“Communities or neighborhoods developed around particular ‘life-styles’ help assure that the people we and our children encounter on a daily basis are much like ourselves in education, race, and socioeconomic background. Many of us drive to work each day from carefully defined neighborhoods to carefully controlled work environments, and can effectively avoid encountering most strangers, particularly those that might be troublesome. For many of us, it takes intentional effort to intersect meaningfully and personally with strangers different from ourselves.
A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted.
The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. “Fetch the Bible,” he commanded.
The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.
“Now find Psalm 23,” he commanded.
The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.
The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.
That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed.
One man asked, “Can he do regular dog tricks, too?”
“I haven’t tried yet,” the pastor replied.
He pointed his finger at the dog. “HEEL!” the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor’s forehead and began to howl.
The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, “Good Lord! He’s Pentecostal! “
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