I like watching old Westerns on television. Some of my favorites are; "Big Jake", "The Undefeated", "The Shootist", "Dances With Wolves", "Open Range". Others with stars like; John Wayne, Glenn Ford, Audie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner...Maybe it is because they are easy to follow. The "Good Guys" always wear white hats, their bullets never hit innocent bystanders, and they treat their women and horses like they should. The "Bad Guys" always wear black, always are deceitful, and never treat anyone the right way.
Well ... maybe those old movies are not quite that cut and dried, but they are close. And the Old West was not like that. It was never that easy to tell the good guys from the bad ones. I suspect they were much like people today: people whose lives are messy, people who sometimes make bad choices and decisions, and people who do not easily fit into stereotypes. I am still surprised at people labeled as "bad" who do nice things. I am still saddened, but not always surprised, when "good" people do bad things.
A long time ago, Jesus made the point that only God is truly good. He was right. God, who is 
good, wants men — who are not always good — to live in relationship with him. In fact, God wanted that so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for the bad in us. So we would be good — holy — like God. Not good because of what we do, but in spite of what we do. Good because of what he did for us, not because of what we do.
good, wants men — who are not always good — to live in relationship with him. In fact, God wanted that so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for the bad in us. So we would be good — holy — like God. Not good because of what we do, but in spite of what we do. Good because of what he did for us, not because of what we do.That is good news. And if they made a film of heaven, it might be like an old western. You will not have any trouble knowing who the good people are: they will be the ones who trusted Jesus.
GIDDIE-UP!
MT
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