Migration: News of the Weird

This post was originally written in October of '99... I've done some editing & revision to it.

A pack of rats broke into a vat of moonshine in the storage area of a police station in New Dehli, India in March. They gulped down prodigious amounts of the liquid and then went on a drunken rampage. (Authorities could tell the rats were drunk because they were attacking cats.)

from "News of the Weird"

This is a true story.

I laughed OUT LOUD when I read this the first time... the picture of tipsy rats ganging up on felines while singing drunken sailor songs popped into my head.

Then another picture appeared... I mean, I'm a pastor. It's hard for me NOT to get allegorical.

Isn't the church a little like those rats? Yet, instead of being drunk on high octane 'shine, we are filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18) And we have some BIG cats to gang up on... a world that's grown cold to the power and love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Alcohol used to be called "Dutch courage"... a way to falsely build up your will in order to do something difficult. The Spirit of God is "real courage"... trusting in Someone bigger than you to tackle every thing in our lives: addictions, marriages, dreams, hopes, nightmares, debts, emptiness, direction... whatever!

That's what the church is all about... not only being a safe place for non-believers and believers to explore the dangerous truth of God, but a HEALING place where they can experience God invading in their lives and making them into what they were always intended to be - His children. And that's worth getting fired up about.