Blog Church - Week 21

Come on in! Don't be shy!
Take a seat in our virtual little country church.
You can see the dogwoods blooming outside the church windows.
Tulips are springing up in the flower beds, and cardinals and bluejays are flitting about amongst the bushes and trees.
Lookie there! Sisters Lucy Stern and AJ are wearing lovely corsages.
Is that a boutonniere on Brother Doug's lapel?
Aren't we a sunny looking bunch today?!!
This is Blog Church. I'm Rev. JD, and I'm glad you're here!
The wonders of God's creation are all around us!
Can you smell the honeysuckle as it floats in on the breeze through the open windows?
Inhale it. Ahhhhh...
Oh, my! Goodness gracious!!!
It's a bird!! Take cover!! Yikes!
Brother Ralph, would you shoo that old crow out the window?
Not Sister Grumpy!! The BIRD!!!!
Oh, the unpredictable joys of nature!
My message today is called, "I Digress..."
Genesis 1 tells of how God created the heavens and the earth. It reads like beautiful poetry as we hear God speak all that we see into existence. Some say these verses are allegorical, not literal. Some believe that each "day" of creation actually corresponds to many years, since the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:8 "A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day."
I take that to mean that God is not bound by time like we are, but I digress...
It doesn't matter to me if God created the universe in six days or six thousand years, I simply believe that God is the creator of all life. I'm actually hoping we're not the only living beings in the universe. I'm a fan of science fiction movies, and I think it would be outrageously COOL to shake hands or tentacles or appendages with an alien someday, but I digress...
It's hard NOT to digress when I begin to ponder the wonders of God's creation. I get sidetracked at every turn, and I'm overwhelmed by the intricacies of it all.
How DOES that dormant little seed sprout new life?
The essence of life itself is so perplexing and profoundly awesome that my peon mind nearly explodes trying to fathom just a portion of it.
Study a baby's hand.
Study the anatomy of a bumblebee.
Study the functions of the human brain or look through a microscope at a teensy-weensy bit of blood.
Study the beauty of a single rose. Even the thorns are interesting.
Just what makes thorns become thorns?
You see, I'm digressing again!!
Spring has sprung, and I am thrilled to see new life all around me.
Look up, and you'll find evidence of God's greatness.

Psalm 19:1-4 says "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world."

Wowzer! I can get lost staring into a pastel sky watching clouds move on the whims of the wind. I'm intrigued gazing into a night sky and trying to imagine how far that star is from me. I'm staring at that one star, and right next to it there are thousands more, seen and unseen, light years apart from one another.
Hey! Is that E.T. I see waving at me from the moon?
No, that's the Man in the Moon winking at me saying, "If you only knew all the things beyond your comprehension that are wrapped up within the mysteries of God, you'd pee your pants right where you stand, then you'd drop dead because your brain would explode trying to understand it all."
I thank Mr. Moon for not revealing any of the mysteries of God to me, since I'd like to keep my brain intact and be able to keep breathing the sweet spring air, but I digress...

And to think the Creator actually cares about little old me.
Psalm 8:4-9 "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place. What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority - the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!"

Dear God, may we never cease to be awed by You. May we care for the earth and be good stewards of your gifts, and may we explore the wonders you have bestowed on us. May curiosity take hold of us as we find joy watching a ladybug crawl on a leaf and find pure delight in the smile of a child. May we find ourselves digressing, taking unknown roads and trekking into new territories, boldly going where no man has gone before, flashing the peace sign to a Vulcan and saying "Nannoo, Nannoo!!" to a Martian... oops, I'm doing it again. May we digress regularly, and without remorse, take time to smell the flowers.

And everybody said... AMEN!!!

Easter Weekend Replay

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I dunno, but I DO know one thing...
Granny's famous fried chicken comes AFTER the chicken's neck is rung.



You can click on this photo to see the fine details of our Easter egg handiwork.
Yes, we are demented.




The BEST egg was Granny's.
She artfully depicted The Easter Story on one egg in three brilliant scenes.
When she showed us the HOLY EGG, we broke out jubilantly singing The Hallelujah Chorus in three-part harmony.
Behold THE HOLY EGG - which we are thinking of selling on ebay for millions of dollars.
If you chuckle whilst viewing the scenes of the HOLY EGG, then you shall suffer hellfire for eternity.

