He invented the "security shirt". It is a white T-shirt with a thick black diagonal stripe designed to give the impression you are wearing a seat belt. The only problem with the T-shirt, of course, is that it doesn't protect you in the event of a collision. In the same way, there are a number of religious rituals we can go through that may look good on the surface, but they can not offer the security of a real, dynamic, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Do spiritual people live their faith? Bob Thomas, Daily Journal March 12, 2003 As the season of Lent begins, millions of Americans re-examine their spiritual health. I think this is an excellent season for churches to diagnose their spiritual effectiveness. What percent of your church members would say they are "spiritually committed," with an "inner peace from God" whose faith has given them "hope, meaning and purpose in life," yet who also feel "the need to experience spiritual growth" in their daily lives? Remarkably, a new Gallup Poll reports that 79.8% of Americans would say yes to these questions which measure an "Inner Commitment" to God, a vertical relationship with Him. Now a tougher yardstick which measures an "Outer Commitment" of faith. What percent of your church members feel God is calling them "to be involved in the lives of the poor and suffering," who actually give their time "to serve and help others," whose "first priority in spending money is to support the work of God," and whose friends and neighbors would affirm that your church members truly "love God"? Nationally, a big 69.5 percent of Americans would say that their faith is being lived out in service to others. Would seven of 10 of your church members agree? Probably. In fact, among weekly church attenders, 91 percent have the Inner Commitment, and 85 percent are living their faith in service. But among those who rarely attend, only 53 percent feel the same spiritual commitment to God and 41 percent live to serve others. "These findings are thrilling," said George Gallup Jr. in a press conference this week. "We now have a measure of the relationship of the love of God and love of neighbor. These factors are more important than any economic or political factors. What drives this country is faith. And the deeper the faith, the greater the impact in one's life." Religiously inactive people would probably disagree, and would predict that relatively few active believers are also living their lives in service to the poor and the suffering. Of course, we have all known people who say they love Jesus, but who are more self-indulgent than serving. However, hypocrites are the exception to the rule, according to America's first "Spiritual State of the Union 2003," a new poll by the Gallup Organization and the Center for Research on Religion & Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. Next year and in subsequent years, there will be a similar "Spiritual State of the Union," released at about the same time the President delivers his State of the Union address. However, when Rev. Scott Jones, pastor of Grace Community Church in Tempe, AZ, worked with Gallup to develop a deeper measure of the spiritual maturity of Christians - the results were not so encouraging. While 75 percent believe in the God of the Bible and that God is involved in their lives, only 42 percent say they "take unpopular stands when my faith dictates," 34 percent "have an inner contentment even when things go wrong," 28 percent regularly study the Bible and a slim 22 percent assert, "I control my tongue." Also, only 44 percent hear God calling them "to be involved in the lives of the poor and suffering" and "allow other Christians to hold me accountable for my actions." A mere 31 percent say their "first priority in spending money is to support God's work." It gets worse. Only a fifth of Christians keep their "composure even when people or circumstances irritate me," and a thin 19 percent think they are known "for not raising my voice." Scott Jones asked 30 key questions of his own congregation, developed with Gallup, to measure ten core beliefs, ten core practices and ten virtues. What he found was that the professed beliefs of his church members had very little to do with their Christian character. "It is easy to believe something, but is harder to put it into play," he says. "What's needed is spiritual transformation." To promote that he scrapped his sermon focus. "We were answering questions that no one was asking," he confesses. "Why are so few sermons on practical issues?" He created a "Spiritual Formation Calendar," and began preaching less on what people should believe, and more on how they should become more patient or gentle, for example. Would you like your house of worship to ask probing questions on the spiritual health, practice and virtue of your church members? It might make your sermons more relevant! Michael McManus is a syndicated columnist and a weekly contributor to The Daily Journal. He may be reached at 9311 Harrington Drive,Potomac, Maryland 20854.

“I protect her from sex full stop. She’s not aware of sex, nor should she be. We’ve had little conversations about where babies come from, but sex is not, and shouldn’t be, part of her repertoire right now.” - Madonna speaking about shielding her 6 year old daughter Lourdes from sexual images, USA Today, September 15, 2003, 3D

Hypocrite: Someone who complains there is too much sex and violence on his VCR.

When young and just converted, D. L. Moody used to fill up a pew in a rather aristocratic Boston church with street urchins. Many of the upper-crust church members resented this intrusion. When Moody tried to join the church, the board discouraged him. “Think it over for a month,” they advised. “And pray about it, too.” They thought that would be the last they would see Moody. But they failed to take into account his indomitable drive. The next month he appeared before the board again. Rather taken back, they asked, “Did you do what we suggested? Did you pray about it?” “I did,” Moody quietly replied. “And did the Lord give you any encouragement?” “Yes,” said Moody, “He told me not to feel bad because He has been trying to get in this same church for the last twenty-five years, too.”

An outdoor gospel service was in progress. A listener began to heckle the preacher, “Christianity hasn’t done much good. It’s been in the world for 1900 years and look at the state of the world!” Without batting an eyelash, the speaker retorted, “And soap has been in the world longer than that and look at the dirt on your face!”

“I thought prayer was only for athletes and Grammy winners.” Homer Simpson

Father O'Malley, the parish priest, was giving a sermon about charity. He said, "In our world today, some people have so much while others have so little. We must give of ourselves and our worldly goods to help the less fortunate." He said to Tommy O'Toole, "If you had ten thousand pounds, wouldn't you give half of it to the poor?" Tommy said, "I would that, Father." The priest continued, "And Tommy, if you had a great wealth of jewelry, wouldn't you sell it and give half to the poor?" O'Toole replied, "Indeed I would, Father." The priest said, "And Tommy, if you had two pigs, wouldn't you give one of them to your neighbour next door?" Tommy said, "No." The priest said, "And why not, my son?" To which O'Toole replied, "Now Father, you know I have two pigs."

Almost all reformers, however strict their social conscience, live in houses as big as they can pay for.

Be straightforward and honest about your true feelings. Rather be too rude than too smooth, too blunt than too kind. Rather say an unkind word that is true than one that is “nice” but ungenuine. You can always be sorry for an unkind word, but hypocrisy causes permanent harm.

In 1985, Grant Osborne took a tour of Iceland. While walking through the lava fields and the hot springs the guide pointed out some stone cairns erected a hundred years ago to direct people away from the soft and dangerous ground onto the firm path. She said, "We call these cairns "priests", because they point the way but never go there themselves."

There are two ways of preserving fruit; one with vinegar, the other with sugar. There is a vast difference between pickles and preserves. In a long life and wide experience, some people claiming the blessing of entire sanctification seem to have gotten into the vinegar barrel and others in the sugar hogshead.

Pious Posturing

Confession is a difficult Discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners. We feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we are isolated and alone in our sin. We cannot bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others. We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped onto the high road to heaven. Therefore, we hide ourselves from one another in live in veiled lies and hypocrisy.