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I got this in my email and thought it was a good lesson for us all..
Tiger..

Preacher Man
This will certainly make you stop and think. You never know what a kind word, a phone call, or an impromptu visit will do for someone else.
It was a cold winter's day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church.
As I got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck out.
I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all gathered for fellowship for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man laying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in,
including me. A few moments later church began. We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces.
He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank.
There stood our preacher..he was the "homeless man." No one said a word.
The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand.
"Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today." Then he started singing the words to this song: "If I can help somebody as I pass along. If I can cheer somebody with word or song. If I can show somebody that he's traveling wrong. Then my living shall not be in vain."

Thanks Sister, you made my day. This is a pure Gem





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FWIW:
That story is based (loosely) on an actual occurance. An evangelist I know was invited to a church in East Texas for a revival (this was in '86). The trench coat, the shoes, a beard, and a lot of smell accompanied him (along with a brown paper bag tucked under his arm) as he lay underneath the bushes.

After being ignored by most, snickered at by a lot, some deacons stood there and debated on calling the police, but finally decided not to, since church was about to start.

Church began, the pastor apologizing for the late arrival of the evangelist....but there he came, straight to the pulpit.

His words, as he pulled his bible out of the bag, were:
"you've already had one sermon, now you're going to catch hell!!"

There WAS an amazing revival went on in that church....including some deacons that got saved!

Now, that's a mean trick! (And, thankfully, an effective one!)

I am involved in a ladies' small-group Bible study that meets in a friend's home; we met for several weeks in the spring/summer, and have started a second, parallel study for the autumn.

This second study has brought in a few new faces, while a few others have not been able to join us this time. The absentees have various reasons that they could not come; but one lady gave us a reminder of how intimately the body of believers must work.

She had joined our last Bible study late, with only a few weeks left in the workbook. We talked with her and included her, but she felt left out.
When it came time for the second study, she missed a few weeks; others had been unable to come, as well, so we didn't think much of it.
I heard about this lady last night from a friend who had happened to talk with her, and during their conversation the study was brought up.

No one had cared to contact this woman when she failed to show up. No one had asked how she was doing, or if she would be coming in the future. No one had bothered to reassure her that she was appreciated and missed.

Nearly all of us have this woman's number and address.

She has decided that this Bible study is not right for her, and will probably not join us in the future, because we did not love enough to reach out to her.

Evangelist , its quite a thing to do but sometimes it needed, something drastic to get peoples attention or to show people something about themselves that they  might not have excepted had it just been told them.. not showed them..
As i read your reply i was caused to remember something else.. and this i promise is a true story,, i know this eveangalist man from canada.. Brother Parkins.. and he was telling us one night that it was either him or a preacher frined of his (been a few yrs sorry i cant recall which it was) but anyways in his church  at the time  that he pastored.. the preacher was starting to ahve alot of trouble  with people gossiping so much about others that it was beginnning to damage peoples lives etc, well he decided he had to do soething to get thier attention so he wwent to a butcher and got the biggest tongue from a cow and on sunday AM before anyone came he set this tongue so that it was leaning over the edge of the pulpit.. honest  this truly happened.. and as everyone came in theyd see this and  just kinda sit there staring trying to figure out what was  going ojn,, well needless ot say His sermon that morning got thier attention,, it was about the damage our tongues to do to others and ourselves!!  Willowbirch , Im sorry to hear this situation,, it surely is a reminder to us that we need to take notice of others and thier situation and   that we should always show the Love of God and compassion and consideration.. I know it must have wayed a bit heavy on all your hearts to know that this happened..but sadly this kinda thing happens so very often..
We need to pray  that God helps us to be so that when people look at us,.. they see God and his love and kindness!
thanks to yous for sharing these stories..
Love and prayers.
Tigerlily

I had a church out in Snowflake, AZ that was....well, kinda weird. I went in as interim pastor after the prev. pastor decided to try to start a commune, complete with self grown marijuana and other things (peyote, etc.). Some of the members decided it had gone too far, so......

Anyway....after several months, one thing I noticed (and heard) was how insistent several of the "leaders" were about what could only be called legalistic matters. You had to do this, or that, there was only one way to pray, or eat, or dress, etc. etc.

I addressed the subject of grace and legalism a number of times, but it was just like in one ear and out the other.

One Sunday I showed up with a 4 lb. hammer, a railroad spike, and a big block of wood. I put them on the table in front of the pulpit, you know the one inscribed "Do This In Remembrance Of Me"?

After preaching from Galatians, I invited the leaders down to the front (the ones with the biggest mouths), and told them:
"here's a spike, and a hammer. If you insist on thinking that things have to be done a certain way, then grab the hammer, drive the spike, and crucify Jesus again....because that's all you're doing everytime you jack your jaws with this legalistic garbage.  Grab ahold of GRACE, or go ahead and declare publicly just what you think of His sacrifice."

One of them (he was a defiant sort) glared at me, said "I'll show you..." and grabbed at the hammer. Remember it only weighed 4 lbs.  He couldn't pick it up off the table, and accused me of "tieing it down." I picked it up and handed it to him, but he still couldn't hold it. It fell to the floor and stayed there. He stormed out in a real huff. No body else even tried, but there was some repenting that morning.

He never came back, and was killed in a car wreck 3 weeks later.

The church tripled in size over the next month and a half.