#publican

[dduane]

Britain’s first black voter was in 1749, 25 years earlier than thought, and ran a pub

John London, a landlord, paid rates so could take part in Westminster byelection despite being called a ‘blackamoor’

They tried to disqualify his vote due to him "not being enough of a taxpayer" (wrong), and then "okay, even if he is, he doesn't look like he belongs here."

The more things change... (etc, etc)

[freebiblestudies]

The Disciples of Jesus Lesson 06: Levi Matthew

What comes to mind when you think of the worst kind of sinner?  Drug dealers?  Sex offenders?  Mass murderers?  How would you feel if Jesus called someone like that to be one of His disciples?

Let’s read together Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:14-17; and Luke 5:26-32.

Today we are going to study the disciple Levi Matthew.  He was a tax collector when he was called by Jesus to follow Him.  Matthew gave a farewell feast at his house and invited other tax collectors to attend.  Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for sitting and eating with these men.  What is so bad about being a tax collector?

Let’s read together Luke 18:9-14; Matthew 5:46-47; and Matthew 18:17.

In the time of Jesus, the Jews considered tax collectors to be one of the worst kinds of sinners.  Tax collectors collected taxes levied on the Jewish people by the Roman government.  Any Jew who worked as a tax collector was considered to be a traitor to Israel.

Let’s read together Luke 3:12-13.

In addition, tax collectors had a reputation for being corrupt.  It seems that many tax collectors in that time were taking more money than they should, pocketing the extra for themselves.

So, why did Jesus choose a tax collector as one of His disciples?  Wouldn’t this prejudice many Jews against Jesus?

Let’s read together Luke 19:1-9 and Matthew 21:31

The Pharisees did not want to associate with tax collectors because they did not want to be contaminated by their “sinfulness.”  Jesus was unafraid of mingling with the “worst” sinners,  Jesus demonstrated that He can even forgive the worst kinds of sinners, if they wholeheartedly confess their sins and repent.

The “worst” sinners in the eyes of Jesus are self-righteous people like the Pharisees who refuse to repent.  That is why Jesus said repentant tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of heaven before the Pharisees.

Let’s read together Romans 2:11; James 2:1; and Jude 1:23.

Friend, will you follow Jesus’ example and share the Gospel with everyone, including the “worst” sinners?

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Democrats are “split” maybe 80-20 or 75-25 between moderates and progressives, and even that is generous. The media is acting like Republicans are split evenly between pro- and anti-trump camps, but really it’s 95-5 or 99-1. Progressives make up a considerable part of the democratic constituency, while anti-trumpers are few and far between in Publicanland. Republicans are monolithic, with few outliers; a lot of media outlets like to pretend that there’s a conservative civil war going on, and that the Republican party will destroy itself with infighting, but it’s more like a boiling soup; the longer it stews, the thicker and more concentrated it becomes, with the quote-unquote “moderates” leaving or being expelled like water, leaving a more and more homogenous pile of gunk left to harden on the bottom of the pan. All this is doing is making he Republican Party stronger and worse; if any party is gonna fracture, it’ll be the Democrats. I predict a short lived and largely unsuccessful third-party campaign in the near future of Democrats and left-leaning independents trying to reintroduce the Progressive Party a la Teddy Roosevelt. They’ll still run as Democrats, but will have Progressive as a secondary party designation, just to shed light on the caucus, though I expect moderates to kill the movement from the inside, running against them and splitting the vote to ensure a Republican gets elected over a progressive. Moderate Democrats are idiots who will aid the destruction of the country by letting Republicans do whatever they want.

[wisdomfish]

He consorted with publicans and sinners, not because He sympathized with what they were, but because He knew what they might become.

Noah Porter

[monstervsme]

Went back to Peterborough for the first time since I moved out nearly 2 years ago. Had a nice patio lunch at The Publican Brewery.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

And the publican stode afarre of and wolde not lyfte vp his eyes to heven but smote his brest sayinge: God be mercyfull to me a synner. - Luke 18:13 | Tyndale Bible Translation (TYN) The Tyndale Bible is in the public domain.

[sixthsolameme]

Source Bug_slayer.