Today's passage is Nehemiah 7:39-65.
Nehemiah lists the descendants of the priests, singers, gatekeepers, servants of Solomon and temple servants.
He lists the names of those who claim they are descendants but whose names cannot be found in the record as descendants of Israel.
There were some who claimed to be descendants of the priesthood but no record could be found, so they are excluded from the priesthood.
Yesterday I shared some of the record of my sin with my son and his wife, who have turned away from Jesus to a humanist spirituality that has similarities to what Jesus says of love but they see Jesus as a special man, not our Savior Lord.
They see their own beliefs as more inclusive than Christianity. They exclude no one.
According to them everyone is on their own path and we'll all eventually get together.
They do not accept exclusions like the families Nehemiah describes today.
They listened intently to the stories of my apologies to people and of my repentance about the boy I expelled.
Today I go to my eldest child, my step-daughter Susan who I raised in the church and whose children went to Catholic schools.
Her family all accepts Jesus as their Savior but they do not go to worship as a family.
The children go to worship in school. Once again I will encourage them to go to worship to find their spiritual community.
My wife asked me to remind Susan that just one member of the family is enough to save them all.
She also gave me the name of an American evangelist, Tony Compolo, whose sermons have the right message about Jesus.
I will share these with Susan and her family today.
I will share more of my story with them.
I will share how Jesus is changing me.
They are all baptized.
They are all recorded.
They just need to return.
