Two related observances

I just thought I'd share this. I was reading about the Pharisee and the tax collecter the other day, where they are both praying. The Pharisee goes on and on quite loudly about how good he was and was thankful that he was better than this tax collecter. A few things ran through my mind at that moment. First, the impression I get from reading that was that the two of them were quite near to each other. If they were, I just have to say that that was so rude. I get the picture that he was standing right next to the guy. The second thought that I had was what was his point in praying? God's so much bigger than us, and all the Pharisee did was praise himself. For him to be so "big" on rules, it seems that he'd broken the number one command, "Thou shalt not have any other gods before me" because I don't recall him giving praise to God once in his "prayer." Lastly, I suppose, is the most meaningful observation. Pride makes people look stupid. I feel like he probably looked really foolish yelling out a prayer like that, but when we're blinded by pride we don't seem to notice...so lesson learned from that, stay away from it.

The second observation has to do with the city of Adelaide, although this isn't my Australia blog. I feel it fits better in this one. I was told by a friend that although Adelaide was known as the city of churches, many of the churches have been turned into other things, unfortunately. Last night, I was walking and I saw a bar called heaven, which looked like it had once been a church, or the building was modelled to look like one. This angered/saddened me at the same time. I immediately thought of Jesus cleansing the temple for the sole fact that I had read Luke's account of it that morning. I imagined what would happen if I walked in there and started flipping tables and stuff. Amusing thought, but I'm not Jesus, so I would have no right to judge the people there. The sadness came as I thought on it longer. I thought about a quote that Pastor Linda often uses: "There's no high like the Most High." I was saddened because people truly need the love and peace and all the other great things that the Holy Spirit offers, but they too often settle for Satan's cheap counterfeits. I suppose that's all the more reason that the church is so desperately needed. Well, that's all for now. You haven't heard from me in a while, and who knows when I'll write on this one again so until next time, May you meet the Most High if you haven't yet, or may you continually enjoy Him if you have.