Scene One: The Three Crosses



Scene Two: The Tomb
(NO laughing, or Hades awaits thee!)



Scene Three: The Resurrection
(Includes Farrah Fawcett feathered hair and purple sash.)



The Easter Bunny with Taylor, my son. Notice the red bow on the bunny's head? Is it possible the Easter Bunny is a transvestite?



Courtney, my daughter, looked lovely all gussied up for Easter service.



After church, we visited our local gardens which has thousands of flowers on display. We were delighted to gaze upon the very rare Tayloridus Daffodilum.



My beautiful mom posed next to her favorite flowers, tulips:



Apparently, the gardens have added a zoo.
I managed to capture a shot of this monkey above Courtney's head, climbing a tree.
This monkey bears a remarkable resemblance to the Tayloridus Daffodilum:



We thoroughly enjoyed Granny's (my mom's) visit!!

Blog Church - Week 20

I'm Rev. JD, your online pastor, and this is Easter weekend.
Grab that hanky on your virtual pew. Wave the hanky if you feel so inclined.
Feel free to shout "Hallelujah!!" also, in addition, as well.
I'd like to talk very briefly about the traditional Easter story, then I want to draw out a lesson from the Easter message.

My sermon today is called "Look for a Mouse Hole."

Christmas and Easter are huge holidays, and both have their origins in Christ.
Both are celebrations of life.
One great thing about the Easter story is that death was not the end.
It turned out to be the beginning of a story that is unfolding even today.
On Good Friday, death was seemingly victorious.
But on Easter Sunday, Life sprung from the tomb and kicked the stuffing out of death!
(Now is a good time for shouting and hanky waving.)
Have you ever been in the middle of a bad dream, then your conscious mind comes in and makes the dream end well?
(If I'm the only one who's ever done this, then I'm feeling really weird here.)
Well, the Resurrection was God's way of changing a very bad ending into a good one.

Turn in your virtual Bibles to Hebrews 2:14-15:
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

We can learn a lesson from the Easter message and apply it to our lives.
Here's the lesson:
A dead end doesn't mean much.
A dead end is where prayer and faith come in.
A dead end provides an opportunity for God to make a way.
You've heard the saying, "When God closes a door, He opens a window."
Well, I take that even farther.
When God closes a door, He sometimes closes all the windows too.
Life's circumstances just lead to dead ends sometimes.
That's just the way it is.
You can find yourself like C.S Lewis who wrote that in the past whenever he had knocked on God's door in prayer, God would always open the door. He never felt far from God. Later, when life dealt Lewis some faith-shaking blows, he began knocking on God's door only to hear locks being locked, one after another, as God seemingly bolted the door shut. It's that feeling we've all had like we're praying to a brick wall or feeling like our words never make it past the ceiling.
Are you THERE, God?!
Or like Jesus said on the cross, "My God! Why have you forsaken me?!!"
When we find ourselves in these difficult times, it's easy to give up all together. Fellow Christians might even advise us that the closed doors and windows mean that what we are striving for is not within God's plan for our lives.
In the case of C.S. Lewis, the door he'd always used was now closed to him. It was a long and hard road to seeing his faith restored.
Just before Jesus died, he uttered these powerful words, "It is finished!!"
He knew he'd made the sacrifice for sins, and he knew that Easter Sunday was coming.
He knew his death was NOT the end of the story.

My Easter message to you today is, don't quit or give up in the face of adversity or dead ends. If all the doors and windows are closed, then get on your hands and knees and LOOK FOR A MOUSE HOLE.
Are some dead ends permanent?
Sure.
But it ain't over, 'til it's over.
If you don't hear the corpulent woman singing, then keep your eyeballs peeled for a mouse hole!

And everybody said... AMEN!!!!

(Happy Easter, everyone! It's Thursday night as I post this. My mom is flying in on Friday morning and staying all weekend. I won't be blogging while she's here, but I will return visits to all of you on Monday and Tuesday.)

