Go Pope Francis! WOOHOO!

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Newly elected Pope Francis is putting his hands where he said they'd go - to work.

While I am not a fan of the Catholic church, I do admire the Jesuits. Of course, I admire lots of people and groups who've been unjustly persecuted throughout history and a few who have been justly persecuted. BTW, my jaw is still bouncing off the floor over the news that the Pope is a Jesuit.

Now if we are to act as Penn Gillette does, and take someone at his word until he gives us reason to do otherwise, this is the kinda Pope who will change things.

"This is what I want, a poor church for the poor," he said just after being elected pope.

This Pope has his hand directly on what the Bible teaches us to do. As my buddy Doc says, God is love. That this Pope is reaching out to the hurting, to the unwanted, to those society rejects and wants the church to do more to help the poor, dunno about you but I cannot think of a better definition of love.

Double high 5 back atcha my brother!

For too many years, lifetimes in fact, the Pope has presided over a church that was far too concerned with things that should be minor matters. It doesn't matter what kind of hat the pope wears. It doesn't matter what his vestments look like. It matters what he does.

Pope Francis is off to an excellent start as far as I'm concerned. He is leading by serving. How cool is that?

As I prepare to go to prison tonight and share with a group of men, I will be thinking about and probably talk about Pope Francis. Church is not just about God, salvation and fried chicken dinners. Church, the real church, the church God wants us to have is about getting off our butts, getting out and getting our hands dirty.

 You don't even have to believe in God or god to be a part of a real church. You just have to reach out. Every major religion in the world has that concept as a central tenet. Even the most hard core atheists accept the idea.

Real church is not about dressing up on Sunday. Lemme put that another way. Do you really think a coat of whitewash is going to do anything about the rot in the wood?

Real church is about telling that drug addict if he wants money, you'll personally take him to church and feed him lunch afterward. Real church is looking everyone else straight in the eye and saying "And why aren't you doing the same thing?"

Yeah. It's about visiting a juvenile detention center and washing the feet of the boys there. It's about visiting prison PERIOD and meeting those behind bars. It's about reaching into your own wallet and providing a cheeseburger to that homeless person.

Real church is about YOU doing something instead of demanding someone else do it. Real church is YOU making the investment, not forcing someone else to.

Real church is about you and how you interact with everyone else.

It's been said real leaders lead by example. It's been said a real leader will not ask his followers to do something he won't do. It looks like the Catholics about about to have a real church leader. Now, it's up to the rest of us to follow his example, no matter what you may believe or not believe about God.

Real church, and I don't care what your denomination, belief structure or god happens to be, is about making a difference in this world. If that ain't what your church believes, then you need to find one that does.

Real church is not condemnation. Real church is forgiving.

I restate here - You don't even have to believe in God or god to be a part of a real church. You just have to reach out. God will make sure you find Him.