St. Paddy's Day Arkansas Style

The green beer was flowin' and flowin'.
Before the parade began, beads were being tossed from the upstairs windows of downtown businesses. One string of beads got caught about ten feet up on a branch of a tree behind me. A short, drunk guy next to my daughter was suffering from very poor depth perception when he tried to jump and get the beads. Either that or he believed himself to be over nine feet tall.
He had a vertical leap of about three inches.
Later, he staggered over and asked Courtney (my daughter) if he could get a picture with the green-haired woman.
Courtney WAS the green-haired woman, and she reluctantly posed with the formerly leaping, still drunk guy.
Here she was in happier times:



Mike Rowe (host of Dirty Jobs) was our Grand Marshall.
What a fun feller he is!



Lovely Miss Arkansas was there in all her glory.
She waved and smiled like a good beauty queen should.



What's in YOUR wallet???



This very battered Jesus was carrying a cross up and down the sidewalks. I thought it was in poor taste since he was scaring the daylights out of kids.



Do ye thinks me wears undies beneath me kilt?
Me be wearin' a thong.
Arrrrgh!!!



Elvis not only lives, but he's been cloned.
What is the plural for Elvis? Elveye?



These guys are little people. They are called Mini Kiss.



There were floats, motorcycles, cars, tractors, and even a tank. Animals paraded about in tutus and hats. The Red Hat Ladies were all gussied up and struttin' their stuff, and the Men's Chorus sang an Irish diddy as they passed by. There were so many interesting characters. Courtney took over 200 photos, and I took about 25.

The weather was warm and balmy. A sweaty, old feller in the parade asked me if I wanted a flower. I said yes, and he said it would cost me a kiss on the cheek.
I mistakenly thought he would kiss MY cheek, but NOoooo!!!!
He gave me the flower, and turned his sweaty cheek to me.
I planted a smackaroo on his cheek and Eeeeew...
It tasted SALTY!!!

The flower was not worth it.

A shot of Mike Rowe after the parade:



We had a fun time!

Blog Church - Week 19

Welcome to Blog Church. I'm Rev. JD, your online pastor.
I have an important announcement to make before I head into a rather hard hitting sermon.
Drum roll please...
I'd like to introduce our church mascot, Adi:



Her owner, Mr. Jim, will bring Adi to church each week, and Adi will be available for paw print autographs after each service. Her fee for autographs and photos is two strips of bacon which you'll have to sneak to her without Mr. Jim noticing.
Adi is available to entertain at wedding receptions and to provide hospital visitation for a slightly higher fee.
Just show her the bacon!!
Adi has accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she was baptized by garden hose.
She has memorized The Ten Commandments and The Lord's Prayer, and she can howl The National Anthem in perfect pitch.
She's a good dog, and she'll represent our church well.

Brace yourself for this message. It is not as lighthearted as some of my others.
Give it your full attention, and then please share your comments on what I've said.
My sermon today is called "What Ever Happened to Right & Wrong?"
We are living in a world where people shy away from saying that certain things are wrong.
Nobody wants to step on anybody's toes.
We've gone so far as to make excuses for the most heinous and outrageous behavior.
"She drowned her kids in the bathtub because she was suffering from PMS."
"His dad abused him, so that's why he kidnapped, raped, and killed that girl."
Two weekends ago, I talked about the subject of Hypocrisy.
This past week, we saw a prime example of blatant hypocrisy in the actions of Governor Spitzer of New York.
This comes after a long line of other sexually immoral leaders in our government from President Clinton to Mark Foley to Larry Craig to Barney Frank to David Vitter. Some of these involved illegalities and some did not, BUT ALL WERE WRONG.
Gasp!! There... I said it.
Some people bristle at the fact that I said the actions of all these men were wrong. Many try to justify the actions. Some would argue that if nothing illegal took place, then no one has a right to say that their actions were wrong. That's like saying that vigorously picking your nose in a restaurant can't be considered wrong since there's no law against it. I dare say that all those around would say that it was wrong for you to be digging for nostril gold while they were trying to eat a meal.
Some things are just wrong, and breaking one's marriage vows is one of them. Going beyond that to being involved in prostitution just makes it even more egregious.
America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. These principles are etched in stone all over our public buildings.
Have you ever been to Washington D.C.?
Have you read the inscriptions on the walls of our presidential memorials?
Even our currency proclaims "In God We Trust."
Our basis of right and wrong stems from Biblical principles.
Some people are fighting to exclude God from all aspects of government and public places (other than churches) because they feel that including God in our public dialogue means we are pushing religion on people.
How dare we have a set of principles!
How dare we say that some things are wrong!
Our Founding Fathers were not perfect men. They were flawed, but they established the foundation for a great nation to grow and prosper under the blessing of Almighty God.
One thing they agreed on was the importance of freedom of religion.
God was not to be forced upon anyone, but they did not shy away from seeking God's favor for our nation.
God has been part of the very fabric of America's existence from the beginning.
Every, single state in our union mentions God, Almighty God, or Supreme Ruler in their preambles and constitutions.
Every, single one.
To some people, The Ten Commandments are looked upon as outdated and as having no place in our justice system, but these commandments are part of our history. They are etched in stone in our governmental buildings.
Go to Washington D.C., and in the rotunda of the Library of Congress you'll find a statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments.
How on earth did THAT get there??!!
Oh, you'll also find Moses holding The Ten Commandments in our U.S. Supreme Court building... twice.
WHAT??!!!
Separation of Church and State!!
What in tarnation is God doing in our founding documents and on our governmental structures?
Are you telling me that our Founding Fathers actually believed in God???!!
God should NEVER be forced down the throats of our citizens, but the part God has played in our history should be taught and respected. Acknowledgment of God is found throughout the writings of our Founding Fathers.

God and American History cannot be separated from one another without rewriting history.

Life goes on, and our country is evolving and changing. New laws are passed to keep up with the changing times, but murder will always be murder, and stealing will always be stealing, and they will always be wrong.
The Ten Commandments shouldn't be mocked or thrown aside, but they should be looked to as a moral compass as they were from our nation's beginnings.
Thank the Lord for the strong leadership of President Lincoln who spoke out against the immorality of slavery. He called it what it was - WRONG! What if slavery had continued to be justified because nobody wanted to step on anybody's toes? Read the powerful things that Lincoln wrote and said. Slavery was an accepted thing throughout many cultures. It was accepted throughout Bible times as well. It was not invented by Americans, and yet we realized how wrong it was to force men and women into servitude, and we fought a very bloody Civil War in which slavery was one of the central issues.
So, I ask again.
What Ever Happened to Right & Wrong?
I am NOT NOT NOT advocating that our government be a theocracy. Our Founding Fathers did not advocate that either. Trust in God was not an oppressive belief to our Founding Fathers; it was what inspired them to form this nation on clear principles of right and wrong and to ask God to help liberty flourish in America. Faith in God was not a hindrance to our liberties; it was the foundation of them.

Let me close with the words of Thomas Jefferson:
"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."

And everybody said... AMEN!!

Dumb & Dumber

As many of you know, we moved from California to Arkansas over two years ago.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being hickified.
I can now chew chaw, whittle wood, and play the banjo at the same time.
You'd have to see it to believe it.
I still have far too many teeth, but I'm working on rotting those out just as quickly as I can.
I've also become a Baptist.
It was either that or be ostracized from society.
I no longer do laundry; I do the "warsh."

I've gotten to know the college and church friends that my kids hang out with.
My son has a couple of locally born and bred buddies that I have nicknamed Dumb & Dumber.
Here's why:

Dumb's quotes:

"Tall people are more likely to get cancer. You know like President Lincoln. He died of cancer."

"Isn't leukemia what they use to treat cancer?"

"I hated school. I tried the reading thing and the math thing, but they never really worked for me."

"That guy is really good at pianoing."

"He swerved to hit an animal and ended up in a ditch."

"100% of all men are rapists. No, I got that wrong. 100% of all rapists are men."


Dumber's quotes:

"I want to grow my hair really long and have it flip up all around the bottom so I can carry stuff in it."

"God is like a giant orb with many eyes or a white knight who unsheaths his sword."

"Atheists don't believe there's a God. Agnostics don't believe it either, but they just don't know. It's a pun."

"We're having some missionaries from the Philistines stay at our house."

"Which Hitler are you talking about?"


So, do you think Dumb & Dumber are suitable nicknames for these guys?

Blog Church - Week 18

I'm Rev. JD, pastor of Blog Church located on Web Ave. in the heart of Blogdom.
Welcome!
We have some virtual church business to take care of before I preach the virtual rafters down.
I caught a scoundrel this week in the act of putting graffiti on the front of our virtual church. He is dumb as a stump because he wrote "Dam You All!" in big, red letters.
He either forgot the n on the end of dam, or he wants all of us to be constipated. Either way, a crime was committed against us, and we must decide what to do about it.

You have four choices:
1. Forgive the man, and let him go without punishment.
2. Forgive the man, and make him paint the whole church.
3. Forgive the man, and horsewhip him in the parking lot.
4. Forgive the man, and hang him at sunrise.

All in favor of choice #1, raise your hands.
Let the record show that no hands were raised.
All in favor of choice #2, raise your hands.
Wow! That's nearly everyone.
Let the record show that Sister Granny Annie and Brother Uncle Joe are the only two who did not raise their hands.
Sister Ann, which choice do you prefer?
"I've never seen a holy horsewhipping before, and this scumbag is a perfect candidate!"
Okay, and Brother Joe, what's your opinion on the matter?
"An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. A leg for a leg. And a neck for a neck."
Isn't that a quote from a movie?
"Yes, it is Rev. It's from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and this here lowlife is two outta three. I say we hang him at sunrise!"
Let the record show that everyone has voted, and our church will be repainted this week. I'm leaning towards Old Parchment instead of Egg Shell White, but Sister Scarlet will head up a committee to decide the color.

Today's sermon is called Forgiveness Vs. Consequences.

Please take out your virtual Bibles and turn to Galatians 6:7:
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

The entire Bible, especially the New Testament, talks about God's forgiveness. New Testament teachings clearly show that forgiven sins are nailed to the cross, cast away into oblivion, never to be counted against the transgressor.
There's the great example of the thief on the cross who was crucified next to Jesus. In his dying moments, he cried out to Jesus. Luke 23:43 tells us what Jesus said to him: "Today you will be with me in paradise."
The thief on the cross was thoroughly and completely forgiven, BUT he did NOT escape the physical consequences of his actions.
Jesus did not send angels down to remove the thief from the cross. He died there, reaping what he had sown. What he DID receive that day was unconditional forgiveness for his lifetime of sins, the spiritual consequences being paid for by Jesus.
Forgiveness is not a Get Out of Jail Free card; it's more accurately a Get Out of Hell Free card.
Hell is separation from God. God's forgiveness bridges that gap.

Some people mistakenly equate the forgiveness of sins with the elimination of all consequences. If you drive drunk and kill someone, you CAN be forgiven. You CANNOT, however, undo what you've done or escape punishment.
In 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas for the horrific murders of two people whom she killed with a pickaxe. While on death row, she became a Christian and did some good things as a result, and there were many who advocated that her life be spared. I remember watching the protesters on TV: one side wanted her sentence carried out, and the other side wanted her execution stopped.
I saw one guy holding a sign that read: Axe and Ye Shall Receive.
I realized in that moment that Karla Faye Tucker was indeed forgiven of her sins, but she would also reap what she had sown.

Every choice I gave you - about how we should handle the graffiti moron - began with "Forgive the man..."
He's forgiven, but he'll be suffering the consequences of his actions.
I'll need help overseeing him as he paints our church. If he slacks off too much, I'll have a horsewhip available.
Boy, I LOVE my job!!!!
If you'd like to volunteer to administer any needed lashes, please sign up in the foyer.

And everybody said... AMEN!

Pay It Forward Challenge

Here's a chance to get a surprise in the mail from me.
My surprise is coming from blog buddy, Lucy Stern.

Here are the rules:

1.~Leave a comment that says you want to receive something from me and you want to Pay It Forward. The first THREE to agree to Pay It Forward at their blogs will get a gift from me. I need your home address, so email it to me at jamiedawnie@gmail.com.

2.~The three winners must do the same thing on their blogs, so the Pay It Forward challenge will continue throughout Blogdom.

----------------------------
Now, I'd like to tell you some things about me:

-I abhor mayonnaise. I think it is a mortal sin to eat it, and it should be outlawed. Hitonious does not even begin to describe it. I need to come up with a new word that means "beyond hitonious" in order to describe my feelings about mayonnaise. It is hitoniouser than hitonious.

-I am very good at playing Horse, the basketball game. I have not shot a basketball in probably four years, but I can nearly, almost guarantee that I could beat you in Horse. The only time my hubby has been able to beat me in Horse was when I was VERY pregnant and couldn't shoot with my usual finesse.

-I have a voice disorder. I hate it. It negatively affects me every single day, but it doesn't keep me from talking. If you ever meet me, I will talk your ear off. I need a quiet environment in order to be able to gab away. If you want to shut me up, take me to a noisy place.

-I have ugly feet. My hubby calls them monster feet, but that would suggest that my feet are frightening. They are not frightening, just ugly. Small children do not run away in fear when they see my feet, but I can guarantee I will never be a foot model, unless it's for some kind of Before & After ad. My feet would be the Before shot. My middle toes on both feet are partially webbed. I've called them "Getter Toes" since I was a wee tot. "Getter Toes" was my way of saying "together toes."
I know now that you are dying to get a glimpse of my wretched feet. When I get one hundred requests to show photos of my feet, I will do so. Leave requests in the comments of this and future blog posts. I promise to keep track, and when I've had one hundred requests, I shall assault you with pics of my hitonious feet in all their hideous glory. I will show a couple of different views of them as well as an up close shot of the intriguing "getter toes."

Blog Church - Week 17

I'm Rev. JD and this is Blog Church. At our church, you can attend in your pajamas. You don't even need to brush your teeth or put on lipstick. This is the only church on the planet that does not take an offering. I do accept jewelry though.
Blog Church provides weekly, Bible-based teaching with a dash of humor tossed in. It's thought provoking, fun, and free. Where else can you get a sermon and a smile in under five minutes? Enjoy!

Last week, Sister Rachel brought Chocolate-Covered Cake Balls all the way from Kentucky for all of us. They were about the size of large marbles, and they were quite delicious. This week, I made some Arkansas-sized Cake Balls which will be served in the foyer following the service. Mine are about the size of golf balls, not to brag or anything. I'm wondering if Texas Cake Balls are the size of baseballs?? Thanks for the recipe, Rachel.



I had five cake balls for breakfast this morning and washed them down with two large glasses of full-fat milk. Still famished, I waddled over to the pantry to grab a box of Twinkies, when I noticed my neighbor standing outside on his porch having a cigarette. I marched over there and told him he needed to extinguish that vile cancer stick. He told me to wipe the chocolate from the corners of my mouth, mind my own &*#@! business, and get my wide bohunkus off his property.
The NERVE of some people! Doesn't he see that I'm only trying to help him get rid of a very bad habit?
Next, I'm going to help him clean up his potty mouth.

Today's sermon has a long title:
"Get the 2 X 4 Out of Your Own Eye Before You Go Digging For the Splinter in Mine!"

I'm talking about hypocrisy. It is rampant in our society. You find it in religion where prominent church leaders preach against immorality then get caught with their pants down. You find it in politics on BOTH sides of the aisle. Politicians like to wag a pointed finger in our faces and talk about how outraged they are about something someone did... that is until one of their own does the same thing, then it's time to justify and make excuses. Hypocrites! Some of the worst hypocrisy is found in parenting. "Do as I SAY, not as I do." How pathetic!

In Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus put it very bluntly:
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

I LOVE that verse! I actually think it has a bit of comedy in it. Can't you just SEE a chunk of wood sticking out of a guy's eye? He's half blind because of it, but he's hellbent on putting his persnickety tweezers to work on the specks of dust in everyone else's eyes.
Back off, Bucko!!!
Too often, holier-than-thou types of people make it their duty to notice everything wrong about everyone else. They point out the shortcomings of others while flaunting their own perceived greatness.
"MY church is better than yours."
"I give more than you do."
"I can recite the book of Revelation backwards in Pig Latin with marbles in my mouth while standing on one leg in a vat of Jello."
La-Dee-Da!
Who gives a flying fig??!!
All the while, these people are woefully unaware of the 2 X 4 that's jutting out of their eye.

Back in the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were holier-than-thou types of people who were SO proud of their holiness that they flaunted it for all to see. Jesus had some choice words against them.
Matthew 23:27-28 says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

Be careful about condemning others unless you are ready to get hit between the eyes with some truth about yourself.
There are times when it is the right thing to confront someone. If you've built trust with a person, and they are on a path towards self-destruction, then by all means, try to help them.
When we truly love one another, we criticize out of love. It's like if your friend has a booger hanging out of their nose; you tell them, right? Right. You love them, so you point out the speck in their eye - or nose - and they can take it from you because they know you love them.
Just be prepared for them to tell you you've got spinach in your teeth. Okay?

And everybody said... AMEN!!!